One of Pakistan’s best known short story writers, Hajira Masroor, passed away Saturday morning at the age of 82.
Born in 1929 to a middle-class family of Lucknow, Hajira was one of six daughters and a son. Her elder sisters, Ayesha Jamal and Khadija Mastoor were writers in their own right.
By the mid-1940s, Hajira had earned a name in the literary circles of India. In 1944, Hajira published her first collection of short stories, ‘Chirkey’. It was followed by another collection, ‘Hai Allah’. Her third collection of short stories was titled ‘Chori Chuppay’.
The family migrated after Partition and was in Lahore by October 1947.
Hajira was co-editor of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi’s literary journal ‘Naqoosh’ that was banned after it published Manto’s famous story ‘Khol Do’. She was a recipient of the Pride of Performance Award in 1995, the Nigar Award for best script writer and Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab Award in Doha. Funeral prayers were offered in Karachi and she was laid to rest at Gizri graveyard.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2012.
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