Obituary: Prolific writer, poet Samina Raja no more

The renowned poet had been suffering from liver cancer.

ISLAMABAD:

Renowned Urdu poet, prolific writer, translator, educationist and broadcaster Samina Raja was laid to rest at the Islamabad Graveyard, H-8 on Wednesday. Raja, who is survived by three sons, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 51 after losing her battle with liver cancer.

Born on September 11, 1961 in Rahim Yar Khan, Raja obtained a master’s degree in Urdu literature from the University of Punjab. She started poetry in 1973 and had 15 books published.

Her poetry highlighted the feminine and human perspectives of love and longing, nostalgia of the past lives, socio-psychological problems of the new age and mythological and metaphysical subjects.

She also wrote books in Urdu prose, besides editing and translating valuable works from English to Urdu, such as Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat” and Brain Greene’s “Elegant Universe”.

She joined the National Book Foundation as a consultant in 1998 and edited its monthly newsletter, Kitab, from 1998 to 2005. She also edited the monthly literary magazines Mustaqbil (1991-1994), Aasar (1998-2004), and Khwabgar from 2008 till her demise.

Over a dozen literary personalities from the twin cities, including Aftab Iqbal Shamim, Jalil Aali, Dr Tauseef Tabassum, Ehsan Akbar, Ali Muhammad Farshi, Kishwar Naheed, Shabnam Shakeel, Tahira Abdullah, Anwar Fitrat, Parveen Tahir and Tahira Ghazal attended her funeral procession.

“She was intellectually sound and her poetry is a mix of modern and classical traditions,” noted Kishwar Naheed while talking to The Express Tribune.

“She was a committed poet and never compromised on principles,” said poet Mehboob Zafar. “She refused to receive the Prime Minister’s Award during Nawaz Sharif’s era and the National Literary Award during Pervez Musharraf’s rule,” he added.

Poet and writer Harris Khalique termed her demise as a major loss to Urdu literature. “She was able to weave the modern themes in classical expressions of Urdu poetry. There was a definite quality and innate freshness in her verses. She wrote prolifically but retained her vigour and style,” he commented.

Raja was working as a subject specialist for the National Language Authority (NLA) and was planning to bring out a special edition of literary magazine Khwabgar on legendary poet Ahmad Faraz.

“She shared a sensitivity and poetic sensibility of the likes of Ahmed Faraz and Parveen Shakir. In fact, she was one of the strongest poets after Shakir,” said renowned literary figure Iftikhar Arif.

“Our literary world has lost many valuable, sensitive and innovative personalities to cancer,” noted former NLA chairman Fateh Muhammad Malik. “Though she faced economic difficulties due to unemployment at times, her perseverance prevailed and she was able to become a household name in the literary circle,” he added.

President Idara-e-Adab-o-Saqafat Tariq Shahid and members Wahid Buzdar, Saeeda Durrani, Iqbal Hussain, Zahid Jatoi, Masood Hashmi and others also expressed grief over her demise.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.