The Indian Express
SRINAGAR
Urdu and Kashmir were the great lovers of renowned Urdu poet, novelist, playwright and short-story writer Kashmiri Lal Zakir, who passed away on Wednesday in Chandigarh at the age of 97.
A long and illustrious literary journey that began in the early 1940s with a Ghazal, Zakir made his mark as a short-story writer before his first novel, ‘Sindur ki Raakh’ in 1955, established him as a writer of repute.
Always replete with energy, enthusiasm and hope, Zakir through his vast range of writings, more than 130, devoted his life to Urdu, and is known as a torch-bearer of the language, devoting his energy to get both government and individual attention and grants for the language.
The long and tireless journey of organising seminars, mushaira, poetry, talks in and on Urdu, across India, was a passion and mission that never tired Zakir, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 2006.
As the head of the Haryana Urdu Akademi, Panchkula, Zakir made it one of the premier places involved in various activities to promote Urdu, and take it to a larger audience.
Society, its many facets, life of the common man and the many ills that surround us, were the subjects that Zakir wrote about, with Partition and Kashmir, where his roots were, always absorbing his creativity and thoughts.
To mark his 90th birthday, Zakir was awarded the title of Fakhr-e-Haryana at a function by Aalami Urdu Adab (International Urdu Literature), an Urdu Magazine along with the Ghalib Institute, an occasion that had filled him with pride.
“It’s gratifying that my work is appreciated and Urdu is in the limelight,” Zakir had said at the function.
Nothing gave Zakir more joy than writing in Urdu, a language he described as “pure poetry,” and in the process giving it the status it deserved and making it reach the common person, who could appreciate the lyricism, beauty and depth of the language. Zakir, despite his age, wrote daily, a ritual that gave him strength.
The love and appreciation of his readers and their shared love for Urdu, Zakir had once said in an interview, gave him inspiration to write poetry, novels, plays that touched people’s hearts and were about issues that were real, be it the status of women, the need for educating the girl child, AIDS, bonded labour, problems of youth, child labour, a novel on Chandigarh, pen sketches of Urdu poets, the pains of Partition, Kashmir, the paradise lost.
On his 93rd birthday, Zakir received copies of ‘Mere Hisse Ka Kashmir’, a book that was very close to his heart, as he told many untold stories of his home, Kashmir, its people, their silent suffering, their resilience and love for a place torn apart by violence.
“It’s the best present I could have got. I wish for a Kashmir that is peaceful, filled with love, joy and I hope to go there again and feel at home,” Zakir had wished.
Rajbir Deswal, author and poet, who has known Zakir for more than 30 years, described him as a man who dedicated his energies for the Urdu language’s promotion.
“With him, we have lost a writer who gave Urdu a new position. A titan who devoted his entire life to practicing, projecting and promoting the cause of Urdu. Woh Urdu ka musafir tha, yahi pehchan thi uski. Jidhar se bhi guzarta tha, saleeqa chhod jata tha.”
(The news item first appeared in The Indian Express.)
