Urdu writer, poet, human rights activist and feminist Fahmida Riaz passed away here on Wednesday night after prolonged illness. She had been living with her daughter in Lahore. She left behind two children from her second marriage with Zafar Ali Ujan and thousands of friends and admirers in the sub-continent. She was buried in Cantonment graveyard. Prominent poets, human rights activists, writers, social workers attended her funeral prayers.
She was born on July 28, 1946 in Meerat, UP, India. After partition her family settled in Hyderabad, Sindh. After graduation she started working for Radio Pakistan as a newscaster.
Fahmida Riaz also worked in an advertising agency in Karachi, before launching her own Urdu publication "Awaz".
More than 10 cases were filed against her during Ziaul Haq's dictatorship. Riaz and her husband had to live in self-exile for over six years in India during Zia's regime. She returned on the eve of Benazir Bhutto's wedding reception. She was greeted with a warm welcome. She was appointed head of Pakistan National Book Foundation.