Remembering Ahmed Faraz on his 11th death anniversary

Renowned Urdu poet Ahmed Faraz was remembered on his 11th death anniversary on Sunday.

Ahmad Faraz was born in Kohat on 14th January 1931.

He was considered one of the greatest modern Urdu poets of the last century.

Faraz was his pseudonym ‘Takhallus’ whereas, his real name was Syed Ahmad Shah.

Outspoken about politics, he went into self-imposed exile during the Zia-ul-Haq era after he was arrested for reciting certain poems at a mushaira criticizing the military rule.

He was awarded numerous national and international awards.

He was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in recognition of his literary achievements in 2004.

He stayed in Britain, Canada and Europe for six years before returning to Pakistan, where he was initially appointed academy of Letters Chairman and later chairperson of the Islamabad-based National Book Foundation for several years.

He returned the award in 2006 after becoming disenchanted with Musharraf’s government and its policies.

The poet died in Islamabad on 25 August 2008 at a hospital from the kidney failure.