Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet, Urdu writer and feminist

From the archive record

Fahmida Riaz speaks to us in India. Fahmida Riaz said she would have liked to take back poets from India to Pakistan, to let people there hear their work, and I wish we could print their work in Urdu as well. Fahmida Riaz (Urdu: فہمیدہ ریاض‎) (28 July 1946 – 21 November 2018) was a Progressive Urdu writer, poet, human rights activist and feminist of Pakistan. She authored many books, of which some are Godaavari, Khatt-e Marmuz, and Khana e Aab O Gil the first translation in rhyme of the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi from Persian into Urdu. The author of more than 15 books of fiction and poetry, she remained at the center of controversies. When Badan Dareeda, her second collection of verse, appeared, she was accused of using erotic and sensual expressions. The themes prevalent in her verse wer