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Writers, fans mourn the passing of literary giant Intizar Husain

Despite being read and loved by many, Hussain kept a low-key profile and rarely gave interviews

Updated 04 Feb, 2016

The realm of literature is poorer today with the passing of Intizar Husain, one of Urdu's greatest short story writers, poets and columnists.

Intizar Husain had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Lahore, where he succumbed to his illness.

Born in the early 1920s, Intizar Husain migrated to Lahore with the creation of Pakistan, where he served various newspapers. He retired from Mashriq Daily in 1988 and began working as a freelance journalist and writer.

His books include Gali Koochay, Kankari, Din Aur Dastan, Shehr-i-afsos, Kachhuay, Khaimay Say Door, Khali Pinjra, Morenama and Sheharzad Kay Naam. Despite being read and loved by many, Husain kept a low-key profile and rarely gave interviews.

Novelist Nadeem Aslam interviewed him for BBC Urdu:

Intizar Husain was conferred upon the 'Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters' by the French Ambassador to Pakistan Philppe Thiebaud in September 2014. He was among the 10 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2013.

The writer's fans paid rich tribute to him on Twitter:

Comments

Ahmad Feb 02, 2016 05:14pm

Inna lillah e wa inna ilehe rajiun. RIP.

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sajjad Feb 02, 2016 07:58pm

"The realm of literature is poorer today"

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Siri Feb 02, 2016 08:04pm

Great loss! Rest in peace!

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Amer Rao Toronto Feb 02, 2016 08:37pm

Innalillahi wa innaulehai Rajioon

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Ras Siddiqui Feb 02, 2016 09:36pm

One of our giants of Urdu wring has left us. With respect & great sadness we say farewell. He was also an amazing wordsmith in the realm of English writing. I always wished that I could write half as well as Intizar Hussain Sahib (in English). May you Rest In Peace Sir.

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Faizan Feb 02, 2016 09:48pm

Inna lillah e wa inna ilehe rajeoon. May Allah bless him with highest ranks in heaven. Sadly i never read his stories and this is the first time i read his name.The generations that succeed us will never know the great names in Urdu literature since the English literature has been imposed on them by parents and institutions (the likes of Ashfaq ahmed will be forgotten because they have J.K.Rowling to look up to). The nations that forget their past have no future. It seems we are indifferent towards our national language for the love of English...!

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Proust Feb 02, 2016 09:55pm

Inna lillahi.... Finally his intizar has been cut short. History will remember him as a great writer of Urdu.

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KHIZIR FAROOQI Feb 02, 2016 10:51pm

WE HAVE MISSED A GREAT URDU FICTION WRITER.

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Ras Siddiqui Feb 02, 2016 11:55pm

One of our giants of Urdu writing has left us. With respect & great sadness we say farewell. He was also an amazing wordsmith in the realm of English writing. I always wished that I could write half as well as Intizar Hussain Sahib (in English). May you Rest In Peace Sir. (correcting a first sentence typo from my previous posting).

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nasiroski Feb 03, 2016 04:16am

Definitely a genuine intellectual of our time,,lost another one, RIP

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Ghulam Ibn-e-Sultan Feb 03, 2016 07:10am

Intezar Hussain was a legend of Urdu language and literature.His sad demise is a great loss for Urdu language.His services for promotion of Urdu language,history,culture and civilization will be remembered for ever.He was pioneer of modern Urdu fiction in Pakistan.As a translator he tried to bring two civilizations closer together.May his soul rest in peace in heaven.

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Ras Siddiqui Feb 03, 2016 08:38am

@Ras Siddiqui Please fix the typo in the first line to "writing" . My fingers are faster than the keyboard response sometimes.

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d.Goel Feb 03, 2016 12:59pm

d.Goel Pkl, Wednesday,February 3, afternoon 2016 Well in literature Janab Intizar Hussain by his Short Stories made definite Mark, he portrayed Reality as it appeared to common Readers...He shall be seen as a paragon of understatement. Many Indians would read his work in Nagri Script and Hindi Renderings... D.Goel

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Rashna Feb 03, 2016 06:05pm

It was rather sad that i learnt of this talented man after his passing.... however a great craftsman always lives on through his work and that is a comforting thought.

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ASAD UR REHMAN BAJWA Feb 04, 2016 02:01am

Live if you will die tomorrow. Learn as if you will live forever.

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Ayub Aulia Feb 04, 2016 04:03am

I knew Intizar Hussain Sahib since late 1950's. He was a great friend of my English language lecturer Muzaffar Ali Syed and my friend Munir Shaikh of Gujranwala, another fiction writer. I had known him from early days of Pak Tea House London. He used to sit with Nasir Kazmi, Ahmed Mushtaq, Anjum Roomani, Shahzad Ahmed and Shohrat Bokhari. Those were the good days of Urdu literature, thriving bustling with creative controversies, arguments, gossips, stories, modern fiction and poetry. Lahore was full of stalwarts like A S Bokhari< Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik, M D Taseer, Charagh Hasan Hasrat, Syed Abid Ali Abid, Faiz and Chughtai. Intizar Hussain was a gem amongst them. RIP. AYUB AULIA_London

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