Renowned Urdu poetess and activist Fahmida Riaz passed away in Lahore on Wednesday. She was 73.
Riaz was known for her feminist and unconventional views on social taboos and struggled for women empowerment and democracy.
She also served as the head of National Book Foundation, Islamabad.
She left Pakistan for India during the rule of former military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq and returned only after his death.
Fahmida Riaz remained an activist in her academic life. She spoke and wrote against the ban on student politics during General Ayub’s regime. In the 1980s she and her husband lived in exile in India after both of them were jailed by the dictator for their liberal and politically charged views.
