Noted Urdu poet Khawaja Reazuddin Atash was remembered Sunday on his 22nd death anniversary among the literary circles and tributes were paid for his services to Urdu literature including language and poetry.
Atash belonged to a literary family hailing from Delhi and Azimabad, Bihar and following political and civil unrest in the then East Pakistan, Atash migrated to Karachi.
He started writing poetry from an early age and participated actively in ‘mushairas’ and literary sittings. Atash wrote ghazals, nazms and hamd-o-naat and authored books on the Urdu language. He published the biography of Urdu poet Dr. Mubarak Azimabadi titled “Daagh ka Akhri Charagh”, a disciple of Daagh Dehlavi.
His notable work includes “Urdu ka Shajra-e-Nasab”, a linguistic research and reference work on the Urdu language, and “Urdu Dushman Tehreek ke Sau Saal”, a collection of investigative papers and articles about anti-Urdu movements. He published his poems in three volumes that included “Saughat-e-Junoon” – a collection of ghazals, “Jashn-e-Junoon” – a collection of nazms, and “Vird-e-Nafas” – a collection of Hamd-o-Naat.
He also wrote lyrics for film songs and commercial jingles. He founded “Bazm-e Sukhan” in Dhaka, Karachi and Chicago.
He was accorded several literary awards, including the AMUAAGC Ghalib Award for his lifelong literary services. Atash died in January 2001 at Chicago.—APP
