An online session was organized at the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi’s Joshmlihabadi Library in memory of Indian Urdu critic, dramatist, and intellectual Shamim Hanafi.
Expressing his view online from India on the occasion poet Ranjeet Singh Chohan said, I can’t express how saddened I am to hear the loss of. He was my companion; the last time when he traveled to Pakistan I accompanied him. He will always be remembered.
Remembering the demised soul, Dr. Ambreen Haseeb Amber said, as brilliant and exacting as he was with poetry, Hanafi was a gentle, kind soul in his personal life. She said that he always gave out his honest opinions on creative work. “Hanafi was saddened that Urdu dramatists didn’t narrate the drama as it should have been, he himself wrote many plays in Urdu and Hindi language also he translated many plays from the Persian language,” said Dr. Ambreen
Joining from India, Khalid Javed said that commenting on a personality like Shamim Hanafi was not only difficult but impossible, he was a father figure to me and my mentor, His death is a great loss to Urdu literature. I was treated like a family member in his house. Recalling the memories of Hanafi Mr. Javed further said, he was an art lover, he loved theatre, music, paintings, he wrote many plays for radio also he had a huge circle of artists around him.
Addressing the event online, Pakistani playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed was grateful to the Arts Council for organizing this event and gathering Hanafi’s friends on a platform. “I have known him for 50 years, the last time when he came to Pakistan; he told me “this is my last journey, I won’t come again”
Recalling his first meeting with Hanafi, Mubeen Mirza said, I first met him in the 1st Internation Urdu Conference, held at Arts Council. In the last thirteen years, Mr. Hanafi was a frequent participant of the Urdu Conference, and now as he is no longer among us, he will surely be missed. We have lost many great personalities in this epidemic.
Nasir Abbas Nayyar while reminiscing about Shamim said that he was not only a man of literature also had a deep connection with art. He was a nature lover he loved to be quiet and himself. His reticence was a mark of his personality.
Concluding the event chairperson of the literary committee of the Arts Council, Dr. Ambreen paid regards to all the participants on the behalf of Ahmed Shah, president of the council.
