Mumtaz Mufti remembered

Islamabad: Famous writer Mumtaz Mufti was remembered on Monday on the occasion of his birth anniversary.Mumtaz Mufti was born in Batala, September 11, 1905 in east Punjab. He was employed as a civil servant under British rule, but had earlier started his career as a school teacher.

Soon after partition in 1947, he migrated to Pakistan with his family. Mumtaz Mufti had started writing Urdu short stories while working as a school teacher prior to 1947. In the beginning of his literary career, he was considered, by other literary critics, a non-conformist writer having liberal views, who appeared influenced by the psychologist Freud.

The two phases of his life are witnessed by his autobiographies, ‘Ali Pur Ka Aeeli’ (1961) and ‘Alakh Nagri.’According to forewords mentioned in his later autobiography, ‘Ali Pur Ka Aeeli’ is an account of a lover who challenged the social taboos of his times, and ‘Alakh Nagri’ is an account of a devotee who is greatly influenced by the mysticism.

The book ‘Talaash’ (quest) was the last book written by Mumtaz Mufti.It highlights the true spirit of Quranic teachings.Mumtaz Mufti won Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 1986 and Munshi Premch and Award (a literary award from India) in 1989.

Besides ‘Ali Pur Ka Aeeli’ and ‘Alakh Nagri’ his literary works include ‘Doctor ka istemaal’, ‘Ram Din’, ‘Un Kahi’, ‘Chup Guria Ghar’, ‘Ismaraeen’, ‘Kahi NaJai’, ‘Labbaik’, a report on his Haj pilgrimage, ‘Muftianey’, ‘Nizam e Sakaa’, ‘Roughani Putlay’, ‘Samay Ka Bandhan’, ‘Hind Yaatra’, ‘Piyaaz Ke Chhilkay’, ‘Okhay Awallay’, ‘Aur Okhay Log’ and ‘Talash’.He died on October 27, 1995.