Nisar Muhammad Khan, playwright, remembered

SWABI: Local politicians and intellectuals on Saturday visited the residence of noted playwright and director Nisar Muhammad Khan in Shahmansoor town to pay tributes to him.

Nisar Muhammad passed away in his native Shahmansoor village on Friday after battling cancer for five years. He was 78.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at Shahmansoor. Artistes, politicians, officials and local people attended his funeral prayer.

He is survived by a widow, two sons and nine daughters to mourn his death. The illness forced him to curtail his activities and stay at home.

The visitors said that no one could forget the tremendous contribution of the playwright to the Pashto film industry.

Noorul Amin Yousafzai, a prominent writer said: “No one can forget the contribution of Nisar Muhammad to the Pashto language.”

Muhammad Jamil, advocate and columnist, said though Nisar Muhammad had passed away, he would always be remembered by the Pakhtuns for his services for promotion of the Pashto language. He said the void created by his death could not be filled as he was an asset to the Pakhtuns.

Masood Jabbar of Qaumi Watan Party said the Pakhtun intellectuals should learn a lesson from Nisar Muhammad who managed to balance work and family commitments.

‘It was a surprise for me when I came to know that he authored two books, worked as a director in Radio Pakistan Peshawar station and acted in two Pashto films,” he added.

Nisar Muhammad received his early education in Swabi and graduated from the Postgraduate College in Mardan. He joined Radio Pakistan Karachi as newsreader and translator.

Later, he did his masters in Pashto from the University of Peshawar as a private candidate. He worked on different positions in Radio Pakistan and was appointed as station director at the Peshawar Centre.

He wrote several Pashto dramas for the Peshawar centres of Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television. He directed many plays, winning the best drama writer award in 2002. He penned scripts and storylines for about 60 Pashto movies.

He also wrote two exceptional books, one on the life of Hazrat Bilal (RA) and the other on Pashto music titled Speen Tumbal. He also wrote the stories of two famous Pashto films, Orbal and Makhroor. He set new trends in Pashto film making. Music and drama were his great strengths.

In Orbal, he played the role of an inspector with famous actor, late Badar Munir, and in Makhroor he played the role of villain with Asif Khan.