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Ahmad Rahi Passes Away
News Coverage
The News,
September 2, 2002
LAHORE: A golden
era of Punjabi poetry ended with the death of Ahmad Rahi after a protracted
illness at a private hospital early on Monday morning. Rahi, 78, is
survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
"Pride of
Performance" Ahmad Rahi was laid to rest at Miani Sahib graveyard
late in the evening, a place where his two close associates Khawaja
Khurshid Anwar and Masood Pervez had been buried. His funeral was
attended by a large number of government functionaries, prominent
literati, friends and relatives.
Late Rahi's Qul
will be held at his residence: 26-Park Lane Temple Road Lahore after Asr
prayers on Tuesday (today). Ahmad Rahi was born in Amritsar (India) on
November 12, 1923. His real name was Ghulam Muhammad and he adopted Rahi
as his pen-name.
After partition,
Ahmad Rahi and his family migrated to Pakistan and heavily contributed to
enrich the Punjabi literature and the history of Pakistan's film
industry. He was one of the great poets the Punjabi language has ever
seen. The Punjabi poetry suffered with the demise of poet, lyricist and
writer Ahmad Rahi. His poetry directly touched the sensibility of the
Punjabi readers.
In 1952, Ahmad Rahi
wrote his first Punjabi poetry collection "Taranjan", which was
also taught at Postgraduate, CSS and PhD level in the country. He had
written about 1,900 songs out of which 1,700 were sung by late
Malika-e-Tarannum Noor Jehan that would forever enrich the Pakistani
films. His songs that became instant hits included "Sun Wanjali Di
Mitharri Taan Way", "Koi Nawan Lara La Kay Menu Rol Ja",
"Buray Naseeb Meray", "Chanda Toree Chandani",
"Chan Mahi Aa Teri Rah Payee Tak Ni Aan", "Dil Kay Afsanay
Nigahon Ki Zuban Tak Puhnchay", etc.
He had also written
scripts for over 250 films, after he started his film career with Sa'adat
Hasan Manto's written movie "Bailee". Many of his films
received mega success in the history of Pakistani cinema. The famous
films for which he wrote songs included Heer Ranjha, Mirza Jutt, Sassi
Punnu, Yakkay Wali, Guddo, Mehndi Walay Hath, Sardar, Azad, Baaji, Choo
Mantar etc.
Talking to The
News, Ahmad Rahi's son Suleman Rahi said that his father was a great
human being besides being one of the stalwarts of the Punjabi poetry. He
said that his father had devoted his life to literature as he had
contributed more than five decades of his life to music and film
industry. He said that Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra had also offered
Ahmad Rahi to write lyrics for his film Silsila, but he turned down the
offer saying that he could never even think of deserting his country.
However, he said that his father was disappointed with the attitude of
the government as he had started to believe that "there is no
respect for human beings".
Meanwhile, Governor
Khalid Maqbool, Information Minister Prof Mahmood Ahmad, Secretary
Shaukat Ali Shah and DGPR Mansoor Suhail, in their separate condolence
messages, expressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over the sad demise of
Rahi. They observed that Rahi gave a new creative vision to the Punjabi
poetry, which distinguished him as a prominent poet of his era. The
country has lost a renowned poet, lyricist, writer, producer and director
with the death of Ahmad Rahi, who had made significant contributions to
the field of Punjabi poetry, literature and culture, they maintained.
They said that
Ahmad Rahi's services would be long remembered and prayed for eternal peace
to the departed soul and grant of courage and fortitude to the members of
the bereaved family. Pakistan Academy of Letters has also condoled his
death.
The Nation, Lahore, September 2, 2002
LAHORE — One of the greatest Punjabi poets of the 20th
century and lyricist Ahmed Rahi passed away here on Monday after
prolonged illness. He was 79.
He had respiratory problems and was suffering from a number of diseases
including diabetes. He was admitted to Mayo Hospital on August 25 after
renal infection and loss of memory. He was shifted to Akram Medical
Complex on August 29 where he expired on Monday.
He was born in Amritsar on November 12, 1923. Ahmed Rahi wrote songs for
82 films which were sung by legendary singers like Madam Noor Jehan. He
wrote three books ‘Tiranjan’, ‘Nimmi Nimmi Wah’ and ‘Rut Aiy Rut Jai’. He
wrote ‘Tiranjan’ about the sufferings of women during riots following the
partition. His first song was for film ‘Baily’. His songs in films ‘Yakay
Wali’, ‘Mahi Munda’, ‘Mirza Jut’, ‘Heer Ranjha’, ‘Cho Mantar’ and ‘Riaz
Gujjar’ have become golden hits for all times. His last song ‘Dil Lay Ja
Nikki Jai Haan Kar Kay’ of film Nikki Jai Haan was also a mega hit.
His Namaz-i-Janaza was held at Bilal Masjid, Temple Road and buried at
Miani Sahib graveyard. His funeral prayer was attended by PTV Programme
Manager Syed Zahid Aziz, Mustafa Qureshi, Hasan Askri, Khawaja Pervez,
Wajahat Atray and others.
Daily Times, September 2, 2002
LAHORE: Renowned poet Ahmed Rahi died on Monday morning. He had
been admitted to Mayo Hospital on August 25 and after four days shifted
to a private hospital where he passed away.
A close associate of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s, Mr Rahi had been suffering from
paralysis for the last several months. Earlier this year, his Temple Road
house caught on fire that most of his belongings were destroyed. The poet
was hugely dejected after the fire and shifted to a cantonment house with
his family. He stayed there until he was admitted to Mayo Hospital.
Mr Rahi’s remarkable contribution to the Pakistani film industry as a
first-rate songwriter is most valuable; he wrote about around 1,900
songs. The rapes of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu women during Partition is best
described by two literary characters – one was from Amritsar in Saadat
Hasan Manto’s “Khol do” and the other was Mr Rahi’s “Tirinjan” from his
collection of Punjabi poetry. Mr Rahi’s second collection “Nimmi Nimmi
Wah” again focused on women and their roles in society as lovers,
daughters and sisters was well portrayed by him. Mr Rahi was born on
November 12, 1923 in Amritsar and wrote several books, three of which are
fairly well known, including, “Tiranjan”, “Nimmi Nimmi Wah” and “Rut Aiy
Rut Jai”.
Pakistan Academy of Letters Chairman Iftikhar Arif has expressed profound
grief over the sad demise of Mr Rahi. Mr Rahi is survived by a son, a
daughter, and his widow. He was buried in Miani Sahib graveyard on Monday
night. Family sources said Qul would be held at 26-Park Lane, Temple
Road, opposite Mozang Police station on Tuesday (today) afternoon.
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