Sajad Baqir Rizvi was remembered by his contemporaries and students on Tuesday, on the eve of his 83rd birthday, when a collection of his translations compiled by Asma Asghar was launched.
Students and fellows of Baqir paid tribute to his services to Urdu literature and criticism and the affection he extended to his students. The ceremony was attended by famous columnist Ajmal Niazi, scholars Dr Mehdi Hassan and Dr Arifa Syeda, writers Ahmed Aqeel Robi, Tabassum Kashmiri, Qazi Javed, Razi Aabdi and a number of his students. Renowned Scholar Dr Mehdi Hassan, recalling the days of his service at the Punjab University, said Baqir and he had one thing in common, which was opposition to the university’s establishment.
If universities had more teachers like Baqir, Pakistan would have been a better place, he said, adding that in a country with teachers, poets, journalists and intellectuals such as Baqir, Ahmed Shah Bokhari, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sufi Tabassum, Nisar Usmani and Mazhar Ali Khan, the menace of intolerance ought to have been obliterated.
