Death anniversary of Ahmed Faraz on 25th

The death anniversary of Ahmed Faraz‚ one of the greatest Urdu poets of Pakistan‚ will be observed on the 25th of August. Ahmad Faraz was born in Kohat on January 14‚ 1931.
He was considered one of the greatest modern Urdu poets of the last century. Faraz was used as pseudonym by the poet whereas his real name was Syed Ahmad Shah. Outspoken about politics‚ he went into self-imposed exile during the Zia-ul- Haq era after he was arrested for reciting certain poems at a poetry recitation gathering in which he criticized the military rule of that time. He stayed for six years in Britain‚ Canada and Europe before returning to Pakistan‚ where he was initially appointed Chairman Academy of Letters and later chairperson of the Islamabad-based National Book Foundation for several years. He had been awarded with numerous national and international awards.
He was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2004‚ in recognition of his literary achievements. He returned the award in 2006 after becoming disenchanted with the government and its policies.
Ahmed Faraz‚ who had been compared with Faiz Ahmed Faiz‚ held a unique position as one of the best poets of current times‚ with a fine but simple style of writing which could be easily understood by common people.
Faraz was ethnically a Hindko speaking Pashtoon‚ but studied Persian and Urdu at the Peshawar University. He later became lecturer at the Peshawar University.