Two great poets, Parveen Shakar, Munir Niazi remembered

Great Urdu poet, teacher and a civil servant, Parveen Shakir, was remembered on her death anniversary on Wednesday.
Parveen Shakir was born on 24th November, 1952 in Karachi. She was highly educated having two masters degrees, one in English literature and one in linguistics. She also held a PhD and another Masters degree in Bank Administration.
She was a teacher for nine years before she joined the civil service and worked in the customs department. In 1986, she was appointed the second secretary CBR in Islamabad.
A number of books of her poetry have been published. In chronological order, they are Khushboo (1976), Sud-Burg (1980), Khud Kalaami (1990), Inkaar (1990) and Maah-e-Tamaam (1994). Her first book, Khushboo, won the Adamjee award. Later, she was awarded with pride of performance award, which is the highest award given by the Pakistan government.
Parveen Shakir initially wrote under the pen name of ‘Beena’. She considered Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi her ‘ustad’ and used to called him ‘Ammujaan’.
On Dec 26th, 1994, Shakir’s car collided with a truck while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death, a great loss to the Urdu poetry world.
Another great Urdu and Punjabi poet Munir Niazi was also remembered on his death anniversary on Wednesday.
Niazi was born in Khanpur on 19 April 1928, a village near Hushiyarpur, India. He was initially educated at Khanpur and after the partition of Sub-continent he migrated to the newly-independent Pakistan and settled in Sahiwal where he passed his matriculation. He earned an intermediate degree from SE College Bahawalpur and a BA from Diyal Singh College in Lahore.
Munir Ahmad, better known as Munir Niazi, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, was one of the best-known and admired Urdu poets from Pakistan who also produced good poetry in the Panjabi language.
Munir Niazi launched a weekly, Saat Rang, from Sahiwal in 1949. He wrote numerous songs for films and made his name as the foremost movie song writer of Pakistan. He also wrote for newspapers, magazines and radio. In 1960, he established a publication institute, Al-Misal. Lately, he remained associated with Lahore television and lived in Lahore till his death.
Munir Niazi died of respiratory illness on 26 December, 2006, in Lahore.