The Best of Ahmed Faraz
Literary and Political Life
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 Mushaira criticizing the military rule. He stayed for 6 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
has been awarded with numerous national and international awards.
He was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2004, in recognition of his
literary achievements. He returned the award in 2006 after becoming
disenchanted with the government and its policies.
"My conscious will not forgive me if I remained a silent spectator of
the sad happenings around us. The least I can do is to let the
dictatorship know where it stands in the eyes of the concerned citizens
whose fundamental rights have been usurped. I am doing this by returning
the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (civil) forthwith and refuse to associate myself in any way with the regime..." a statement issued by the poet.
About his current writings he says: "I now only write when I am forced
to from the inside. Maintaining a tradition established by his mentor,
the revolutionary Faiz Ahmad Faiz, he wrote some of his best poetry
during those days in exile. Famous amongst poetry of resistance has been
"Mahasara". Faraz was also mentioned by actor Shahzada Ghaffar in the Pothwari/Mirpuri telefilm "Khai Aye O".
Despite his deteriorating health, he was quite active in the Judicial
Crisis, in 2007. He himself joined the lawyers to protest against the
government, and also encouraged his colleagues to do the same.
