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Fragments from the body torn: Fahmida Riaz’s fearless legacy

23 22
13.03.2025
“Amma, why do we associate women with love and heartbreak?” my 13-year-old self asked my mother, the reason I know my language. “Because they’re very soft, and they know how to love,” she replied, braiding my hair for school. I had more questions, but she hurried us all to school before I could ask them. But the question never left my mind. Whenever we talk about revolution, independence, politics, communism—anything that alters society—it is associated with men. All the "meaningful" art, the kind that has the potential to change society and people, is linked to male artists, while female poets are often sidelined, their work reduced to themes of love and heartbreak. Personally, I don’t see love as a problem—I believe in it. My issue is with the limitation placed on women’s work. And so, at 13, I began searching for feminist writers. I did not fail. Hence, this International Women's Day, I bring you the first episode of Poetry Beyond Romance, where you embark on a journey to explore poetry through my lens. To begin with, I completely agree with my mother—women do know how to love, and they are very soft. Which is why, no matter what theme they choose for their art, they create magic. My first lesson of ambition, hope, resistance and resilience was Fahmida Riaz, whose poem ‘Kuch Log Tumhe Samjhayengey’ is my guide to life. Defiance, poetry, and unyielding courage Riaz, one of the pioneers of feminist thought in Urdu poetry, was born on July 28, 1946, into a literary family from Meerut, British India. Her father, Riaz-ud-Din Ahmed, an educationist dedicated to shaping Sindh’s modern education system, passed away when she was only four. In the years that followed, it was her mother who raised her, nurturing within her a love for literature. From a young age, Fahmida immersed herself in Urdu and Sindhi poetry, later mastering Persian—an influence that would shape her poetic expression. She took her first steps into the literary world as a newscaster for Radio Pakistan, her voice carrying words that would one day shake the foundations of tradition. Despite her fiery intellect, society still demanded that she conform. After graduating from college, she was persuaded into an arranged marriage and spent years in the United Kingdom with her first husband, working with BBC Urdu and earning a degree in filmmaking. But life had other plans. After a divorce, she returned to Pakistan, reclaiming her independence with her young daughter in tow.........

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