KARACHI: The eighth death anniversary of renowned Urdu poet Ahmed Faraz is being observed on Thursday. Ahmad Faraz was born in Kohat on 14th January 1931. He was considered one of the greatest modern Urdu poets of the last century. Faraz was his pseudonym ‘takhallus’, 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 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 Musharraf’s government and its policies. Ahmed Faraz, who has been compared with Faiz Ahmed Faiz, holds a unique position as one of the best poets of current times, with a fine but simple style of writing that common people easily understand. Ethnically a Hindko speaking Pashtoon, Ahmed Faraz studied Persian and Urdu at the Peshawar University. He later became a lecturer at the Peshawar University. He died in United States on 25 August 2008.