Daily Times

Renowned Urdu and Punjabi poet, Munir Ahmed Niazi was remembered on his 12th death anniversary on Wednesday with solemnity.

Munir Niazi was born on April 19, 1928 in a village near India’s Hoshiarpur. He attained his early education from Khanpur and completed his matriculation in Sahiwal after the partition.

He completed his intermediate from SE College, Bahawalpur. Later he did his BA degree from Diyal Singh College, Lahore. Niazi proved himself as one of Pakistan’s famous movie songwriters. He also wrote a number of pieces for newspapers and radio. Niazi was able to captivate writers and poets through his writings.

He launched a weekly ‘Saat Rang’ from Sahiwal in 1949. He also established a publication institute Al Misal in 1960 and remained associated with Lahore Television and lived in Lahore until his death. His poetry influenced an entire generation of young writers and poets. His works include Dushmanoon Key Darmiyan, Mah-e-Munir, Aghaz-e-Zamastan Main Dobara and Aik Musalsal.

Munir deeply influenced his contemporaries and later generations of poets and is respected by the reading public. His works have been translated into many other languages. For his literary achievements, Niazi was awarded Kamal-e-Funn Award for the year 2002 by Pakistan Academy of Letters and the President’s Award for Pride of Performance in 1992 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1998.

He passed away of respiratory illness on December 26, 2006 in Lahore.

Published in Daily Times, December 28^th 2018.