It was with a heavy heart that I received a message from Amjad Tufail that Nasreen Anjum Bhatti was no more. I know that she lived before Queen Mary College in Daultana House and each time I passed on that road, I wanted to meet her. I had dropped her a few times outside the lane leading to her house on way back from Radio Pakistan, Lahore. I remember the days when she with her best friends Shaista Habib (later became wife of Fakhar Zaman) used to share a room at Radio Pakistan. Once Munir Niazi walked in with a piece of paper in his hand, visibly excited as he had written a ghazal ‘Bechain Buhut Phirna Ghabraei Hue Rehna’ and handed it over to Nasreen for recording. Nasreen gave it to music composer Mian Sheherar who composed it for me and it was recorded the day after. It was much later that Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali sang it with some variations in tune and that item became a hit. Such are the fond memories I share with Nasreen. When I came to know of her ailment I telephoned her and she sounded very brave and told me ‘Main theek aan’ (I am fine). She mentioned that she was being treated at Ghurki Hospital. During this time, it was reported in a leading English daily “Once active and energetic, Punjabi poet Nasreen Anjum Bhatti has now become frail and weak to such an extent that it has become difficult to even recognize her. Well known for composing poetry of resistance, especially during Zia’s dictatorial rule, Bhatti is suffering from ovarian cancer. Diagnosed a few months ago with the cancer, which is spreading rapidly, Bhatti has now gone for chemotherapy which will help shrink the tumour. She is being looked after by her sister, Parveen who said that at first we tried to go for a surgery but the doctor strictly advised against it because of her frail health. The good part is that we have been doing chemotherapy for the past two weeks and she has begun to feel much better since then. Her regular energy seems to be returning”.
Nasreen was a poet with distinct accent. Naturally so, it was only she who could say lines like ‘Ve kehra aei meri aandran naal manji unan waala?’ (Who is there who desires to weave the bed with my intestines?). Even her appearances in Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq made her popular with younger generation of poets and writers. She was a renowned poet, radio broadcaster and political activist Nasreen Anjum Bhatti was born in Quetta and raised in a Christian, art-friendly environment.
Her first book of Punjabi poetry Neel KaraeaaN NeelkaaN was published in 1979 when Dictator General Zia-ul-Haq had come to power. This book has been organized in sections with thirty-two different poems but it reads as a one long poem composed in a lengthy monologue. Overpowered by the muse of poetry, it turns out to be an extremely emotional piece of writing that is full of rage and rebellion. Poems oscillate from one expression to another, making each line a separate poem in itself. It is penetrating poetry that brutally exposes a stinking socio-political order and laments a damned era. Feminism was one of her cries from heart; pure, genuine and rooted in the native soil.
MaaN mainu fair jamm tay reejh kar kay jam pachtãva kar kay nahi
(mother, give birth to me once again, not as a regret but with love)
DhiyyaN kioN jammiãN ni ma’ay, puttar kioN jammay jehRay Punnu ho ga’ay
(It is not daughters but sons that became Punnoo)
Dullia Ladhi nu aakh ik dhee jammay, main kiklee pavNi ay.
(Give birth to a daughter, I shall dance with joy)
Neel KaraeaaN NeelkaaN was reprinted in 2003 by Suchet Kitab Ghar, containing her most read and loved poem “Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto di vaar” that was written immediately after Bhutto’s hanging. This eulogy was composed in an unending lyric of longing, liberation and loss.
Nasreen always spoke high of her friends. She is grateful to Najm Hosain Syed, who encouraged her to go for innovative experiments amid hostile criticism from literary pundits. She spoke high of Izzat Majeed, a fellow Punjabi poet and Mushtaq Soofi. When I informed friends of her demise, I received condolences from Muhammad Azam Khan, Retired Controller radio Pakistan, Lahore, Shujaat Hashmi, veteran actor and TV/Radio personality, Mushtaq Soofi Saheb and others. Khalid Asghar Retired Station Director, Radio Pakistan, Lahore wrote “I am shocked with the news. She was my batch-mate and we were interviewed the same day for the post of Producer at radio Pakistan in 1970. Very sad. It is Will of Allah”. May her soul rest in peace. Ameen! Such personalities are rarely born. It is a pity that none of government bodies offered her help due to bureaucratic hurdles even if some meant to help her.