Hajra Masroor ( ur, ; born 17 January 1930, died 15 September 2012) was a Pakistani writer. Masroor established herself with her short fiction stories, known as afsana in Urdu literature. Her elder sister, Khadija Mastoor was also an accomplished short story writer and novelist.

Personal life

Hajra Masroor was born on 17 January 1930 in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, India to Dr. Syed Tahoor Ali Khan who was a British Army medical doctor. and had suddenly died after a heart attack. She had five sisters including another well-known writer Khadija Mastoor and a younger brother, Khalid Ahmad who also became a poet, playwright and a newspaper columnist. Her family was mainly raised by her mother. She began writing from her early childhood. After independence of Pakistan in 1947, she and her sisters migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, and settled in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. An Urdu writer in his book wrote that no one knew Hajra was engaged with famous Urdu poet

Sahir Ludhianvi Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet and film song lyricist who wrote primarily in Urdu in addition to Hindi. His work influenced Indian cinema, i ...

but once in a literary gathering Ludhianvi pronounced a word wrongly, Hajra criticised him, he got angry and engagement was broken. Later, she married Ahmad Ali Khan, who was the editor of daily

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

for 28 years. They were married for 57 years before he died in 2007. They have two daughters. She was younger sister of Khadija Mastoor, a noted writer in the history of

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and '' nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of ...

Career

Hajra Masroor began writing short stories from an early age. Her short stories published in the literary magazines had received high appreciation from

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi ( ur, ) born Ahmad Shah Awan ( ur, ) (20 November 1916 - 10 July 2006) was an Urdu language Pakistani poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist and short story author. He wrote 50 books on topics such as poetry, fictio ...

. Qasmi was also a friend of hers and her sister. She made her place in the history of Urdu literature and Urdu fiction with bold imagination and writing of short stories in a non-traditional way. She wrote simple yet effective prose, had a down-to-earth style of writing. She wrote several books of short stories in which she raised the social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men. Hajra Masroor was one of the torchbearer of the

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

as well as one of the pioneers of feminism in the subcontinent.

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1995 by the President of PakistanProfile and books of Hajra Masroor on goodreads.com website
Retrieved 24 June 2019 *'' Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab Award''.

Death and legacy

Hajira Masroor died on 15 September 2012 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, Pakistan.

Bibliography

Short stories * ''Chand Ke Doosri Taraf'' چاند کی دوسری طرف * ''Tisri Manzil'' تیسری منزل * ''Andhere Ujale'' اند ھیرے اُجالے * ''Choori Chupe'' چوری چُھپے * ''Ha-ai Allah'' ہائے اللہ * ''Charkhay'' چرکے * ''Woe Log'' وہ لوگ * ''Charagh Ki Lau Per'' چراغ کی لو پر * ''Sargoshian'' سرگوشیان * ''Teesri Manzil'' تیسری منزل

Awards and achievements

References

External links

Awards

Monthly Shair, Mumbai-March 2012-Hajra Masroor

A Rare Picture-Naqoosh-1960

A Rare Family Picture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masroor, Hajra 1930 births 2012 deaths Muhajir people Nigar Award winners Pakistani feminist writers Pakistani magazine editors Pakistani women short story writers Pakistani short story writers Writers from Lahore Writers from Lucknow Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Pakistani women writers 20th-century Pakistani writers Women magazine editors