Kashmiri Lal Zakir (7 April 1919 – 31 August 2016) was an Indian poet, novelist, dramatist and short story writer 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 t ...

. His career—which started with his first

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

published in ''Adabi Duniya'', a publication from

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. ...

, in the 1940s—encompasses novels, dramas, short stories and travelogues. Zakir served the Punjab Education Department in then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and had been involved with Haryana Urdu Academy for a number of years as its chairman. He has written in Hindi and Urdu, including ''Tin cihre ek saval'', a ghazal anthology, ''Ab Mujhey Sone Do'', a novel and ''Aey Mao Behno Betiyo'', a collection of articles. Zakir is a recipient of the honour of Fakhr-e-Haryana from the

Government of Haryana The Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian literature. Zakir died on 31 August 2016 at the age of 97.KL Zakir, doyen of Urdu literature, dead at 97
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References

1919 births 2016 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Urdu-language poets from India Indian male novelists Indian male short story writers Indian male essayists Indian male poets Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian essayists 21st-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian essayists Novelists from Haryana 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers Dramatists and playwrights from Haryana Poets from Haryana Writers from Jammu and Kashmir Novelists from Jammu and Kashmir Poets from Jammu and Kashmir Urdu-language travel writers Indian travel writers Writers from Chandigarh People from Gujrat District {{India-writer-stub