Remembering Ziaul Haq Qasmi

More than two years have passed when Ziaul Haq Qasmi left this world for never to come back again. He was not only a renowned poet and columnist but a very good human being. He was considered to be a pioneer comic poet having a specific style as his poetry conveyed serious messages in humorous manner. No doubt his death had deprived the nation of a unique poet of Urdu language. He possessed a live personality and an ever fresh look. He was not only liked by the thousands of his fans but was greatly respected by the poetic and literary circles as well.

Ziaul Haq Qasmi's biggest contribution to Urdu literature was the efforts that he made to lift up the stature of humorous poetry to make it into a whole branch of Urdu poetry. His poetry was pure humor and was widely appreciated because of which humorous poetry found its way into electronic media. He organized a regular annual five-day Humorous Poetry Conference, which was attended by famous humorous poets from all over the world. He entered the field of poetry after he turned 40, which was somewhat late. Yet, he was a big name in the field, which speaks high of his capacity. He encouraged humorous poets sprinkled in different areas of the country. This was how he promoted humor and literature both.

He enjoyed a unique style of parody of different poets. He wrote the parody of a famous verse “Main khial hun kisi aur ka mujey soochta koi aur hai” as “Main lehaaf hun kisi aur ka mujey aurta koi aur hai”.
Here are a few couplets from the poetry of late Ziaul Haq Qasmi :
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Ham ko to burhaape ne kahiin kaa bhii na Chhora,
Mehruumii-e-jazbaat ko baithhe hain Chhupaaye!
Khush hote hain ham log, agar koii hasiina
Iss umr mein ham par koii tohmat hii lagaaye!!

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MaiN to cigerette bhii ab nahiin piita,
Yeh dhuaan saa kahan se uthhtaa hai?

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Koii gaahak laut jaaye yeh to mumkin hii nahiN
MaiN ne haasil kar liyaa hai sel-manii mein kamaal
Eik gaahak ko zaruurat toilet paper kii thii
MaiN ne us ko de diyaa hai us ke badle regmaal

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Ehtijaajan ahl-e-basti ne nikaala ik juluus
Jaanib-e-masjid ravaan tha aur bara pur-josh tha
Dekh kar hujare ka manzar sab ke sab hairaan the
Eik cassette baj rahaa tha Molvi khaamosh thaa

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Muflisii ne voh masaaiil ghar mein paidaa kar diye
Budguma mujh se mire munne ki Amma ho gaiin
Le ke bachoN ko chaliin voh aaj maike kii taraf
"Mushkilen mujh par parii itani ke aasaan ho gaiin"

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Hajj adaa karne gayaa tha qaum ka Leader koii
Sang baari ke liye shaitaan kii jaanib gaya
Eik kankar phaikne par yeh nidaa us ne sunii
"Tum to apne aadmi the tum ko aakhir kyaa huaa"

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Ik haseena jab khich kar milli mujh se men ne kahaa
Kyaa zarar pohunche gaa mujh se umr merii dekHye
Jal ke boli umer chaahe kuchh magar aap log
Be-zarar hote hen bas apni begum keliye
*****

He spent his life keeping others happy. He was an asset for the literary world. He was the poet of energetic and joyful feelings. Keeping aside the fact that he was a heart patient, he worked day and night to organize mushairas. The gap created by his death would not be filled for years. The only thing which we can do for him is to remember him through our prayers to Allah Almighty for his bestowing.

He was born in Amritsar (India) on February 5, 1935 and migrated to Karachi along with his family after the creation of Pakistan. His father Maulana Bahauddin Qasmi was one of Amritsar’s eminent religious personalities. He completed his masters in Urdu literature and won wide recognition and acclaim for his comic poetry and also staged television programmes. Among his prominent works were ‘Rag-e-Zarafat’, ‘Zia Pashian’ and ‘Cher Khanian’. He was also the editor of Pakistan’s first serious comic journal ‘Zarafat’. His effort at serious poetry ‘Haray Bharay Zakham’ was also widely acknowledged. He was elder brother of prominent writer, poet and a former ambassador Attaul Haq Qasmi and uncle of columnist Yasir Peerzada. Ziaul Haq Qasmi's passed away in Karachi on October 26, 2006 at the age of 71 years due to cardiac arrest.