Hajra Masroor (; ; 17 January 1930 – 15 September 2012) was a Pakistani writer who 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, British India to Dr. Tahawwar Ahmad Khan, who was a British Army medical doctor, and Anwar Jahan Begum, a published writer. Her father had suddenly died after a heart attack at the young age of 38. She had five sisters, including Khadija Mastoor, and a younger brother, Khalid Ahmad, who also became a poet, playwright and 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, and settled in Lahore. According to an account by an Urdu writer in his book, few knew that Hajra was once engaged to famous Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi. Ludhianvi mispronounced a word at a literary gathering. When Hajra pointed that out, he got angry and the engagement was broken off. Later, she married Ahmad Ali Khan, who was the editor of daily Dawn for 28 years. They were married for 57 years before he died in 2007. They have two daughters.
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 literary circles. She edited literary magazine Naqoosh with Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. 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. Her early collections of short stories included Chirkey (1944), Hai Allah, and Chori Chuppay. Her collected plays were published as Woh Log. She also wrote the script of Suroor Barabankvi’s film Aakhri Station.
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 as well as one of the pioneers of feminism in the subcontinent.
Death and legacy Hajira Masroor died on 15 September 2012 in Karachi, 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
Awards and recognition
Pride of Performance Award in 1995 by the President of PakistanRemembering those who left us this year The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 31 December 2012, Accessed 15 November 2019Profile and books of Hajra Masroor on goodreads.com website. Retrieved 24 June 2019 Aalmi Frogh-e-Urdu Adab Award.
Year Ceremony Work Award 1965 Nigar Awards Aakhri Station Best Scriptwriter
See also List of Pakistani writers List of Urdu language writers List of people from Lahore
References
External links Awards Monthly Shair, Mumbai-March 2012-Hajra Masroor A Rare Picture-Naqoosh-1960 A Rare Family Picture Bengali translation of Hajra Masroor’s (ہاجرہ مسرور) Urdu short story Bandar Ka Ghao (بندر کا گھاؤ):