Fehmida Riaz, The True Godess Of Undauntable Spirit And Everlasting Truth!

The quest for truth is the eternal search for all living souls. There are billions of us humans who just pass through life in a daze. We neither think  nor look for answers and life just passes by quickly uneventfully. Such people are ordinary, nameless, face less in the vast sea of humanity. Then there are a few, who are alive , thinking, questioning. These people struggle, sacrifice, stand up to fight for the underdog, the supressed , the 'mazloom'.Such are the great souls that stand tall above all .
Fehmida Riaz  is one such great , fighter and tall "devi' in poetry and spirit. She stood up for the supressed, poets in Sindh and all of Pakistan. She fought the injustices, she spoke the truth, under the sword. She was supposedly punished. But was this punishment or a slap on the faces of those who were the tyrants, the evaders of truth, the hiders of truth, the 'mujrims'?
Her eternal quest for truth, her thirst for the right way to the truth led her restless and bold self to face endless challenges. She stands tall both in the literary world in her work and also in the quest of truth and human rights in Pakistan. The verse by another poet ,
 'Mein Kis Ke Haath Pe Apna Lahoo Talaash Karoon,
Tamam Shehr Ne Pehne Huwe Hain Dastane.',

 so aptly represents her feelings as she rightly questions the state of affairs in the current political context. In  a festival ' Shanaakht ' in Karachi , a person was glorifying the association with a violent group proudly in Afghanistan in the past. She could have just listened and not questioned as she was invited to speak in another discussion. But the agony of the untruth tormented her honest soul so much that she seemed pained and mentioned this seemingly negligible behaviour in the forum she was to read from her favorite author. I was so impressed by the honesty of her feelings. She is a rare breed an asset for Pakistan.
Translation of verse mentioned ; On whose soiled hands do I find the stains of blood, my death? Alas the whole city is in collusion, gloved!

"Rijm" (stonong to death), (from her collection, Badan Dareeda);

Pagal Tan Mein Kyun Basti Hai
Yeh Wahshi Tareek Aarzoo
Buhat Qadeem Udaas Aarzoo
Taareeke Mein Chup Jaane Ke
 Ek Lamhe Ko
Ek Lamhe Ko
Rabbe Qahar Yeh Kiya Mojeza Hai
Tera Khalq Kiya Hua Adam
Lazzat e Sang Ka Kyun Khuwahan Hai
Us Ke Sehar Zada Cheekhon Mein
Yeh Kis Barzakh Ka Naghma Hai
Kya Thi Badan Ke Zakhm Ki Lazzat
Betaabi Se Yun Raqsaan Hai
Har Bune Mun Se Surkh Wa Siyah Lahoo Ka Darya Ubal Para Hai!

Translation By Meherzaidi:

Oh how this dark lust, this agitation resides
In my crazy soul,
Ancient,Sad, Desire!
To hide away in the darkness,
Only for a moment, temporary,passing,
Oh, punishing, nurturing God,
Is this a miracle,
This adam, your creation?
Why Does the stoning
Gives him satisfaction, sadistic!
Her screams are a song
Of another world in his ears.
Oh, how a fleeting pleasure of the flesh
Is dancing in the agony of punishment,
While Black And Red blood Flows Through all the pores of her body
Once filled With Pleasure!