By Amer Malik
LAHORE: Alys Faiz, prominent columnist, political worker and widow of legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, passed away on Wednesday after a protracted illness. She was 88.
On Wednesday morning she became very ill and was taken to Ittefaq Hospital where she breathed her last at around 11:00am. She left behind two daughters Salima Hashmi, former principal National College of Arts, and Moneeza Hashmi, former general manager PTV Lahore centre.
Her funeral procession was taken from her residence in Model Town here, and she was laid to rest at a local graveyard, where her husband Faiz Ahmad Faiz was buried 18 years ago, in the presence of a large number of mourners.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, PPP (SB) Punjab President Dr Mubashar Hasan, PPP leader Syed Afzal Haider, human rights activist IA Rehman, noted architect Nayyar Ali Dada, senior journalists Hussain Naqi, Rashid Rehman, Sarwat Ali, Punjab Arts Council Executive Director Khawaja Tahir Jamil, DGPR Shoaib Bin Aziz, Shah Taj Qazilbash, Hina Jilani, Faryal Gauhar and many others were prominent among who attended the funeral procession.
Talking to The News Foreign Minister Kasuri said an era has ended with the death of Alys Faiz, adding that she rendered meritorious services as a social and political worker. Kasuri said the sad demise of Mrs Faiz is an irreparable loss for the bereaved family and prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace.
Alys Faiz was born in 1915 in London and was associated with the communist movement in Britain. Later she came to the Indian sub-continent along with her sister, Chris George, in late 1930s. She married Faiz Ahmad Faiz after embracing Islam and became Kulsoom Faiz. Their Nikah was solemnised by Sheikh Abdullah in Srinagar in 1941. Meanwhile, her sister, Chris, who was named Bilqees Taseer after converting to Islam, married with MD Taseer, a friend of Faiz Ahmad Faiz and father of a former federal minister and ex-PPP legislator. Their Nikah was solemnised by Allama Iqbal in Lahore.