Afzal Ahsan Randhawa facts for kids

Muhammad Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (born September 1, 1937 – died September 18, 2017) was a famous Pakistani writer, poet, and politician. He wrote many stories and novels in the Punjabi language, like Sooraj Grehan and Doaba. He also translated books and wrote plays. For his amazing writing, he received important awards such as the Pride of Performance and Kamal-e-Fun.

About His Life

Muhammad Afzal Ahsan Randhawa was born on September 1, 1937, in Amritsar, a city that was part of British India at the time. Today, Amritsar is in India. His family belonged to the Randhawa Jat group.

He grew up in a village area near Sialkot district in Pakistan. When he was in high school, he was the editor of his school's magazine. He later went to Murray College in Sialkot. As a student, his writings were published in newspapers and magazines.

After college, he studied law at the Punjab University Law College. There, he was also the editor of the college magazine, Al-Meezan. He married Ayesha Randhawa, who was a teacher at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad. They had four children together: one son and three daughters.

His Career and Achievements

Randhawa was a lawyer and a politician who believed in helping ordinary people. In 1972, he won a special election to become a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He represented the NA-49 area, which was then called Lyallpur (now Faisalabad). He was part of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He helped create the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, which is the main set of rules for how Pakistan is governed. Later, in 1977, he faced some challenges and was stopped from being involved in politics for several years.

Randhawa was well-liked by Sikh people. He spoke out against a military action that happened at the Golden Temple in 1984. He even wrote a poem about it called Navan Ghallughara. His writings were also published in India, translated into the Gurmukhi script.

He received many awards for his literary work. In 1986, he got an international award from a group of Punjabi writers and artists. In 1996, the President of Pakistan gave him the Pride of Performance award. He also received the Kartar Singh Dhaliwal award in 1999.

Randhawa often attended literature festivals and writing events in Pakistan. A famous lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, even quoted Randhawa's poems in his book, The Indus Saga.

In 2014, Randhawa was interviewed by a radio station called Special Broadcasting Service. In 2015, he received the Kamal-e-Fun Award, which is the highest literary award in Pakistan. He also helped open the Lyallpur Sulekh Mela (Lyallpur Literary Festival) in Faisalabad in 2016.

His Writings

Muhammad Afzal Ahsan Randhawa wrote many different types of books. In Punjabi, he wrote four novels, four collections of short stories, and six collections of poetry. He also wrote plays for TV and radio. He translated three African novels, one collection of African poetry, and interviews with world leaders. He even wrote a collection of Urdu poetry.

His first novel, Deeva tey Darya, was published in 1961. It was the first book by a Pakistani writer to be published in India. He won the Adamjee Literary Award for this novel and also for his second Punjabi novel, Doaba, which came out in 1981–82.

His novel Sooraj Grehan, published in 1984, tells a story through letters between two people. His fourth novel, Pundh, was published in 2001.

He also wrote several collections of short stories, including Runn, Talwar Tay Ghora (1973), Randhawa Dian Kahanian (1988), Munna Koh Lahore (1989), and Illahi Mohar (2013). His poetry collections include Raat Daay Char Safar (1975) and Punjab Di Var (1979).

Randhawa also translated famous books into Punjabi. For example, he translated Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart as Tutt Bhaj (1986) and Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold as Maut Da Roznamcha (1993).

His Passing

Muhammad Afzal Ahsan Randhawa passed away in Faisalabad, Pakistan, on September 18, 2017. He was 80 years old. He was buried in the Qaim Sain Graveyard in Ghulam Muhammad Abad, Faisalabad, next to his son and wife.

After his death, Fakhar Zaman, who leads the World Punjabi Congress, said that Randhawa's poetry and stories were very influential. He noted that Randhawa was one of the few writers who was equally popular in both Pakistan and India.