Famous Urdu humorist Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi dies at 94

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan’s renowned Urdu writer and humorist Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi died at the age of 94 after a protracted illness, local media reported on Wednesday.

He had been suffering from multiple diseases for the last several years and breathed his last at a hospital in southern port city of Karachi, local broadcaster Geo News reported quoting his family.

Born in September 1923 in Tonk city of India’s Rajhistan state and later migrated to Pakistan after partition in 1947, Yusufi was one of the pioneers of satire and humor writing in Urdu.

He was famous for his unique writing style, and literary humor, which attracted not only the literary class but also a common Urdu reader.

His books “ Khakum-ba-Dahan”, “Aab-e-Gum”, Zurgazisht” and “Charag Talay” have been best sellers for years.

Poets, writers, critics and readers took to the social media to pay homage to the acclaimed humorist, whose refined satire blows away the boredom and brings smile to the readers’ faces.

“This is a great loss for the whole nation. Our two to three generations have learned the art of writing by reading his books”, Amjad Islam Amjad, a famous poet and writer, told Anadolu Agency.

“This is rightly said that we are living in the Yusufi era of humor”, Amjad added.

Yusufi earned his master degree in Philosophy from Aligarh Muslim University, India, but chose the field of banking to make a living.

He served as head of several national and international financial institutions during his banking career spanned over 40 years.

He was awarded with Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 1999 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2002, the highest literary honor given by the government of Pakistan. He also received Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Medal for his distinguished services in banking.