Urdu writer, satirist Mujtaba Hussain passes away at 84

HYDERABAD: Leading Urdu writer, satirist and humourist Mujtaba Hussain passed away in Hyderabad on Wednesday. He was 84. He was a rare breed of Urdu litterateur, who stood for human, societal, democratic and cultural values.
Mujtaba had returned the Padma Shri, which he got in 2007, in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He had announced that he was pained at the loss of democratic values.Mujtaba said he was not able to laugh in these times where “democratic values have no meaning.”
Mujtaba authored over two dozen books and carved out a niche for himself in humour and satire in Urdu literature. He presented a rare dimension of humour in Urdu literature and received 13 awards.
Born on July15, 1936, in Hyderabad, Mujtaba had witnessed some of the major events unfolding in the princely Hyderabad state and later Hyderabad state and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Syed Inam-ur-Rahman Ghayur, senior writer and expert on Hyderabad history, heritage and culture, said Mujtaba had felt mighty pleased on getting the Padma Shri, but did not hesitate to return the award as a mark of protest against the policies of the ruling dispensation.
“Unarguably amongst the tallest of his peers in his field, Mujtaba made us hold our head high with pride. Once a treasure trove of talented people, Hyderabad, especially in the field of Urdu, is fast running out of top quality literateurs,” Ghayur said. A thorough gentleman, Mujtaba had endeared himself with everyone he had met in his literary career spanning over six decades.