Ariel to write no more

Karachi

Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, renowned author, scholar, critic, educationist and columnist who was better known by his pen name Ariel, passed away on Wednesday. He was 75.

He was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital and breathed his last after suffering a cardiac arrest.

He has left behind a widow, two sons, three daughters and a brother.

His funeral prayer was offered at Farooq-e-Azam Masjid in North Nazimabad and he was laid to rest at the Sakhi Hassan graveyard. Some prominent figures who participated in the funeral included Naseer Turabi, Ahmed Umar Sharif, Dr Mazhar Jameel, Prof Ali Haider Malick, Shahid Hameed, Mehmood Ahmed Khan, Yousuf Amin, Anwar Jawed Hashmi, Ehtisham Anwar, Salman Siddiqui, Naeem Siddiqui, Feroz Bakhat, Iqbal Nazar, Dr Arshad Javed Rizvi, Abib Hayyat, Ali Osat Jaffery, A. Khayaam, AR Arif, Nadeem Hashmi, Dr Mazhar Haider, Dr Jamal Naqvi, Zafar Anwar Hameedi, Hayat Rizvi Amrohavi, Dr Jaffer Ahmed, Mubeen Mirza and Iqbal Akhtar Ansari.

Dr Siddiqui’s Soyem will be held on Friday after Jumma prayers at Farooq-e-Azam Masjid. A Quran Khawani will be held at the residence of Dr Siddiqui – A-592, Block J, North Nazimabad – in which women will participate.

Dr Siddiqui’s elder son, Mubashir Siddiqui, said his father had spent more than two weeks at the hospital before passing away.

“My father had complained of chest pain some 22 days ago and he was immediately rushed to a hospital where he received medical assistance at the emergency ward,” he told The News. “Later, the doctors said his condition was stable. He was shifted to the general ward. However, a few days later his condition started deteriorating and he was admitted to the intensive care unit, where he died of a cardiac arrest.”

Accomplishments

Ariel was the central president of the Anjuman Taraqqi Passand Musanifeen.

He was the author of 22 books. He was also decorated with the Pride of Performance Award, the highest civilian honour in the country, as well Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Hilal.

Most of Ariel’s books are about the issues revolving around education and literature.

He had also written around two dozens book on different forms of literature including poetry, short story, novels etc.

He had translated important works from English to Urdu. Ariel had made his mark in writing criticism on Urdu fiction and poetry as a modern critic, but kept pleading the cause of progressiveness and enlightenment in Urdu literature.

He was among the very few progressive critics in the country who remained updated with contemporary literature and literary trends.

He wrote a great deal on classical writers and poets and the contemporary ones.

Ariel also wrote several books on modern criticism while reviewing modern trends in literature, presenting comparisons of different writers. He was a regular columnist in English newspapers for a long time.

Regarded a true critic of modern times in Urdu literature, Ariel never compromised his principles on progressive ideology.

He had rejected the postmodernism movement introduced by some Indian writers.

He believed that all of that material was taken and translated from Western literature by those writers.

Posted in: Karachi News