Gorakhpur remembers its great son

GORAKHPUR: Death anniversary of Urdu doyen Firaq Gorakhpuri was observed on Tuesday.
Members of Chitransh Samiti, Ganganagar, garlanded the picture of Firaq Gorakhpuri in Basharatpur and also organized a seminar on the life and writings of the renowned poet.
Raghupati Sahai, known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was born on August 28, 1896 in Miyanbazaar in Gorakhpur and died on March 3, 1982 in New Delhi after a long illness.
Apart from being a distinguished Urdu poet, he was also a freedom fighter. Azim Farooqi, a research scholar, said: "People remember Firaq as a great Urdu poet but very few know that he was a great freedom fighter too.
He left his position of deputy collector and became member of Congress party and went jail in 1920 along with Jawaharlal Nehru. He also contested election with Shibbon Lal Saxena's Party in 1952 against Mahant Digvijay Nath, the then head priest of Gorakhnath temple."
He was English lecturer in Allahabad University. He qualified ICS examination but resigned and joined freedom struggle against British rule.
He was awarded Gyanpeeth award, Sahitya Academy award and also Padam Bhushan award in 1969 for his creation 'Gule Nagma'.
U B Sinha, a member of the Samiti, said, "He was a prolific writer of Urdu and English languages.
He made us proud of our city that we belong to the place where Firaq uses to live. He gave international recognition to Gorakhpur."
Rajesh Raj, a poet, said, "Firaq was an institution in himself.
He has command over Urdu, Persian, Hindi and English. Firaq was extremely proud of himself as it could be seen in his couplet, 'Aane wali naslein tum par fakr kareingi Humasron, Jab inn ko yeh dhyaan aayega ke tum ne Firaq ko dekhaa thaa'. He was a great poet but a loner as his personal grief reflected in his poetries.