Women Urdu poets used ghazals to rake up social issues

Famous women poets such as Parveen Shakir, Kishwar Naheed, activist Fahmida Riyaz and Zehra Nigar, in the late 20th century entered the male domain of Urdu poetry and altered the scenario.
Feminist poetess and activists from Pakistan used ghazals -a poetic form comprising a collection of couplets - to give voice to a variety of issues like female foeticide, live-in relations, prostitution, dowry and materialisation of marriage as well as seeking an end to all forms of sexism.
Till then Urdu ghazals and poetry were considered a medium of male-dominated society to marvel at the beauty of women, while often stereo typing them as cruel beloved.

The contribution of female poetess in ameliorating the plight of women in Pakistan was recalled recently by Saif Mahmood of South Asia Alliance for Literature, Art and Culture (SAALARC).
"Earlier Urdu poetry always used to be woman-centric. It was filled with descriptions of women. Either the woman was a cruel beloved or she used to be the one whose beauty can't be described in words," said Mahmood.
Mahmood recited gazals penned by female Urdu poets at an event held here recently dedicated to 'Feminism Beyond Boundaries' and inspired by 20th Century Pakistani gazal writer Kishwar Naheed's 'Hum Gunahgaar Auratein: We Sinful Women'.

Kishwar Naheed is among the best-known contemporary woman poets of Pakistan who "advocated the freedom of women."
"Her poetry insists for the rights for women in Pakistan," said Mahmood.