Padmashri awardee and Urdu humour satirist, Mujtaba Hussain is no more

Hyderabad : India's top-notch satirist and Urdu humour writer, Mujtaba Hussain, passed away at his residence in Hyderabad, on May 27th. The man who donned multiple roles was 83. He is survived by wife , two sons and two daughters.

The noted urdu satirist was recently in news when he decided to return his Padma Shri award to the Government of India to register his resentment and protest against the 'communal poison' being injected into the country. He said "I feel suffocated at the growing atmosphere of hatred enveloping the country. I don't want to keep this award anymore. It has lost its value", remarked an agitated Hussain.

The 87-year old writer was bestowed the fourth highest civilian award by the then President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in 2007 for his contribution to humour genre in Urdu literature. Considered the Mark Twain of Urdu, Hussain has been creating ripples of laughter in the sub-continent with his special brand of humour. He has written over 25 books which have been translated into major languages of the world.

His deaths brought back memories of the man, a well-wisher , Mr. Attaullah Mahdi took to social media and said, " Mujtaba Hussain had started his career from Siasat Daily in late 1940s. Later joined Information and public relations department government of united AP, before shifting to Union Information Ministry. Hussain a native of Gulbarga belongs to a well educated writers family. Prominent Pakistani Journalist Ibrahim Jalees and former joint editor of leading Urdu daily Siasat Mahboob Hussain Jigar were his two elder siblings.

He further added, " Mujtaba Hussain literary works were much popular in Urdu and translated in various languages. He wrote Sunday column in the ' SIASAT ' Daily for over four decades. He was much loved and respected for his simplicity and unique style of sarcasm based upon decency and dignity".