Pakistan mourns dead playwright

Mr Ahmad won acclaim as a trendsetter

The renowned Pakistani playwright, Ashfaq Ahmad, has died of cancer aged 80 at his home in the city of Lahore.

Among those paying tribute to him was Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who described him as an outstanding artist, broadcaster and intellectual.

He said that Mr Ahmad was a reformer, constantly able to highlight thought provoking issues in his plays.

Mr Ahmad will also be remembered for his humorous and satirical treatment of social and political concerns.

Urdu literature

Ashfaq Ahmad made his name as a short story writer.

He spent his early life in undivided Punjab, where his father was a government employment.

The BBC's Shahid Malik in Lahore says that at the time of partition in 1947, Mr Ahmad was a student of Government College, Lahore, from where he graduated with a Masters in Urdu literature.

Later, he did a post-graduate diploma in Italian, and taught Urdu to university students in Italy.

He became a well-known literary figure in 1953, when one of his short stories was written against the backdrop of partition.

This was followed by dozens of other short stories.

During the 1960s, he started a weekly radio feature that offered humorous and satirical treatment of social and political issues. Later he wrote for Pakistani TV.

Our correspondent says that although some of his plays were deeply philosophical, Mr Ahmad won acclaim as a trendsetter, and in later years became increasingly involved in mysticism.

But our correspondent says that his personality offered a happy blend of spiritual and worldly trends.

Mr Ahmad is survived by his wife - the well-known novelist Bano Qudsia - and three grown-up sons.