Noted Urdu poet and author Tarannum Riyaz passed away on Thursday at a hospital in Delhi, battling COVID-19. Her husband, Riyaz Punjabi, who was former Kashmir University vice-chancellor, had passed away in the city last month.
She had tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on a ventilator for the past few days. Born in Srinagar, Dr Tarannum was a noted Urdu fiction writer and critic and a former newscaster with the All India Radio.
Prasar Bharati News, in a tweet shared the information of her passing away.
She was awarded with the SAARC Literature Award in 2014. She has obtained her master’s degree in Urdu and PhD in Education from the University of Kashmir.
In 2015, she was part of a panel of Urdu writers and poets from India and Pakistan. Salim Saleem, editorial member of Rekhta, said that “she was a well-known figure in the world of Urdu fiction. She penned over 15 books in which she spoke from the perspective of women in a male-dominated society. Her short stories like ‘Shahr’ and ‘Hum to doobe hain sanam’ were great works of literature. She left way too early.”