Noted Urdu writer, editor and documentary film-maker, Sadia Dehlavi passed away on Wednesday (Aug 5). She is survived by her son Arman Ali Dehlavi. Sadia, 63, lost a prolong battle with cancer at her Delhi home. She was the editor of once famous Urdu magazine for women, Bano, and hailed from the family of Yusuf Dehlavi, her grandfather.
Yusuf Dehlavi launched famous Urdu magazine on film, Shama, way back in 1943. Sadia’s family remained in Delhi after the partition, though she herself was married to a Pakistani. However, the couple later separated. Sadia wrote several books including Sufism: The Heart of Islam and The Sufi Courtyard: The Dargahs of Delhi.
She also made a TV serial with noted English writer and journalist, Khushwant Singh, with whom she was much close.Though she and her family were considered quite progressive, Sadia would often come to the rescue of Muslim culture and ethos.
More than a decade back she appeared in a television studio to join a panel discussion clad in a burqa. The discussion was obviously on the controversy involving purdah and Sadia wanted to put her point. She made it clear that one has every right to chose one’s dress.
