Rehmat Aziz Chitrali

An Urdu and Khowar poet, Rehmat Aziz Chitrali was born to Dur Khan belonging to the Khow family of the Khoshey clan from Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 25 April 1970. His mother Bibi Hoorana Begum belonged to the Ziley branch of the Riza clan. Dur Khan had two sons and three daughters - Rehmat Aziz is number two among his five siblings.

Rehmat Aziz studied until 10th in Torkhow (now tearus) and was sent to Booni University where he got admission in Government Inter College Booni. After passing his FA examination from this College, he went to Karachi to pursue higher education and got his MA (Master) Degree in Islamic Studies with specialisation in Quran and Tafseer and gained LLB, Library and Information Degree.

He also studied at Federal University of Arts, Science and Technology and Allama Iqbal Open University both in Islamabad. Rehmat Aziz settled in Karachi in 1985 but moved back to Islamabad after his marriage to Hashima Chitrali an Chitral-based teacher in 2007. Now, they have settled in Rech, Chitral.

Rehmat Aziz works as journalist, columnist, linguistic TV show host and Khowar language political analyst. He is the former President of Anjuman-e-Tarraqui-e-Khowar, and Khowar Academy. He is working as the Khowar language Television programme, Chitraro Hawaz (Voice of Chitral), at the AVT Khyber Media Group and also writes Khowar News for Khyber News TV and hosts Chetraro Hawaaz on Khyber News. Previously he has worked in PTV's programme Sunday Brunch with Rashid Sammi.

In April 2009, Rehmat Chitrali joined Khyber News TV, where he hosted the show, Chetraro Hawaz (Voice of Chitral). Due to his open criticism of the corrupt politicians of Pakistan on the show, Rehmat Aziz became a problem for the regime.

He has written many books on prose and poetry. His poetry work has been appreciated by poets and writers of Pakistan. He was at the forefront of the Khowar Language and was most active between 1990 and 2012.

Rehmat Aziz came into the spotlight with his programme Chetraro Hawaz Chitrali Language's longest-running current affairs TV show. His show carried interviews with prominent people from politics, civil life, literature and culture. Politicians, who were interviewed on Chetraro Hawaz included Prince of Chitral Mohiuddin, former Member National Assembly Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Qazi Fazal Elahi, Wing Commandar Fardad Ali Shah, Educationist Syed Wali Shah, Social Worker Sultan Mehmood, Minister for population and Welfare Government of Khyber Pakhtun khwa Saleem Khan, PTV Producer Habib-ur-Rahman, and Ismaili Religious Scholar Syed Amir Shah.

In 1996, a literary organisation named 'Khowar Academy' was formed to struggle for the promotion of the language of Chitral and for the rights of the people of Chitral. He is the president of this organisation and is an active participant. During this time he also briefly held the office of President of Anjuman-e-Tarraquir-e-Khowar in Karachi. The Khow youth elected Rehmat Aziz as General Secretary of this organisation while Ali Afsar Jan Advocate was the President. Rehmat Aziz resigned from his designation to promote the new organisation. Afraid of the popularity of the Anjuman, the anti-chitralis conspired against the Organization.

The candour and frankness of his highly-charged poems is unusual for a young generation writing in Urdu and Khowar language and he has gained a committed national audience, performing at large poetry gatherings in Pakistan. Rehmat Aziz wrote poems in Chitrali, Urdu and Khowar language. Most of his poems are in Khowar and Urdu languages. He was a good friend with Ahmad Faraz. Once Ahmad Faraz as the managing director of National Book Foundation offered to translate Rehmat Aziz's poems in Urdu but Rehmat Aziz turned down the offer. Most of Rehmat Aziz's Urdu poetry was written between 1985 and 2012. Rehmat Aziz's Urdu and Khowar poetry is filled with revolutionary and anti-imperialist themes and it reflects his progressive nature and socialist ideals. Rehmat Aziz is very much against the class differences that prevailed at that time, and still do. His poems exhibit his dislike for the chauvinistic attitude of the rich towards the poor.

Troyki is a form of Khowar/Chitrali poetry initiated by the khowar poet Rehmat Aziz Chitrali. Unlike sher, a Troyki consists of three 'hemistichs' (misras). The first two are complete in themselves but the addition of the third misra gives a new dimension.

Yak Misraee Nazm is a part of the Khowar and Urdu poetry that is normally written in one verse. Nazm has many different forms as Yak Misraee Nazm is a form of Khowar/Chitrali poetry and Urdu poetry initiated by the khowar poet Rehmat Aziz. Unlike sher, a Yak Misraee Nazm consists of one verse only. He is a member of younger generation of male poets. His experience of living in Karachi shows a notable impact on her significant number of poems. Living through Diaspora has increased the complexity of his poems and reinforced his sense of male identity and introduced a new revolution against restraint creative writers in Pakistani society. In 1999, the Ministry of Culture, Government of Pakistan published his book, Gul Afshaniat-e-Iqbal (Versified Khowar Language translation of Allama Iqbal's Poetry).

Rehmat Aziz is also credited with authoring Khowar and Urdu humorous poetry. These works were published by Khowar Academy in 1996. He wrote many books on history, phonology, research and poetry and translated several works from other languages into Khowar and Urdu.

Awards & Distinctions:

Rehmat Aziz received Children Literature Award

My Languages an International Literary NGO awarded linguistic Award to Rehmat Aziz for his literary works in Urdu and Khowar languages of Pakistan.

Rehmat Aziz was awarded Sanad-i-Imtiaz for Children Literature by Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan and National Book Foundation for his literary services.

In addition to studying classic poets like Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Ibn-e-Insha and sufi poets like Allama Iqbal, Buley Shah, Rehman Baba and Khushal Khan Khatak, Rehmat Aziz has written his own poetry of Khowar language, of which there are around 500 ghazals.

One of Rehmat Aziz's early poems, which won the attention of khowar poets during a khowar mushaira by ATK for young poets, Aziz was 25 years old. He is widely regarded as Mohsin-e-Lisaniyaat.