Chugtai, Ismat (1915–1991)

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Chugtai, Ismat (1915–1991)

Indian playwright and novelist. Name variations: Ismat Chughtai. Born 1915 in Badayun, UP, India; died 1991; attended Aligarh Muslim University.

Foremost 20th-century Urdu writer, was involved in the Progressive Writers' Association in Lucknow and campaigned for social reform; charged with obscenity for the story "Lihaaf " ("The Quilt," 1944), which explored areas considered taboo, was exonerated by a court in Lahore; works include Terhi Lakir (1944) and The Quilt and Other Stories (1994).

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