Punjabi poet Patar cremated with State honours in Ludhiana

Ludhiana: The mortal remains of renowned Punjabi poet and writer Surjit Patar were consigned to flames here with full state honours on Monday.

The 79-year-old Padma Shri recipient died on Saturday at his residence near the Barewal Colony here. A large number of mourners, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and local MLAs, paid their last respects to the famous Punjabi poet.

Mann, whose eyes welled up, also shouldered Patar’s bier at the Model Town cremation ground here. The funeral pyre was lit by Patar’s sons Ankur Singh Patar and Manraj Singh Patar. Speaking to reporters later, Mann announced that the state government would start the Patar award in the memory of the poet. “I used to quote Patar sahib’s poems in my speeches. Today, I do not have any words to say,” the chief minister said.

The award will have a prize money of Rs 1 lakh and will be presented annually to emerging poets by the Punjab government, he said. Students from Class 8 to graduation level will be allowed to participate in the competition to win this award and a panel will be formed to choose the winner, Mann said. He added that the aim of this award will be to inspire youth to take interest in literature.

Patar, who died in his sleep on Saturday, had received the Padma Shri in the field of literature and education in 2012. He was the president of the Punjab Arts Council and Punjabi Sahit Akademi. The poet and writer had been awarded with the Sahitya Akademi Award, Panchnad Puruskar, Saraswati Samman and the Kusumagraj Literary award.