Noted poet Munawwar Rana, 71, died on Sunday. He took his last breath at Lucknow Hospital.
According to the media reports, he was ill for the last several days and was being treated in the ICU ward of Sanjay Gandhi PGI, Lucknow.
Rana, an Urdu poet was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014 for his poem - 'Shahdaba'. However, he returned the award alleging intolerance in the country.
He also received Maati Ratan Samman from Shaheed Shodha Sansthan for his services to Urdu literature in 2012.
Rana was born in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh on on November 26, 1952, but he spent most of his life in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The poet was known for beautifully using Hindi and Awadhi words avoiding Persian and Arabic in his poems which made his poetry accessible to Indian audiences.
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