LIFESTYLE37 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2013 FEATURES Egyptians carry the coffin of Egypt’s best known satirical poet, Ahmed Fouad Negm following funeral Zeinab Negm, center, a daughter of Egypt’s best known satirical poet, Ahmed Fouad Negm, grieves prayers at al-Hussein mosque in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. with others during his funeral outside al-Hussein mosque in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. Egypt’s top satirical poet dies at 84 gypt’s best known satirical poet, Ahmed Fouad Islamists. His poetry communicated both a love for his him by authorities when he lost his humble home in a Negm, has died. He was 84. Negm died in the early country and scathing criticism of its ills. “We are a socie- 1994 earthquake. Ehours yesterday, said his close friend and publisher ty that only cares about the hungry when they are vot- He has often boasted that his fame did not tempt him Mohammed Hashem, director and owner of Merit pub- ers and only cares about the naked when they are to be seduced by offers of money or perks. “No one can lishing. Known as the “poet of the people,” Negm’s use of women,” he once said, suggesting that people care more co-opt or seduce him, because I want nothing - I have all colloquial Egyptian Arabic endeared him to his country- about “morality” than ensuring everyone can afford I want here,” he said while at a room at the roof of his men who saw in his verse an unvarnished reflection of clothes. shoddily built apartment block. He is the father of how they felt about milestones in their nation’s history He had little formal education. Over the course of his prominent activist and columnist Nawara Negm, an like the humiliating defeat at the hands of Israel in 1967, life he took jobs as a house servant and a postal worker. iconic figure of the 2011 revolt that toppled Mubarak. the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and the authoritarian He was jailed for his political views under the rule of for- He has two other daughters in addition to Nawara, rule of Hosni Mubarak. mer presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat. “I Zeinab and Afaf. Negm shot to fame in the 1970s when his poetry was am not a humble person and I am not stupid; I know I “You may not find in the life of your father something sung by blind musician Sheik Imam Issa. The duo, who am a poet that has affected this nation,” he once told an to brag about, but you will certainly not find anything mostly performed in popular coffee houses and to uni- interviewer. that you will be ashamed of,” he wrote in the dedication versity students, inspired generations of youth aspiring Negm’s appearance and lifestyle matched the blunt- to a book of his verses. for change. ness and the nature of his verse, immersed in the lan- “That is the belief I defended and happily paid a In this Sunday, May 21, 2006 file photo, renowned Negm was a firm supporter of the 2011 uprising that guage of the poor. He wore a galabiya, a flowing price for.” His funeral will be held at the historic Imam Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm returns the greetings toppled the regime of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. A Egyptian robe, at all times. His last home was a small Hussein mosque in the medieval section of the of a neighbor, outside his home in Cairo, Egypt. —AP self-proclaimed secularist, Negm was a harsh critic of apartment in a government housing project given to Egyptian capital. — AP Charged Dylan told to apologize over alleged racist comments ob Dylan is being asked to apologize for remarks he made in an interview Bthat have ran afoul of French anti- racism laws. The legendary American singer has been charged with inciting hatred by Paris prosecutors after comments made to Rolling Stone magazine last year sparked a complaint from the Council of Croats in France (CRICCF). “If you got a slave master or Turkish imam Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. and rock That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews musician can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can Ahmet Muhsin sense Croatian blood,” Dylan was quoted as Tuzer gives the saying in the context of an answer about call to prayer race relations in the United States. in Kas. —AFP Dylan, 72, was informed of the charges against him last month, while he was in Paris for three concerts-a visit during which the French government also awarded him its prestigious Legion d’Honneur decoration. Turkey’s rock ‘n’ roll imam Although the CRICCF’s formal complaint trig- This July 22, 2012 file photo shows US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan performing on gered automatic charges under French law, stage at “Les Vieilles Charrues” Festival in Carhaix, western France. — AP the ‘mise en examen’ or judicial probe, does ruffles religious feathers not necessarily mean the matter will end up civil rights movements-described race rela- Since Croatia declared independence in in court. It establishes a prima facie case that tions in the United States as fraught. 1991, some groups have attempted to reha- an investigating magistrate is required to “This country is just too fucked up about bilitate aspects of the Ustasha regime. n imam from a tiny hamlet on Turkey’s republic. The Islamic-rooted government of Prime look into, and the charges can either be pur- colour.... People at each other’s throats just Supporters are sometimes seen in football Mediterranean coast has run into trouble Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for 11 sued or dismissed. because they are of a different colour,” he stadiums giving the Nazi salute. Last month with the country’s powerful religious years, has long called for the young people of A The CRICCF said Tuesday said it was not was quoted as saying. “Blacks know that FIFA launched a probe against international authorities-for his other life as a rock musician. Turkey to be more pious and respectful of Islamic looking for a conviction of the high-profile some whites didn’t want to give up slavery- defender Josip Simunic for appearing to lead Ahmet Muhsin Tuzer told AFP he is being investi- values. Erdogan stoked controversy last month singer, and would regard a public apology as that if they had their way, they would still be fans into Ustasha-era chants after his team gated by the Diyanet, the state body in charge of over calls for a ban on mixed-sex accommodation more valuable. “We hope he will apologize under the yoke, and they can’t pretend they qualified for the World Cup. the country’s mosques, over his activities. “I’m for university students and has angered secular- and we are ready to accept an apology,” Ivan don’t know that. He then made the com- Dylan, who played back-to-back concerts waiting for the results of the investigation but ists with a crackdown on alcohol sales and adver- Jurasinovic, the CRICCF’s lawyer, said. “A con- ment that included the reference to Serbs in Serbia and Croatia in 2010, rose to promi- whatever happens I’m going to continue making tising. Tuzer said he hails from a deeply religious viction will not repair the damage as much and “Croatian blood”. nence in the 1960s partly for his support of music,” he said in a telephone interview from and spiritual family and that his grandfather too as an apology will.” Dylan has not comment- Croatians sensitive to remarks the US civil rights movement. Barack Obama, Pinarkoy, a tiny community near the was an imam.”I preach the name of God and no- ed on the charges and a representative of his Ethnic Croats and Serbs fought viciously the first black president in the United States, Mediterranean beach resort of Kas. The Diyanet is one can criticize me for that. If you do something label claimed to be unaware of the proceed- in the 1991-1995 war that followed the last year awarded Dylan America’s highest looking to determine whether his form of music is in the name of God that can only be beneficial.” ings against the star. breakup of Yugoslavia. Some 20,000 people civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of compatible with Islam and whether his work as a He said he wants to work for “tolerance and the French media law bars incitement to “dis- died. Today, Croatians remain highly sensi- Freedom, saying: “There is not a bigger giant musician conflicts with his role as imam, a govern- love of God”, values he claims have been eroded crimination, hatred or violence with regard tive when mentioned in a Nazi-related con- in the history of American music.” The musi- ment-funded post. today, and to distance himself from “detrimental” to a person or group of people on the text. Their previous stab at statehood came cian is deeply respected in France, too. He And it recently sent a group of inspectors to forms of violent or sexual rock music. Tuzer is grounds of their origin or of their member- during World War II with the so-called picked up the Legion d’Honneur on the rec- the hamlet to question members of his 40-strong active on Facebook and Twitter and a single ship or non-membership of an ethnic group, Independent State of Croatia. The Nazi-allied ommendation of Culture Minister Aurelie congregation about his activities. “I want to show released by the three-member Firock “Mevlaya a nation, a race, or a religion”.