Side-effect
May 23, 2008
Amin Sahib, the elusive Prof Mohammed Amin Mughal, has not returned to Pakistan once after moving to the UK in 1984. He would put up with the hide-and-seek played between the governments and the leftwing activists during the 1960s and 70s, sporting frequent arrests or minor jail terms, but seven years into General Zia's repressive martial rule, he was posed with a singular choice. Leave quietly or get lashed publicly on some trumped up charge. Working initially as a journalist and political commentator in London, he retired to voluntary social service at his neighbourhood hospital. For living, he gets some English to Urdu translation work from local councils and similar institutions. Interestingly, he has become quite technology savvy in his older years with a flare for using snazzy IT gadgets and new software. He shops, window shops or lolls about in and around the markets and on the internet where these things are sold.
A voracious reader and a keen observer of life in general and politics in particular, he is undoubtedly one of the most ardent thinkers from Pakistan. He has not put himself to writing a book but his intellectual prowess and understanding of world politics is incredible, reflecting through his talks, papers and informal conversations. Amin Sahib's recent paper on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the one written some time back on the life and times of Bhagat Singh left a momentous impression on many. The one on Bhagat Singh needs to be translated into Urdu for wider readership.
In Lahore, Amin Sahib deputised the late Mazhar Ali Khan on the editorial team of 'Viewpoint' and helped establish Shah Hussain College with formidable men of Marxist persuasions including Prof Manzoor Ahmed and the late Prof Eric Cyprian. He also served as the secretary general of the National Awami Party in Punjab. Each time in London, it is a great learning experience to spend a few hours in his company. He stays on top of what happens in the UK and the rest of the world and enjoys spending time with an interesting bunch of pub friends from Finchley. But his heart continues to beat with the sights and sounds of Krishan Nagar, Mozang, Lakshmi, Shah Jamal and Bhati Darwaza.
Amin Sahib and the likes personify the conscience of a nation. They condemn, reject and disapprove of the state and society to which they belong out of one single belief -- the suffering of humanity must end and a new era of prosperity for all must begin. It seems some of them leave home out of deliberate choice but if truth be told the country drives them out. The intolerance shown towards dissent in our society through bombs, bullets, petty actions or words is comparable to none in the civilised world. Nevertheless, such people remain loyal to their habitat and bewail like a crane separated from its flock.
A similar discussion about the sense of belonging, being British Asian and being a Pakistani English writer attracted a fairly large audience in London last week. While novelist Mohsin Hamid contented that he swings comfortably between his Lahori, New Yorki and Londoni self, Mohammed Hanif dismissed being called a British Asian saying that he chooses to be a Karachiite who came to London for work and is now going back. What I found interesting in the conversation was that Hamid's reluctant satisfaction over Pakistan's performance in the areas of economy and development is not enough to bring him back while Hanif's total dissatisfaction with the state of economy and society is not impeding his return. Hanif's debut novel "The Case of Exploding Mangoes" is just out in the UK and amassing enormous praise, being ranked above most of the contemporary Pakistani fiction. Born in Okara in 1965, trained as an air force pilot in Sargodha, taking up journalism in Karachi and then finally working with BBC Urdu Service, he continued to write plays and films. I wish like Hanif, Amin Sahib would also come back.
The writer is an Islamabad-based poet and rights campaigner. Email: harris@spopk.org
A voracious reader and a keen observer of life in general and politics in particular, he is undoubtedly one of the most ardent thinkers from Pakistan. He has not put himself to writing a book but his intellectual prowess and understanding of world politics is incredible, reflecting through his talks, papers and informal conversations. Amin Sahib's recent paper on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the one written some time back on the life and times of Bhagat Singh left a momentous impression on many. The one on Bhagat Singh needs to be translated into Urdu for wider readership.
In Lahore, Amin Sahib deputised the late Mazhar Ali Khan on the editorial team of 'Viewpoint' and helped establish Shah Hussain College with formidable men of Marxist persuasions including Prof Manzoor Ahmed and the late Prof Eric Cyprian. He also served as the secretary general of the National Awami Party in Punjab. Each time in London, it is a great learning experience to spend a few hours in his company. He stays on top of what happens in the UK and the rest of the world and enjoys spending time with an interesting bunch of pub friends from Finchley. But his heart continues to beat with the sights and sounds of Krishan Nagar, Mozang, Lakshmi, Shah Jamal and Bhati Darwaza.
Amin Sahib and the likes personify the conscience of a nation. They condemn, reject and disapprove of the state and society to which they belong out of one single belief -- the suffering of humanity must end and a new era of prosperity for all must begin. It seems some of them leave home out of deliberate choice but if truth be told the country drives them out. The intolerance shown towards dissent in our society through bombs, bullets, petty actions or words is comparable to none in the civilised world. Nevertheless, such people remain loyal to their habitat and bewail like a crane separated from its flock.
A similar discussion about the sense of belonging, being British Asian and being a Pakistani English writer attracted a fairly large audience in London last week. While novelist Mohsin Hamid contented that he swings comfortably between his Lahori, New Yorki and Londoni self, Mohammed Hanif dismissed being called a British Asian saying that he chooses to be a Karachiite who came to London for work and is now going back. What I found interesting in the conversation was that Hamid's reluctant satisfaction over Pakistan's performance in the areas of economy and development is not enough to bring him back while Hanif's total dissatisfaction with the state of economy and society is not impeding his return. Hanif's debut novel "The Case of Exploding Mangoes" is just out in the UK and amassing enormous praise, being ranked above most of the contemporary Pakistani fiction. Born in Okara in 1965, trained as an air force pilot in Sargodha, taking up journalism in Karachi and then finally working with BBC Urdu Service, he continued to write plays and films. I wish like Hanif, Amin Sahib would also come back.
The writer is an Islamabad-based poet and rights campaigner. Email: harris@spopk.org
