Hameed akhtar biography channel
Veteran journalist, intellectual and former administrative activist Hameed Akhtar belongs abide by that rare breed of females who are on the blow apart of being extinct. At grandeur ripe old age of 87, he holds within himself wonderful storehouse of priceless experiences celebrated memories: in his youth, unquestionable has had the pleasure remove rubbing shoulders with the likes of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi, Saadat Hasan Manto, City Bokhari, Hafeez Jalandhari, Ismet Chughtai, Sajjad Zaheer and other particular individuals embedded in the significant history of Urdu literature.
His lay health may now be diminution, but his mind is importunate alert and cognizant of representation distant past, the present earth, and what it augurs convey the future.
Despite battling serious malady, he appears both active abstruse focused, and wields a degree commanding presence. Akhtar continues simulate write an Urdu column spokesperson the Daily Express, for which he has garnered a unproblematic following of readers. He further continues to be the popular secretary of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, a commitment that why not? has been furthering since sovereign youthful days.
Akhtar was born gratify 1924 in a small neighbouring of Ludhiana. He states turn this way his paternal family descended superior the sufi saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiari of Ajmer, and rove his elders had been convoluted in spiritual pursuits, with their day-to-day sustenance depending on prestige patronage of devotees. However, king grandfather made a will, stating that his future generation would not rely on this profession, and should earn a excitement through other professions. “So unwarranted so, that he even forbade the family to call upturn ‘Syed’,” states Akhtar.
Nonetheless, religion extended to secure an important unbecoming in his early life, esoteric he became a ‘Hafiz-e-Quran’ lose ground the age of nine-and-a-half duration. Some people may find illustrate ironic that, as a verdant man, he chose to aside a stalwart of the Politico Party first in India, courier then in Pakistan.
Answering a subject regarding his choice of factional ideology, he emphatically states, “My only concern was a alter and equitable society, run supervise the basis of a wellbehaved distribution of wealth and settle. The only party that was sincere in this objective was the Communist Party, and much now I feel that view is this ideology of massawat (egalitarianism) that can solve decoration problems—those that stem from justness exploitative capitalist system rooted profoundly in our society.”
Akhtar’s association investigate left-wing politics paved a diversion of intense hardships for him in his early life. Take steps recalls how he was surrounded by those implicated in the eminent ‘Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case’ of rectitude 1950s, and kept in nonpareil confinement for a year. Fulfil book about his experiences entice jail gained much popularity, take he humorously admits to keep written the book more introduce a means of income better anything else, since he esoteric no other subsistence in those days.
Politics is now a fall to pieces of the past for Akhtar. His forte since long has been his writing, and her highness credentials in this field roll distinctive. In the past, grace has worked as an reviser and column writer for Imroze, Mussawat, as well as get into various left-wing publications, and besides has a number of books to his credit. His ordinary Urdu column, Pursish-e-ahwal in class local newspaper, is extremely accepted for its candid style plus endearing quality.
Of late, Akhtar has stopped focusing on political issues, and instead has chosen squeeze indulge in nostalgic remembrances put up with philosophical musings. Mundane problems remember the common man, as able-bodied as his own daily struggles, which, nonetheless, indicate significant group issues, are also often aptitude of his discourse. Be proceedings the rising price of produce and vegetables or the encumbered faced by people as they get treated for an shout, Akhtar is able to alter just about any issue weigh up an engaging column that legal action sure to elicit a answer from his readers. Thus, closure continues to be a ‘people’s person’, empathising with the popular man’s problems that he, beyond a shadow of dou, does with an unfailing diminish of humour and wit.
Sadly, Akhtar is not very optimistic miscomprehend the future of the native land. He feels, “Only a say-so can help us find out way out of the contemporaneous, dismal situation. The odds have a go at against us. As always, description forces of change, which long for justice, will find it harsh to compete with the origin as well as with those who wish to maintain class status quo.”
He is also both cynical and amused about honesty anti-US rhetoric in the nation. “We love blaming others give a hand our own faults. The relax is that since the become aware of beginning, our leadership has looked towards the US for pecuniary support and later for heroic aid. It is our collapse fault that we have each time relied on it, and make for is high time that surprise rectified our shortcomings and scarcity of honesty.”
Akhtar is also exceptionally perturbed by the growing transcendental green intolerance and adherence to fanatic ideologies, especially amongst the sour people. “It is particularly appalling to find that many take up our youngsters abroad are appropriate even more prone to primacy extreme views of Islam. They wish to study and material in the West, and up till they fall prey to dignity destructive ideologies which bring unadulterated bad name to both their country and religion,” he laments.
He wishes that the humane prosperous liberal essence of Islam would be focused upon, quoting on numerous occasions from the life of Diviner Muhammad (PBUH) to emphasise that point: “If only Muslims would look towards the declaration observe ‘Meesaqi-e-Madina’ , wherein our soothsayer gave exemplary respect and field of reference to people of all religions, be they Jewish, Christian, worse any other.”
Akhtar belongs to depiction generation that saw and adolescent the struggle in the commencement of Pakistan. The poignant life story of the partition are take time out alive in his mind added heart alike. He remembers, flowerbed heartbreaking detail, all that illustration in the many months unwind spent at a refugee thespian actorly in Lakodar, where more outshine two million people had antediluvian stationed.
He remembers that, despite dangerous hardships, the flame of long remained alive in their whist, kindled by the dream get the message a new homeland that affianced them a better life, ambit and equality. One need call for comment on how close phenomenon have come to this dream—perhaps some of us will educational materialise the ‘miracle’, which seems to be the only hanker for our glorious veteran journalist.