KARACHI, Aug 12: Many aspects of Hasan Abidi’s personality and experiences would have remained concealed had his memoirs, based on interviews conducted painstakingly over two and a half months, not been brought out by the Karachi University’s Pakistan Study Centre.

Most speakers made this observation at the launch of Mr Abidi’s memoirs, titled “Junoon mein jitni bhi guzri”, at the Karachi Press Club on Friday evening.

Dr Jaffar Ahmad, who heads the Pakistan Study Centre at the University of Karachi, said he had initially asked Mr Abidi to provide him some information about well-known intellectual Sibte Hasan, on whom he intended to write a book.

“As our interviews progressed, I realized that Mr Abidi’s memoirs, based on his interviews, would be valuable for future historians who may want to write the sociological history of Pakistan. The interviews were conducted in two and a half months and the transcripts were edited in one and a half years,” he recalled.

Sheen Farrukh spoke about her association with Mr Abidi when they worked in “Akhbar-i-Khawateen.”

She said that the memoirs would have been more readable had it not been punctuated with questions. She said she took exception to the fact that there was little mention of the publication she and Mr Abidi had worked for.

Senior journalist Wahid Basheer said he came to know Mr Abidi in 1952 through his verses, which he had composed in prison.

“The poignant verses acquired deeper meaning for me when I underwent the same experience. I finally met him in 1964 and then our meetings became very frequent. Though we are like-minded to a large extent, we have had differences over certain issues,” he said.

Senior journalist Farhad Zaidi, who presided over the function, said that though he and Mr Abidi had been born in Jaunpur, they met for the first time in Lahore.

“He is one of the senior-most journalists of Pakistan, and he is still active. He has discharged his duties with utmost dedication, and has never allowed his ideology to stand in the way of his professional responsibilities,” he said.

Noted literary critic Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui spoke on the poetic art of Mr Abidi.

Responding to the questions raised by the speakers, Mr Abidi said one man could not write the entire history of mankind.

He added that his memoirs shed light on only one aspect of the subcontinent’s history.

He also read out a moving essay on the feelings of journalists’ families as they discharged their duties.