KARACHI, Oct 10: Men of letters and journalists on Monday paid tribute to the literary works and contribution of the late Hasan Abidi. Speaking at a memorial meeting organized by the Pakistan Academy of Letters, the former editor-in-chief of Dawn, Ahmad Ali Khan, said Mr Abidi always remained steadfast in his determination to lead a principled and productive life.
He said Mr Abidi was a man of few words who never sought to hog the limelight. Making a light-hearted comment on Mr Abidi’s tendency to always keep a low profile, Mr Khan said,” I had a feeling that he would refrain from meeting people. And I put it down to his practice of going underground to avoid arrest during his days of political activism as a worker of a left-wing political party.”
Mr Khan recalled that hard work and a deep sense of responsibility had stood Mr Abidi in good stead during his transition from Urdu-language journalism to English-language journalism.
Journalist Rashid Noor said Mr Abidi was a multi-dimensional creative person who excelled not only in the field of journalism but also in the fields of poetry and translations.
He said Mr Abidi was wedded to his ideology and faced trials and tribulations, and a long spell of incarceration, with remarkable commitment and equanimity.
He recalled that Mr Abidi had read out a moving piece at the launch of his book, “Junoon mein jitni bhi guzri”, in which he brought to light the difficulties journalists faced in pursuit of their professional assignments.
Prof Jazib Qureishi read out a piece on the literary works of Mr Abidi.
He said that though Mr Abidi remained loyal to a certain ideology all his life, he never looked down upon other ideologies.
Others who spoke included Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Agha Noor Mohammad Pathan, Noor Mohammad Shaikh, Khurshid Ahmad, Abdul Jabbar Asad and Tahir Hasan.
