THE poet Munir Niazi died in Lahore on Tuesday night. The writer Shaukat Siddiqi had died in Karachi a few days earlier. Both were great men of literature, and much has been written about them and will be written in the days ahead. Both also had close ties with journalists and the media, and this lent their personalities an endearing character that too will be remembered.

What was he doing before Shaukat Siddiqi joined The Times of Karachi you don’t really know, but when you were given a job as an apprentice subeditor in the paper in 1956, the writer was part of the shift in which you were absorbed. He was a quiet man and didn’t talk much. But he was always pleasant, and never minded any pun about the title of his novel Jaangloos by senior colleagues who took notice of his thick hair.

The shift was led by Mr Abul Akhyar who was soon to become news editor of the paper and is now fully in charge of the news output of the Business Recorder, Karachi. The Times of Karachi, whose editor was Mr Z.A. Suleri, among others boasted of Mr Sultan Ahmad as head of the reporting team and included Mohammad Akhtar the

Tall and known among his friends as “Lamboo” and Rafiq Jaber. So Shaukat Siddiqi was part of a distinguished editorial team.

There’s much that those who were close to Shaukat Siddiqi at that time can write about him, but it is often the personal characteristics of men known for their public role that often get lost in academic versions. More than a leftist or a progressive, Shaukat Siddiqi had witnessed the helplessness of the people and society’s indifference to bringing about any improvement in their condition, as Aslam Azhar pointed out at a condolence session in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Munir Niazi too couldn’t be labelled as left or right, but he too spoke out about the oppression of the people. One got to know more of him as he came to symbolise for many journalists and media persons the Lahori spirit that has now been extinguished by newcomers and the nouveau riche.

He was editor of a magazine Saat Rang published from Sahiwal in 1949, and later also was associated with other magazines, newspapers and the radio. He was a friend of many media colleagues of his own age in Lahore and a guide of many of us younger journalists, some associated with The Pakistan Times in the 60s and 70s.

He lived in a rented house in Model Town, close to the house of Mr Z.I. Mirza, who has retired recently as resident editor of Dawn, Lahore. The latter’s house was known as Zimkhana amongst his friends, and Munir Niazi was a frequent visitor in the evening. He would also come often in the morning to take a lift in your old Volkswagen which went to ZIM's house to pick him for our daily journey to the PT. If the car stopped, it had to be pushed to start and Munir Niazi lent his delicate strength to the task.

Munir Nazi once came to Dubai for a mushaira when you were with the Khaleej Times and we had such a splendid time together. Once he came to the house for dinner and then in Lahore would always recall the “kaali daal” the wife had cooked for him and the big gallon bottle he was photographed with by someone there.He had later moved into his own modest house in the township area and would invite some of Model Town companions for an evening in which we would talk less of literature and more of politics and persons we all knew.

So many of Munir Niazi's group are gone or have become infirm. Hameed Akhtar still rules the print media roost with his daily columns, and will some day surely talk in detail about his association with Munir Niazi. As a poet Niazi kept to his own his views on poets of his era and never talked critically of others, although some of them were often full of praise for themselves. Niazi also never could enjoy or look for the official patronage or jobs that many other poets and writers were usually keen about.

It is strange that you should write about Munir Niazi and Shaukat Siddiqi and talk only of their personal endearments, but, as indicated above also perhaps, that is something that often gets lost in the relevant obituary items and write ups. So perhaps this is a way to pay respect to them with some affection.