Not that today classical musicians aren’t treated with the kind of respect that they deserve, but 50 years ago they were looked at with a delightful blend of reverence and admiration. Take, for instance, this news item published on Aug 20, 1964. According to the report, King Mahendra of Nepal sent gifts (of silver caskets) to celebrated Pakistani musicians Ustad Salamat Ali and Ustad Nazakat Ali, who performed before him when he visited Karachi. The two ustads were masters of their art, noted proponents of the Shyamchaurasi gharana, and the Nepali king was a music connoisseur.

Those were also the days when the Pakistani state knew that if they wanted to culturally influence the world, it’s their traditional forms of art that could do the trick for it. Therefore there was a regular exchange of artists from Pakistan and other parts of the world. On Aug 16 a cultural team comprising kathak dancer Parveen Kasim, tabla player Allah Ditta, sarangi nawaz Nathoo Khan and flute player Debu Bhattacharya left for Jakarta to take part in Indonesia’s Independence Day celebrations. This was a formidable lineup of artists. All the four individuals mentioned here were internationally renowned in their respective fields. Debu Bhattacharya hailed from East Pakistan. It is sad that one of the many losses that we have suffered because of the Dhaka Fall is that we can’t claim East Pakistan’s artists as our own.

Some of us habrour the notion that the women’s lib movement in Pakistan took root in the ‘90s, well, not so. Even in the ‘60s Pakistani girls, particularly those in Karachi, were a pretty ebullient lot. On Aug 18, 1964 a batch of girl students of the Government College Nazimabad demonstrated for a good two hours before the office of the director of education demanding the restoration of co-education in the college. So the authorities that made it a girls-only institute had the same mindset as they have in 2014?

But then, that was not the only problem surrounding the educational institutions that week. The issue of making Urdu as the medium of instruction in all schools once again reared its head. On Aug 20, A. R. Chowdhry, who was the general secretary of the Anjuman-i-Nifaz-i-Urdu and a member of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers and Commerce Industry, was in the news. He issued a statement in which he demanded that the government make Urdu the medium of teaching in schools. Imagine the existence of an organisation like the Anjuman-i-Nifaz-i-Urdu at a time when East Pakistan was an integral, and larger, part of the country.

And amid all this, the refugees kept coming changing the city’s demographics. On Aug 22 Madir-i-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah laid the foundation stone for a new housing block called Hajirabad consisting of 90 houses. It was constructed by the Refugee Rehabilitation Association of Hajirabad, Drigh Colony. Speaking on the occasion, Miss Jinnah, with her remarkable ability to see ahead of her time, put emphasis on refugee rehabilitation, terming it important for the country’s progress. To be honest, the country’s progress is still a distant dream.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2014