After reading my blog In Karachi: Bombay, Not Mumbai Meri Jaan, renowned literato Ajmal Kamal told me of the time when the Indian government changed the name from Bombay to Mumbai. He said the Indian government forced people to change inscriptions of the older name everywhere, including plaques and signboards. They were successful to an extent, but they couldn’t turn every stone, of course.

This gave rise to some very interesting problems. For example, what to do about the letters pouring in with addresses with the city’s old name, Bombay? A certain wiseacre, who happened to be a minister at the time, advised the government to cease the delivery of any letter which had 'Bombay' written under city name.

Almost immediately, the government announced that exactly after a certain date, no letter with the name Bombay in the delivery address will reach its intended receiver.

The date arrived, but ‘Bombay’ did not cease to be.

Eventually, letters piled up in post offices everywhere in the city to the extent that staff members were almost sitting on letters, instead of chairs.

The government was forced to revert the decision: Bombay would receive letters.

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It is for their own ease, perhaps, that our authorities here in Karachi have not issued such absurd instructions. You can only imagine what would go down at post offices across the metropolis if, one fine day, the authorities forced people to write new street names instead of the old ones. I should correct myself – you cannot even imagine.

One of many such rechristened streets is – or was – the Manekjee Street in Jamshed Town, Karachi. For now its name, according to the records, is Khalid Ishaque Advocate Street. You will find it in the Garden East area.

Both Manekjee and Khalid Ishaque were among scholars and nobles. Both were religious. The major contrast was that the former was a Parsi, while the latter a Muslim.

According to renowned journalist Arif-ul-Haq Arif, Khalid Ishaque Advocate was basically a scholar and took to the profession of law only to make ends meet. He was quite well-versed in Arabic, Persian, English, Sindhi, Punjabi and Seraiki along with Urdu. His love for Islam had actually become his identity. In fact, his lawyer friends would often call him ‘maulvi’, meaning Islamic religious leader.

Khalid Ishaque's friends note that he could not resist buying new books in the market. As soon as he began his career as a lawyer in 1948, he started spending most of his income on books. He had almost 200,000 books by the time he passed away; with at least 40-50 per cent of his income spent on them. It can be claimed that his study was the largest personal library in Pakistan. He passed away in 2004. The same year, a counsellor in Jamshed Town tabled the following resolution:

Resolution No. 205

Proposed by: Abdul Rasheed Baloch
Seconded by: Ameer Ali Kabani
Subject: To attribute name of street/road with Khalid Ishaque Advocate’s name.

In the 35th session of Jamshed Town, in order to attribute a street/road with the name of late Khalid Ishaque Advocate, a committee consisting of Abdul Rasheed Baloch (Naib Nazim UC 11), Farrukh Niaz Tanoli (Naib Nazim UC 12) and Ameer Ali Kabani (Naib Nazim UC 13) was created.

The committee proposed that the street called Manekjee Street, on which Late Khalid Ishaque Advocate’s house is located, be renamed and called Marhoom Khalid Ishaque Advocate Street. Therefore, the session today authorises the rechristening of the street.

That was that.

Interestingly, however, three years later, on August 31, 2007, another resolution related to a development project tabled in the same council, had the street mentioned as the Manekjee Street.

This is what the resolution said:

Resolution No. 257, August 31, 2007

Proposed by: Khalid Khan
Seconded by: Altaf Zakir
Subject: Authorisation of the construction contract worth PKR 60,17,759 to M/s K. N. Builders for repair work on Manekjee Street, Mukhi Ram Road UC 12.

The resolution in Urdu mentions it as Mukiram Road, which I think must be Mukhi Ram Road. I would be grateful if any of my readers can confirm this for me.

Did you know?: Burnes Road was named after a British spy-doctor

I easily found the references to the rechristening of the Manekjee Street. Farhan bhai of the Information Department at Jamshed Town was very helpful in this regard. However, finding the actual Manekjee Street was no walk in the park, since the whole map of the city of Karachi is not what it once was.

It is not easy to find any old street or road, especially if it was named after a non-Muslim. When I shared my problem with my journalist friend Naymatulah Bukhari, he promised to take me to the street the very next day.

Sure enough, the next day, I accompanied Naymatullah Bukhari to the Garden East area. He could not recall the exact location of the street. We had to ask a few people before finally making it to Manekjee Street. We saw a plaque by the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC). We were now eager to find Khalid Ishaque Advocate’s residence. Suddenly, I heard a voice:

“Balocha, chay kanagay?”

It was Balochi for ‘[Hey] Baloch, what are you up to?’ It was Ishaque Baloch (safely among the best sports reporters in Karachi currently). I told him what I was looking for. He pointed to a building, saying, “there it is.”

It was an apartment building. He told me that after Khalid Ishaque Advocate’s demise, his family had sold his house. It was later divided into two parts; one became an apartment building, the other a mosque.

Manekjee Dastoor Dhala was a renowned Parsi religious figure, and quite well known for his outspoken nature. It was, in fact, his bluntness that earned him the dislike of many Parsis. Manekjee had also written his autobiography. It was published by the Dastoor Dhala Memorial Institute in 1975.

To give you some idea of what Manekjee was like as a person, let me quote an excerpt from his autobiography:

“It was my last year at Columbia University and I was pretty much done with my education. I obtained my Masters in 1906. Two years later, in 1908, I had done my PhD. To celebrate my good results, my Brahmin Hindu friends took me to a restaurant. They made me eat crabs in lunch.

“When Hindus belonging to any Hindu caste from Brahmins to Shudras go to the West, they do not hold themselves back from the pleasures of drinking and dining. When man finds the opportunity of experiencing something he has previously not experienced, control is the last thing on his mind. I have seen many Hindu friends charmingly chew sacred cows to satisfaction. It has never impressed me.

“The financial support my community had provided me with in order for me to travel to America and obtain foreign education was valuable for me, and so I put the best of my efforts into becoming an able man in every possible way. I obtained as much education as I could; I spent a clean and pure life; and I never allowed myself to be affected by the fashion and the lifestyle of the West.”

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Abdul Rasheed Baloch had presented the proposition of rechristening Manekjee Street to Khalid Ishaque Advocate Street in September 2004. It was accepted, and the street was renamed. However, the place is still famous as Manekjee Street.

Abdul Rasheed Baloch died in December 2004. I am certain that had he lived longer, he would have made sure that at least one public plaque or signboard was installed in the street with its new name. That could not happen, and so the buildings on the street still have Manekjee Street inscribed on them.

I spoke to one of Khalid Ishaque’s friends, former Justice Mushtaque Memon. To my surprise, he was unaware that the Manekjee Street was renamed after his late friend.

As I’ve mentioned above, Khalid Ishaque’s house was sold by his family after his death. If you ever come here, try asking about Khalid Ishaque. Hardly anyone will be able to help you. Ask where the Manekjee Street is and almost everyone will tell you: “This here is Manekjee Street.”

—Photos by Akhtar Balouch

Translated by Ayaz Laghari from the original in Urdu here.