AN oft-quoted Shakespearean line: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” If you accept this as a maxim, then how would you categorise distinguished artist Zia Mohyeddin? Let’s put yourself out of your misery and just say he achieved greatness through his sheer love of/for the performing arts. He is one of those rare Pakistanis, if not the only one, whose celebrity status has spanned more than six decades. Luckily, for this entertainment-starved society, he is still very much on-the-go, working as president of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) and occasionally directing plays. The point is: even 50 years back Zia sahib was a big deal in the entertainment industry as he is now. His name would be mentioned with utmost reverence, and guidance would be sought from him on art-related issues.

For example, on May 18, 1965, a news item titled ‘Zia Mohyeddin’ appeared in Dawn Karachi’s city page (back then there used to be only one city page). This meant, naam hi kaafi hai, nothing to follow or precede Zia sahib’s name in the headline. And what was it about? According to the report, the noted ‘stage artiste’ would leave Karachi for Rawalpindi by PIA (the airline was important too). He had arrived in Karachi from London a few days back, and his visit to Rawalpindi was in connection with the selection of the Pakistani team for the Commonwealth Festival of Arts to be held in London later that year.

Last month, talking to this writer, Zia sahib said the project (the Pakistani team’s participation in the festival) never materialised because of a couple of reasons. By the way, this was the time when the actor had already been part of the iconic film Lawrence of Arabia and signed on for a major movie, Deadlier Than the Male.

Anyway, who is not interested in films? Even those journalists who do not cover showbiz cannot do without them. So sometimes they push for watching movies using their journalistic clout, which often works. On May 19, 1965, the director of the Excise and Taxation Department Karachi issued instructions to all proprietors of local cinemas to issue press complimentary tickets to bona fide journalists on the production of accreditation cards. It would enable the pressmen to avail facilities provided by the provincial government under rule 25 of the West Pakistan Entertainment Duty Rules, 1956. This raises the question that how one can identify a bona fide journalist. Perhaps the ones who get complimentary tickets!

Mind you, the authorities concerned in those days were not lenient with the publishing industry. The very next day, May 20, all press owners were directed through a government handout to file their declarations before the district magistrates of their respective areas. Publishers who did not have their own printing presses had also been directed to make sure owners of their presses filed declarations in one month’s time, effective May 8. Nothing worrisome about that! Sadly, Karachi has rarely had a period where some kind of tragedy had not befallen the metropolis.

On the afternoon of May 22, one of the biggest fires since independence (as per published reports) in the city broke out, enveloping Daryabad and Khadda areas. More than 2,500 people were rendered homeless and property worth Rs200,000 was damaged. As luck would have it, at the time there were individuals and institutions who did not sit on a tragedy for a long time to get things back on track. Immediately a committee of the members of Basic Democracies was formed to supervise relief work. Yes, relief first, and then investigations into what caused the tragedy. That’s the correct sequence.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2015

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