AN ending this most certainly is not: Jamiluddin Aali was too multifaceted a person and leaves behind a variety of causes to pursue. He was well known for his patriotism, and his motivational songs will continue to warm the hearts of Pakistanis for all times to come.
He was a crusader of Urdu, and his legacy lives in the shape of the Urdu University in Karachi and much more.
As someone who tried to make a political statement, by virtue of his old association with them, both the PPP and MQM, and even other parties he had no direct links with, could learn the value of perseverance, commitment and some headstrong insistence.
So many are going to miss him; among them will be those who were never shy of reminding Aaliji of his links to the campaign run by Gen Ayub Khan and Qudrat Ullah Shahab to patronise a select group of writers in Pakistan.
They set the pattern in what they saw as the national interest and in a direction that has not always been acceptable to, for instance, those who fought for the rights of regional languages, and others.
As a crucial player acting for the state all those decades ago, Aaliji was a most worthy, unrepentant example for all those who add the suffix of ‘infamous’ before the Pakistan Writers Guild that was formed more than half a century ago.
After his passing, the debate is likely to expand to what he could have achieved creatively as an individual if political controversies had been avoided and if had resisted the temptation of taking on so much for so long during his productive years.
But while the critics say he could have left behind a more profound literary legacy, the truth is that his work was sufficient to earn him the status of a national icon whose contributions to the Urdu language sprang in part from the patriotic spirit that had characterised the era of independence.
Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015