Aaliji’s passing

Published November 25, 2015
Aali was a crusader of Urdu, and his legacy lives in the shape of the Urdu University in Karachi and much more.—Dawn Library/File
Aali was a crusader of Urdu, and his legacy lives in the shape of the Urdu University in Karachi and much more.—Dawn Library/File

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

Opinion

Editorial

Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...
Provincial share
Updated 17 Mar, 2024

Provincial share

PPP has aptly advised Centre to worry about improving its tax collection rather than eying provinces’ share of tax revenues.
X-communication
17 Mar, 2024

X-communication

IT has now been a month since Pakistani authorities decided that the country must be cut off from one of the...
Stateless humanity
17 Mar, 2024

Stateless humanity

THE endless hostility between India and Pakistan has reduced prisoners to mere statistics. Although the two ...