RECENTLY the Karachi Press Club came under attack from a religious group. While the KPC does not have a history of such assaults, there have been incidents in the past which made the club’s office-bearers and members of the governing body to take some strong actions to salvage the situation or preempt and prevent any such incidents from taking place in the future.

For example, on June 17, 1966 the Artillery Maidan police station registered a case of theft. Where did it happen? Well, at the Karachi Press Club. Now, it may have been a minor episode which could have been brushed under the carpet (mind you, the club has seldom had a carpet on its floors), but the fact that those who were at the helm of the KPC at the time decided to report it through the media which suggests that they took the matter very seriously. The news item read: some articles were reported stolen from the Karachi Press Club. They included a wrist watch, a fountain pen and hard cash. Obviously the watch (which belonged to a woman) must be an expensive one, and the cash would be in a big amount, otherwise, and probably, no one would have cared much.

It was thoughtful of members of the club that they did not take to the streets on the issue. But a powerful act of remonstration was witnessed on June 13 in which political, social and trade union workers of the city at a meeting held the day before protested against the proposed increase in bus fares, urging the West Pakistan government to review its decision in the interest of the common man. The meeting, presided over by the National Awami Party leader Mahmoodul Haq Usmani, adopted a resolution saying the increase would only favour the bus owners.

On a bigger level, protestation had assumed a different form. The strange Americans who had been roaming the streets of Karachi for the previous few weeks had become more than a nuisance for the authorities concerned. On June 15, they were ordered by the Pakistan government to quit the country by June 21. The shabbily dressed Americans regularly visited the US Embassy which provided them with the necessary funds to survive. Also, the police were constantly monitoring activities of several young Pakistanis who were playing host to some foreign girls, including those from the US, who too had mysteriously arrived in the city in late May.

Apart from these weird goings-on, this week was also one where Karachiites celebrated with fanfare the 67th birth anniversary of the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The celebrations went on for two days at the Nazrul Academy. They started on June 13 with a symposium at which rich tributes were paid to him. Speaking on the occasion, Mumtaz Hasan, managing director of the National Bank of Pakistan, said he greatly admired the rebel poet for his many outstanding qualities. He was of the view that he was an individual who suffered a lot in his lifetime. He recalled that Nazrul was rightly known as Dukhu Mian in his youth. Dr Ali Ashraf, chairman of the English Department, University of Karachi, who chaired the event, quoted profusely from the works of the poet. Prof M. Faruque, head of the Bengali Department, said it was possible only for Nazrul to outshine the glow that Tagore had on the literary horizon of Bengal.

A variety of programme organised by the academy on its Victoria Road premises on June 14 rounded off the celebrations. The students of the academy sung songs penned by Nazrul. Sad, the poet is not remembered in Pakistan any longer, at least the way he deserves.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2016