August 29, 2004

The Central Jail in Karachi has a well-stocked library with some 5,000 books. I was provided this information by the young jail librarian who has held this post for the past five months or so. The librarian before him “is today a free man”, Zeeshan informs me with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

The library stores books on a variety of subjects including religion, general knowledge, fiction, etc., that are regularly issued out to prisoners. As in any other library, the prisoners have their own membership cards. “Some prisoners have a bad habit of tearing out pages of portions they liked in a certain book,” says the librarian who frowns upon this practice. “I inspect each book that is returned. If I get a damaged book, I have a talk with the member who had borrowed it to know what happened to it. I try to explain to them how important it is to take care of books and to refrain from such actions. I am always in favour of giving second chances but if the problem persists, I will blacklist the member responsible for the damage.”

In the four years since Zeeshan has been in prison, he has been able to do his intermediate. He intends to continue his education and wants to pen his life’s experiences in the form of a book some day. Zeeshan who once enjoyed reading Urdu Digest as a child has now developed a taste for Islamic history and poetry. He says, “These days I finish a book in two to three days.” The volumes he has particularly enjoyed are Shaheen by Nasim Hijazi, Khushboo by Parveen Shakir and Kulliyat-i-Iqbal.

Zeeshan has only read Nasim Hijazi’s Shaheen but he has heard of and would love to read more of his works especially Akhri Chattan which is about 13th century Central Asia and Khaak Aur Khoon that is set in the turbulent times of 1947 Punjab. About Shaheen he says that he just couldn’t put the book down. “It’s the story of the glorious Muslim rule in Spain and the factors responsible for its downfall. My favourite character in the book is the gallant Yusuf Bin Tashfeen. Despite his advancing age (he was supposedly 90 years old at the time) this general led his armies in the battle to crush the enemy and resuscitate the dying Muslim reign for a further three centuries.

“The best thing about reading Nasim Hijazi was that the story although dramatized for fictional value really happened. The author truly possessed a gift for recording accounts of valour and bravery.”

Since Zeeshan is also into reading poetry, he has read the Kulliyat-i-Iqbal, “which has the great poet-philosopher, Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal’s four collections — Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibreel, Armaghan-i-Hijaz and Zarb-i-Kaleem — all in a single volume.” Of the four collections, Zeeshan specially enjoyed the poems of Bang-i-Dara. “I liked the sweet little poems for children. I have even memorized a few such as “Bachche Ki Dua”, “Jugnu” and “Pahar aur Gulehri”. They provide me hope during times of despair.”

On the older side, he also enjoys Parvin Shakir’s poetry. Zeeshan has recently read Khushboo, her very first collection. “The beauty in Parveen Shakir’s verses comes from her simplicity and innocence for most of the poems in this collection are about young love from a sensitive young girl’s point of view. Her dreams, her fears though quite normal and common carry a unique kind of freshness.

Zeeshan was only 17 years old when he was arrested under Section 302 in the year 2000. These past few years have been made easier due to an optimistic outlook thanks to the literary treasures around him.

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