|
|
November 14, 2004
IN BRIEF
Portraits of Two Legendary Women
By Begum Akhter Jahan Khan
South Asia Publications, Plot # 63-C, Jami Commercial Street-7, Mezzanine Floor (M-2), Off Khayaban-i-Ittehad, Phase VII, DHA, Karachi-75500 Tel: 021-5380670, 5380677 Fax: 021-5883555. Email:
smmahmud@super.net.pk
ISBN 969-8514
136pp. Price not listed
In his foreword, Mr Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid has emphasized the role of the two sisters, Mrs G.A. Wahab and Mrs H.A. Hakam, who faced trials and tribulations in the post-partition period in Calcutta and then in former East Pakistan during the traumatic days of 1970-71.
Justice Zahid pays tributes to them and to the writer Begum Akhter Jahan Khan for their perseverance, dedication and commitment to the cause of Pakistan and humanity.
It is indeed amazing that despite a conservative and conformist background as could have been expected from the Muslim society of pre-partition India, these two ladies demonstrated their scholarly knowledge, intellect, humility and the zest for a cause dear to their hearts.
Both of them were born in British Guiana, South America and were widely known for their simple living without any false starts or pretensions. They lived like dervishes leading an austere life. Their most outstanding qualities were warm affection, helpful sympathy and dedication to the cause of human happiness.
Writing about their mother and aunt Begum A.J. Khan says that their ancestral home was in a small town in Dir district which was then part of Afghanistan. Both actively participated in social welfare activities and dedicated themselves to the cause of Muslim women and Islam. Mrs Hakam was one of those few Muslim women who worked with the Quaid-i-Azam. She was the first lady honorary magistrate of Kolkata and an elected member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly.
After independence, Mrs Hakam stayed back in Kolkata because the Quaid-i-Azam asked her to do so. There were hundreds and thousands of Muslims who needed someone to guide them, to console them and to encourage them. As a result of widespread communal riots, a large number of Muslims had been rendered homeless. They needed medical help and food to sustain themselves. She migrated to Pakistan only when living in Kolkata became unbearable.
The two sisters worked without respite for the rehabilitation of the uprooted Muslims in Pakistan. Then again they faced an agonizing crisis in the former East Pakistan during 1971. As the non-Bengalis had openly supported the army action in East Pakistan, they were termed collaborators and made targets of attacks by the local people. Thousands of injured men, women and children swarmed in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur and Begum Akhter Jahan Khan took upon herself the responsibility of looking after them although she had no resources at her disposal.
Begum Khan has given a truthful account of the tragedy in the book. Elected twice to the East Pakistan Assembly she rendered great services to the people of the province. She had set up an orphanage for girls in Dhaka besides undertaking other social work projects.
The book is an honest assessment of a stormy period when history was being written in blood. It includes a number of rare photographs depicting various phases of the Pakistan movement in which the brave ladies were involved.
Through this book an important part of the history of the Pakistan movement has been documented and preserved. — Akhtar Payami
DHA Newsletter
Edited by Lt Col (R) Rafat Hussain Naqvi
Defence Housing Authority, 2-B, East Street, Phase-I, Karachi-75500
Tel: 021-5886401-5
Fax: 021-5886406. Email:
dha@dhakarachi.com.pk
Website: www.dhakarachi.com.pk
95pp. Price not listed
The DHA Newsletter comes across as more of a full blown magazine with robust binding, full color pages and good paper and printing. It talks about plans, completed and those in progress, and those on the drawing board, of the DHA administration.
There is information about DHA’s current mega-project — the desalination plant and power generation facility. When completed, it will solve all the water problems of DHA by providing super-fresh bacteria-free water at the rate of Rs100 per 1000 gallons. For those who didn’t know before, the beachfront area has been divided into zones (A to F), work on most of which hasn’t even been started yet. From shopping areas to water sports to beachfront residential, the zones are a sleeping giant of a city — in property value, if not in area — that is being woken up gradually.
The first visible example of this will be Creek City, that is being designed in partnership with experts from Singapore. Already one can see some development along the Seaview area. The beaches have been turned into family spots thanks to the introduction of strong lighting, benches and toilet facilities. One can still see the occasional sleazy type characters further along where they haven’t installed the lights yet, but that too shall change.
There are also reports about how the older infrastructure of DHA is undergoing maintenance, which is welcome news for many, as are the efforts to keep the beach clean. There are reports on the DHA’s clubs and mosques as well as their educational institutions. In terms of its horticulture efforts and parks, the DHA is doing well and it has smartened up its area and also preserved nature.
After a nice, very short piece on the Defence Library, where we learn about the 51,000 books in its collection, the English section of the newsletter ends. The other side of the newsletter has more or less the same information summarized into Urdu. — Shahzad Hasan
A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun
By Razor Smith
Viking. Available with Paramount Books, 152/O, Block 2, PECH Society, Karachi-75400
Tel: 021-4310030. Email:
paramount@cyber.net.pk
ISBN 0-670-91477-0
482pp. Rs995
Noel Smith’s autobiography is also the story of one of the most feared teenage gangs in south London. And yet it is not a sensational crime drama but a confession which exposes England’s hundreds of years old democracy, that has produced victims of hatred. At the time of the IRA’s activities it was not easy for the Irish people to live in England and Smith was one of them.
He talks about racial discrimination which when penetrated in society creates social conflict endangering the democratic system. Downtrodden people who are not really integrated in society as a result of deprivation become criminals. There are questions too as to what has to be reformed? What are the criteria of social justice? Noel Smith’s arguments though justified to some extent do not mean that the answers lie in criminality.
With 58 criminal convictions Smith has spent a greater part of his adult life in prisons. At present he is serving life sentence for armed robbery. Having studied journalism and law while in detention, he is a regular contributor to papers such as the Independent and Guardian. This book, his first, has been penned behind bars.
Hardened by the system, Smith sees himself as a rebel with a cause. His first stay in prison subconsciously makes him believe in a life of fervour and power through stealing and robbing, which proves to be an entirely wrong perception of heroism. But for a 15-year-old boy the life of crime was more like a Robin Hood adventure. Smith frankly acknowledges the thrills of the criminal life which although shocking and frightening is fascinating too. — Shamim Manzar
Hollywood: The 100 Greatest Films
By Derek O’ Brien
Penguin India. For more information log on to
www.penguinbooksindia.com
ISBN 0-14-303137-6
342pp. Indian Rs275
Admittedly, books of lists can make for very interesting reading. Readers either love them or loathe them. But Hollywood: The 100 Greatest Films is not your average book of lists: there is no ‘top 100.’ It is just an alphabetical compendium of 100 films that author Derek O’Brien, an India-based former journalist and advertising executive, thinks are really top notch motion pictures. Now hear lies the catch: what then, makes this book so special? Considering O’Brien is most probably just an armchair expert (like the rest of us), what is it that sets this book apart? Not much really. This book is pretty much a fun read for your average film fan, but serious movie buffs will find little they don’t already know here.
The author has covered nearly the entire history of cinema, all the way from 1915’s silent racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” to 2003’s special effects laden adaptation of Tolkien’s voluminous tome, “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”. O’Brien has laid out the synopsis of each film in a reader-friendly format. Each film is presented with its full title as well as its year of release, along with either a memorable line from the picture, or a tagline from the poster, as an opener. Some immortal lines include “Taxi Driver”’s, “You talkin’ to me,” (everyone’s favourite psychopath, Travis Bickle), “The Grapes of Wrath”’s “Whenever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, whenever there’s a cop beating a guy, I’ll be there,” (uttered by Steinbeck’s anti-hero Tom Joad) and of course, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s sage advice from “Star Wars”: “May the force be with you.”
This is followed up with a fact-sheet on each production that lists the details like cast, credits and runtime. O’Brien summarizes the story of each picture in a section called “What’s it about” and states why he found a particular film fascinating in “What’s so special about it?” My personal favourite part of the book is when the author lists interesting trivia from each feature film in a section titled “Interesting asides”. Here, one learns fascinating titbits such as how the role of Don Vito Corleone could have gone to Sir Laurence Olivier (the late Marlon Brando nailed it in one of his finest moments), or how Michael Jackson recorded a tune called “Someone in the dark” for Spielberg’s blockbuster “ET” (the song was never used).
As for the book’s negative points, for starters, the cover is ghastly and incredibly unattractive. For a book that details one of the most glamorous industries on earth, better is expected. Hence judgment must pass on this book’s cover. Also, at certain points the standard of editing is very poor. I personally feel Derek O’Brien has completely overlooked the greatness of modern black American cinema. For instance, Spike Lee is one of this generation’s most gifted directors. Yet not one of his films is mentioned, neither are the starkly nihilistic black masterpieces like “Boyz N the Hood” and “Menace II Society”. Other than that, Hollywood: The 100 Greatest Films makes for good, light reading. — QAM
|
|
|
