SOME of the doctors in the well-known hospitals of Karachi are my friends. On my request, they have allowed Dr Fatima Kazi, my niece, to talk to the old and terminally-indisposed patients in their hospitals. Dr Fatima is working on her postdoctoral thesis on the phenomenon of death and dying. As a part of her thesis, she documents the last desire of a person on the verge of leaving this world.
Death and dying is a preordained phenomenon. We all are destined to die someday. More pathetic is the demise of frightened, disillusioned and betrayed men, women and children who proverbially die everyday before their clinical death. They are the living dead. My niece, Dr Fatima Kazi, doesn’t talk to the persons who die many a time before their physical death. She talks to the terminally sick persons perched on the threshold of their departure from this world. It is an interesting study, and I with my niece’s consent like to share with you a few excerpts from her documents. As advised by her, I have either concealed or changed the original name of the patients.
Dr Fatima first talked to an old man in his late 90s. His name was Abdul Fatah. When young, he had remained active member of the All India Students’ action committee in Quit India Movement against the British. Later on, he joined the student wing of Muslim League. He became an integral part of the process that culminated into the creation of Pakistan.
Fatah’s hopes and aspirations for a vibrant democratic country were severely thwarted when General Ayub Khan took over his Pakistan in its 11th year of coming into existence. He had vehemently opposed the takeover of his Pakistan by General Ayub Khan, who later on had elevated himself to the rank of Field Marshal. Fatah was apprehended, and was tried for treason, and was sentenced to death. Before he could be executed, the Field Marshal abdicated and the succeeding rulers converted Fatah’s death sentence into rigorous life imprisonment.
Abdul Fatah completed his sentence and came out of prison only to see his Pakistan in shambles. He sold his personal library books on footpath in front of Regal Cinema in Saddar, Karachi for survival. Dr Fatima talked to him, and asked, “Fatah Sahib, what would you like me to inscribe last in my report?”
In a faint, inaudible voice Abdul Fatah said, “Enough is enough. Tell them to leave my Pakistan alone.”
Kareem Buksh was well over the age of 80. He was a totally disillusioned person. He desired to die, and resisted treatment. while talking to Dr Fatima he said, “My only desire in life is to see the demise of democracy in India. I feel humiliated when I realize the Indians have not experienced ignominy of Marshal Law even for a day. I do not want to be laughed at. Good or bad, the Indians have persisted with democracy. It is insulting to me. I desire to see a General makes a mockery of their democracy by taking over India on his own.”
Ali Mohammed, popularly known by the name of Ali Bhai, was very weak and was hard of hearing. His hands, resting on his chest, constantly trembled. Prior to the partition of India, Ali Bhai was an assistant film director in Bombay Talkies. He had handled performers like Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti, Motilal and Yakoob. It was difficult for Dr Fatima to engage Ali Bhai in meaningful dialogue. In answer to each query, he recited couplet from a famous song rendered by Nurjehan in the celebrated film Zeenat, made 55 years ago:
“Bulbulo mut ro yahan, ansoo bahana hai mana.”
Professor Hassan taught history for almost 40 years at postgraduate level and then retired, but continued with his lectures linking contemporary history with the entire history of mankind. He believed in continuity of history. He placed emphasis on cohesion in the development of historical thought. He very strongly believed that history couldn’t be erased and then rewritten by succeeding rulers for their own benefit. He had always maintained that a ruler who fiddled with history was in the end devoured by history. He was hospitalized with a badly damaged heart.
Dr Fatima talked to Professor Hassan on his deathbed. He looked at the heavens and said, “Unhindered access to genuine and authentic history is the sacred fundamental right of a nation. My last desire in life is to see that right is restored to the people of our country.”
Dr Fatima then talked to a very senior electronic media specialist of his time, Khamosh. He was one of the pioneers of broadcasting systems in the subcontinent. He had, on several occasions, reminded the rulers of pitfalls in fiddling with electronic media, but to avail. During his monologue, Khamosh remarked, “I wish to see a ruler who resists the temptation for glamour, and curtails his access to radio and television studios, and liberates the nation from the torture of listening and watching him on mini screen within the privacy of their homes.”
