Muhammad Ali Siddiqi’s memoirs Waiting for Dawn: 50 Years of Turbulent History as Seen Through the Eyes of a Journalist will be launched this week in London. The book has been published by Filament Publishing, UK.

Originally titled From Religion to Fascism: Memoirs of a Journalist and published in 2016 by Ushba Publishing International, Karachi, the book recaps the author’s career spanning more than half a century, from humble beginnings as a typist, to various editorial capacities, to Dawn newspaper’s Washington correspondent. Besides over 3,500 editorials in Dawn, he has also written articles for the Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, Khaleej Times, and the Times of India. At present he is Dawn’s Readers’ Editor.

Siddiqi has lived history as a citizen and reported it as a newsman. In the process of recording his own trajectory in journalism, the author has also captured some of the most important events that have taken place in the last six decades of Pakistan’s existence. He analyses several issues that have affected the country, such as British colonialism, the stagnation and decline of the left, the inflexibility of the religious right, trade unionism — particularly in the field of journalism, the hostility of Indian governments towards Pakistan and the vagaries of American foreign policy.

As well as recounting the country’s political developments, the book serves as a timeline of the progress of journalism in Pakistan, describing in detail the impact of military rule on the press, censorship and the muzzling of the media, the struggle for press freedom, the journalists’ strike of 1970 and the flogging of journalists during Gen Ziaul Haq’s oppressive military regime.

The author’s career can be gauged from the fact that at the time of his landing a first job as a sub-editor in 1960, newspapers depended on hot metal typesetting; since then, they have gone through the era of photo-offset, to the modern computerised age.

There are few books that chronicle the times and turbulence of Pakistan through the lens of journalism; this book does a valuable job in this respect.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 1st, 2017