LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Council (LAC) held the first show of its impressive theatre production on Sepoy Maqbool Hussain who was injured and taken prisoner in 1965 War by India and spent 40 years in Indian jails.

Directed by Amir Nawaz and Qaiser Javed and written by Asghar Nadeem Syed, the play ‘Sipahi Maqbool Hussain’ was very heart touching and it left many eyes among the audience brimmed with tears.

The play opened with Faiz’ famous poem Hum Dekhain Gay and was also adorned with Nur Jahan’s magical voice Eh Putar Hataan Tay Nahi Vikday. The set was suggestive as well as realistic and almost all the artistes performed extremely well, especially Zohaib Ahmed who played the role of young Sepoy Maqbool Hussain and Rashid Mehmood who played Hussain in his old age. Sarfraz Ansari as an Indian army major also looked good in his role.

The play is based on the true story of the Pakistani soldier, Maqbool Hussain, who was captured by the Indian army in 1965 War and was kept in Indian jails for the next four decades. He was released as a civilian prisoner in 2005. During his imprisonment, Hussain was said to be subjected to human rights abuses. The play paid tributes to Maqbool Hussain as an icon of resilience and steadfastness. Hussain passed away on Aug 28, 2018.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information and Culture Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said somebody had sent him on phone the story of Maqbool Hussain and that day he decided that a play should be staged on this great Pakistani soldier.

Some of the scenes in the play were really heart touching like the one when Hussain left his home to report on the border after receiving a telegram and his mother (Azra Aftab) sent her with prayers. The atrocities and brutality committed to Hussain in Indian jails was also depicted well. There were also some gruesome scenes. The audience gave a standing ovation to the artistes at the end of the play.

The play would continue to be staged till Nov 10 at Alhamra Art Center, The Mall. The cast included Rashid Mehmood, Pervaiz Raza, Sarfraz Ansari, Tanveer Shah, Zohaib Ahmed, Zaheer Taj, Tehseen Khan, Azra Aftab and Qaiser Shehzad.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2018