KARACHI: An emotionally charged atmosphere was witnessed on Monday afternoon during the reception given in honour of senior journalist Hussain Naqi at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) as his arrival to the podium was greeted with chants for freedom of expression.

Mr Naqi, who had listened patiently to a dozen or so colleagues pay tribute to his life and work, began by acknowledging the occasion saying it had reinforced his belief that people wanted supremacy of law and the Constitution of the country. They also believed in freedom of expression.

Going down memory lane while describing a 1960s’ incident touched upon by an earlier speaker, Mr Naqi said he was expelled from the University of Karachi by its then vice chancellor Dr I.H. Qureshi as part of the deal in which his expulsion would ensure a reinstatement of certain Baloch students. That deal to Mr Naqi sounded fair and inexpensive (sasti aur achhi).

Tributes paid to veteran journalist

Highlighting the state of education in the country he narrated another incident from the past and then told the audience which largely comprised members of the journalist community that 25 million children did not go to school.

Journalist Ali Ahmed Khan enlivened the mood of the hall with his short and witty speech. He said he had known Mr Naqi for the last 60 years. During that period the veteran journalist was exiled from his city, faced prison terms and got fired from jobs. He thanked the chief justice for making the media men throw receptions in honour of Mr Naqi and for enabling him (Khan) to meet old friends at the KPC.

Mr Khan said though Mr Naqi originally hailed from Oudh (Lucknow) when he settled in Punjab, he became a Punjabi and took out Punjabi-language newspaper Sajjan.

Underlining the tough and resilient nature of Mr Naqi as a media man, he said when he (Ali) returned from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1972, he asked a friend about Mr Naqi. He was told that while everybody else was in government, Mr Naqi was in jail. He jokingly advised journalists that they shouldn’t opt for the path that Mr Naqi had taken, that is, of fighting for the rights of the oppressed but rather choose the easy way out and call a spade a spade in their hearts.

Karamat Ali said it was in 1962 when he was studying at a college in Multan that he saw 12 young men sitting outside the gate of the college. He inquired who they were to which they responded that they were part of a students’ movement and had been exiled from their city (Karachi). This was where he met Mr Naqi (who was part of the movement). They asked the 12 young men what to do. They replied that they should call a strike, go to the commissioner’s office and demand that the students shouldn’t be exiled from Multan. One thing led to another and in 1963 he (Ali) came to Karachi, and from then on Mr Naqi became his leader. On the incident that caused receptions to take place in Mr Naqi’s support, Ali recited the famous verse by Ghalib:

Poochte hain wo ke Ghalib kon hai

Koi batlao ke hum batlaen kya

[They ask who Ghalib is –Now, what can one tell them?]

Journalist Habib Khan Ghori said Mr Naqi was one of those people who laid the foundation for resistance movements in Pakistan. He always raised his voice for the rights of the underprivileged.

Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan said for him two features of Mr Naqi’s life stood out. One, he had often been removed from jobs or important positions as he fought for others’ rights; two, he always respected his teachers and institutions.

Usman Baloch, I.A. Khan, Rasheed Butt, Khursheed Tanveer, Akhtar Baloch, Amir Latif, Imtiaz Khan Faran and Ahmed Malik (KPC president) also spoke. KPC secretary Maqsood Yousufi conducted the event.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018