LAHORE: Veteran journalist and author Majid Sheikh shared memories of his father and his own experiences as a journalist and writer focused on Lahore in a talk organised by the Lahore Arts Council (LAC) on Thursday.

Titled ‘Kuch Yaadein, Kuch Baatein’, the virtual event was hosted by Sumera Khalil on Thursday.

The discussion began with Mr Sheikh tracing his family history and sharing memories of his father, renowned journalist Hameed Sheikh, and his life as resident of the Walled City.

He said his ancestors from his paternal side were a prominent part of Ranjit Singh’s army while his grandmother belonged to the Chishty family from Mochi Gate. He said his father loved cricket and got a PhD in classical music from London. His father joined the All India Radio in 1939 and he was attached with the Indian army in the World War-II when he met his wife in London.

Majid Sheikh’s father moved to Pakistan in 1966 after being called by Gen Ayub Khan and was made the director of the Thal Development Authority.

“After moving to Lahore, he joined The Pakistan Times. After Faiz Sahib was arrested, my father flew to England leaving his English wife and kids behind and asked renowned painter Shakir Ali, a neighbour, to look after us.”

On his return, Hameed became the editor of Civil and Military Gazette where he started writing on Lahore under the name, ‘HS’.

“When my father had a heart attack and was admitted to the Ganga Ram Hospital, his termination letter was delivered to his bed, which is something we still hold in our hearts. We used to live on the Mason Road and after my father’s recovery, moved to the Rettigan Road where my father died in 1971.”

This is when, Majid Sheikh shares, he got his first journalism job at The Pakistan Times.

“I grew up around all kinds of progressive people such as Faiz Sahib, Ustad Daman, Hameed Akhtar, Roshan Ara Begum, Amanat Ali and Sadequain.”

Majid Sheikh said he remained the editor of the GC College Gazette where he also introduced a Punjabi section. In 1974, he started reporting for The Pakistan Times during which he shared that he had some historic experiences, including covering the PIA airplane hijack and being arrested after the story was published.

“After a few days, when I met ZA Bhutto, who had been a good friend of my father also, he told me how amazing the story was.”

Majid Sheikh recalled being tortured during the Zia regime, quitting his job and moving to the UK.

“There I met Faiz Sahib who told me to go back and continue writing. I returned after studying. Writer Khelid Ahmed took me to Syed Babar Ali who gave me a job at the Packages. Later, Arif Nizami offered me the job of commerce editor when The Nation was being launched where I worked for three years. I started working at Dawn where the then resident editor, Zafar Iqbal Mirza, told me to write a weekly column on Lahore, which continues till date.”

Majid Sheikh is now working on his seventh book on Lahore.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2021