THE reverberations of the violence that had erupted in Karachi because of the language strife in the province were still being felt. The verbal tit-for-tat showdowns among legislators who were for and against the language bill hadn’t yet lost steam. On Aug 29, 1972, the leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Shah Faridul Haq, criticised the Chief Minister of Sindh, Mumtaz Bhutto, for declaring that his stance on the language issue was right ‘even if the whole world was on the other side’. In a statement he argued that such things showed that the party in power [PPP] had no faith in democracy. He added that Mr Bhutto had also said on the floor of the house, “If we will not sit [in assembly] then nobody will,” which had created doubts in the minds of the people about the implementation of the language accord.

The leader of the opposition also made his dissatisfaction known about a matter that week concerning educational institutions.

On Sept 3, Mr Haq expressed serious doubts about the sincerity of the government in nationalising private colleges in Sindh. He was speaking at a reception given in his honour at a local hotel by the teaching staff of the Liaquat College on his retirement as principal of the institution. He pointed out that the manner in which the government was conducting the affairs of educational centres called for caution and vigilance on the part of teachers and students.

It needs to be mentioned here that a couple of days earlier, on Sept 1, the special committee appointed by the Directorate of Education, Karachi, completed the ‘takeover’ of all the private colleges of the city numbering 45, claiming it was smooth and peaceful. According to the procedure adopted, the committee consisting of four persons with a convener visited the colleges and asked the principals to submit resignation from their present posts. After the formal resignation, they were given fresh appointments on an ad hoc basis. In turn, all the teachers were asked by the acting principals to fill out the prescribed performa indicating they had resigned.

Education and libraries go hand in hand. On Sept 2, the first anniversary of Ghalib Library in Nazimabad was celebrated when a cake was cut by the seasoned writer Nurus Sabah Begum and the eight-year-old Firoza, daughter of renowned poet Himayat Ali Shair, representing two generations of literature lovers. Speeches were made and a progress report was read by the secretary of the Anjuman Yadgar-i-Ghalib, Mirza Zafrul Hasan. Eminent scholar Sibte Hasan commended the venture and appealed to the lovers of Ghalib to enrich the library.

That being said, the week started on a sad note. On Aug 29, Dawn reported that the previous day, Manuel Misquita, former mayor of Karachi and a leader of the Christian community, passed away. He was 86 and had been ill for some time. Born in 1886, Mr Misquita was the son of J C Misquita, a businessman and landlord. He was associated with the cantonment board and served on various KMC committees before being finally elected the 13th mayor of the city.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2022