KARACHI: Writing about the mistakes made by a country is not against patriotism. Nations progress not by distorting history and telling lies but by accepting facts, acknowledging mistakes and learning from them.

Such were the observations made by most speakers at a discussion about seasoned journalist Mahmood Sham’s autobiography Sham Bakhair, held at the Dr Jameel Jalibi Research Library, University of Karachi, on Thursday.

Professor Noshaba Siddiqi, in-charge Dr Jameel Jalibi Research Library, moderated the event. Dramatist, writer and social activist Noorul Huda Shah presided over the event.

The book deals with a variety of topics, including the author’s personal life, the country’s political, social and economic issues as well as an analysis of the historical developments based on his decades-long experience as a journalist and keen observer.

It gives an account of how a child sees migration and the journey from slavery to freedom.

Admirers highlight key elements of journalist Mahmood Sham’s autobiography

Speaking at the programme, Sham talked about his experiences imbedded in the book, from his migration to Pakistan after the Partition of 1947 up to the present era. He also spoke about the issues the country has been facing since its inception, saying how incompetence and ‘artificiality’ in merit, law, democracy etc had always been dominant in the state.

Talking about the importance of poetry, he said it had always been a powerful way of not just communicating ideas but also of reminding human beings of their limitations.

He said it was time for the nation to wake up otherwise it would find no place for itself in history.

Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said most of the country’s history books were biased and contained many lies and distorted facts. However, Sham Bakhair tells ‘the other side of the story’ as Sham has written facts in it.

He said the book should be promoted in the younger generation, especially the students, suggesting that it should also be made part of the educational syllabus.

Scholar and academic Dr Syed Jaffer Ahmed said the book could be considered as the magnum opus of Sham and was an important read for students, particularly those of journalism and politics.

He said it was also a book of history as the author had described not only how he saw developments in Pakistan but had also included in it some unusual revelations and facts which he had observed closely as a journalist.

However, he said, some things had been left unsaid, probably because the author considered them to be classified due to his journalistic attitude. He said he hoped that those things would also come into publication in the next edition of the book.

Freelance journalist and social activist Shehnaz Ahad felt the grief was a key element in Shaam’s book as he had written all the sad and painful historical facts with close observation.

Jahan Ara, visiting faculty at KU, said impartiality and unbiased approach was an important element of the book.

Publisher of the autobiography, Farooque Ahmed, said countries disintegrated by hiding truth and distorting history, not by telling it accurately, which was important and by no means against patriotism, and that was a lesson one learned after reading Sham Bakhair.

Writer Saeeda Afzal said the author had discussed the mistakes made in the country in a manner which suggested that mending and rectifying the mistakes was the way forward for the nation to progress.

Dramatist and writer Noorul Huda Shah said there were two types of history: one that is written in ‘darbars’ i.e according to will and desire of rulers, and the other that contains truth, a history which common people and nations go through and Sham’s book was of the latter type.

Referring to the East Pakistan debacle described in the book, she said the biggest lesson from that was that there has to be equal rights and respect for each other in the country, and that now it was particularly important for the people of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2024