KARACHI: Despite the intermittent rains that had disrupted the city’s regular goings-on on Thursday evening, a good number of colleagues and admirers of senior journalist, poet and writer Mahmood Shaam came to the Karachi Press Club (KPC) where he was awarded the club’s honorary membership.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shaam lamented the fact that while the number of the press club’s members was on the rise, newspapers and journals are publishing in a smaller amount. There are countless YouTube channels and newspaper workers are called ‘media’, he said.

“The media is getting free. Social media is getting maadar pidar aazaad and the common man has become fearful of the media instead of giving it respect,” he said.

Mr Shaam said 57 years ago, in 1967, he became the council member of the club, therefore eligible to vote. In 1975, since he had started publishing a magazine (that is, he was now a publisher) he was made an associate member. Then due to non-payment, he was taken off the list. And now in old age, he’s been given the honorary membership.

KPC honours journalist Mahmood Shaam

“Thank God, I have passed all the stage of love. Now only condolence reference is left,” he remarked in a lighter vein and thanked the club for bestowing him with the honour because the club has a global value as a ‘liberated’ area.

The seasoned journalist said in a country where one martial law is imposed in the life of every person who is born, the KPC is known for a peaceful transfer of power every year through voting. There’s never been the issue of Form 45 or 47.

“The establishment never got control of the club nor there have ever been administrators. A few steps from here at an institute, Gen Ziaul Haq had handed over administration to Gen Umar, whose sons Asad Umar and Zubair are, these days, flag-bearers of democracy. With the increase in population of the country, the number of KPC members has also increased. When I first became its members, the club was poor, but today, it’s a wealthy club.”

He then went down memory lane when he first walked into the club’s premises and doing so took the names of a lot of prominent journalists and other eminent individuals who frequented the club and whom he’d met or seen for the first time. He also mentioned the successful and not-so-successful love affairs that took place at the KPC; the launch of his book; and the movements for democracy that emanated from the club etc. After the speech, Mr Shaam gifted one of his Urdu poems to the KPC.

Earlier, former KPC secretary Maqsood Yousufi said he started reading Mr Shaam’s columns when he was in class IX. Afterwards he got to work with the seasoned journalist and learned a great deal from him.

Journalist Shamim Akhtar said she and Mr Shaam know each other from childhood.

Acting president of the KPC Nawab Qureshi and secretary Shoaib Ahmed also spoke.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2024