IT WAS a week in which a couple of memorable cultural events took place in the city. Things, however, started on an educational note when on Sept 28, 1976, the Federal Minister for Education and Provincial Coordination, Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, inaugurated the first People’s Trade School at the Model Village, 20 miles from Karachi. One of the 28 trade schools to be set up during the ongoing fiscal year — with a development cost of Rs6m — the school, it was claimed, would not only prepare students who had passed Class VIII and were eligible for matriculation (technical) exams to be conducted by the Federal Education Ministry every year, but would also ensure their placement in the industrial sector. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Pirzada called upon the people to send their children to the trade institution in order to make them ready for taking active part in the economic and industrial development of the country.

Two days later, on Oct 1, Mr Pirzada inaugurated a three-day travelling exhibition of the relics of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah at the memorial hall near the Quaid’s mausoleum. Talking to the attendees, the federal education minister said the younger generation should follow the principles of Mr Jinnah who launched an indefatigable struggle that culminated successfully in the emergence of a new nation and a new country. He added, the Quaid, with his impeccable character, dauntless courage, determination and complete faith in the righteousness of the cause, inspired the Muslims of the subcontinent to make every sacrifice for the establishment of a separate homeland — Pakistan.

The subcontinent, again, albeit in a slightly different way, became the focus of the media’s attention on Sept 29. Eminent Indian fiction writer Ismat Chughtai came to the Karachi Press Club (KPC) and addressed journalists. The writer, in her speech, said although spoken Urdu enjoyed a wide base in India, the Urdu script was fighting a losing battle, and many Urdu writers had felt the need for publishing their books in the Hindi script, additionally, to gain access to a larger circle of readers. Ms Chughtai, who was on a personal visit to Pakistan — her first ever to the country — spoke in favour of literary and cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan as an attempt to create a peaceful atmosphere in South Asia. She mentioned that the Indian government’s attitude towards Urdu was now one of sympathy, which had been expressed in the form of grants given to Urdu writers to facilitate the publication of their writings. Ms Chughtai was of the view that the Indian film industry was making a significant contribution to the development of Urdu as a spoken language. But, she pointed out, the future of the Urdu script did not seem very bright. The preservation of the heritage of Urdu literature demanded that writers of value should be transliterated into the dominant Nagri script so that they’re available to the present and future generations in the original diction as far as possible. She called it a matter of urgency because there was a danger of much good writing being lost forever.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2026