ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: An exhibition of political cartoons by Mohammad Zahoor opened at the French Cultural Centre here on Tuesday. The exhibition was organized by Alliance Francaise in collaboration with Daily Times , the newspaper Mr Zahoor is presently working with.

The originals of more than 40 cartoons drawn by Mr Zahoor, which have been published in the newspaper, are on display at the gallery. Nabeela Ahmed of Alliance Francaise formally introduced the works of the artist who, to much disappointment of the guests, was unable to visit Islamabad.

Ms Ahmed appreciated the management of Daily Times for helping to make the event a reality and providing an opportunity to the viewers to have a look at the works of country's one of the most famous political cartoonists.

Mr Zahoor started his career with The Frontier Post back in 1986, soon after doing his Bachelors in Fine Arts from the Peshawar University. He was fortunate to have an editor like late Aziz Siddiqui, the magazine editor Mahir Ali, cartoonists like 'Feica' (Rafiq Ahmed), 'Vie Ell' (Yousaf Lodhi); and Hassan Musanna, the news editor, who were there to guide him and inspire him to develop his ideas politically and transform those in shape of caricatures.

Not only he was lucky to have such senior journalists around him, who were always too eager to offer a word of advice or help that he needed, but the political environment of the country and especially the city of Peshawar were extremely suitable for a young man like Zahoor to get mature politically at the same time.

Gen Zia's rule, the Afghan Jehad against the Soviet Union, Benazir Bhutto attempt to return and revive her party, the masses in a complete confusion, increasing violence and insecurity in the society, and price hike created a rich situation for Mr Zahoor to reflect the society through his sketches and cartoons.

The cartoonist not only reflected what was going on in his immediate surroundings, but also portrayed the social and political situation of the whole region which was bursting with excitement.

In the beginning, Mr Zahoor was restricted to doing sketches to go with stories published in the newspaper's weekly magazine, but there he had a person like Mahir Ali who immediately discovered the sensitive artist in him. But once Feica decided to leave the newspaper and join Dawn in Karachi, the field was vast open for Mr Zahoor to fulfil his ambitions. And he did extremely well. Mr Zahoor remained extremely loyal to The Frontier Post and despite many offers, he preferred not to part ways with his parent organisation.

However, the financial constraints ultimately compelled him to start making sketches and cartoons for Herald before Najam Sethi ultimately plucked him while fully respecting the person and his art.