KARACHI: The 98th birth anniversary of eminent scholar, journalist and activist Sibte Hassan was celebrated at the PMA house on Saturday which was an intimate gathering of his former students, peers, friends as well as family members. Regarded by many as one of the most influential men in post-partition Pakistan, the event was hosted by the International Youth and Workers Movement to acknowledge his services as the pioneer of the Marxist and Socialist movements in Pakistan.
Commentators, men of literature and social activists were invited to speak on the contributions of Sibte Hassan.
Dr Jafar Ahmed, director at the Pakistan Study Centre, recalled his first introduction to Sibte sahib as a young man, one who was very quickly inspired by his revolutionary zeal and ideas. Dr Ahmed spoke at length about the literary contributions of Sibte sahib and how, time and again, he introduced him to academic and literary texts that changed his perspective on life.
One such book was a biography of Darwin, which was highly recommended and therefore consumed in a short time. Dr Ahmed was then asked to write a review on it by Sibte Hassan, which was read out at one of the many literary meetings he frequented. Dr Ahmed also shared Sibte sahib’s socialist and Marxist ideology with the audience, and how he became a critic and wrote monumental essays such as ‘Musa sey Marx tak’ and ‘Iqbal’s concept of man’.
Urdu poet and critic Prof Sahar Ansari gave a brief rundown of Sibte sahib as a literary critic and the passion with which he participated in literary atherings. He also extended his participation to student literary gatherings where he made an effort to encourage those in his patronage. Prof Ansari insisted that one of Sibte’s greatest strengths lay in his translation abilities, which must be recognised, considering that his perspective on languages as well as society is hard to come by. He saw things from a different eye — as a man of words, as an activist and socialist, as a scholar and translator and also, as an anthropologist.
Rights activist Prof S. Haroon Ahmed spoke little on Sibte and instead shared a long forgotten element of his life — his enthusiastic and passionate speeches. A long-lost cassette player accompanied the professor who went on to share a recording of one of Sibte’s speeches on culture and the development of thought in Pakistan. The husky voice of Sibte sahib caused a rush of nostalgia among all those present, devotees, ideologically as well as on a more humane level, to the man and his enigma. Though a small portion of the speech was played, it did share Sibte’s passion for secularism and his thought of the reciprocity of culture and human consciousness. Prof Ahmed also shared his desire that the speech be translated and published to make it available to the public.
Dr Tariq Sohail went down memory lane and shared his first meeting with Sibte in 1967 in London. Moments of their many travels together were shared. He reminisced about one such memorable trip to Egypt where Sibte eagerly visited all the tombs of the great pharaohs.
All the speeches spoke of Sibte Sahab in the capacity of students, admirers and friends, and so it was a perfect end to the evening when his daughter Naushaba Zuberi shared her childhood memories of the man who is revered by many.
Sibte sahib’s birth centenary will be celebrated in 2016, arrangements for which are already under way. Many of his works will be republished, his essays compiled in book form and his contributions celebrated.
Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2014