“Voraciously vocal and explosive by temperament, Rashid Malik (1924-2007) has dissected many ‘literary’ hounds with his pen which he wields like a scalpel. A prolific writer on Indian musicology with three books to his credit and a recent one in press on Indology, Malik sahib has seen an era of recorded history,” wrote Nadira to start perhaps the only interview Rashid Malik ever gave to a newspaper. It appeared in The Nation on July 29, 1994.

Born in 1924, Rashid Malik was schooled at Bikaner (India) where his father, Malik Ghulam Hussain, had started farming after his retirement from the railways department. After his matriculation, the family shifted to Jalandhar where he was admitted to the Islamia College.

“Introduction with Mr. Jinnah as the best student when he visited the college in the early 1940s is the most unforgettable moment of my college days. I still feel the warmth of his hand,” he would proudly exclaim.

Cambridge alumnus principal QM Farid and Mr Sardar, a young lecturer in English, were two personalities that Malik always remembered as the best teachers he had.

“It was in the company of Mr Sardar that I developed a taste for English literature. Bridges of songs was my first introduction to English poetry and by the end of my first year I had finished reading all Shakespearian tragedies,” he once told this writer.

He joined the Punjab University Lahore for MA Economics and soon after the Partition started his career as a lecturer at Dyal Singh College, Lahore. He appeared in the first CSS examination held after the creation of Pakistan and was allocated the police department.

“We were trained at Police Training School, Sarda (now in Bangladesh). Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan presided over the passing-out ceremony. Unfortunately, I was also present as ASP Rawalpindi in the public rally where he was murdered,” Rashid Malik sahib clearly remembered.

After serving in Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Kasur and Sialkot as ASP and SP, he resigned from the government service in 1960 and proceeded to England.

“I had gone there to study accountancy but continued my research on the subcontinental music in British Museum and other libraries and returned laden with microfilms and books on music instead of a degree in chartered accountancy,” he said.

His well-researched articles started appearing in quarterly Funoon in 1964 which were later compiled by him as Amir Khusrau Ka Ilm-i-Musiqi Aur Doosrey Maqalat in 1975. His second book Masa’el-i-Mausiqi, comprising articles on topics such as sources of music, problems faced by musicologists and plagiarism in musicology was published by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad in 1984. Mausiqi Ke Farsi Ma’akhiz, a compilation by Rashid Malik, contains excerpts from Persian books containing important information on the subcontinental music. He also edited and translated from Persian into Urdu a 17th century treatise on subcontinental music, namely Raag Darpan, with an erudite commentary on its contents.

Classical music, his main forte, led him to look deeper into the sociocultural history of subcontinent. Indology, published in 2002, deals with issues such as Ragni Ka Irtiqa, Bhagti Movement and Vedas to name a few.

Malik’s tryst with journalism, though very brief, was also unique. In his weekly column, titled Classics Revisited, in The Frontier Post, he very beautifully introduced masterpieces of world classics such as Hamlet, Mathnavi Maulana Rumi, Mahabharata, Macbeth and Shahnama-i-Ferdowsi to mention a few. Despite lot of appreciation by the readers for ‘Classics Revisited’ he would never allow it to be overshadowed by his equally informative, critical and at the same time, interesting columns on the life and works of great musicians of subcontinent such as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Ustad Amir Khan and many others which were compiled and published in 2012 under the title The Doyens of Sub-Continental Music by this writer.

A connoisseur of some repute, Malik’s motley collection of books ranged from music, dance, archaeology, philosophy and history of religion, crime and philology. He ardently collected maestros’ music on LPs, CDs and tapes during whole of his life. Using this material, he intended to write a detailed analysis of the developments in subcontinental music in 20th century.

Besides being a genuine musicologist, Rashid Malik was an excellent translator. He translated first two parts of Parkash Tandon’s Punjabi Saga under the title Punjab Ke Sau Saal and Bairun-i-Punjab. Owing to his occupation with other research projects, he tasked this writer to complete translation of the final part of trilogy, Back to Punjab.

A man of varied academic interests, Rashid Malik had a special liking for pure sciences as well. Atom Ki Kainat, published by Urdu Science Board, Lahore, and the Urdu translation of Thomas Goldstein’s Dawn of Modern Science as Jadeed Science Ka Aghaz speak of a lesser known aspect of his literary personality. Similarly, he also has to his credit a book on criminology, titled Jraaim Aur Mujrim.

Rashid Malik died on Feb 19, 2007 and was awarded Pride of Performance posthumously on Aug 14, 2007.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2017