Lahore, 1992: Dr Syeda Hameed with Dr Mubashir Hasan, uncle, comrade and mentor. Photo by Reza Kazim.
With the world in the grip of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard to find space for anything else. As horrors unfolded in country after country, exposing the hollowness behind military might, glittering capitalist facades, and exploitation, a gentle soul slipped into the hereafter at his house in Lahore. At 98, he had spent the last half of his life fighting for exactly the kind of egalitarian, people centered system that would have mitigated the ravages of Covid-19. There have been some wonderful tributes to Dr Mubashir Hasan. Two of the best I’ve seen are by his old friend I.A. Rehman and Indian journalist Nirupama Subramaniam in Indian Express, also published in Aman Ki Asha.
Below, my tribute to Dr M. in The News on Sunday last weekend, a follow up to my piece in The Wire earlier. Also below, two previously unpublished pieces I am honoured to present here — a powerful, poignant poem in Dr M’s memory by his niece in Delhi, and a lively little remembrance by a 12-year old based on her memories of the Chaukas collective meetings she attended with her mother, that led to A New Social Contract published by Dr M, 2016. Also linking here this tribute in Mainstream Weekly magazine, Kolkata, founded by Dr Mubashir’s friend Nikhil Chakravartty — “one of the greatest journalists of the subcontinent” as Dr M called him — now edited by his son Sumit Chakravartty.
- Captain– poem by Syeda Hameed, New Delhi
- One of the greatest men I have ever met– by Zahra Noorul Sahr Hasan, Lahore
- The man who wanted the world to be a better place– my piece published in The News on Sunday, 22 March 2020
Filed under: Pakistan-India, Peace, Personal | Tagged: #SouthAsianUnion, Activism, anti-nuclear, Asma Jahangir, Bhutto, coronavirus, democracy, Dr Mubashir Hasan, Ghalib, HRCP, HRCP founders, Human rights, I.A. Rehman, India, Kolkatta, Mainstream magazine, Nikhil Chakravartty, nuclear tests, Pakistan, Peace, PIPFPD, PPP, south asia | 1 Comment »
Journeys to democracy 