By Muhammad Zakir Ali Khan
Aligarh Muslim University, Old Boys Association, Pakistan

Reviewed by Sabih Mohsin

Muhammad Zakir Ali Khan, now an octogenarian, has been a very active and popular figure in the social circles of Karachi since a long time. The Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association of Pakistan, of which he is the general secretary for the last several decades, was the forum mainly used by him for his multifarious activities.

The Aligarh Muslim University was founded by the great social reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, during the later part of the 19th century. The residential university was established with the primary objective of the educational uplift of the Indian Muslims who were, till then, averse to western education and to modernity. It was not simply an educational institution but it also served as a training centre for the Muslim youth of British India, preparing them to play a leading role in all walks of life, from politics to sports.

During the Pakistan movement, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah used to call the university his ‘arsenal’. And rightfully so as many devoted workers of the All-India Muslim League and, later, senior bureaucrats and politicians in Pakistan came from that institution.

True to the Aligarh tradition Zakir Ali Khan, a civil engineer by profession, possesses a passion for social work, a taste for literature and an interest in hockey. Though, as a senior officer of the erstwhile Karachi Metropolitan Municipal Corporation (KMC) and later as head of the Karachi Sewerage and Water Board (KWSB), he was associated with a number of schemes and projects that were essential for the improvement of the quality of life in the city of Karachi, he made his monumental contribution, the establishment of the Sir Syed University of Science and Technology, after his retirement and in collaboration with another distinguished Aligarian, Z.A. Nizami. The establishment of the university was indeed a great service as institutions providing quality education in the new and emerging disciplines of science and technology are urgently needed in this fast-growing city.

During the Pakistan movement, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah used to call Aligarh University his ‘arsenal’. And rightfully so as many devoted workers of the All-India Muslim League and, later, senior bureaucrats and politicians in Pakistan came from that institution.

Zakir Ali Khan is also a prolific writer. The book under review, Yaadon ka Dastarkhwan, is his 10th published work and as its title indicates, consists of his reminiscences of places, events and persons. The book is divided into four sections: articles about the Aligarh University, sketches of some distinguished Aligarians, papers read at various book launching ceremonies and some obituary notes.

Much has changed at the Aligarh University and in the town itself since 1947. The author visited his alma mater in the year 2005 and in his narrative, Dayar-i-Arzoo ka Safar, he describes the changes he noted, some with optimism and some with sadness. Gone was the black sherwani which was a part of the boys’ uniform at the university. Also abandoned was the black burqa worn by the girls. A nostalgic account of the problematic dietary situation of the Aligarians during his time and the solutions they had found for it has been provided by the author in his piece entitled ‘Aligarh ka Food Map’. These two articles help readers construct their own picture of life in that celebrated institution in the days before Independence.

The book also includes a number of personality sketches of both Aligarians and non-Algarians. Among them are Munnan Khan, the legendary hockey player who died in Karachi under mysterious circumstances; Abdul Sattar Afghani, a former mayor of Karachi; and a number of scholars, writers and poets.