DAWN - Features; 21 May, 1999
A democrat to be remembered
Muhammad Yasin
Dr Eqbal Ahmad, political scientist, scholar par excellence and humanist basically, had been making yearly visits to Rawalpindi even during his stay in the United States. At the height of the political turbulence at the close of 1960's and around early 1970's in Pakistan, he visited Rawalpindi when he resided in Satellite Town and met some of the progressive people drawn from students, intellectuals and progressive elements at the residence of Prof Hamid Hashmi. Mr Hashmi, currently of the Dada Amir Haider Sangat, then used to live in Arya Mohalla in Rawalpindi. Mr Hamid Hashmi who had been associated with the progressive movements in those days, used to be the rallying point for all progressive people in Rawalpindi.
At the meeting with local intellectuals, Dr Eqbal's insight into the situation was articulate and perspicuous. He was cogent, clear and precise in his analysis about the political situation then obtaining in the country. On the Pakistani perspectives in the context of international situation, Dr Eqbal Ahmad had clear ideas. He was logical in the expression of his ideas without any reservations. He had no inhibitions in the expression of his thoughts in a straightforward manner he was used to expound among his friends. One thing that stood out in Dr Eqbal'sattitudes was hiscourage of convictions. What impressed those who came into contact with the learned doctor was that he was the "doer" kind, not a drawing-room scholar but a revolutionarywith human face and spirit as his close friends used to describe him for he acted to translate his ideas into reality. He listened to the point of view of the people who came into contact with him with sympathy and composure characteristic of a true scholar and dissected their views with the depth of his life-long knowledge. In the process, he would pose sharp and teasing questions to his listeners in a Socratic style with all hishumility . He was against authoritarianismandwas essentially a democrat in his behaviour and attitudes.
One thing I noticed was that Dr Eqbal Ahmad was educative for the younger people. He gave a lot of importance to them, answered their questions unfailingly without ever imposing his own ideas on them, respected their views and their way of dissent with his own point of view. The tough scholar in him never was at a loss for bright and clear-headed ideas. He talked tohis listeners on equal level. At the end of that meeting, many of us had the feeling of knowing very little and having zerosome knowledge of what went around the world, of socialism, of the world around us and of Pakistan itself and its ruling classes and worst of all of the " Gurus" of " modern thought. Essentially, Dr Eqbal Ahmad was abeacon of hope and optimism for the democratic minded people all over the Third World, especially in Pakistan where absolutism had come to permeate the society.
During his subsequent yearly visits to Rawalpindi, Dr Eqbal Ahmad kept up his contacts with the people who believed in doing things. He encouraged younger people to be creative in ideas. In 1973, he led a demonstration of like-mindedpeople comprising labourers, intellectuals and students from the Rawalpindi Press Club at Liaquat Bagh. The demonstration was against the American involvement in affairs of Campouchea. In the course of his visit to Rawalpindi in 1976, Dr Eqbal Ahmad met his old friend Hamid Hashmi. During the exchange of views on the current situation, Mr Hamid Hashmi talked about the way ZAB seemed to have gained complete control over the affairs. After assessing the objective situation, Dr Eqbal Ahmad had the foresight to forecast the events. The point to stress is that Dr Eqbal Ahmad on the basis of indepth knowledge and objectivestudies on the situation on the ground always made predictions on the given situations which later proved true. His forecast about Lebanon had likewise turned out to be correct. Two years ago, he was at the Rawalpindi Press Club when Dada Amir Haider Sangat chose to celebrate the anniversary of the great revolutionary. He sat among the back benchers. Despite being asked to take front seat, Dr Eqbal Ahmad declined the offer, choosing to listen to the speeches from the back seat. It speaks volumes of his humbleness.
Dr Pervez Hoodhboy, a close confidante of Dr Eqbal Ahmad, in his speech made at "The tribute to Dr Eqbal Ahmad" at the NationalLibrary auditorium Islamabad on Sunday last talked of Dr Eqbal's passion for setting up a liberal arts university Khuldonia in Islamabad and how it was sabotaged by the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in her second tenure. Pervez Hoodhboy told the audiences how and why Dr Eqbal cooled towards Yasser Arafat, Ben Bellah and Fidel Castro because Dr Eqbal believed in giving priority to speaking the truth and never caring aboutlittle things like keeping silence on the real stark issues. According to Dr Pervez Hoodhboy, Dr Eqbal detested dictators and had the knack for calling a spade a spade. He always spoke his mind.
It is unfortunate that we in Pakistan under-estimate our genuine scholars and intellectuals. Pakistan's rulers and elite did not accord him the recognition in the manner he deserved it. No Pakistani university worth the name dared to honour him with the degrees or announce a chair in his memory though they had been bestowing them on lesser men in the ruling cliques from time to time. PTV did not deem it fit to run a programme on the great man that he was. The leaders in the government did not deem it fit to mention Dr Eqbal's contribution to the broadening the frontiers of knowledge and his struggle for resistance against imperialism in the parts of the world which are very close to Pakistan. The man who had taken up the USA by storm in the 60s and early 70s by his espousal of the cause of the downtrodden and dispossessed all through the third world, we consigned him to ignominy and shut doorsto bestowingonthe great luminary thenational honours. UN secretary general Kufi Annan sent a special message to the bereaved family for the services that Dr Eqbal rendered for the world at large but the Government of Pakistan chose to ignore the son of soil.