Many faces of Yaad: From literary giant to civil engineer

Speakers pay tribute to the noted short-story writer at a condolence reference.

ISLAMABAD:

Mansha Yaad’s multidimensional persona has given his admirers much to remember about him. Speakers at a condolence reference on Wednesday spoke not only about his services to literature but also discussed the role he played in Islamabad’s development.

Writers, scholars, friends and family members gathered at the event, which was organised by Pakistan Academy of Letters to pay tribute to the famous novelist and intellectual who died last month.

“Yaad was one of the first engineers of CDA, who had himself erected the poles in the city by demarcating key buildings including Pakistan House, President House, Parliament House, Supreme Court of Pakistan,” said Aslam Sirajuddin, a writer. He assisted General Yahya Khan on the first briefing on the idea of a newly proposed capital city to the then cabinet of General Ayub Khan, he added.

Not only this, Yaad also laid the foundation stone of “Halqa-e-Irbab-e-Zoaq”, a literary organisation in Islamabad, and gathered literature lovers from across the city. Yaad maintained his association with this group till his death and remained an active member of the organisation.

“Yaad was always committed, honest and loyal to his mission,” Sirajuddin said. He added he never saw see any other person who had contributed to development of the city as much as Yaad.

He urged the city administration to arrange literacy functions on every anniversary of Yaad and rename one of the “popular roads of Islamabad after him”.

Praising his literary abilities, another speaker said that Yaad had mastered the art of storytelling. He would expertly paint the settings and describe complicated situations in his stories with ease.

Renowned fiction writer Masood Mufti said that Yaad’s commitment to literature remained unshakeable. “He initiated experiments in his stories that gave him the vision to understand the issues of his life more clearly,” Mufti said. He said that Yaad made a way between the traditional and modern style of writing short story and also adopted symbolism as a technique to describe the story.

Khaleequr Rehman, a writer, said, “He was a progressive liberal person and was against the attitude of some writers to divide human beings on different ideologies.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2011.