Biographies are personal histories rendered either in a literary form or in a purely objective but statistical formulation of facts and figures. Lytton Strachey (1880-1932), a diarist and biographer par excellence, thought that ‘the basis of all good biography must be the humanistic respect for human beings in their separateness as distinct from lower creatures and even as distinct from one another’.
In fact, individual human beings, however simple they may appear, are enigmatical, being a compact embodiment of contending elements. The biographer is therefore obliged to discern these individual differences. In the process, the ordinary human being becomes highly important and interesting for him but usually, he deals with extraordinary men and women which an immense discerning skill in him (the biographer). In this way, the art of biography is deemed to be ‘the most delicate and humane of all the branches of the art of writing.’
‘AZEEZ-E-PAKISTAN, TARIQ AZIZ’:
Tariq Aziz (1938-2020) was an outstanding broadcaster first and foremost though literature, acting and politics were also his favourite diversions at different points of time. ‘Neelam Ghar’, his compering extravaganza on PTV starting in 1975, brought him name, fame and affluence too.
The programme which was re-named as ‘Tariq Aziz Show’ in 1997, and ‘Bazme Tariq Aziz’ in 2002, continued to be on air for a record time of more than four long decades. Tariq Aziz also earned the unique distinction of being the host of PTV’s maiden transmission from Lahore, in 1964.
Haroon Rashid Tabassum is a known litterateur, academic, and socio-cultural activist from Sargodha. He seems to have taken considerable pains to the author and compile this book as a compendium of biographical detail, critical opinion, and expository narration on the person and art of the biographee together with an assortment of facts, figures, and photos bearing on his illustrious career.
Apart from the author, some other contributors to the book are Mamoon Rashid, Javed Chaudhry, Sa’adullah Shah, Zulfiqar Ahsan, Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Virk, Ali Ahmad Dhilon, Tahir Ashraf, Atiya Iftikhar, Ibrahim Jaleels, Salim Jafri, Hussain Shah, Gohar Sultana Uzma, Prof. Tafakhur Mehmood Gondal, and Shahbaz Anwar Khan.
Nearly one-third of the book has been allocated to the reproduction of some important but informative questions that were asked by the learned compere in all of the three shows conducted by him, as aforementioned. The book is thus a souvenir of Tariq Aziz’s meritorious career as a compere, poet, politician, and film and stage actor: verily a man of notable endowments! Readers will surely like it for its substance and soul.
‘SUBH-E-DAWAM, PROF. SAHIBZADA ABDUR RASUL’:
Late Prof. Sahibzada Abdur Raul (1930-2019) was a noted historian, scholar, intellectual, educationist, researcher, translator, and orator besides being a man of noble character. Haroon Rashid Tabassum, in his own distinctive style, has attempted to focus on the life and achievements of the late scholar, in this biography.
Coming from a religious family of Lillah Sharif (Pind Dadan Khan), the late Sahibzada Sahib started his career as a teacher of History at Government College Sargodha, his alma mater too, in November 1952, after completing a brilliant academic career at Punjab University, Lahore.
Later he served as Professor and head of department (History) at Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Principal, Govt. Ambala Muslim College, and Govt. College, Sargodha, Director Education (Colleges), Rawalpindi and Sargodha, and Chairman, BISE, Sargodha besides working on the boards and committees of a host of autonomous academic, literary, and religious bodies.
He authored several text books on history, Islamiyat, and Pakistan Studies. His numerous publications on religion, mysticism, history, and culture have been neatly indexed in the book.
Sargodha and its adjoining valley have always had a rich literary clime. Intellectuals, writers and poets of the cast and calibre of Ahmad Nadim Qasmi, Shakeb Jalali, Dr Wazir Agha, Prof. Ghulam Jilani Asghar, Raja Abdul Ghafoor Jauhar Nizami, Prof. Mirza Muhammad Munawar, Sahibzada Abdur Rasul, Dr Salim Agha Qizilbash, Dr Khurshid Rizvi, Abdul Qadir Hassan, Mufti Muhammad Tufail Goendi, Prof. Muhammad Afzal Malik, Raja Hasan Akhtar Jalil, Raja Safdar Hassan Safdar, Khalid Iqbal Yasir, Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal, Dr Haroon Rashid Tabassum, Najma Mansoor, Zulfiqar Ahsan, Prof. Yusuf Khalid, Mehmood Aseer, Dr Zahid Munir Aamir, Prof. Riaz Ahmad Shad, Mumtaz Arif, Dr Abid Khurshid et al have added lustre to the cultural milieu of the Chenab-Khushab riverine-cum-hilly tract, at one point of time or the other, stretching from Sargodha onwards to Shahpur, Khushab-Jauharabad and the Soon-Sakesar Valley.
The instant book seeks to highlight the biographical data of Sahibzada Abdur Rasul in the larger context of his professional, academic and spiritual accomplishments. The compiler happens to be his ex-student also, hence his deep personal involvement in the venture.
Apart from the complier, some contributors to the biography are Mian Muhammad Asif (‘Foreword’), Salimur Rasul, Dr Sahibzada Sajidur Rahman, Dr Sahibzada Moeen Nizami, Rabia Abid, Mufti Muhammad Tufail Goendi, Dr. Abid Khurshid, Zahida Abid Hina, Dr S. M. Zaman, Prof. Dr Riazul Haq Tariq, Dr Zafarullah Beg, Prof. Riaz Ahmad Shad, Dr Khurshid Rizvi, Muhammad Tufail Saqib, Mehmood Aseer, Mumtaz Arif, Prof. Dr Zahid Munir Aamir, Malik Ashraf Zaki Awan, Zulfiqar Ahsan, Kh. Awais Ahmad Shibli Panipati, and Shibzada Shamshad Hussain Shahid.
Dr Haroon Rashid Tabassum has done yeoman’s service to the memory of his great teacher
by authoring and compiling the present biography. This scribe had also had the privilege to be his (Sahibzada Sahib’s) colleague, though for upwards of a year, at Govt. College Faisalabad (then Lyallpur) in the early 1970s. He was a popular teacher, a learned scholar, a caring co-worker, and a reticent but well-meaning gentleman.
