ISLAMABAD: Renowned humorist, educationist, man of letters, diplomat and writer, Patras Bukhari was remembered on his 124th birth anniversary on Sunday.
Patras Bukhari was born on October 1, 1898 in Peshawar and his real name was Syed Ahmed Shah. He was a very competitive person, who had an eager to lead ahead in life. He also served as the speech writer of the first prime minister of Pakistan Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan and after his assassination he was sent to United Nations as a permanent representative of Pakistan in 1950, where he served for 8 years.
His collection of essays, ‘Patras Kay Mazameen’ published in 1927 is said to be an asset in Urdu humour. It is undoubtedly one of the finest works in Urdu humour and despite the fact that it was written in first half of twentieth century, it seems to be truly applicable even today.
He lived in times of personalities like Allama Iqbal and had interacted with him on several occasions and engaged him in philosophical debates. One of his debates with Iqbal led to creation of one of his poems in his book Zarb-e-Kaleem. Patras Bukhari died on December 5, 1958 in New York due to a cardiac attack.
The Government of Pakistan acknowledged his immense contribution by honoring him with Hilal-e-Imtiaz award in 2003.
