Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan: the end of an era
I remember engaging in spirited discussions and sometimes arguments with Tahira chachi over our respective pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing orientations. What I distinctly remember is that she always spoke in Punjabi and I believe that remained a lifelong commitment even when attending formal
The veteran leftist Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan (1925 to 2015) died on March 23, 2015. Her departure closes the chapter on pre-partition erstwhile Lahore-based Communist and pro-Communist intellectuals and activists. I first saw her in the late 1960s at meetings in Lahore of workers and of the National Awami Party (Wali Khan). Then, when the Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP) held its inaugural meeting at the YMCA in 1971, she came to convey her best wishes, though she did not attend the meeting. By that time the leftists had spilt into pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing groupings. Tahira belonged to the pro-Moscow faction while the MKP was staunchly pro-Beijing.
Later, I started meeting her regularly at the residence of Syed Amir Hussain Shah on Birdwood Road, Lahore. His elder son, Ali Haroon Shah, and I had been friends since the first standard class at St Anthony’s High School. In 1970, we were both preparing for our political science Master’s exam and were meeting regularly at their Birdwood Road residence. Both Tahira and Mazhar Ali Khan were very close friends of Haroon Shah’s parents. Amir Hussain Shah sahib died suddenly on March 14, 1971. He had been elected to the Punjab Assembly in December 1970 as a PPP candidate. Tahira and Mazhar sahib began to visit Birdwood Road even more frequently to be with the distraught family of their friend.
Tahira chachi (aunt) exuded her warmth naturally and spontaneously while Mazhar sahib was a shy and private person. I remember engaging in spirited discussions and sometimes arguments with Tahira chachi over our respective pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing orientations. What I distinctly remember is that she always spoke in Punjabi and I believe that remained a lifelong commitment even when attending formal gatherings. Now, both are gone. Many of their best friends and comrades departed earlier. Among the closest were Mian Iftikharuddin (1962), Amir Hussain Shah (1971) and Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1984). Others who have also gone include former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Sohan Singh Josh, the lone member of the Punjab Assembly who used to come to the assembly riding his bicycle, Abdullah Malik, Hamid Akhtar, Mirza Ibrahim, Shamim Ashraf Malik and many,
I remember engaging in spirited discussions and sometimes arguments with Tahira chachi over our respective pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing orientations. What I distinctly remember is that she always spoke in Punjabi and I believe that remained a lifelong commitment even when attending formal
The veteran leftist Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan (1925 to 2015) died on March 23, 2015. Her departure closes the chapter on pre-partition erstwhile Lahore-based Communist and pro-Communist intellectuals and activists. I first saw her in the late 1960s at meetings in Lahore of workers and of the National Awami Party (Wali Khan). Then, when the Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP) held its inaugural meeting at the YMCA in 1971, she came to convey her best wishes, though she did not attend the meeting. By that time the leftists had spilt into pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing groupings. Tahira belonged to the pro-Moscow faction while the MKP was staunchly pro-Beijing.
Later, I started meeting her regularly at the residence of Syed Amir Hussain Shah on Birdwood Road, Lahore. His elder son, Ali Haroon Shah, and I had been friends since the first standard class at St Anthony’s High School. In 1970, we were both preparing for our political science Master’s exam and were meeting regularly at their Birdwood Road residence. Both Tahira and Mazhar Ali Khan were very close friends of Haroon Shah’s parents. Amir Hussain Shah sahib died suddenly on March 14, 1971. He had been elected to the Punjab Assembly in December 1970 as a PPP candidate. Tahira and Mazhar sahib began to visit Birdwood Road even more frequently to be with the distraught family of their friend.
Tahira chachi (aunt) exuded her warmth naturally and spontaneously while Mazhar sahib was a shy and private person. I remember engaging in spirited discussions and sometimes arguments with Tahira chachi over our respective pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing orientations. What I distinctly remember is that she always spoke in Punjabi and I believe that remained a lifelong commitment even when attending formal gatherings. Now, both are gone. Many of their best friends and comrades departed earlier. Among the closest were Mian Iftikharuddin (1962), Amir Hussain Shah (1971) and Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1984). Others who have also gone include former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Sohan Singh Josh, the lone member of the Punjab Assembly who used to come to the assembly riding his bicycle, Abdullah Malik, Hamid Akhtar, Mirza Ibrahim, Shamim Ashraf Malik and many,
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