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Sibghatullah Qadri — Bikhri Yaadein Aur Baatein penned by Barrister Sibghatullah Qadri was launched at the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi on Saturday evening.

Mr Qadri, who lives in London, delivered a thought-provoking speech on the occasion. He said the event had enabled him to meet a lot of people who he hadn’t met in a long time and who were part of the students’ movements in the 1950s and ‘60s. He was 12 years old when he migrated to Pakistan. At the time, it was difficult to get admission to schools. At that point in time he ran into Mohammad Shafi, who asked him to join the High School Students Federation. When he went into college he joined the Democratic Students Federation (DSF), where he was guided by the likes of Dr M. Sarwar and Dr Ayub Mirza, among others. Then the National Students Federation (NSF) was made where he got to work with individuals such as Dr Sher Afzal Malik and Fatahyab Ali Khan, who struggled a great deal for democracy and went to jail. Dr Adib Rizvi was dubbed a communist. “I too was called a communist. I didn’t know much English in those days. I was told that I was ‘indoctrinating’ communist ideology. They turned me into a doctor. They considered us a security threat.” He also remembered his days in Hyderabad where he got to know Mohammad Ali (who later became a film star) and poet Himayat Ali Shair.