May 28, 2006

Been there, done that

This is the autobiography of A. Sattar Parekh in which he gives a contemporary view of history and talks about his many contributions to the growth and development of Pakistan.

A. Sattar Parekh writes about his political endeavours and encounters with notable personalities

The persons who encouraged me to enter political life were two confirmed bachelors and intellectuals, Yousuf Mehar Ali, a popular leader of Bombay (Mumbai), who became the first socialist mayor of the Bombay Metropolitan Corporation and the intellectual Asoka Mehta, who later on became minister for economic affairs in the cabinet of Mrs Indira Gandhi.

My plan was that all the roads and lanes, numbering over a 100, had to be properly metalled and carpeted in such a way that for the next three years they would need no repairs.

All the unauthorised buildings, institutions and houses should be regularised immediately but against donations. For decades by bribing the engineering department many buildings remained unauthorised without completion certificates.

As far as health and conservancy was concerned 100 new trucks and 50 night soil carriers were to be purchased immediately. At least 200 public latrines were to be built within this period and 100 one-room quarters were to be built for the halal khors, as the scavengers and bhangis were rightly called.

To achieve all this I had a plan. I gave one week’s time to the engineering department to provide me full and detailed information about pending cases of unauthorised buildings, bungalows, etc. The department had to provide what action, if any, the municipality could take against the owners or occupiers. In order to avoid litigation against demolition, how much penalty could be imposed for regularisation of these unauthorised buildings. They had also to inform in writing if regularisation would create a problem of encroachment and resultant litigation against the municipality.

The road and building committee had to put up their recommendations on the contents of the letter providing information. A realistic amount of penalty which could be imposed and which the parties concerned could pay without protest had to be mentioned also.

The health officer was advised to provide information about cleaning of slums in various areas and had to suggest also a number of toilets and public washing places with the number of taps and provision for the continuous running supply of water and the total cost involved in all this in collaboration with the engineering department. Both the departments in collaboration with each other had to recommend the number of trucks, etc., required with detailed cost figures which should be submitted to me through the standing committee, which sanctioned budgets.

All the information received by me would be discussed at the general body meeting for their approval. Upon receipt of this approval I held a meeting with some of the big owners of unauthorised buildings. I conveyed the message to them that the municipality will issue completion certificates within 15 days, if they purchase at their own cost and provide the required number of trucks, toilets, expenses on slum cleaning and re-metalling of a given number of roads, lanes, etc., and will construct one hundred, one room tenements for the halal khors at their cost.

The response was beyond our expectations and some of the big ones who were personally known to me were prepared to give me a written undertaking to this effect then and there. Upon receiving the commitment I placed this letter on the agenda of the general body meeting and after receiving their approval I called a press conference where chief reporters of all the important newspapers came and made extensive reports after a questions and answers session. The widest possible publicity was received and the correspondents used to hold a weekly meeting with me to note down and publish the progress reports.

Before this, I invited the signatories of the commitment, in the general body meeting to assure them that the municipality had committed itself publicly that completion certificates will be issued to them if they provided within 45 days the number of trucks, etc., required and also set aside funds required for the repairs of roads, etc., and for providing other facilities. A joint memorandum of understanding was signed and announced at a press conference ...

It was a hectic year, which kept me away from other normal duties in my life. At 5:00am every morning, the health officer with his jeep would pick me up from my house and from the municipal building three other jeeps with the chief engineer and chairman of the building and roads and another jeep with the chairman of the standing committee would follow me. The chairman of the health committee would join me in my jeep.

There being no sanitary arrangements, poor people would generally squat in public places. They were all given three warnings on different occasions since it was not possible for us to visit the same area everyday. After a couple of months the local police would again go round to warn them after which some of them would be arrested and put up before the honorary magistrate who would generally impose a fine of a rupee or two (at our request a severe punishment was not in the interest of justice). Those who could not afford to pay even a rupee were punished to continue remaining in the court till the rising of the magistrate at around 12:00 noon. This daily parade of ours would continue up to 8:00am after which we were free for a couple of hours for breakfast, shave and shower, etc. At 10:00am, I was in my office at the municipality where anybody could walk into my office. The poorest who came to me was made to sit on the chair to the great dislike of the chief officer and I deliberately called the concerned officer to stand before the poor complainant to answer on the spot or to submit the file to me.

The next day the complainant would be requested to remain present. The poor man got his dignity and got his problem solved without bribing anybody or visiting the office frequently. All this was done by me to create an impression that we were really people’s representatives and not their bosses. This image fortunately was created. I was particularly happy at the change of behaviour of the officers towards the common man.

The local railway station was at a distance of a one minute walk. I would leisurely walk at about 12:30pm to the station. From here I would leave for Marine Lines Station which would take less than 30 minutes for me to reach my boutique and office which was also opposite the Marine Lines Station. I would hardy spend two hours there and before 4:00pm I was again at the municipal office to dispose of files and give my decisions on important matters to the chief officers and other concerned persons. At 6:00pm there was invariably a meeting of one of the committees which I attended without fail to impress upon the members and chairman as to how serious we all had to be to dispose of long pending cases. Between 8:00pm and 9:00pm I would reach my residence with a number of files requiring my urgent attention.

This was my daily routine except on Saturday and Tuesday evenings when with my wife I would join my friends at Radio Club. There were occasions where we were invited to state functions either at the governor house or at functions where the Prime Minister Mr Nehru would be the chief guest. This routine continued for two years, first in my capacity as the president of the Municipality and in the second year as a member of the Metropolitan Corporation. My wife though unhappy at my inability to give more time to her was also happy at the protocol extended to her ...

A handshake with Mr Jinnah

The student’s union of the college invited Mr Jinnah to speak before the students. An invitation card came to me also though I was no more a student of the college. This was my first view of Mr Jinnah from such a close quarter except for once when I saw him in the high court arguing a case. Professor Alfanzo was even then the president of the union. While introducing Mr Jinnah, he indirectly quoted the words on a Glaxo baby milk powder box and said that Mr Jinnah, being in the process of rebuilding the Muslim League, should hopefully “build a bonnie baby” and the audience hilariously clapped. As was planned between Dr Rahman and a few of us, tea after the speech was arranged at the principal’s bungalow. Though it was a walking distance from the college, Dr Rahman took Mr Jinnah in his car to seek his support and blessings for the college to be converted into a Muslim University ...

A few events of interest

Mr Jinnah was invited to Taj Hotel at a reception held in his honour by the Bombay Memon Chamber of Commerce. I was not a member of the chamber but received an invitation and attended. With his permission, I stood up to ask him the oft repeated question, “Sir, Will you define for our benefit what Pakistan would be.” He took his matchbox into his hands and replied, “It could be this. All I want is an independent land for the Muslims to live there without fear and subordination from the British and Hindus.”

Gandhi went by ship to attend the last Round Table Conference in London . He took with him two goats as usual. He preferred and stayed in a poor slum labour area. Though the Round Table Conference failed, King George V, had to invite delegates at an evening party in Buckingham Palace .

George V was a difficult man. He consulted his friend Churchill, who announced to the press that “the naked fakeer from India shall not be allowed to the Buckingham Palace unless properly dressed.”

Gandhi smiled and when the press correspondent interviewed him he said that he represented more than 90 per cent of the naked population of India and as such “I will come with a short dhoti wearing chappals in my feet.” A compromise suggested was that since it was very chilly in the evening and that too in the garden it would be in his own interest to cover his upper body with a shawl. This proposal, Gandhi accepted and the King had to welcome and shake hands with the naked fakeer.

I do not know if he had seen a movie before this but Gandhi had requested a meeting with Charlie Chaplin who was universally considered a philosopher. He had a long meeting with Chaplin. For all I know the first talkie (movie) with the courtesy of Metro Goldwyne of USA, seen by Gandhi was “Mission to Moscow” at the Juhu Beach where he was recouping after his long fast unto death and release from Aga Khan Palace, Poona.

Not related to Gandhi’s visit I write for those who do not know that Gandhi’s eldest son Hari Lal was a drunkard and by way of revenge the Muslims of Mumbai converted this drunkard to Islam at the Jama Masjid Bombay where he offered Juma prayers. Soon after that the drunkard abandoned Islam ...

My boutique was being furnished but in the meanwhile a lot of exquisite sarees and brocades had arrived from Banaras and other places. The parcels were kept at a friend’s flat on Marine Drive . With my wife and several of her lady friends we went to the flat. If my memory does not fail me it was sometime in the forenoon. We had hardly settled in the flat when we heard an explosion and the windows and doors and even the flat appeared to be falling apart.

We rushed down and stood on the opposite footpath near the sea not knowing what had happened. People from hundreds of flats from all the buildings were seen standing on the same footpath. The situation was chaotic. Luckily for us a seven-seater taxi stopped where we were standing and without formality we all quickly got into the taxi. I told the driver to take us to Null Bazar where to the best of my memory we were invited for lunch. We were only half way there when there was another explosion and we saw several items flying in the air and big pieces of burning cotton fell on some adjoining buildings causing fire. The taxi man in spite of our appeals dropped us then and there and drove away without even taking any money. There was no other alternative for us but to walk a couple of miles to the place in Null Bazar.

In the meanwhile the whole of Mumbai was in a panic and nobody knew what had happened. Some thought it was bombardment by the Japanese. Rumours continued till late evening. That was the afternoon when I first saw Dr Jooma, later the world famous neuro-surgeon. He was happy to meet me because he was a distant cousin and we were born in the same village in two different houses at a distance of half a furlong from each other. He wanted to get married to a beautiful English-speaking girl and wanted me and my wife to support him. In those chaotic conditions we exchanged our addresses and I invited him to visit me at my house after this crisis was over.

Again it was a slow walk to Grant Road Station as neither trams nor buses nor horse driven victorias were available. When we reached the station, the platform inside was overcrowded and thousands of people were waiting outside to get into the station. It was after several hours that we were able to get in ... we finally reached Jogeshwari. My father-in-law’s house was closer to the station and we all sought shelter there. Whatever there was by way of eatables and whatever could be purchased from the shops and restaurants nearby we consumed. We were informed there, as my in-laws had heard on the radio, that the explosions were in a ship loaded with explosives, cotton bales, gold bars, etc. Suddenly, due to some mishap the explosives caught fire and the docks and buildings nearby were destroyed. Even buildings far away were damaged and two big huge gold bars landed in the balcony of the flat of a Parsi family in Dhobi Talao area at a distance of more than two miles from the docks. Most of these details were received within the next two days. But we felt relieved that it was not a case of bombardment ...

Two prominent doctors

Dr Jooma started coming to my house on a regular basis. He was living in a hostel in a medical hospital. On the weekends he would stay with me. His problem was that he was looking for a beautiful bride. With that mission he had gone to my brother in Rajkot . The girls whom Jooma liked there were Anglo-Muslims and it was Jooma’s good luck that match making in Rajkot did not succeed. But with me Lady Luck was beckoning Jooma as a very beautiful young girl from a friendly family in the neighbourhood had confided in my wife that she was very unhappy at being engaged to a young bidi merchant. She wanted to call off the engagement she desired us to help her find another suitable match.

The situation for us was easy as well as very difficult. Easy in the sense that we already had a suitable match ready in our magic bag but difficult because the relatives of the girl, though not close, would become antagonised. The father of the girl was a forward-looking Memon, spending most of his time in East-Africa but he wanted all his very beautiful and educated daughters to get married to suitable young men.

Before I come to the story of my boyhood friend, son of a timber merchant who became a well-known physician Dr Kasim, let me complete Dr Jooma’s story. My wife spoke to the girl and her elder sisters and they all agreed that the Bidi wala had to be forgotten and Dr Jooma was welcome to meet the girl. On the appointed day and time my wife accompanied Dr Jooma to meet the girl. As my wife reported later, Dr Jooma almost fainted looking at the girl. Upon return to my house he told me, come what may he would like to marry the girl. An official engagement took place. When the relatives of the girl came to know about it, our friends turned into foes.

Dr Kasim, whose name was Ali Muhammad, was my childhood friend and as young boys we played together. He was the son of a middle class timber merchant. Kasim was the name of his father and Ali Muhammad Kasim came to be known as Dr Kasim. While we went to the high school, this poor boy was made to work in a timber shop measuring logs of wood and doing such odd jobs. One day he got an opportunity to pick up 10 rupees from the cash box and took a train to Kolkata. The amount that he had was enough to buy a ticket, up to a junction from where he had to take a train to Kolkata. Since he had no money to buy the ticket, he entered the compartment without one. As luck would have it there were active members of the Memon Educational and Welfare Society in the same compartment and coming to know that this boy wanted to go to Kolkata for further education, they extended their protection to him. On reaching Kolkata, the boy was taken to Sir Adamjee.

To cut the matter short he was able to complete his studies up to Inter Science. Meanwhile his would-be father-in law went to Calcutta and luckily met Kasim. Since both of them were from the same town in Kathiawar, the gentleman on condition that he would marry his beautiful daughter, elder to Dr Jooma’s wife, the gentleman undertook to provide cost for the couple to live in England and for Ali Muhammad to qualify as MRCPS. During the war year I found a young army officer in his army uniform with a lady landing in my house. I was surprised to know that he was my childhood friend. Having become an officer in the army he was assigned some duty in Bombay and was provided with a flat in a prestigious area of Worli Sea Face. We became close friends thereafter. After the war and partition of India he came to Karachi and joined Jinnah Hospital . After I migrated in 1952 our friendship continued.