On 7th June in 1966, the people of the then East Pakistan observed a general strike in the province in support of the Awami League's Six-Point demands of autonomy announced a few months earlier by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The strike, in the course of which a number of individuals were killed in police firing and a number of others were injured, was a powerful instance of the Bangalees making their displeasure about their place in Pakistan known to the authorities.
But even as the general strike, or hartal, kept the province in its grip throughout the day, the central leaders of the Awami League Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam and others stayed behind bars. The strike would be spearheaded by two young Awami League politicians, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Amena Begum.
A Life Worth Reading
Shahid Hamid and his wife Sarwat. File photo
‘Treasured Memories’ not only recounts Pakistan’s history, but also offers an enticing glimpse into the personal history of author Shahid Hamid
In a column for
The Observer, Oscar Wilde noted that “a love letter is as much about the person it is addressed to as it is about the person writing it.” Shahid Hamid’s
Treasured Memories reads like a love letter to a life well lived, a family much loved and a country well served; it is as much a sociopolitical recap of Pakistan’s past as it is an insight into the personal life of one of the most charismatic and successful Pakistani men I have had the good fortune of knowing as a friend for nearly 50 years.