Shahab nama: 639-644
maj...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad
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On 27 October 1954, I had gone from Lahore to Karachi for a meeting.
Just as the meeting began, a phone call came that the cabinet secretary Mr.
Aziz Ahmed is requesting me to his office. When I arrived in his presence, he
said that Governor General Mr. Ghulam Muhammad wants to meet me. Go to the
Governor General House at once.
I had no familiarity with Mr. Ghulam Muhammad. I had only seen him a
few times when he was Minister of Finance. When I asked Mr. Aziz Ahmed about
the purpose of this call, he expressed a complete lack of knowledge.
A brother of Mr. Ghulam Muhammad had applied for a factory allotment in
Lahore. I thought that maybe the Governor General is going to lobby on his
brother's behalf. When I mentioned my apprehension to Mr. Aziz Ahmed, he again
expressed a complete lack of knowledge about the matter. At the same time, he
advised me that Mr. Ghulam Muhammad was a hard man and I ought to be careful in
my conversation with him.
I reached the Governor General House armed with Mr. Aziz Ahmed's
advice. An ADC took me to the upper floor. In the verandah there was a carpet
on which were some sofas. In the center was a round table with very beautiful
flowers displayed on it. Mr. Ghulam Muhammad was sitting on a cushioned easy
chair. He was wearing a blue pinstriped suit. His handkerchief and socks were
of the same color as his tie. A rose was affixed to his coat collar. On his
head was a black Jinnah cap. In his hand was a cigarette. On the chair next to
him was sitting the Governor Genenral's Principal Private Secretary Miss Ruth
Borel. She was a fragile, pleasant and beautiful half-American half-Swiss girl
whom he had chosen in Washington and brought over to Pakistan. As soon as I saw
Miss Borel I secretly praised Mr. Ghulam Muhammad's good taste.
The ADC's announcement of my arrival caused them to pointedly stare at
me from head to toe. Afterwards, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad signalled by his hand for
me to sit down on a chair. Strange silence ensued for a few moments. Then, the
Governor General said something by making some childlike babbling sounds. He
kept on speaking like this for quite a while but I neither understood what he
was saying nor figured out what language he was using. When he became silent
Miss Borel said, "His Excellency says that he has chosen you for the post of
secretary to the Governor General. This is an important responsibility during
these critical times. H.E. hopes that you will try to live up to his trust.
H.E. has ordered that you go downstairs right now and take charge of your
post."
On hearing this, I felt the earth slip from under my feet. Outright
refusal seemed difficult so I tried to make up an excuse. "At the moment I'm
working as the director of industries for the Punjab government and until the
provincial government relieves me, it would be a great breach of procedure for
me take charge of another post."
Mr. Ghulam Muhammad got angry when he heard this. His face reddened
and thundering he babbled for a while, which was thus explained to me by Miss
Borel: "His Excellency says to hell with the Punjab government. And to hell
with you and your breach of procedure. Punjab's Chief Minister Malik Feroz Khan
Noon happens to be downstairs. He is being summoned here at this moment so that
he frees you from Punjab. After that, you should go downstairs to take charge
of your post."
With the failure of my first attempt I tried another ploy. "Sir, my
mother and my belongings are in Lahore. May I go there to bring them to Karachi
before taking charge?"
This raised Mr. Ghulam Muhammad's temperature extremely high and he
began to scream rolling around in his chair. Some saliva spurted from the side
of his mouth and landed on his coat sleeve. Miss Borel cleaned his coat with a
napkin and addressing me said, "His Excellency has expressed his extreme
displeasure that you argue too much. H.E. orders that you immediately
discontinue this unpleasant habit or else you will regret it."
This scene was not yet over that an ADC appeared in the verandah with
Punjab's Chief Minister Malik Feroz Khan Noon. Upon seeing Mr. Malik, Mr.
Ghulam Muhammad pointed at me and incoherently kept saying something. Miss
Borel continued to fulfill the duty of interpreting. Afterwards, the Chief
Minister told me, "This posting is a great honor. Congratulations! Take charge
immediately. The formalities will be taken care of later."
I opened my mouth to say something but the Chief Minister silenced me
with a wink. Thus ended my first interview with the head of state and for the
next nine years I was imprisoned in this House of Horrors.
Downstairs, I went to Mr. G. Raza's room, who was then the Governor
General's secretary. The chances are that at that time he had no idea that he
had been transferred and I had been appointed in his place. He may have heard
the news the first time from me. This way of suddenly changing the secretary in
secret appeared to me crass and inappropriate. It does not befit a national
leader to treat his subordinates in such manner. This procedure is employed by
only those whose mind is complex and paranoid. As far as my appointment is
concerned, I considered it an unexpected disaster. To this day, I have not
discovered why Mr. Ghulam Muhammad chose me for this post or on whose
recommendation was I chosen. I took charge of this post in the beginning of
November 1954.
The environment of the Governor General House seemed somewhat spooky.
There was an unnatural silence all around, in which the Governor General, Miss
Borel, the military secretary, the ADC, the guards, clerks, bearers and
servants had the appearance of mobile skeletons of wood which had been
forcibily clothed. After taking charge of the post of secretary, I silently
observed for a few days the personality whom I would begin to encounter day and
night. Mr. Ghulam Muhammad was a victim of paralysis. His blood pressure
constantly remained very high. He was unable to walk more than a few steps and
often would tour the Governor General House in a wheelchair. His hands used to
tremble uncontrollably and he could not write much besides his signature.
Paralysis had affected his tongue and face as well, due to which no one could
understand his speech. His mouth's motor system had weakened so much that
whenever he put some food in his mouth, part of it kept falling out from both
corners. In those days whenever a foreign ambassador came to present his
credentials, he lunched with the Governor General. Staff members also used to
be present at the lunch. When Mr. Ghulam Muhammad put a morsel into his mouth
and tried to converse with the new ambassador, it used to be a very alarming
scene.
In addition to these physical disabilities, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad's mind
was disorganized, and would work hesitantly with occasional lapses. Sometimes
his mind would be crystal clear and incisive and he would understand everything
with lightning speed. But other times it would be out of order like a fused
bulb. At these moments he would behave like children and at times would appear
completely insane.
Like his mental faculties, his mood had great swings too. Sometimes
warm, sometimes cold; sometimes soft, sometimes hard. But, I think that his hot
temper and tough mood had less spontaneity and more artificiality. In order to
impress others or just for amusement he would affect some roars. His favorite
pastime was to pretend he was angry by raising his voice. During such behavior,
the demon of high blood pressure would gradually clutch him and real anger
would overcome him. He would start to froth at the mouth and would exhaust
himself screaming. Episodes of this kind are indescribable.
Colonel Sarwar and Dr. Hafeez Akhtar were his personal physicians on
the Governor General's staff. Every morning Dr. Hafeez Akhtar used to come down
after medically examining the Governor General and we would try to determine
what sort of a day lay ahead of us by observing his face and by asking him
discreet questions. If it was discovered that the Governor General felt rather
weak, our tree of hope would blossom because there was little chance of Malik
Ghulam Muhammad's coming downstairs to abuse his staff. On the other hand, if
Dr. Hafeez Akhtar's demeanor led us to believe that the Governor General is
feeling well, our tree of hope would suddenly wilt. Therefore, before starting
work we would wait impatiently for Dr. Hafeez Akhtar's descent so that after
getting an idea of the day we could prepare ourselves to handle the current
situation.
ztm
Haider Ali Qazilbash
maj...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu:
In 1987, Qudratullah Shahab published his memoirs in Urdu titled
"Shahab nama." It is 1247 pages filled with anecdotes about various
governmental, political and literary figures and events of Pakistan
and India, all penned in very readable and amusing language.
Please let me know by email or by net posts what you think about the
idea. If there is a positive response I will think about posting more
translations.
ztm
Dear Mr. Majeed,
Please consider posting the translations on a requalar basis.
I, for one, am very interested and am sure that quite a few of
my friends would be too.
Thank you,
With best wishes,
Haider Ali Qazilbash
Haider Ali Qazilbash
(edited)
maj...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu:
In 1987, Qudratullah Shahab published his memoirs in Urdu titled
"Shahab nama." It is 1247 pages filled with anecdotes about various
governmental, political and literary figures and events of Pakistan
and India, all penned in very readable and amusing language.
Please let me know by email or by net posts what you think about the
idea. If there is a positive response I will think about posting more
translations.
ztm
Dear Mr. Majeed,
Please consider posting the translations by you on a requalar basis.
Muhammad Javed Iqbal Chaudhry
Please continue.
Smile........................................................|\........
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