IF there was one session at KLF that could tout having the highest number of revered panellists, it was the one on Intizar Husain titled ‘A Story is a Vagabond: A Tribute to Intizar Husain’. Some of the most renowned literati had shown up to pay homage to the late great novelist, philosopher and thinker. The seven guest speakers included Ameena Saiyid, Afzaal Ahmed, Fahmida Riaz, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Zehra Nigah and Masood Ashar, while the responsibilities of moderation were fulfilled by Asif Farrukhi.

Farrukhi set the tone of the session which began on a somewhat sorrowful note. The rest chipped in one by one, making the hour-long session go from a poignant eulogy to sharing memories of him, and the impactful messages that were a specialty of Husain’s life and works.

Once the moderator had given a brief account of the internationally acclaimed writer, his standpoint and achievements, Syed initiated the talk by simply describing the late novelist as an advocate of humanity who had the ability to acutely analyse history and politics as is depicted by his fiction. Riaz, despite her best efforts to control her emotions, was overwhelmed while recalling a few incidents of the past that involved Husain. She shed light upon the depth of thought that Husain possessed while referring to one of his stories, ‘Aakhri Aadmi’, which he wrote using Biblical language.

Ahmed, the owner of Sang-e-Meel Publications, gave the session a fresh perspective as he brought forth the commercial side of Husain. He highlighted the fact that in spite of being a successful writer, Husain never put his publishers under any sort of pressure. He was always extremely cooperative and flexible.
Diverting the discussion back to Husain’s book, Agay Samandar Hai, Saiyid declared that it had been an honour for OUP to publish the Urdu and English versions of the novel. She also addressed the criticism that is at times faced by novelists who make politics their focal point in literature. She refuted the idea that politics and literature should be separated, as a great deal of literature is grounded in major political events of the past. She candidly told the audience that Agay Samandar Hai is a novel that leaves the reader shaken.

Building on Saiyid’s comments, Ashar, Husain’s close friend and a novelist himself, took the attention of potential readers of the book to its preface that asks a question which offers a lot to ponder over the politically problematic present and future: what were the reasons behind Partition?

Perhaps, arguably, the person who summed up Husain’s art and the Pakistani fiction industry’s loss was Tarar who simply said: “The king of fiction is dead”.

Given the depth, variety and subtle nature of the questions asked at the end, one could easily infer that it was a session full of intellect and thought-provoking ideas that would certainly challenge a few age-old political sets of beliefs.