IT was a significant period for the city’s top-most educational institution. On Aug 3, 1971, Dr Mahmud Husain, a reputed scholar and historian, took over as the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Karachi (KU). Reporting on the change, this newspaper wrote: “A modern university today is a complex organisation that makes heavy academic and administrative demands. But Dr Husain feels that the problems are not unsurmountable. [In an interview he stressed]: “I don’t take a very tragic view of the situation.” And surely optimism was writ large on his face. He has taken over as VC at long last, after refusing the coveted post on at least half a dozen occasions over the last 15 years. Having held the office of dean of the Arts Faculty at the same institution for a long time, he admitted to being “familiar with all the problems and facets of the university. So, it’s nothing new, exciting or strange”. On account of his elevation as VC, Dr Abul Lais Siddiqi, head of the Urdu Department, was appointed dean of the Arts Faculty.”

Dr Husain’s predecessor Dr I.H. Qureshi held the same office for over 10 years.

It may not have been a challenging time for head of the university as he claimed, but a dangerous health issue was causing a headache to the authorities. On Aug 5, it was revealed that a crude method of disposing of slaughtered animals’ blood into the sea near Landhi had exposed fishermen’s lives to extreme health hazards. The fishermen lived in Lath Basti – a fishing village inhabited by 300 families of a Baloch tribe for the last 250 years. Almost all the wells – the natural source of supply of drinking water to the locality – in the area had been polluted. The pollution had affected the taste of drinking water as blood had seeped into the wells forming a thick film over the surface. The invasion of some poisonous fish was causing another serious problem to the fishermen. Many of them had fallen victim to them and were confined to bed for two to three days with a high fever and swelling in some parts of the body. According to inhabitants, a fish called ‘malia’ was so venomous that five months ago one fisherman died within a few hours of its bite.

Ironically, on Aug 6, it was reported that at Karachi’s Clifton Aquarium, the newly arrived half a dozen seawater fish from Manila had fallen in love with the city because all of them had started eating within a few hours of their arrival. It’s believed that when fish start taking their feed in their new dwelling, it’s a sign that they’re acclimated to the place. Among the batch coming from Manila there was a shoal of about 25 ‘blue damsels’. The petite creature had their habitat in the China Sea. They were a year old, sporting blue bodies with black thin outlines on their fins and tails. They were ‘playful and restless’.

On the artistic side of things, Sumbul Nazir made her debut with a solo painting exhibition at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. The artist had been painting for the last couple of years. The council had put her work on display to encourage the youngster. In her artworks, Sumbul showed a clear influence of the Karachi School of Art from where she graduated some time back.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd , 2021