Staff Reporter
Fiction writer Mazharul Islam presenting Aks-e-Khushboo Award 2024 to the British author and broadcaster Mishal Husain for her book ‘Broken Threads’ at a ceremony organized by the Perveen Shakir Trust at the Islamabad Club. Chairperson of the Perveen Shakir Trust Mrs Parveen Qadir Agha and Secretary General Raana Seerat are also present on the occasion.
ISLAMABAD: The Perveen Shakir Trust (PST) has conferred the prestigious Akse Khushboo Award on former BBC journalist and a renowned British broadcaster and author Mishal Hussain for her book ‘Broken Threads.’ The award was presented during a programme ‘Meet the Writer & Award Ceremony’ organized by the PST at the Islamabad Club.
High Commissioner of the UK, Jane Marriott was the Chief Guest at the ceremony while noted speakers including former Information Minister Mushahid Hussain Sayed, former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and Associate Dean at the Lahore School of Economics (LSE) Dr Raja Amir Naseem Khan, Chairperson of the PST Parveen Qadir Agha, General Secretary Raana Seerat, Dr Munazza Yakoob and the author herself spoke briefly on the occasion discussing various chapters, themes and aspects of the book.
Eminent fiction writer and life-time member of the PST, Mazharul Islam presented the Akse Khushboo Award 2024 to Mishal Husain in recognition of her painstaking work—writing a 272-page memoir which was in fact initiated by her grandmother Tahirah Butt who wanted to pay a debt of honour to her husband Shahid Hamid, (an army officer and Mishal’s grandfather) by writing something for him.
Tahira could not finish it yet, 30 years later, her granddaughter a BBC journalist undertook the gigantic task and went through various sources—diaries, notes, manuscripts, letters, interviews and archival papers and put them together into a touching account of the events that were witnessed and experienced by no one else but her own four grandparents: Tahira Butt and Shahid Hamid; Mary Quinn and Mumtaz Husain.
‘Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence’ is a valuable addition to the books on The Raj days, said the speakers while paying rich compliments to Mishal Husain.
The UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott praised Mishal for introducing her to a marvellous work combining history with personal narrative, research work as well as the political account of those formative days. However, what impressed her most was the voice of humanity and humility shining through her work.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed also complimented Mishal Husain for writing on history of partition seen through the lens of her grandparents. This is a riveting and engaging account that one cannot help reading till the last page, he said.
Dr Aamir appreciated Mishal Husain for telling us a very intense story in a ‘dispassionate’ tone. Perhaps her days as journalist and broadcaster have helped her narrate truth with that remarkable precision, he said. Parveen Qadir Agha called Mishal wonderful, noble, and modest individual, whose fame has not affected her personality. The book ‘Broken Threads’ she said is a tapestry of memories and facts of history, threads of family relationships, lineage, events, maps, and photographs all woven together to make this beautiful book. About the PST she said the trust’s objective was to preserve, promote and protect Perveen Shakir’s creative works. At the end Mishal Husain expressed here gratitude to the PST saying Perveen Shakir might be her next mission! To a question, she said while writing the book she felt the past had not really left us and she saw the partition as a story of social history and mobility. The cermony was attended by members of the PST, former parliamentarians Begum Abida Hussain and Syed Fakhar Imam, poet Mehboob Zafar, Munir Ahmed, Prof Dushka Sayed, Qaisera Alvi, Seerat Asghar and members of Mishal’s family.
