Syed Jalaluddin Haider

 Abstract

This article defines the term “Pioneer.” It describes in brief the contribution of seven leaders of Pakistani librarianship — Khalifa M. Asadullah, Dr. A. Moid, Dr. Abdus Subuh Qasimi, Messrs. Muhammad Shafi, Fazal Elahi, Khwaja Nur Elahi and S.V. Hussain. Early library developments are given for better understanding of the role of these leaders.

 Introduction

Pakistan, born on 14 August 1947 as an independent nation as a result of the partition of British India, was denied its rightful share of the common library resources built up over the years during British rule. All the major libraries of British India happened to be located in those areas which after partition became part of present day India. Even more disquieting is the fact that libraries which were in the territories now called Pakistan suffered a heavy loss at the hands of their Hindu employees migrating to India. The city of Lahore, once the “cradle of the library movement” had become inactive because of sad events following independence [1].

Pakistan inherited only two libraries of significance on the eve of independence. These were the Punjab University Library and the Punjab Public Library, both located in Lahore. It may be pointed out that for many years the Government did not pay attention to this sector because of other national priorities. In fact, librarianship was neglected. The establishment of the Directorate of Archives and Libraries in 1951 to administer the development of libraries was the only significant step on the part of the Government in this direction.

Under such circumstances the lead was taken by a few individuals who founded the Karachi Library Association in 1949, which started a certificate course of short duration to meet the urgent needs of library manpower in the country. This was followed by the formation of the Pakistan Bibliographical Group in 1950 with assistance from UNESCO. Taking advantage of these developments, some of these men of wisdom tried to focus the attention of the government to the need for the development of libraries through the pages of their first professional journal, Modern Librarian. These individual efforts did not produce tangible results; however, they did convince the Government of the need for library planning in the country.

Consequently, L.C. Key of Australia was invited under the Colombo Plan to prepare a library development plan for the country. Key submitted his report in 1956 [2]. The Key Plan did not materialize; yet it did influence the thinking of librarians in the country. This is evident in library developments that took place in the second half of the 1950s, particularly in Karachi, then the capital of the country. Of these developments mention may be made of the formation of the Pakistan Library Association and the establishment of the Pakistan Scientific and Technical Documentation Center, both in 1957; launching of publication of Pakistan Library Review (1958) and the promulgation of the Basic Democracy Order (1959). But the most important event of this decade was the institution of the Post–Graduate Diploma Course in Library Science in August 1956 at the University of Karachi, followed by the University of the Punjab in 1959. It must be added here that these early historical developments were possible only through the initiative and efforts of a few individuals. The library profession in Pakistan owes much to them and this article is a humble effort to pay homage to these great men.

 Definition of Pioneer

Who is a pioneer? This has to be clarified to avoid possible criticism arising out of this paper. To meet this objective the writer depended on the definition of the word “pioneer” given by standard dictionaries. According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, a pioneer is a person “who begins or helps open up or develops something new and prepares a way for others to follow.” [3] The Oxford English Dictionary gives an identical definition; that is, a pioneer is one “who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.” [4] Both definitions emphasize being the first to lead the way to be followed by others. And in line with this meaning of the word all the persons included in this article do meet this single criterion of being first in terms of his contribution to Pakistani librarianship. For instance, Khalifa Muhammad Asadullah was the first prominent librarian to opt to serve the newly created independent Pakistan without knowing his ultimate fate. Dr. Moid has the distinction of being the first to take the initiative to institute the first graduate library training program in the country. He was also the founding secretary–general of the Pakistan Library Association besides having the distinction of being the country’s first Ph.D. in library science and its first professor of library science. Muhammad Shafi has left indelible marks in classification in the shape of expansion of DDC for Islamic and Oriental topics. Fazal Elahi was the first and perhaps the last chartered librarian the country ever had. Khawaja Nur Elahi was the pioneer in leading the country’s largest public library in the initial years of independence. Likewise, Dr. Qasimi was the first to combine the highest Oriental and Western qualifications so vital for the country for bringing harmony in traditional and modern librarianship. Villayat Hussain Shah has the distinction for nursing at least three major professional associations (PLA, KLA, PBWG) in their formative stage.

 Khalifa Muhammad Asadullah (1890–1949) [5]

Khan Bahadur Muhammad Asadullah could be rightly called the main architect of the library movement in the Indo–Pakistan sub–continent. He was in the very first class of Asa Don Dickinson, an American librarian, started in 1915 at the University of the Punjab. He started his career as the first graduate librarian at the Government College, Lahore; then he moved to MAO (Muhammedan Anglo–Oriental) College, Aligarh (India) in 1919; he was the librarian of the Imperial Secretariat Library at Delhi for eight years; and finally landed at the Imperial Library, Kolkata in 1929. In recognition of his superior performance the British Government in 1931 awarded him the exalted position of Librarian of the Imperial Library, Kolkata. He was the first Muslim and the second native to hold this coveted position. On 18 July 1947 he left the Imperial Library to serve the newly–created Pakistan like many other Muslim officers.

Asadullah was one of the key figures, along with Dr. Ranganathan, Dr. Niharanjan Roy, Professor Bashiruddin, Professor F.M. Velt, Justice Abdul Qadir, and Lala Labhu Ram, who were responsible for the formation of the Indian Library Association. He was its secretary from 1933 to 1947. He was also associated with the All India Muslim Educational Conference, Aligarh; the Muslim High School, Kolkota; the Aligarh Old Boys Association (Bengal Branch), and Aligarh Muslim University.

In Pakistan he was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Education. A number of librarians believe that the defunct Directorate of Archives and Libraries was the brainchild of Asadullah. Perhaps the directorate was created to accommodate him but there is no evidence to substantiate this assumption. Many of us may not be aware that he was a very close relative of Chowdhury Muhammad Ali, who then held the position of secretary–general of the Government of Pakistan and later the Prime Minister of the country [6]. Asadullah suffered a stroke and died in November 1949 in Lahore.

 Prof. Dr. Abdul Moid (1920–1984) [7]

Dr. Moid was in fact the Melvil Dewey of Pakistan in terms of founding the first library school and the national library association. The institution of a graduate program within the walls of a university as early as 1956 should not be viewed as an ordinary achievement of the man, for he had to face obstacles of all kinds in this regard. It was not easy to convince the academic community of the need for such a program in a little known discipline at a newly established university which was already under pressure to institute courses in traditional subjects of vital national interest. In fact, the qualified librarians coming out from the Department each year shaped the direction of library development in the country. Of these, particular mention could be made of Dr. Anis Khurshid, Dr. Syed Jalal Haider, Prof. Akhter Hanif, M. Adil Usmani, Dr. Ghaniul Akram, Dr. Mumtaz A. Anwar, Abdul Hafeez Akhter, Dr. A.R. Butt, Dr. Fazil Baloch, Dr. Khawaja Iftikhar, and Meer Hassan Jamali.

Born in India on 20 January 1920, Moid received his B.A. degree from Aligarh Muslim University (1941), his M.A. from the University of Michigan (1955) and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1964). The topic of his dissertation, which he completed under the supervision of Professor R.B. Downs, was Urdu Language Resources in the United States of America. Of his teachers, mention could be made of luminaries like Maulana Abdul Aziz Memon (Aligarh), Professor Gjelsness (Michigan), and Professor R.B. Downs (Illinois). He was personally known to S.R. Ranganathan, Sir Frank Francis and Dr. Ralph R. Shaw.

He worked in a number of libraries both in India and Pakistan, including Arabic College (Delhi), Delhi University, Punjab Public Library (Lahore), Sindh University and Karachi University, of which he was the founding librarian where he played a key role in building it as the largest library of the post–independence period. From 1973 to 1983 he taught at Ahmadu Bello University (Zaria) and Bayero University (Kano) where he established the Library and Information Science (LIS) Department and headed the University Library. He also taught at North Texas State University as a visiting professor during the summer of 1967.

Professor Moid was also instrumental in the formation of the Pakistan Library Association and had the honor of being elected its founding secretary–general. The greatest contribution of Moid as secretary–general of the association was the organization of its first annual conference. This historic conference was inaugurated on 8 January 1958 by no less a person than the president of the country, and it proved to be a great success in spreading the message of library service and the cult of books in the country. Some of the resolutions adopted at the conference dealt with the need for planning of library services, easing restrictions on the import of books and journals, establishment of library schools at the universities, amendment of the Copyright Law, etc. [8] Moid tried his best to project the Association both at the national and international level. He was also associated in various capacities with the country’s other professional bodies, such as the Society for the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries, the Karachi Library Association and the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group.

He represented Pakistan at several international forums, including the Organizing Conference of the Asian Federation of Library Associations, Tokyo (1957) and the International Association of Orientalist Librarians.

Moid was not a prolific writer but he did contribute thirty articles to professional journals [9]. His article on “Illumination” in the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science deserves special mention. Among his publications are: A Guide to Works of Reference Published in Pakistan, A Guide to Periodical Publications and Newspapers of Pakistan, Directory of Libraries, etc. [10] He was a member of the Advisory Board of International Library Review and the Journal of Library History in their formative stages.

 Muhammad Shafi (1895–1964)

Muhammad Shafi is a pioneer for being the first person to expand the Dewey Decimal Classification for Oriental and Islamic topics. This expansion is still being used by libraries in Pakistan and elsewhere. The history of this pioneering work dates back to pre–independence days when Muhammad Shafi was appointed convener of the special committee formed by the Indian Library Association, as early as 1935, “to draw up a standard scheme of expansion of DDC to meet the need of Indian libraries.” [11] This work was completed by Muhammad Shafi in 1960 with the assistance of a committee under the auspices of the Department of Library Science at the University of Karachi [12]. In fact, this expansion, known as Shafi’s Expansion of DDC, served as a guideline for other expansions of DDC in the country. His expansion was partially accepted by the DDC Editorial Committee but unfortunately, his name didn’t appear in the introduction to the seventeenth edition of the Scheme [13].

Born and brought up in Amritsar, Shafi graduated from the University of the Punjab. In 1921 Muhammad Shafi entered into the service of the Government of India. In the following year he was appointed as an assistant librarian of the Imperial Secretariat Library, Delhi. In 1923 he joined the Lucknow University Library as an assistant librarian, where he stayed for about seven years. This library played a key role in the professional career of Muhammad Shafi, for the library itself was in its formative phase. In 1930 Muhammad Shafi was appointed librarian of the Imperial Agriculture Research Library. Muhammad Shafi was selected in 1944 as Junior Scientific Officer, Master–General of the Ordnance Branch, General Headquarters, India.

Shafi was one of the few librarians of pre–independence British India who opted to serve the newly created Pakistan. In the post–independence period he served as the librarian of the National Assembly Library from 1947 to 1958. He took an active part in the formation of the Karachi Library Association and was its Vice–President for more than a decade. It was under his direction that the Association started a certificate course, the first of its kind, to meet the immediate needs of qualified manpower in this sector in the country. Of the librarians who passed this course mention may be made of Dr. Anis Khurshid and Adil Usmani. Of the teachers of this course mention could be made of Dr. A. Moid, S.V. Hussain, Noor Muhammad and Muhammad Shafi himself. In fact, this course paved the way for the institution of the first post–graduate program at the University of Karachi.

He was a founding member of both the Indian Library Association and the Pakistan Library Association. Of his publications one in particular is Intizam Kutub–Khana (Library Administration) [14]. This was the first book on the subject after independence.

Muhammad Shafi was also associated with the Department of Library Science, University of Karachi as cooperative teacher for at least eight years. From 1960 to 1964 he worked as a consultant on classification at the Karachi University Library. He died of cancer on 2 June 1964 in Karachi.

 Fazal Elahi (1901–1961)

With an M.A. and a B.A (Honors) Diploma in Librarianship (London); F.L.A., Fazal Elahi was perhaps the highest qualified librarian who opted to serve Pakistan on independence. He was born and brought up in Lahore. He preferred to stay at Lahore in the initial years of Pakistan, and took an active part in several professional undertakings in association with Abdul Moid and Khwaja Nur Elahi. It is said that he was a strong candidate for the post of librarian of the University of the Punjab but that he was denied appointment for being vocal with the staff at the library just before the scheduled interview. Following this incident, the staff members in a group met the vice–chancellor and complained about him. Consequently, the scheduled interview was cancelled [15]. Instead he had to teach Economics and English at M.A.O. College from 1948 to 1950.

In fact, Fazal Elahi could not find a professional job until 1950, when he was appointed librarian of the Liaquat National Library at Karachi. The job was not up to his expectations, commensurate with his qualifications and experience, and he soon moved to East Pakistan, where from 1951 to 1954 he held the position of librarian at Dhaka University. There too, he could not stay for a long period because of differences with the authorities and staff. He left for Milan for one year to teach Urdu there. In 1955, he returned to serve as librarian of the Rajshahi University from 1955 to 1958. But there too, he developed serious differences with the teachers’ community, forcing him to resign [16].

In 1958 he joined the library of the American Friends of the Middle East in Karachi. This was the most productive period of his professional life. He was instrumental in the formation of the Pakistan Library Association and the organization of the first historical conference of the Association. In 1959, he was a cooperative teacher at the Department of Library Science at the University of Karachi. He died of a heart attack in Lahore in 1961 while making final arrangements for the Fourth Annual Conference of the Pakistan Library Association.

Notwithstanding his personal weaknesses Elahi played an active part in the development of the library profession in the country. As early as 1948 he made an unsuccessful attempt in collaboration with Khawaja Nur Elahi and A. Moid for the formation of the national library association. This trio did succeed in reviving Modern Librarian in 1949, but it ceased publication after three issues. The existence of a Diploma course in Library Science in 1948 at Lahore under the directorship of Fazal Elahi was reported in Modern Librarian, but it was nothing more than an advertisement to create an environment for such a course.

 Khwaja Nur Elahi (1905–1974) [17]

Born at Lahore in 1905, Elahi received his B.A. in 1917 from Islamia College, Lahore. From 1929 to 1933 he worked at the Quartermaster General Office of the British Armed Forces Headquarters at Delhi. He completed the Certificate Course in Library Science in 1934 from the Punjab University and in the same year he joined Delhi University, where he worked for thirteen years in various capacities. He rose to the position of assistant librarian, which was quite a dignified post at that time. The Delhi University Library was then headed by Professor Das Gupta. He opted to serve Pakistan on independence.

As the librarian since 1948 of Punjab Public Library, the country’s leading public library, he was actively involved for about 18 years in all the major library events which took place in the initial years of the establishment of the country. These include: preparation of the first plan for library development in the country; revival of Modern Librarian; formation of the Pakistan Library Association, the Pakistan Bibliographical Group, and the West Pakistan Library Association; and, institution of the degree program at the University of the Punjab.

His leadership qualities were ably manifested on the eve of the fourth and fifth annual conferences of the Pakistan Library Association, held at Lahore in 1961 and 1964 respectively. Modesty was perhaps his best asset and totally unmatched in the profession. Through his humility of character and his unfailing readiness to listen to the vibrant voices of others, he earned their high esteem and lasting respect. I always found him to be simple in his ways, constantly inspiring, ever understanding, unfailingly warm and a just man. He was one of few librarians who commanded the respect of the librarians of both the wings of Pakistan.

 Dr. Abdus Subuh Qasimi (1917–1999) [18]

Dr. Qasimi was born on 12 December 1917 in the village of Ziarat Kaka Sahib, Tehsil Nowshera district, Peshawar, in a middle class religious family. He matriculated in 1935 and earned his Fazil–e–Deoband in 1941. In 1946 he completed a certificate course in librarianship from the University of Punjab. He started his professional career in the Punjab University Library in 1947 as an Oriental assistant. Most probably he was appointed to catalogue Arabic books at the Punjab University because of his proficiency in Arabic language and literature. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the Punjab University in 1952 and 1954 respectively.

In 1955 he received his M.A. in Library Science from Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Between 1964 and 1967 he was at Columbia University for his Doctorate in Library Science. He developed A Code for Cataloging Materials Published in Urdu, Pushto, and Panjabi under the guidance of Maurice F. Tauber. He was also associated with the Library of Congress as a consultant for some time in the mid–1960s.

He served as the founding librarian of Peshawar University from 1951 to 1972. It was through his initiative and efforts that a post–graduate diploma in library science was instituted in 1962 at the University of Peshawar. Between 1967 and 1968 he was the librarian of the King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah. He also worked as Registrar of the Peshawar University between 1969 and 1972. In the early 1970s, he rejoined the King Abdul Aziz University and stayed there for several years. He retired after serving the Ummul Qura University, Makkah, for nearly a decade.

He was instrumental in the development of the profession in North–Western Frontier Province, being the founding librarian of the Peshawar University and the founding Chairperson of its Department of Library and Information Science.

He took an active part in the activities of the Pakistan Library Association in the initial years of its formation. He was the chief organizer of the second annual conference of the Pakistan Library Association, held in 1959 at Peshawar. He was also associated with the activities of the Society for the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries and the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group.

 Syed Villayat Husain (1910–1974) [19]

Popularly known as Shah Sahib, he will always be remembered for his activities from the platform of the Pakistan Library Association, the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group, and the Karachi Library Association. In fact, he was associated with all three organizations for more than a quarter of a century, beginning in 1949 until his last breath in 1974 at Peshawar, where he was supervising a national survey on reading habits for the Pakistan Library Association.

Shah Sahib was born in Lahore in 1910. He received his B.A. from the University of the Punjab in 1934, and obtained his certificate in Library Science from the University of the Punjab in 1938. What made him choose librarianship was never disclosed by him. His first professional appointment was as librarian of St. Stephen College, Delhi from 1939 to 1945. From 1945 to 1950 he was the librarian of S.M. College, Karachi. He was the librarian of the British Council, Karachi between 1950 and 1953. In 1953 he joined the Government of Pakistan as the founding librarian of the Liaquat National Library. He was promoted to be Assistant Director of Libraries, Government of Pakistan in 1958, a post he held until his retirement in 1964. He was also associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

 Conclusion

All of the above great men are now dead. This author has the privilege of meeting all of them except Asadullah. In fact, three of them were teachers at the LIS Department during the academic year 1959–1960. Much could be written about each but the limitation of space doesn’t permit this. It can be concluded that they are now part of the history of Pakistani librarianship because of their contributions. The coming generation will definitely ponder what made them great. In fact, they approached things from the right angle. Above all, they were sincere with the profession despite human weakness of all kinds.

 Notes

[1] Khuda Bakhsh, Azizullah. “UNESCO and Pakistan,” Modern Librarian, new ser. 1 (Dec. 1949): 31.

[2] Key, L.C. “Report and proposals on the establishment and improvement of libraries and library services in Pakistan.” Karachi: Ministry of Education, 1956. Mimeo.

[3] Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam–Webster, 1986, p. 1721.

[4] The Oxford English Dictionary. Second ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981. v. 11, p. 883.

[5] For the most part this section is based on the author’s earlier article, Haider, Syed Jalaluddin. “Khan Bahadur Khalifa Muhammad Asadullah: the First Architect of the Library Movement in South Asia.” Pakistan Library Association Journal, no. 1 (August 1987): 47–59.

[6] Asadullah was the husband of Muhammad Ali’s maternal aunt. See Husain, Hameeda Akhter Raipuri. Hamsafar. Karachi: Maktab–I–Danyal, 1999, p. 266.

[7] Haider, Syed Jalaluddin. “Prof. Dr. Abdul Moid (1920–84): Father of Pakistan Librarianship.” Pakistan Library Bulletin 15 (March–June 1984): 30.

[8] Pakistan Library Association. Newsletter no. 1 (March 1958).

[9] Khurshid, Anis. “The Pioneers: Abdul Moid.” World Libraries 5, no. 1 (Fall 1994), at http://www.worlib.org/vol05no1/khurshid_v05n1.shtml.

[10] “Introducing A. Moid.” Pakistan Library Review March 1958: 53.

[11] Usmani, Adil. “Haji Muhammad Shafi in Karachi University Library.” Pakistan Library Bulletin 5, no. 3–4 (March–June 1973): 18.

[12] Shafi, Muhammad. Expansion of Dewey Decimal Classification relating to Oriental, Islamic and Pakistani Topics. Karachi: Dept. of Library Science, University of Karachi, 1962.

[13] For details see Qudsi, Obaidullah. “Haji Muhammad Shafi.” (Urdu) Pakistan Library Bulletin 1, no. 4 (June 1969): 97–104.

[14] Shafi, Muhammad. “Intizam–e–kutubkhana.” Karachi: the author, 1949.

[15] This was told to this author by Dr. Abdul Moid, who was present in Lahore at that time and was associated with the Punjab Public Library as chief cataloguer.

[16] Based on the biographical sketch given in A Guide to Pakistan Libraries, Learned and Scientific Societies and Educational Institutions, Biographies of Librarians in Pakistan. Rev. ed. Karachi: Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group, 1960, pp.145–146.

[17] This part is based on Haider, Syed Jalaluddin. “Aik Dervaish Sifat, Librarian.” (Urdu) PLA Journal 19–20 (Oct. 1996): 1–8.

[18] The author is grateful to Mr. Hamid Rehman, Assistant Professor, Dept. of LIS, Peshawar University for collecting and providing information about Dr. A.S. Qasimi.

[19] Haider, Syed Jalaluddin. “Villayat Husain Shah.” Mahnama Kitab 20, no. 4 (Feb. 1986): 9–12.

About the Author

Syed Jalaluddin Haider, Ph.D., MLS, was associated with the University of Karachi in various capacities for more than 42 years. From 1972 to 1975 he was Visiting Professor at the University of Tabriz, Iran. Since his retirement in 1998, he has been serving as a consultant and researcher.

© 2007 Syed Jalaluddin Haider.

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