Written by: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed
Posted on: January 29, 2025 | 
(L to R) Dr. Raja Amir Naseer Khan, Mishal Husain (author), British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Dr. Munazza Yakoob.
The prominent Pakistan-British broadcast Mishal Husain has written a riveting and a readable account of her family history in an amazingly well-documented backdrop of historic change in the South Asian subcontinent, marking the demise of British Raj and the emergence of the independent states of Pakistan and India.
Mishal Husain, who distinguished herself in bold journalistic forays in major global hotspots after 9/11, has masterly woven the Broken Threads from Lahore to Lucknow to London. In her book, Mishal has faithfully followed her grandfather Major General Shahid Hamid’s advice that “our readings should be an indicator of the socio-economic ethos of our times”.
Mishal Husain
This historic account contains some interesting nuggets about various personalities and their views. For example, Lord Montagu, who was British Secretary of State and visited India in 1917, and met the then young 41 year and dashing barrister Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, whom he aptly described as: “young, perfectly mannered, impressive, armed to the teeth with dialectics” adding, “no doubt, it is an outrage such a man has no choice of running the affairs of his own country”. Then there is this quote from Jawaharlal Nehru during his speech on 3rd June, 1947 accepting the Partition Plan, but expressing sorrow that “certain parts of India are seceding”. In other words, Nehru and the Congress thought that they were the rightful heirs of the British Raj, and guardians of “Mother India” and Pakistan was a state that had seceded from the body politic!
(L to R) Ms. Rana Seerat, Mrs. Perveen Qadir Agha, Mishal Husain, Mazhar ul Islam, and the HC of UK to Pakistan, Ms. Jane Marriott!
Mishal Hussain also quotes the then RSS Chief, Golwalkar, actually welcoming Nazi Germany’s anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish campaign, terming it as “race pride at its highest”.
Lord Mountbatten comes out in a bad light in this book as he went to the extent of asking Field Marshal Auchinleck, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces to sack Maj. Gen. Shahid Hamid who was then a Captain, serving as his Private Secretary, just because he was a Muslim. Shahid Hamid is quoted by his grand-daughter in this book as rightly saying that: “Mountbatten’s rise was because of him being a member of the Royal Family”.
(L to R) Dr. Dushka H Saiyid, Mushahid Hussain Sayed (Chairman, Pakistan China Institute), and HC Jane Marriott!
There are five key takeaways from this book which are noteworthy. First, the immense importance of education as the key to progress, and the emergence of an educated Muslim middle class, thanks to the education provided by Aligarh Muslim University that was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
Second, quality of leadership, especially giants of South Asia like Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi. Mishal Husain provides two interesting accounts of young women like her aunt Jamila and Begum Shaista Ikramullah, who were initially skeptical of the Pakistan Movement, actually debating and discussing with the Quaid, who through his logic, wisdom and arguments, convinced them of his strong case for Pakistan.
Third, the paramount role of family values such as culture, etiquettes, values of integrity, equality of women, respect for diversity and meritocracy, traits that Mishal saw and found in her family and these were instrumental in maintaining their family camaraderie and bonding.
(L to R) HC Jane Marriott and the author, Mishal Husain.
The Power of Ideas in shaping the course of history through capturing the imagination of the people, driving them on a certain path, particularly youth and women. When her grandfather, Mumtaz, traveled to India in the early 40s, from India’s north to the south, at different railways stations he heard slogans being raised, “Pakistan Zindabad”, which made him realize that the idea of Pakistan had captured the imagination of Indian Muslims across the length and breadth of India. Mumtaz even questioned a Muslim shopkeeper in Cochin, Kerala, about why he supported Pakistan, knowing that if Pakistan is created, Cochin would never be part of Pakistan, since it was in a Muslim-minority area. The shopkeeper replied: “I know, I will never be part of Pakistan, since I am in Kerala, but I still believe in the idea of Pakistan as a homeland for Muslims”. This is a tribute to the leadership of the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah that in a short period of time, he galvanized the Muslims of South Asia around the idea of Pakistan, which became a living reality in 1947. As Chairman Mao once rightly said that, “an idea becomes a material force only when it is grasped by millions and millions of people”.
Finally, what emerges from the book is that at the end of it all, the British were “good imperialists”, in comparison to other Western colonial powers who colonized Asia and Africa, because they left certain positive legacies of British colonial rule in India, including a semblance of rule of law, an organized and efficient civil service and the military, modern education, and road and rail infrastructure. This was not the case with the French in Indo-China, the Dutch in Indonesia, the Portuguese in Africa or the Belgians in the Congo.
Aks-e-Khushboo Award presented by the Parveen Shakir Trust
Mishal Husain also quotes an interesting discussion between her grandfather Maj. Gen. Shahid Hamid, who later served as the first head of ISI in the Pakistan Army, and was also a cabinet minister for information, broadcasting, sports, culture and tourism. His wife Tahira urged her husband to move from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, like many of their friends had done, after the new capital emerged in the 60s and 70s. Shahid Hamid dismissed this idea with a meaningful remark: “Bricks and mortar do not matter, but people do”. This book is about people who mattered and who, in their own ways, were participants in one of the biggest historical changes of the 20th century.
Mishal Hussain deserves credit for giving these people a personality and identity in the context of epochal changes of those times.
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