Obituary: Mukhtar Masood, an eminent Alig famous for his contributions to Urdu literature
![](https://objectstore.e2enetworks.net/bhatkallys/uploads/article-author/bhatkallys_logo_2.jpg.256x256_q85.jpg)
![](https://objectstore.e2enetworks.net/bhatkallys/uploads/2017/04/IMG_1821-e1492516457255-315x420.jpg)
News has been received from across the border about the passing away of one of the prominent figures of Urdu literature, distinguished civil servant and a second generation Alig, Mukhtar Masood in Lahore on April 15, aged 90.
Mukhtar Masood was born in Aligarh on 7th June 1927. His father, Shaikh Ataullah of the Department of Economics was an expert on Iqbal (during his student days in Lahore, he was quite close to the philosopher-poet). Masood had his entire education in Aligarh, starting with the Minto circle, with a First class in B.A (1946) and topping the M.A Economics in 1948. He was counted among the brilliant students of his days, brilliant in academics; he was a keen debater and a familiar face and name in the literary circles of the campus which had then a galaxy of talent. As late Prof Nasim Ansari in a rejoinder, Jawabe dost writes, Masood was also an outstanding horseman who was captain of the Riding Club in 1946-47. Shaikh Ataullah, being from the Western Punjab, naturally relocated to Pakistan with his family during the summer vacations of 1948. And that was a severance of physical ties with the AMU; he has written somewhere that in an unpartitioned country, he might have preferred to have spent his entire life in Aligarh as a teacher. Masood took the first competitive examination for the Central and Superior Services of Pakistan (CSP), stood third in it, and became a Civil Servant in the newly emerged dominion in 1949. He had a steady rise in the service hierarchy holding key positions in the Punjab province and the federal government with an interlude as Secretary General of the Islamic Cooperation Council at Tehran during the late 1970s where he had occasion to witness the popular uprising against the Shah, his ouster and the initial tumultuous days of the Islamic revolution. He completed his career as a civil servant in 1985 as Federal Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. He was considered fairly close to General Ziaul Haq and was his informal adviser on many issues concerning Islamisation of various aspects of administration but he refrained from accepting any post-retirement assignment which provided him with prestige and stature among Pakistani intelligentsia.![IMG_1820-e1492516308195-315x420](http://www.bhatkallys.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_1820-e1492516308195-315x420.jpg)
![IMG_1821-e1492516457255-315x420](http://www.bhatkallys.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_1821-e1492516457255-315x420.jpg)
![Loh-e-Ayyam-177x300](http://www.bhatkallys.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Loh-e-Ayyam-177x300.gif)
Mukhtar Sahib, Khuda hafiz from another Masood from your mohalla who, while differing with you on so many issues, could not help admiring you.
By Naved Masood for Twocircles.net