A few days after Punjab Information Minister Fayazul Hassan Chohan declared renowned journalist and academic, Prof Waris Mir, a traitor, the Punjab Assembly adopted a resolution on June 9 to pay homage to the late writer for his meritorious services for Pakistan. The resolution was unanimously passed on the floor of the provincial assembly that credited Waris Mir and also proposed that the underpass near the New Campus of the University of the Punjab, where Mir rests in his last abode, must be renamed once again, after Prof Waris Mir. This resolution was proposed by the former minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu, of the PMLN, and except for one member of the sitting PTI government, everyone on the floor unanimously passed the resolution.
The document brought to the floor of house by Tahir Khalil Sindhu on 9 June bore these words – “Professor Muhammad Waris Mir (1938-1987) was an honoured journalist, scholar and teacher of his time. He fought for democracy, during the era of military dictatorship, and gave his courageous voice to the truth. Being the chairman of the Mass Communication Department of the University of the Punjab in Lahore, he taught Journalism for twenty five years. He also wrote bravely and vociferously in all popular Urdu newspapers of those days, and his writings can still be found as collections in several books.”
It was said in the resolution, “According to the Gazzette of Pakistan, year 2013, page 44, Professor Waris Mir followed the self-proclaimed dictum of ‘write for the sake of truth telling, and speak for the voiceless’. He followed his dictum, as a mission to project the opinions of the common people. Being a propagator of basic human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of thought, Waris Mir chose the road not oft taken, which most of his contemporaries could not do. Despite censorship, mental torture and added stress, he kept fighting and treading on against the dictatorial forces.”
The resolution added, “Among the books credited to Waris Mir’s name, are Hurriyat e Fikar ke Mujahid, Kya Aurat Aadhi hai, Khushamdi Sahafat aur Syasat, Zameer ke Aseer. Keeping his morals and commitment closer to his heart than anything else, he gave his life at the tender age of 48 years. To honour the services of Waris Mir, the government of Pakistan posthumously decorated him with the highest civilian award, the Hilal e Imtiaz in the year 2013. “Therefore, this Aiwan, unanimously pays homage to Waris Mir for his undoubted patriotic services for Pakistan and also demands that the underpass near the New Campus of the University of the Punjab, be named after him, once again.”
