Haider, Part 2
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.