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Professor of English and Geography (1959-1988) and Head
of Dept. of English (1975-1988)
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Prof. Tariq
Mustafa Khan
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By Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui,
671/Latif
The late Mr. Tariq Mustafa
Khan was professor of English
and Geography at Petaro.
He joined the college in 1958 and left in 1988. He
was head of dept. of English in later years.
He was born on
10 July 1932 at Mahrara in Dist. Aligarh, UP. He was married to Mrs. Shamsa
in 1965 and had
three children - Saad Mustafa 80129/Qasim, Sadia
and Muaz.
He is among the few of the staff members who died
in the college. He died on 15 July 1988 of cardiac
pulmonary failure.
If there was a truly well dressed and soft-spoken
gentleman at Petaro, it was the late Tariq Mustafa
Sahib. He had class. He stood out amongst my
teachers without a doubt.
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He spent his childhood at Aligargh, and acquired his
early education from Govt. High School Aligargh and
Govt. College Muradabad in U.P.
Moving
to Pakistan after the partition, he settled down
initially in Multan and joined Emerson College from
where he got his B.A. degree. While he was still a
student of M.A. Geography, he had to leave his studies
due to family problems and joined PAF Public School at
Lower Topa as a teacher of Geography. He then worked for
a short while at Habib Public School Karachi before
joining Cadet College Petaro in 1959.
Tariq Sahib was the House Master of
Jinnah House during
my days – the house which was furthest from my Latif
House. He was House Master from 1966-1969.
I had a very unique relationship with him. He was my
Geography teacher, and I was the only student in his
class. It was a one teacher – one student class.
In our days, every student was required to take an elective
course in Matric. Since most of the 9th Class boys
had no real inkling of their own aptitude, the college used to
test their abilities in the different electives being offered
through an examination, and would then advise the boy on which
elective would suit him best. Options available included
Drawing, Agriculture, Biology, Electricity, Sindhi in addition
to Geography.
When the
results for our tests were posted, I had scored 100% in
Geography. Mr. Azim called me to his office and insisted that
I should take Geography although I was more inclined to take
Drawing classes with Mr. Zuberi. I was in two minds. Tariq
Sahib was a favourite teacher too. I finally succumbed, and
accepted. And when the lists were published, I found out that
all my colleagues were adjusted in other classes, while I was
the only one in Geography.
Therefore, we never sat in a classroom. Tariq Sahib would take
me to the Library and pull out some of the most wonderful
books on Geography. We had the TIME-LIFE series books and many
others. We would sit and talk about many interesting aspects
of how this universe exists and about the earth, the oceans,
the skies, the mountains, and all different aspects. It used
to be the most relaxing of periods.
He was given
the position of House Master once again - of
Latif House - in 1971-1972. In
addition to his administrative duties, he
was
quite active with sports and club activities too. He was in
charge of
Funkada Drama Club in the early
1960s, and the Photography Club
in 1966-1968. He was always personally very fond of
photography and had his own collection of photographs.
While he was
still at Petaro, he sat for his M.A. English exam at Karachi
university and got his degree in 1973. He also went to the UK
in 1977 for a specialized course in Linguistics for 3 months.
Upon getting
his MA English degree, he became a professor of English at
Petaro (along with Geography), and was appointed Head of Dept
of English in 1975. He retained this position until his death
in 1988.
In the
interim, he was also sent on deputation by the Ministry of
Education to Muscat, Oman for two and a half years during
1982-1984.
When I
was leaving Petaro in 1969, he honoured me with his autograph,
which is so reflective of what he sought to teach
me. It is vision and insight that can lead to optimism and a
desire to attain excellence. One has to be a visionary. And
my Geography lessons took me away from the starkness of
science and mathematics, exploring the other side of one’s
life - the humanities - that brings out the best in a person.
Tariq Sb did
not keep good health towards the end of his life. He was
suffering from diabetes and hypertension and was on dialysis.
May Allah grant Tariq Mustafa Sahib the choicest place in
Jannatul Firdaus!
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