Irfan Husain
Encyclopedia
Irfan Husain has been writing on a wide range of subjects for newspapers in Pakistan
and elsewhere since 1970. He currently writes two weekly columns for Dawn
, Pakistan’s widely circulated and highly respected daily. As a civil servant, he used a number of pseudonyms, including Mazdak.
In the face of rising religiosity in Pakistan, IH has maintained a secular, democratic worldview in his columns that reflect an abiding faith in humanism and reason. He has consistently refuted the inflamed levels of hysterical anti-west and extremist sentiments that increasingly dominate the public discourse in much of the Pakistani media.
Born in Amritsar, India, in 1944, IH migrated to the newly created state of Pakistan with his parents in 1947. His father, Dr Akhtar Husain Raipuri, was an eminent Sanskrit scholar, a literary critic, and a short-story writer who received his PhD from Sorbonne University. His mother, Hameeda, was a famous author as well, beginning her illustrious literary career late in life after her husband’s death in 1992.
After attending primary school in Karachi’s famous St Patrick’s School, IH spent three years studying at a high school in Paris. As a result of further studies and visits to France, he remains fluent in French. Returning to Pakistan, IH finished his high school studies in Karachi, and went to Turkey on a scholarship to study chemical engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU). He left after a year, deciding that he was not cut out to be an engineer. Nevertheless, he retains a great fondness for Turkey, and visits it often. Returning to Karachi
, he joined Karachi University where he did a Master’s degree in economics. Immediately after graduating in 1967, he joined Pakistan’s civil service where he remained for the next 30 years, working in a wide variety of jobs, ranging from being on Prime Minister ZA Bhutto’s speech-writing team in the mid-Seventies to being posted as Information Minister at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington during Benazir Bhutto
’s first government in 1989-90.
IH took early retirement in 1997 to help set up and run the Textile Institute of Pakistan
(TIP) as its first president. Throughout his working life, he has continued writing, and has been associated with Dawn on a freelance basis since 1991. He has recently finished a book on Muslim attitudes towards America. Tentatively titled Fatal Faultline, the book is expected to be launched in the United States in November 2011.
Apart from his deep interest in politics, education, the environment and economics, IH reads history extensively, and follows developments in astrophysics and quantum physics. He awaits the appearance of the Higgs boson, or the ‘God particle’ with great impatience. A keen science fiction fan, IH confesses to being an escapist at heart.
After leaving TIP in 2003, IH divides his time between Pakistan, Sri Lanka
and the UK. He enjoys cooking, and has written extensively about food.
.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and elsewhere since 1970. He currently writes two weekly columns for Dawn
Dawn (newspaper)
Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...
, Pakistan’s widely circulated and highly respected daily. As a civil servant, he used a number of pseudonyms, including Mazdak.
In the face of rising religiosity in Pakistan, IH has maintained a secular, democratic worldview in his columns that reflect an abiding faith in humanism and reason. He has consistently refuted the inflamed levels of hysterical anti-west and extremist sentiments that increasingly dominate the public discourse in much of the Pakistani media.
Born in Amritsar, India, in 1944, IH migrated to the newly created state of Pakistan with his parents in 1947. His father, Dr Akhtar Husain Raipuri, was an eminent Sanskrit scholar, a literary critic, and a short-story writer who received his PhD from Sorbonne University. His mother, Hameeda, was a famous author as well, beginning her illustrious literary career late in life after her husband’s death in 1992.
After attending primary school in Karachi’s famous St Patrick’s School, IH spent three years studying at a high school in Paris. As a result of further studies and visits to France, he remains fluent in French. Returning to Pakistan, IH finished his high school studies in Karachi, and went to Turkey on a scholarship to study chemical engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU). He left after a year, deciding that he was not cut out to be an engineer. Nevertheless, he retains a great fondness for Turkey, and visits it often. Returning to Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, he joined Karachi University where he did a Master’s degree in economics. Immediately after graduating in 1967, he joined Pakistan’s civil service where he remained for the next 30 years, working in a wide variety of jobs, ranging from being on Prime Minister ZA Bhutto’s speech-writing team in the mid-Seventies to being posted as Information Minister at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington during Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
’s first government in 1989-90.
IH took early retirement in 1997 to help set up and run the Textile Institute of Pakistan
Textile Institute of Pakistan
Textile Institute of Pakistan is a not-for-profit degree-awarding institution in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The college was established by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association in 1994 as a means to create professionals to support Pakistan's textile industry...
(TIP) as its first president. Throughout his working life, he has continued writing, and has been associated with Dawn on a freelance basis since 1991. He has recently finished a book on Muslim attitudes towards America. Tentatively titled Fatal Faultline, the book is expected to be launched in the United States in November 2011.
Apart from his deep interest in politics, education, the environment and economics, IH reads history extensively, and follows developments in astrophysics and quantum physics. He awaits the appearance of the Higgs boson, or the ‘God particle’ with great impatience. A keen science fiction fan, IH confesses to being an escapist at heart.
After leaving TIP in 2003, IH divides his time between Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and the UK. He enjoys cooking, and has written extensively about food.
External links
- Older archive of Irfan Husain's columns for DawnDawn (newspaper)Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...
, latest articles here
.