A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Eminent journalist, critic and political commentator Sayeed Hasan Khan, known to many as Nawab sahab, passed away peacefully in Karachi on October 17, 2022. He was 92.

I got introduced to him over two decades ago when I got engaged to his niece, Sadaf. He was Ammu to Sadaf and her siblings and naturally, to me later. I was fascinated by his nomadic lifestyle and life choices as I haven’t met many people who lived life on their own terms with no regrets. Ammu was an example of a truly unconventional life with an extraordinarily long list of time-tested and long lasting friendships spanning the globe. It was a given thing in the family to ask Ammu about any new person we met or interacted with professionally or socially and he would find a common link or connection. Likewise, while travelling to a new country we would always ask him if he had any contacts there and invariably he would always know some people and gladly connect us.

Sayeed Hasan Khan was a citizen of the world in every sense. Pakistan was as much his home as was the UK and India. For about half a century he spent his summers in England and winters in Pakistan while visiting India, Europe and other parts of the world frequently in between to meet friends, attend conferences and speak at forums. My to date solo visit to India in 2007 was made possible by Ammu without whose assistance I could not have made that short but memorable trip.

A committed anti-imperialist, anti-war activist and a veteran left-winger, he retired to Karachi some ten years ago. With friends ranging from top politicians, bureaucrats, diplomats, journalists, writers, artists, he moved around in power circles but never strived to get any personal favours or benefits. In spite of living in England for decades and travelling the world over, he never made any assets or collected any valuables. He shared accommodation with friends who were writers, activists and journalists like him. A bachelor, Sayeed Hasan Khan lived minimally with contentment. Surrounded by books, his humble apartment in the family residence in Karachi was frequented by friends and overseas visitors. Mark Tully, veteran BBC journalist, jokingly called his apartment Bareli Continental (Bareli being his birth place in India).

His wealth was the friendships he nurtured - people he met and spent time with, causes he stood for, events of history he witnessed and travels he made across the globe. His autobiography aptly titled “Across the Seas: An Incorrigible Drift” is full of anecdotes and stories. I have had the pleasure of meeting scores of interesting people at his residence for lunches, dinners and chai. Sayeed Hasan Khan was an acknowledged authority on South Asian politics and partition of India. Besides writing columns for newspapers in Pakistan, India and Europe and speaking on the subject across the world, he was also on the advisory panel for documentaries and films. He was frequently consulted by broadcasting giants like BBC and Al Jazeera, besides others, for comments on significant events and South Asian political issues.

Former Labour MP John Austin, a dear friend of Sayeed Hasan Khan who penned the introduction for Ammu’s autobiography, wrote, “There can be few people apart from the world leaders, diplomats and international correspondents of the Alistair Cooke type who could lay claim to having met so many influential figures of the twentieth century. But what marks out Sayeed is that over a period of more than sixty years, he stayed in touch with so many of the people he had met – not only the household names but dozens of journalists, writers, poets, little known politicians, lawyers and academics.”

This was Sayeed Hasan Khan, a man for all seasons. With him ended an extraordinary era of selflessness and humility that is fast becoming extinct.