Waris Mir

Education and career

Mir completed his secondary school education at Murray College in Sialkot, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan known for its intellectuals and the birthplace of the poet Allama Iqbal. He received his master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication in 1964 from the University of the Punjab, Lahore and joined the same department as a lecturer in 1965. He completed his M.Phil. in Journalism from City University in London in 1976. He was appointed Chairman of the Mass Communication Department in the University of the Punjab where he taught for 25 years while at the same time writing articles and columns for almost all the leading Urdu newspapers of the country. He wrote extensively on all important national and international issues of his times, especially in the 1970s and 1980s when speaking out was a punishable offence. His scholarly writings which appeared in Jang, Pakistan's most widely circulated Urdu newspaper earned him rising popularity amongst its readers, especially during General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law period when the latter tried to Islamise Pakistani society by enforcing Shariah law.

In the time of dictatorship

A staunch believer in the basic human rights of freedom of thought and expression, Mir chose to take the road that most of his contemporary writers did not dare to take, especially during the Martial Law periods of President General Ayub Khan and General Ziaul Haq. Despite facing censorship snipping, threats, mental torture and vandalism, he stood his ground firm against all odds, upholding his principled stance of opposing dictatorship and backing democracy and freedom of expression. The books authored by Mir in Urdu included Hurriyat-e-Fikar kai Mujahid (The warriors of the intellectual freedom), Kaya Aurat Aadhi Hai (Is woman half the human?), and Fauj ki Sayasat (The politics of the Army).

Death and legacy

Waris Mir died of a sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 48 under mysterious circumstances. He was laid to rest in the Punjab University graveyard close to the New Campus Underpass which was renamed as the Waris Mir Underpass by the provincial government of Punjab in 2013. At the time of his death Mir was at the peak of his professional career as a writer. His writing on Pakistan's contemporary politics, the army's meddling in politics, feminist issues, cultural reforms, religious beliefs, philosophical questions, literary references, and historical background continued to remain relevant long after his death. According to Asma Jehangir writing in The News International in 2013:

If one begins to read through his writing from a critical appreciative point of view, it becomes evident that he was a fiery and blunt writer who knew not how to mince his words while expressing his opinion. Waris Mir had liberal, democratic and progressive views. His writings particularly made a lasting imprint upon the minds of two kinds of people – the youth and women. To him, freedom and thought and expression equalled intellectual liberty in light of social responsibility.

Mir was posthumously awarded Pakistan's highest civil award Hilal-e-Imtiaz (the Crescent of Excellence) on 23 March 2013 in recognition of his meritorious services in the field of journalism and for furthering the cause of democracy through his writings. The Government of Bangladesh also decorated him with the country's most prestigious civil award, the Friends of Liberation War Honour in 2013 for writing meticulously and fearlessly against the Pakistani military action in 1971 against the civilian population of the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Family

Waris Mir was one of the sons Mir Abdul Aziz, an Urdu/Persian/Punjabi poet and teacher. His roots can be traced back to Jammu and Kashmir, India. Mir's widow, Mumtaz Mir, died on 10 December 1993. Three of Mir's sons,—Hamid Mir (GEO TV), Amir Mir (THE NEWS) and Imran Mir (PTV)—are journalists in Pakistan, while the fourth, Faisal Mir, is a businessman. His daughter, Huma Mir, is an educationalist.

Publications