Archive for July, 2012

Dr. Manzer Durrani

On Air Marshal Nur Khan (1923-2011)

Much has been written about Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan, who recently passed away in Pakistan on the 15th of December 2011. Pages and pages of tributes have been written about his days as the Chief of Pakistan Air Force during the 1965 War with Pakistan — and rightly so. It is to Nur Khan’s credit (and to his predecessor) that the Pakistani Air Force did well in that war, managing to hold its own against a larger adversary. But very little has been written about Nur Khan from his early days when he was part of the undivided Indian Air Force — and about his time after retirement from the Pakistan Air Force and as the Governor of West Pakistan.

Nur Khan was a highly respected and regarded officer within the IAF before partition. Originally a product of the Royal Indian Military College (now Rashtriya Indian Military College), he was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a Pilot Officer on 6 Jan 1941. Those were still the days when entrants were given commission on the date they reported to the IAF. He belonged to the 6th Pilots Course (PC). 6PC was unique in that it had other Muslim officers who later formed the backbone of the new PAF. There was Pilot Officer Asghar Khan, who due to his Army service had seniority, and there was M Akhtar and M M A Cheema , all of who would rise to senior positions in the PAF.

After training at the Initial Training Wing at Lahore till May 41, Nur Khan reported for flying training at the Flying Training School in Ambala, completing his flying syllabus by late November 1941. During this time he was flying types like the Westland Wapiti, Hawker Hart and Hawker Audax biplane aircraft.

His first posting after training was to No.3 Squadron at Kohat in December 1941, then equipped with Hawker Audaxes. Over the following year, he would fly proscription sorties in the Miranshah area, dropping leaflets, flying road opening sorties, occasionally undertaking punitive bombing against villages. In October 1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer, along with Asghar, Cheema and Akhtar who happened to be with the same Squadron as well.

Nur Khan stayed with 3 Squadron till mid 1943 at which point he may have been posted for Vengeance Conversion at the Operational Training Unit in Peshawar.

With Flt Cdr Henry Runganadhan
On 8th May 1944, he reported to No.7 Squadron which was at that time operating the Vultee Vengeance Dive bomber under Sqn Ldr Hem Chaudhary. Nur Khan was put in ‘B’ Flight then under the command of Flt Lt Erlic Pinto. (As a matter of interest – the other flight commander in the Squadron was none other than P C Lal, who would go on to command the IAF in 1971). Nur Khan flew his first dive bombing sorties two days later on the 10th. Over the next month Nur Khan flew several missions. However his time on the Burma Front lasted just about a month when the movement orders for 7 Squadron came through. By 12th June 1944, the Squadron found itself relocated to Charra. During this time Nur Khan took over the role of the Squadron Sports Officer. In November 1944, the Squadron converted to the Hurricane fighter bomber. Towards the end of January 1945, Nur Khan was posted to No.9 Squadron, which was then on Hurricanes on the Burma Front.

It was here that Nur Khan honed his flying skills and soon made himself quite famous, sometimes bordering on being a reckless showoff! Air Chief Marshal Idris Latif, who served in 9 Squadron remembers that Nur Khan would show off landing approaches in a Hurricane – while inverted! This involved approaching the runway for landing in inverted position, then at the right moment lower the undercarriage (which in this case would open upwards) and then do a last minute roll before flare out and touch down. Handling a Hurricane in such a regime required utmost confidence and handling skills.

One can easily deduce that Nur Khan was a flying “hog”, never losing an opportunity to fly a new type of aircraft. Even in his last years in the PAF, he ensured that he was upto speed on all new aircraft being inducted, flying such types as the F-6 and the Mirage III.

After less than six months with 9 Squadron, Nur Khan earned his promotion to Flt Lt Rank and was posted to No 4 Squadron RIAF in June 1945. No.4 Squadron was at Yelahanka flying the Spitfire VIII under the command of Sqn Ldr Boyd-Berry. No.4 soon moved to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in early 1946. In one of the first display flights over Japan, Nur Khan led a formation of Ten Spitfires in the shape of a “4”. His stint as a Flight Commander lasted about 18 months and in November 1946, Nur Khan transferred to the HQ BCAIR (The Air component of the BCOF) as a Staff Officer in the rank of Sqn Ldr. When the Indian component of BCOF wound up in Japan, Independence was around the corner. It was a natural decision for Nur Khan to opt for the Pakistan Air Force.

The rest of his career with the PAF and his long stint with the PIA had been well chronicled, as is his role as PAF chief during the 1965 war with India. Some points however are worth recounting.

When Nur Khan took over command of the PAF in July 1965, he had but two weeks notice about the launch of Operation Gibraltar. He would say later that his staff reacted with disbelief and he was himself perturbed and shocked hearing about the plan from the Army Chief. But he went about “doing as he was told”. He got himself immersed in the business of fighting a war which had flared up as Nur Khan expected. The PAF did well in the war, enough to actually save the Pakistani Army from disaster many times. But the writing was on the wall: Pakistan was ill-equipped to fight a long term war, and Ayub Khan very wisely accepted the ceasefire when it was offered.

The relatively good performance of the PAF masked the actual truth about how close the Pakistan Army had come to running out of gas while fighting. Subsequent chest thumping and propaganda completely overshadowed any effort to take an unbiased and impartial look into how the war was conducted. Nur Khan himself would lament later that an opportunity was lost by not conducting an impartial study. He opined that many things that went wrong later on would have been avoided if there had been a serious study conducted by the Pakistanis.

Nur Khan remained PAF chief well into 1968, and would have served more if not for the transfer of power to General Yahya Khan of the Pakistan Army. Yahya imposed Martial Law and offered Nur Khan the Governorship of West Pakistan. Nur Khan bought into the theory that military rule and martial law was good for the country and took up the offer as the Deputy Martial Law Administrator. Since he could not hold two offices at the same time, Nur Khan resigned his post as the Chief of the PAF and went on to serve six months as the Governor of West Pakistan before resigning in early 1970. If it hadn’t been for the Martial law and the offer of Governorship, he may well have been the air chief during the 71 war (Going by the fact his predecessor served six years at the helm). More importantly he may have had given some sane advice that would have prevented the Pakistani Army from self imploding in 1971.

But from another perspective, it was better for Nur Khan to have retired earlier as he left public service with his stock and reputation still intact. The debacle of 1971 rendered quite a a battering to his successor Air Marshal Rahim Khan.

Perhaps the results of the 1971 war had reshaped Nur Khan’s views on the earlier conflicts. He had come to arrive at the belief that the Pakistani Army chiefs were the root of the problems that Pakistan had faced throughout. He became a strong proponent of the fact that it was Pakistan which instigated the 1965 war and India was merely defending itself (which runs contrary to the thought process of many Pakistanis). In an interview, when prodded if the conflict of 65 was a “decisive class of arms between Hinduism and Islam”, Nur Khan shot down the idea with a curt “I do not believe there were any ideological compulsions behind the war”. His recent interviews with Dawn TV (available on Youtube) re-iterate these view points again and again. One could not but wish that Nur Khan’s views percolate down to the history lessons that common Pakistani students study, which would result in less hostility between the two nations.

While I never knew Nur Khan directly, several IAF officers have expressed high opinions about him over time. Air Chief Marshal Idris Latif’s comment on his flying skills have been mentioned earlier in this column. Another officer – Air Marshal S Raghavendran, who retired as Vice Chief, recently wrote that Nur Khan was one of the two of the greatest pilots & commanders of the undivided Indian Air Force that the IAF lost to partition. The other being Asghar Khan who was also well regarded by the veterans of that time. Such respect from officers of the opposing air force does not come easy.

Jagan Pillarisetti, a well-known voice on military aviation and its history, is the co-author of The India Pakistan Air War Of 1965, a seminal work for which he was awarded a Commendation by the Chief of Air Staff in 2007. Jagan is based in the United States. He wrote this obituary exclusively for Livefist on request.

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On Air Marshal Nur Khan (1923-2011)
By Jagan Pillarisetti
Flt Lt with 4 Sqn, 1945
Jagan Pillarisetti is a historian of the Indian Air Force

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Khattak Dance—The Dance of the Warriors

The dance of the warriors–Khattak Dance. Kattak dance is a well known dance of Khyber PakhtoonKhwa. It is certainly an interesting sight to witness dancers dancing to the rhythm of drums while holding swords.It is called Khattak Dance as it is performed by the well built and energetic tribesmen of the one of the many Pashtoons’ clan, “Khattak”.

Khattak dance has its own history. This sword dance is called a warrior dance as it was performed before wars as a form of warm up exercise. Some historians trace its history back to the ancient Greece. It is thought that ancient Greeks brought a resembling pre-war dance along the weapons when they first reached Afghanistan. Over the period of time, this pre-war dance was forgotten in Greece but survived here.

There can be no doubt that this dance demands lots of physical training, agility and alertness. It sure is a way to demonstrate physical strength. The movements of Khattak dance are fast and the dancer has to hold two or three swords; each weighing around one and a half Kg. The dance typically consists of a five step routine. The number of dancers? the more, the better. Up to 40 dancers can take part. The dance mostly consists of spins, half spins all while holding swords in hands; sometimes behind their backs, sometimes along their sides all the while dancing to a really fast drum beat. The enthusiasm of the drummers is also a treat to watch. Sometimes they also hold swords in their mouths for an effect.

In Khattak dance there are several stages or styles which are a pure delight to watch. Some steps involve whole group of dancers while in other steps only individual dancers show off their skills. In a step called Baangra, the whole group of dancers dances in odd number of circles to medium paced drum beat while displaying their swords and holding them as artillery. The dancers continually swirl and halt along the rhythm of the drums. Sometimes, individual dancers dance to a very fast paced drum beat swinging two swords in hand while the third sword is in their mouth. Some steps involve waving handkerchiefs as well. Whether an individual is performing or a group is, Khattak Dance is a treat that should not be missed.

The Khattak Dance-only famous in Pakistan?

Men dressed in bright and colourful traditional costumes, waving glittering swords in the air and swirling to the drumbeats and tunes of surnai is what Khattak dance is all about. Controlled footwork and flexible body movements on fast drumbeats with instantaneous sword swinging by a troupe involving men of all ages makes Khattak dance distinct from other folk dances of the Pakhtoons.

The dancers, wearing shalwar and specially tailored frock-like kamiz in addition to red embroidered waistcoat with large decorative scarves tied around the waist or knotted around the neck, perform in a circle. Shining swords with sharp edges add more colour to their body movements and the overall festivity created by the dance.

The Khattak dance is not mere entertainment or fun. A Khattak tribesman dances with the zeal of a hero, displaying his physical fitness through body movements, while holding one, two or even three swords at a time. Each sword weighs about one-and-a-half kilograms. The Khattak tribesmen, although quite religious, often fail to resist the impact created by the thunderous drum beats and sweet tunes of surnai that accompany the Khattak dance.

The Khattak dance is as old as the history of the tribe, going back to the fourteenth century. As the word goes, the Khattaks used to dance with swords as a warm-up exercise prior to taking on their rival tribes in a battlefield. With the passage of time, dance became a permanent feature of their funfairs, giving the tribe an additional emblem of their distinct identity.

The fast tempo with which the Khattak dance starts and ends distinguishes it from all the other Pakhtoon folk dances which are described as Atanr (Pashto word for a family of identical folk dances). Except for the Khattak dance, all the other Pakhtoon folk dances or Atanr start with a slow tempo and get fast as the momentum picks up with a corresponding faster beat.

The second important dissimilarity between the Khattak dance and other folk dances is the absence of Sanrry (oily hair grown up to a specific length), which the Khattak dancers don’t have. The dance comprises a total of 12 steps requiring the dancers to have the best of skills to perform. At one moment they would be performing individually and in a fraction of seconds they would align their body movements with the rest of the troupe members – whose number may be as high as 40.

“Each performing step must not last more than two minutes to maintain stamina at a certain level,” said Subedar Nauroz Khan, head of the Khyber Rifle’s Khattak dance troupe.

The first step is the Bhangrah where every member swirls while carrying swords as the prop. The Bhangrah is followed by Derabi. At this stage, two youths at a time, carrying one sword and a handkerchief each in their hands, start dancing in front of the man with surnai while the rest of the troupe members wait for their turn. In the Laila, the third step, a group of four performers holding two swords each, perform stunts moving in a circle.

Braghoni is the fastest and the most adventurous of all steps, which a single dancer performs with three swords. He very skillfully swings two swords in the air while holding the third in his mouth.

Bulbullah, the last of the twelve steps, is staged without swords. The dancers sing a love song at a high pitch. At the end of the song, the drumbeat increases slightly and the dance goes on.

Apart from the Khattak tribesmen, the Frontier Corps has also made persistent efforts in conserving and promoting the folk dances of the Frontier province. The well-maintained corps troupes occasionally perform in Pakistan and abroad.

Khattak is the only dance which has withstood the change of times over the centuries. Its flavour and essence are almost in its original form. And this is so because it’s a blend of rich and exciting moves that come from the very heart of the performers.

Reference

December 10, 2011 in Culture by Ummay Abdullah The dance of the warriors–Khattak Dance.

ttp://daaira.com/khattak-dance-the-dance-of-the-warriors/

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Sadequain’s calligraphy at Lahore Museum. Photo by islamic-arts.org

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Pakistani Awards), also often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a world-renowned Pakistani artist, best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter. He is considered as one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced. Sadequain was responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in Pakistan. He claimed that his transformation into a calligrapher was manifested by divine inspiration. He did not follow the tradition and created his own style of script. His alphabets exude motion, mood, and paint vivid pictures of the message of the word. Sadequain claimed that many of his paintings especially after the seventies had been based on calligraphic forms to portray images of cities, buildings, forests, men, and women.

Before Sadeqain, few painters had experimented with the medium in Pakistan. Sadequain is commended for bringing calligraphy into a mainstream art form, as most of the known Pakistani artists have followed Sadequain and calligraphic art now dominates the art scene. Sadequain also painted classical literature from the poetic verses of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz. He belonged to the school of thought which enriched realism with lyricism. Sadequain Illustrated French Nobel Prize winning writer Albert Camus, Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz. Sadequain was the most prolific painter of the post partition Pakistan. He was constantly at work and he worked on large scale. He worked on large murals for public buildings symbolic of the collective labor of humanity and his work was mostly donated to the public.

Calligraphy panel at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, 20th century Sadequain (Pakistani, 1930–1987) Colors on wood. his calligraphic painting represents just one aspect of the Pakistani artist Sadequain’s oeuvre. He was from a family of scribes and had trained in calligraphy in his youth, but started his career with oil paintings and murals. His works depicting Cubist-like figures, seascapes, and landscapes, which often tackled moral and political issues, gained him local fame and state patronage in the 1950s. In 1961, he won recognition at the Paris Biennal and throughout the decade exhibited in the United States and Europe. But calligraphy remained an interest and he came to focus on this genre during the 1970s, when many modern artists of the Islamic world were returning to this traditional form of art. In this painting, Sadequain has arranged the inscription on a series of boats which, in the Qur’an, often symbolize safety and security. The inscription reads: “In the name of the memorable Qur’an. In the name of the glorious Qur’an. In the name of the pen and anything it writes.

He was a self-made, self taught painter, completely untraditional and above all, shows no signs of being inspired by any other master of art who lived before him or at his time.

Sadequain received well deserved decorations.

1960 – Government of Pakistan — “ Tamgha-e-Imtiaz”
1961 – Government of France — “Biennale de Paris”
1962 – President of Pakistan — “President’s Medal of Honor”
1975 – Government of Australia — “Cultural Award”
1980 – Government of Pakistan — “Sitara-e-Imtiaz”.

The following are a few of his memorable works and exhibitions;

1954 – Solo Exhibition in Quetta, Pakistan
1955 – Mural at Jinnah Hospital, Solo Exhibition at Frere Hall and at residence of Mr. Suhrawady.
1961 – Mural at State Bank of Pakistan, (62 x 10ft) titled as “Treasures of Time”. This mural illustrates human scientific development from Socrates to Einstein and Muhammed Iqbal. He was invited to France to illustrate French Nobel Prize Winning writer Albert Camus.
1963 – Several Exhibitions in USA
1963 – Illustrated “Le Etranger” in France
1967 – Mural at Mangla Dam Power House (200 x 30ft) titled as “Saga of Labor” This mural lime lights the importance of the working class and its contributions in a society. Completed in 3.5 months only.
1968 – Mural at Punjab University Library, titled as “Quest of Knowledge”
1969 – Calligraphic redention of “Sura-e-Rehman”
1973 – Murals at Lahore Museum entrance Hall and others (100 x 35ft) titled as “Evolution of Mankind”
1974 – Exhibitions in Middle East and Eastern Europe.
1976 – TV. Series “Mojiza-e-fun” on Sadequain Art.
1977 – Illustrated Mirza Ghalib (Indian Poet)
1979 – Mural in Abu Dhabi power house (70 x 12ft)
1981 – Murals painted at Aligarh (70 x 12ft), Banaras (70 x 12ft), Hyderabad and Geological Institute of Delhi, India (70 x 25ft)
1985 – Illustrated Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Pakistani Poet)
1986 – Mural at Frere Hall titled as “Arz-o-Samawat” (heaven and earth)

Rediscovering Sadequain: the artist of the dustbin

By Asim Fareed

ROME: In Pakistan, there is a tendency to view domestic and South Asian artistic endeavour as somehow separate from the global art front. This predilection may explain the reason that the inclusion of Sadequain Naqqash (1930-87) among the world’s greatest artists elicits almost self-deprecating surprise among art aficionados.

Sadequain, one of the first Pakistani painters to gain international recognition, is counted by most art historians as the greatest Pakistani painter, ever. But this suggests a hesitance to view his oeuvre within a broader historical context. Sadequain: The Holy Sinner, the catalogue raisonné by Hameed Haroon and Salima Hashmi should change that.

The whopping catalogue (at Rs 20,000 and available only in limited edition) comprises critiques and commentaries, many by revered art historians and illustrious contemporaries of Sadequain’s, including Indian painter MF Hussain. It also includes the accompanying text to last year’s once-in-a-lifetime retrospective at Mohatta Palace.

To its credit this remarkable tome does not mourn the tragic life of the artist. This is a holistic celebration of the works of Sadequain and it forces one to comprehend the impact they have left on Muslim and non-Muslim minds alike. Even Sadequain’s most ardent supporters stand to learn more about the depth of the artist’s vision.

The catalogue, which does not include Sadequain’s famed calligraphies of Ghalib’s and Quranic verses, reveals “the almost alien brilliance of his individuality”, writes art historian and Dawn publisher Mr Haroon. The profound link between Sadequain’s paintings and mankind’s broader intellectual and philosophical evolution is unmistakable.

The deconstructionist approach, in which artist and art are perceived as inexorably bound, remains the dominant force in contemporary art scholarship. The life of Paul Gaugain is one instance of this. Gaugain was an exceptionally complicated and self-conscious individual and his biography seeped into his art. Accounts of Gaugain’s escape to and life in “primitive” Tahiti infuse his works with legend.

The Holy Sinner reveals that the distance imposed between the biography and art is largely artificial. “To understand the forces that make Sadequain’s hands move in the way they do is to understand the man,” writes Mr Haroon. The forms and themes we observe in Sadequain’s works are a reflection of his character, his biography. Sadequain was self-destructive and spiritually tortured. To see this is to understand his work.

Deconstruction provides opportunity for discussing an artist whose manner, like that of Salvador Dali, was no less enigmatic than his work. “I am not an artist of the drawing room but of the dustbin,” Sadequain once said. When Sadequain died in 1987 after a sudden illness, the iconic figure was destitute and penniless, even though he was one of those few artists who had the patronage of the state.

One of the greatest successes of this latest homage is its unabashedly asserting Sadequain’s importance to world culture, and also the undeniable influence of world culture upon this frail unassuming hermit. It is in retrospect that we may now see that this unconventional figure was a vessel through which the divine communed with man.

Despite the universal implications of his works, the primary visual source for their contorted figurative style stems from the barren domestic landscapes he encountered when he arrived in Pakistan from Amroha, UP, India in 1948. The plains were host to fields of cacti that seemed to reach out to a merciless sun in the hopes of obscure salvation, it was their pleading hands that left an indelible mark on the artist. The painting, Treasures of Time, homage perhaps to the School of Athens, depicts the stars of Eastern and Western civilization including Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Buddha, Dante, Shakespeare, Ghalib and Rabindranath Tagore. Sadequain has also included his self-portrait in this constellation but the rendering comes off humble, even ironic.

This painting betrays Sadequain’s interest in the progress of mankind, his belief that greatness rises above nationhood, race, and religion, and also his own very human concern over what legacy he would leave behind. The Holy Sinner shows us the resilience of Sadequain’s legacy to the wears of time.

The author is a student of art history in Italy

Reference:

http://islamic-arts.org
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-1-2004_pg7_24

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Sadequain’s calligraphy at Lahore Museum. Photo by islamic-arts.org

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Pakistani Awards), also often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a world-renowned Pakistani artist, best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter. He is considered as one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced. Sadequain was responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in Pakistan. He claimed that his transformation into a calligrapher was manifested by divine inspiration. He did not follow the tradition and created his own style of script. His alphabets exude motion, mood, and paint vivid pictures of the message of the word. Sadequain claimed that many of his paintings especially after the seventies had been based on calligraphic forms to portray images of cities, buildings, forests, men, and women.

Before Sadeqain, few painters had experimented with the medium in Pakistan. Sadequain is commended for bringing calligraphy into a mainstream art form, as most of the known Pakistani artists have followed Sadequain and calligraphic art now dominates the art scene. Sadequain also painted classical literature from the poetic verses of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz. He belonged to the school of thought which enriched realism with lyricism. Sadequain Illustrated French Nobel Prize winning writer Albert Camus, Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz. Sadequain was the most prolific painter of the post partition Pakistan. He was constantly at work and he worked on large scale. He worked on large murals for public buildings symbolic of the collective labor of humanity and his work was mostly donated to the public.

Calligraphy panel at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, 20th century Sadequain (Pakistani, 1930–1987) Colors on wood. his calligraphic painting represents just one aspect of the Pakistani artist Sadequain’s oeuvre. He was from a family of scribes and had trained in calligraphy in his youth, but started his career with oil paintings and murals. His works depicting Cubist-like figures, seascapes, and landscapes, which often tackled moral and political issues, gained him local fame and state patronage in the 1950s. In 1961, he won recognition at the Paris Biennal and throughout the decade exhibited in the United States and Europe. But calligraphy remained an interest and he came to focus on this genre during the 1970s, when many modern artists of the Islamic world were returning to this traditional form of art. In this painting, Sadequain has arranged the inscription on a series of boats which, in the Qur’an, often symbolize safety and security. The inscription reads: “In the name of the memorable Qur’an. In the name of the glorious Qur’an. In the name of the pen and anything it writes.

He was a self-made, self taught painter, completely untraditional and above all, shows no signs of being inspired by any other master of art who lived before him or at his time.

Sadequain received well deserved decorations.

1960 – Government of Pakistan — “ Tamgha-e-Imtiaz”
1961 – Government of France — “Biennale de Paris”
1962 – President of Pakistan — “President’s Medal of Honor”
1975 – Government of Australia — “Cultural Award”
1980 – Government of Pakistan — “Sitara-e-Imtiaz”.

The following are a few of his memorable works and exhibitions;

1954 – Solo Exhibition in Quetta, Pakistan
1955 – Mural at Jinnah Hospital, Solo Exhibition at Frere Hall and at residence of Mr. Suhrawady.
1961 – Mural at State Bank of Pakistan, (62 x 10ft) titled as “Treasures of Time”. This mural illustrates human scientific development from Socrates to Einstein and Muhammed Iqbal. He was invited to France to illustrate French Nobel Prize Winning writer Albert Camus.
1963 – Several Exhibitions in USA
1963 – Illustrated “Le Etranger” in France
1967 – Mural at Mangla Dam Power House (200 x 30ft) titled as “Saga of Labor” This mural lime lights the importance of the working class and its contributions in a society. Completed in 3.5 months only.
1968 – Mural at Punjab University Library, titled as “Quest of Knowledge”
1969 – Calligraphic redention of “Sura-e-Rehman”
1973 – Murals at Lahore Museum entrance Hall and others (100 x 35ft) titled as “Evolution of Mankind”
1974 – Exhibitions in Middle East and Eastern Europe.
1976 – TV. Series “Mojiza-e-fun” on Sadequain Art.
1977 – Illustrated Mirza Ghalib (Indian Poet)
1979 – Mural in Abu Dhabi power house (70 x 12ft)
1981 – Murals painted at Aligarh (70 x 12ft), Banaras (70 x 12ft), Hyderabad and Geological Institute of Delhi, India (70 x 25ft)
1985 – Illustrated Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Pakistani Poet)
1986 – Mural at Frere Hall titled as “Arz-o-Samawat” (heaven and earth)