By Fazal Amin Beg
This small contribution is about the interestingly inherited stories of the past and the enriched life accounts of Engineer Johar Ali of Shimshal valley of Hunza district, who served WAPDA for 33 years. It is based on one of my in-depth interviews and sessions with him that continued for more than two hours. This note therefore tries to highlight and summarize some of the important features that have come under discussion mainly in Wakhi and a considerable part in urdu. I believe it will be of a great help to many and will be a source of stimulation for further but productive discussion around various subject matters.
For the last many decades, it has become a norm for the better-off people of the mountain communities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral Region that they temporarily migrate towards the lowland (southern part of Pakistan by the end of each autumn and spend the winter season in the warm cities, spend couple of months there and return to their permanent abodes or settlements in spring either in March or April. In contrast, it was during the chilly winter season of 2016 (November and December)and January and February 2017, when I chose to be in Skardu, Baltistan where the temperature always go below zero degree centigrade in winter. Though, I have no much fear of the coldness, I had to embrace this option behind my livelihood in order to conduct my evaluation study (within qualitative tradition) of Satpara Development Project (SDP). SDP was a 20 million US Dollar project of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Pakistan that was implemented through Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) and it was generously funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
It was thus in this connection, I got an opportunity to meet Engineer Johar Ali of Gilgit-Baltistan Region in January 2017, then heading the Satpara Dam Project at Skardu. I carried out a formal but productive session with him by getting an in-depth recorded interview in English on the subject matter. I thus opted to get another session with him on his comprehensive life account in Wakhi (his mother tongue multiplied with some Urdu conversation in the middle) from his birth and childhood to his present life (January 2017). Ultimately, the interview lasted for more than two hours like a live and lively podcast without any break but with untiring and humorous manner.
The enriched biography of Engineer Johar Ali is filled with full of invaluable stories from the real world. He provides us deep insights into the concerned cultures, societies, socioeconomic conditions and the related environment both for the mountain and plain setttings wherever he lived his amazing life with series of challenges and opportunities with incredible coping strategies.
Johar Ali belongs to the Boqi clan of Shimshal. According to the official record in school, he was born in 1960. However, it is noteworthy that there was no written tradition of dates of birth for all individuals in the whole region due to absence of formal education. He thus thinks that he was either born in 1958 or 1959. It was a practice to send their children to school when they were six or seven years old. When the school system got started after inception of the Diamond Jubilee Project of His Highness Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan in 1946, gradual records of dates of birth are evidenced with reduction of at least one or two years.
Johar Ali was the second child of late Mirza Jan and late Saeeda Pari (actual name as Shayyik. His siblings are Hayder Ali, Sarwar Ali, Najaf Pari and Aziz Jan. In 1988, he got married with Mrs. Aziza Yasmin daughter of Chamin of Passu. They have five children including two sons and three daughters. Their names are Kamran ali, Saeeda Yasmin, Adnan Ali, Zahra Yasmin and Inara Yasmin. If we take his first child as a point of reference (Ego), his genealogy will follow in this manner. Kamran Ali son of Johar Ali son of Mirzo Jon son of Mahmud Baig (Mamu Sing) son of Qalandar Baig son of Ganj Ali Shoh son of Dawud Baig son of Saadi Boqi son of Sher son of Mamusing (apical ancestor who has reportedly migrated to Shimshal from Chaprot valley of Nagar). From his ancestor Mamusing to his children, it thus reportedly becomes 16 generations, though five names are missing in the middle during his oral narration.
His informed discussion continues with the interesting stories of his wider family, clans and tribe. How did his apical ancestor named Mamusing migrated from Chaprot to Baltit (Central Hunza) for having some kind of affinity with Tushat̃ing clan within Brong tribe, how did Tusha Botto with his go to Badakhshan (Central Asia) and bring Shah Khan as the ruler of Hunza by terming him as Ayash um Ayasho (ruler from the sky), how does Mamusing stayed in Badakhshan, gets married there with a lady named Khadija (shortly termed as “Ja”). Addressing such basic questions, he further narrates that how do both the life partners (Mamusing and Ja) come to Hunza State and live in Avgarch (Gojal) for a while, how do both spouses get a son there who is named Perpek who unfortunately fights his dangerous fate during his infancy when his parents keep him in a granary or so under the ground in Avgarch when the Kirghiz or Shughni invaders attack them, how do both these life mates then move towards Shimshal via Qorun Pass and Oston and reach Shimshal where they find a network of irrigation channel perhaps constructed by the Shughni people.
Johar Ali then also relates the interesting stories pertaining to Shimshal. First, for instance, is that of a holy saint or so appearing in the house of Mamusing when the latter was not there at his home rather had gone behind tending his livestock. It is also noteworthy that his wife Ja had no talking term with him perhaps due to abandoning their son Parpek in Avgarch when both of them fled the Kirghiz fighters. When the saint appears in the house of Mamusing, Ja was alone at home. She extends her respect and hospitality to him. The saint then advises Ja to restore her good relationship with her husband. He prays for her hardship, when the saint asks her if she has any genuine problem. She besieges that both the spouses had no child left behind. The saint thus offers prayers and afterwards both of the couples get a son resultantly. The infant is thus named “Sher.”
With the course of time, both the father and son go to Shimshal Pamir and there comes a team of rivals from the Sariqol side. They were reportedly the Shughni (Sariqoli) people. When the claim over the Pamir comes from both sides, the Shughni people come up with a practical solution. They offer to play a polo match at the guy-e G̃har (the rock of polo ball). Consequently, whichever team wins the match, the land of Pamir will be their. Mamusing and his son Sher as a team accept this challenge. The Shughni team had horses while the father and son had the yaks to play the polo match. Due to the alpine landscape, the height of Pamir, it was becoming somehow difficult for the horses to be normal and smooth in running while the yaks were apted with the physical environment at the height. Finally, the yak players, Mamusing and Sher, win the match. The land of Pamir thus becomes part of both the father and his son. The Shughni peple thus leave the place for Mamusing and Sher. Sher gets four sons named Ghozi, Bakhti, Boqi and Hawas. The last one had no offspring left behind. However, it is important to keep in mind that behind the three alive brothers, today the clans as branches within Sher and Mamusing are known as Ghozi Kũtor, Bakhti Kũtor and Boqi Kũtor.
Moving ahead, Johar Ali adds that it was during the period of these siblings when a gentleman named Perpek comes to Hunza State in search of his parents or their descendants. He has narrated the story that when he was an infant, the Kirghiz invaders had attacked on Avgarch and his parents fearing the death of all have left him in a granery. The Kirghiz invaders have opened the granery and found me there therein and have taken me along with themselves to their place instead of either killing me or leaving me to be dead there in the granery. They have nurtured and raised me up untill I become mature. Then the ruler of Hunza, while getting details about him has inquired about his family. The courtiers have thus come to a conclusion that Perpek was a descendant of Mamu Sing of Shimshal. He was thus sent to Shimshal where he got allied with the Boqi clan. His descendants have more or less a dozen housholds today. For instance, Farman Ali son of Wali Baig (a renowned journalist of Gilgit-Baltistan working with the Daily Dawn Newspaper) and other families belong to their ancestor Perpek. It is also interesting to note that with this name, there is a mountain pass in the Khunzhrav valley, where the KNP (Khunzhrav National Park) is also situated. It is explorable that which Perpek Pass it could be whether behind this gentleman or someone else as such names could also be of other individuals as well.
Drifting away from his inherited folklores and stories, Johar Ali now confidently embarks in the real world and shares his pragmatic but fascinating and tantalizing experiences from his childhood to his educational endeavors at his schools in different places. His first teachers were late Ghulam Sultan of Gulmit and Dawlat Amin of Shimshal. After primary level schooling, he reaches Gulmit where he stays with one of his relatives named Ghulam Sarwar (a Custom-employee). He spends three years here qualifies his middle level education and talks about his compassionate and relatively harsh tempered teachers such as late Ustad Sultan Ali Samarqand, late Ustad Ibadat Shah, late Ustad Muhammad Ajayib, Ustad Tahir Jan, Ustad Ali Panah, Ustad Sarwar of Shishkat and others respectively. When he moves to Gilgit, he gets admission in the Government Boys High School and lives in Shah Karim Hostel. He now so intellengently compares the sociocultural environment of these three places that how do they shape the personalities of students in the face of serious challenges when away from their parentd and other family members. Engineer Johar Ali then takes us lively with him inspiring stories at colleges and Engineering university in Karachi and Lahore that how he proved his strong determination and true passion while encountering serious hardship on his pathways in different context.
Who might have been incredible sources of turning point in the life of Johar Ali and how did he smartly redirected his approaches while reaching at different junctions of chalenges and perplexities are incredible, indeed.he therefore mentions some of them. For instance, when he passes his grade-8 and plans to go to Gilgit for getting admission at secondary level schooling, he was empty-handed and waiting for his father to send money to him from Shimshal, a three days walk with dozens of ford-crossings. When he meets a shopkeeper of Gulmit, named Ulfat Shah, he asks him that why had he not gone to Gilgit for admission at secondary level? Johar Ali reveals him that he has no money and waiting for it to be received in the days to come. Ulfat Shah immediately gives him a note of hundred rupees (which was more than enough in teh1970s) and Johar Ali makes his journey with his companions to Gilgit, reaches there and gets admission. After qualifying his matriculation examination, Johar Ali wants to become a dispenser as those days there was absence of related human resources in the area. He had already submitted his documents in the District Headquarters Hospital in Gilgit. When he encounters two gentlemen of Gojal, senior to him who had already passed their F. Sc (Intermediate level Education and in the later phase they became medical doctors. These gentlemen were Dr. Naymat Shah of Ghulkin and Dr. Karim Rahmat of Jamalabad. Both of them have given him a positive career counselling in Gilgit bazaar and emphasized him to leave immediately for Karachi if he has relatives there. They have emphasized that he should advance in his studies with hardwork.
Acting upon the advice of Naymat Shah and Karim Rahmat, Johar Ali reaches Karachi, spends couples of months there, gets admission in initially in a Comerce College in the evening program but he gets troubles to understand the commerce subjects against his nature and the study background he had in matriculation with science subjects. He now wants to leave out the college and the program, when a senior gentleman from Passu named Rifayat of Passu meets him. he thus recommends him to opt for the science subjects by studying F. Sc. Consequently, Johar Ali looks for some sources and finally gets admission in S. M Science College, a prestigeous institution in Karachi. He finally qualifies his F. Sc in pre-engineeriing with a high marks, above all students in the field in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan.
After completion of his F. Sc (pre-engineering), Johar Ali returns to his homeland. Due to limited worldview at this age and stage, He doesn’t know what could he do further in terms of his career. He remains in Shimshal for a considerable time, one day he receives an important message from late Rai Ghulamuddin Khan of Gulmit, then the Chairman of Aga Khan Education Board for Hunza. He asks Johar Ali to immediately reach Gilgit and pursue his nomination for engineering universities in Pakistan. Only two days had left, Johar Ali reaches Gilgit and does submit his documents for his nomination purpose and process. In two days time, he is called in the ofice and informed that he has go admission in the Engineering University, Lahore. At this stage he learns that he had his scores above all and that is why he was nominated for civil engineering in Lahore. Johar Ali moves sharply to Lahore in order to pursue his engineering education. Unfortuately, like the commerce college, the civil engineering study doesn’t attract him at all as his interest influences him in electrical engineering. What a coincidence, there was a student in the Electrical Department of the University who was not interested in electrical engineering and was fully motivated towards civial engineering. Though, months had gone behind their studies, both these fellows talk together and go to the Ministery of Education, Islambad. They talk to the top tier officials and succeed to replace each other in terms of their places in both departments. “When there is a will, there is a way:” this proverb holds true for both these engineering students.
Following completion of his formal and educational degrees, when he joins Pakistan Atomic Energy as an Assistant Manager Procurement, highly tough and restricted environment Engineer Johar Ali faced when he visited Hunza. It proved seeriously apealing as he goes under one month unnecessary investigation and finally no issues found. For having a free will, self-esteem and free soul, Engineer Johar Ali applies and gets employment in WAPDA. Conversely, how does he resigns from this important national level organization is also highly interesting. When he is not allowed to leave the prestigious organization, Engineer Johar Ali looks for a special reference to influence his bosses that he wants to quit his job. He thus succeeds in his approach to leave his earlier employer. His life journey in professional domain thus actually continues for 33 years in WAPDA where he serves on leading positions in Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit and Baltistan. Finally, he gets retirement in December 2020 when he becomes 60 years old. He doesn’t stay home to enjoy his retirement but rather at present (August 2024), he is serving a German Firm named Integration, Energy and Environment (IEE) as a senior consultant in his field.
We need to understand that the invaluable discussion that lasts in the audio interview with Engineer Johar Ali is not mere narration of the events, whether pertaining to his personal life accounts or related to his ancestral tales, but rather he so fantastically also offers his analyses around different themes such as socioeconomic conditions of the people, crosscultural comparison and changes , development and societal impacts, and environmental degradation and the like.
In conclusion, Engineer Johar Ali is a practical model for the youth and students of different ages in different contexts. Many genuine lessons we can get out of his highly enriched life stories. Three of his children have become medical doctors and are based in the United States. One of his children is pursuing his master’s degree in Environment in Macedonia (Greece) on the Erasmus Mundus scholarship. His youngest child is pursuing her university education in psychology in Pakistan. Above all, he is so humble, passionate , honest and dedicated towards his profession and human interactions and is deeply embedded under the spiritual landscape.
Acknowledgement: I am so much grateful to Engineer Johar Ali for his trust and generosity to share his hands on experiences with me in addition to the inherited oral traditions from his ancestors. My sincere thanks to the family of Engineer Johar Ali for their kind hospitality during the chilly winter season. My thanks to Ahmad Jami of Gulmit ( a cousin of mine) for the kind facilitation as I have become visually disabled after qualifying my PhD coursework from Quaid Azam University, Islamabad, in summer 2011. Finally, my special thanks and love to my older daughter Fazila Roshan Beg for going through this draft and removing the necessary typos, though after her proofreading, I made again little additions with this write up.
Note: I hope the viewers would appreciate the consistent struggles with honesty and dedication and accomplishments of Engineer Johar Ali. Would request you to give him a big thumbs up in addition to providing your productive and valuable feedback in the comment box of the related youTube Channel. You can get access to his detailed discussion mostly in Wakhi and also some in Urdu on the following link of the EaglesWorld channel here:
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