The Perveen Shakir Trust (PST) has conferred the prestigious Akse Khushboo Award on former BBC journalist and a renowned British broadcaster and author Mishal Hussain for her book ‘Broken Threads.’ The award was presented during a programme ‘Meet the Writer & Award Ceremony’ organised by the PST at the Islamabad Club. High Commissioner of the UK, Jane Marriott was the chief guest at the ceremony while noted speakers including former Information Minister Mushahid Hussain Sayed, former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and Associate Dean at the Lahore School of Economics (LSE) Dr Raja Amir Naseem Khan, Chairperson of the PST Parveen Qadir Agha, General Secretary Raana Seerat, Dr Munazza Yakoob and the author herself spoke briefly on the occasion discussing various chapters, themes and aspects of the book. Eminent fiction writer and life-time member of the PST, Mazharul Islam presented the Akse Khushboo Award 2024 to Mishal Husain in recognition of her painstaking work—writing a 272-page memoir which was in fact initiated by her grandmother Tahirah Butt, who wanted to pay a debt of honour to her husband Shahid Hamid, (an army officer and Mishal’s grandfather) by writing something for him. Tahira could not finish it yet, 30 years later, her granddaughter a BBC journalist undertook the gigantic task and went through various sources—diaries, notes, manuscripts,
letters, interviews and archival papers and put them together into a touching account of the events that were witnessed and experienced by no one else but her own four grandparents: Tahira Butt and Shahid Hamid; Mary Quinn and Mumtaz Husain. ‘Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence’ is a valuable addition to the books on The Raj days, said the speakers while paying rich compliments to Mishal Husain. The UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott praised Mishal for introducing her to a marvellous work combining history with personal narrative, research work as well as the political account of those formative days. However, what impressed her most was the voice of humanity and humility shining through her work. Mushahid Hussain Sayed also complimented Mishal Husain for writing on history of partition seen through the lens of her grandparents. This is a riveting and engaging account that one cannot help reading till the last page, he said.
Source: https://www.nation.com.pk/28-Jan-2025/pst-confers-akse-khushboo-award-on-uk-author-from-a-pak-family-s-line
