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Jimmy Engineer to Hold Peace Walk

 

"Jimmy Engineer is perhaps the only painter in Pakistan to have made the partition of sub-continent and the subsequent savagery perpetrated by fanatics on both sides of the border an abiding subject of his life-size paintings."

 

Renowned artist, Jimmy Engineer, on November 30, started peace walk from Rawalpindi to Islamabad and on to New Delhi via Lahore and Amritsar, as per Dawn in Karachi.

 

"The aim of this walk is to realise masses the importance of peace," he said. He said the walk was for spiritual reason and not for any political purposes. Jimmy said the walk would be completed in one month and during this time he would walk about 20-30 km a day.

 

A small van slowly drives along the walking painter to allow him a rest whenever he feels like it.

On his way, he will talk to people in villages and towns and get feedback from them. Asked why did he choose India and not any other country, Jimmy said, "Our interests clash with India and not with other countries. Jimmy said that he had written a letter to President Pervez Musharraf seeking permission to go to India in continuation with peace efforts made by the Chief Executive himself.

 

About the visa formalities, he said he had assurances of his sponsors in New Delhi that he would have no problems. However, walking in the Indian Punjab could be a problem that may force him to take a symbolic walk in the Indian capital instead, he added.

While announcing his decision to undertake the peace walk last Thursday, Mr Engineer had distributed copies of a book entitled, "Partition: A Surgery Without Anesthesia", among reporters.

The book contains 14 eyewitness accounts of the partition narrated by people like Indian writer Khushwant Singh, painter Satish Gujral, former federal secretary Dr M. S. Jillani and former chief minister of Delhi Madan Lal Khurana.

The articles narrate not only the cruelty perpetrated on both sides of the border but also the kindness displayed by some individuals in saving the lives and honour of the entrapped women and girls of different faiths. The book has been published by Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).

 

Jimmy has held a number of walks for various humanitarian and social causes. The longest one was from Karachi to Peshawar during which he raised funds for a hospital project.

 

He has painted a variety of themes in his paintings, His major works include landscape, still-life, cultural and religious paintings, seascapes, calligraphy as well as miniatures, abstract and other paintings. Over the years, he has painted more than 3000 original paintings as well as over 2000 calligraphic paintings.

 

His paintings are displayed in Parliament House, National Museum of Pakistan and several other government buildings. From 1978 to 2001, he has held more than 40 exhibitions of his paintings in Pakistan and abroad.

 

Mr Engineer is perhaps the only painter in Pakistan to have made the partition of sub-continent and the subsequent savagery perpetrated by fanatics on both sides of the border an abiding subject of his life-size paintings.