29/05/2025
My name is Shaheen Kamal. I was born in East Pakistan and spent my early years growing up in this vibrant and diverse city. In 1971, when East Pakistan gained independence and became Bangladesh, we were among the “non-natives” and had to flee the ethnic cleansing. I was displaced amongst the millions of patriotic souls living in East Pakistan.
My family and I moved to Karachi, Pakistan in 1973. I obtained my higher education, earning both an undergraduate and a master's degree and settled into establishing new roots. Eventually, I moved to Calgary in 2007, my home for years now.
Writing is not just a passion for me—it is a necessity. The tragedy of the fall of East Pakistan wounded my heart and mind so deeply that writing became my solace and my cure. That’s how my journey of writing began, and it was then that I truly understood the meaning of "writing with the blood of one's heart." Writing is like "a river of fire, and one must drown to cross it."
My Published Books:
I have had the privilege of sharing my work with my esteemed readers through three books:
1. Khidki (The Window)
"Khidki" is my first book. Through the open window of my heart, I observed the sufferings of ordinary people. I absorbed their pain and scattered it onto the pages. This collection comprises fourteen short stories and was published in 2022 under the banner of Team Moxie.
ISBN: 978-969-23573-3-3
2. Sada Ba-Sehra (A Cry in the Desert)
This collection of short stories carries the heart-wrenching cries of the oppressed, the silent screams of the helpless—echoing through the barren, desensitized desert of our society, where apathy reigns to such an extent that no soul listens. This anthology contains thirty-four stories and was published in 2023.
ISBN: 978-060-23573-7-1
Publisher:
Bazm-e-Takhleeq-e-Adab Pakistan
Post Box No. 17667
Karachi 75300
3. Katha Ujray Diar Ki (The Tale of a Devastated Land)
This is the tale of every displaced soul—whether the trampled citizen of Bosnia, the afflicted people of Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, or the tormented and oppressed inhabitants of my former homeland, East Pakistan.
"Katha" narrates the story of Master Nazir from Mohammadpur School, as well as the harrowing saga of a Karachi University physics professor. It chronicles the sorrowful journey of orphaned Meena, the agony of Islamuddin’s 82-year-old mother, who tends to the graves of Pakistani soldiers in a Bangladeshi cemetery, and the heartrending tale of Kusum, a love-stricken soul burning on the pyre of silence. The book also tells the tragic story of Mehtab, whose destiny was eclipsed by misfortune.
"Katha Ujray Diar Ki" is the elegy of an eleven-year-old girl—Shaheen Kamal—whose life was irrevocably altered at a 180-degree angle due to that historical tragedy.
This book is the grief of every refugee and migrant—for whether migration is of the heart or the land, it is always a source of torment.
Published in: 2023
ISBN: 978-969-7859-30-6
Publisher:
Bazm-e-Takhleeq-e-Adab Pakistan
Post Box No. 17667
Karachi 75300
