| April 6, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 3, 1424 |
A short-story writer I like
Killing of little boys goes largely unnoticed: SOCIAL THEMES
KARACHI, April 5: Pakistan restored some pride by winning the Azlan Shah hockey title in Malaysia — an achievement which must not let complacency creep into the squad or the officials.
FOR three consecutive days in Karachi there were disturbing stories of three little boys having lost their lives in unusual ways that also reflect the sorry state of affairs in this society, and of how properly we live.
The victory in Ipoh has come as a fresh breeze in the atmosphere choked by years of frustration and humiliation on the turf. It is after three years that Pakistan have managed to win a title — the last they won was also the same contest in 2000.
While the success must be appreciated, it should not be considered and celebrated like Pakistan have won the World Cup or the Olympic title. It was just a battle Pakistan won, while there are wars to be fought later.
A more cautious approach, better training and planning are needed to cope with future challenges. If officials feel sides like Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, would be pushovers in the forthcoming events, they are sadly mistaken.
Azlan Shah was an invitational event and boastful statements after winning it would do more harm than the good. The officials should not forget the real task ahead — the Amstelveen Champions Trophy — amid the din of jubilations.
It was neither a major nor a tough tournament, especially if one compares it with the Champions Trophy, the World Cup or the Olympic Games. The fact that it was participated by world champions Germany, Asian Games champions South Korea does not make it a “major” or a “tough” tournament.
It’s hard to digest coach Shahnaz Sheikh’s claims the contest was tough given the fact the oppositions had young and inexperienced players. Merely words like world and Asian champions do not help the sides to win, but quality and experience of the players count on the field.
Almost all the outfits, which are going through rebuilding phase, had several new and young faces among their ranks. Even if one takes Shahnaz’s statement into consideration, South Korea had six new players, Malaysia five and Germans three.
Pakistan had no fewer than eight Olympians and some 12 players who had played the World Cup, making the team perhaps the most experienced side of the tournament.
Germany were the pre-tournament favourites because of being the world and defending champions. But Pakistan were the joint-favourites because they mostly had seasoned players.
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) claim of having inducted four new caps is an eyewash. Either the PHF and team management want the create an impression they have started infusing fresh blood in bulk or they are unaware of the facts.
The truth is Shakeel Abbasi, Adnan Maqsood and Mohammad Aqeel made their debut, while Imran Rasool was not a newcomer as claimed by the PHF. How a player who had already toured Amstelveen where the team played Champions Trophy in 2001, could be said a fresh face?
The three youngsters were drafted chiefly because of non- availability of former captain Mohammad Sarwar and midfielder Ghazanfar Ali. Zeeshan Ashraf was the only player axed and replaced by Ali Raza.
Inconsistency, which plagues the side since long, is still a cause of concern. The team hammers its opponents one day and collapses the other.
Pakistan opened up with a huge 6-1 win over New Zealand, went down fighting Germany 4-3, beat Malaysia 3-1 and then were given a scare by the South Koreans before 1-0 win.
It is amazing why Pakistan buckled against the Germans in the league match after an overwhelming victory over the Kiwis. The team recovered to rout the Malaysians, but again were seen struggling against plucky South Korea, who could be said the most inexperienced and youthful side of the tournament.
Finally, Pakistan managed to the maintain their slim 1-0 lead till the end to beat Germany in the final and win the cup. But for the Germans, it was a training exercise before the war.
The kind of show put up by Pakistan indicates the team is capable of gaining success against weaker outfits, but crumbles when it faces the Germans, the Dutch and the Australians.
The reason is simple. The team has the will and spirit to perform well. What it needs is motivation, training on professional lines, younger but experienced players. The complexion of the whole scenario could have been changed had the PHF injected fresh blood into the squad after the 2002 World Cup debacle.
Barring Shabbir Hussain and Kashif Jawwad, who were menacing the oppositions defences, remaining forwards lacked firepower and cohesion, while the right wing seemed to be paralysed in most of the matches.
How important for Pakistan it is to activate their right flank could be judged by the fact that it was a move from the right that saw Shabbir applying the final touch against the Germans in the final.
The fact that number one goalkeeper Ahmad Alam was not fielded against the Germans in the league game is a mystery. If stand-in custodian Mohammad Qasim had a good record against the Germans, why Ahmad stood under the bar in the final?
Another huge alarm was how the Germans nullified penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas in the final. South Korea did the same against Sohail at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the crunch match which they won.
Giving all the credit to German goalkeeper does not solve the problem. Sohail’s failure against Germany needs to be investigated.
However, Shahnaz did what he had vowed by winning the Azlan Shah Cup. One hopes he will not promise to repeat the performance his side gave in 2000 Champions Trophy — the year when Pakistan were relegated from the prestigious event for the first time in history.
JUST as Azhar Javed, editor of the 40-year old literary monthly, Takhleeq, has introduced and promoted many new writers in modern Urdu Literature, so, it seems, the chief editor of Alhamra is following suit. Shahid Ali Khan, son of the renowned Maulana Hamid Ali Khan, could only revive the publication of his late father’s magazine after retiring from a senior position in a bank. The first issue under his editorship appeared in January, 2001. Soon after Khalid Fateh Muhammad started appearing in it as a poet. But soon as the contributor met his editor he was advised by him to try his hand at writing short stories. It seems he was only waiting for such an advice as today we find him the proud owner of a collection of short stories entitled, Dagh Dagh Ujala, published by Aim Publications of Gujranwala.
Fiction has occupied an important niche in the literature of every language. Urdu also has a rich tradition of fiction writing, almost as old as the language itself. Although novel writing started much earlier, it was only at the beginning of the last century that the short story appeared on the scene.
It was mainly because the industrialized society of the time left little time to people for lengthy readings. With the passage of time, the short story underwent many changes, and kept adapting new themes and modes. During the 1960s and 70s, social injustices and economic suppressions were highlighted. Later, mostly under western influence, the writers experimented with changes in the technique of writing. As such, the short story passed through several phases of symbolism, obstructionism, impressionism and realism. However, the writers gradually started paying more attention to the essential element of an afsana —- the story. The present trend is to present a story in the form of a story and not to overawe the reader with obstructionism.
The best about Khalid Fateh Muhammad’s stories is that he has adopted the descriptive style in his stories. On top of it, he also has the knack of making them readable. Since he keeps the reader guessing about how the story would end, he is forced to keep his eyes glued to the text till the last word.
I have always maintained that a short story should be short and not allowed to develop into a novelette. Khalid Fateh Muhammad’s stories are, therefore, to my liking as they do not cover pages unnecessarily. Moreover, there is an individuality in his writings as he gives an artistic treatment to his themes. His description of the surroundings takes one to the locale and makes him feel that he was there himself. In addition, his characterization speaks of his deep observation. I cannot end this piece without paying a tribute to his perception of the human psyche. It is amply evident in his short story, Khalish, which is included in the book.
It goes without saying that Khalid Fateh Muhammad has attained exceptional maturity as a short story writer in a brief period. Although the credit for this mainly goes to him, one cannot but compliment Shahid Ali Khan for converting a so-so poet into a good prose writer.
Foreword to the book has been written by the prominent short story writer and novelist, Azra Asghar, who also edits the monthly literary journal, Tajdeed-i-Nau. She has ably discussed all the ten stories in the collection.
BAHRAIN has a large number of Pakistanis. Although we hear about literary activities in other parts of the Gulf, and many parts of the Middle East, not much is heard about such activities taking place in Bahrain. The eminent ghazal poet, Murtaza Barlas, who has just returned after attending a mushaira there told me about it. He says that one prominent Pakistani, Afzal Najeeb, who had been living there for years, used to sponsor literary activities. Unfortunately, he fell prey to cancer and passed away last year. As a such, other Pakistanis arranged a mushaira in his memory and asked him over. Other invitees from Pakistan were Ahmed Faraz, Amjad Islam Amjad and Ataul Haq Qasmi.
Murtaza Barlas availed the opportunity of being in Bahrain by making a trip to nearby Abu Dhabi where his daughter is living. He spent two weeks with her but was soon ‘discovered’. The result was that he had to recite his verses at different locations. — ASHFAQUE NAQVI
Take the first story on March 29th in Dawn when it was reported that “Boy assaulted by policemen commits suicide.” The boy was 12 years old. The next day, 30th March, there was a story which said that “teenager commits suicide.” The boy was 15. And then on March 31st came the story that “kidnapped 4-year-old boy killed.” Fear, sorrow, lament, soul-searching.
Do these stories depress? How much? Do they make you wonder about the children in this city, in a large city where children are also targeted by advertisers for all their marketing and sales strategies? Ironic indeed.
The first story reported that “a 12-year-old boy committed self-immolation in Shah Faisal Colony late Thursday night after he was sodomized by two policemen the same night.” Shocking.
It is so depressing to reproduce the details, but only to reflect the situation here are some of them. The boy, Mohammed Owais, an apprentice at a tailoring shop, was returning home in Shah Faisal Colony, when he was stopped by two policemen at the Colony Gate police kiosk. The policemen subjected the boy to physical search and then took him to a solitary spot for their disgusting crime.
The boy’s family disclosed that when he returned home, he went to the kitchen, doused himself with kerosene and set himself on fire. Even in that injured state (70 per cent burns) he told his older brother of his ordeal, as he was being taken to Civil Hospital.
It is a story that raises questions and anger what sort of a cruel world are we creating for the young of today? What is the kind of the police that we have? What has happened to all that talk of police reform and all that rhetoric that children are the future of tomorrow? Do we really mean it? Does any one truly care?
At Owais’s funeral there was “tension in Shah Faisal Colony,” as people were enraged and they pelted the area police station with stones but were told that the two cops were posted at Airport police station.
So many questions come to the uneasy mind. Why did those two cops misbehave with the 12-year-old boy? Was this their first crime? And what is the impact of these incidents on the image of the police? Are the police truly concerned about this point? Can they even do anything about it? What about the police’s honour? Trust?
Of the many questions that come to the mind, one of them relates to a very obvious one: how much can the common man trust the police in the light of such terrifying incidents, that further dent the police’s image? For all the focus that there has been given to the much-discussed public-police relationship, there are more questions that need to be raised. Would an average Karachiite feel comfortable going to a police station? Would an average family ever feel comfortable, respectable going to a police station?
Or look at it in another way? Would a Pakistani family feel comfortable if policemen were to visit them for or as part of the investigation process in a given crime? Little wonder why there is this familiar reluctance to report crime, or even agree to be a witness.
In the case of 12-year-old Owais there is something absolutely fearful that has been disclosed in Dawn on April 1, 2003. That “Faisal Colony gate maniac cops favourite haunt,” and that “those living in the area say such incidents, though unreported, have occurred in the past as well. They believe that it is Owais’s suicide that has brought the problem to the fore.” And the inquiry officer in the case is reported to have said that the two policemen who were under arrest had a past record that spoke for itself. Relevant to mention that the Sindh Home Minister, Syed Sardar Ahmed, has ordered an inquiry into the incident and condemned it as well.
There has not been much of a comment or condemnation from the many organizations that work for children’s causes, however the United Human Rights Council of Pakistan staged a protest demonstration against the criminal assault of the boy and his consequent suicide.
There is indeed much to mourn in this incident, not only the state of the police, and the fear they would create in the minds of ordinary people, especially women and children, but also that the 12-year-old boy was working at a tailoring shop instead of going to school. Yet another instance of child labour, that is a permanent scar on the face of this society. There is nothing that can be done to fight the problem? asks an agitated citizen. In addition to the police-public dimension to this shameful incident, there is another aspect that is reflected well in an editorial comment that appeared in a local daily. Called “ugly face of police” it was stated that “there is an urgent need to educate people by public awareness campaigns to stop making the public feel guilty, and to provide them support through social welfare organizations to be able to talk, confined and heal the torment ... (most crimes against women and children go unreported). All of this has to be backed by severe and exemplary punishment of the two policemen who committed this heinous crime.”
And why did that teenager commit suicide in the Federal B Area? in this case 15-year-old Faizaan Naseem hanged himself from a ceiling fan in his home in Joharabad.
The boy had been scolded by his family, over some personal matter. One thoughtful citizen expressed the opinion that this once again indicated the point that parents were unable to understand fully the psychology of the young in these dramatically changing times. He argued that this was one reason why the youth appeared so undisciplined, so unmanageable. Both parents and teachers were unable to reach out to the young, and deal with their demands.
And four-year-old Tauqeer was kidnapped and killed? In this case a jobless man kidnapped the boy, and demanded ransom from his family; and strangled him to death when his plans failed to materialize. The police had sought help from the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).
Which reminds one that only very recently CPLC chief Jamil Yusuf was removed unceremoniously; and Dawn’s editorial observed that “the news that Mr Jamil has been removed as chief of the CPLC, Karachi, is as surprising as it is painful. During the last 14 years, he had made a remarkable success of police-citizen cooperation, an idea which had many skeptics.” Those skeptics are still there.
Let’s end here with the hope that the good work that the CPLC has done will continue despite the exit.
That incidents like that of Owais’s death bring out the need for police- public trust (still so elusive). And the death of three little boys demonstrates how weak and vulnerable our children can be, here.