A beautifully told story

READING the loosely written English of today and listening to the atrocious pronunciation of those professing to speak it, one is aghast when someone appears from somewhere to speak English as it should be spoken. And, naturally, when a person knows how to speak English, he also knows how to write it. And the person who totally swept me off my feet when I heard him for the first time, was not a ‘he’ but a ‘she’. That ‘she’ happened to be Shehla Asif of the Chandbagh School, who had come last Tuesday to participate in the trilingual readings session of the Lahore Arts Forum (LEAF) arranged every month by Muzaffar Ghaffar.

This young lady presented a beautiful short story and read it out even more beautifully. The story was a satire on the prevailing cultural patterns in the country with everyone eager to imitate the West. She had appropriately given it the heading, Land of the Pure. It is about the experiences of a young Pakistani girl who visits her homeland after having lived in the United States for years. Considering her to be accustomed to advances by young men, she was exasperated when some of her own people tried to be too friendly. She even had to slap someone who barged into her room late at night and refused to get out. What shocked her the most was the way she saw Pakistanis celebrating their independence day —- riding silencerless motorcycles, listening to Indian music, and even trampling upon the national flag, some also bearing the picture of the Father of the Nation. In short, Shehla Asif’s story was a wonderful exposition about the identity crisis in Pakistan.

The poet and former director of the Pakistan National Centre, Aizaz Ahmed Azar, who was also an invitee of the LEAF that evening, was the last to be called to the mike. He started by paying a compliment to Shehla Asif for her story but added that he honestly felt that the programme of the evening should have been brought to an end after she had finished reading her story so that its impact could linger on.

To handle the arts capsule, Muzaffar Ghaffar had invited Islam Shah, the former director of programmes of Radio Pakistan. A poet, he is also an authority on music. That evening he confined himself to the folk music of the Punjab and read out a detailed paper on the topic. He also displayed some charts bearing the pictures of many folk singers together with brief notes about them. He gave a complete list of the books written in English, Urdu and Punjabi about the folk music of the province.

The Islamabad-based poet of Punjabi, Sarwat Mohyuddin, was also one of the participants in the programme. She had come accompanied by Shaikh Sharif Sabir who is well known for his research in many fields of Punjabi literature. Sarwat considers him to be her ‘ustad’. She read some of her unpublished poems which were well received.

In the end, Azar, being a bilingual poet, presented both his Urdu and Punjabi verses. He started with a ‘naat’:

Mujhey husn-i-talab dey dey mujhey harf-i-maani dey

Merey abr-i-karam sukhi hui dharti ko paani dey

HASAN Rizvi was a popular literary figure of the city. He made his mark as a poet, journalist and compere. Author of 18 books, he was head of the Urdu Department, FC College when he died at a young age. Soon after his death, a Dr Hasan Rizvi Memorial Society was formed by his admirers. It was under its auspices that Hasan’s unpublished devotional poetry was collected and published under the title, Aqeedatein. The book was launched at a local hotel with Syed Wahidul Hasan Hashmi in the chair. The function was conducted by Dr Syed Shabihul Hasan Hashmi. Speakers on the occasion paid tribute to Hasan Rizvi’s qualities of head and heart. These included Dr Salim Akhtar, Dr Tariq Aziz, and Prof Abdul Karim Khalid. Those paying tribute to him in verse were Syeda Tauqir Naqvi, Hashmat Ali Qanbar, Muzaffar Naqvi, Musa Nizami Kaleem and others.

I RECENTLY received a copy of Pakistan Vision, a magazine produced biannually by the Pakistan Study Centre of the University of the Punjab. Its print line shows Prof Dr Massarat Abid as its editor-in-chief, Prof Dr S Qalb-i-Abid as the literary editor and Syed Karim Haider as a sub-editor. While the first two, I believe, are from the university’s department of history, the sub-editor happens to be a research assistant at the Pakistan Study Centre. The magazine, as clearly indicated in the beginning, provides a forum for discussion on issues and problems primarily relating to Pakistan.

The opening article in the issue by Kausar Parveen is of special interest to everyone as it discusses at length the pros and cons of Article 58(2B) of the Eighth Amendment. The writer proves that instead of creating a balance of power between the president and the prime minister and providing stability to the political system it only went to weaken it.

Other articles in the issue are also of general interest. In one, Ahmed Ejaz, a PhD student in the political science department brilliantly brings out how the BJP is breeding communalism in our neighbouring country. — ASHFAQUE NAQVI

The state should think like its people

OUTMODED terms, such as bitterness and resentment are slowly reaching their end in defining relations between Indian and Pakistan. The key word now is, ‘people-to-people’ contact. After a fitful period of two years of name-calling, the two countries are faced with the most powerful force of all, the peoples of India and Pakistan.

Mr I A Rahman, a leading columnist and activist, showing optimism towards the latest expression enunciated in the people-to-people contact between the two countries, believes in the strength of public opinion to change the two governments’ mindset. “Since we are dealing with a problem that has accumulated over five decades, it is not possible for the governments to yield to public opinion over a short run. The resistance and attempts to manipulate public opinion will continue for some time. But if the public continues to maintain pressure, it will surely produce results,” comments Mr I A Rahman.

For far too long now, the two governments have been sitting tightly in impenetrable compartments to offer any hope of a possible detente. People have suffered on both sides, becoming exceedingly weary of this who-will-be-the-first-to-blink syndrome. People generally believe that governments are not answerable to public opinion and are neither likely to be influenced by it. “They also believe that the governments are more amenable to the pressure of external powers than their own people. Some of them might feel that all these efforts made by journalists or parliamentarians, in the name of people-to-people contact are futile”, he says.

Defending the impact of this latest strategy in easing tension between the two neighbours, Mr Rahman does not believe it to be a futile exercise. “My viewpoint is that there is a state view and there is public opinion. No government can afford to maintain or allow a wide gap between its view and the public’s view of things. Governments go all out to make sure that the people’s thoughts should align with how the state thinks. Instead of adjusting state policies to the people’s wishes, it tries to influence them. It has done little else than to enhance the people’s fatigue of confrontation on both sides of the border,” he continues.

Comparing the political situation in India and Pakistan, he thinks that the domestic crisis in the latter is severe. Unemployment, poverty and lawlessness are felt on a wider scale here than in India. Recent developments in India, such as an increase in its growth rate and the infusion of external money have, to an extent, diverted the people’s attention. And, also the logic of being the superior power has lessened the danger of confrontation for the people of India. “Whereas in Pakistan, the message that it can’t force India through military means is now shared by everyone. I personally believe that the people are a little ahead of the governments in pursuing peace.”

Not discounting the strong nationalistic feelings in both the countries and political statements given by parliamentarians of their being restricted by party discipline, Mr Rahman admits the media has not necessarily been helpful in easing tension. “The media people don’t want to stick their neck out for fear of a nationalist backlash. This kind of sitting on the fence will continue for some time. They are afraid to take the lead role and always take their cue from political parties and public opinion. If public opinion, unaided by parliamentarians and the media, moves further in the direction of peace, the two will change course.”

It is the needlessness of farcical myths, circulating in the two countries, which need to be demolished, asserts Mr Rahman. “We hold both the governments responsible for maintaining those false myths so that the people are not able to communicate with each other. We are not asking anybody to do anything. All that we want is for the people to meet so that they can get overcome their myths and prejudices,” reasons Mr I A Rahman. — Shehar Bano Khan