| 13 October 2004 | Wednesday | 27 Shaban 1425 |
Epoch-making role of Sir Syed remembered
Terrorists strike again
A prominent Ghazal poet, Anwer Shaoor, was the guest at a literary sitting jointly organized in his honour by the Kahkashan Dhaka Group of Institutions and Daera-i-Adab-o-Saqafat. Mr Lutfullah Khan, who is famous for his audio library, presided over the proceedings.
It was pleasing to listen to Anwer Shaoor's ghazals, admired by a big literary gathering. As the papers which were read out on the poet and his works were not much lengthy, Mr Shaoor had ample time to recite as many ghaszals as demanded by his eager fans.
Lutfullah Khan, author of several books, including his biographical account, said though he did not claim to be an authority on literature, but could say with confidence that Shaoor's ghazals were superb for their simplicity and appeal.
Shaoor's command over language and usage of common words was amazing, and by all standards 'Ustadana' (masterly), he added and wished that Shaoor continued to write even more than what he had written so far. Andokhta and Mashq-i-Sukhan are his poetry collections.
Mansoor Multani, a poet and critic, was of the view that Mr Shaoor was a pillar of modern Urdu ghazal, simple yet intriguing, humane and entirely different from his contemporaries. He said that Shaoor did not belong to any particular school of writers and was himself "school".
Broadcaster Iqbal Fareedi, in his paper recalled his meeting with the poet in the company of late Obaidullah Aleem and Prof Mujtaba Hussain, at a college. His essay was quite interesting but he had not much to reveal about the guest poet.
Fatema Hasan read out her article, she had written some years back. It was a good analysis of the person and his poetry, written in a simple but appealing manner. Anwer Shaoor, she said, was her worst critic.
Narrating in plain words all his 'sins', she said yet he was a likable person. Perhaps, Mr Shaoor belonged to Firqa-i-malamatia (The sect of those who indulged in self-negation), she added.
Earlier, Zafar Mohyuddin presented an introductory paper describing the basic qualities of Anwer Shaoor's ghazal. Syed Azfar Rizvi thanked the guests. Javed Manzer conducted the event.
Epoch-making role of Sir Syed remembered
THE Aligarians in Karachi celebrated Sir Syed Day on Saturday. Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, chief justice of the Sindh High Court, presided over the function hosted by the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys' Association.
The speakers who recalled the epoch-making work of Sir Syed in the field of education and in creating social awareness among South Asian Muslims, included Dr Farman Fatehpuri and Gen (retd) Ghulam Umer.
Dr Farman Fatehpuri recounted the services of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who founded the Aligarh college in 1875 and opened schools wherever he went in his official capacity.
In the 19th century Sir Syed was a luminary among his great contemporaries such as Raja Ram Mohan Rai. All praise to Syed, Dr Farman said, who authored the valued historical document like Aasarus Sanadeed, and who founded the citadel of Urdu journalism. His book Aaen-i-Akbari, brought on record the great historical past.
After he failed to unite the Muslims and Hindus, Sir Syed presented the two-nation theory in 1867, thus paving the road to our freedom. Syed gave us Pakistan, Dr Farman said.
We can repay that debt by making the nation stronger. He also recalled Sir Syed's devotion to the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Syed sold his invaluable library to proceed to England and write a book on the 'seerat' to repudiate the Lord Mayor's venomous book on the life of Muhammad (PBUH).
Sir Syed's historic document Asbab-i-Baghavat-i- Hind, which was later translated into English and other languages, ably defended the Muslims and gave them strength to become self-reliant. It was under Sir Syed's shadow that great leaders like Zakir Hussain, Zafar Ali Khan and the Ali Brothers emerged on the national scene, Dr Farman concluded.
Gen (r) Ghulam Umer in his exhaustive paper described the fall of Mughal rule, the decline of the downtrodden Muslim nation and its social and cultural traditions. By founding the Science Society in 1869, Sir Syed launched a literary and intellectual movement. His services for education reforms awakened the Muslims and the two-nation theory created a sense of pride in them, he said.
What was the way out for a depressed Muslim nation treated as second class citizens in India? Gen Umar asked. He said, there were only two options: Wage a war against the enemies, which was not a viable course at that time, or gain empowerment through education and knowledge.
Sir Syed opted for the second and moved to spread education among the Muslims with a missionary zeal against heavy odds. Thus, he showed the way to the entire Muslim world that education was the only source of strength, Gen Umer said.
The sectarian killings and carnage, first in Sialkot and soon thereafter in Multan reminded Z.A. Nizami of the religious norms prevailing at Aligarh Muslim University. There was only one mosque in the campus and no other mosque was allowed to be built there by the grand old man.
Syed was very strict in the observance of namaz and the wards were supposed to offer their prayers there, irrespective of the 'maslak' (cult) they belonged to. The role of the Aligarians in the successful launch of the Pakistan movement was remarkable. There were no sectarian strifes leading to killings and massacre, thanks to Sir Syed's teachings.
Zakir Ali Khan narrated an interesting story of Syed's generous, benevolent and forgiving nature. One evening, after hearing the call for maghrib prayers, as Sir Syed walked towards the mosque he saw some boys playing football in the ground.
The boys too saw him coming and the immediate thing they could think of at that moment was to form rows and stand with folded arms feigning to be offering their 'namaz'. Syed too thought it proper not to go any further for prayers but went and stood at the end of a 'saf' (row).
As the so called prayer leader went into 'sajda', he prolonged his prostration to ensure that Sir Syed by that time had left. Time was bearing heavy on him and also on the other boys, so he called, without raising his head, 'Kiya boorha chala gaya?' (Has the old man gone?) The boys later stood and found the old man amongst them. But, Sir Syed was neither harsh nor angry with the boys and took it lightly as if nothing had happened.
The orthodox and conformist never forgave Syed Ahmad Khan for his radical and enlightened views, calling him Kafir and Christian, but, he was the visionary who built a nation. Sadly, a century later, so-called Islamists have come to divide and disintegrate it.
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Mushaira is a cultural activity whose popularity one hopes will rise with the passage of time. On Sept 25, the youth committee of the Arts Council organized a mushaira for the young poets.
In their invitation card, the organizers claimed that it is by the courtesy of the new generation that one will come to meet the poets like Perveen Shakir, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and Josh Maleehabadi.
"The mushaira was held with the usual fanfare. There were young poets and many others bordering on old age. The problem was how to draw a line between the old and the new generations - the old and the young poets. Poetry cannot be divided into age groups.
It is either fresh and young with new thoughts and ideas or it is just mediocre. When Perveen Shakir and Obaidullah Aleem had appeared at a mushaira for the first time, they stunned the audience with their fresh and genuine poetry. They were young but mature.
As against them, many seasoned elderly poets appear outmoded and immature. Talent in any form of art, particularly in poetry, mostly doesn't need 'hosla afzai' (encouragement). Talented poetry comes with a bang and occupies the seat of honour.
Terrorists strike again
Condemning the assassination of two religious scholars in Karachi, Hilal-i-Pakistan writes that security forces were placed on high alert following the killing of Amjad Farooqi because of an apprehension of a possible reaction.
But terrorists succeeded in exploding a bomb during the Friday congregation in a Sialkot mosque and another at the end of a conference organized by a religious organization in Multan. The massacres were followed by the assassination of two prominent religious scholars in a sensitive area of Karachi.
According to the daily, the provincial authorities have said that Mufti Mohammad Jamil was provided with police guards who were not on duty when he was killed. Sindh Home Minister Rauf Siddiqi says that an inquiry has been launched into the mysterious disappearance of the police guards. In the past also police guards were found missing when high-profile killings took place.
As usual, the government and law-enforcement agencies have said that the perpetuators of the heinous crimes will be arrested soon but in view of their past record, such statements have no credibility.
Despite government's claims that the gruesome incidents were not sectarian in nature, the killing of members of one sect followed by the massacre of people belonging to rival sect has created a sense of insecurity for the general public. The paper calls on the government to work out an effective strategy to prevent such incidents before the situation takes an explosive turn.
Kawish takes up the issue of sugarcane crushing and says that as expected, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has refused to start the season on October 15. This is not the first time that sugar mills owners have refused to abide by the Sindh government's decisions, last year they had started the crushing late.
The mills are in the private sector but they have to follow government regulations regarding sugar and cane prices, and matters relating to export crushing. However, the millers have been consistently ignoring government policies on the cane price and the crushing season, causing huge losses to farmers.
The paper points out that the farmers of Sindh are already facing a critical situation because of problems in the marketing of rice and cotton. Due to lack of government support, they are left at the mercy of market forces which exploit their vulnerability.
It calls on Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim to come to help the growers and take effective measures to meet the challenge posed by the refusal of mill owners to start crushing on time.
Ibrat says that the federal government has increased wheat's support price from Rs350 to Rs400 per 40kg for the next year but farmers of Sindh will not benefit from the decision.
Due to the late crushing of sugarcane, a large number of farmers will not be able to sow wheat on time and those who manage to do so will get low yield because of the acute water shortage the province is facing. The paper calls for a comprehensive package for rehabilitation of the agriculture sector.
Awami Awaz writes that government functionaries have been issuing statements about legislation against honour killing but legislators seem to have failed to forge a consensus.
The daily says it is imperative to enact an effective law to prevent karo kari murders to improve Pakistan's human rights record. The law should declare honour killing an act of intentional murder and prescribe strict punishment not only for the killers of woman but also for those inciting or encouraging such murders.