| November 26, 2005 | Saturday | Shawwal 23, 1426 |
AJK trip and donor meeting
Winter’s gloomy coming
Such as never before has been this winter’s gloomy coming. The nestling warmth of the November sun does not cheer any heart and the concern for the unsheltered that a passing cloud casts on the sky is as palpable as the fear the slightest jolt gives to the shaken cerebrum. Yet life goes on and writers must go into print and the world should know how they perceive the reality to be shaping up. They don’t possess the electronic immediacy of the visual media and so have the time for the experience to sink in. But some there were with quicker reaction time who had their maudlin verses on the tragic theme and their effusive paeans on national response ready for the show. Like the showbiz crowd that was all over the cable, the instant penmen too remained lined up for their turn. A hurriedly assembled mushaera had all the urgency such press conferences momentarily arouse.
The year 2005 as it approaches its sad end will be remembered for long; it is going to take at least a decade to make up for the material loss of the catastrophe and a generation to cover its cost in human lives. On the massive scale of the devastation the passing of eminent individuals like Dr Aftab Ahmad, Shanul Haq Haqqi, and recently of Amrita Pritum et al makes small news while several literary events and achievements have suffered visibility loss in the dust and debris.
In the capital hugging the epicentre and close to the fallen Margalla apartment complex there’s another highrise which houses eminences like the suave and elegant Iftikhar Arif and that redoubtable femme fatale, Kishwar Naheed. The building has largely been abandoned by the inmates. Few intrepid souls still occupy it, and fewer enjoy their living days there. Among the last is Kishwar Naheed who couldn’t care less. She didn’t experience the killing shaker as she was in the air flying to some destination on her endless itinerary but she was the first to return to take care of the quake victims in the camps and of the cracks her lodging had developed and the only inmate of that building who invited friends over to regale the murky ambience and put some cement of certainty in the dubious plinth. Some of us faint-hearted turned up only to reassure ourselves of our faith in predestination. Others took the repast hurriedly and made a quick exit.
Not easily subdued by the threats of retribution that were said to befall the neighbourhood, she gathered another company to honour a visiting poet from the States, Mr Iftikhar Nasim whose claim to fame could very well rest on his Urdu and English poetry for its political and social awareness as well as its rugged sensuality and robust humanity, but he enjoys titillating the conservative sensibility by his unabashed avowal of being a gay and wants that personal trait to underline his creative output and his espousal of human rights. Sporting that evening a diamond-studded collar piece and a fancy bejewelled waist band holding his rotund girth in one piece, he read choice pieces from his Urdu and English verse to our warm applause. His poem on the host that he said some people have described as being critical of the lady did sound intriguing in the concluding line that appeals for her sympathy alluding to some kind of commonality between them. The man possesses a disarming innocence that is at once engaging and seductively convivial. Myrmecophile is the title of his selected poems, some explicitly gay, that even Khushvant Singh will not quote, others anecdotal, dramatic, intimate. But more about his work some other time. Settled in Chicago, he is co-founder of Sangat, a South Asian transgender club that supports and espouses Lesbian and Gay rights. He was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1996 and is the president of the South Asian Performing Arts Council of America.
In the capital much that marks the literary scene remains centred on the activities of the Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority, the Muqtadera to be correct. The former provides space for literary discussion, book launchings and poetry readings. Its substantial publications also continue to appear regularly and provide a widely available avenue to writers to take their work to what now remains of the reading public. Iftikhar Arif is an efficient manager, a smokeless engine that keeps chugging and gives no respite to the bogeys and trolleys trailing him. In the last couple of months alone the Academy has published two books on Baluchi literature — on poetry by Wahid Buzdar and on language and literature by Ghous Bakhsh Sabir. Besides the quarterly Adbiyat a fine selection of prose compiled by Dr Salim Akhtar is worthy of special mention. And soon to be out is another prodigious anthology in English translation edited by Yasmeen Hameed and Asif Farrukhi.
The Muqtadera which is not as much socially visible has been amassing a body of serious work on the national language. Its Akhbar-i-Urdu has become an effective and forceful organ of national ethos that in a more intellectually alive and socially responsive ambience could have resulted in national ferment and compelled authorities to restore to the national language its constitutional status. Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik is a committed and fearless campaigner for the objectives of his organization. He has led the Muqtadera to become an authoritative voice, if only there were listeners. Two very authentic books that it has published and that the Ba Ba Black Sheep choir must read are Mohammad Islam Nishtar’s Qaumi Zindagi Mein Qaumi Zaban Ka Muquam and Dr Syed Abdullah’s Tehrik-i-Nafaze Urdu. In the book compiled by Nishtar, among other national languages the account of the resurrection of Ibrani, virtually a dead language at the time of Israel’s creation, as the state vernacular, is a moving story.
A mysterious quiet prevails over the Pakistan National Council of Arts since Changez Sultan’s departure when fortnightly it used to present writers, intellectuals and artistes to unload the burden of their thought on the good people of Islamabad who have free evenings every day of the month.
AJK trip and donor meeting
ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s visit to quake-affected areas last week turned out to be quite an experience for the media team covering it. Being part of the team and not having been exposed much to the ways of the armed Forces, one got a rare peep into it. Since the ISPR was conducting the entire tour with Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan leading from the front, journalists, both Pakistani and foreign, had a good taste of the army’s “command and control” jargon.
While there was much talk of commendable civilian-military team-work there were obvious gaps between the army and UN officials managing the media corps. One set of instructions came from the UN managers and another from the ISPR. One in Urdu and the other in English, leaving journalists both bemused and confused.
As media personnel got down from the Army MI-17 helicopter at Muzaffarabad helipad amid deafening noise and thick clouds of dust, an army officer shouted to other: “Take charge, please keep them under control.” “Yes sir,” full-throated response from the other. Journalists were then made to march down to a huge tent in the premises of the quake-scarred AJK PM’s secretariat. A young army officer who had perhaps been thinking too much of the occupied territories said in a raised voice: OK, now all of you occupy these seats. Even the two women journalists were addressed as sir!
The media team was pleasantly surprised when asked by the Kashmir PM secretariat to board the famous yellow-green striped luxury coaches designated for Muzaffarabad-Srinagar service. However, the destination was not Srinagar but the Thuri Park tent village, about 20 minutes drive from the secretariat. One of these coaches had made history in April this year when it rolled up to Chokothi. Since the devastating October 8 earthquake that damaged the landmark “peace bridge” and roads on both sides of the LoC, these buses have fallen out of use.
All along the way one could notice a large presence of army personnel. It was like driving through a heavily militarised zone, but this military presence had brought relief and assistance.
On arrival at the tent village, on the banks of River Neelum in the shadow of towering Himalayas, another army officer briefed the media on the VIP movements and the prescribed limits for it. Informing the team about the point where the media interaction would take place he announced: A boxing ring has been erected for the president and the UN secretary general and their respective wives, not for them to fight, but so that they can keep away from you all!
Commandos were in full force and muscle to keep the VIPS at a safe distance from the journalists. Infiltrators like this correspondent were given a heavy dose!
Amid all this, there was a PTV team for a live telecast of the VVIP visit. It created unnecessary commotion with the cameras and crew moving back and forth. The anchorperson kept moving in all directions, giving a running commentary, most of the time stating the obvious. The noise made it difficult even for the secretary-general and his wife to listen to an outdoor briefing given by the UN coordinator as the anchor would repeat every word uttered. A couple of times Mr Annan also looked at the camera and the host as if wondering what on earth was going on. At one point, the president looked at the PTV anchor person and asked: So you are from Geo?” Almost dampening the spirit of the PTV man. The visibly disappointed anchorperson promptly replied: “No Sir, from PTV.”
The president wore a blue shirt, signifying the UN colour, whether by coincidence or by design.
Thuri Park Camp is an impressive self-contained tent village where the noise of helicopters remains the most welcoming and comforting sound for its managers. The tent village has electricity, toilets, a playground, a hospital, a school and a water treatment plant donated by France. Currently, it has 285 tents and shelters around 1,500 people. It was set up about two weeks before Eidul Fitr on the initiative of Al Mustafa Welfare Society in collaboration with Human Relief Foundation, UK, UNHCR, Oxfam, Unicef and Caritas. The president had visited this camp on Eid as well.
The UN Coordinator at the camp cautioned Mr Annan that more help would be required from the UN for people who were soon expected to come down from the mountain. Concern about the danger of an epidemic and health of those still stuck in the mountains was also expressed.
DONOR MEETING: While there is much talk about who ought to be credited for the success of last week’s International Donors’ Conference and an attempt made to project it in a particular light, the fact is that a number of factors were behind this success. It would be unfair to pin on any single state, entity or individual.
The recognition by the international community of the magnitude of the disaster and the role of national and international media in highlighting the scale of devastation were instrumental. Also, proactive diplomacy at various levels, from Foreign Office to foreign missions to the top leadership, deserves credit. Apparently, President Musharraf personally telephoned several important world leaders ahead of the conference, urging them to nudge the international community to respond generously. According to an insider, President Musharraf worked till very late hours on his keynote address. He started at it 7.30 pm on the eve of the conference and finalised it at 3.30 am!
The United States and UN played a major role, a fact that is acknowledged by many in the foreign policy circles. Added to these factors is the key role played by the cash-strapped Pakistan as a frontline state in the global war against terrorism — a war that is acknowledged by its proponents to have made Pakistan vulnerable to attack. Some heads of the delegations in fact did link the success of the conference to the key role Pakistan was playing in promoting regional peace and security.
The pledges that the conference managed to mobilise surprised many, given that it was held less than a month after the UN donor conference in Geneva.
The most heart-warming aspect, however, was not just the number of countries participating and the amount pledged, but the expression of support and solidarity for Pakistan in these testing global times. Even countries with serious financial constraints such as Afghanistan came forward. Even Indonesia that itself has not recovered from the tsunami disaster was there.
It was indeed a victory of compassion, good sense, solidarity and collective endeavour. And clearly the winners at the end of the day are the hapless victims of the worst-ever earthquake to hit the country.