THOUGH the seminar arranged last week by Mashal Books of Lahore was of a purely political nature, I wish those of our writers and their publishers who are fond of holding inaugural ceremonies for books, had been there. Indeed, there was for them much to learn from the way Mashal Books launched its new publication.
The function was meant to be a dialogue under the title, US Attack on Iraq and the Future of Our Region. Noted political analysts, Ahmad Rashid, Khalid Ahmad and Prof Hoodbhoy were there to speak with I.A. Rahman in the chair. No reference to any publication by Mashal was made by any speaker during the discussion. It happened only in the last stages of the discussion that the Mashal director, Masood Ashar, taking cue from a speaker, informed the audience that the problem referred to here had exhaustively been discussed in Mashal’s new publication, Jehad-i-Kashmir Aur Afghanistan, available on the stalls outside the hall.
I think it is a cleverer way of launching a new publication as compared to the commonly-held inaugural ceremonies of literary books, that have now come to be known as Rasm-i-Sehrabandi of writers.
As for the discussion, I am hardly in a position to question the analysis of the situation by the speakers. I can only say that I listened with dismay to their forebodings in respect of Pakistan in the days to come after the Iraq war. However, Khalid Ahmad’s advocacy of pragmatism, as opposed to the idealism of Pakistani people, tempts me to say a few words in addition to what he said. The tussle between the pragmatic approach vis-a-vis the idealistic approach to our problems we see in our time has a history of its own, and that can be traced back to the times of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. He had come out with a pragmatic approach to the problems Indian Muslims were facing in the post-1857 situation. It sent a wave of anger among orthodox clerics. But the fiercest attack came from Jamaluddin Afghani, who regarded Sir Syed as a stumbling bloc in the way of his idealistic programme of pan-Islamism.
But how ironic that the very sons of Sir Syed’s Aligarh found themselves, in later years, under the spell of pan-Islamism, that led them to the Khilafat Movement. It was left to a non-Aligarian, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, to question the validity of the movement and walk out from a meeting held for the purpose. But in times to come, he was destined to lead a movement which drew sustenance from the idealism of Indian Muslims in general and of Muslims belonging to the minority provinces of British India in particular.
This happened on the political front. But what happened on the literary front was also no different. Maulana Hali, inspired by Sir Syed’s pragmatic thinking, made a fervent appeal to the Muslims:
Chalo tum udhar ko jidhar ki hava ho
But Iqbal’s time came and he, with due respect to Sir Syed and Hali, differed with this line of thinking, and making an amendment in a Persian proverb, advised Muslims:
Zamana ba tu nasazad tuba zamana sataiz.
That is, if time is at odds with you, wage a war against it.
However, let me refer here to Ismail Meeruti, whose pragmatic advice is perhaps more appealing than that of Hali:
Jabke doa moozion main ho khatpat
Apne bachne ki fikr kar jhatpat
Ismail Meeruti was fortunate in having escaped the attention of Iqbal for the simple reason that he was writing for children and hence could not be taken seriously.
In later years, Mohammad Hasan Askari attacked Sir Syed and Hali in his own way. Though a great idealist, Iqbal had great regard for both Sir Syed and Hali. But Askari lacked in tolerance and so was not always polite to them. The whole way of thinking of Sir Syed’s school abhorred him. As for Maulana Hali, the very muffler wrapped around his neck annoyed him.
Salim Ahmad, a true disciple of Askari’s, went in his ideological fervour ahead of his guru in his tirade against Sir Syed and his school of thought.
Such has been the fate of pragmatism in our society. In fact, it does not go well with our idealistic temperament. The soft words of Hali, who believed in submitting to what the changed times demanded, could hardly have any appeal for people accustomed to reacting in an emotional way and thinking in idealistic terms. Sir Syed, as a reformer, was held in high esteem, but these emotional beings had no ear for his pragmatic advises.
THOUGH the seminar arranged last week by Mashal Books of Lahore was of a purely political nature, I wish those of our writers and their publishers who are fond of holding inaugural ceremonies for books, had been there. Indeed, there was for them much to learn from the way Mashal Books launched its new publication.
