THEFTS are committed in the intellectual world, too. In Urdu, such cases were frequent when works of distinguished Western writers took years to reach us. But even then, such cases did not remain undetected. We had among us scholars who relished to play the detective. Now, when the flow of books from the West has accelerated, one doing this kind of venture runs the risk of being detected quickly. Though such cases are now less frequent, they have not stopped. A case of this kind has been reported in the newly-published journal of the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. This educational institution has started a journal under the title Daryaft with the declared intention of promoting research activity. Rashid Amjad happens to be its editor, while the editor-in-chief is the university’s rector, Brig Aziz Ahmad Khan. Among the contributors is Dr Qazi Abid, who plays the role of a detective.
Dr Abid is generous in paying compliments to Dr Mehr Abdul Haq for his achievements in the field of research. Dr Mehr is known to us as a Seraiki scholar. Dr Abid has, in particular, praised him for his research work on the linguistic relations between Urdu and Seraiki.
The work referred to here is Dr Mehr’s book Hindu Sanamiyat, published in 1993 during his lifetime. He presented it as an original work, claiming in his preface to have discussed Hindu mythology in an objective way. In the end, he thanked those who encouraged him for this stupendous work. Arsh Siddiqi, in his introduction to the book, has paid compliments to Dr Mehr on this achievement, which, according to him, is the first original book on Hindu mythology in Urdu.
Dr Abid has dismissed this claim and has revealed to us that in fact it is a faithful translation of W.J. Wilkins’ book Hindu Mythology, along with an addition of a translation of four chapters from A.L. Basham’s book, The Wonder that was India.
To prove his point, Dr Abid has quoted extensively from the two books which show that one is a ditto copy in Urdu of the other which is in English. And Dr Mehr has been so faithful in copying that he has not tried to make any change even in the arrangement of the chapters of the original work. Even the division of the original book in parts has been strictly followed.
But I feel tempted to set aside for a while the case of Dr Mehr and talk about Wilkins’ work. Dr Abid has referred to the first edition of the book published in 1882. I have before me Rupa’s reprint of the second edition of the book, which has in addition a new preface and some added material. The book doesn’t help us much to know about W.J. Wilkins except that he had come to India in the later years of the 19th century. “On reaching India”, he says, “one of my first inquiries was for a full and trustworthy account of the mythology of the Hindus,” which he could not find. Not finding such an account, he himself began collecting material with the intention of compiling it in a systematic way with special reference to gods and goddesses. We know from the first preface that the book was ready for publication in February, 1882, when Wilkins wrote a preface for it.
The book may be taken as an exhaustive account of Hindu gods, goddesses and avatars. It is in three parts, in accordance with the division of the Vedic deities, the Puranic deities and the inferior deities. Thus classified, the gods, goddesses, avatars, and those allied to them have been portrayed strictly in accordance with their portrayals in the Vedas, Puranas and the two great epics. What an absorbing account of these mythological figures! A sensitive reader may find himself under a spell. The temptation of a scholar to make this account his own is understandable. Dr Mehr fell prey to this temptation. It would have been better had he acknowledged his indebtedness to the original work. However, we, on our part, should be thankful to him for transferring a fine research work in Urdu. He has done it in a nice way. Not much of the charm of the original has been lost in the process of transference from English to Urdu.
Coming back to the journal, the present issue is spread over 672 pages. It consists of a number of research articles. I chose two for my reading. One is where Pertau Rohilla has discussed sensibly the religion of Ghalib in the background of the controversy whether he was Shia or Sunni. If Shia, his views were hardly of the kind with which traditional Shias could reconcile.
The other is one from Fateh Mohammad Malik, who tells us about the changing relationship between Allama Iqbal and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. In the early period, they came close to each other as they thought alike. But with the changed thinking on the part of Maulana Azad, they were estranged. But Fateh Mohammad Malik adds that after Partition, the Maulana once again returned to the concept of separate Muslim nationalism. Was it really so?
THEFTS are committed in the intellectual world, too. In Urdu, such cases were frequent when works of distinguished Western writers took years to reach us. But even then, such cases did not remain undetected. We had among us scholars who relished to play the detective. Now, when the flow of books from the West has accelerated, one doing this kind of venture runs the risk of being detected quickly. Though such cases are now less frequent, they have not stopped. A case of this kind has been reported in the newly-published journal of the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. This educational institution has started a journal under the title Daryaft with the declared intention of promoting research activity. Rashid Amjad happens to be its editor, while the editor-in-chief is the university’s rector, Brig Aziz Ahmad Khan. Among the contributors is Dr Qazi Abid, who plays the role of a detective.
