IN response to this column published on Dec 26, 2004 Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi has written a letter to me. He wants me to put things in perspective as explained by him for the benefit of the readers of this paper, who might have been misled by my piece.

He has corrected me by saying that Yunus Javaid has neither been dismissed nor suspended. He has simply retired. And it was no case of vindictiveness. It was a routine matter.

“My office superintendent,” he writes “informed me in writing that Yunus Javaid Sahib had on October 22, 2004 reached the age of 60, which, as officially recognized, is the age of retirement. So the order for his retirement was given.”

But the Majlis could ignore this rule if its members were engaged in scholarly assignments. Younus Javaid’s predecessor Kalbi Ali Khan Faiq had long crossed the age of retirement and yet went on working for the Majlis. Qasmi is aware of this fact. But he argues that Kalbi Ali Khan Faiq Rampuri was an industrious scholar. He compiled a large number of books and made precious contributions to the published stock of the Majlis. On the other hand, Yunus Javaid has, according to him, only one research work to his credit. Qasmi calls him ‘inefficient’ and ‘a good for nothing’, Nikamma, who’s only interested in the pay cheque he received from the Majlis. “So I made orders for his retirement the day he turned 60. But you think I have done it out of vengeance.”

Qasmi Sahib has also something to say about Yunus Javaid’s promotion to the post of the Majlis’s director. He argues that the constitution and convention of the Majlis do not allow the promotion of any of its officials to the director’s post. Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj, Prof Hameed Ahmad Khan Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi himself had never been officials of the Majlis. For this prestigious post they were all picked on the basis of their contributions to literature.

I think I have faithfully summarized the content of the letter, which pertains to his controversial orders for retirement of Yunus Javaid, avoiding any kind of comment because of my respect for the revered writer.

Now let’s come to Qasmi Sahib’s explanation regarding his position as far as the publication programme of the Majlis is concerned. Let us see what he has to say in this connection.

“As for your suggestion for the revival of the Majlis in accordance with its old standards you yourself have been a member of its board of governors. So you know fully well that for long only a minimal sum of money was annually granted to it. However, in spite of that, I, during my tenure, managed to publish approximately 200 books, which included Dr Jameel Jalibi’s History of Urdu literature and valuable works of such scholars as Hafiz Mahmood Shirani and Maulvi Mohammad Shafi. Now a little more sum of money has been added to our annual grant. So now there appears to be a possibility of making an enhancement in the output of the Majlis.”

Here Qasmi Sahib is right. One major factor responsible for the decrease in the publication programme of the Majlis was the paucity of funds. The minimal grant approved by the provincial authorities hardly allowed the Majlis to pursue its programmes of research and publications the way it had in its earlier periods. But what else could we expect from the kind of governments we have been having in the past? Literature and scholarly studies hardly figured in their lists of priorities. In case they took notice of literature they were seen advancing their own agenda in place of it or in its name. I am reminded here of a meeting of the board of governors where some members were trying to convince the board that Mir and Ghalib were no more relevant to our times. So why waste money on publishing Kulliyat-i-Mir and Ghalib’s Nuskhai-i-Hamidiya. Better publish books dealing with national issues relevant to our times. By ‘relevant to our times’ they meant relevant to the times of General Ziaul Haq.

The Majlis under the directorship of Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi lingered on sticking to the same old programme of research and publishing Urdu classics. With this programme it could hardly expect an increase in its annual grant in those and subsequent times.

It is a matter of satisfaction that Qasmi Sahib has succeeded in getting an increase in the grant. We will soon hear from him the good news of a newly chalked out programme for research and publication.