IT was, perhaps, for the first time after partition of the subcontinent that some distinguished writers from Pakistan and India, assisted by scholars of Urdu from England, Russia and Germany, gathered under one roof and seriously pondered over the challenges that Urdu is faced with.
The event I’m referring to was organized by some Urdu lovers in Islamabad. Most active among them was that adventurous soul we know as Kishwar Naheed. But one speaker who spoke at the concluding session proved right in saying that the event turned out to be a memorable one just because some individuals, other than the writers, took upon themselves to make it a success. The leading figure among such individuals was Chairman CDA Lashari, who has earned the reputation of a bureaucrat with a passion to make sure that the city under his administration is beautiful and culturally alive. The other person was Talat Azeem, Executive Director of Grapevine, who appears to have devoted herself, at least for the time being, to the cause of Urdu.
This was how the International Urdu Conference was recently held. The conference can be summed up as a journey into the past and present of Urdu language.
It all began with the arrival of the Muslims in India. And it was not martial spirit alone which made them undertake this adventure. Long before the warriors invaded India, Muslim traders had landed in the southern part of the land. In addition to the goods that they wished to trade, they had brought with them a new faith. With that started a process of acculturation, which led to the emergence of reformation movements in Hindu society. The Bhakti movement too, which clearly spoke of a new thought-process and a new sensibility under these influences, had taken a start in the south. It travelled from the south to the northern region of the land where it flourished.
But in northern India, a process of acculturation had already begun and a new culture, expressive of an assimilation of the alien with the local, slowly emerged. Deeply linked with it was a similar process emerging on the linguistic plane, leading to the birth of a new language, which in its initial stage was called Hindvi, but finally came to be known as Urdu.
Amir Khusrau, with his versatile genius, may be seen as a personification of this grand cultural phenomenon in South Asia. An entire evening at the conference was reserved to pay a tribute to that great soul. It was paid in the language of dance and in the form of a geet believed to be written by him. Nighat Chaudhri and her troupe were there to enact the musical piece in the form of a meaningful dance drama. The chief figure among those who spoke on the origin and development of Urdu was Dr Gopi Chand Narang. He observed that since ancient times “India has been a jungle of languages”. And he traced in his scholarly way how from these languages (and through an interaction with some new languages like Arabic, Persian, and Turkish) a new linguistic form cropped up, which later became Urdu. His analysis was convincing. But that was the past of the language. One could notice differences of opinion the moment the discussion on modern times commenced.
Women writers appeared to be in the mood for stirring up controversies. In fact, they now have a cause to fight for. And in their zeal for their cause, they smell male chauvinism even in places where there is none. Poor Shameem Hanafi found himself in trouble in spite of having a soft corner for women’s cause. The article that he read out at one of the sessions was devoted to feminine literature and clearly spoke of his sympathies for women in literature. But Fahmida Riaz, in her zeal for the cause, drew her own conclusions from the article and vehemently attacked him. Zahida Hina also did not lag behind in demonstrating her passion for the noble cause. We were wonderstruck to hear from her that Ismat Chughtai had not been able to earn recognition from men till the time when she was prosecuted for her stories.
But what perturbed the poets was the session reserved for discussing Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz as the three top-level poets of Urdu. However, the situation that resulted from the discussion would require another column to be elaborated upon. So, I keep it for the next week.
But let me, in the end, talk a little about a fashion show arranged by the organizers of the conference. The show was a depiction of changing fashions with regard to male and female dresses during different centuries of the Indo-Muslim culture. An attempt was made to find a link between these fashion trends and different developments in Urdu poetry.
IT was, perhaps, for the first time after partition of the subcontinent that some distinguished writers from Pakistan and India, assisted by scholars of Urdu from England, Russia and Germany, gathered under one roof and seriously pondered over the challenges that Urdu is faced with.
