HYDERABAD: Literary giants like Asghar Nadeem Syed, Ahmed Saleem and Ghazi Salahuddin enlightened a well attended session on Shaikh Ayaz on Sunday as to how conditions in each era make it distinctive when different metaphors and tools for resistance are introduced.

They were of the view that Habib Jalib did it in his own way and Shaihk Ayaz did it through opera. Shaikh Ayaz would also be relevant in every era as he had done his job by producing plenty of stuff, they added.

Discussing Shaikh Ayaz in the backdrop of his “meray deedawaro meray danishwaro” poem at a session moderated by Arfana Mallah, noted researcher and writer Ahmed Saleem while defining ‘danishwar’ said that if one could not call spade a spade then many could not be described intellectuals today.

A poet could have some other role in society like Faiz who was a trade unionist, teacher and peace activist. An intellectual could not be seen from just one perspective and an intellectual answered questions in a way which set direction for society, he said.

He deplored the fact that today hue and cry was raised to cover up ‘truth’. Outgoing chief justice of Pakistan turned to Fehmida Riaz while discussing present state of affairs. “[Justice] Waqar Seth’s observation in much talked about para-66 is a kind of resistance launched by Faiz, Ayaz and Ustad Daman. Instead of covering up issues, we needed to present them as politely as Ayaz and Faiz did and only then students presenting poetry of ‘sarfaroishi ki tammna’ could be glorified, he said.

A leading light of Urdu literature, Asghar Nadeem Syed, was delighted to see that “interesting questions are raised now”. He said that the trend of cultural festivals had been changed; papers are not presented alone but music, paintings, politics, literature and philosophy were discussed under one roof. Art’s synthesis was that those fields grew with each other’s help. No society could grow in leaps and bounds minus dance, music, and literature, he said. “Ayaz will always be relevant. He did his job and now it is up to us to carry forward his message,” Syed said.

He said that those who were writing stories or producing poetry had taken position between the lines was the answer of the question whether an author or intellectual was taking position today. He said it was a difficult period for ‘journalism’ and ‘intellect’ as there was ‘invisibility’ while the author was boiling within. Producing literature was important and every author had to necessarily take a position, he said. “Tools of resistance are different in each era and that’s what Habib Jalib and Shaikh Ayaz did. Metaphors for resistance will always get changed,” he remarked. The problem was in understanding the text, he said.

Taking cue from him, Ghazi Salahuddin observed that media faced unprecedented curbs not seen even in Zia regime which was a dark period but rules of the game were clearly defined in that era. Today, there were no rules of the games as people went missing. He referred to outgoing CJP’s statement that a campaign was launched against the judiciary after a verdict and he presented Fehmida Riaz’s poetry.

He said the intellectual was supposed to give courage to people in difficult times. A mental uprising preceded revolution in societies which could be seen here, but problems lay in the fact people had given up reading. “We need to have a situation where 500,000 youths read Ayaz, novels Udas Naslein of Abdullah Hussain and Quratulain Hyder’s Aag ka Darya. We strive to see youths start reading and fight for ideological independence and then turn to intellect while intellectuals have the sort of stuff to satisfy them,” he explained.

Elderly Sheen Farrukh, noted female editor of her era, said today those who were not intellectuals considered themselves as such. She tried to speak through her imaginary letter to Shaikh Ayaz. “Did anyone tell Ayaz what kind of conditions we live in?” she quipped and said culture and literature had become meaningless. “Someone was demanding of Malik Riaz the house he presented to someone else. Does anyone know Razia Bhatti or Ghazi Salahuddin today?” she said.

Dr Inayat Magsi said youths did not leave Sheikh Ayaz neither peace had returned. He said today people went missing and mutilated bodies were found. He said that an intellectual could pay a price by way of imprisonment, killing or enforced disappearance.

Feminist and writer Atiya Dawood at the ‘Ayaz and Karachi’ session said that while eulogizing Ayaz, one must avoid closing doors of critical thinking for Ayaz or even Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. She said Ayaz talked about his solitude in Karachi and said people living cities like Karachi experienced more loneliness. He reflected it in poetry. She said enmity with Ayaz had marked downfall of Sindhi Adabi Sangat.

Qazi Manzar Hayat said Ayaz had himself said that only poetry could cure him. He said he lived in Sukkur in 1988 and then returned to Karachi again to live nearby sea, he considered to be his friend. He said he produced creative work despite illness.

Noted journalist Mujahid Barelvi said Ayaz should be discussed in the backdrop of his poetic superiority as if one looked beyond it then many aspects might leave his admirers unhappy. Ayaz became a poet of international acclaim, therefore he could not be confined to a city. To him, he said, if Faiz had erred by meeting Gen Zia, Shaikh Ayaz did it by becoming the vice chancellor of Sindh University. “There is a need to revisit poets to see where Jalib or Faiz had erred in life. Researchers should keep other aspects of such figures in mind so that future generations avoid committing those mistakes”, he said.

Another writer, Madad Ali Sindhi called for research on different aspect of Ayaz’s poetry. He said that Ayaz was luminary of Jeay Sindh Tehrik and he presented resolution against one unit in a conference on March 8, 1969 dominated by Sindh’s landowning bigwigs and “Sindh jo avaz, Shaikh Ayaz” had become a famous slogan at that time, he said. He added that Ayaz was another G.M. Syed. “Considering his stature, only I and Umer Memon had opposed his idea of becoming the VC,” he said.

A session on Ayaz’s opera of “Dodo Soomro’s jo maut” was also held. The opera was staged in the auditorium besides ‘mehfil-i-Ayaz’.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2019