IT SEEMS that majority of our intellectuals, writers and poets are somewhat unhappy with the abundance of Urdu conferences and literary festivals that we have been experiencing for quite some time now. From time to time, objections are raised on literary conferences and while intellectuals generally appreciate holding of literary gatherings on larger scales, they complain of some irritants, too.
Dr Syed Aamir Sohail is the most recent dissenting voice and he says holding of lit fests has become so fashionable that government, semi-government and private organisations are busy glamorising these events and — in some cases — as he puts it, are cashing in on them. While he admits there are some positive aspects of literary or cultural conferences and symposia, Sohail says that genuine writers and intellectuals are being ignored and literary elite has monopolised such festivals. Aamir Sohail, a senior writer, editor and academic, is wary of these literary ‘melas’, or festivals, because intellectuals from remote and rural areas of the country are almost totally ignored as ‘face value’ created through screens, PR, lobbying and literary grouping has become more important in such gatherings rather than creativity or scholarship, so he says.
Some other writers, too, such as Mubeen Mirza, have been showing their concern as organisers now prefer familiar and famous faces and invite anchor persons, singers, musicians, dancers, actors and political activists as speakers to literary gatherings to appeal the masses, albeit many of them may not have any literary standing.
To second Aamir Sohail’s views, one can cite some literary festivals where everything under the sun except for literature was discussed since the foreign entities had funded those fests and their representatives were also prominent among the audience during different sessions, perhaps to supervise if the things were going according to their agenda or not. In such exclusive fests, usually organised at a place where common people won’t be able to reach, some specific academics from some specific universities are invited with their students participating in every event.
Aamir Sohail has expressed his views in an editorial of his literary magazine Angaare that he has been editing and publishing form Multan since long. The latest issue, published in February 2024 is the 110th, quite an amazing feat considering that market for printed word is slackening by the day.
One may add here that the trend simply reflects the preferences that our society now has: TV personalities, actors, singers and cricketers command more respect and have more following than critics, scholars, creative writers and poets! So it is simply marketing gimmick to invite famous albeit irrelevant personalities to lit fests.
The latest issue of Angaare includes some quite interesting pieces, such as pen sketches and a travelogue, but it also proffers some serious matter, such as an article on hermeneutics. Indeed it is one of the very few articles written on the topic in Urdu and tries to explain what hermeneutics is and how it helps understand some critical theories.
Another new arrival is Makhzan, a literary magazine published by Lahore’s Quaid-i-Azam Library and edited by Dr Tehseen Firaqi. Since the original Makhzan was launched by Sir Abdul Qadir from Lahore in 1901, this relaunched Makhzan has an epithet ‘Daur-i-Jadeed’, or New Era. The July-December 2023 issue, the 44th, has just been published and offers some good reads.
An article in the issue by Dr Rafaqat Ali Shahid introduces Jamil Jalibi Library that has been set up at Karachi University. Sharing his observations that he recorded during his visit to the library recently, Dr Shahid has some pieces of advice for the management of the library. A senior researcher and academic, Shahid was disappointed with certain practices and publications of this otherwise wonderful library.
Another article, written by Ziauddin Islahi, introduces a manuscript on Taj Mahal, the famous historical building at Agra, tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The manuscript describes some historical events, historical buildings and details of Taj Mahal’s architects and artisans, its cost and stones used. But the author’s name is not known and Syed Sulaiman Nadvi had expressed his doubts about the authenticity of the manuscript and the information recorded. The issue also includes a rare article written by Sa’adat Hasan Manto.
Commenting on the situation in Gaza, Dr Firaqi in his editorial has rightly pointed out that in the past the writers and intellectuals used to present and adopt resolutions on war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians, but after the recent round of callous response from the world on Gaza killings literati is not bothered with even such resolutions. Social media, says Firaqi, have created an atmosphere where apathy has got the better of us and it seems we couldn’t care less.
Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024
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