THE only organisation (private or government aided), which challenged the feudal conspiracy to divide the Punjabi language on the basis of its dialects (supported by the so-called middle class political party of Urdu-speaking population based in Sindh, Karachi), the Pakistan Punjabi Adabi Board has taken a step ahead and converted its quarterly literary magazine into a monthly from 2012. Now it will be in a better position to fight the feudal of the South Punjab and the ruling feudal elite of Sindh with a verse by Maulvi Lutf Ali of Bahawalpur;

Editor Parveen Malik has opened her account with the editorial which opens;

(Punjab should be divided. Why? Because it is Punjab.) Parveen has pa id tribute to Sindhi nationalists who are opposing the division of Punjab as pleaded by the MQM. They are attributing to MQM the wish behind the Mohajir Suba. There is a Persian proverb for such situations;

Parveen has also lamented the insensitivity of Punjabis on the issue of Punjab and Punjabi.

The board was established on the lines of the Sindhi Adabi Board under the patronage of Dr Ajmal, then education secretary of Z.A. Bhutto’s federal government, and the main player on behalf of Punjabi writers was the late Syed Sibtul Hasan Zaigham. But after Bhutto, Ziaul Haq wanted to defuse Bhutto’s popularity by playing down Punjab and Punjabi. It was Ziaul Haq who first encouraged Seraiki to be a separate language officially. It discouraged Punjabi Adabi Board to flourish like its senior Sindhi counterpart. The same attitude was adopted by Zia’s planted Nawaz Sharif etc. They all damaged the board by granting portion of its grant to newly raised Punjabi bodies, which all remained tight-lipped on the Seraiki war against Punjabi during the last six months. Because the partly grant from the Punjab government did not dare to oppose the feudal on a language basis, the Punjabi was systematically weakened financially by the provincial government. But sometime in such cases nature comes to the help of the victimised and Qazi Javed of the Institute of Islamic Culture helped the board to shift from its transitory office to 2.

Club Road in the neighbourhood of Majlis-i-Taraqq-i-Adab and Bazm-i-Iqbal and close to Punjab Chief Minister’s office to remind them that Punjabi deserves better treatment from the Punjabi establishment. This is another achievement of Parveen Malik and Qazi Javed, a member of the governing body of the board.

In the latest monthly version of Punjabi Adab it has taken up the case of Punjabi from working class Mirza Muhammad Ibrahim who brought immense goodwill to Punjab. One hopes that this line will guide the editors in future also.

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Bhera in Sargodha district produced at least two great poets of Punjabi, Maulvi Azhar Bhervi and Maulvi Dilpazeer of last century. This place also produced a world fame actor Balraj Sahini who wrote a travelogue about his birth place Bhera in Punjabi. Mirza Shabbir of Bhera has brought out a literary quarterly (Nala-e-Dil) with regional linguistic representation i.e. Punjabi, which is welcome change in Punjab’s rural areas to which 10 poets have contributed their verses. One of these poets, Iqbal Gaga, says;

Now time has come that reluctance about publishing Punjabi prose should be shunned.

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WADAY LOK WADEEAN GALLAN by Tanveer Zahoor; pp 258; Price Rs.300 (hb); Publishers Masud Khadarposh Trust, 6. Dayal Singh Mansion, The Mall, Lahore; e-mail mktpk1986@gmail.com.

Tanveer Zahoor’s interest in literature earned him the favour of Prof Shohrat Bukhari and he was appointed editor of the magazine of Islamia College, Lahore. Dr Hasan Rizvi was his contemporary and colleague in daily Jang. Tanveer Zahoor was also under the influence of Punjabi writers like Raja Rasalu and this influence brought him to the Punjabi Adabi Sangat … then most active organisation of Punjabi writers of the city. This relationship made Punjabi literature and language Tanveer’s ultimate in his journalistic career and he produced interviews with prominent Punjabi writers in Punjabi in book Vaily Nall Gallan. He was associated with daily Jang therefore Punjabi voice reached to wider circles. As Sangat secretary he worked like a real worker who was always ready to present his case to likeminded cultural workers. He arranged a public meeting in Nasser Bagh on the death of great singer Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and it was addressed among others by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ustad Daman and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. This was the first ever experience in the field of culture. This meeting earned some wrath from the establishment, but it did not deter him from indulging in such impermissible activities. He helped Mushtaq Butt bring out a public protest demonstration for the right of Punjabi language, which was seen contemptuously by Punjabi bureaucrat cum Urdu writer like Mukhtar Masood (author of Awaz-i-Dost) who did not favour Tanveer’s views on the richness of Punjabi literature. That was a negative factor, which brought Tanveer closer to Punjabi for which he is still a worker without wages. In this book, Tanveer has collected 54 pieces he wrote and published interviews of 37 dead and 16 living prominent Punjabi writers, including Sadequain who wrote Rubais in Punjabi. This is a comprehensive reference book about last 62 years of the progress of Punjabi.  — STM