KARACHI: The recent work by Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and modernism, was brought under discussion at Irteqa Literary Forum on Sunday. Dr Manzoor Ahmad was in the chair and Dr Shanul Haq Haqqi among the main speakers.

Two papers, one by Shafiq Ahmad Shafiq and the other by Jamal Naqvi, on the contents of the book were presented.

Dr Manzoor Ahmad admired the work and thanked the author for inviting readers to closely study the Syed’s mind in the present times. But at the same time, he posed a question: after Sir Syed what? He thereby meant that a further course of thinking was not to be found in Muslim countries, anywhere. Muslims generally had a closed mindset, mostly unable to think differently.

Sir Syed had very revolutionary ideas about religion, politics and study of nature. He was most often pragmatic in his decisions; for example, he approved the principle of ‘riba’ (interest) in economic dealings against the common faith. Dr Haqqi while agreeing to the fact that the interest, being the very foundation of the capitalist system, was the source of all human miseries, enriching the rich countries and impoverishing the poor, yet he approved Syed because, “there was no alternative course before him.”

A question was raised about Sir Syed’s preference to English. Many countries in the 19th century made striding developments in their own languages, a questioner said and opined that Urdu could have in those times serve the purpose. But Haqqi Saheb and some others rejected the plea as Urdu, they said, was not equipped with the vocabulary and idioms to work as a vehicle to impart new knowledge.

Sir Syed was a great benefactor of the Indian Muslims, not only of the Muslim feudals of north India, as opined by some others. And it was due to his single-handed efforts that the Muslims got their share in the socio-economic sector and representation in the political institutions of the subcontinent. Among those who participated in the discussion included Wahid Bashir, Saghir Ahmad and Saba Ikram.

Dr Shanul Haq Haqqi, at the request of the audience recited his ghazals and brightened up the evening.—Hasan Abidi