Standards of criticism: LITERARY ROUND-UP

LITERARY criticism in our peculiar cultural milieu is a battle between good manners and good morals. And since we are an old civilization with a courtly past, good manners nearly always win.

Over-burdened with the need to say nice things and be polite the critic must offer obliging comments and overlay each honest word with a dozen camouflaging frills.

The application of standards become difficult when the objective is promotion and pleasing, the aim. The clever critic takes recourse to subterfuges of wit to kill two birds with one stone, avoiding bad blood and dishonesty by going around and shooting wide off the mark.

The cultural demands of politeness have not allowed the tradition of evaluating literary works against accepted standards to take root. As a result you will find book flaps and dust covers blackened with meaningless, thoughtless flattery.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry is the voice of the age and every other Johnny a new star on the horizon. Immortality was never so near and so easily available.

This is not to suggest that application of standards is easy when one is dealing with a creative piece of work. The writer may have put a lot of his thought and genius in a simple line that may not strike the disinterested reader. I remember Akhtar Ahsen’s frustration on not finding many admirers of his Zen poems that he was dabbling in during the late sixties or thereabouts published in Prof Hassan Askari’s monthly Saat Rang.

His insistence that the reader dig out the underlying current of thought in such innocuous lines as “chaar aur panch hain pooray dus / daur rahi hay khali bus” was met by Rahat Saeed’s quite understandable stand that “we will certainly look for deeper meaning if we find something on the surface too.”

This is one thing, but going the whole hog in praise or denunciation of a certain work without regard to some kind of standard or values is quite another.

Mercifully denunciations are rare which encourages new writers to continue to write and submit their work for review. Though in this respect too the matter is not all that simple.

In this age of public relationing the writer knows more than just his craft. He has already screened his reviewers and has no fear of an adverse comment.

This, in reverse, signals the reviewer to take into consideration the fact that the author whose work he is going to judge happens to be his admirer. This factor alone weakens any obligation the critic may feel towards objectivity or to being honest in his views.

To some others, deficient in the matter of fame or name, the dust cover offers the opportunity of a public bill board. The more obliging and lavish their praises and the more Ghalibs they can raise from the dust the more rating they will have on the bill boards as critics.

In this context one cannot help admiring the couldn’t care less attitude of Mansha Yad as a critic of short fiction. I heard him review two collections of stories, both by two women, whom he took to task without mercy.

He had done a thorough reading of the texts and could dissect and lay his finger on the moles and warts. Praise is easy. You need no home work. Mansha Yad was relentless. He had laboured through their stuff.

One he described as a juvenile dilettante and the other work was dismissed as a ‘filmy’ geetmala. Nasty, brutish and short, Mansha left many squirming in their seats.

Fatima Hassan said he was unable to empathise with a woman’s sensibility and Gulnar Aafreen, who had come armed with a souvenir full of laudatory comments by Drs Nazir Ahmad, Jameel Jalbi, Farman Fatehpuri, Hanif Fauq, Wazir Agha and Shaukat Siddiqui, Mushfiq Khwaja, Prof Riaz Siddiqui, Khayyal Afaqi and a host of other big guns, dismissed his analysis without any signs of pique or discomfiture. So, this is another problem. If you stick out your neck be sure to have it wrung the wrong way.

Obviously though, it is quite clear the critic in this case does not care to be known as a polite person out to please and earn the author’s gratitude.

He is more anxious to be known as a craftsman who knows the rules of his trade, the writing of short stories, which he has been doing for many years. And when you do a thing for many years you get to have a feel for the thing.

It is different that in the course of practice, the practitioner often develops a rigidity of sorts in values that he tends to apply rather mechanically to creative works which need to be viewed through windows, not chinks in the shutters.

It is to be seen how many more writers of fiction will ask Mansha Yad to do a post-mortem of their work.

Ghazals of Ghulam Ali

OF the many baithaks of Lahore, two were more active and crowded than others located in different parts of the city. Situated across the road from the famous Naugaza’s grave in the Hira Mandi area, these were the abodes of two step-brothers Ustad Barkat Ali Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan.

About 50 years ago I used to visit these baithaks at least twice a week along with a few close friends who, like me, also practised the art of classical music. If memory serves me right, it was there in 1953 that I first chanced to witness a “performance” by a boy. He was Ghulam Ali, who was then learning the rudiments of music from Mubarak Ali Khan. The young lad was busy cramming a short classical composition in rag Mian Ki Todi set in Ektala. Reproducing it in exactly the same manner as his mentor had taught him (albeit with a lisp) he surprised all of us by his acumen for music and potential for becoming a popular singer. At that point of time, no one could even hazard of guess about his future.

During the past 50 years since the chance-listening to his singing, I have had the pleasure of enjoying Ghulam Ali’s exquisite ghazals on innumerable occasions both at formal concerts and at informal soirees, sponsored by official cultural organizations and affluent private citizens, both in Pakistan as well as abroad. Each time the impact of his melodious ghazals was different, reminding his listeners of his class in the art of modern ghazal singing. His distinctly individualistic style, exuding sparkling classical embellishments, has indelible imprints of his celebrated second mentor, Ustad Barkat Ali Khan.

The skill and confidence with which Ghulam Ali performs often casts hypnotic spells on his listeners. Mostly set to his own music, ghazals composed by well know classical and modern poets and sung by him radiate his characteristic impromptu innovations. Although he sets poetry to music in the true ghazal-singing style, they remain relatively untrammelled by set procedures’ the music matching the mood of the verse.

One of the versatile exponents of ghazal singing, Ghulam Ali’s renditions are interspersed with short melodic phrases, difficult yet enjoyable passages, taans and flights, not to exclude the occasional touches of sargam. The flourish and ease with which he mixes his renditions with phrases, unison, intervals, pauses, swings and suspended cadences point clearly to the command he has acquired over music.

No other genre of poetry has won greater public acclaim than the ghazal, which consists of verses having lyrical and melodious charm, intensity of emotions and rhythmic grandeur. Poetic feeling and musical sensitivity are mixed smoothly together in this genre. The art of ghazal singing has now become the most popular mode of musical expression. Films, radio, television and the stage have contributed immensely to taking this genre to every nook and corner of the sub-continent, despite a wide diversity in languages and dialects. Although this mode of expression is rapidly moving towards classicism, music lovers in large numbers are turning into its votaries. As a form, it partakes of both literary and musical features, and presents an unclear picture when viewed from the standpoint of its musical evolution.

The ghazal-singing style of Ghulam Ali is not easy to emulate. It requires years of hard training under the supervision of a seasoned musician and a deep knowledge of the science and art of music as well as the skill to regulate musical phrases within the intricate bonds of rhythm. Even ghazals recorded for movies have acquired the status of a separate form in contradistinction with other modes of film music. Its ambience is now different from, and more intricate than, the one which was in vogue about five decades ago. Then, music directors composed and set ghazals to melodies, which were not much different from those used for geets.

Proficient to a reasonable extent in some other genres of semi-classical and light formulations, Ghualm Ali has succeeded in winning the hearts of countless millions in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. His rich, sweet and malleable vocals, which he manages with adroitness, enthralls his stage, radio, film and television audiences. He is innovative enough to keep the musical vivacity of his style alive, which prevents it from getting monotonous.

Of late, Ghulam Ali has not been seen on the national circuit. It is said that he spends much of his time in travelling to other countries, particularly South Africa, where he is admired much by music lovers. It is always a satisfying experience listening to his consummate singing. By absorbing new musical currents and cross-currents, and blending these with old classical expressions, Ghulam Ali has broken down the confining walls of old structures, making it possible for his melodies to enjoy greater freedom of expression. That is why his music appeals to both the sophisticated and the uninitiated.

Justice delayed is justice denied: DATELINE HYDERABAD

WITH the chief justice of the Sindh High Court taking notice of the cases pending in subordinate courts, a ray of hope has appeared that efforts would now be made to clear the backlog.

Two conferences of judicial officers, presided over by SHC judges, have been held in Karachi and Hyderabad to discuss the “causes and effects” of the delay. The number of the cases pending in the courts is about 100,000. In a number of cases many a witness has died or disappeared or has been won over. Miscarriage of justice in such a situation thus cannot be ruled out.

Police have a big hand in this as pinpointed at the conferences. Ordinarily, all cases, after having been duly processed, are supposed to be sent to courts within 14 days, but this is seldom done. The investigating officer does not bother to collect necessary documents and prefers to submit an incomplete interim challan.

The double-murder case of former federal secretary Alam Baloch is a case in point in which former senator Asif Ali Zardari is the prime accused. Although four years have passed, investigation has not yet been completed.

The case of the Qasimabad police station had to be reinvestigated by the Karachi crime branch after the challan had already been submitted to the relevant court. Now the police will submit a supplementary chargesheet. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has already complained that her husband has been denied “due process” and the member of the inspection team appointed by the chief justice of the Sindh High Court is already making inquiries into Ms Bhutto’s allegations.

The way Mr Zardari was whisked away from a hospital in Islamabad and brought to Hyderabad and then the statements of two witnesses recorded under section 164 of the CrPC has never happened in the judicial history of Pakistan. But again it is for the court to decide how far this process was correct.

In the good old days investigation of a case was never delayed beyond 14 days. All the “special report cases” (serious crimes) were verified first by subdivisional inspectors and then by subdivisional officers to remove all lacunas in the investigation. The result was that the ratio of convictions was very high. Today this seldom happens. The result is that most of the criminals go scot-free because of faulty investigations.

Young ASPs, who are directly recruited, more often than not know little about investigation (no offence meant) because they have not served as SHOs. Most of them are stiff-necked and shout orders only. As rightly pointed out at the conference of the judicial officers, the other cause of delay is the non-service of process. It is an open secret that by just paying one hundred rupees to the process server, one can avoid receiving summons from any court. Former Sindh chief minister Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto is on record having said that while he was attending the assembly session, he was declared absconder.

As far as law is concerned, it is not necessary that the process should be served physically. It can be pasted on the door or the business place of the person on whom the process is required to be served. But the ploy of physical service is often used to avoid attendance in the court.

Yet another reason for the delay in the proceedings of cases cited at the judicial conferences is the belated arrest of absconders. For this, police are exclusively responsible. It is unthinkable that any accused can remain an absconder for an indefinite period without the connivance of the local SHO. In the police training schools of the good old days, police officers were taught that if an SHO does not know about the entry of a new sparrow in his jurisdiction, he is not fit to be an SHO. But today even proclaimed offenders are addressing protest rallies and staging dharnas under the very nose of police but they are not arrested.

The reasons are that either police are too afraid to arrest them or are mixed up with them or both. It is here that courts are required to play their role as discussed by the conference. This, however, is seldom done, if ever. Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code reads:

“If any court is satisfied after taking evidence that any person against whom a warrant has been issued by it has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant cannot be executed, such court may publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear at a specified place and at a specified time not less than 30 days from the date of publishing such proclamation.”

If even after the issuance of such a proclamation, the absconder fails to surrender himself, the court has the authority to have recourse to section 88 of the CrPC which reads: “The court issuing a proclamation under Section 87 may at any time order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable, or both, belonging to the proclaimed person.” Certainly, only an insane person would choose to remain an absconder if his movable and immovable properties are threatened. And the matter does not end there. The court has the authority under section 512 of the CrPC to record evidence against the absconding accused. All these measures are aimed at eliminating delay in the proceedings of cases.

However, the main cause of delay is the non-production in courts of under-trial prisoners (UTPs), who have been languishing in various jails for years together. The non-production of these prisoners on the date of hearings has led to jail riots and mutiny. In the Hyderabad Central Prison alone 9,424 UTPs were produced in courts during six months (January-June 2001). Thirty-three women UTPs belonging to the interior of Sindh and confined in women’s jail in Karachi have not been produced in courts during the last several months. These prisoners are being punished although they have not been proved guilty. Who is responsible for this callousness?

Technically, police are responsible for producing the UTPs in courts on the date of hearing but in these cases the Sindh government is directly responsible for torturing the prisoners physically and mentally. Police have their limitations. They are not only short of manpower but also of prisoners’ vans and petrol. Moreover, they have many other things to do, such as maintain law and order, control protest rallies, guard VVIPs and investigate crimes.

Under the Bombay District Police Act, which was also applicable to Sindh before the creation of the One Unit, the Sindh police were divided into armed police and unarmed police, and the posts were not transferable. The armed police comprised retired army personnel, who were well-trained in the use of arms. They had quite separate duties to perform such as guarding the VVIPs, guard duty at the residences of senior officials, including judges, anti-dacoits operation, security duties and, above all, production of prisoners in courts. The unarmed police were only responsible for manning the police stations and control of crimes. They had nothing to do with “prisoners duties”. Unless this system is reintroduced, UTPs will continue to languish without trial.

The members of the bar are equally responsible for the delay in the proceedings of cases. They come unprepared and seek adjournment after adjournment, though with “mutual consent”. This is not fair. The burden on courts would also be greatly decreased if the frivolous applications cases were disposed of summarily and if rulings and judgments of the superior judiciary were studied in depth.

Financial constraints hurting new system: DATELINE LARKANA

THE first session of the Zila Council remained inconclusive, with all the items on the agenda having been deferred. But still the plan the Nazim unfolded to the house had much interest for it.

“Thanks to the devolution plan that we are here because of it”, he said and referred to the ‘new social contract’ as a mission left incomplete by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in which it was proposed to induct the district governor. The dismissal of her government did not allow the idea time to materialize. But the Nazim hoped to make the new system (devolution plan) a success.

In a way, the plan is perhaps another name for decentralization of powers but here the entire system is rather controlled by the central government which time and again issues ordinances that again travel down to the provinces. That is why the system is said to be taking time to shape up.

Senior politicians like Dr Mubashir Hassan and Dr Ghulam Hussain have on many occasions spoken of decentralization of powers. Both hold the view that train routes, energy tariff and even appointments of judges and police chiefs should form the provincial subjects. The PPP-SB, which supports this concept, has advocated filtering down the system to the union council level, ensuring participation of the grass roots.

Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, chief of the Sindh National Front, too, speaks of decentralization of powers and wants the Centre to keep with it four or five subjects only. He claims that his concept of confederation is the only answer to all the ills in the federal system. His party also took part in the election held under the devolution plan. Even the Jamaat-i-Islami took part in the poll. Only the MQM decided to keep away from it.

The results show that the PPP-backed candidates have clinched many vital seats in the interior of Sindh. To sum up, all parties which had been opposing this government did take part in the poll (as they did not want to leave the field open to their adversaries) and hence their enthusiasm about running the district government.

However, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto was perhaps the first politician to have criticized the plan after the poll. At a meeting at Ratodero lately, he commented: “These Nazims and councillors will soon find themselves in hot water when they will not even be able to order the purchase of a streetlight bulb or issue a directive for cleaning the drains in localities from where they have been returned in the election.”

What far-sightedness! It comes true now when we continue to hear news of protests, hunger-strikes in the Larkana district by municipal employees, specially the sanitary staff. Just peek into the degree of insanitation in the Badah town where the Nazims’ hue and cry against the overflowing sewage goes unheeded. Roads are battered and sewage has found its way into the houses in low-lying areas. As mosquitoes breed freely in such a condition, diseases like malaria take their toll.

Two Nazims from the Badah town who spoke in the session pointed, repeatedly, to the plight of the people and deplored the lack of help in this regard. The people suffer when the Nazims have no powers to rectify the situation. A look at the native taluka of Benazir Bhutto — the Ratodero town and Naudero — shows a critical state of insanitation.

The reported rift among the PPP-backed councillors provided a chance to the staff to go on a strike. The employees of Ratodero said that for the last 11 months they had not been paid their salaries and that the state of affairs had pushed their families to starvation. And what they did as a last resort was to opt for the hunger strike and work suspension.

This led to the situation where sewage started oozing out from the gutters even found its way into the main municipal office while almost the entire town was afflicted by the foul smell around.

Refusing to work perhaps falls under the purview of disobedience but the question is, had they any other option left to tap? Who would fill the stomachs of their children and who would extend them financial support under the obtaining conditions, and would they get routine items of consumption on credit? Perhaps it was quite impossible and that was why they chose to go on strike. The unhygienic condition was so bad that the residents took out a procession and talked to the protestors to end the protest.

The situation in Naudero is very much identical to that of Ratodero in terms of sanitation and salaries. Here the municipal employees have been waiting for the last 19 months to receive their salaries. Is it justice and do we expect from the staff to perform properly under the prevailing conditions? The plain and just answer may be a big ‘no’. When you are not paying salaries, how you could look after other needs of the employees and so of the town.

The local bodies were first made to suffer the trauma when they were deprived of octroi tax by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. This virtually pushed the municipal committees, corporations and the union councils to a deep financial crisis.

The situation in Larkana is not different from what it is in the rest of the union councils, though this is a corporation. Just make a round of the city — the city of two former prime ministers and four chief ministers — and at every step you would find open manholes, overflowing sewage, damaged and unmotorable roads and heaps of garbage.

A pro-PPP Nazim talked of his bleeding heart, saying that despite repeated requests, the taluka Nazim had not bothered to make arrangements for the early removal of stagnant drain water from the main VIP road. When the VIP road doesn’t receive any attention, there’s little hope for other remote localities, he bemoaned.

It is feared that with the passage of time the voters might turn against the new administrators. The need of the hour is to arm the newly-constituted institutions with all powers, and also to look after their financial needs so as to keep the wheel moving.

Why storage dams are necessary: COMMENT

A BLUNT warning by the Northern Areas administration (NAA) that ‘Skardu dam will sink Skardu’ is specifically meant to terrorize the people of the valley and prepare them for mutiny against storage dams. This was a headline in a newspaper of Sept 11, 2001. Other leading newspapers too carried similar news.

If this thoughtless proclamation is taken as yardstick, it will mean that Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture, which depends entirely on storage of floodwater, will not be allowed to develop by the panic-mongers. This egoistic attitude would make it impossible to harness the potential water resources by damming rivers that is direly needed for our very existence against drought, famine, death and devastation. A good storage dam site is a great national asset and a sign of good luck to bring prosperity through green revolution.

This yardstick is whimsical: Kalabagh will sink the Peshawar valley. It will sink the populated towns and cities of Jehangira, Shedu, Akora Khattak and Nowshera, besides scores of villages. It will displace about 200,000 population and badly affect twice this number. It will submerge the Attock Bridge and a large portion of the historic G.T. Road and the industries along it besides closing the gateway to the NWFP. The Kalabagh dam will submerge and inundate vast fertile lands in the Peshawar valley. It will also submerge large areas at two places in Punjab in the Indus River valley and the Soan River valley.

Exactly is the case of the raised Mangla dam, of the Basha dam and all other dams because similar objections are being raised against these dams. Under such circumstances, let the NAA tell the nation where to build the second dam on the Indus to store water that will not submerge property and not dislocate populations? How to make available the required water and power badly needed without storage for perennial irrigated agriculture and industries? How to regulate winter and summer flow of the highly erratic Indus ranging between a minimum of 11,500 cusecs and about a maximum of one million cusecs without a huge storage dam or dams? How to meet the huge quantity of crop water needs without storage for the winter months that needs 10 times more water than the lean winter flow of the Indus River?

How to make available 23maf of water without floodwater storage so as to meet the dire needs of the Water Accord paras 2 and 12 and replace the storage lost due to silting of Tarbela and Mangla? How to meet the water needs to irrigate new lands and meet food needs of the fast growing population? The existing gross storage has already been depleted by 6maf due to rapid silting and further depletion of storage water will adversely affect agriculture, cause food shortage and accelerate the incoming famine, followed by hunger, death and devastation, besides ruining economy. Traditional water dispute between Sindh and Punjab would aggravate and with what dreadful consequences it can end may be guessed.

No single dam can meet the dire need of 23maf of water except the unique dam site with a narrow gorge at Katzarah on the Indus 18km downstream of Skardu that has a storage capacity of 35maf, the largest in the world and six times larger than Kalabagh or Basha, nearly at the same cost. It will also generate up to 15,000MW of power and control floods. The multipurpose Katzarah dam site is located on the downstream of the confluence of the Indus River valley, Shiok River valley and Shigar River valley. Katzarah has, therefore, the rare quality of triple valley storage. Due to low siltation, its life is 1,000 years. Unfortunately, there are no good storage dam sites on the Indus River after Basha.

All other dam sites have smaller storage, shorter life span and much less power than Basha. Storage scenario on the Indus River is precarious. The one and the only dam that will meet all water needs are at Katzarah. Whatever the consequences, it has to be built or alternatively we face the incoming famine and discord.

The miraculous and gigantic storage at Katzarah, with efficient water use, can irrigate 10 million acres of barren and desolate lands that would completely transform the arid environment of the country and boost its economy. It will help in creating new ‘Right Bank Irrigation System,’ irrigating lands in the four provinces. The proposed inter-provincial ‘All Pakistan Grand Canal,’ offtaking from a new barrage to be located on the downstream of Chashma, would irrigate lands in D.I. Khan, D.G. Khan the vast Kachi plain of Balochistan, upper Sindh and fill the Hammal lake, Manchar lake on the right bank of the Indus River.

Moreover, it will also provide water to the Thar desert in Sindh, Cholistan desert in Punjab and to the Greater Thal Canal, recently inaugurated by the president for the desert area of Punjab on the left of the Indus River. Above all, it will support the Indus basin irrigation system and also protect it against drought. The above dam will achieve unlimited benefits and prosperity for the 140 million people of Pakistan.

The unlimited benefits outweigh the tolerable disadvantages of submerging the Skardu valley, dislocating about 40,000 population. This population can first be rehabilitated around the valley like China did for its three-gorge dam. Moreover, a small portion of the Karakoram Highway that is going to be submerged will be realigned and the Skardu airstrip shifted to a suitable place or near Gilgit.

In fact, instead of the Tarbela dam, Katzarah dam should have first been built in 1974 as part of the Indus Basin Replacement Programme. I persistently suggested this since 1960 till the starting of work on the Tarbela dam. At that time Skardu had hardly a population of only about 4,000 people.

Whatever the disadvantages of storage dam at Katzarah, its construction is life support for the Indus basin-irrigated agriculture. This is because of the dire necessity to regulate the highly erratic flow pattern of the Indus by storage of floodwater going to waste and specially to use the summer surplus flow for making up the acute deficiency of winter flow to meet crop water needs round the year.

Therefore, big storage dams are absolutely unavoidable, as they are the source of regulated water supply and form vital and integral part of the perennial irrigation system in Pakistan. Thus big storage dams form inseparable component of canal system infrastructures for perennial irrigated agriculture as storage infrastructure forms indispensable part of water management. Fortunately, the existence of a spectacular site like Katzarah is a geographic miracle and we must not, therefore, miss the opportunity to build a storage dam here.