Shaukat Siddiqui: a committed writer

SHAUKAT Siddiqui will always be remembered as one of the best-selling writers in Urdu. His novels ‘Khuda Ki Basti’ and ‘Jangloos’ are among the books which prove that books do sell in Pakistan: ‘Khuda Ki Basti’ has run into almost 50 editions, though most of them were unauthorised.

Born on March 20, 1923 at Lucknow, Shaukat Siddiqui went through some unusual circumstances that helped shape the writer in him. First, he had a chance to meet veterans who belonged to classical literary school and intellectuals with a progressive streak; then, brief stints in jobs during the second world war that influenced his sensitivities; and, finally, observing abject poverty and sharing a living quarter with members of the underworld.

During his student days, Shaukat Siddiqui received education from Ali Abbas Hussaini, a renowned short-story writer and Hamidullah Afsar, a renowned poet. Later, he acquainted himself with Hayatullah Ansari and Khwaja Abdur Rauf Ishrat Lukhnavi. Ansari was a short-story writer and editor of the weekly ‘Hindustan’ and the monthly ‘Qaumi Awaz’. Ishrat was a poet and famous literary figure. With Ansari Shaukat Siddiqi worked at a centre for adult education programme and Ishrat was his mentor in the matters related to rhetoric and prosody. At first Shaukat Siddiqui tried his hand at poetry but then turned to prose and began writing short stories in 1940.

During World War II, Shaukat Siddiqi joined the army’s signal corps as a second lieutenant but after a brief stint resigned to take a job as a labour welfare officer. It was during this job that he closely observed prisoners of war in Bhopal and was inspired to write his short story ‘Murda Ghar’, or The Morgue.

He graduated as a private candidate in 1944 and in the same year launched with one of his friends a literary Urdu magazine ‘Tirkash’ from Lucknow. Though the magazine could not last longer and after only two issues he had to wind it up, it provided him with a chance to come closer with the progressive writers and intellectuals. He then remained associated for about one year with a progressive magazine ‘Jadeed Adab’, brought out from Faizabad.

In 1946 Shukat Siddiqui did his Master’s from Lucknow University in political science and in 1950, he migrated to Karachi. The life in Karachi was indeed very difficult for immigrants from India in those days. Faced with economic problems and looking for a shelter, he had to live in a quarter at Karachi’s Jacob Lines area with some rogues and outlaws. It was exactly that place where he wrote his famous short story ‘Teesra Aadmi’, while sitting on a charpoy and resting on a pillow and people around him playing cards, puffing at charas cigarettes and using lewd language.

The story was an immediate success. From then on he was always appreciated for portraying criminals and their locale with minute details accurately. But it came from first hand experience.

Shaukt Siddiqi worked for a number of Karachi newspapers. In 1952 he joined the ‘Pakistan Standard’ as a subeditor. Two years later he joined the ‘Times of Karachi’ where he worked till 1960 when he joined the ‘Morning News’. In 1963 he became Anjaam’s chief editor. In 1969 he was in the weekly Al-Fatah. In 1973 Shaukat Siddiqi joined the PPP’s daily Musawat and remained associated with it till 1976.

‘Khuda Ki Basti’ is Shaukat Siddiqi’s signature novel. Hugely successful and very much in demand, publishers had a feast with it, printing it for about 50 times. First published in 1958, it has been translated into more than 25 languages. Rendered into English by David Mathews, it published under the title of ‘God’s Own Land’. Ruthlessly exposing the abject poverty and social problems faced by the people in a capitalist society, Khuda Ki Basti’s popularity increased when it was televised by PTV.

‘Jangloos’ is his other famous novel. Published in three volumes, it too has been reprinted many times. It depicts Punjab’s feudal society with all its ugliness. For this novel, Shaukat Siddiqui did extensive research and had to face the wrath of the feudal class.

His other novels are ‘Kauka beli’, ‘Chardivari’ and ‘Kameengah’. Collections of his short stories include ‘Teesra Aadmi’, ‘Andhera Aur Andhera’, ‘Raton Ka Shehar’ and ‘Raat Ki Aankhen’. An anthology of his selected short stories has been published under the title ‘Ishq Ke Do Char Din’. Shaukat Siddiqi wrote some plays as well but they have not been collected in one volume so far.

His newspaper columns that appeared in ‘Mashriq’ and ‘Musawat’ have been published in book form, titled ‘Tabqati Jad-o-jahad aur bunyad parasti’.

Shaukat Siddiqui never compromised with circumstances and suffered many a setback due to his leftist leanings. Once, when facing acute financial problems, he was refused a job at the behest of secret agencies for being a ‘communist’. When he proposed to a girl, the reply was he was an atheist. One may or may not agree with his ideology, but one has to concede that his commitment was unflinching.

A few years back a dissertation on Shaukat Siddiqui’s works and his contribution to Urdu’s creative fiction was written at the department of Urdu, University of Karachi, by Marayam Hussain, under the supervision of Dr Haneef Fauq, which has since been published.

Shaukat Siddiqui died in Karachi on Dec 18, 2006.