It is heartening to note that the culture of research and research journals is now firmly in place in Pakistan. At least our universities are giving due importance to research activities and research journals as well. This may well be a result of the Higher Education Commission’s consistent stress on research.

Though there have been some complaints about plagiarism and the question of standard of these research journals, one feels that the publication of research journals is basically a positive step. Particularly so, in a society like ours, which is generally apathetic to research. Research plays a significant role in clearing the mist surrounding realities and paving the way for society that respects knowledge rather than seniority.

Literary research journals reflect new, emerging literary trends and one can meet young research scholars on the pages of these journals. As for the question of standard and malpractices, one hopes that our universities would address these issues, too.

The arrival of an Urdu research journal feels like the blooming of a flower. In the last few months four Urdu research journals have been brought out, so it’s springtime right in the thick of winter.

‘Bunyad’ is the research journal of Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Launched in 2010 and edited by Syed Naumanul Haq, ‘Bunyad’ is a refereed research journal of Urdu Studies striving for excellence since its first issue. The first issue of 2011 (volume two), recently out, carries some excellent articles both in Urdu and English sections.

For a relative new university like LUMS, it is a laudable beginning, but they should be more careful about the inclusion of papers that do not really fall into the category of ‘papers’. Just adding a few footnotes and a bibliography at the end of an impressionistic essay does not make it a paper.

One such example is an essay in the recent issue that tries to ridicule great research scholar Mushfiq Khwaja. The writer has tried to establish that Mushfiq Khwaja was not a research scholar. And, if at all, only a mediocre one, who did little research work and wasted time in parties or copying from his juniors such as Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi. Who can support this thesis considering Mushfiq Khwaja’s great contribution to research?

In the same essay, there is an expression ‘maarkat-ul-aara’, an ugly and incorrect portmanteau of Arabic ‘maarka’ and Persian ‘aara’, wherein Arabic ‘t’ and ‘al’ are added to Persian ‘aara’. Authorities consider such compounds erroneous as ‘aara’ is from Persian infinitive ‘aarastan’ and cannot take the Arabic article ‘al’. The correct compound would be ‘maarka aara’ as Allama Iqbal has used it in ‘Shikva’:

Thay hameen aik teray maarka aaraon mein…

I would have ignored such minor errors if the editorial note had not made tall claims about its quality.

The 19th issue (June, 2011) of ‘Journal of Research (Urdu)’ has also arrived. Published by the department of Urdu, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, and edited by Prof Dr Rubeena Tareen, the journal has maintained a certain standard over the years and the latest issue, too, carries some fine research papers.

One such paper, written by Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar, reviews efforts of the British colonialists to ‘enlighten’ the subcontinent in an altogether different light. Dr Nayyar has demolished the myth that our colonial masters had sincerely tried to enlighten us. He thinks that certain ‘loyal’ Indians and literary and social institutions were working like nongovernmental organisations and had become ‘ideological state apparatus’ to strengthen and prolong the rule of the imperialists.

He has especially analysed the role of Anjuman-i-Panjab and its promoters played to reevaluate our classical literature and establish a new literary theory. It makes one think a lot about the backdrop against which our prominent writers such as Muhammad Hussain Azad and Altaf Hussain Hali promoted some peculiar ideas condemning our classical literature.

Whereas Dr Nayyar has critically analysed some historical facts from an eastern point of view, in another article in the journal Dr Christina Oesterheld of Germany’s Heidelberg University has reviewed Nasim Hijazi’s Urdu novels from what one may call a western perspective.

One may or may not agree with her, she in her article titled ‘Jihadi literature? Some novel of Nasim Hijazi’ has analysed four of Nasim Hijazi’s novels, juxtaposing Hijazi’s views with Maulana Moudoodi’s ideological perceptions. She has reached the conclusion that:

“in the present age with its obsession about militant Islam and a perceived ‘clash of cultures’, Hijazi’s jihadi rhetoric is bound to create irritation among liberal Muslims and non-Muslim readers. Of course it would be naive to believe that reading his novels would make anybody set out for jihad. ... But even then they [readers] might inadvertently be drawn into the net of the particular worldview which is presented in his novels. They may begin to accept the claims about the superiority of Islam and hence the need to establish an Islamic order….”

In her final analysis, she says that since an overt didacticism is very common in popular Urdu fiction and Nasim Hijazi is a popular fiction writer, this kind of literature “deserves much more attention as a vibrant and ideologically loaded site in the system of public discourse in Urdu”.

One may question some of her assumptions, but this well-written and thought-provoking article should be translated into Urdu so that a wider range of readers may benefit from it.

‘Meyar’ is the research journal published by the Urdu department of Islamabad’s International Islamic University. Now edited by Dr Rasheed Amjad, it was launched just a few years ago. But within this short span of time it has created a reputation for itself. Its sixth issue (July-Dec. 2011) carries critical and research-based articles as well as a special section on Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch. Dr Mohammad Saleem Khalid’s article titled ‘Literary and linguistic study of Tafseer-e-Haqqani’ deserves a special mention since it meticulously traces the linguistic and lexicographical traits of this 19th century commentary of the Quran.

The 18th issue (Jan-June, 2011) of ‘Bazyaft’, the research journal of Punjab University Oriental College’s Urdu department has appeared. The journal, edited by Dr Fakhr-ul-Haq Noori, has devoted the issue to two Urdu poets, one classical and the other modern: Mir Taqi Mir and N. M. Rashid. The section on Rashid includes some extremely rare and new material hitherto unpublished.

One feels that slowly but surely the Urdu research journals of the universities are going to replace the once-famous literary magazines of Urdu. It would be interesting to watch which journal does it better.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com