There is a definite turnaround in Saadat Hasan Manto's image these days. Ever-since a Lahore weekly brought out a commemorative edition on him and a political part held a public meeting in Lahore to pay tributes to him, one could see that the workers and top intellectuals were in unison over Manto's status as a forward-looking progressive writer who had to pay the price of being dubbed as a reactionary writer for not toeing the party line. While commending Mazdoor Jiddojehad for taking up Manto's cause and devoting space to commemorative articles and selected short-stories.
It is surprising that Karachiites held two meetings - one by the weekly in collaboration with the Arts Council of Pakistan and the other by the Arts Council itself. I heaved a sigh of relief that an outstanding writer was, afterall, being rehabilitated in a big way, though belatedly.
Jiddojehad & Arts Council meeting was addressed by Hasan Abidi, this scribe, Kamal Ahmed Rizvi, Dr Enver Sajjad, Asif Farrukhi and Ahmed Mubarak. It was a welcome sign that no need was felt to baptise Manto as a true-brand patriot in order to do that.
It is a fact that Manto was not happy over the Indian policy on Kashmir. He thought that the Kashmiris should decide their own fate. In those days Manto's stance was not liked by some progressives and he was branded 'reactionary'. I believe that Manto had every right to disagree with his friends and there was no need to 'ostracise' him as was done.
I am happy that the Government of Pakistan's stand on Kashmiris' right to be a party to the dispute is closer to what Manto thought to be the right position. Manto's letters to Jawahar Lal Nehru - like his letters to Uncle Sam - should be read as Manto's deeply felt feelings on the issue.
Manto, belonging to a Kashmiri family, had a natural love for the Valley of his ancestors. In fact all right-thinking people would like to side with - Manto on this point.
What made Saadat Hasan Manto a conscientious writer standing on the side of the exploited and downtrodden, was his fearless antagonism towards hypocrisy which characterised the elitist sections of the society. There was a time from 1933 to 1938 when Manto wrote like a Marxist writer. His feature 'Karl Marx' testifies to my opinion. Besides his many short-stories - particularly those about sex-workers - are quite hard on those social bigwigs who don't hold themselves responsible for the presence, sustenance and proliferation of this pitiable lot.
His speech at the Bhageshwani College, Bombay (now Mumbai), is the living testimony of the fact that he though that there was no alternative to one's being on the side of those who were relegated to the section of the downtrodden population. He thought that all great religions, including Islam, were on the side of the weak and poor. In the case of Islam it was the moral obligation of the rich and affluent to take care of the needs of the poor. It was only when the rich and strong section of the population turned its back on the poor that the social tensions, leading to class antagonism, became inevitable.
There are some writers who have hailed Manto as a writer devoted to the Pakistan Movement, or a Muslim patriot. Yes, he was a bit of everything that concerned the weak section of the population but there is an unmistakable piece of writing which proves that he didn't subscribe to the idea that the communal problem had been solved in totality in August 1947 as a significant part of the Muslims of the sub-continent was left out to treat itself as part of the Indian nation. This is a point which Ayesha Jalal has also made time and again not because she is the daughter of Manto's nephew, Hamid Jalal, but for the reason that this is what she would like to believe in.
So everyone of us in welcome to draw his/her conclusions by being a bit selective in gathering his/her data. It is the interpretation of the selective data which could explain away the plurality of conclusions. However, the hallmark of a good research should be to take up for consideration every bit of the conflicting data and reach the conclusion in a disinterested manner. It is not good to validate one's hypothesis by way of proving right one's own premeditated deduction.
Asif Farrukhi contested Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik's view of Manto in his recent publication on Manto. He thought that it was not proper to hail Manto only if it was proved that he corroborated. Professor F.M. Malik's viewpoint.
I believe that Professor Malik is a well-meaning person and with a bit of further elucidation on his part, the haziness in his viewpoint could give way to clarity of vision.
MOIN AHSAN JAZBI: Well known Urdu poet Moin Ahsan Jazbi (born August 2, 1912; Died February 15, 2005) passed away in Aligarh at the age of 83. Jazbi was from Azamgarh (U.P) but got early education in Jhansi and then went to St. John's College, Agra. He served as an Urdu translator in Bombay and as a school teacher in Bhopal. He passed his M.A. in Urdu and served as assistant editor of Ajkal. In 1945 he joined the Urdu Department of Aligarh Muslim University - and did his Ph. D. in Urdu on the topic 'Hali Ka Siyasi Shaoor'.
Jazbi's first pseudonym was 'Malal'. Shaukat Thanvi is said to have prevailed upon him to have 'Jazbi' as his pseudonym.
His two collections Farozan and Sukhan-i-Mukhtasar became popular with the readers. His ghazal containing the couplet:
WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS: One of his ghazals beginning with the following couplet was attributed to Bahadur Shah Zafar - the last king of Delhi. It was:
It pains me to reflect that only one or two Pakistani papers published the news item about Jazbi's death. Even the Aligarh Old Boys community remained silent on the death of someone who chose to die in Aligarh, rather than in the city of his birth.
Jazbi's serene, lyrical and absorbing voice will be missed by all those who regarded him as one of the most genuine poets of the progressive movement. He should be ranked as a distinctive voice from Makhdum Mohiuddin, Majaz Lucknawi and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He was respected throughout the Urdu-speaking world.
AGHA SOHAIL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Eminent short-story writer and critic Agha Sohail's autobiography Khak Ke Parde, published by Irteqa matboat, Karachi, has caused ripples. As we know Agha Sohail is a beautiful pen. The way he has written about his childhood and youthful days is simply fantastic. He has created the socio-cultural and intellectual atmosphere of a dying culture.
My thought immediately went to Christopher Candwell's Studies in a Dying culture, published in the mid' 30s last century. Christopher Candwell has taken up authors, not cities. Agha Sohail has chosen Luchknow and Oudh and has done justice to the task.
His reminiscences, now in a book form, were published in Payam Shahjehanpuri's fortnightly Taqazey, Lahore. Alas, Payam Shahjehanpuri expired on March 16 in Lahore and his fortnightly seems to have died with him. Payam Shahjehanpuri's decision to publish Agha's reminiscences was correct. Payam Bhai, as he was lovingly called, was an enlightened scholar of religion and contemporary history. He did a lot to defend Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's thoughts.
It is one thing to deride feudalism but quite another to paint it in its dying moments. I am afraid that in some honest objectors' opinion it was not productive to do so. Why do they forget that Madam Bavary was liked by enlightened readers just for the reason that it portrayed the rural France the way no other French writer had done. Even Marx was appreciative of Madam Bavary. Should one deduce therefrom that he was fond of the life of the remenants of the aristocratic backyard. Far from it. He used it as an index of the turmoil characteristic of that society.
Agha Sohail has not glamorised feudalism or feudal culture. He has rather concluded that it was fated to died away.
'Kahak Ke Pardey' is a book of reminiscences of a writer who is opposed to the dehumanising aspects of feudalism. I don't agree with the contention of a reviewer that the book smacked of the writers' lament on the dying culture he has portrayed.
I liked Agha Sohail's book and regard it as one of the best narratives of the life in Lucknow just before and after the partition. I believe we need readers who should appreciate cultural studies like this one so that our social scientists had enough of material to draw upon for their studies. There is no harm if positive elements of the dying culture were focused.
Agha Sohail's book of reminiscences is an interesting book and should be studied by all who want know about Lucknow that it was at the turn of the second half of the 20th century.
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