It was quite refreshing to see that common sense and sanity are getting some allowance in our scheme of things, and the steadily rising curve in the Indo-Pakistan relations has started touching the much-neglected field of literature and culture.
I had the occasion to meet some members of the Indian delegations of writers, artistes and academics who visited Pakistan recently. They were: Prof. K.N. Pannikar, a professor at the University of Kerala, Gohar Raza - a poet and scientist, Shumia Das and his actress wife, Nandita Das, Shabnam Hashmi and Harsh Mandar, an I.A.S. officer who left the Indian bureaucracy in protest against the Gujarat genocide of Muslims. I am convinced that there are many sensitive souls on both sides of the border who have been challenging the communalists courageously.
The Indian visitors thought that the writers, artistes and social activists of both the countries could do a wonderful job by making even-handed criticism of the strong obscurantist wave rising in both the countries.
Literature, it need not be emphasized, cannot afford any shelving of the 'voice of conscience'. The literature portraying the communal frenzy that preceded and accompanied the dawn of freedom in 1947 is a case in point. There were scores of Muslim and Hindu writers who simply refused to take sides and condemned the rioters and arsonists. We may say that some writers went a bit too far. Instead of producing works of merit they sat in judgement and passed verdicts. Quite an understandable attitude considering that they 'beheaded' the rioters well before the courts could give verdicts. Hans Raj Rahbar, Manto, Bedi, Krishan Chandar and Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi produced some good pieces. Needless to say that some writers 'chose' to take sides and hence their works did not make an impact.
I was specially impressed by Dr Harsh Mandar, a writer and former IAS officer. His family hails from Rawalpindi while his wife's family is from Wazirabad. Describing the Gujarat tragedy Harsh Mandar said the way Indian conscience revolted against that carnage was as remarkable as the loathsome role of Narendar Modi's BJP government. He said that the communalization of the state apparatus is the worst development in India which needs to be tackled by social activists in the country. However, this is something the Indian social activists cannot do effectively without the backing of Pakistani writers and social workers. Our reaction should not allow any strengthening of the hands of communalists and fundamentalists in both the countries. Fundamentalists of India help the extremists here and vice versa. Let this vicious chain be broken and the forces of sanity regroup themselves to thwart the nefarious designs of those who want to poison the regional atmosphere.
Dr Harsh Mandar thought that the way history is being distorted in India and Pakistan was deplorable and steps be taken to have a history which should treat the facts as sacred and expunge the deliberate misrepresentations in the books. Why? The fundamentalists are fed on flawed facts and it is imperative to check the distortions and eliminate them to ensure that the flame of communalism is extinguished. Such books may infuse sanity in young minds. A time will come when good alternate books will drive out the cooked up materials from the prescribed books. The Gresham's Law of good coins driving out the bad ones holds goods in this area too.
Prof. K.N. Pannikar, a historian and almost an 'icon' in Kerala - where the common people adore him as a hero, also thought that India was passing through traumatic times and the writers and historians of both countries should guard against the evil of fanaticism and obscurantism so that better sense prevailed. He also thought that the communalization of state apparatus has emerged as problem No. 1 in India. The Indian communalists use Pakistan as a butt of their adversarial propaganda and it is important that intellectuals of both countries kept their cool and didn't allow communalists to take advantage of the worsening situation in one country as a pretext for poisoning the environment in the other.
Gauhar Raza read out his poem. It had a ring of Ali Sardar Jafri's well known poem on the Indo-Pakistan border which sought to substitute the border of hatred with that of friendship and harmony. Gauhar Raza went to the extent of wiping out the 'border' itself, at best it is a poetic dream.
SARWAT ZEHRA: Sarwat Zehra's first collection of poetry, 'Jalti Hawa Ka Geet', is being favourably talked about these days. The Academy of Letters organized functions in Islamabad and Karachi to register its appreciation of the collection recently. The Arts Council of Pakistan also thought it proper to greet her poetry collection.
As I remarked in a meeting at Sadeqain Institute of Calligraphy lawn in the city recently the Academy of Letters' patronage makes a turning point. Nowadays, 'Khirad Afrozi' and 'Roshan Khayali' (enlightenment and progressivism) are no more looked down upon as irrelevant virtues. Rather, the government seems to be interested in promoting the idea that Pakistan is a forward-looking and progressive Islamic country.
The new trend has helped Sarwat Zehra, a doctor by profession and a poetess by volition. I think her collection, Jalti Hawa Ka Geet, merits attention as it has some uncoventional content. Coming as it does from a feminist, the male chauvinists in our society will find it somewhat hot. She seems to be an intellectual follower of Fehmida Riaz and Kishwar Naheed and believes in the social function of poetry.
I believe that she has a secure future. She needs to devote her attention to the rules of the game of Ghazal. She has made good use of the facility of expression which the genre of prose poem offers. What has surprised me is the unusual imagery she has successfully employed in her poetry. An image is the hallmark of modern poetry.
However, Sarwat Zehra's images have an unmistakable pattern of meaning, derived as they are from an unambiguous ideology of equality and equity for all humanity - a pious desire worth expounding time and again in a world which is on its way to becoming a 'global village'.
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