I am sure that literature and law are not as poles apart as generally considered. Marx based his study of society on scorer of literary works. Toynbee, too, has used literature as a source material for history. Hence it is not only the letter 'L' which is common to law and literature but a wide spectrum of works of literature has been used by law-makers throughout the world for updating the law. Quite a few British commissions on such issues as urban poverty and slum life owed their genesis to Dickens' novels, and other works of literature.
Perhaps the works of literature act as the epicentre of social convulsions and abnormalities, paving the way for legal remedies.
Chief Justice (R) Ajmal Mian's book "A Judge Speaks Out" brings to light many facts which startle us. Is our society alive to the dangers of living without law as Justice (R) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim so eloquently summed up in his extempore speech. There are scores of literary works which have successfully or not so successfully portrayed the society we are living in. I can cite scores of short stories, novels and poems which have been written as the reaction to Martial Law. Take for instance women's struggle for equal human rights in the early 80s or literature on Bhutto's death or the vogue of symbolic movement after 1958.
The literary response was unmistakably there. Mustansar Husain Tarar's Rakh, Abdullah Husain's Nadar Log, some of Zahida Hina's stories, Nasim Syed's Aadhi Gawahi and a good number of articles and poems in 'Ehtasab' and "Khushbo Ki Shahadat" deal with numerous aspects of a period which don't find space in legal judgments but needless to say, some of the legal judgments of the period throw ample light on the state of affairs. It is rightly said that honest and impartial judges speak through their judgments. Chief Justice (R) Ajmal Mian's book "A Judge Speaks Out" is surely one such book. One may safely conclude that one could have 'judges' who, through their verdicts, try to stem the slide towards the downhill journey.
Chief Justice (R) Ajmal Mian's verdicts against the Executive's high handed actions e.g. release of Ms. Benazir Bhutto in the Martial Law regime, his landmark judgments over the uniform legal system in civil cases in Balochistan, in the Judges case declaring seniority not executive discretion as the sine qua non for judges' promotion, Human Rights in Emergency, are important landmarks along with the principle of exemption from Zakat deduction to members of all schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Besides his emphatic judgment regarding the separation of Judiciary from the Executive proves the print which Justice (R) Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim very aptly pointed: Some judges are pliant; and some refuse to be ones. The Executive has always wanted to use judiciary, he said, to harass the Opposition. It is an irony of fate that whenever the Opposition moves over to the Treasury Benches, it also does the same thing.
Justice (R) Jawaid Iqbal, who presided over the function, thought that Chief Justice (R) Ajmal Mian had some where said that the Judges should speak through their Judgments and he has lived up to this maxim. His book "A Judge Speaks Out" was not an autobiography but a Judgment on the state of affairs obtaining in the country. I think that the book "A Judge Speaks Out" should be read as a social commentary along with some works of literature which seem to be acting as the proof of a discernible literary trend. It supports the view point that a people living without law, as Justice (R) Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim summed up, were condemned to live a life bereft of dignity. No nation could inculcate patriotism in its people if the people have reasons to believe that they couldn't get legal remedies against the arbitrary decisions of the Executive.
One is reminded of Winston Churchill when, apprehensive of the war clouds getting thicker and thicker, he had said that there was no reason for feeling perturbed so long our courts were free.
Churchill got Nobel Prize for Literature. His "History of the World War II" was adjudged as the masterpiece of literature but his faith in the British Common Law and its fearless interpretation by the courts proves the point that a society without law is a dead one.
Chief Justice (R) Ajmal Mian spoke in the end. Quite expectedly he didn't speak on the book but on the state of judiciary. He was not happy over the situation and he also pleaded for complete freedom for an institution which was a pre-requisite for national integration.
The Baadban factor
'Baadban' is a prominent literary journal. Edited by Nasir Baghdadi, an important short story writer, its 9th issue is a good indication of the difference which quality editing makes.
Apart from some polemical writings which have made it an anathema for many an Urdu writer for some good reasons, it's hallmark is an unusually good harvest of short stories, poems, ghazals, translations and analytical studies of works of art and critical writings.
'Baadban' enjoys the cooperation of all the important writers of the sub-continent and quite a good number of it's articles are also available on the internet for the overseas readers.
The issue under discussion contains Prof. Gayan Chand's article on Qazi Abdul Wudood's editing and style. Baqar Mehdi's article on Ali Sardar Jafri is interesting. Baqar Mehdi enjoys the reputation of being a candid writer. He doesn't spare Sardar Jafri for many of his 'somersaults'. Sardar Jafri's fans are not going to feel happy over Baqar Mehdi's allegations but the fact remains that some writers believe in calling a spade a spade. In our tropics this forthrightness is usually deferred till the death of a writer.
However, some writers have been uttering 'bitter' truths about their contemporaries. It is only when they are in the dock and facing the onslaught that they don't like it to happen. It is good to be as much cautious about saying unpleasant things about others but the charges should be well-documented. Our Mushaira culture has created adversarial equations among those who think that they were prevented from attending Mushairas by some bigwigs. This breeds ill feelings and I have seen bitter animosities at work on this score.
Now I come to Dr. Hamidi Kashmiri, the ex-Vice Chancellor of Srinagar University, and poet - critic of repute. He is a post-modernist but his article on Mir Taqi Mir's consciousness exhibits no such bias in his writing. Abu Saadat Jaleeli's Iqbal Ka Masih-i-Jahangiri and Nasir Baghdadi's Albert Camus' stories are good pieces.
This issue has some bitter comments about Wazir Agha. Eversince Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi - Wazir Agha's literary duel started in the 70s our literary scene has become a bit clouded. All one could wish was to see this very sad polemic coming to an end.
Now we come to a book on Dr. Mirza Hamid Beg's 'scholarship' on T.S. Eliot and Aziz Ahmed.
Penned by Dr. Siddiq Jawaid, known for his magnum opus 'Iqbal - Nai Tafheem' he has torn Dr. Baig to pieces. Titled Natqa Sar Ba Gareban, this book is being talked about in the literary circles these days.
Another book which has hit the Urdu literature's dwindling market is Prof. Saifullah Khalid's Shahab Be-Naqab. I read this book with a feeling of awe. I wish Ata-ul-Haq Qasimi had published the article when it was sent in that form for his journal. Definitely it would have been more focused in that form. The picture that emerges of Qudratullah Shahab of "Shahab Namah" is quite said. An idol for many seems to have been broken and along with him many a reputation have suffered incalculable damage.
I wish Prof. Saifullah Khalid could restrain himself from publishing this book. Qudratullah Shahab is no more there to clarify many of the accusations he has been charged with. After all who could do that when Mumtaz Mufti and Ibne Insha were not there as well.
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