Enlightened literary intellectuals have taken a new task of reorganising, reviving and uniting the fragmented cadres of Progressive Writers Movement, also known as 'Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin' for the betterment of society and plans a one day session in Multan on April 21 to discuss possibilities of revival of movement.
The pioneers of Progressive Writers Movement and known writers, journalists are taking part in the revival session are include Hamid Akhtar, Masud Ashar, Dr Mubarak Ali, Munu Bahi, Professor Dr Salahuddin Haider, Professor Dr Anwar Ahmed, Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, Wahid Bashir, Shah Muhammad Muree, Yousaf Hassan and others.
In the absence of Progressive Writers Movement, the very dominant idea of enjoyment of meaningless literature and poetry is the reflection of a state-quo and mindset created by the decline of civilisation and vulgarisation of culture.
The today's literary creations are not producing knowledge on three key issues which include prejudices including religious and political, command and torture due to lack of unanimity in movement.
The powerful people promotes prejudices of all kinds, then command and finally torture to continue and prolong their rule in the society and damage the entire fabric organised and institutionalised work for people struggle in the absence of well shaped movement. Today, such literature is being developed that how to establish close links and ties between the state and people instead strengthening understandings and relations between the societies and people or people-to-people dialogue.
However, there is a ray of hope that preparatory activities into PWM meeting indicate that spirit of the movement is alive in the country which means that the first and the minimal condition for a regeneration of the movement are there.
The resistance against decaying social system and inequalities has almost vanished from literature and poetry or not reflecting social injustice in poetry which is not only the song as well as declamation; a sweet smile on pair of lips; whispering of the breeze in a rose garden, and the rage of the storm that uproots the trees; the soft fall of dew on the freesia grass, and the torrential rain with thunder and lightning; but also it is the shriek of a martyr tortured in prison; the slogan of the nation breaking the chains of slavery, and the symphony of the march of history.
The fall of progressive writers movement killed the objectivity from Urdu literature by dominating the utopian approaches, flattery to ruling classes and de-politicising the people through visionless tales. The writers are like the seeds holding the heart; the movement provides them the good soil and the right climate to blossom.
Patriotic commitments with soil and nationalism is going lacked from the society due to progressive movement's decline and the environment is generated an aim less literatures while progressive poets, writers were the part of freedom struggle with their words on their lips in the past.
The Progressive Movement was a spectrum of different shades of political and literary opinions with Prem Chand, a confirmed believer in Gandhism at one end, and Sajjad Zaheer, a confirmed Marxist, at the other end. In between them were various other shades including non-conformists, but every one of them interested in the freedom of the speech and glory of literature.
The basic and fundamental postulate of the Progressive Writers Movement is the unity of art, use and beauty. It is not a violent departure from the past or an angry revolt against tradition as such, although they had rejected certain unhealthy and obscurantist trends.
The Progressive Writers Movement needs to analyse the reality that there is a number of issues are agitating the public mind but which the so-called mainstream parties, bogged down with their own class interests, have been unable to raise or have been simply unwilling to raise.
One such issue is that of Karo Kari that is an inhuman custom in which a woman is declared a Karo (characterless), often arbitrarily, is stoned to death and is even deprived of the right of honourable last rites; her body is simply dragged out of the habitation and left somewhere for animals to devour.
The land reforms still waiting for redressal compared to India, which had a semblance of land reforms in the 1950s, Pakistan is deprived of even similar limited measures.
The landlords still dominate the national life, politics with all its disastrous consequences. The need is of radical land reforms, break-up of big landed estates and distribution of land gratis among poor peasants and agricultural workers.
The landlords have adopted two major tactics to protect their property: one, they have got issued from the clergy an edict that land reforms are "anti-Islamic" and, secondly, they have converted the army's top brass into landlords.
What we tried to do is a reiteration of the values getting lost in modern commercial age, or distorted under the weight of the decaying social systems. It is a rediscovery with a new experience and consciousness, and new artistic additions giving fresh vigour to literature as a whole. The false notion should be discarded that a few hot-headed men can get together and launch a literary and artistic movement in the historical.
Progressive writers from Multan, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore would to discuss the agenda and the least development from the one-day meeting is expected to form a permanent committee with its convenor and members to initiate the task and reviving the movement and future activities.
A temporary convening committee comprising Abid Hassan Minto, Haris Khaliq, Dr Najib Jamal, Dr Anwar Ahmed, Rahat Saeed and Wahid Bashir (Karachi) has been constituted for the arrangements.
The present situation underlines the fact that the progressive writers in the country not only need to make fullest possible use of the current reprieve. At the same time, the enlightened writers must be able to evolve suitable and elastic tactics that may steer it in the current situation and in any adverse situation that may come up later. Progressive people are hopeful, rather confident, that their comrades will be able to do it.
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