The Fifth Alami Urdu Conference has made it clear that the Arts Council of Pakistan is still the Arts Council of the Federal Capital of Arts as the founder of the Council had envisaged. It is no longer working as the headquarters of a provincial body.
Delegates from India, Britain, the US and Turkey truly turned this event into an international show. The inaugural session of the conference confined itself to the welcome address of the President of Arts Council, Muhammad Ahmed Shah and a vote of thanks presented by Secretary Professor Aijaz Farouqui with some references of the Urdu literature from Pakistan and India on the stage.
What could be the welcome and thanks speeches except satisfaction that speakers derived from the success of the Fifth International Urdu Conference and their joy on the response of men of letters and Karachiites to make it a memorable event for the city and the country. No other Arts Council or even Pakistan Academy of Letters, or Anjuman Taraqui-e-Urdu has held annual conferences of this scale. I think that Karachi emerges as the hub of literary and cultural activities and the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi deserves whole-hearted praise for the grandeur and variety which it has been bringing to the city of Karachi year after year.
The opening session had Aijaz Farouqui, Muhammad Hussain Syed, Anwar Sajjad, Himayat Ali Shair, Dr Aslam Farukhi, Professor Shamim Hanfi, Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Dr Peerzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Dr Mubarak Ali, Fatima Suraiya Bajya, Mesood Ashar, Kishwar Naheed, Ameena Syed, Dr Varmash Bulgar and Saeed Naqi. Sessions on Manto, Habib Jalib and Miraji along with Zia Mohyuddin and Dr Mubarak Ali were commendable. Other sessions on humour, media sciences, criticism, fiction and poetry were also well received.
There is no doubt that our creations in the realm of fiction and poetry no longer appear creative and lively. Invariably, they don't seem to be well focused on society and barring some poets and fiction writers, it is our main worry. There are more eulogies for writers who cater to the writers of revolving round groups of critics and hence criticism has become painfully biased; whole scene appears divisive and no true picture emerges.
Even after hearing from Dr Shamim Hanfi that unlike India's Urdu literature, Pakistani literature appears to be increasingly focused on socio-economic-political issues.
The Pakistani writers should feel a very few notches higher in their stress on social, economic and political concerns. Inspite of this fact, a good number of writers are avoiding some important issues because they think that politics should have no place in their works. Very few critics are proving that this observation could be believed to be a true admission.
Pakistan is facing scourges of fundamentalism and terrorism based on myopic views of religious interpretations. There are writers who agree with this proposition but very few critics pay attention and dare to criticise fundamentalism. Perhaps, the fear of fundamentalists has made them their co-travellers. It increasingly appears that social scientists have taken much of the territory of literary criticism. The literary critics have become more accommodative towards social evils which should have received more attention from literary critics in evaluating a society which is quite focused on these issues.
It makes me to admit that the Pakistani art forms speak more strongly in fiction and poetry. Some new Pakistani critics are more attuned to the new absurd forms of literature - including criticism - and were busy discussing the problems which have become irrelevant even in France. Poetry has lost its meaning in society.
Dr Mubarak Ali and Zia Mohyuddin I was delighted to see famous thespian Zia Mohyuddin receiving Life-Time Achievement Award. He is a person whose Urdu recital of poetry and prose has bloomed into an Art form. The way he recites brings immense joy to young and old connoisseurs.
It appears that the muse of poetry has descended on the stage. He creates the best possible style which each one of his selected poets would deem as the proper way he would like to be rendered. I met Zia in the late sixties at the residence of our mutual friend Nusrat Ali. The relationship has its own springs and autumns.
The death of Nusrat Ali created a distance which couldn't be converted into physical proximity and then a long gap due to Zia's shifting to England. I have known him to be a very good reader - a clear-headed man who has perhaps made Urdu literature quite fashionable.
I have not seen any other Pakistani language that has created peers for Zia Mohyuddin. I have seen politicians cashing in on linguistic politics revolving round their languages and cultures but no language has produced a person of Zia Mohyuddin's stature.
This is how success has done to their politics based on culture. Now they expect their followers to stick to their mother-tongues while English has become the much preferred language in their houses. What a tragedy! Another feature of the conference was the launch of Dr Mubarak Ali's three books. How can we appreciate 1857 War of Independence without having three perspectives: Muslim, Hindu and the British? Now the perspective of the English Press has also been added to the narrative.
Hindu and Muslim perspectives are not very different from each other's due to Rani of Jhansi and Tantia Topi's struggles along with the Muslim perspective. How can we appreciate the French Revolution without the causes of its euphoria of its early days and disillusionment when Napoleon began to slide towards dictatorship. Wordsworth's early poems and the poems after the disillusionment with revolution show the difference.
Dr Mubarak Ali has rendered an important service to provide us with the other side of our 'heroes' from 18th century to 20th century. But the Indian historians have been able to whiten some of the totally black views Dr Mubarak Ali has offered. It seems that our criticism of our 'heroes' was far more radical and harsher than the real pictures.
I am not defending the black images but am talking about the difference. This is the view of an objective historian. The Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi under Ahmed Shah's presidentship should he congratulated on its laudable achievement.
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