Sindh Ombudsman Yousaf Jamal has called upon the national financial and commercial institutions to come forward and save the dying tradition of patronising creative literary work. He was speaking at a press conference held at a local hotel on Tuesday to brief the media on the launch of 'NBP Award for Excellence in Literature'.
He said that there was gloom and despondency on the literary front in Pakistan "as people have become indifferent" to creative work. Many known literary journals that had cultivated the atmosphere for scholarship and of critical thinking closed down for want of patronage and support from the readers of quality literature. Commercialism swayed over creative writing that had a tradition and a relationship with the civilised living of men of letters, and glossy magazines replaced them.
He said that respect for written words had lost its relevance in today's fast moving commercial world. "The literary journals which created the taste of the early Pakistani literate society in favour of creative and meaningful writings have either closed down or are fighting for survival by simply taking out dummy issues."
Jamal said: "It is sad that people have stopped talking about deterioration in arts and literature. They have become insensitive to the need of its revival. The coming Pakistani generation is likely to remain unaware of its rich literary heritage where creative work was the essence of cultured living."
He said, "NBP has taken upon itself the responsibility to save the dying tradition of patronising cultural and sports activities in Pakistan." He said that the NBP has instituted 'NBP Awards for Excellence in Literature' as a first step in the right direction. These prizes will be awarded annually for original work, in national language, in prose, poetry, scholarly writings and literary criticism, and humour and satire. In each category, the winners will get Rs 0.5 as award money. "It will be just a token of recognition of his/her work."
Similarly, there will be four prizes for work in regional languages--Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochi and Pushto. The winners will be given Rs 0.3 million. The Sports and Culture Committee of the NBP will publicise details of the Awards through newspapers. Entries will be received from November 20, 2007 onward. Announcement of the winners will be made on March 7/8, 2008 and the prizes will be given on or around March 23, 2008.
This award distribution will cover works done during 2006-07. Later on, it will be an annual feature and only fresh work would be considered for award. Jamal said that it would be strictly original work that would be considered by the jury. The jury would comprise reputed persons and their identity would be disclosed at the time of award distribution.
He said,"It is not necessary that a writer should send his/her work on his/her own. Any reader can refer a work to the committee. Posthumous awards may also be given." NBP President Ali Raza said that during the past 30 years there had been a persistent neglect of arts and culture in Pakistan.
He said that creative work and acquisition of excellence in the field of arts and culture was not possible without patronage from financially strong institutions. "We at the NBP feel it is obligatory for us to patronise arts, culture and sports in Pakistan. Nations get recognition through their performance and achievements in these fields; whereas, during the past 30 years we have lost whatever we had achieved earlier. We have to regain our lost glory. The NBP will continue to patronise creative work in the field of literature."
Sikandar Jamali, former chief secretary Balochistan and member board of directors NBP, traced the history of the promotion of Urdu literature in the undivided India and said that proper patronage of this heritage in Pakistan could not be made possible. He said, "We have lost much of our heritage and it is time to save it and work for its promotion."