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issue interview
Notes of success Art in Urdu
The recent death of two Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, has hurt the composite dialogue between the two countries By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed At a time when a body comprising retired judges of India and Pakistan was discussing the release of prisoners languishing in each other's jails, the dead bodies of two Pakistanis had reached already Wagah border. Abdul Aleem, who was in his late 20s and Rashida Bibi, 60, had breathed their last in different Indian prisons where they had been detained on different charges. At Wagah the relatives of
the deceased were raising slogans against the Indian government and No doubt these deaths have hurt the ongoing composite peace dialogue between the two countries which are also working on a protocol to streamline the exchange of prisoners amongst them. The strongest reaction has obviously come from the general public and the right-wing parties of Pakistan who are calling for an immediate tit-for-tat action. The voices of condemnation that rose after the release of Indian spy Kashmir Singh are getting louder, now asking for immediate hanging of another Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh. Sarabjit, convicted of committing terrorist acts inside Pakistan, is on death row and detained in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. His hanging has been deferred indefinitely by the president. Abdul Aleem had strayed into the Indian territory in 2001, while Rashida was taken into custody in 2006 by the Indian Narcotics Department officials at Attari. Officials claimed she was trying to smuggle drugs on Samjhota Express. The relatives of the deceased claim that both the victims were innocent and had been detained by Indians merely on suspicion. They told media that Aleem was a patient of schizophrenia and Rashida a regular visitor to India from where she returned with legal merchandise every time. Her two daughters who accompanied her on this journey were also arrested with her and are still lodged in Amritsar jail. Some weeks ago the dead bodies of two Pakistanis, Khalid Mehmood and Muhammad Akram, who were detained in India, had reached Wagah border. Human rights activists, in both the countries, have strongly disapproved the maltreatment of prisoners, sometimes even leading to death, and called for immediate measures to improve the situation. Brig (retd) Rao Abid Hameed, Coordinator, Penal Reforms Projects, Human Rights Commision of Pakistan (HRCP) tells TNS that the lack of consular access to prisoners and the unwillingness of the two countries to accept them, if charged with espionage and terrorism, as their nationals are the major reasons for the ordeal faced by these hapless people. "For example," he says, "only the Indian prisoners in the jails of Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi have consular access and similar is the case in India. Ideally, every Indian prisoner in Pakistan and Pakistani prisoner in India should have consular access. Secondly, these countries must own such prisoners as their nationals and let their relatives know about their whereabouts and the charges levelled against them," he adds. Abid says it's a pity that no exact number of such prisoners is known as the authorities on both the sides of the border guard it as a highly secretive affair. "It's solely for this reason that there is no clue of a person for years or decades and one fine day he becomes the talk of the town,î he adds. Abid is of the opinion that the recent deaths of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails were natural as India cannot afford to be at the centre of a huge controversy at such a critical time. However, he is quite hopeful that the joint Pakistan-India judicial committee on prisoners will look at all these aspects in detail and come out with the solution to prisoners' woes. Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman, says the government had taken a strong stance on the death of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. He says: "We have asked the Indian government to ensure humane treatment of Pakistani prisoners held in their jails, provision of updated information on Pakistani prisoners and consular access, and early repatriation of specially those Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences." Sadiq says these points have also been covered by the two governments in the Consular Access Agreement signed by the two countries in May 2008. The two countries also exchanged lists on March 31, 2008 according to which there are 147 Pakistani civilians, including 14 fishermen, in Indian jails. Earlier, the Pakistani High Commission had given a list of over 500 Pakistani prisoners in the Indian jails to the Indian authority for seeking information about their status and details. It is understandable why the judicial committee has expressed dissatisfaction over these lists of prisoners as they are not complete and do not mention names and details of all the detainees/prisoners. The committee expects that the procedure for preparation and updating of such lists will be streamlined and the next lists to be exchanged on July 1, 2008 will be complete and without omissions. Such lists shall contain information about the date of arrest, details of sentence, charges under which the prisoner was sentenced and the expected date of release. The committee comprises Justice (retd) Abdul Qadeer Chaudhry, Justice (retd) Fazal Karim, Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal from Pakistan and Justice (retd) Nagendra Rai, Justice (retd) Amarjeet Chaudhry, Justice (retd) A S Gill and Justice (retd) M A Khan from India. The body was formed back in 2007 by the two countries to recommend steps for the humane treatment of prisoners and their expeditious release Taking cognizance of prisoners' deaths, the judicial committee has strongly recommended that women and juvenile prisoners, prisoners terminally ill or suffering from serious illness or physical disability and also the mentally disabled deserve compassionate and humanitarian consideration.
interview Wazir Himayat Hussain hails from the family of Wazirs of Khaplu, a district of northern areas of Pakistan. He has served in Radio Pakistan for 27 long years. These days he lives in Skardu, headquarter of Baltistan region. He remained associated with Balti language programmes much of the time during his service with Radio. His love for Balti music, started in 1976 when he visited his home city Khaplu as radio producer and recorded classical Balti music during a musical event. In 1980s he got an opportunity to work with renowned German researcher Dr Renate Sohenen on Balti Music. Later he also worked with some Japanese music researchers who visited the area to study Batli music. These days he is writing a book on classical Balti Music which, he fears, is on the verge of disappearing due to various factors. Excerpts of an interview with him in Skardu. By Aoun Sahi The News on Sunday: Tell us about the background and details of Balti music? Wazir Himayat Hussain:
Music in Baltistan region also known as Tibet-e-Khurd (little Tibet) was Dr. Renate Sohenen, a German researcher on Balti music writes in her article, published in the Journal of Central Asia, "There are at least three historical layers to which the different parts or kinds of Balti music and folklore belong, indicated by the names on one hand, by stylistic specialty on the other hand. For outsiders like me the most genuine folkloristic traditions seem to be those bearing originally Balti names, for instance the ancient folksongs (Rgyang Khlu), the dancing tunes (Hrtse Kar) bearing name like Mindoq Hltanmo (that is flower festival etc) and, of course, the epical songs (Balti Zdrung Khlu)". Balti people were so fond of music that much of the history and culture of the region was enshrined through folk songs and poetry and even the early preachers of Islam did not forbid them from playing music. Many such folk songs have been lost because these were never written but transferred orally from one generation to the other. There are some folk singers, like Abul Hassan in Shigar valley and Abdul Salam in Khaplu, in Baltistan who can sing 200 folk songs. In Baltistan, poetry is also known as music. They use term 'vocal music' for it which means everything that is recited in special tunes, the songs, those are parts of Kesar epic, ancient folksongs, Devans and Ghazals as well as religious recitations like Qasidas, Behr-e-taweel, Marsias and Nohas have a long tradition in Baltistan. The other form is known as 'instrumental music'. This form includes the ancient dancing tunes like "Mindoq Hltanmo" (flower festival) and the classical hareebs which are more or less similar to the Raga melodies of Indian classical music. TNS: This region is mostly known for polo. Is there any connection between polo and local music? WHH: The music of Baltistan is considered to be incomplete without polo and there is no concept of polo without music. Polo without music is really disliked in Baltistan and is known as Ghot Polo (deaf polo). In the good old days, the local chiefs, called Rajas, used to have their own musicians and polo teams. They had special music for polo and polo players. A day before and on the day of the polo match, all the musicians went to Rajas palace to play classical music. This tradition was called Ratib. From the palace to the polo ground the Raja, polo players and courtiers walked on foot and the horses behind held by servants. During the journey from palace to polo ground, musicians played back four kinds of tunes which were called Lum Sna, Budhi Lum Sna, Rgyalam Chanmo and Lastiang Khunghu. When they entered the polo ground a special and chanting tune called Rawani was played. There are specific names for different situations during the game; the most famous of them is called Staqra which is played after every goal. At the end of the game special tunes of epic songs "Braqna Charaq and Forgon the ponpon" mocking the losing teams was played. Then all the players in the company of Raja left for the palace and musicians used to play special tunes called "Lum Sna". TNS: Who used to patronise musicians in the past in Baltistan? WHH: The local chiefs, popularly known as Rajas, used to patronise music in Baltistan. Every Raja had his own team of musicians, who were given lands and exempted from all kinds of taxes. These musicians were called Mon. In the eras of different Rajas, Baltistan produced several great musicians who experimented with Balti music and invented many Ragas -- Hareeb. In the early time there were 60 Hareeb or Ragas the Balti musicians could play. Ali Sher Khan Anchan, the fifteenth ruler of Maqpon dynasty and the contemporary of Mughal emperor, Akbar the great, had contributed a lot to Balti music. He sent the Balti musicians to the court of Mughals in Delhi, to study and learn the musical tradition there. He also married a mughal princess Gul Khatoon. The Baltis, translated her name into their own language and started calling her Mindoq Rgyallmo, meaning flower queen. Gul Khatoon also brought musicians, artists and engineers with her from Delhi and played an important role in introducing Mughal culture in Baltistan. Under the patronage of such music loving rulers, these musicians invented new Ragas and composed music for the people of the neighbouring states according to their power and status. The music invented and composed for the people of Kashmir is called Khache Chus, for people of Gilgit they invented music known as Broq Chus, for people of Laddakh they created music called Buddh Ghus and for Turks Khor Chus. The Baltis called Khor for the Turks and Khor yul means Turkish central Asia. TNS: What is the situation of Balti music now? WHH: After the decline of Rajas in the region, the culture and the music of Baltistan is in deep trouble. It is in fact dying. The present situation of Balti classical music as well as folklore is deplorable. There are hardly ten musicians and thirty folk artists available to carry this musical and folk tradition. The musicians have no patronage and so a majority of them is forced to leave their traditional profession. I know many classic Balti musicians who are now working as cobblers or carpenters in different areas of the region. One cannot find even a single classical musician in areas like Rondhu valley, Sermik and Chorbat, centres of classical music in the past. There are some classical musicians in the area but they are unable to give full time to music due to economic reasons and that is the reason none of the classical musicians of today can play more than 12 Ragas (Hareeb). Government of Pakistan should come forward and patronise the classical musicians of Baltistan. Otherwise the rich and century-old classical music of Baltistan will disappear soon. As the singers sang the famous numbers of Noor Jehan at the Alhamra last week, one wondered whether this was the best way to pay tribute By Sarwat Ali Programmes that remind us of Noor Jehan's great contribution to popular music are occasionally held at various forums. One such programme was held at the Alhamra last week in which Saima Jehan, Taranum Naz and Suraiya Khanum sang the famous numbers of the singer. Much has been written about
Noor Jehan in periodicals and magazines over the last eight years but In the programme, as the singers sang the numbers of Noor Jehan one wondered whether this was the best way to pay tribute to the great singer. Even her daughter has been capitalising on the mother's contribution, and endearing herself to those who prefer sight over sound. Perhaps, by taking inspiration from her, it would have been musically more productive and more original if new numbers had been sung instead. It is usually thought that the best way to acknowledge someone's greatness is by singing his/her songs; probably a throwback to the classical tradition where the shagirds sung the compositions and rendered the ang of the ustad in a faithful manner to emphasise his contribution. It should always be remembered that in classical music the singing of the composition is only one part of the overall performance; the rest is a display of virtuosity and a command over the finer aspects of music like the exploration of the raag, lai kari, the musical exploitation of the registers and relentless improvisation -- all encouraged by a relatively open format. This khula or azad or maidan ka gana brings a spontaneous freshness to a bandish in a raag sung many times over. In a programme where the
singing is limited to only to a composed form, like a film song, the A very important facet of Noor Jehan's life was that she faced everything alone. She was a brave woman who did not compromise her cherished ideals because of public pressure. She stood up to the right to sing and listen to music in the most trying of times and asserted her freedom to be recognised as the best vocalist of the country, irrespective of gender. She was outspoken and lived her life independently. And this won her notoriety and gave ample opportunity to those who relish the fruits of creativity but refuse to give allowance to the wear and tear that it entails. When she started to sing, film music was still in its infancy. The talkies were being made since the early 1930s but the music was not that great, though the Bengali composers had started to get the hang of the new form that the films demanded. K.L Saigal's breakthrough was a big development and then in 1937 or 1938, as Noor Jehan made her debut as singer, film music was hoicked to a different level altogether. It was then clear that the genre could develop into one that would be significant and in the first decade, both Saigal and Noor Jehan made it certain that it did. Saigal unfortunately died young in 1947 but Noor Jehan lived long enough to see the rise of film music and in the last decade also experienced the sharply changing trends which might have drawn her disapproval. In a way she was present in the fifty years to charter the course of film music and make it almost the most popular musical form in the subcontinent. There was something about film music that it was able to gain popularity. For other forms of music one had to look for them -- the qawwali was mainly held in shrines and the classical forms also had a niche audience while for the ghazal one had to select a salon. Film music was all pervasive and it caught the unsuspecting ears of those indifferent or even hostile to music. All this was before the cassette revolution, which made music independent of the radio and the Seventy-Eight RPM discs. These records were difficult to maintain and expensive to operate while on radio one was dependent on what was being broadcast. But the introduction of the cassette provided the first truly inexpensive access to listening to what one liked. And film music was definitely heard the most. Noor Jehan ruled in the first fifty odd years of film music -- she had no competitors in Pakistan while in India both Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Boshle acknowledged her pioneering role in moulding the new form of film music. Lata Mangeshkar even emulated Noor Jehan and her first numbers remind you of Noor Jehan. Many music composers announced the death of film music when she decided to shift to Pakistan and one even wept. Surely her inspiration can be expressed in more creative ways than merely mouthing her numbers. Shafee Aqeel's recent books may well be classified as a private history of Pakistani art By Quddus Mirza Books have a strange effect on people. Often they offer a substitute for human presence/absence, besides recording, documenting and presenting human expressions. On second thoughts, books are nothing more than frozen thoughts and preserved discussions. And probably, because of this, one may get the feeling of having a dialogue with the author. In that sense, when one
examines the books on art in Pakistan, one comes across a strange However, it was not always the. In the early days of Pakistan, a number of our writers (including Intizaar Hussain and Muzaffar Ali Syed) wrote on art and artists. Mainly due to their close contacts with painters such as Shemza, Shakir Ali and Zahoor ul Akhlaq, they were able to communicate with the artists and translate their ideas and imagery in a vocabulary that was simple, clear and easily understood by masses. Over the years, writing on art in Urdu has become a scarce activity, and one hardly comes across a good exhibition review or an article on some aspect of art. Normally the publications in Urdu do not encourage a page on art; due to its supposedly limited interest or lack of writers. All these assumptions, difficulties and disappointments do not exist for Shafi Aqeel. For years he has been writing in Urdu dailies and now compiling his articles in various volumes. Two of his recent books are: Tasvir aur Musavir and Musaviri aur Musavir, published by Academy Baazyaft, Karachi. The same publisher published his previous writings and it seems that this series will continue, till all his articles are collected and preserved in a book form. Apart from the uniqueness of these books, their language, these volumes provide a deeper insight into the process of art and a thorough introduction to modern and contemporary artists of the country. Aqeel comments on different exhibitions held in Karachi but his writing reflects an analytical approach. In these books, several articles on a single artist are combined to make one piece, and within these the author supplies an account of that artist's development of ideas, change of imagery and his/her progress as a professional. For example in Tasvir aur
Musavir five articles (from June 15, 1981 to November 2, 1998) on Naheed Raza
are collected as one piece. Here Aqeel discusses the social context of her
work, her feminist stance, formal elements in her paintings, and a comparison
with other artists. The text becomes One interesting aspect of these collected essays is the candid nature of writing, with intimate information and details of personal encounters with most of the artists. Shafi Aqeel has been associated with the world of art critics for such a long time that, together, the two books can be described or classified as a private history of Pakistani art. With his vast knowledge of artists' lives, background of their styles and overview of later works, the two volumes lend a valuable material in a language that is interesting and easily comprehensible. Beyond the fact of writing in Urdu, it is the manner of writing on art that distinguishes Shafi Aqeel from other critics. It is often observed that art critics rely on a complex language embedded with obscure words and difficult terms. In a way it is an attempt to mystify art, thus pushing it away from an ordinary reader's understanding. Writing on art has been reduced to an exclusive practice, mainly for other contributors, but certainly not for the artists ñ people who should be the immediate addressees of the text. Shafi Aqeel not only liberates the language of art from English to Urdu, but also presents a free, friendly and fine diction. This is a great service, since it is often thought that writing on art in Urdu is an impossible task and any such effort either turns into a sample of flowery diction or a highly complex text loaded with Arabic ad Persian words. In contrast, Aqeel's expression is fluent, engaging and honest. These qualities save his prose from being boring, irrelevant or irritable. In addition, Aqeel addresses a number of real issues and covers crucial points in each artist's life and work. Even though most of the articles initially appeared as journalistic writings in Jang and Akhbar-e-Jehan, Shafi Aqeel has infused a reflective tone in his text. Sometimes it is the author who ponders upon the questions of a creative process; and at other places it is the statement of artists that surprises a reader. Often these comments are unpredictable and controversial too, like Moyene Najmi's line on female artists: "In my personal opinion no woman can become a good painter. This is not my view but I believe in it, which can be proved through the history of art". One may disagree with Najmi, but nuggets like this make the prose of Shafi Aqeel, delicious, digestive and desirable.
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some Pakistani human rights activists who had got an Indian spy released on
humanitarian grounds and pressurised the government to defer hanging of
another. Their point was that, instead of reciprocating with goodwill
measures, the Indians were torturing Pakistani prisoners and dispatching dead
bodies after frequent intervals. The Indian authorities, meanwhile, are not
ready to accept that the deaths were caused by torture and term them natural.
introduced by the follower of Buddhism before 700 AD. They were believed to
be the first who settled in this region permanently around the same period
(before 700 AD) and music being an essential component of their religion
(Buddhism) was also brought by them in Baltistan region. After the advent of
Islam in this area, through Persian and Central Asian Muslim preachers' in
the 14th century, the local music also derived a great influence from Persian
as well as Central Asian music. The ragas of Balti music are known as Hareeb
which has been derived from a Persian word "harb" meaning war. Most
of these Hareebs contain Persian and Turkish titles such as Yagah, Dogah,
Segah, Chahargah, Panjgah, Zikri, Nobat, Duldul Saqila, Daur mala, Maghloob,
Ozal and Shamduri and many others. Similarly musical instruments like Karnai,
Surnai or Shehnai were also introduced in Baltistan by Persians and people
from Central Asia.
a comprehensive study on her music is still awaited. A few documentaries too
have been made with footage from her life as a musician, her riyaz sessions
and her chronological advancement through the years of her career. But
neither a film nor a book has appeared that does full justice to the singer
who sharpened the aesthetic responses of many and filled the purposeless
lives of many more with sheer joy.
rendition by any other person even a shagird seems only to be a pale
imitation of the original. Within this format it is well nigh impossible to
deviate from the asthai antaras format set to a tune and a rhythmic cycle. It
would be much better if these singers sing their own numbers and establish a
musical continuity with their great forebear. It will also help them to break
the mould that is still very much intact. The next great singer will have to
break the mould but, as long as the younger singers continue to render
verbatim the popular numbers, this breaking of the mould will remain a
distant possibility.
situation. Even though most of our artists, critics, educationists and
students talk about art in Urdu, majority of writing on art is in English,
language not easily accessible to several practitioners and viewers of art.
Thus the art discourse that is held in a serious, earnest and intelligent
manner, fails to have any deeper or visible impact on the art world.
alive with the casual, simple, yet thought-provoking prose, often supported
with the comments from the artist. The other book Musaviri aur Musavir
includes articles on early masters such as A. R. Chughtai, Sadequain, Ali
Imam, Anwar Jalal Shemza, along with a section on foreign artists who have
showed in Pakistan -- starting from M. F. Hussain and F. D. Souza to Gregory
Minissale. The book also consists of essays on different aspects and issues
of art, such as abstraction, symbolism, survival problems for young painters,
art marketing, art and its cultural context and art education.