Fault Lines: Stories of 1971

Edited by Niaz Zaman and Asif Farrukhi

Published by University Press Dhaka, 2008

Distributed in Pakistan by Oxford University Press

Pages: 340

Price: Pak Rs 595

The creation of Bangladesh or the fall of Dhaka have been the two perspectives from which the events of 1971 have been viewed in now what remains of Pakistan and what became Bangladesh. The event of traumatic proportion was expected to yield much literature and much literature has been written, mostly in Bangladesh but quite a lot had also been written in Pakistan too, though not publicised or propagated openly. A selection of fiction based on the happenings in 1971 by Asif Farrukhi and Niaz Zaman is an attempt to put together some of those writings in one volume.

Niaz Zaman is a good example of the very complex situation that the country society had pushed itself into. The twenty odd years had created new relationships, intermarriages, joint families and the clear distinction of ethnic division was blurred and ran into each other, often crossing the lines. She moved to West Pakistan with her children and nephew while her husband stayed back in East Pakistan, active in the movement there. She went back in October of the same year and stayed there in fear and anticipation till war and the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country.

The compilation has five perspectives: One, of the people who endured the tragic events living in East Pakistan as it became Bangladesh; second, of the West Pakistanis sitting a thousand miles away; third, of those who had migrated to East Pakistan in 1947 and had to flee or migrate again in 1971 to Pakistan; fourth, of those who were put in camps in the new Bangladesh; a fifth perspective too has been added by the inclusion of two diasporic writers to suggest how 1971 crossed borders, continents and oceans.

According to Inez Samna many novels have been written about 1971 and all major Bangladeshi novelists having written at least one novel if not more. 'Golden Age' by Tahmima Anam being the only one in English. Many of the stories that have been written are graphic in nature, basically depicting the tragic events as they happened. The characters of these short stories have been drawn from a wide spectrum of society and these were the people who had become victims to the use of force in 1971. Usually the subject matter is the atrocities that were committed, that of arson, rape and the general uprooting of people that brings so much misery in its wake.

But, when victory came, the quisling remained and Mujibur Rahman, the father of Bangladesh, released from prison, pardoned all collaborators, angering people who had suffered at their hand. Mujibur Rahman was killed and Bangladesh saw the crumbling of the five pillars on which the new state had been founded. The secular and socialistic aspirations were given a decisive blow.The stories are not just about 1971 war but also about those who fought and about those who died , about women who were raped and who were killed but also about the failure of the war to live up to the its promise. The gold was tarnished.

The perspective of the West Pakistani writers was quite different -- of having lost something that was their very own, of being caught by surprise due to the happenings in East Pakistan and of being unawares of what was told to them had been happening in East Pakistan.

Perhaps a comparison could be made with independence of 1947. The writings in West Pakistan about those happenings were very copious but there had been no commensurate output in East Pakistan. The Bengali literature written in West Bengal was larger in output and broadly reflected a sense of loss at the partition of Bengal. But whatever little literature was written about 1947 in East Pakistan was soon taken over creatively by the events of 1952 and the language movement. It was not surprising that the events of 1971 also evoked different literary responses. It was a major theme for all writers in Bangladesh, famous and not so famous, senior and fledging writers all have contributed their share to create a vast body of work. Some of the work had been written even when the war was going on. Perhaps the first novel to be written about 1971 was Anwar Pasha's 'Rifle Roti Aurat.' Anwar Pasha did not live to see the liberation of Bangladesh; he was picked up from his apartment and killed.

It is still being felt by intellectuals like Kabir Chaudry that greater heights remained to be achieved as Bangladeshi writers are too close to the event and time is needed to allow the perspective for such an attainment. The positive values of the liberation war fritted away and dissipated because of our own weaknesses and the conspiracy of world imperialism before they could create an ineffable impact on the psyche of the people.

The writers in West Pakistan had been touched by the event. Even in 1971 Ahmed Salim was part of a small scale agitation against the official version of what was happening in East Pakistan and was put behind bars. The stories written were abstract and experimental rather than traditionally realistic.

The writers whose short stories have been included in the selection from Pakistan are Naeem Aarvi, Saleem Akhter, Masood Ashar, Asif Farukkhi, Aamer Hussain, Intizar Hussain, Aamer Jalil, Ibrahim Jalees, Asad Muhammed Khan, Hasan Manzar, Masud Mufti, Sultan Jamil Nasim, Tariq Rehman, Ahmed Salim. Writers from Bangladesh are Niaz Zaman, Neeman Sobhan, Ahmed Saadi, Rizia Rahman, Kazi Fazlul Rahman, Shaukat Osman, Bharati Mukherjee, Gholam Muhammed, Mohan Kalpana, Shahriar Kabir, Khademul Islam, Syed Manzoorul Islam, Hasan Azizul Haq, Selina Hossain, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Saleha Chowdhury, Parag Chowdhury, Afshan Chowdhury, Purabi Basu, Umme Amara, Shaheen Akhtar and Humayun Ahmed.

Urdu Ghazal -- Nai Tashkil

By Tariq Hashmi

Pages: 366

Price: Rs.200

Published by National Book Foundation Islamabad

Tariq Hashmi, a promising poet, has published his Ph.D. research titled 'Urdu Ghazal -- Nai Tashkeel.' The book traces the evolution of urdu ghazal -- its origin, definition and the history of the poetic form todate.

Ghazal has always been perceived as an art form meant to express romantic themes. It meant, we were taught, "conversing with women." Hashmi tells us that this concept bears its roots in Arabic dictionary. He points out the inherent difference between a 'word' and a 'term.' The term ghazal takes its meaning from music and not literature. Hazrat Ameer Khusro termed one of his invented 'ragas' as 'ghazal.' A book of bible 'Song of songs' has been translated as 'Ghazal ul Ghazaliyat'. While questioning the validity of the hypothesis that ghazal is an off-shoot of Qasidah he advocates a more intent probe into the subject.

The most significant finding of his research is that Hakim Sanai Ghaznavu, and not Rodky, was the first ever ghazal poet in Persian. He then explores the ancient and the modern periods with a specific emphasis on our post-partition ghazal. The stress of the book is on trends rather than individuals. An impressive selection of couplets makes the work an interesting read. The author's preference for the poets of the 1970s can not be ignored but by and large the book is an impartial account of different phases in the development and growth of Urdu ghazal.

One finds an unnecessary bashing of Urdu nazm in the book. According to the writer, poem is a planned conspiracy of the British. The argument being that since the metaphorical element in Ghazal doesn't unfold easily it was a suspicious form in the eyes of the British rulers. Referring to Altaf Hussain Hali, who advocated simplicity and inclusion of nature to enrich ghazal, the author finds imperialistic conspiracy at work even here. 'Anjuman-e-Punjab', 'Aligarh Tehrik', 'Progressive Writers' Movement' and even 'Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq' -- all became victims of an inferiority complex in owning and practicing ghazal. To him, the transitory period when Urdu poets turned to ghazal was primarily on account of their quest to define Hind-Islamic culture and its relevance in our perspective. He also declares the scientific advances more horrifying then consoling asserting that this progress has harmed the relevance of ghazal. In the concluding paragraph, Hashmi declares ghazal as the 'futuristic poetic form' bound to live as long as Urdu.

If we retrospectively view our literary history, it's been 'nazm' poets and advocates who have condemned ghazal. Kalim-ud-Din Ahmad and Josh dismissed it as an orthodox genre while in the decade of 1960s, it was more comprehensively rejected.

It has to be recognised that the sources of inspiration for a ghazal poet originate from his interaction with a world which is radically different from the sluggish sedate times when ghazal reigned. We need exceptional temper and deep wisdom to recognise the fact that ghazal is no more the centre of the Urdu poetic universe. It is, however, undeniable that the majority of our poets still tenaciously adhere to conventional forms while our readers are only tolerant casual onlookers. Zafar Iqbal is of the opinion that our reader has no time for lengthy reading and hence our poets must prefer ghazal to facilitate him. But this means our fiction writers should be persuaded to stop writing. An aspect of this dangerous conjecture is that a poet must tailor his creative pursuits in favour of readers and not vice versa.

Nazm took off majestically during the decade of 1930s and those practising it proved that ghazal did not offer enough breathing space. The man in our society has witnessed the most turbulent period of our history over last four decades. The basic principle of these tremendous strides in socio-economic activity favours in literature the return to precision and beauty within the limits of poetic reason and to values which have received the stamp of universal spirit. Such developments subject our writers to go for a battery of experiences which are simply too huge to fit in the ghazal alone. That is why we find even the most ardent advocates and practitioners of ghazal, so often turning to more modern forms like poem and prose-poem. Insistence on validity of only one form is a harsh opinion refusing to appeal to the saner literati.

The current works in ghazal display a monotony and repetition giving the impression that this time-tested form is exhausting gradually. Its significance can not be ruled out since our collective past and conditioned psyche would always derive an aesthetic pleasure from ghazal. It would also keep fulfilling the demand of a part of the creative self of our poets. If poetry is the artistic expression of a human situation, then it must be confessed that it is impossible without nazm. Inspite of being a young form Urdu poem has a far more enviable tradition to boast of. Rashed, Meera Ji, Majeed Amjad, Akhtar ul Iman, Mohammad Salim-ur-Rehman, Gilani Kamran and an entire cluster of brilliant poets of the following generation have so majestically contributed to the establishment of the genre that it makes no sense to declare such a marvellous form a product of inferiority complex. And yes when we cannot isolate our society from the global influence, how can we isolate ourselves from the world's literary trends?

The 100-year old Government College of Faisalabad has recently been awarded the status of university. The institution has always played a significant role in promoting city's academic and cultural life.

The university recently organised an international seminar on the role of language, literature and culture in the formation of national identity participated by a number of writers and scholars from across the globe.

Lahore was represented at the seminar by Dr. Anwar Sadeed, Dr. Tabassum Kashmiri, Shahzad Ahmad, Attiya Saeed, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Dr. Nasir Abbas Nayyar and Khalid Sanjrani while Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqui and Professor Zafar Iqbal came from Karachi. Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, Kishwar Naheed and Dr. Rasheed Amjad joined from Islamabad. Dr. Tahir Taunsvi, Sameera Ijaz and Nasim Abbas came from Sargodha.

Many friends who came from Multan included Dr. Robina Tareen, Kazi Abid and Nasrullah Nasir Dr. Yousaf Khushk who edits a high-grade research Journal title 'Almas' and heads Urdu department of the Khairpur's Shah Abdul Latif University and Professor Sabir Kalorvi, chairman of the Peshawar University's Urdu department also honoured the seminar with their presence and read their papers.

The D.G.Khan born Professor Gopi Chand Narang who completed his term as elected chairman of the Indian Academy of Letters past week and is widely eulogised for his efforts to promote Urdu language in India, came from New Delhi. He was accompanied by Prof. Mushirul Hasan, who is the vice-chancellor of the Jamia Millia and is rated as one of the best Indian historians on the medieval period, and Rakhshinda Jalil who is also associated with the Jamia.

Soya Mane, another participant, came from Japan where he is associated with the Osaka University's Research Institute for world languages. He presented a paper on the early history of Urdu.

Many of these participants advocated the view that religion and language play a decisive role in the formation of national identity. Literature of a nation reflects human relations developed by its society as well as its passions, aspirations, dreams and fears. It therefore, becomes an intrinsic part of the national identity.

Professor Mushirul Hasan was of the view that religious identity of Pakistan was based on a constructed consciousness that was promoted by bureaucracy and politicians to safeguard their vested interests. But now regional consciousness is developing and will soon replace the religious identity.

Professor Gopi Chand Narang emphasised the role of language in the formation of national identity. Urdu, he said, is widely spoken in our South Asian region and is the common heritage of the people of the region. It cannot be associated with any one religion. Muslims, Hindus and others belonging to various other faiths have contributed to its development. Mother-tongue Urdu speakers are a small part of the Pakistani population, but the language has became lingua franca in all the provinces of the country.

Narang also alluded to the significance of Pakistani languages, especially Punjabi, Seraiki and Sindhi which, he said, have fine and rich literary traditions. Literature created in these languages over the centuries carries the message of peace, universal love and tolerance. The poetry of these language, he averred, is antidote to the hard-headed religious extremism that has endangered all the fine things civilisation has produced.

A mushaira was arranged by Dr. Anwar Ahmad on the evening prior to the seminar. Shahzad Ahmad was requested to preside over the mushaira ably conducted by Arif Hussain Arif, one of the teachers at the university .

It was a pleasant surprise to hear Dr. Tabassum Kashmiri and Dr. Tahir Taunsvee recite their pieces. Despite my long friendship with them I was ignorant of the fact that besides penning tomes on criticism and history of literature, they also composed poetry. Other poets who participated in the mushaira were mostly young poets from Faisalabad with their delightfully fresh and engaging verse.