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review
Forgotten history A word about letters
review
Between Dreams and Realities By Sartaj Aziz Publisher: Oxford University Press Pages: 408 Price: Rs 595 When Sartaj Aziz writes a
book it is meant to be taken seriously. He has been one Sartaj Aziz too started his career from the bureaucracy as many successful ones have done either through the military or the civil hierarchies. Sartaj Aziz did so with the civil bureaucracy and then rose rapidly in the ranks and after two decades was in Rome in the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation making policy for not only one country but for the entire world. He then chose to prematurely forego that position, rather opted to join the rough and tumble of politics. He soon found himself representing a government that really had no legitimacy in the first place. It is important to note that Sartaj Aziz was no political worker who had risen through the ranks but a seasoned bureaucrat who started his political career at the very top. He had only to look for a party and he found one which accepted him with open arms. He chose to be a right of centre politician, happy to work with quasi-conservative governments in the country. He stayed at the top: senator, minister of state, and minister, only switching ministries according to the political expediency of the times. He never contested a general election, nor did he stay in the opposition, only as a senator through an indirect election. And when the going really got tough, meaning absence from power, he opted to become a vice chancellor -- quitting politics to become an academician. Like most bureaucrats he was supremely efficient. Others before him -- Ghulam Muhammed, Iskander Mirza, Muhammed Ali, Ghulam Farooq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan -- too were very efficient and hardworking but found the political environment not conducive or at odds with their administrative skills. Most are not remembered for their political leadership though their ability and efficiency has never been doubted. The skill that is required to lead a country like Pakistan is probably not efficiency but something else and Sartaj Aziz never questioned his own ability to do that because for him efficiency and hard work were enough qualities to successfully manage the political affairs of the country. The two major fault lines that Sartaj Aziz has identified in his book are the failure of establishing a democratic set-up and an imbalance between civil military relationships. The failure of democracy stemmed initially from the reluctance of handing over power to the Bengalis when they were in a majority by manufacturing a principle of parity between the two wings. That eventually led to the dismemberment of the country. The civil and the military made their policies independently of each other that did not coincide at the top level and resulted in encroachment by the military into areas both domestic and foreign. Though tilting towards democracy, he has reserved his severest criticism for decisions made under democratic set-ups. The nationalisation policy of the 1970s enforced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto severely criticised, though it was conceded that at that time it had great popular support. Actually it was a great setback to the economic progress of the country as seen under Ayub Khan's regime which incidentally too was a military set-up. The steps taken by Nawaz Sharif in view of his heavy mandate are also criticised by Sartaj Aziz and he has accused him of overstepping and overplaying his cards. Two steps in particular, the dismissal of the two army chiefs and the souring of the relationship with the judiciary, are pointed out as examples where Nawaz Sharif attempted to strengthen his personal power at the expense of institutions. The decisions of foreign currency accounts being frozen in the wake of the nuclear explosion and the Kargil adventure, botched up attempts at achieving god knows what were also taken under democratic governments. One could read between the lines that as the Nawaz Sharif Government proceeded in its tenure, there were many areas where Sartaj Aziz differed with him. It was also the question of being ignored for the presidency by Nawaz Sharif that widened the gap between the two. After the resignation of Farooq Leghari, from the three persons who were considered for the presidency Sartaj Aziz seemed to be the most qualified. So he thought but he was ignored for Rafiq Tarar and that disillusioned him from the leadership of Nawaz Sharif. It must have been some relief for him that the government was dismissed after a coup and he had the option to quit politics which he had joined with the intention of making the right policies for a developing country. The military too has been blamed. The two decisions that the army took landed the country in deep trouble -- one the 1965 war with India which was not properly thought through, it failed in achieving its objectives, decelerated the economic progress made under Ayub Khan and alienated the Eastern wing for good and two the Afghan situation. He concedes that the army's soft corner for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, their safe hideouts in the tribal areas of Pakistan could cause great damage to the country. He has also written about the progress made on the Chenab formula regarding Kashmir and the rocky US-Pakistan relationship where the interests of the two have only periodically coincided. It may seem that, other than the democratic institutions, there should be another level of decision-making but he does not go that far and only recounts massive failure at the top. He has suggested the establishment of a forum of National Security System at the highest level to coordinate the policies emanating from military and civilian sources. According to him the important steps he took were to liberalise the economy and put it on the path of denationalisation and initiate the Lahore Peace process with India. His dream of stability in Afghanistan, strengthening of the peace process with India, restoration of full fledged democracy, continuing support of the International community has fallen far short in reality despite his twenty odd years in politics.
Two new compilations offer a worthy collection of articles on the 1857 War of Independence By Altaf Hussain Asad The war of independence 1857 turned the society upside
down. Every segment of the society lay in Compiled by noted historian Dr Mubarak Ali, this volume
offers us a few articles on the different aspects of the war of independence
of 1857. Dr Mubarak Ali is quite right when he says that we are no longer
interested in history. It seems that we don't want to learn from our past and
thus are condemned to repeat it time and again. Mulla Wahidi writes in his
article "1857 Kay Baad Ki Dilli" how Delhi and its residents faced new
realities after 1857. Mulla Wahidi writes Urdu prose which is simply
marvellous. One can see his command over Urdu language in his famous book
Dilli Jo Aik Shehr Thaa. Saghar Siddiqi sheds light on the great scholar and
a hero of 1857 war, Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi. A close friend of Ghalib,
Maulana Khairabadi issued a fatwa in favour of joining the war of 1857. He
was captured after the end of war and sent to Andaman Island as punishment. Saghar Siddiqi informs us of the difficulties the great scholar had to face there. He wrote a book Soriatul Hindia about his tribulations in Andaman Island. That book was translated into Urdu many years ago as it was originally written by the learned Maulana in Arabic. Syed Rahimullah, a Pashtun, was a 14-year-old at the time of war of 1857. He saw the naked barbarism unleashed by our colonial masters. His reminiscences are reproduced here which he shared with Asif Jilani. Shahid Ahmad Dehlavi, editor of Saqi, writes a nostalgic piece on Bahadur Shah Zafar in his article "Dilli Ka Akhri Tajdar". Mumtaz Husain tries to judge the influence of the tragedy on our literature. The vernacular press too played its role in arousing the people. Muhammad Atiq explores the role of newspapers in "Sultanul Akhbar" during the war. Other articles also enlighten us about the heroic struggle against the imperialists. Dr Mubarak Ali has done a wonderful job by presenting the articles of the special edition of Imroz in a book form. Lail-o-Nihar was edited by the great Sibte Hasan. It too remembered the war of 1857 in a befitting way. This volume is also a necessary reference book which every one should grab at once. The articles are compiled by Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmad who is also a progressive scholar of repute in his own right. He has written a very detailed and informative introduction to this book. In his view, we have completely ignored the colonial masters and all our shoddily written history is nothing but "Hindu Bashing." No one pays any attention to the role the British government played in creating a divide in Hindus and Muslims. This volume too offers us a host of articles. Dr Abdus
Salam Khurshid explores the role of press during The last days of Bahadur Shah Zafar were passed in abject conditions in Rangoon. Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mehr ably presents graphic details of the last days of the deposed King in his article. There is an interesting piece by Shaukat Thanvi who narrates reminiscences of his grandmother in his article. It is a hilarious piece in which the older lady mixes fact with fiction. Syed Qasim Mahmood was part of that team which published the special edition of Lail-o-Nihar under the watchful eye of Sibte Hasan. He is alive and shares with us the inside story of how they managed to publish such an excellent edition. It was he who was tasked by Sibte Hasan to collect articles on 1857. He spent a lot of time in the Punjab Public Library and collected articles pertaining to 1857. He was assisted by a librarian Khwaja Noor Elahi. He gives full credit to Elahi for helping him out. A word about letters Several writers, intellectuals and human rights activists assemble in a house in Quetta on Sunday evenings. They talks about books, discuss new ideas and comment on political developments. My Baloch friend, Dr. Shah Mohammed Marri has given the name of BSP (Balochistan Sunday Party) to these Sunday gatherings. 87-year-old Abdullah Jan Jamaldeni, eminent writer and widely-acclaimed scholar, plays host to these gatherings. Sitting in his wheelchair, he welcomes the guests with a warmth and affection that is not forgotten easily. I met him some twenty years ago at the Balochistan University and still remember the cordiality he greeted me with. In those days, Professor Abdullah Jan Jamaldeni was heading the Department of the Pakistan Studies at the Balochistan University. A great admirer of Khawaja Hafiz, Fariduddin Attar and Allama Iqbal, he remembers hundreds of their couplets which adorn his conversation. Professor Jamaldeni has played an important role in spreading progressive ideas in his province. He was the founding member of the Balochistan chapter of the Progressive Writers Association. The chapter was established soon after the division of India. Another literary organisation, Baloch Zuban-o-Adab Dewan, was set up by him in 1950 with the objective to promote local literary traditions and attract young people to literature and culture. Professor Jamaldeni was born on May 8, 1922, in the town of Noshki, District Chaghi. The list of his publications includes Lenin ki Ketab, Lut Khana, Margwameena and Balochistan main Qabaili Nizam ka Siyasi Pas-manzar. He has also contributed many articles to academic journals. The Pakistan Academy of Letters has announced recently to give the Kamal-e-Fun Award, the highest national literary award for the year 2008, to Professor Jamaldeni. His selection for the award was made by a panel of eminent writers belonging to all the provinces of the country. They included Dr. Fehmida Hussain, Masood Ashar, Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Muhammad Ayub Baloch and Afzal Ahsan Randhawa. Professor Jamaldeni will be the first Baloch recipient of the Kamal-e-Fan Award. Earlier recipients of the award include, among others, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Intizar Hussain, Mushtaq Ahmad Yousfi, Sobo Gian Chandani and Ajmal Khatak.
A flurry of poems Ejaz Rahim is a well-known poet who writes in English. He has earned this distinction by working hard during the past fifteen years. The Dreaming Clayjar was the title of his maiden collection of poetry published in 1993. Now he has dozens of books to his credit. This year, he has come out with two volumes of poetry. Between the Kaaba and the Karakorams and Snapshots of an Earthquake. Both have been published by the Jahangir Book Depot of Lahore. Ejaz Rahim is a former bureaucrat. He stood first in the CSS Examination in 1969, and joined the Civil Service of Pakistan. After serving on different posts in NWFP and the Federal Government, he retired from service as cabinet secretary to the Government of Pakistan. Poems included in Snapshots of an Earthquake open the wounds of the October 2005 earthquake while poems in Between the Kaaba and the Karakorams, written in Makkah, Madina and Islamabad, are mostly devotional.
The following is a poem from the Snapshots of an Earthquake:
Poems Fall Poem fall from The tremulous lips Of an earthquake Like boulders from hills Starting softly but Gathering speed before Breaking into frenzy.
Seized with insolence Nature is known to trample Everything in its way With a cold disdain.
The world is singed Between the opening And closing of its eyes.
Poems fall from The earthquake's tremulous lips Like bodies from scaffolds.
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of the most respected figures on the Pakistan political spectrum in the last
three decades, playing a pivotal role that Sartaj Aziz had played in many of
the important moves that the governments of Pakistan has taken. His facility
of moving from one place to another was quite amazing. If he had a problem he
had no difficulty getting through to the president or the chief of the army
staff. It is rare that politicians in Pakistan have free access to the
power-brokers of the country.
tatters. The plight of the Muslims after this great tragedy was quite
deplorable to put it succinctly. They were at the receiving end. Hard
realities were staring in their eyes and they were unprepared to face them.
It was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who wore the mantle of their leadership and thus
the Muslims were able to lift themselves out of the morass. The 1857 war was
a lesson for any nation to learn a thing or two, but we just ignored the
event. Today the situation is so grim that on the eve of 150th anniversary of
war of 1857, there was not any attempt in our country to hold any function to
scan those tumultuous times. Things in past were not so bad. In 1957, our
leading newspapers gave full coverage to the hundred years of that war. The
book under review, Imroz Jang-e-Azadi 1857 Number consists of the thought
provoking articles that were published in daily Imroz in 1957. 
