politics

The separation of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) from the federal government and MQM taking serious notice of Zulfiqar Mirza’s tirade against itself has livened up the political scenario of the country. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has made several attempts to convince JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to change his decision to quit the government in the Centre. Rehman, however, has refused to budge. Some analysts think that With only seven MNAs, JUI-F is not in a position to topple the government single-handedly, but if MQM opts for the same in the coming days, it can create serious hurdles for the PPP government.

The PPP leadership and most of the political analysts are confident that MQM will not pull out of the coalition. But, what adds to the government’s worries is that the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) bill is yet to be approved, which the government must ensure in order to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get its next tranche. The other problem at present is that government may not be able to reform the blasphemy laws as JUI-F has already started generating support against them.

The activities in the power corridors of Islamabad have increased a week after the separation of JUI-F from the federal alliance. The political leadership of all major parties has assured that it will not derail the system, but some of them have started talking about at least an in-house change.

JUI-F is also taking the lead in this regard and is hopeful to create a consensus among all opposition parties for an in-house change. "All political parties including the coalition partners have problems with Yousaf Raza Gillani’s government. Our separation will be the beginning of decline of this government. We are in contact with all major political parties, they all want change but have been waiting for a good time ," says Dr Ismail Buledi, a senator of JUI-F from Balochistan.

The PPP leadership on the other hand is more than convinced that an in-house change is not possible. "We have the required numbers in the National Assembly" says President Zardari’s coordinator for Punjab, Naveed Chaudhry. He believes that all political parties are playing the blame game against the government to get political mileage for the next general elections. "Our government in Balochistan is safe as long as Maulana Sheerani’s seat as Chairman Islamic Ideology Council is intact," he says, adding that government is not trying to change the blasphemy laws, but is instead trying to make the procedural changes in the registration of a case against the accused.

"We want it not to be used to exploit others. We will not give room to religious parties to do politics around this issue." Chaudhry adds that RGST is still pending with the standing committee. "We will not bring it to the National Assembly until a consensus is developed on it among all political parties. There could be some changes in it but it will be passed by National Assembly at the end of the day."

Analysts believe that an in-house change is not possible until the PML-N wants it. "It is not ready for this move at present, because PML-N thinks it will enhance the bargaining power of PML-Q considerably," says Suhail Warraich, journalist and political commentator. "The other factor that is stopping PML-N is that they know that it will pave way for mid-term elections. In such a situation they will have to bargain with many forces to come to power. They want the government to complete its term because it will provide them an opportunity to complete their term after the next election. PML-N believes it will get enough seats in the next elections to make its government."

Warraich says MQM is not going to leave the government either. "It does not want to leave the Sindh government. MQM knows that alternatives are available to the government at the Centre and in Sindh. PPP is already in majority without MQM."

Rasul Baksh Rais believes that no political party at present wants to get the blame of derailing democracy. "All political parties including PML-N want the government to be crushed under its own burden. They are trying to push the government to the wall and want it to get paralysed to an extent that it is forced to announce mid-term elections." Rais believes that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has got his "benefits" from the federal government. "Now he is thinking of the next elections. He knows that all those aligned with PPP are going to lose in the up-coming elections. He wants to cash in on the anti-PPP sentiments and also does not want to lose the chance of using the issue of reforms in blasphemy laws to mobilise his supporters. He knows this is his best chance to play with the religious sentiments."

Rais believes that PML-N will not show its cards until all anti-PPP political forces come on one platform. "They have been playing very cleverly in the present situation. On the one hand they have been a political party that sticks to principles, on the other they have been pushing the government to the wall. Some of their moves though are very opportunistic, like opposing the RGST, that has created problems for the economy of the country as well as the PPP government."

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Will we join hands again?

One wonders what will be the function of the huge facility called Pakistan-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad, which was recently inaugurated by the Chinese Prime Minister.

Despite the inexhaustible vows of friendship between Pakistan and China, the fact remains that we know very little about China and its culture. It was not many years ago that the only Chinese play known to us was ‘The Legend of Red Lantern’ and the only writer read by us was Lu Hsun. It all seemed counter-revolutionary after reading the weekly Peking Review, which focused on national, regional and international matters. We wanted to warm ourselves in the glow of revolutionary zeal rather than be bothered about real China, its culture and its people.

In the past, the only exposure to Chinese culture or the non-political side of China has been through the various troupe combining music, dance and acrobatics, whirling the umbrellas that may have tiptoed on stage but not really into the hearts of the Pakistani audiences.

Previously, the Soviet Houses of Friendship adopted the same approach. It was rare that one came across writers of great merit and poets of outstanding ability in those cultural houses. We were never exposed to the great Russian musicians or composers, the ballet dancers for which the country is well-known, similarly no great filmmaker ever descended on the shores of Pakistan. The film festivals of the famed Russian cinema were few and far between. The translations of the famous works of Russia including the classics were translated a plenty but in an idiom which made you wonder why these were famous works in the first place and only the English translation redeemed some of their artistic/literary virtues.

The best of Russian Soviet culture was never introduced to us, instead it were the usual acrobatics and simple dance troupe of the Soviet Republics that often descended for performances and that too on national days.

The same fate should not befall the Pakistan-China Friendship Centre. It should not become an outlet for the hastily arranged music groups or troupes from Xinjiang, Tibet or some other autonomous region with their hyped-up outfits and antediluvian instruments in the name of Chinese Culture.

The very best of Chinese culture should find a more permanent place on stage in Islamabad. China has made tremendous progress in all fields and it would be nice to welcome their outstanding pianists who have amazed the world with their skill, their film makers who are forcing the world to take notice of their talent in discovering and breaking new grounds thematically and technically.

A number of writers go on trips to China and a few also reciprocate and come to Pakistan. But it is rare that one has come across an outstanding Chinese writer or may be the manner of protocol is such that it facilitates two-way exchange that does not go beyond pleasantries, introductions and ceremonious round of drinks.

Similarly, we know nothing about Chinese art except the ripples that it has started to create in the West with their massive displays. We have not received any Chinese exhibitions of that quality or class. It is said that the miniature traditions have either travelled from China to Central Asia, Persia and then to the subcontinent or vice versa. With the exchange of artistic ideas a few centuries ago being more frequent than one has been made to believe. But we have hardly seen at any level a vibrant exchange of visual ideas and technical facilitation in this regard.

The miniature is associated with the Persian and the Central Asians and even there the interaction is limited and restricted. Even our cultural links with Iran, which have been historically close, are far from adequate and very limited despite the proximity of language, religion and culture. Our understanding of Persian literature is through the classics and modern Iran with its rich poetry/prose/music and art is not almost shutout.

The Chinese classical music is centuries old and in the course of the 20th century developed their own version of the opera. In Shanghai, an operatic tradition took hold and probably still exists despite the razing of much during the Cultural Revolution. Where is that aspect of China, which is fast emerging as one of the leading economic powerhouses and leading the world in culture, fashion, cuisine and sports?

That side of China that is a modern face to an ancient tradition is what should be fascinating for us, in addition to equalising the stranglehold of the superiority of western cultural traditions. Usually finances are a problem in getting the very best. It will be a pity if this big facility should not be for artistes worthy of the platform and stage. The very best of contemporary China should be unveiled to Pakistani audiences who only view China as a strategic ally and a producer of cheap manufactured goods.

Though it can be said that the western cultural missions have also faulted on this count, yet the quality of whatever they imported or presented either has a ring of familiarity or been of a higher quality than that presented by other cultural centres.

The question of familiarity too is crucial because in the face of lack of familiarity the quality has to be truly outstanding. The colonial episode and the linkages that were developed and sustained have made much of the West as acceptable. But the lack of familiarity may be the impetus to reunite the bonds that may have existed many centuries ago.

All these cultural missions in the end are reduced to teaching language. It is hoped that besides teaching mandarin this venue will cultivate a wider and sensitive image of China for culture as an activity requires high virtuosity and is more than a pleasant pastime.

The overt naturalism and pervasive amorality of Salman Toor’s images, sacred or secular, that went on show at Canvas Gallery, Karachi, speak to us with relentless effect and conviction. His observations of the language of the human instinct and body — the casual glance, the indifferent shrug, the weary slump, the suspicious eye — are familiar to us. His realist vision and natural aesthetic are the very antithesis of the established art of the day, the slightly unreal and impermanent style in which the quiet contortions of the figures and the almost fluorescent bloom of their complexions are the defining characteristics.

In Toor’s compositional language, we find another echo of modernity. The dramatised isolation of the principal players from any detailed material context ensures our full attention upon the human presence and attendant activity. The abyss of blackness against which the figures are invariably set lends both mystery and profundity to the occasion.

The sheer theatricality of his glancing light, his often outrageous cast of characters, the impertinent diminution of the clerics, patriarchs and dignitaries to the ranks of mere people — all are features that we happily appreciate in the egalitarian spirit of our times, just as we applaud his boisterous imagination and careless respect for fame.

Amid all these ideas and attitudes of incipient anarchy, an extraordinary and genuine human sensibility comes through in the sheer intensity of feeling that is evoked by the honesty of the human presence and the drama, contrived though it may be, of those ordinary events. Whether it be the sensual vulnerability of the flour-white skin of the bride, the earthy recoil of the boy who personifies Sherbat Gulla of National Geographic title fame shot through the lens of Steve McCurry, the unrepentant vanity of epicurean Jinnah or the powerful agony of ‘Village Heroes’, Toor finds a language both real and imagined that resonates with us.

We like the cast of characters and their individual strengths and flaws. The sensuality of the pale flesh, the muscular drama of the cleric, and so forth. Most of all we like the fact that each and every one of Toor’s characters has the psychological conviction and sense of immediacy and topicality of real people. All his subjects seem to reveal that inevitable paradox of the human condition; that we are the very embodiment of right and wrong, good and evil, strength and weakness, light and dark. Models or photographed people his subjects may be, all real people posed to play the roles of saints and sinners, but they all retain their own individual personalities. The prim domesticity of the boy in ‘National Geographic Girl’ and the contemplative vanity of Jinnah, for example, reveal the moods and sentiments of real people.

As provocative as Toor’s images may be, they embrace simultaneously cultural convention and socially accepted codes. The atmosphere of penitence is but a screen for a lascivious guilt. His recurrent presentation of psychic invalidity, of fear and frustration, is attached to a parody of Catholic and bourgeois morality each time the artist portrays figures embodying familiar images and icons of faith, religion, morality, marriage.

It is obvious that the classical repertoire of images allowed for representations of the male figure, either as an object of anatomic studies, or as the embodiment of protagonists in mythological or religious narratives. Often a potentially homoerotic dimension can be traced, but the question whether this was intended by the artist, or was merely a side-effect of narrative content, seems bound to remain unanswered.

The gradual evolution from depersonalising, idealistic depiction of classical beauty to more realistic and personal portraiture may very well reflect how art implied some personal investment, empathy and, perhaps, attraction.

Christian narratives, aside from mythological ones, allowed for the representation of semi-nudity in ways that would otherwise be considered sexual or, at least, sensual. At times religious imagery offered an implicit context also for the depiction of homoeroticism, if disguised, naturally, behind the pictorial storylines of Roman Catholic tradition. This can be seen, for example, in the story of Cain and Abel, where the historic relationship between Biblical characters is accompanied by a more sensual one, detached from the idiosyncrasy of narrative representation.

Salman Toor’s ‘National Geographic Girl’ is a classic example of hagiographic representation and homoerotic iconisation combined, even when such may have occurred subconsciously. Toor’s painting portrays the prodigious son, staring dreamily but wildly, lost and forlorn. His limbs, long hair and sensuous eyes suggest androgyny, not unlike the Raphaelite portrait of Isaac. Add to that the goat as a Biblical surrogate for Isaac.

Initially, naturalism allowed Toor to proceed from academic drawing and to exchange the timeless, classical imagery for depictions of contemporary society, including ‘real life’ people in ‘real life’ clothes. He shared in the artistic interest of his time for ‘the fantastic, the luxurious, the superfluous, the criminal, the miserable, the decadent…the horrible.’

Toor’s pictorial experiments express lightness and frivolity. Explicit eroticism evaporates, but his semi-abstract emblemata express a ‘camp’ sensibility. In an ‘Untitled’ work, figures are presented as a carnivalesque embodiment of homoerotic socialite. Still, formal iconoclasm and flirtation with popular imagery are more important in Toor’s paintings than any kind of existential confession. The artist’s compromise, so it seems, is laid within the veil that covers V S Naipaul and Jinnah — reversing the former’s gender in its stride — or as a web of entanglements and dots that attenuate the painting’s apparent lascivious and/or religious content.

There are two still lifes on show. Like all mimetic painting, traditional still life is in the business of illusion. Only a mad person would reach out to take an apple from a Toor canvas in order to eat it, and yet the fact is that the painting of fruits laid for picnic, flat as it is, bears a resemblance to the reality of things it refers to by virtue of its deadness. The French nature morte bears this aspect of still life in its name.

When one looks at ‘Holy Picnic’, one does not feel the presence of the painter. One is alone staring into something both strange and incomprehensible. Like a monk, one is alone with God.

In Salman Toor, the identification of each fruit and the Palestinian scarf — keffiyeh — is cast in an almost terrifying clarity that seems to enhance its identity as God-given, as though the painter is striving toward a pre-Babel world.

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‘National Geographic Girl’; Oil on Canvas.