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review Literary
trends of Pushto A word about
letters Sher-o-Hikmat
Ma'asir Shairi Two literary
journals recently made their appearance attracting a broad Urdu 'Sher-o-Hikmat' comes in two huge volumes as usual. The most significant are three special sections devoted as an intent study and tribute to Ahmad Mushtaq, Waheed Akhtar and Shehryar himself -- a trilogy of significant poets bearing no likeness except their age. Ahmad Mushtaq is undoubtedly a milestone in Mir's tradition of ghazal -- a clearly definable trend surfacing first with emergence of Firaq followed by Nasir Kazmi before finding another exceptional poet in Mushtaq. His strength is a gradually developed diction and a constantly recurring poetic beat of loneliness, forgetfulness and a nostalgic glance at the things around. Intizar Hussain's article is the preface of one of his collections of poetry. Ghalib Ahmad, his old friend, writes in a suggestive manner addressing the poet, "I only want to put down one thing before you that it's not the heart and mind alone in human body, there is the resonance of spiritual possibility also residing within. When would the poet address that, since that remains a big source of our sadness?" Usloob Ahmad Ansari comments, "Ahmad Mushtaq enhances an image of a cosmos which is primordial too and is consequently exceptionally unusual and fascinating." Shamim Hanafi declares him a poet of feelings. His poetry best demonstrates the transformation of knowledge into feelings and how thought is converted into emotion. Waheed Akhtar, a far less acknowledged poet, is candidly studied posthumously. The best piece on him is by Shamim Hanafi again. The section urges the reader to focus and evaluate a significant poet. Shehryar, who is also one of the editors, is known more widely as an Indian filmi poet with countless memorable songs to his credit. Baydar Bakht in addition to recalling the days spent together claims it was Akhtarul Iman who first tried his hand at short poem in Urdu but failed to leave an impact in this regard. It was Shehryar and Munir Niazi who excelled and created some memorable short poems. He fails to document the claim and is seen harbouring a bias here in favour of Shehryar. Niazi is of course one of the best poets of this genre. In another section a few memorable poems by Rashid, Mira Jee, Akhtar-ul-Iman and Satya Paul Anand are presented with their critical appraisal. The renowned progressive/activists poet Qamar Rais is discussed by Suleman Akhtar Javed with reference to 'Sham-e-Nauroz', his book of poetry. Zia-ul-Hussan has analysed Milan Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being." He has pointed out the limitations inherent in picturising great novels since film has its own pre-requisites and viewership. Mughani Tabassum writes beautifully on the Letters of Mohammad Asad Ullah addressed to the progressive writers. Abstracts from letters of Kishwar Naheed and Parveen Shakir are also given. In the poetry sections one finds unmatched variety and class and it is difficult to spot a decisively dominating poet. Munib-ur-Rehman deserves a special mention who despite excellence and a life long commitment has not been duly recognised as a poet. His poems included here are captivating and replete with pathos and an intense sense of loss. Amjad Islam Amjad, Ain Tabbish, Abdullah Ahad Saz, Jayant Premar, Abid Khurshid and Hamida Shaheen excel and convince the reader of the brilliance and variety our recent poem offers. 'Mitro Marjani', an impressive Hindi novel by Krishna Sobati is aptly translated by Hayder Jafery Syed while Hassan Manzar, Rashid Amjad and Mohammad Hamed Siraj excel in short stories. 'Maasir Shairi'
is a journal -- perhaps the first of its kind -- exclusively The special section on foreign poetry goes to Philip Larkin (1992-85) the British poet, novelist and a Jazz critic. Rashid Salim artfully translates him and the critical article by Lidia Viann which not only discusses the creative journey of Larkin but also touches his contemporaries, so known to Urdu world. Rashid Salim comes out to be a committed man. Zia-ul-Hassan takes up Abdul Rashid with specific reference to his recent collection of poetry but his article provides useful pointers to unfold the entire work done by the modern poet. It can be inferred without any fear of contradiction that the new poetic offerings prove far more superior and worthy than the contributions by the older lot, especially in the ghazal section. Liaqat Ali Asim, Afzaal Naveed, Shaheen Abbas, Shanawar Ishaq, Ali, Iftikhar Jaffari, Shahid Zaki are among the few. But Zulfiqar Aadel takes the reader by surprise with his ghazals with a sublime touch. Aftab Iqbal Shamim opens the section with his typically mellow but penetrating nazms. While 'Ma'asar Shairi' accommodates foreign literature in a regular fashion, 'Sher-o-Hikmat' caters for the local languages more intently. The format of 'Sher-o-Hikmat' is reminiscent of age old traditional magazines, obviously bringing forth new works of unquestionable value while 'Ma'asir Shairi' has a relatively modernistic and youthful profile. The contributions by the newer generation in both journals belie the dismissive attitude of the seniors. The older lot fails to realise its own submission to repetition and staleness. Its survival rests in restoration of the severed link with the emerging trends and literary climate. After all tradition is the trade name of endless chain of continuity!
Pushto Zuban-o-Adab ki Tareekh By Abdullah Jan Abid By Khadim Hussain Literary histories usually
snap an overview of the cultural milieu in which Several Pushtoon scholars have put down Pushto literary histories in Pushto. Abdula Hai Habini's 'Pukhana Leekwal' has been quite popular among Pushtoon scholars throughout the world. A large part of these histories are based on the oral traditions popular among Pushtoon folks since centuries, especially the part of histories related to the classical writers of Pushto. Moreover, very few literary histories attained such comprehensiveness as to encompass broader literary trends prevailing in different parts of the world where Pushtoons live. There is a dire need to compile the literary trends of Pushto keeping in view geographical, cultural, socio-economic and political trends prevailing in different eras of Pushtoon existence. Ayub Sabir was probably the first Pushto scholar who wrote an introductory review of Pushto literature in Urdu. By no criteria can it be called a literary history but an introduction to Pushto literature to a wider reading population in India and Pakistan. Abduallah Jan Abid, a lecturer at the Department of Pakistani Languages, Allama Iqbal Open University, has come up to the expectations of the readers of Pushto literature by compiling literary trends of the Pushto creative writings and writers prevailing in different eras of Pushtoon existence. The book begins with an overview of the prevailing theories about the origin of Pushto language. The writer has adopted an objective approach in describing Semetic and Arian theories with linguistic and historical evidence propounded by different Pushto and western scholars. One would have liked to find an objective analysis of the prevailing theories on the basis of modern research techniques. The most interesting part of this section is a description of different dialects on the basis of their articulatory variations. The writer has given a comprehensive outline of the orthographic representations of various vowels and consonants adopted in different dialects of Pushto. While dividing classical Pushto poetry in different eras, Abdullah Jan Abid rightly comments that "the categorisation of literary eras of a language is done in accordance with the socio-political and economic trends prevailing in a particular society and the study of a literary era is, in fact, the study of the zeitgeist." He categorises three eras of Pushto classical poetry -- the first era starts with Amir Karore on the basis of the controversial literary history 'Pata Khazana'. Abid goes on to say that this classical era is marked by the introduction of poetic genres like heroic couplet, ghazal, elegy and epic but does not mention the different political and social factors prevailing in the era. The second era starts with Roshaniat Movement of Bayazid Ansari in the last decades of 15th century AD. Mysticism, he mentions, is the hallmark of this era but fails to describe the socio-political factors that were working to lead the mystic-writer Bayazid Ansari collide with the feudal Mughal empire in India at that time. The same age is known as Elizabethan era among English literary historians which is famous for the explosion of ideas, intellectual currents, scientific and geographical explorations. Abid has put down the third era of Pushto classical poetry starting from great Khushal Khan Khattak more elaborately. Pushtoon scholars have almost been unanimous in claiming that Khushal Khan Khattak for the first time gave a theoretical and political basis to Pushtoon nationhood against the feudal Mughul Empire in India. One does not find a candid description of the era and trends present in the creative works of Khushal Khan and his descendants in the book under review but there is a comprehensive detail of the classical poets of the era. In a very interesting chapter on Pushto folk poetry, Abid rightly observes that "one finds an accurate delineation of Pushtoons' worldview, their lifestyles, cultural values and attitudes in Pushto folk songs." In this chapter one finds a candid description of peculiar Pushto folk genres like 'Tappa', 'Charbeta', 'Bagatai', 'Neemakai', 'Louba', 'Badala' and 'Allah Hoo'. A representative selection from different folk genres and its translation in Urdu has made the description more enlightening. The writer has supported the Aryan theoretical framework of the Pushtoon origin from a Pushto 'Tappa' with reference to Jean Enevoldson who says that "Taken together then, Pushto proverbs and 'Tappa' are like two sides of the same coin, stamped with image of the soul of a people." Probably we find such a comprehensive description of Pushto folk poetry for the first time but again socio-cultural and political background of the genres is absent in the description. Abid has divided Pushto classical prose again in three different eras, this time on the basis of the variation in the diction of classical prose works probably because of the evolution in the lexical and syntactic variation of Pushto language. The writer seems to believe in the authenticity of 'Pata Khazana' because he has based his categorisation of different prose eras on the works mentioned in the book, though he is silent about the argumentative aspects of the issue. Abid has again given a very interesting description of the prose by the Pushtoon genius Khushal Khan Khattak available in the shape of his insights known 'Bayaz' in Pushtoon scholarly circles. It is the chapter on Pushto modern poetry that one finds a reasonably articulated delineation of socio-political factors on scholastic basis. Abid has captured the socio-political milieu of the era in the shape of freedom movement, resistance to foreign occupation, and romanticism, though the recent modern trends of existentialism, marxism and nationalism have not been mentioned in this regard. One would have expected an analysis of the poetry by Qalandar Momand, Ghani Khan, Ajmal Khattak and Hamza Shinwari in the light of these trends to find out relationship between socio-cultural and political trends and creativity in Pushtoon Diasporas. The chapters on Pushto novel, short story and drama seem to have been carefully laid down with adequate research on the genres. Though Pushtoon scholars have written separate books on these genres, Abid has taken a lead to give a brief but candid description of the evolution of these genres in Pushto literature. The book carries a few shortcomings that could be easily overcome in the second edition. Firstly, the writer has heavily depended on the quotations of other writers, in some places continuous pages after pages have been quoted without an analysis of the contents of quotations. Secondly, there seems to be a lack of links between different chapters.which seem to be different works of the same author and compiled in the shape of a book. Thirdly, the description of important socio-political events which could have been the basis of the evolution of different Pushto genres is almost absent in the book.
A word about letters Remembring 1857 Our emotional
connection with Indian history is quite weak. Hence the The third anniversary being celebrated nowadays in Pakistan and India is that of, what was till recent past known as, the Indian Mutiny of 1857. But is now preferred to be labelled, mostly for emotional reasons, as the First War of Independence. It started from the northern garrison town of Meerut, about eighty kilometers from Delhi, in the second week of May 1857. The Lahore office of the Pakistan Academy of Letters was the first to organise a function to mark the completion of 150 years of the Indian revolt. It invited a large number of people, including writers, poets, journalists and students to light lamps to the memory of the martyrs who battled colonial rule. The event was arranged at Lahore's Model Town Park. Renowned Journalist Mujeebur Rehman Shami presided over the function and also lit the first lamp. Paying homage to
the martyrs of 1857, Mujeebur Rehman Shami said those The participants, among others, included I.A. Rehman, Hussain Naqi, Imrana Mushtaq Mani, Shahnaz Muzammal, Najma Yasmin, Shahid Bukhari, Sana Ullah Shah, Nawaz Kharal, Neelma, Dr. Ahmad Saeed, Dr. Akhtar Jaffery, Aftab Javed, Rabab Jaffari, Husan Bano and Tanvir Sadiq. The Lahore office of the Pakistan Academy of Letters also arranged a lecture on the events of 1857. World Punjabi Congress arranged a seminar on the same topic at the Lahore Press Club where papers were presented by Dr. Sitender Singh, Dr. Fatima Hussain, Hamid Akhtar, Chaudhry Saeedullah and Farrukh Sohail Goindi. Fakhar Zaman, chairman of the World Punjabi Congress, presided over the seminar. He came down heavily on those who write history text books for our schools and colleges as well as the teachers. History in our country, he said, is written from the rulers' point of view. Hence it is distorted history. It describes the First War of Independence as mutiny and paints invaders, kings and emperors as heroes. True history can only be written in a democratic society, he added. Dr. Fatima Hussain who teaches history in Delhi wrote in her paper that there were many reasons for the failure of the Indian people to get rid of the English rule in 1857 and they were made to pay heavily for their revolt. Another seminar on the subject was held in Islamabad with Intizar Hussain in the chair. The list of speakers included some intellectual mughals of the capital city: Iftikhar Arif, Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik, Ashfaq Salim Mirza and Professor Yousaf Hassan. The seminar was anchored by Syed Shamoon Hashmi. Iftikhar Arif emphasised the need to learn lessons from the first war of independence that failed to achieve its immediate targets but did not fail to give a strong sense of unity and socio-political consciousness to the South Asian people. Very little worthwhile work has been done on our history, he observed and added that history needs to be rewritten by those who are well-versed in original sources and basic documents on 1857.
Books on war of independence Niaz Ahmad of the Sang-e-Meel publications of Lahore is probably the only publisher in the country who has taken notice of the 150th anniversary of the first war of Independence. During the past 19 months he has brought 19 publications to the stands on various aspects of 1857 freedom movement including reprints of the 4 volume 'The Indian Mutiny: Selections from the Letters, Dispatches & other Papers Preserved in the Military Department of the Governor of India' which was first published in 1893 and 2 volume 'Mutiny Records' which was made public in 1911. Four Urdu books on the same subject have been published by the same publisher: Pundit Kanhayya Lal's Tareekh Baghawat-i-Hind, Majmuha Khawaja Hasan Niazami, 1857: Rozenamchay aur Muasar Tehreerain and 1857: Tareekhi, Ilmi aur Adabi Pehlu. The last three books have been compiled and edited by Mohammad Ikram Chughtai a noted research scholar. None of these books can be ignored by the students of history. They go a long way in providing understanding of the causes, facts and implications of the 1857 uprising. Khawaja Hasan Nizami's collection of articles also carries two confidential reports of the events that took place in Delhi during the revolt. These reports, written by Munshi Jeevan Lal and Moeen-ud-din Hasan Khan, give us bags of information about those fateful days. A journal Khyal has also been reprinted in the form of a book that was published by Nasir Kazmi and Intizar Hussain in 1957 to memorialise the first centenary of 1857 events. It, too, is a very important document as it contains the views of many important men of letters like Firaq Gorakhpuri, Professor Ilamuddin Salik, Abdullah Yousaf Ali, Syed Abdullah, Syed Viqar Azeem, Mohammad Hasan Askri, Ahmad Nadim Qasmi, Dr. Ibadat Brelvi, Mohammad Sarwar and Syed Razi Tirmzee.
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readership in the subcontinent. 'Sher-o-Hikmat' -- Book 8 India (Editors
Mughani Tabbasumi, Shehryar) and 'Ma'asir Shairi' - Issue 2 Islamabad
(Editors Saeed Ahmad, Tabish Kamal). 
reserved for poetry and its allied issues. Its second book has recently
reached the bookshelves. The current issue opens with a poem by Rilke,
intelligently picked up by Saeed Ahmad, that may serve as an ideological
manifesto for poets in any language. N.M. Rashid is perhaps the most
difficult among major poets to interpret and understand. Dr. Najiba Arif has
attempted to explore the subjective growth of Rashid as a poet in an
impressively creative way, her article offers a good involving reading
refusing to be text-bookish, although the omission of 'Hasan Kuzagar' (a
series of poems) poses a valid question to the authenticity of the study
since without these poems Rashid cannot be explained as a phenomenon.
creative currents cut across the diverse and complicated fabric of society,
politics, psyche, economy and civilization. Several scholars have written
literary histories of English literature and language emphasising numerous
aspects of English cultural life. The convention of writing literary
histories has also been adopted in the case of Urdu in which two scholars
earned worth-noting popularity in this regard namely Dr. Saleem Akhtar
and.Dr.Anwar.
anniversaries of its important events usually go unnoticed. However,
anniversaries of three somewhat interlinked historic events are being marked
this year. The first is the death of Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707.which
accelerated the fall of Mughal empire in our part of the globe. The second
fateful event took place 250 yeas ago at the battlefield of Plassey in Bengal
where Nawab Sirajud Daulah was defeated by the British East India Company in
1757. The Company's victory established its control over an Indian territory
that served as the springboard for the attainment of its expansionist
designs.
brave men and women laid the foundation of the independence of our
subcontinent. They adhered to different religions, spoke different languages
and belonged to diverse ethnic groups united by a desire for freedom. Their
unity was their strength. He expressed the view that Pakistan and India
should jointly celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first war of
independence as the people of the two countries had jointly stoop up against
the colonial rulers.