Zubair
Ahmad
A poet and
writer in Punjabi and English language teacher at the Islamia
College, Lahore
This article by Zubair Ahmad appeared in Pakistan's eminent daily newspaper Dawn and has several URL links on the internet, one being to
Karachi Punjabi Network and another to
Academy of Punjab in North America.
Zubair Ahmad writes
about the factors which influenced the development of the Punjabi
language
Our literature is our pride, the finest thing we have
created as a nation. In it is all our philosophy; it bears the
impress of great flights of the spirit; in this marvellous temple
that has sprung up with magic speed there burn to this day minds of
great strength and hearts of sacred beauty - the minds and hearts of
the genuine artist. These all exclaim to us as they truthfully and
honestly illumine what they have realized and lived through: "the
temple of Russian art has been erected by us with the silent aid of
the people; we have been inspired by the people; therefore love the
people!" - Maxim Gorky.
Anthropologists have traced the
first footsteps of early man here; the fossils found here are about
15 million years old. They inherit the ancient civilizations of
Harappa and Moenjodaro. Their language has pre-Vedic origins. Have
they produced any literature?
The man in the street will have
a twinkle in his eyes, he may show his reverence and humility towards
some household names like Baba Farid, Shah Hussain and Bulleh Shah,
could recite some lines correctly or wrongly but could not elaborate
further. An educated one neither has any knowledge of nor cares to
know about the literature of his own land.
The Punjabi intelligentsia
is culturally and linguistically the most alienated species on earth.
The Punjabi "petit bourgeois" is least conscious about its
culture, land and history. The whole world from New York to Tokyo is
moving with Punjabi dhammal and their foods are in vogue in the
world's metropolis. But what about their literature? Punjab has a
written literary history of one-thousand years: the oral and folk
tradition is as old as the land of Punjab. The first poet, Baba Farid
(1173-1226), belonged to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. And
the last classical poet died in 1910. In between is a galaxy of poets
like Baba Nanak (1469-1539), Shah Hussain (1539-1599), Dammodar
(1556-1605), Bulleh Shah (1680-1752) and Waris Shah (1735-1784). The
literature was there. It is like the silence of five rivers, flowing
from time immemorial, serene, eternal. It is the land of saints and
faqirs, bards and minstrels.
What happened:
alienation of culture
The answer lies in the annexation of
Punjab in 1849. The Britishers made Urdu and English the official
languages of Punjab while Punjabi was condemned as inferior and
considered merely a spoken language. The people had no choice but to
get education in languages other than their own and had to embrace an
alienated culture. With the passage of time, this alienated educated
class increased specially among Muslims and Hindus and this was the
very class which was also in the forefront of the movement for the
independence of India.
But people still have
distant memories of their poets: they gather annually at the mazars
of these poets. Punjab is perhaps a unique land where poets have
turned into saints and saints into poets and these saintly poets have
gone so deep in people's memory that Punjabi literature has become an
index of their collective political and social unconsciousness. It is
subterranean, from the known to the unknown, the mere expression of
their being, to be there in history and time. The history of the last
five decades of Punjabi literature cannot be studied without this
historical perspective.
Literally speaking, united Punjab was
a whole unit. Punjabi literature in its essence is secular,
pro-people and anti-establishment. With the partition of Punjab, like
other people, writers were also uprooted. The happiness of
Independence was coloured by the mass killing on both sides. Ustad
Daman wept:
(The redness in the eyes
shows that we both have wept.)
Amrita Preetam cried:
(I
call Waris Shah to speak from his grave.)
Punjabi writers in the
British period were read and praised irrespective of their religion.
Hence, Mohan Singh's Savey Patter (green leaves) was equally popular
among Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. Ahmed Rahi's Trinjan was the first
collection of poetry published just after the partition of Punjab in
1952. It at once went to the hearts of the Punjabis and is still very
popular. Critically speaking, Mohan Singh, Amrita Preetam, Ahmed Rahi
and Ustad Daman belong to the strong lyrical and folk tradition of
Punjabi poetry which continued to survive in colonial Punjab. Ustad
Daman was a true product of the oral tradition, a poet of baaghs
(gardens). Put behind bars by all rulers for reciting his poetry in
public places, his only book was published posthumously by his friends and pupils.
After
Independence, Urdu was declared the national language of Pakistan
while other Pakistani languages were neglected. Consequently, there
was no movement for Punjabi culture and literature. The history of
the last fifty years of Punjabi literature cannot be separated from
publications of Punjabi books, magazines and organizations.
In 1951, Dr Faqir Muhammad
Faqir started his magazine Punjabi. He was joined by Abdul Majid
Salik, Sufi Tabassum and others.
Muhammad
Afzal also launched his Punjabi literary magazine Panj
Darya from Temple Road,
Lahore.
Maula Bakhsh Kushta's book
Punjabi Shairian Da Tazkra was published in 1955.
But real activity for
Punjabi language started in 1957 when the Punjabi
Majlis was founded by Safdar Mir, Anees Nagi, Asaf Khan,
Raja Rasaloo, Akmal Aleemi and Akbar Lahori. The Majlis published a
collection of Punjabi writings Sajray Phull
(سجرے پُھل ). This collection was edited by Saleemur
Rehman and Hakeem Nasir. The patron-in-chief of the organization was
Karamat Jafri who was once the principal of the MAO College, Lahore.
The Majlis used to hold its weekly meetings in various libraries and
cafes of Lahore. Before the Majlis could expand its agenda, Ayub's
martial law was imposed and the organization was banned as being an
offshoot of the Communist Party of Pakistan.
But Punjabi
writers' activities could not be stopped. In the early sixties, Dr
Faqir Muhammad and Muhammad Baqar were able to organize the Punjabi
Academy with government funding and other sources. The
academy's contribution was to make available classical literature in
readable and standardized form. Previously, Punjabi books were
published from the Kashmiri Bazaar, Lahore, by Allah
Walley Dee Qaumi Dukan. Books were published in large
quantity and supplied to the whole of the province. But now this
wonderful and traditional institution was in decline. The role of
Punjabi writers and intellectuals was now twofold: to make available
classical literature and to make efforts to increase the readership
as well as to inspire new writers to write modern literature in their
own language.
Majlis
Shah Husain: hectic activities
This was
done by Majlis Shah Hussain which was founded in 1964 and played its
required historical role. But Punjabi writers were already engaged in
hectic activities which served as a background for the launching of
the Majlis Shah Hussain. The Punjabi Academy
for the first time published the standardized reprints of
classical poets. Sheikh Abdul Aziz's Heer Waris Shah was published.
The first authentic versions of Bulleh Shah, Hashim Shah and Maqbul's
Heer also saw the light of day. Another event which activated Punjabi
writers was the Punjabi chapter of the
Writer's Guild. Ayub Khan was planning to rule the country
for a long time and he needed the support of all segments of society,
including writers. Hence, the Writer's Guild
was launched by Qudratullah Shahab, a top bureaucrat in
Ayub's regime.
The
Punjabi
sub-section of Pakistan Writers' Guild was headed by
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza, who had
played a leading role in the Punjabi movement.
The
Punjabi
sub-section held a cultural meeting in Lahore Museum's auditorium in
1963 which coincided with the Mela Charaghan, the urs of
poet Shah Hussain. The meeting was organized by Safdar Mir, Asif
Khan, Raja Rasaloo, Najm Hosain Syed, Ghulam Yaqub Anwar and of
course Shafqat Tanvir Mirza. Some of these writers also read articles
and Inayat Baey Darro Walley, a famous singer of her time, paid
tribute to Shah Husain in her wonderful voice. One of the
resolution
approved by the meeting was that Punjabi should be made the medium of
instruction in Punjab.
The Writers Guild reacted
sharply, and
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza's
membership in Pakistan Writers' Guild was suspended. This
created an uproar in literary circles and the national press. The
firebrand Punjabi intellectual Safdar Mir wrote many articles in
favor of Punjabi language and its promotion. Prof Asaf Khan returned
his award to the Guild. The Punjabi literary meetings were banned. In
the same year, the
Punjabi Adabi Sangat
was founded by Najm Husain Syed, Dr. Manzoor Ejaz and other Punjabi intellectuals. Najm Husain Syed was to become a leading modern
Punjabi poet and playwright, writing exclusively in Punjabi language
for the next 40 years. The
Punjabi Adabi Sangat members would read and analyze a classical
Punjabi Kafi, especially those by Shah Husain and then sing it in a melody often composed by Najm Husain
Syed himself (a multi-talented personality) at its weekly meetings.
In the next four decades, nearly every reputable Punjabi poet, writer
and critic from Pakistani Punjab and Indian Punjab had at one time or
another attended the Punjabi Adabi Sangat's meetings.
Dr. Manzoor Ejaz recounts his participation in the Punjabi Adabi Sangat in his video interviews available on
YouTube channel "Wichaar WebCast."
In 1964, the Majlis
Shah Husain came into being and all the writers mentioned
above were organizers and founders of these two organization. The
Majlis had an extensive agenda. It continued to hold annual meetings
on the occasion of the Mela Charaghan until 1968. It founded the
first modern Punjabi institution, the Shah Hussain College, in 1970,
where Prof Manzoor Ahmad, Amin
Mughal and Eric Cyprian
taught Punjabi and other subjects at graduate and post-graduate
levels. The Majlis also published many rare books like the Poetry
of Shah Husain and introduced modern Punjabi writers like
Najm Husain, Hussain Shahid and many others. The Majlis
Shah Husain and the Punjabi Adabi
Sangat were the true harbinger of genuine and solid
Punjabi literary activities which ushered in a new dawn for modern
Punjabi literature.
This was the beginning of the great
seventies. On the national scene, Z.A. Bhutto was stirring people's
nationalistic feelings and on the international level the whole world
was passing through great upheavals and revolutions. This was the
time of Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zhedong. In Europe and
America, students were on the streets, marching to the tune of the
Internationale.
The Punjabi intellectuals and writers were
also part of this consciousness. They were themselves inspired and
gave inspiration to others. Language was not just considered a tool
to vent one's feelings. It was seen as reflecting people's history
and culture and as an expression of the insulted and humiliated.
Challenging the history of court historians, Punjabi writers went
deep in search of their inheritance and identity. Dullah Bhatti, a
rebel against Akbar (1554-1605), and poet Shah Husain of the same
era became symbols of resistance and defiance.
The whole of
modern Punjabi literature should be studied keeping in view this
background. Actually, the bulk of
Punjabi literature was produced after the mid-sixties, and the
seventies was the most energetic and creative period. All main
writers who are still on the literary scene are the product of these
times or were groomed by the writers of those days.
Important
writer:Najm Husain Syed
The most important writer in
contemporary Punjabi literature is Najm Husain Syed. He is a
philosopher, poet, critic, translator, playwright and above all a
towering light for the young generation. He has been constantly
engaged in writing Punjabi literature for the last four decades. He
has authored more than twenty books, some of which have been
reprinted a number of times. Two of his earlier books on criticism
have become modern classics. Saran (Comprehension) and Saidhan (The
Correct Path) were published by Majlis Shah Hussain and opened new
vistas and horizons in literary criticism.
Two of his plays,
Takhat Lahore and Ik Rat Ravi Di (A night on River Ravi) are based on
Dullah Bhatti and Ahmed Khan Kharal (1803-1857). Takhat Lahore has
also been staged many times in Punjab and abroad. As a poet, he had
drunk deep at the spring of classical literature and created new
metaphors and symbols. Basing his language on classical models, Najm
has been very insistent on it being the standard language of Punjab.
For the last many years he has been engaged in writing a critical
history of Punjabi literature starting from Baba Farid to the present
times and has also made use of folk poetry and mythology. Arguably he
has contributed more than anyone else to the Punjabi language in the
twentieth century.
In 1971, the Punjabi department was
established in Punjab University and Dr Muhammad Ajmal, then
vice-chancellor, invited Najm Hussain Syed to head the department. He
gathered there the most learned and reputed scholars like late Asaf
Khan, Ali Abbas Julal Puri and Sharif Kunjahi. They decided to
establish a higher institute of Punjabi language and literature, but
the plan was never implemented. Ironically, this idea found favour
across the border and the Guru Nanak University adopted it. With the
political change in 1978, all the faculty members were thrown out
while charlatans and sycophants were patronized.
The grand old
man of Punjabi literature is Sharif Kunjahi: his early poems were
written in 1938. The author of many scholarly works, he has also
translated some books of Allama Iqbal. Recently, his liberal
translation of the Holy Quran was well received. A very good poet and
critic, he has always been in the mainstream. Shafqat Tanvir Mirza is
another leading writer. Basically a journalist, he has fought many
battles.
Another field which is unique to Punjabi writers is
the editing and correction of old classical works because with the
passage of time the actual scripts have been lost or were altered by
other writers. Asaf Khan and Ustad Sharif Sabir should be ranked as
the most distinguished scholars in this field. Asif Khan, who died on
March 17, 2000, was among a rare breed of learned researchers. Punjab
should be proud of having such a scholar and linguist in its ranks.
He edited many poets and wrote long researched editorials. Being a
linguist, he published a book containing all available
verbs in the Punjabi language. His scholarly book Punjabi Boli Da
Pochokar (Perspective of Punjabi language) is a great contribution
not only to the Punjabi language but also to the Indian languages.
Ustad Sharif Sabir had edited Waris Shah and Sultan Bahu: the editing
and correction of Waris Shah's text took him 12 years and his
glossary of Waris Shah's Heer is a commendable work.
Most
Punjabi classical literature consists of poetry: hence poetry is the
only form in which contemporary literature is self-sufficient. Poetry
has witnessed many movements in the last five decades. The influence
of symbolism, avant-gard, surrealism, psycho-analysis, existentialism
and socialism can be found in Punjabi poetry. We can broadly
categorize poetry into three movements. First, there is traditional
lyrical poetry which can also be labelled as romantic. Writers like
Ahmed Rahi and a host of other writers fall in this category. This
kind of poetry is still written and, perhaps, in huge
volume.
Second, there is the so called avant-garde movement of
writers. Appearing on the literary scene in the early seventies, they
could not hold on for too long. Among the protagonists of this school
can be included Fakhar Zaman, the late Zamarrud Malik, Asif Shahkar,
Ahmed Saleem and Sarmad Sehbai. Credit goes to them for modernizing
Punjabi literature and some of their phrases have also clicked. We
can also place Munir Niazi, Afzal Ahsan Randawa and some other
writers in this category.
In the third category are those
writers who are very conscious about their identity as Punjabi
writers and have gone a long way in absorbing classical literature
and learning from western literature. Apart from Najm Hussain Syed,
Mushtaq Sufi, Abid Amiq, Ashoo Lal Faqir, Riffat Abbas, Ayub Awan and
Raja Sadiq Ullah, a whole generation of young writers fall in this
category.
The state of modern Punjabi fiction is not as
satisfactory as poetry. Joshua Fazal Din was the first writer who
wrote some reformist and didactic novels and short stories in British
Punjab. The main fiction writers were Sikhs and there was hardly
anything worthy in Pakistani Punjabi fiction. In the sixties, some
novels and collections of short stories were published. Akbar Lahori
is the pioneer of the short story: his stories were realistic and
written on classical models.
Nawaz also came with his
collection of stories Dongian Shamaan (Deep evenings) which has a
romantic tinge to it. After Akbar Lahori, the most important writer
is Afzal Ahsan Randawa. His first collection of short stories, Rann,
Talwar Tey Gora (Women, sword and horse), was well received and has
since gone into many editions. Randawa is obsessed with pre-partition
Punjab and the Jats' chivalric deeds: his stories are about a Punjab
which is no longer there. In his latest book of stories, he has made
some experiments and there is an influence of magic
realism.
Masterly technique: cartoonist's short
stories
Another important modern
Punjabi short story writer is Anwar Ali, more famous as
the Pakistan Times cartoonist Nanna. He has written modern short
stories. His famous story Janaza (Funeral) is masterly in its
technique of stream of consciousness. His first collection of short
stories in 1972 was a step forward in modern Punjabi fiction. Since
then a new generation of short stories writer have cropped up.
The scene with regard to
Punjabi novel is not very encouraging but is also not too depressing.
Two very good novels were written by Mansha Yad and Hussain Shahid
just before the close of the twentieth century. In southern Punjab,
Ahmad Hamdani and Zafar Lashari have written some good novels. Other
important novelists are Fakhar Zaman, Farzand Ali and Ahmed
Saleem.
In play-writing, apart from Najm Husain Syed, the
late Ishaque Muhammad also gave two plays to Punjabi literature.
Basically a radical in politics and an activist of the Punjabi
movement, his well-written essays on Punjab's history are still
quoted. His two famous dramas, Musali, and Quqnus, were staged by
labourers and peasants in villages and factories in the seventies.
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza translated the plays of Lorca and Sartre. Sufi
Tabbassum translated and adapted some plays of Shakespeare. The other
important playwrights are Sajjad Haider and Nawaz.
Punjabi
language has never been encouraged by the media and the
establishment, although Punjabi bureaucrats and political leaders
have always been in a position to make decisions. The Punjabis are
still denied their mother tongue. Nobody realises that basic
education cannot be spread without teaching in the mother tongue.
Despite all these difficulties one should praise Punjabi writers who
have continued to produce literature in their language. Presently,
around 15 Punjabi magazines are in circulation and over 200 books are
published annually. But then, who reads Punjabi literature? And who
listens?
A column by Zubair Ahmad which appeared in the daily Dawn, Pakistan.
