Written by Khurram Sohail
Translated by Farhana Iftikhar
The East India Company’s history of taking undue advantage in the name of trade in the Indian subcontinent is known to everyone. History is merciless. No accolades and connections are of any help. Fight for the rights can be seen by establishment as “Ghadar Mutiny”, but it remains “Independence Movement” for the upcoming generations. Indians were excellent in weaving cotton, and English cloths’ sale was impossible because of the quality of Indian cloth. To rule over the market, the East India Company mutilated the skilled workers by chopping off their thumbs, making them unable to work. More than a century has passed, but it seems the East India Company still exists. Tradition of cutting off thumb is still alive. Business is the same, but the commodity has changed. Literature, culture, curriculum and books have replaced the cloths. We and the Company are the same.
Darkness in Literature and the Last Fight
Karachi Literature Festival is held by Oxford University Press Karachi in Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi. This literary fair was held this year too. First few years were quite good. I’ve already said this and I admit it at this moment also. I want to inform my reader before I begin formally that I have been consuming my energies on writing about this Karachi Literature Festival or a literary fair for many years. Now it has become so ordinary that writing on it is itself a torturous reek. So, this is my last write up on this topic. I have done my duty now remaining will rest with the darkness in literature.
Facilitators of Literary Fair
According to the boastful information given in the booklet issued by the organizers of Company’s festival and a press release following it : “ When they started this festival five thousands to ten thousand people would attend, reaching its eighth year it has crossed two lace visitors and this number embodies high graph for the love of literature among Pakistani people.” It has not only pulled in more visitors, but the number of sponsors is also increasing. Book stall holders in the festival are also paying. Festival organizers claim that it is an attempt to promote reading taking along national and international writers. (By the way this promotion campaign is paid.) Cooperation is also sought from the embassies of the America, Britain, Italy, Switzerland, France, and India. Britain’s other institutions including BBC, Urdu Service, and British Council have also put up their share. For this fair additional aid in the form of advertisement is another resource. Pakistan’s all renowned television and newspapers are also providing support.
Shocking Moment and our Naivety
In spite of all these resources, this year’s Karachi Literature Festival couldn’t show up even a single distinguished writer from the west.
It has been announced that Karachi Literature Festival will be held in London also after the completion of seventy years of Pakistan’s independence. This fair is a copy of Jay Pure Literature Festival that has also been held in Melbourne- Australia, so it is bound to be held on some foreign land. Unfortunately, it couldn’t set itself free from the format of Jai Pure Literature Festival. Jai Pure Literature Festival was independent enough to take their movie Mother India as its topic in its last year. Film producer Karan Johar spoke on fake democracy and so called freedom of speech. In Pakistan previous year’s movie Malik that was victimized by censor board couldn’t be the part of Karachi Literature Festival. Nominated for the Oscar award, our movie Mah-e- Meerthat has been the part of many film fairs including Jai Pure Film Fair couldn’t be added in. Both film producers belong to Karachi, and both movies are produced in Karachi. In one of the movie session” Cinema across the Border” our renowned actor Mustafa Qureshi shed light on Pakistani and Indian productions, analyzing both sides’ movies his view on India’s bias attitude is also on record.
Up till now 24!
One hundred and ninety-four personalities participated as scholars and artists in this literature festival, but none of them was a fiction writer from the west. Sponsorship from six countries’ embassies was of no use. There are twenty-four foreign personalities mentioned in the booklet. Film-star Shabnam from Bangladesh is one of them. Ten from the rest are Indians. Though Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan were not allowed to enter India, even for the publicity of their recently released Indian movies. Not long ago, two ambassadors of Pakistan, posted in India, were not allowed to attend Jaipure Literature Festival. Indian government didn’t allow them. Here in Pakistan, what to talk of past, this year too ten personalities were from India. The Indian High Commissioner, posted in Pakistan, Gautum Bambawala is one of them.
Death of Sensibility and Opponent’s noise
Pure Literature?
Amazing thing is that if we gather up Pakistani and foreign scholars of Urdu and English language even than out of one hundred and ninety-four only fifty names qualify to the discipline of poetry and literature, but still they do not meet the standard. In the festival’s mushaira , we find the same poets every year,. Few specific poets show up every year.It also tells on organizers’ stagnancy and mental state. Don’t we have other poets except these twenty poets in Pakistan? Or don’t we have their predecessor? Everyone knows the answer.
Psychology of Crowd
According to festival’s book stall holders, they could hardly meet the expenditures of putting up their stalls in the book fair. It is surprising, last year there were around two lac visitors, this year too it was jam-packed. Its popularity must have pulled in more visitors. There should be more than two lac visitors. Had even half of the crowd bought a book, one lac books would have been sold out, and the hawkers would have met their expenditures of putting in stalls. So, how they can call it promotion of reading and literature. Volume of crowd is not an answer to it. Organizers can be boastful about the sale of books as they are of the number of visitors. In the same manner, number of visitors doesn’t gain on the promotion of literature. Few days back, there was a food festival held in Karachi. It too gathered a large crowd. There are many crowded places like zoo, Safari Park, cafeterias but they don’t claim that they are promoting literature. If you too drop out the word “literature” we will not criticize any of your activities. Promotion of other commodities in the name of literature is not right from any perspective. It can never be regarded as service to literature.
From Topics to Preference
If we look at the list of sessions of this years’ literature festival we can easily make out to what extent they were wading through the literature. Important events, other than book ceremonies, painting exhibitions, award ceremonies, dance and music sessions, stand up comedies, had few sessions on literature. Other sessions’ subjects were like: Pakistani Music: from Raags to Rocks, Climate Change and Nuclear War, Skewed History and Syllabus, Minorities in Pakistan’s Legal System, International and Regional Politics impacting South Asia, Pakistan : a Fragile estate or Resilient Nation, Afghan-Pakistan Illusion and Realities, The Birth of two Nation, The pain of Partition, Spreading Education: Are we Winning or Losing the struggle, Security or Economics: What Drives Foreign Policy, The Future of Pakistan’s Creatives- Film, Fashion and Music. We are unable to find any aspect of serving literature or the promotion of reading.
Uplifting National Image through the Choice of Topics
One more question arises here, could it produce any soft image of Pakistan, as it was representative of Pakistani literature? If Hafiz Saeed could be a topic of a session in Jaipure literature Festival, why can’t Bal Thakre’s personality be talked on. Karachi remained captivated for two decades in the hands of “ unknown” people, thousands of people lost their lives including writers, but it is nowhere in the long list of sessions. Why we never choose these sorts of issues in any festival.
Culpable Silence and a Gang of Hypocrites
As I have already written on that whether it is a governmental institution or non government organization, they organize literary fairs, and it will continue in future also. Personal interest of few people behind the scene is also there that can be felt and seen by every sensible person. In the times of deceiving politics, it is not beyond the norms that there will be no creativity in literary events too. In these circumstances whether somebody brings it forth in writing or not, but writers will be held answerable in the face of history. Writers whose characters of stories were helpless; whose subjects of poetry were injustice and inequality; who spoke on violation of rights, falsehood and flattery in their work. They remained lost in the fake activities of literature in the Company’s fair. Their own written letters will range against their hypocrisy on the page of history. History’s memory is sharp, and its eyes are discerning.
Two Personalities- Two References
This festival has become full of forgery and almost dead. We can’t put up with it anymore. If you are interested in more details you can contact Pakistan’s ex interior minister and producer of first English movie in Pakistan, Javed Jabbar. Renowned educationist and expert linguist Dr. Rauf Parekh can also be contacted. He also works in the dictionary section of Oxford University Press Karachi. He has never been a part of Karachi Literature Festival. He also writes weekly literary article in English.His silence is full of meanings.
Fulfilment of Hasty Nature
Urdu-English dictionary of Oxford University Press Karachi that was compiled by Shanul Haq Haqqi, moreover, expert linguist and an excellent translator Saleem-ur-Rehman also contributed in its compilation. Both are contemporary and good friends to each other. Shanul Haq Haqqi is never invited in this fair. They never bothered to call upon the other great literary figures that I have discussed in my earlier writings. Renowned English novelist, Muhammad Haneef has showed a little haste in choosing a new novelist for his “ nae awaz”. A novelist, who is our friend and a good poet, but his first novel is not published yet, he has been recognized as a novelist for “ nae awaz” this year. This city has many prominent voices, who have also written more than one good novels, but they are never patronized by any Muhammad Haneef
A Blind Man Dishes out Sweets
Now a day Oxford University Press Karachi is in need of publishing a revised and comprehensive edition of a dictionary. For this, they again contacted Mr. Saleem-ur-Rehman through Dr. Nomanul Haq, but he humbly excused. They even offered some money in advance, but Mr. Saleem-ur-rehman found it doubtful, and he refused. In the recognition of his first contribution with Sara Naqvi and Shanul Haq Haqqi , they didn’t even bother to send a copy of the dictionary. He says at that very moment he had decided not to cooperate with them any further. He is critical of Company’s literary fair.In an interview, Dr. Saleem-ur-Rehman has spoken in detail on the so called promotion of reading and literature. Accolades of books ‘sweets are dished out like a blind man who knows his own people only. One is Oxford University Press Karachi’ writer and another is a friend to the festival’s director.
History will be held Answerable in Future
According to the rules and regulations of Oxford University Press Karachi, if a common writer intends to get his book published, he will have to wait for a year. He will be told in this duration if his work can be published or not, but this is not a scenario for insiders, they are immediately responded. In this perspective we can see the books written by politicians, NGO’s and the journalists of well known organizations. The talent of these well known figures and pertaining decisions to publish their work doesn’t require much time. Though in an emergency, but in a favorable environment their work is published. Many local and the owners of small trade companies of this press have been arrested in the case of forgery, but this is a corruption in which sellers of curriculum books have started selling curriculum itself. In the packaging of literature Pakistan’s identity is being sold out. There must be people to keep its accountability. Conducting an interview on these literary fairs, I asked a question from Saleem-ur Rehman , “ Don’t you suffer aggression when you see what is coming up in the name of literature?” His answer is reflective of today’s literary scenario. He says, “What other absurd things are taking place in our country, against that it is not a big thing. We are not provided with hygienic eatable things, medicines are of low quality, it seems government has decided that education and health are not its responsibilities. Now it is obvious when higher authorities are devoid of any sense of responsibility then literature will ultimately be vulnerable to it.
The Company of books will keep celebrating these sorts of non literary activities in the name of the promotion of reading and literature.
