By Mushtaq Soofi

December 18th, 2023

Ahmed Saleem who wore many hats finally bowed out last week at 78. Long life? Definitely not! “The world (for an individual) is a night’s dream /it lasts as long as it takes one to bat his eyes,” says poet Hafiz Barkhurdar who composed the tale of legendary Sahiba.

Ahmed Saleem was a multidimensional creative individual; he was a poet, fiction writer, researcher, editor and chronicler. Above all what spiced up the story of his life was his being cultured and rights activist, an invariably dangerous endeavour in a non-democratic or quasi-democratic society. He drew diverse but inter-related strands of life together; creative, academic, cultural and political. He composed poetry that was as romantic as it was defiant. A remarkable aspect of it was that he did not objectify the female body as it has been with most of the poets who are usually obsessive about imagined allure and erotic love it is supposed to be repository of.

Whenever he talks of woman, Ahmed Saleem delineates the repression she faces and the dreams she dreams of being an emancipated being. Such a poetic attitude helped him to effortlessly bond with the socially and culturally influential women of his times. He was a man who never posed any threat to women he met which allowed him into their inner sanctum. The result was that he became an ardent proponent of feminist demands and view of life.

His novels have politically defiant undertones as they one way or the other challenge the dominant narratives and expose the hollowness of the sanctimonious voice of authoritarianism. But it wasn’t a mere academic exercise. He acted the role of a rebel in his real life as well. His creative and critical writings reflected his stance in real life and his real life stance corresponded to the vision his writings epitomised. He was, for example, among a select few in Punjab who like indomitable Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan supported the Bengali language rights movement and when crunch time came, he vociferously opposed military operation against the East Pakistanis and pressed for accepting their legitimate political and economic rights denied to them by the ruthless and rapacious elite of the West Pakistan.

It needed great courage to do so because public, thoroughly brain-washed, blindly toed the establishment’s line. Swimming against the current meant putting your head on the line as it made it easier for the authorities to crush the dissidents. No wonder Ahmed Saleem was arrested and thrown into the dungeons. He joined in with the other forward-looking activists and political workers who visualised the country’s secure future in federalism which guaranteed the legitimate political, economic and cultural rights of federating units.

Pakistan came into being as a state comprising diverse nationalities and ethnic groups that had their historically evolved identities. They created Pakistan, not the vice versa. And if their rights were not safe in the state they created, what the future held for them would not be difficult to imagine.

The emergence of erstwhile East Pakistan as independent Bangladesh would have been enough to dispel all the political and ideological illusions but sadly course correction didn’t happen. So the struggle of Ahmed Saleem and his ilk continued.

Being of amiable nature and inspired by humanist ideals, he was able to form relationship with writers of other languages and regions. So we could see bonhomie between him and other prominent writers from diverse cultures. He could jell, for instance, with Shaikh Ayaz and Fehmida Riaz from Sindh, Gul Khan Naseer and Ata Shaad from Balochistan, and Sara Shagufta and Faiz from Punjab, and Ghani Khan and Ajmal Khatak from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He could go beyond borders and reach inimitable Amrita Pritam and Imroz. He meticulously translated a selection of Shaikh Ayaz’s poems into Punjabi titled Jo Beejal ne Aakhia (I was thrilled as a young writer when Shaikh sahib and the translator asked me to write an introduction to the book).

Ahmed Saleem was also a dedicated researcher, chronicler, student of people’s history and folklorist. He published dozens and dozens of referenced books and hundreds of papers on diverse subjects such as literature, history, politics, cultures, languages, and folklore in Punjabi, Urdu and English. He also edited several magazines and literary journals in Punjabi and Urdu. What helped him to broaden his poetic, cultural and political vision was his travels in the country and around the globe. He could justifiably be described as an itinerant scholar. He moved from place to place; he lived in Lahore, Karachi and finally in Islamabad where he breathed his last apart from incessantly traveling in the different regions of the country.

Dr. Khatau Mal of Mithi would fondly tell you about Ahmed Saleem’s Thar visit that enabled him to prepare a report on the rights of our repressed Hindu minority.

Last but not least, he proved to be a wonderful archivist. What boggles one’s mind is that despite being a man of modest means how he could build such a unique archive in a society that had little respect for books, documents and historical records. It was his lifelong work and a stunning achievement. Thankfully, Humaira Ashfaq, a young scholar, took care of him in his last years when he needed it most. His archive-cum-library has more than 50,000 books. The documents collected and preserved are innumerable. They comprise dailies, weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies, literary magazines, research journals and other papers that have historical significance. What will become of all this? Who will take care of this valuable stuff the way he did despite his weak health and financial constraints? It shall be in order to propose that a team of scholars with required knowledge and skills be formed by the government to devise a plan to preserve all the stuff and keep the archive functional. It can provide the research scholars, historians and students with source material the paucity of which has lowered our level of research at local and national levels.

Ahmed Salem was a writer and culture activist who always felt inspired to perspire; he kept prodding himself to work hard rather than waiting for an intuitive push to be able to engage in his creative activities. “Maapay tainu ghatt ron gay, bahutey ron gay dilan de jaani (Your buddies will mourn for you more than your family).” Good bye Ahmed Saleem! You made our world richer with your presence. —