By Altaf Hussain Asad

Date:18-06-06

Source: Dawn

Hailing from a small town, Mailsi, in Vehari district, Hussain Ahmad Khan had aimed to sit for the C.S.S. exam as most of his relatives, including his late father, a police officer, had during his career belonged to the different cadres of civil service. With this thought in his heart he got himself enrolled in Government College University, Lahore. Fortunately, at college he found a real mentor in Dr Tahir Kamran who awakened in him such an irrepressible urge to carry out research that he altogether discarded the idea of becoming a civil servant.

Staid and introvert, the 27-year-old Hussain Ahmad intended to choose the causes of the dismemberment of Pakistan as the topic for his dissertation in his final year of M.A. in History. But it was Dr Tahir Kamran, who suggested to him to trace the genealogy of the Siraiki nationalist movement in Pakistan. Originally titled as The Struggle for Regional Autonomy, A Case Study of the Siraiki Belt Hussain refined his dissertation at the National College of Arts (NCA) where Nadeem Omar and Samina Choonara offered their all out support to give it a book form. This is how Re-Thinking Punjab, the Construction of Siraiki Identity was born. Following are excerpts taken from a recently conducted interview with Hussain Ahmad Khan.

Q: When did you realise that you had the potential to become a research scholar and how much time did you spend writing this book?

A: I joined Government College University, Lahore, with an ambition to become a CSP officer. But then I met Dr Tahir Kamran who changed my outlook and broadened my vision. When I was assigned to write a thesis on the Siraiki nationalist movement, I found that I possess the temperament of a good researcher. So I decided to devote all my energies in carrying out research. As a result the charm of civil service fizzled out for me.

I owe a lot to my teachers as they helped me out at every point. After doing my post graduation in History from the university, I joined NCA as a research assistant. There the idea of broadening the scope of my dissertation came to my mind. So I worked for three years to present my thesis in book form.

Q: From what angle do you see the politics of the Siraiki nationalist movement and why has their demand of autonomy for their region not met with success so far?

A: Let me clarify at the very outset that Siraiki is the dialect of the people of upper Sindh. It has nothing to do with the region of Multan or Bahawalpur. But in the 60s, the word Siraiki was politically deployed in this area. It was a political ploy to associate this word with this region. The leaders of the Siraiki movement wanted to counter the rising influence of the Mohajirs and Abadkars in their region. So the Siraiki identity was created to cater to the needs of the era. It is totally wrong to state that the emergence of the Siraiki identity was evolutionary.

The struggle for Siraiki autonomy had many contradictions so they have not been as effective as they should have been. For example, the major concern of the people of Bahawalpur is the acquisition of their land by non-Siraikis. In Multan the problem is specific to culture and in D.G. Khan it has been more on the language. Due to these different tendencies the movement of Siraiki autonomy has not been able to make any headway.

Q: Will the formation of a separate Siraiki province solve the problems of the people of the area?

A: In my view, the formation of a new province will not do any good to its residents unless land reforms are not carried out. Otherwise, the feudals will enjoy unlimited power in this region. Even today, the politicians of this area are ruling the roost in Punjab. So a new province perhaps will curtail their influence a bit. This will be totally unpalatable to the politicians of the Siraiki region. Secondly, carving out a new province is not as easy a task to do. The composition of the Siraiki society is such that Punjab’s Urdu-speaking people also enjoy a certain influence in the area. Their vote bank also counts a lot. Any politician of the Siraiki region cannot afford to lose their votes by raising the slogan of a separate province. So the non-Siraiki people will oppose the formation of a new province tooth and nail.

Q: Do you think that your book got the response it deserved?

A: As a matter of fact, my book received a lukewarm response from all and sundry. As it was written in English, those who could not read the language found themselves unable to go through it. Now I feel that I should translate it into Urdu for a wider readership. Then there are certain lacunaes in the book that need to be plugged in to make it more reader-friendly. But there are people such as Dr Tariq Rahman who greatly appreciated my effort. I also emailed a few portions of the book to late Prof Hamza Alavi. But before I could get his views on them, he passed away.

On the other hand, Siraiki nationalists criticised me as I did not agree with their notion of the evolution of the Siraiki identity. My book also irked the non-Siraiki people of the area as they thought I was paving way for a separate Siraiki province through it.

Q: Considering the fact that very few people would relate to it, why did you choose to write a book on such an abstruse subject?

A: I do not agree with you. It is not obligatory for the academia to follow the existing trend in society. Its aim is to open up new avenues of thought. It should also strive to plug in the loopholes by researching on every aspect relating to society. The academia should not think in terms of profit and loss. I feel that an Urdu translation of the book will be read more avidly. Anyway, I am quite content by fulfilling my duty as a researcher.

Q: As a student of History, can you name a few Pakistani historians who have been your role models?

A: I think that Prof K.K. Aziz and Dr Mubarak Ali did a good job as far as the tradition of historiography is concerned in Pakistan. But in my personal view, there are some other budding historians whom one can idealise for a longer period of time. Dr Tahir Kamran is one such historian.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: I am working on my new book, Ethnography of Colonial Punjab. It should be completed by next year.