By Kazy Javed

Source: The News Karachi Edition

No less a person than the doyen of Pakistani letters, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, himself has raised his voice in support of Punjabi language. In one of his recent newspaper columns, he has come down heavily upon those in the positions of authority who are always out to humiliate this mother-tongue of more than 60 million Pakistanis.
Referring to his respect for Urdu, he writes that if Urdu is our national language then Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi and Kashmiri are our Pakistani, and not the so-called regional, languages. "Personally," he adds, "I cherish all these languages as much as I care for Urdu. On reading a translation of some good Sindhi short-story, I always feel proud as it brings home to me that such fine literature is being created in my country. Likewise on reading some Pashto or Balochi poem in translation, I always think that our governments, writers and intellectuals must pay attention to the development and promotion of these languages which are capable of presenting such a high quality literature."

Referring to his past efforts for the uplift of Punjabi, Qasmi continues, "I hail from the province of the Punjab and Punjabi is my mother-tongue. Hence my demand for the last so many years that Punjabi should at least be made the medium of instruction at the elementary level in the schools of Punjab". The rationale, he rightly points out, is very simple; if education is provided to a child in his mother-tongue, it becomes easier for him or her to understand and digest it and his or her mind is prepared for further learning. This is a universal principle and is honored everywhere. It is certainly heartening to note that primary education is provided is Sindhi and Pashto in the provinces of Sindh and NWFP respectively. It is only Punjab in which the language of the people is being ignored.

Adding insult to injury, the provincial government of Punjab has recently brought down the number of posts for lecturers in Punjabi and funds thus saved have been earmarked for computer education, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi protests.

Well, nobody is going to belittle the importance of computer education. It is vitally important for the new generation. However, it makes no sense to scarify the teaching of Punjabi for this purpose. I do not know much about the situation in other provinces but it is certainly beyond controversy that the number of posts for lecturers in Punjabi is already much less than those reserved for other subjects. For example, Punjabi is taught in only two colleges of the four districts of Sargodha Division. One of the two colleges is for boys while the other is a girls' college. We do need education in science and technology but the language of Waris Shah, Sultan Bahoo, Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah and Mian Muhammad must not be ignored.

These is another report doing the rounds these days which says that the government of Punjab has withdrawn the facility of two advance increments earlier granted to school teachers who get a masters degree in Punjabi. However, teachers obtaining such a degree in any other subject will continue to get this benefit.

Qasmi is obviously upset with this glaring injustice. His words make it clear that he is angry and disillusioned. "Why?" he asks. Is Punjabi a vulgar and nasty language? Does the language spoken by millions of people and having a rich heritage deserve this type of treatment? Can anybody dare to treat those teaching Sindhi in Sindh and Balochi in Balochistan in the same way? Does not the Punjabi language belong to anybody?

"I strongly ask the Punjab Government that why is it treating Punjabi language in a step-motherly way," Qasmi concludes. And I treasure his column. It has forcefully advanced the Punjabi cause. It may fail to bring an end to the maltreatment being meted out to Punjabi language but it will certainly not fail to remind the Punjabis that their language is berated in their own province.

Outward looking
An obscure dusty town of the God-forsaken southern Punjab is emerging as a notable literary center. Two young men with agricultural background have brought Vehari on the literary map. They are Riaz Hans and Riaz Malik and they have started the publication of a quarterly international literary magazine titled Adab-e-Aaliya. A few week ago I received a letter from Riaz Hans, the honorary editor of the magazine, asking me to send him some literary piece for his soon-to-be published magazine. I was impressed, not by the message in the letter, but by the letter-head and the envelope which betrayed that there are a lot of resources at his disposal.

Anyway, the maiden issue of the Adab-e-Aaliya has now been published. It is nicely printed on expensive paper but its price, Rs 250, is certainly beyond the reach of most of the people who could be interested in reaching it. But perhaps I am mistaken. This magazine is not meant for local readers. It has been brought out with an eye on Urdu writers living in foreign lands. Their number has been mushrooming in recent years. This phenomenon has produced a new kind of Urdu literature -- mostly sophomoric and shoddy. They have been sending their literary creations back home. As a result of it some new magazines have appeared. The Adab-e-Aaliya seems to be one of them.

However, its first issue carries a wonderful story likes of which are seldom written in Urdu. Entitled Katian Behnain (Katian Sisters) and authored by Musharraf Alam Zoqee of Delhi (yes, another Musharraf from Delhi), it narrates the life of two spinster sisters. An old man steps into their life and their world begins to crumble.

Those angry oldies
The latest issues of Funoon and Adab-e-Latif have also hit the shelves. Funoon carries an angry letter by Mohammad Irshad, an essayist from Haripur Hazara, who has been contributing articles to the magazine for the last three decades and is mostly known for his polemics with the late Syed Ali Abbas Jalalpuri in the 1970s.

Latest Funoon contains, as usual, writings of everybody who is anybody in our urdu literature.