S Nabiha Shahram
Will we continue being a nation where intellectuals and thinkers are punished, rather than being prized for saying the right things?
Mughal Empire was known for its beautiful architecture. The architecture reached its pinnacle of glory during the period of Shah Jahan. It was promoted in a period of 100 years by Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The royal family is no more there, but those Mughal traditions left a lasting impression. We seemed to be inspired more by the concrete buildings. We totally forgot as per our convenience that Mughals patronised artists, writers, and poets too.
In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, being a democratic nation, we proudly follow the selective royal culture till date. A country where rulers and invaders are always personified and labelled as heroes. Intellectuals and Sufi saints are not considered worthy enough. We pick and choose traditions and values from the history according to our suitability and then continue it. We dishonour our true heroes by condemning them in their lifetimes and then try to undo our act by renaming buildings on their names after their death. The best we have done is to name road on our war hero, M M Alam road, a model town underpass after Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Istanbul Chowk after Patris Bukhari will be named respectively. Prime Minister had given the approval to rename Centre for Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University as “Professor Abdus-Salam Centre for Physics.” Again, just renaming or naming a building is the only tribute we pay. That too after the death of our national pride, not to mention the kind of rejection they face in their lifetime. Do we really not deserve such heroes? A short account of the Pakistani Noble Laureate Dr Abdus Salam life goes like this.
Dr Abdus Salam returned to his homeland after his graduation studies at Cambridge and joined Government College Lahore. He later became the head of the department at Punjab University. He was thoroughly disappointed as none of these positions allowed him to conduct research. “No one cared whether I did any research, worse I was expected to look after the college soccer team as my major duties besides teaching undergraduates.” Due to his religious beliefs, he faced further prejudices.
He went to Cambridge for the PhD in theoretical physics in 1952. He was the youngest professor at the Imperial College of Science and Technology. In 1979, he was awarded Nobel prize for his research on the “existence of forces carrying particles called W+, W and Zo bosons.” He received the award attired in a traditional Pakistani dress. But at the same time “Pakistan never considered owning him up as one of the countrymen,” in the words of Pervaiz Hoodbhoy. Even his alma mater Government College denied giving him any residence. This very isolation made him leave Pakistan in 1954. Upon his death, his brother requested for state protocol on the Noble Laureate coffin arrival, but there was no response from the government.
But we seem to undo all the wrong acts by renaming a building and a road on his name that too after his death. Roads in Geneva and Trieste had been named after him long before. Again the only tribute he got was Government College naming their departments of Mathematics and Physics after him. While we were busy seeding politics based on religion, sect and hatred, the non-Muslim countries were awarding him with Noble Laureate, honour and patronization.
Our very own media remained tight-lipped on his death. But probably, this is the only way we know how to treat our heroes as a policy. Reminding the readers how Air Commodore was thrown out of the forces on the allegations that he is not capable and not a learned person. “I felt as if I am hit by something badly upon learning that I am given before time retirement.” This forced retirement was given to a legend who was more than a war hero. In 1980 upon the completion of his course at Royal College of Defense Studies in London, officially issued a report on the note of comparing him with British military commander Viscount Slim. This report in itself was an honour.
The list of our disrespecting homages is quite long. Another genius, a prolific writer and a man who went to extraordinary lengths in literature was ‘Josh Maleeh Abadi’. An impeccable linguist and a remarkable poet, he migrated to Pakistan in 1958, despite Jawaharlal Nehru’s insistence against it. He was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2012 long after his death, received by his granddaughter. Josh in his book “Yadoo ki Baraat,” lashes out at opportunists who dominated the new born country; a critic of political and religious parties. In his words,“Karachi nay chotoo ko ubhara aur baron ko dafna dia.” Such was the state of unhappiness of a profound intellectual on our society.
Saadat Hassan Manto, who viewed the society’s hypocrisy critically, said that in our double social standards a woman cannot run a tonga for earning but can run a brothel.
He faced cases for obscenity in writing but was never convicted. His entire life and death were a witness on the hostility he faced by the state and society. Critics of our society at any era were not very well received by the people and state both. The only reason and source of taking out Europe from dark ages towards enlightenment were the critical thinkers. They challenged the monarch of their time. They introduced enlightenment and renaissance in arts. But if we keep on strangling and silencing our intellectuals and critical thinkers we will be in the whirlpool for a long and unlimited time. Even today we are no different despite the so-called social awareness.
The launching ceremony of Malala Yousufzai autobiography was cancelled in her own hometown. The diversity, difference in opinion is handled by rejection and hatred.
Habib Jalib the revolutionary poet, political leaders always recite his verses to charge up the crowd. The kind of fate Jalib faced is a tight slap on our face. His son Yasir was running a chicken while his daughter is running a driving school. They are not plundering and are not a part of the hierarchy corruption standing tall and strong in the face of adversaries. But the kind of fate our scholars, thinkers and intellectual face makes anyone think twice. Is it better to open a restaurant and pass it on to the next generation or to pass on the knowledge and intellect? Will we continue being a nation where intellectuals and thinkers are punished, rather than being prized for saying the right things? Being nation who lives like a hog under a tree eating all the acorns but never bothering to look up and see where they come from.
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