About creative spaces

With the glow of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) illuminating the social horizon of the city this weekend, I had the opportunity of, in a sense, whetting my appetite with a book launch in Islamabad on Wednesday. This, then, is the season of intellectual fruitfulness against the backdrop of a somewhat depressing literary landscape.

Although I have not able to do a roundup of the eighth edition of the KLF, the hectic initial encounters have already overwhelmed my senses. It is that kind of once in a year excitement. So I can begin with the Islamabad event. It was the launch of Mian Raza Rabbani’s collection of short stories titled ‘Invisible People’.

My excuse for making it a peg for this column is that I made a trip to Islamabad for this occasion and happened to be one of the speakers. This means that I was aware of the fact that a respected luminary of our political class was about to make his entry as a writer of fiction. That his stories are worthy of critical appreciation is an additional surprise.

I feel a bit involved because I am one of those who have commented on the book for its dust cover. This is what I wrote:

“Our political rulers are forever wont to swear by the people – the awam. But they live in a security bubble, protected from the raw winds of reality that have engulfed the lives of ordinary citizens of this country. Rabbani, who has earned the exalted position of the chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, has stepped out of that gilded cage to venture into the lower depths of our society and bear witness to the misery and deprivations of the ‘invisible people’. For many, this collection of a dozen short stories would be a revelation. A leading politician is making his appearance as a creative writer.

“But his stories tend to explore the same passions that Raza Rabbani has invested in his politics. I am reminded of how Frantz Fanon analysed the dehumanising effects of colonisation in his celebrated ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, though the approach here is not academic or scholarly. Rabbani has given us glimpses of the lives of individuals who have been wronged and betrayed by a system that is shamelessly elitist.

“He has the gift of telling a story and his stories certify his capacity for empathy and compassion. His characters come alive against the shifting backdrops of our society. Their ‘invisibility’ is the reality of Pakistan”.

Having copied this, there is no need to talk more about the book but the launching ceremony itself deserves to be taken notice of. It was such a grand affair and almost the entire political elite of the capital was present. Now, this could be seen as an irony that the very privileged class of people had gathered to hear about the injustices it had administered to the ‘invisible people’.

In spite of this, I found the proceedings very gratifying. The book launch was perceptively designed. There were empty chairs on the stage; symbolising the fact that the ‘invisible people’ were the chief guests. And when his turn came to conclude the function, Rabbani attempted to explain the passion that he had invested in his stories.

All in all, I felt good to be there. At the event, Masood Ashar, Senator Taj Haider, Afrasiab Khattak and Mujahid Barelvi spoke about the book as well as the author. Mustansar Hussain had sent in his comments. In my own brief speech, I made a few points that are also relevant to this week’s celebration in Karachi. Though it was not exactly telling truth to power but I could express my lament that our politicians are generally now known to be reading books. My emphasis has been on the need to read fiction. It is good fiction that deepens your understanding of reality.

Another point that has also been my refrain is the inadequacy of what may be termed as our intellectual infrastructure. Let’s see this in the light of the KLF that has become a wonderful event. The festival creates a burst of cultural and literary activity in a mega city that does not even have a proper public library. One measure of these deprivations is the growth of intolerance and fanaticism.

When it comes to defining the concept of an intellectual infrastructure, education emerges as a dominant factor. But it is this sector that cultivates our sorrows and our disappointments. We have not been able to resolve the issue of language and this is not just restricted to the context of a medium of instruction. Some intimations of this predicament have also been present in the conceptual framework of the KLF.

A timely reminder of this problem was a short course on the ‘importance of language in education’ held in Karachi under the auspices of Irtiqa Institute of Social Sciences. I had intended to attend its final day on Thursday but couldn’t make it there. One published report on the course had this headline on Friday: “Elite-oriented teaching of language increasing ghettoisation”.

It is this ‘ghettoisation’ that undermines the potential for creativity and social advancement. Simultaneously, the small ruling elite is able to strengthen its hold on the levers of power. How this equation can change without a cataclysmic upheaval is a big question for our thinking minds to ponder over. But the environment in which this exercise can be conducted is restrictive. Building an intellectual infrastructure would surely help this case.

A literature festival should be seen as a component of this infrastructure. For a while, it does become an antidote to the widely perceived pessimism about the extent of our cultural and social capital. It should also inspire many young people to excel in the fields of arts and letters. The KLF this year has provided more space to the study of Pakistan and its history because this year the country is celebrating its 70th birthday.

Hence, serious visitors will be encouraged to make a sense of Pakistan in the light of a number of very perceptive deliberations in which some of our best historians and social critics are taking part. Ayesha Jalal’s keynote address at the inaugural ceremony on Friday was a treat. And the other keynote by Mustansar Hussain Tarar also touched upon the journey we have made and where we are at this time. This means that the KLF experience should stay in your mind for some time.

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddinhotmail.com