Adil Najam

One of Pakistan’s pre-eminent historians - Khursheed Kamal Aziz - died Wednesday after a prolonged illness. His courageous scholarship and honest attention to detail shall be sorely missed by all students of Pakistan history.

For those who knew him and his works K.K. Aziz was a giant. Too many Pakistanis today will not know who KK Aziz was. That is their loss. Indeed, that is all our loss. As is his demise.

The news report in Dawn gives some, but only some, details on the man and his life:

Khurshid Kamal Aziz was an outstanding historian and a prolific writer. He authored a large number of books that opened up angles on history and culture sought to be concealed by official chroniclers. Quite aptly, one of his famous works is titled ‘The Murder of History’.

K.K. Aziz’s was an expansive canvas and while he has to his credit books such as ‘History of the Partition of India’, ‘The Meaning of Islamic Art: An annotated bibliography’ and ‘Public Life in Muslim India: 1850-1947’, he also came up with volumes on some important individuals who helped shape history in the subcontinent at critical junctures – among them Sir Agha Khan III and Chaudhry Rehmat Ali.

‘The Coffee House of Lahore – A memoir 1942-57’ is his gift to the city which had helped him determine his own place in history. His autobiography is titled ‘The Pakistani Historian’. He is mainly known for his English writings but he was equally at ease with Urdu prose and a staunch believer in the power of Persian to enlighten a seeker of knowledge. In his Urdu work ‘Woh Hawadis Aashna,’ he focusses on his father and his family’s history.

Son of Barrister Abdul Aziz, a well-known historian in his own right who added to his fame by initiating pioneering work on Heer Waris Shah, K.K. Aziz was born in the village of Ballamabad near Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) on December 11, 1927. He studied at the Government College, Lahore, where his teachers included Ahmed Shah Bukhari Patras and Prof Sirajuddin. He went on to teach at Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, Toronto, Khartoum and Heidelberg. His research enriched by the exposure abroad, he would return to his country to work on extremely difficult themes that brought out the best in him – and quite often the worst in self-employed minders of Pakistan’s ideology.

In 1978, he was working as the head of the National Commission of Historical and Cultural Research in Islamabad when he was forced to leave Pakistan by the Ziaul Haq regime that was anathema to independent scholarship. This was followed by teaching assignments in England, Germany and Sudan before he finally settled in Lahore some years ago, writing profusely and frequently undertaking foreign tours.

His wife Zarina Aziz told Dawn that he had been ill for almost five years, but still worked for 10 hours a day. He was hospitalised on May 11 and discharged on June 13. He was again admitted to hospital on Tuesday, where he passed away on Wednesday. Mrs Aziz says that her husband had written 50 books and used to say that his books were his children and would keep his name alive.

His books include: ‘The Making of Pakistan: A Study in Nationalism,’ ‘Studies in History and Politics,’ ‘Party Politics in Pakistan 1947-1958,’ ‘Britain and Pakistan,’ ‘Britain and Muslim India,’ ‘Muslims under Congress Rule 1937-1939: A documentary record,’ ‘British Imperialism in India’ and ‘The All India Muslim Conference 1928-1935: A documentary record’.

I found a delightful excerpt about Lahore from his autobiography, noted above, posted by blogger and historian Manan Ahmed. It is worth reading for many reasons, and by one and all:

From the 1920s onwards, perhaps even earlier, Lahore was the most highly cultured city of north India. From here appeared the largest number of Urdu literary jounals, newspapers, and books and two of the best English language dailies. The Mayo School of Arts was flourishing. The Young Men Christian Association was active and its premises and halls were used by all communities for literary and social activities. The Government College was a distinguished intellectual center whose teachers were respected and students considered to be the best representatives of modern Western education. The Oriental College was engaged in first class research. The annual plays staged at Government College and Dyal Singh College were awaited by the city’s elite with high expectations. Eminent journalists and columnists wrote for newspapers and graced literary gatherings. The city rang with the echoes of the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Noon Meem Rashid, Hafeez Jallandhari and Akhtar Sherani. The Niazmandan-e Lahore, the magic circle of A. S. Bokhari, Abdul Majeed Salik, M. D. Taseer, Hafeez Jallandhari, Sufi Tabassum, Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj and Hari Chand Akhtar, created enormous waves in the world of Urdu literature.

The well-to-do Westernized elite drank and danced and talked in the Gymkhana and Cosmopolitan clubs. The home-grown dazzling lights set off their fireworks at the Arab Hotel, Nagina Bakery, Mukham Din’s teashop, Halqa-i Arbab-e Zauq, India Tea House and India Coffee House. The greatest in the land, like Tagore, came and spoke at the SPSK Hall. Political debates were held at Bradlaugh Hall. Amrita Sher Gill painted and B. C. Sanyal sculpted. The best British and American films were screened at Regal and Plaza. There was even a school of ballroom dancing on the upper storey of Regal. The baithaks in the walled city trained musicians and singers and invited the connoisseurs to come and listen to the classical music. The radio came a little later and the literati wallowed in a new channel which immediately enlarged the circulation of what they wrote, said or composed.

A glorious physical setting for this pulsating intellectual activity was provided by the Lahore that the British built between 1860 and 1935. Impressive edifices adorned the landscape: Lawrence Hall, Chief’s College, Government House, High Court, Masonic Lodge, Legislative Assembly, General Post Office, Museum, Mayo School of Art, Government College, and Central Training College. The queen of all roads, the Mall, was bordered by tall trees and wide footpaths, and boased a glittering array of expensive shops. The Race Course and the Lawrence Gardens were the lungs of the city. No high rise buildings existed. With no encroachments the roads looked wider. The bungalows of Davis, Empress, Egerton, Queens and Jail Roads were elegantly located in the middle of green lawns. The skyline was soothing. Nature’s green was the dominating color of the city. Breathing was easy, and so was enjoying life.

– K. K. Aziz. The Coffee House of Lahore: A Memoir 1942-57. (Lahore: Sang-e Meel Publications, 2008): 6-10.

The Daily Times carried an apt editorial commentary of KK Aziz’s demise (I suspect, but cannot be sure, that the editorial was written by Khalid Ahmed, himself a connoisseur of all things intellectual):

Khursheed Kamal Aziz (1927-2009) who died on Wednesday was in the classical tradition of historians with the native instinct of a ferret and untrusting of anything that was not substantiated by written records. He carried a lot of his desiderata with himself and had thankfully advanced technologically as far as a word processor, a feat not many of his age have been seen to accomplish. “KK” had to be reclusive because he was naturally prolific and could undertake the writing of three or four books at the same time. His interests were wide-ranging although history came first and he gave an account of himself writing it. But surprisingly he had enough time too to write on art and compile his favourite lines from Urdu and Persian poetry.

The trauma that happened to KK was his alienation from the grand narrative of the Pakistan Movement. And when he realised that he had been following the context of “my country right or wrong” he produced in the early 1990s his two volumes on the lies that Pakistani history textbooks had been spreading to poison the popular mind. In the late 1990s, when the textbooks were challenged by some Pakistani academics, their doyen was KK, the alienated historian who admitted that he had ghost-written Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi’s The Struggle for Pakistan and had slanted facts to favour the nationalist version of history. His investigation of the career of Chaudhry Rehmat Ali remains a classic, divorced from the official narrative of the man who had turned against the Quaid.

KK had 50 books to his credit, and a Sitara-e-Imtiaz that he returned because he was not treated well by the government. KK was sitting on top of a roomful of the preparatory works of the Hamoodur Rehman Report when he was unceremoniously kicked out of the Pakistan Commission for Historical and Cultural Research by General Zia and made to flee the country. One can be sure that he would have produced the book that Pakistan deserved after the debacle of East Pakistan, had he stayed on. Dispassionate as a historian, he was an extremely sensitive and emotional man in private life, but always rewarding as a conversationalist during a relaxed evening with his admirers.

He was a good and great man. May his soul rest in peace.

Adil Najam

By now everyone has probably seen and commented already on U.S. President Barack Obama’s interview with Dawn’s Anwar Iqbal. But I thought this ‘uncut’ version of the interview is actually more interesting than the edited version (or clips) that we have seen.It tells us much more about how he personally feels about Pakistan - something that we had written about in depth here at ATP during his campaign.

I have known Anwar Iqbal ever since I was in high school (9th grade) in Islamabad and would sometimes write on sports (especially cricket statistics) and occasional ‘City Diaries’ for The Muslim and Anwar was a reporter on the city desk working with the legandary Ahmad Hassan saab (in many ways this blog’s design is an outgrowth of those City Diaries). He - and cartoonist Fieca, photographer B.K. Bangash, and later editors Mushahid Hussain and Maleeha Lodhi - were amongst the many at The Muslim who were immensely kind to me (then a schoolboy). I say all of this because Anwar is a dear friend and it was good to see him nab this interview.

Of course, most of us have also seen Jon Stewart’s funny take on the interview and of President Obama’s interst in Urdu and Pakistan. That, after all, is what Jon Stewart does and does better than anyone else, so one cannot fault the funny man for being funny.

There is much that I would have like President Obama to do (on Pakistan) that he has not done. I hope he eventually will. There is even more that I wish he would not do and stop doing (e.g., drone attacks). I hope he will soon stop. Frankly, I would much rather have someone in the White House who has a genuine affection for Pakistan, than someone who does not. I am not naieve enough to believe that personal affection will immediately translate to better policy. But it is much more likely to eventually do so thana lack of such affection!

Umer A. Chaudhry

Book Review: Hasan Nasir Ki Shahadat, by Major Ishaq Mohammad. Xavier Publications, Multan; Rs. 500.

The letters of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg moved the lyrical pen of Faiz Ahmed Faiz to write his monumental poem ‘hum jo tareek rahon mein mare gaye.’ The Rosenbergs were Marxists and victims of McCarthyism. A few hours before they were sent to the electric chair in 1953, they left an everlasting message of hope for their children: “Be comforted then that we were serene and understood with the deepest kind of understanding, that civilization had not as yet progressed to the point where life did not have to be lost for the sake of life; and that we were comforted in the sure knowledge that others would carry on after us.”

McCarthyism is widely documented as a dark chapter in the history of the U.S.A. It is considered synonymous with Communist witch-hunts, state-sponsored red bashing, illegal detentions of left-wing activists and the arbitrary use of state power to censor progressive political expression. McCarthyism was not merely an American experience. During the heyday of the Cold War, systematic repressive measures against Communism were introduced by almost all allies of the U.S.A. Pakistan was no exception, although there has been very little written on this subject, and there is no accessible documentation in this regard.

Who were the victims of anti-Communist repression in Pakistan? How were these radical Socialists persecuted? What is their history? These unconventional questions are usually sidelined or silenced.

Major Ishaq Mohammad’s book ‘Hassan Nasir ki Shahadat’ lays bare to some extent the murky historical chapter of state repression of Communism in Pakistan. Major Ishaq Mohammad needs no introduction. He was imprisoned for four years along with Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Syed Sajjad Zaheer in the hitherto unresolved 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case.

Ishaq Mohammad gained massive popularity during the 60’s and 70’s as the leader of the Mazdoor Kissan Party. He led the peasant revolts of Hashtnager and was well-known for his militant stand against capitalism and landlordism. Arrested after the military coup of General Zia-ul-Haq, he suffered from paralysis during his imprisonment. Despite his ill-health, he refused the military government’s offer for medical help provided he tendered an apology. Defiant till his last breath, he bade farewell to this world in 1982.

‘Hassan Nasir ki Shahadat’ is woven around a tale that has never been told. The story is set in the winter of 1960 when Ishaq Mohammad, a young lawyer well into the second year of his legal practice, met Faiz Ahmed Faiz on Lahore’s Mall Road and found him unusually depressed and perturbed. Faiz told Ishaq Mohammad that ‘a Communist from Karachi’ had been brought to the Lahore Fort. He was subjected to heavy torture – so much so that his cries of pain terrified other prisoners in the Fort. It was the wife of one such prisoner who had told Faiz about the horrifying torture.

Ishaq Mohammad had been to the Lahore Fort as a detainee in 1959 and 1960, though only for short periods of time. The Lahore Fort was a symbol of terror in Pakistan at that time. This symbol of Mughal majesty had been turned into a draconian detention and investigation center during the period of British colonialism. The ‘criminals’ of the independence movement were often detained in the Fort for questioning through questionable means. After 1947, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the command of the Lahore Fort. The conditions there, well-documented in the book under review, were already horrific enough to paralyze a sane mind. The law enforcers, trained under the colonial regime, applied their “investigation techniques” on stubborn detainees.

After the ban on the Communist Party along with its sister organizations, and the military coup of 1958, the Lahore Fort was often used to interrogate leftist political activists. Major Ishaq Mohammad knew that the ‘Communist from Karachi’ was none other than Hassan Nasir, the Provincial Secretary of the banned underground Communist Party active in Karachi. He was also a member of the National Awami Party (NAP). Despite being the scion of a landlord family of Hyderabad, Deccan, Hassan Nasir had taken up the cause of the oppressed in Karachi. He was arrested in 1952 and exiled to India for one year. He returned to Pakistan immediately after the completion of the exile period and gave up his comfortable life to continue with his political struggle.

Ishaq Mohammad moved a habeas corpus petition in the High Court at Lahore through the able representation of Mahmood Ali Kasuri on November 22, 1960. It was during the hearing of the petition on the next day that the news of Hassan Nasir’s death surfaced. According to the government version, Hassan Nasir committed suicide by hanging himself from a nail in his detention cell at the Lahore Fort on November 13. Progressive circles around Pakistan were shell-shocked. How could a young man full of hope and commitment take his own life? Ishaq Mohammad also refused to believe the government’s version. In order to protect his comrade’s dignity, he devoted himself to the magisterial inquiry into the cause of death of a detainee in police custody, mandated under section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

Gradually Ishaq Mohammad started to uncover the lacunas in the State’s version: the discrepancy about the position of hanging marks on Hassan Nasir’s neck, the contradictory accounts of marks found on Hassan’s elbow and knee, and the absence of any plausible motive for suicide. A great deal was required before the inquiry could be finalized. The attitude of the state officials and the magistrate towards Ishaq Mohammad was highly hostile. For more than half of the questions asked by Ishaq Mohammad during different cross-examinations, the police officials standing in the witness box took the plea of secrecy in order to frustrate the legal process.

The most sordid episode in the magisterial inquiry emerged when the dead body of Hassan Nasir was exhumed. Ishaq Mohammad considered the dead body to be his primary evidence that could conclusively prove that he had died due to torture and not suicide. Despite his repeated requests before the magistrate and the High Court, the dead body was not permitted to be exhumed. Even the site of the grave was not identified by the police, nor did the Court order the police to do so. Hassan Nasir’s dead body was only allowed to be exhumed when his mother arrived from India to take the body back home with her. On closely inspecting the teeth, hair and feet of the corpse shown to her, his mother, Zehra Alambardar Hussain, refused to accept it as that of her son. The police had decided to conceal Hassan Nasir’s body from even his mother. It was at this point that Ishaq Mohammad decided to withdraw from the magisterial inquiry. The whole apparatus of the state under military rule had united to keep the circumstances of Hassan Nasir’s death a secret. The judicial probe was thwarted.

Ishaq Mohammad’s efforts to document the course of the inquiry have filled a major vacuum in Pakistan’s history. While informing readers about the proceedings in the magisterial inquiry, the book under review touches some very important topics like the colonial character and workings of the Punjab police, state sponsorship of torture, and the cruelties that occurred in the Lahore Fort.

At many points in the book the author has written that history will do justice to the cause of Hassan Nasir. Disappointed by the magisterial enquiry, Ishaq Mohammad left the final verdict to the conscience of the people of Pakistan by writing ‘Hassan Nasir ki Shahadat’. He was sure the records that were buried by the police under the plea of secrecy and “the broad national interest” would one day see the light of day. That day has not yet arrived. The publication of the book under review is a grim reminder of justice denied to a person who sacrificed himself for the betterment of humanity. It is also an indictment against the current rulers of Pakistan who continue to keep the details of this gruesome episode a secret.

Umer A. Chaudhry blogs at The Red Diary and this book review was first published in The Friday Times, Lahore July 10-16, 2009 issue.

Owais Mughal

According to International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles, as of December 2008, Pakistan has the world’s highest number of vehicles running on compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The number is 2 million. Pakistan also has the World’s highest numer of CNG refuelling stations. i.e. 2600 . This growth has been phenomenal noting that CNG as a fuel was made available in Pakistan, only in 1992.

For many years, Argentina and Brazil used to be the world leaders in terms of number of vehicles using CNG. Pakistan overtook Brazil in 2006 and Argentina in 2008 to become the world’s largest consumer of CNG in vehicles.

Why Pakistan has got so many vehicles running on CNG? I believe, main reason is because gasoline (Petrol) prices in Pakistan are among the highest in the region as well as natural gas is found abundant and locally in Pakistan.

The use of CNG in vehicles brings an added blessing that it is much less polluting than regular gasoline (petrol). The emissions coming out of CNG vehicles consists of water vapors and carbon monoxide (CO). The CO content in CNG exhaust is also 90% less than CO found in gasoline (petrol) exhausts.

In Pakistan, car companies are now offering vehicles which come factory-fitted with CNG kits. These vehicles sell for a premium of approx 30000 rupees (US$ 375) as compared to gasoline (petrol) vehicles.

With Pakistan going full ahead with making CNG as the primary fuel source for transport, one concern is that Pakistan is depleting its Natural Gas reserves faster than ever before.

As you can see in the photo below, supply of CNG at refuelling stations is dependent on natural gas supply.

Another presumed, and I repeat ‘presumed’ downside is the low driving experience of CNG vehicles. CNG vehicles, in general have lesser pick-up than gasolins (petrol) engine pick-ups but I guess when it comes to the choice of money (and environment) over driving experience, more and more people will be willing to use CNG.

Following is a list of Top 10 countires of the world in terms of number of CNG vehicles on their roads. The number in parenthesis show number of CNG refuelling stations in those countries.

1. Pakistan: 2,000,000 (2600)
2. Argentina: 1,745,677 (1801)
3. Brazil: 1,588,331 (1688)
4. Iran: 1,000,000 (500)
5. India: 650,000 (463)
6. Italy: 580,000 (700)
7. China: 400,000 (1000)
8. Columbia: 280,340 (401)
9. Bangladesh: 150,253 (337)
10. Thailand: 127,735 (303)

What do our readers think about use of CNG in vehicles?

If you want to learn more about CNG’s use in vehicles, I found this very informative FAQ page. See here

References:

1. International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles
2. cng.com.pk
3. List of Countries and # of CNG vehicles.
4. Price comparison of cars in Pakistani market with and without CNG. See here

Photos: Associated Press of Pakistan

Owais Mughal

On our recent trip to Boston, we saw this Pakistani jewellery set on display in a Museum there. Do you want to take a guess on how did this set reach Boston from Pakistan?

Hint: Think Presidential! By the way this jewellery set consists of gold, pearls and other gemstones.

I’ll share the name of the museum, and other details about this in a few of days.