Print

    South Asian Literary Forum 2017 (Karachi Edition) - Hosted by The Bombay Review

    Written by: Sania Ahmed Khan
    Posted on: July 05, 2017 | | 中文

    Omar Shahid Hamid (right) and Sabyn Javeri (left) speaking at the South Asian Literary Forum

    The Bombay Review kick-started the “South Asian Literary Forum 2017” in Srinagar, Kashmir on May 26th. It held its Karachi edition in Araam Gah on July 3rd under the leadership of city head, Zuha Siddiqui – a recent Political Science graduate from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The idea behind the Forum is to collect voices from six cities across South Asia through panels, workshops and open mic sessions on literature in: Combating Gender Inequality and Resistance on Political Speech.

    The Forum, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi, Colombo, Kathmandu and Dhaka over the summer, will be followed up with a themed issue of The Bombay Review which will reflect the aspirations of South Asian youth through the words of its writers. With the strength of the magazine’s readership, the voices and stories will reach people in 120 countries for the larger interest of public education. The magazine is committed to addressing issues from multiple perspectives, and encouraging free and liberal speech on themes that critically deign our socio-political fibre. Doing so in six cities is a commendable initiative on their part.

    The six cities where the Forum is being held - South Asian Literary Forum 2017 Karachi Edition

    The six cities where the Forum is being held (source: Facebook/The Bombay Review)

    The Karachi Edition of the Forum was titled 'Resistance Literature: How do novels become acts of political resistance?' and the esteemed panelists included Omar Shahid Hamid (Author of The Party Worker and The Spinner's Tale) and Sabyn Javeri (Author of Nobody Killed Her).

    Sabyn Javeri - South Asian Literary Forum 2017 Karachi Edition

    Sabyn Javeri (source: DAWN)

    The moderator initiated the discussion with the question “Should literature be political?” thereby acknowledging that there is an anxiety which surrounds literature being dragged into the dirt and grime of politics. Fiction, poetry and drama are works of the creative imagination that we consider too precious to be mired in politics. But perhaps our anxiety stems from our narrow use of the term "politics". We tend to think of politics exclusively in terms of partisan politics, electoral politics, political leadership and so on, but for Sabyn Javeri, “Politics is not something that happens in the parliament, it’s not just about the ballot box. It’s much more far-reaching.”

    To better understand her statement, it is helpful to think of the art of government as “Big P” – the larger politics of the nation, which determines the price of bread or the availability of guns or the number and state of our schools and hospitals. How we lead our lives amidst the “Big P,” and how we make decisions of personal governance, all the while being a part of the larger politics is known as the “Small P”. We are all enmeshed in politics because we are all citizens of somewhere – even writers – and we cannot escape being shaped by political decisions, big and small.[i] To add to Javeri’s response on the same question, Omar Shahid stated, “Politics is all around us, especially in countries like ours. If you’re commenting on society, or events that are happening all over the world, inevitably you are talking about politics. Most writers take inspiration from their society and it is unavoidable in that sense.”

    Omar Shahid Hamid - South Asian Literary Forum 2017 Karachi Edition

    Omar Shahid Hamid

    “Small P” to Javeri stands for the people to whom politics happens. “We live in a wounded democracy where the judiciary is not as independent as we’d like it to be. There is an overload of nationalism; there isn’t really freedom of speech. And when you live in a country where you see journalists being picked up, or similar countries where novelists have been jailed for creating characters who have commented on political events; to write a novel in these circumstances is an act of resistance, an act of trying to cross some boundaries.”

    Speaking in awe about the central characters in Javeri’s novel, Omar Shahid expressed the view that women who rise to power despite living in a culture that forces women to the confinement of their homes is what “Small P” means to him.

    Addressing the question of how different the reception to their novels would have been had they been published in Urdu, both writers agreed that they would have a larger domestic readership but not so globally. They also added that they chose the English language because it was what they knew and the language they thought they could get more creative with, rather than as a means of avoiding state censorship. While denying that Western publishers instructed Pakistani writers as to how they should represent their country in their work, Omar Shahid stated that most Pakistani writers get published in India – which has the second largest English language publishing industry after the US. There is great fascination for Pakistani stories across the border, and less pressure on writers to play to the Western gallery.

    The discussion concluded with a comment from the audience that a writer is the product of their reality. Sabyn seemed to agree and added, “…characters are trying to fight oppression. There’s a scene in my novel where Nazo walks out the door and she’s made to feel bad about it. If men see women in public spaces, they either assume they’re sex workers or are destitute. They don’t accept that a middle class woman could be walking on the street. Those are the reflections of my reality that I have tried to put in my book.”

     


    [i] Excerpt from Olive Senior’s 'Literature is political because we are political animals', published in The Guardian, Monday 29 April 2013

     


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021