Ibn-e-Safi’s novels are
gems of Urdu literature
A seminar on Ibn-e-Safi was held in Delhi on
March 16, 2007.
Eminent Urdu scholar from
Germany, Christina Oesterheld said that the characters of Ibn-e-Safi’s
novels live a Western lifestyle but are quintessentially Oriental when
it comes to their behaviour towards women.
The main characters Imran and
Faridi don’t look at women as an object of sex, rather for them a woman
is a symbol of purity and dignity. They treat her as equal in all
regards. Dr Christina, who is the senior lecturer at Institute of South
Asian Studies, Heidelberg, Germany regretted that Ibn-e-Safi’s writing
was not given enough attention in comparison to so-called serious
literature.
The Sahitya Akademi president
Dr Gopi Chand Narang said questioned why ‘Jasoosi Adab’ is not
considered literature and if it is not literature then why ‘adab
(literature) word is attached to it, during such seminars. He said that
Ibn-e-Safi was published in Devanagari and Bengali as well, and rather
than ignoring his works, there is need to change our own attitude.
Professor Akhtarul Wasey said
that Ibn-e-Safi not only taught Urdu to a generation but also taught us
nuances of language, story plot and an understanding of the world,
especially the third world countries. He said that Ibn-i-Safi B.A. had
indicated several things in the 60s and 70s which we are witnessing
today.
The participants said that the
novels of Ibn Safi are gems of Urdu literature. Often in serious
literature the readers is left detched and searching for answers, which
is not the case in his novels. And they are serious nonetheless on
another plane as the satire is unmistakeable.
Another famous litterateur,
Izhar Asar, who has written hundreds of novels and considered a pillar
of ‘popular literature’, attended the seminar, which was held under the
aegis of URdu Acdemy. Yunus Dehlvi, Khalid Mahmood, Dr Sadiq, Shabana
Nazeer, Najma Rahmani, Kifayat Dehliv, Sheen Kaf Nizam, MR Qasmi, Abu
Bakr Abbas, M Arif Iqbal, Arujumand Ara, Maula Bakhsh, Seemab Sultanpuri
and Moin Shadab were amongst the other participants.
Interestingly, later at a
seminar in Mumbai, legendary Urdu writer Intizar Husain, who apparently
tried to shock the audience with the comment that he ‘had neither read
Ibn Safi nor felt he was important enough‘, invited flak for his
comments. There was severe criticism of the comment on the stage itself.
Several litterateurs reminded Intezar Hussain that though one may be
entitled to his personal views, and his literary status apart, Ibn Safi
can’t be simply dismissed as just another writer.
Courtesy:
http://urduindia.wordpress.com/
Golden jubilee award
recipients
Daily Dawn, Friday15 August 1997
KARACHI, Aug 14: At a graceful "Speaker Awards"
ceremony held on the lawns of Sindh Assembly Building on Thursday on the
occasion of Pakistan's Golden Jubilee, the speaker of Sindh Assembly,
Nawab Mirza, gave away awards to personalities who rendered remarkable
services in their fields.
Sindh chief minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Nawab
Mirza, and senior Sindh minister Dr Farooq Sattar distributed awards
among the recipients.
Qari Abdul Waheed Sikandari and Qari Waheed
Zafar Qasmi were given award for Husn-i-Qirat while Muniba Sheikh was
given award for Naat Khwani. Syed Ishtiaq Azhar was given award for his
services in the independence movement.
Ghinwa Bhutto, widow of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, was
awarded special shield for her courage displayed following assassination
of her husband. The award was jointly received by Ghinwa Bhutto and her
daughter, Fatima.
In the field of judiciary and law, awards were
given to Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Sajjad Ali
Shah, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim and
Justice Saleem Akhtar.
Among Politicians Dr Farooq Sattar, senior
Sindh minister, Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah, deputy speaker of Sindh
Assembly and grand son of G. M. Syed, Shoaib Bukhari, Qazi Khalid Ali,
Waseem Akhtar, provincial ministers, were given awards.
In education, Dr Pirzada Qasim, Dr Abdul Wahab,
Dr Nabi Bux Baloch, Riazuddin, and Prof Ehsan Rasheed, Hakeem Said were
given awards. In science and technology, Dr Mumtazul Imam; in medical
and surgery, Dr Adeebul Hasan Rizvi and Hakim Muhammad Said;
In literature,
Ibne Safi, Shaukat Siddiqui, Dr Jamil
Jalibi, Qamar Ali Abbasi, Baqar Rizvi, Shakil Ahmed Zia, and Hasina Moin;
in journalism, Senator Ajmal Dehlvi, Ali Hasan, Majeed Abbasi, Mudassar
Mirza, M. B. Naqvi, Habib Khan Ghori, Mehboob Ali Khan and Kamran
Wajahat;
In press photography, Mujeebur Rehman and Ikram
Mehdi; in poetry Gulnar Afreen, Sheikh Ayaz, Mohsin Bhopali and Tariq
Sabzwari.
Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi, humorist; Mirza Nazeer
Baig (Nadeem), Safirullah Lehri, Talat Hussain, Shafi Muhammad and
Ishrat Hashmi, screen artists; Arshe Munir and Qazi Wajid radio artists,
Mehdi Hasan, Alan Faqir, Alamgir, Abida Parveen and Akhlaq Ahmed,
singers; Hanif Muhammad, Roshan Khan, Islahuddin, Hussain Shah, Rashid
Latif, sports.- PPI
