Criticism and research evaluated

Analytical Studies of Punjabi Research and Criticism by Dr Nasir Rana; pp 344; Price Rs 300 (hb); Publishers Pakistan Punjabi Fikri Saanjh, Lahore; Stockists Punjabi Foundation, Lower Mall, Lahore. This is basically the research done for doctorate thesis in Punjabi by Dr Nasir Rana, now head of the Punjabi Department, M.A.O College, Lahore. Not a single Punjabi Doctor or Master has ever learnt Punjabi from his early school days because Punjabi is neither medium of instruction nor a compulsory subject at the lower level in Punjab. It is being taught only at college level. On the contrary, the students of 9th and 10th do appear in Punjabi elective in different secondary boards' exams privately because there is no teaching staff of this subject in any school of the province. The number under this category is about 32 per cent of the total number of students appearing in the exam. Criticism is basically a pride production or creation of the specialist, who specialises in the subject from some recognised educational institutions. So is the case with research on linguistic and literary issues. That also is the special subject of the highly qualified Punjabi scholars and unfortunately that 'commodity' is available in very very small number because the subject Punjabi could not found favour with the ruling classes and educationists also who were so conservative in their education theories and Nazria-i-Pakistan that they strongly rejected the language of the Punjabi people and did not care about the findings of the educationists who strongly stood for mother tongue for early education of the children. Even people like the late Dr Taseer envisaged that a day would come when all small languages like Punjabi and Sindhi would be swept away and Urdu would rule supreme. There was no research or criticism in Urdu till the British came and developed it in Fort William College and introduced as medium of instruction and second official language in UP, Bihar etc. There were only some Tazkaras more in Persian than in Urdu. All this is the preamble of this book which has been translated into English from original Punjabi. This is first ever attempt in this field. None of the Punjab University's approved thesis has ever been rendered into English, while as per condition almost all major classical poets of Punjabi have been partially or totally translated into English and also Urdu verse. In the first chapter of the thesis, Rana under the sub-title of Origin of Research and Criticism in Punjabi says: T.S Elliot (1888-1965) is an eminent twentieth century critic, but long before his birth, Punjabi poet Ahmad Yar (1788-1848) formally laid the foundation of criticism in Punjabi. He was contemporary to English poet Coleridge (1772-1834) and French intellectual Sante (1804-1869). It can be said that he (Ahmad Yar) had laid the foundation of criticism in Punjabi long before the critical works of English critic Mathew Arnold (1822-1888), French critic Gourmont (1858-1915), eminent symbolic critic Irwing Babbit (1862-1933) and T.E. Hume (1883-1917) had appeared. Even before Ahmad Yar, Waris Shah (1722-1792) and Hafiz Barkhurdar Ranjha (of 18th century) had displayed their critical sense in their writings. After Maulvi Ahmad Yar, Mian Muhammad Bukhsh, Muhammad Husain Ahmadabadi (1858-10, 1919) and Munshi Ghulam Husain Kailianwala (1874-1942) exhibited critical approach in their writings. Following in the footsteps of the West, research and criticism in Punjabi prose are at one and the same time. Criticism began in 1916 with the publication of Budh Singh's Koel Ku. The elements of both research and criticism are found in this book and this process is going on till now. One does not perhaps say something about the critical work in Punjabi across the borders because scripts have badly damaged the commonalities between at least three languages Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi. A great fight between the Persian or Arabic and Dev Nagar scripts hit hard the Hindu-Muslim unity and other religious communities of the subcontinent and that is still casting its unfortunate shadows on the current literature of the three languages. How far the Punjabi criticism in Punjabi developed in East Punjab is difficult to assess and the subject has not been discussed in the book under review. But on this side of the borders, the bulk of Punjabi critical literature has been produced under the deep shadows of Urdu criticism, which itself is very weak and sadly under the influence of second rate English criticism. Thus the major part of critical literature produced by Punjabi teachers is less original in the sense of language, terminology, thoughts, tradition, background and the cultural patterns. This job was done only by Najm Hosain Syed through his first book, Saidhan published in 1967. About Namj's criticism, Dr Rana says: For the first time, the social, historical and psychological forms of criticisms were employed in it and the classical characters who became the titles of the Punjabi stories written in verse, were presented as Nabars (rebels). It was a new and unique interpretation of these characters. The unfortunate turn in criticism was given by teaching critics of Punjabi under the guidance of Punjabi Department, especially in Gen Zia's regime. A campaign was launched against Najm, Asif Khan, Ali Abbas and many others that they were serving as Indian agents and their critical approach was not according to Nazria-i-Pakistan. But the fact is that the language used by Najm in his books of criticism and commentaries must be followed to get its own cultural colour and critical approach. Rana's attempt is praiseworthy and one hopes that more such original and translated books will follow. * * * * * * Shohda-i-Punjab Police by M.R. Shahid; pp 438; Price Rs 350 (hb); Publishers Al-Faisal Nashran, Ghazni Street, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore. E-mail: alfaisal_pk@hotmail.com. M.R. Shahid is now a well known scholar and researcher who has done a great job of collecting the data and material about the great men now buried in the graveyards of big cities like Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi etc. He also worked on police heroes who sacrificed their 'today' for the 'tomorrow' of the nation and this new book falls in the same category. It remembers the bravery of 809 policemen including 5 SPs, 8 DSPs, 31 inspectors, 64 sub-inspectors, 102 ASIs, 94 HCs and 499 constables. They were victims of hardcore criminals and attacks of terrorists. All except two constables belong to Punjab. The two constables were from Swabi district and Azad Kashmir. Shahid has provided interesting details about the police encounters which may attract playwrights' attention. Credit goes to Shahid for preserving the record of those who should never be forgotten by the nation or at least by their communities and areas. — STM