Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Source: The Friday Times:

by Ali Madeeh Hashmi

Faiz: Regarding religion, I have mentioned that I attended Molvi Ibraheem Mir’s Quranicdars for years. In college my subject was Arabic and there used to be an exam on Quran and Hadith in MA. Then, in prison, initially no book or paper was permitted, but Quran was allowed, and so I read that extensively for four months. I have been more associated with Sufism however, because it is an invaluable component of our literature and secondly I believe that by virtue of their pantheism, the Sufis have been very consistent and scientific in their own manner. Secondly the hypocrisies, exhibitions and materialism that we find in the religion of clerics are not found in their religion. For this reason I have been very closely attached to it. I have been associated with painting and other arts in my adulthood, through the Arts Council and by other ways. For instance, I have many artist friends. This began with Chughtai sahib. He was a part of Sufi [Tabassum] sahib’s circle. As a viewer I have relished all arts, have benefited from them, and have incorporated them in my poetry to some extent.

Intizaar Hussain:Faiz sahib, you must have read fiction as well. What did you read as a child, as an adult and then as a part of the Progressive movement?

Faiz: In childhood, as I mentioned, I read all the novels of (Abdul Haleem) Sharar, Fasana-e-Azaad, Talism Hoshruba. These were very easily available from the nearby shop, but I used to read them secretly. In those days it was not considered a decent activity to read novels. *laughter* By 6th, 7th class I had read the classical literature and by 7th, 8th class I had read all these novels. Then it so happened that my father had a munshi who was also the treasurer. We used to take pocket money and money for books from him. One day we had a disagreement, and he complained to my father about my novel reading. I was called. My father inquired about my novel reading and I confessed. He said that it is also a good habit, but instead of Urdu novels you should read English novels. After that I started reading English fiction. I read Dickens for the first time in 8th or 9th class. In those days Rider Haggard was very popular. I read those and romantic novels, and Conan Doyle and detective stories. When I came to college, there was an exam of fiction. For that I read all the fiction of Europe from Tolstoy to Hardy. So I have been very interested in this and still am. For instance, I have read Tolstoy’s War and Peace about 12 times. So this interest is still maintained.

Qayyum Nazar:Faiz sahib, after 1947 some people often debate about the vision of Pakistani nationalism and how it is derived.

Faiz:I am not an authority on this, politicians know better. I personally think, and I have written this as well, that up till 1947 there was no Pakistani nation. Because there was no country, there was no nation. There were two ideas that existed at the time: First were the Muslims of India who called themselves a nation, but that included the Muslims of both Pakistan and India, and hence it was not a Pakistani nation. Second, people identified with whatever places they lived in, such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pathan etc. Obviously a Pakistani nation had not been created then. Since there was no Pakistan, there could not be a Pakistani nation. When Pakistan was created, we only had the raw materials for a Pakistani nation. A nation evolves over centuries; nations are not born fully developed. So our first task was to establish the details of our nationality, its definition, its destiny, but what happened was that we got tangled up in ministries and presidentships, and in making and breaking governments and this dimension was ignored both by our intellectuals and politicians. The result is that even after 27, 28 years the debate is still going on about what is and is not a Pakistani identity. In my view a Pakistani identity is very clear. The people who live in Pakistan are the Pakistani nation. This includes Punjabi, Balochi, Sindhi, all those who live here. Now the issue is to create a bond and a complete sense of national identity in the various types of people that live here, Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, etc., people who have different languages and slight variations in customs and cultures. This is the work of politicians. It is very clear in my mind that those who live in Pakistan are Pakistanis. How to discipline this nation and which route it should take, there is disagreement of opinion with regards to that.

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