Lata’s songs won’t destabilise Pakistan,Faiz’s poems can’t break India: Ashfaq Husain


Lata’s songs won’t destabilise Pakistan,Faiz’s poems can’t break India: Ashfaq Husain

By Shahid Husain

Ashfaq Husain is a Canadian national of Pakistani origin and is considered an authority on Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Essentially a poet who migrated from Pakistan to Canada in the 1980s, Ashfaq Husain has to his credit more than a dozen of books on Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz and other men of letters.

He is also the pioneer of Urdu International, a publication that has garnered critical acclaim among Urdu writers and poets globally.

Husain was recently in Pakistan to attend a peace conference in Islamabad. He also visited his home town Karachi for a couple of days where his new poetry collection ‘Ashyian Gum Karda’ was launched at a local hotel where eminent scholars, critics and journalists such as Iftikhar Arif, Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui and Mahmood Sham dwelt at length on Ashfaq Husain’s poetry.

In an exclusive interview with The News, Husain spoke about exchange of books and periodicals between Pakistan and India, war and peace, the role played by writers and poets on either side of the divide for establishing peace in the subcontinent and more importantly against sectarianism. Some excerpts from the interview are as follows:

The News (TN): Do you see any logic on the ban on exchange of periodicals, magazines and books between Pakistan and India?

Ashfaq Husain (AH): It was understandable when Pakistan and India fought a war in 1965. But today everything is available on the Internet and there is no justification of a ban on exchange of periodicals, magazines and books between the two neighbouring countries. In fact, authorities today can’t stop the flow of information between countries because the world has been transformed into a global village. People in Pakistan watch Indian movies and TV programmes and vice versa. Hence the ban that was imposed during the days of war hysteria and jingoism has become redundant and meaningless. In fact, only political factors are hampering flow of information between Pakistan and India.

TN: Are you satisfied with the pace of peace talks between Pakistan and India?

AH: Dialogues are essentially baby steps. They are never meant to achieve the goal immediately. It’s like building Taj Mahal and obviously it take years to construct a monument of peace. Peace has never been achieved anywhere in the world immediately but dialogue should continue. However, I would like to point out that art and culture has never remained disputed between Pakistan and India. The sweet songs of Lata Mangeshkar would not destabilise Pakistan nor will the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz break India. For 62 years our governments adopted a certain strategy to resolve problems between the two neighbouring countries but it never worked. It’s time to adopt a new strategy.

TN: What role writers and poets can play in giving a boost to peace talks?

AH: Hatred has never been an idiom of writers and poets. Ninety per cent of writers, poets and artists on either side of the divide have always preached peace. But sadly enough, our textbooks have been propagating hatred and bias against each other. However, they had little impact. Even in 1965, when tension between the two countries was at its zenith, writers and poets preached peace and never stood for war. In fact, if anybody has played a role for the promotion of peace between Pakistan and India, they are writers and poets. On the contrary, politicians in Pakistan as well as in India fanned animosity and hatred. The media has also not played its due role. I firmly believe we can live as good neighbours but certain forces with vested interests are adamant to keep Pakistan and India at loggerheads. But I am convinced that ultimately peace will prevail. I also want to ask jingoistic elements that why they don’t realise that malicious propaganda against each other has given birth to inter-provincial hatred and sectarianism? Pakistan has become weak due to the politics of hatred.

TN: What steps should be adopted to make peace a success in the subcontinent?

AH: We should take small steps. We should have a short-term and a long-term strategy. If Europe, Russia and the United States who have fought world wars and sacrificed tens of millions of people can resolve their problems and live with peace, why can’t we follow the suit?

TN: Are you talking of a South Asian Union?

AH: Certainly! I dream of a South Asian Union even if it takes hundreds years to achieve that target. In India, war mongers have been crying hoarse that Pakistan was created after India was carved out but writers and poets have never fanned hatred. The group I am referring to has become so strong in India that a man of M.F. Husain stature had to take refuge in another country.

Credit: TheNew On Sunday




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