Interesting read.
A new Prem Chand is surfacing, thanks to some dedicated Indian scholars. Led by Madan Gopal whose 22-volume Magnum Opus, Kulliyat-i-Prem Chand, has been published by the National Council for the Promotion of Urdu, New Delhi, besides his latest book Prem Chand Ki Aap Beeti, scores of research scholars are busy working on new topics - one of them is Munshi Prem Chand’s devotion to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Islam.
Recently some new writings of Munshi Prem Chand have been discovered by Hindi scholars. Consequently Urdu scholars are being criticized for being lukewarm towards Munshi Prem Chand (1880-1936) as they are not paying due attention to one of the pioneers of Urdu short story. There is no doubt that Munshi Prem Chand’s Urdu short stories and novels have put Urdu on top of not only some subcontinental languages but also some languages of Europe.
More than 300 well-researched dissertations have appeared in Hindi and approximately 10 in Urdu so far in India. None in Pakistan. The difference between the number of Hindi and Urdu dissertations has been made a contentious issue. It is true that the Urdu writers are turning their backs on Munshi Prem Chand - and, due to sheer advocacy of modernist trends, are paying less respect to the great Munshi simply because he was a champion of simple, lucid story-telling offering no modernists’ jigsaw puzzles to the readers. The question is being debated why the indigenous form of story-telling is being decried and not being accepted as the first stage of the craft of Urdu short story.
Before coming back to Munshi Prem Chand’s new face as the disseminator of a positive image of Islam and the Prophet (PBUH), it is worthwhile to discuss the Herculean efforts which a Lahore-born short story writer Gopal Krishan Maniktala has made.
Born in 1924, Maniktala started his career from Imtiaz Ali Taj’s Phool. He started off with his light humorous articles. His first short story published in Phool was Aankh Micholi. He migrated to India in 1947 and settled in Bombay. It was there that he devoted himself to the studies of Prem Chand and it is true that no scholar before him had worked so devotedly to work on the background of each and every writing from Prem Chand’s pen.
A very busy writer that Munshi Prem Chand was, he could not keep track of his writings - particularly those which were written to counter baseless accusations of some Hindi writers against Islam and Prophet and it is a pity that these writings were not known to even Prem Chand scholars, let alone commented upon, from 1924, the year of their publication, to 2002, the year of their unearthing.
Munshi Prem Chand’s articles appeared as clarifications and rebuttals against articles published in books such as Islam Kavish Viraksh (poisonous tree) and Andha Aitmad Aur Khufia Jihad. They were aimed at countering Arya Samaji propaganda and it is interesting that Dr Shailash Zaidi (Dr Syed Jafar Raza Zaidi) of the Hindi Department of Aligarh Muslim University has been accused of leading the campaign against Munshi Prem Chand as the champion of Arya Samaji Tehzibi Shaoor.
Had Dr Shailash Zaidi known about the pro-Islam writings of Munshi Prem Chand which have been discovered by Hindi scholars, he could escape the charge of incriminating Munshi Prem Chand for a bias in his writings which was not the case. In fact Munshi Prem Chand stands to lose much of the affection and esteem of the Hindu militants who may be harbouring an opinion about Munshi Prem Chand similar to the one held by Dr Shailash Zaidi. Dr Zaidi had to eat a humble pie in the end. This is how the whole academic scenario changes when the grain is sifted from the chaff.
Maniktala’s books on Munshi Prem Chand have won commendations and appreciations from all Prem Chand scholars. He joins the galaxy of such writers as Madan Gopal, Amrit Roy and Kamal Kishore Goenka. Another interesting turnabout is in Urdu-Hindi controversy. Prem Chand’s grandson in his recent book has accused Hindi Chauvinists of working against Hindustani by loading Hindi with unwieldy Sanskrit phrases to alienate it from the common man.
Maniktala five books Prem Chand Aur Tasneef-i-Prem Chand - Kuch Nae Goshe (1985), Prem Chand, Kuch Nae Mabahis (1988), Prem Chand, Hayat-i-Nau (1993), Prem Chand Ka Secular Kirdar Aur Deegar Mazameen (2001) and Hoori Ka Dosra Janam (1999) are important books for any student of Urdu fiction and the contemplated new book of his writing on Islam will surely be welcomed by lovers of literature.
It is true that Munshi Prem Chand was a true Kaisth in letter and in spirit as evidenced by his drama Karbala which is, perhaps, the most moving tribute to the martyrs of Karbala. Prem Chand has manifested India’s homage to Imam Hussain by showing that a large Indian army was standing nearby the Camp of Hussain imploring him to allow them fight alongside his camp but the offer was not accepted on the plea that this would cause more bloodshed.
Munshi Prem Chand was bred in an atmosphere which was truly Indo-Islamic. He was grounded in Persian and he could be deemed culturally part of a composite culture. One of the Prem Chand stories which is being talked about these days in Nabi Ka Naati Nirvah which was published in Monthly Madhuri. This study defends the Prophet on an issue which has been overplayed with a great deal of sarcasm by anti-Islam fanatics and proves that a good number of articles in defence of Islam are going to cause a stir in contemporary India.
All Urdu readers are aware of the fact that hundreds of Hindu poets have paid tribute to the Prophet - one collection of Naat poetry of non-Muslim poets was compiled by Noor Meeruti a few years back and launched at the Governor House, Karachi, during Lt-Gen Moinuddin Hyder’s term of office. There are quite a few Hindu elegy-poets but the prospect of having a Munshi Prem Chand’s collection of articles is going to be a welcome sight.
One does not know what Bal Thackery’s reaction is going to be but one is pretty sure that he belongs to a tiny minority whose anti-Islam rhetoric has constituted itself into an ‘economic interest’ for him which is more powerful than the teaching of Sansthan Dharma.