http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books6.htm
ARTICLE:
(Books & Authors/ The Daily DAWN) Sunday Jan 11, 2003
By Dr Sher Zaman Taizi
The flow of Pushto books in 2002 owed its pace to the labour of love
of devoted writers and poets. The three major bookshops of Peshawar
received 70 new titles, but there were more in circulation. Many
authors published their own books - either footing their own bill or
banking on the generosity of the sponsors. These publications they
distributed free of charge among friends.
Official policy towards the publication of Pushto books continues to
be negative. The language is not compulsory in schools and colleges.
Hence the demand for Pushto books is not great. The Pushto writers
and poets nevertheless continue to express their ideas and sentiments
in their own language.
As in previous years, the titles were equally divided between prose
and poetry. Although never specified clearly, one book was in its
sixth edition while two others were second editions. The book which
saw its sixth edition was Da weer pa cham kshe war da naghmo day
(It’s the turn of music in the street of sorrow). It has obviously
been popular and the credit goes to its author, Rahmat Shah Sayel.
One of the titles which went into its second edition was Khpalo
khoboono ta ta’beer lataum (In quest for realization of my dreams).
It is a book of haikus composed by Ms Naheed Sahar. Haiku is a form
of Japanese poetry with 17 syllables in three unrhymed lines of five,
seven, and five syllables. This genre has made its way into Pushto
poetry only recently, courtesy Professor Qasim Mahmood of Bannu,
Ismail Gauhar of Hazara and Professor Mohammad Nawaz Ta’er, a former
Director of Pushto Academy Peshawar.
Now younger poets have been trying their skills at haiku.
Mohammadullah Muqbal published a collection of his haiku Yabra (lamb)
last year. But, the haiku has to struggle hard to earn a place in
Pushto poetry, which already has the popular genre of the tappa - a
two-line verse of 9-13/14 syllables - and n’ara of 4-5 lines.
Traditional forms of poetry, such as the na’at (panegyrical verse,
particularly in praise of the Holy Prophet), ghazal, nazm and songs
continued to firmly occupy the field.
Engineer Dr Iqbal Yaseen Yusufzai, who resides in England, and Wazir
Badshah Janan, in Dubai, put their verses in book form to express
their nostalgic ideas and hopes for a bright future for Pushto and
Pushtunwali. The former wrote Da qaatil yara pir seng jorhegee? (How
do our killers turn into pirs?) and the latter’s book was Da Majnun
da keli khwa kshe, (Close to the village of Majnun).
Muqadar Shah Muqadar, like other poets of the Khyber, adopted the
style of Hamza Shinwari in Taqaze (Insistence). Mohammada Jan Ghaljay
revamped the tappa with a collection of those tappas that reflect the
restlessness of exile titled Nananae tape da nakarara kaloono tape;
(Tappas of today: tappas of the restless years).
Gulab gul by Aziz-ur-Rahman Aziz, Pa Irfan Da Mohammad (PBUH) by
Professor Mohammad Nawaz Ta’er and Bad-i-Saba yausa salaamoona by
Afgar Ranizai were collections of panegyrical poems. Dr Fazal Din
Khattak (Tse Yadoona, Tse Ghamoona), Dr Mohammad Yunus Bargami
(Armanoona Parharoona), Laeqzada Laeq (Mashkanre), Bakht Sher
Inqilabi (Sparlay sho pa lambo kshe) and Iqbal Yaseen Yusufzai
sustained the progressive trend in Pushto intertwined with the spirit
of nationalism.
Ikramullah Gran’s Zama ghazal reflected his distinctive style and
lively expression of delicate ideas in a ghazal.
Rahmat Shah Sayel’s Tala tasweer pa gulab jorh khram keh na? (May I
draw your image on the rose or not?) was characterized by melodious
songs marked with deep sense of nationalism. The other poets were
inclined more to expression of romantic ideas.
The year introduced a female voice in poetry, Surayya Hawa Bara Khan
Khela, who made her debut with two books, Wazare da bulbulo (The
wings of nightingales) and Stoore pa banarho (Stars on eyelashes).
The prose produced in 2002 was rich and diverse. Maulvi Abdul Baseer
Numani Hanafi Afghani composed the biographies of a number of mystic
figures in Khazeenat-ul-Aulia and translated another book on
mysticism. Israr of Toru wrote Da Quran-e-Pak da ayatunu shmer
(Number of verses of the Holy Quran), whereas Ali Kumail Qizilbash
from Balochistan and Hanif Khalil from NWFP jointly produced Spezale
wainawe (The holy words), which was based on Nahjal Balagha
translated by the late Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari.
Abdul Ghaffar Farahi, a former Afghan diplomat, compiled a history of
Afghanistan, Afghanistan - da demokrasae au jamhooriat pa kaloono ke;
1963-1978 (The era of democracy and republic in Afghanistan - 1963-
1978). The second edition of this book was published in 2002. Ghaus
Khyberi wrote a book on the Pakhtoons titled Pukhtane: da kulturi
khkelaak pa zanzeeroono ke (Pakhtoons: in chains of cultural
expansionism - Pakhtoons: the target of cultural onslaught) which was
in response to the anti-Pushto and anti-Pakhtoon stance of the
Iranian and Afghan writers.
Abdul Qudus Zahid Mashwani’s work Da dastarname tserana, (Research of
Dastarnama) was a research note on Dastarnama, a book of Khushal Khan
Khattak. Dr Mohammad Humayun Homa discussed the tradition of
magazines published in the Frontier province in his book Pa Sarhad
kshe sahafati au adabi mujalo riwayat Tradition of journalistic and
literary magazines in the frontier province). His book was based on
his PhD thesis on Qand, a magazine, which was published from Mardan.
Homa’s book provides a great deal of information on the subject.
In another book Pa khpal shakal tsargandegum (I appear to the looker
just as he is) he compiled interviews with Ghani Khan, Ajmal Khattak,
Ayaz Daudzai and Siddiqullah Rishtin, along with his own interview
recorded by Mohammad Iqbal Iqbal.
A major work of literary criticism came from Professor Inamullah Jan
Qais whose book Tabsare au jayeze (Comments and evaluations) was
published in 2002.
Iltaf Gul Iltaf introduced some contemporary literati now living in
Karachi in his book Da Karachae guloona (Flowers of Karachi), whereas
Rokhan Yusufzai focused on art in Da Zia fikr au fan (Thought and art
of Zia).
At least seven books of short stories were published in 2002,
including one of stories translated from other languages. The most
notable of these were Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Shabnam’s Taghme (Scars),
Engineer Dr Yaseen Iqbal Yusufzai’s Khwaga khawara tarkhey kisey
(Sweet soil, sour stories) and Nurul Amin Yusufzai’s Da asunu bachayee
(The kingdom of horses).
Saduddin Shpoon’s novel Da tsmetse yaraan (Comrades in a cave) had
for its theme, like his earlier two novels, the post-war traumatic
syndrome in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Iqbal Hairan published his dramas which he had written for
the radio in Parhunay (Scarf) . Syed Sabir Shah Sabir’s book Janaze
(Funeral rites) consisted of the obituaries of Bacha Khan, Kishwar
Sultana (a singer), Yunus Khalil (a poet), General Fazle Haq (a
former governor of the NWFP), Pohand Rishtin (a former chief of
Pushto Tolana, Kabul), Ghani Khan (a poet, son of Bacha Khan), Khyber
Afridi (a poet), and Mohammad Khan Kaka - a socialist leader.At least
two books contained a variety of genres with impressionistic ideas.
Each was a voluminous and large size publication, and priced at
Rs350, which was very reasonable for its size. One was titled Zala
(Light), which contains a number of letters from Ayaz Daudzai to
Qamar Rahi and a number of poems of Qamar Rahi. It was compiled by
Qamar Rahi. The second was Adabi hase (Literary pursuits) by Ayaz
Daudzai, which was an assortment of writings of the author in the
last 50 years of his life.
The Aryana Kutabkhana, Peshawar, published a Pushto-English and
English-Pushto dictionary. The monthly Jaras-i-Pukhto, Karachi,
published a special edition on Pushto poetry bringing together five
issues of the periodical in the form of a 1434-page book. It also
contained articles and comments on different aspects of Pushto
poetry.
The Tribal Women Welfare Association headed by Dr Begum Jan published
a number of illustrated booklets in Pushto on human rights,
particularly the rights of women, children’s rights, health tips,
potable water, and first aid. Most of the books were edited by Dr
Zalmay Sharyar, a senior medical officer at the Khyber Teaching
Hospital, Peshawar.