The Sunday Times of
India, April 26, 1992
Carnival of Protest
Shamsul
Islam
The annual Faiz Mela in Pakistan
provides a viable platform for secular voices in art and literature to voice
their dissent, reports Shamsul Islam
ART,
literature of for that matter any form of creativity, are alien to both tyranny
and theocracy. Being repressive and retrogressive in nature, these attitudes
are intolerant to any form of expression which upholds the cause of human
dignity and progress. They are perpetually at war with dreamers and seekers of
truth. Human history is replete with examples of banishing, maiming and killing
of writers, artists and poets. Since poetry has greater intensity to move and
appeal to larger sections, the poets in particular have faced the brunt of this
repression. Yet poetry could never be subjugated or tailored to convenience. If
this was true of Pablo Neruda, Federico Garcia Lorca and Brecht elsewhere, Faiz
Ahmed Faiz proved it again and again in our sub-continent. Imprisonment,
banishment and physical intimidation by theocratic and military rules could
never force him to submission. He kept on reciting:
I have been deprived of slate and
pen, so what?
I have dipped my fingers in the
blood of my heart.
Faiz lived as a symbol of
resistance to religious fanaticism and misrule of martial law in Pakistan. Even
in his death he continues to inspire the call for democracy and secularism in
today’s Pakistan.
Lovers of his poetry resurrect him every year on his birth day in Lahore. Each year, February
13 (Faiz’s birthday) is celebrated in the form of a People’s Peace Carnival
(Faiz Aman Mela) at Lawrence
Garden, Lahore.
This year too, more than 10
thousand people gathered to participate in it, cutting across religious,
political and national barriers. Shyam Benegal and his wife from India
incidentally, were the chief guests this time. The rich, the poor,
intellectuals and workers, peasants and artists, teachers and students, all
came in large groups dancing, singing and raising slogans.
The scene inside the pandal needs
to be seen to be believed. People crowd into the huge grounds of the historic
Lawrence Garden (now rechristened as Jinnah Bagh) in front of an open air
stage. The whole venue is decorated with large portraits of Faiz, paintings depicting
the fight against feudalism and banners carrying pro-democracy and
anti-theocratic slogans.
The renowned folk singers of
Punjab and Pakistan (most of them black listed by Pakistan TV) like Shaukat
Ali, Arif Lohar, Hamid Ali Bela, Parwana, Mastana, Iqbal Banu and Tarannum Naaz
are there rendering the poetry of Faiz and Sufis. Men and women, thousands of
them, start dancing to the chants of Jiye
Jiye Faiz Jiye. Powerful political skits satiring the Americans and
their-allies, the clergy and Arab sheikhs then follow. The audience seems to be
in total agreement with the performers. No police is allowed inside the Mela.
Trade union activists, youth and peasant organizations take up the
responsibility of maintaining the decorum.
Outside the pandal, publishers of
progressive and secular books set up their stalls. Books ranging from Indian
titles of Prem Chand, Mulk Raj Anand, Krishan Chander, Amrita Pritam, Ram Lal,
Ajeet Kaur and Irfan Habib to progressive Pakistani literature sell like hot
cakes.
The Faiz Mela began as a
spontaneous protest movement in 1985 against the collusion of religion with
military dictatorship during General Zia’s governance. Since then it has
continued, uninterrupted. Of course, during General Zia’s rule it was declared
illegal but people carried on, unconcerned.
Today, the Faiz mela is the
largest gathering of secular and democratic elements in Pakistan. It is
not only a carnival or celebration; it is a unique form of protest against
theocracy, feudalism and dictatorship. It asserts one again that literature and
art are important tools for the attainment of freedom and democracy.
[The print edition carried a
photograph of Faiz]
