Of ideology, music and nostalgia
‘Being a committed ideologue, the author has his own untampered views that he has painstakingly condensed in the work, visualizing a radical transformation in the global socio-economic scenario reverting to the pre-dissolution era of the socialist regime of the USSR.’
Baa’iN Bazoo kay Munharifeen aur Marxi Nazariyat – Aik Tareekhi wa Tehqeeqi Muta’lia
Author: Dr. Musadeq Hussain
Publisher: Surkh Parcham Publications, Haiderabad
Pages: 187; Price: Rs.350/-
Hindustan ki Mausiqi
Author: Abdul Haleem Sharar
Editing: Muhammad Athar Masood
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages: 55; Price: Rs.210/-
MaeiN Lyallpur HuN
Author: Ibn-e Shahr
Publisher: M. K. Pasha
Pages: 113 – Price: Rs.250/-
A miscellany of books has recently appeared on topics as diverse as ideology, music and nostalgia. A devout ideologue that Dr. Mosadeq is, he has dilated upon the phenomenon of renunciation of the Marxist theory by the leftist ‘apostates’ in the wake of the fateful disintegration of the Soviet Union. Maulana Abdul Haleem Sharar, author of the Urdu fictional classic Firdaus-e BareeN, delivered a keynote address at the first All India Music Conference held at Baroda in the year 1916, on the genesis and evolution of the art of music in a topical as well as global perspective highlighting the contribution of the Muslim artistes in this domain. A veteran inhabitant of Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) named Mustafa Kamal Pasha, has compiled and published his memoirs of Lyallpur, his native town, in book form.
The three publications are being jointly reviewed here.
Baa’iN Bazoo kay Munharifeen aur Marxi Nazariyat
Dr Musadeq Hussain belongs to the comity of scholars and intellectuals who have not yet reconciled to the disintegration of the Soviet Union (USSR) as an ideological state nor do they subscribe to the fallacy that communism has lost its validity, and hence practicability, as a political theory espousing collectivism in a classless society.
He has taken up the issue in the instant work which is manifestly intended to counterpoint one Professor Jamal Naqvi’s book titled Ba’aiN Bazu ko Peechay Chortay Hu’ay (Abandoning the Left). Karl Marx (1818-83), Friedrich Engels (1820-95), Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), and Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) heralded the socialist movement with a view to awakening the voiceless labouring classes, the proletariat, to their rights and privileges and thus liberating them from the yoke of an exploitative capitalistic economy thriving on their sweat and blood without allowing them to share the benefits accruing from its debased pluralistic machinations.
The break-up of the socialist regime in the then USSR is attributed by the author to the personality cult within the communist hierarchy, internecine ideological rifts, the anti-socialist role of the Soviet leadership of the dying decades of the preceding century besides the covert intervention of the imperial interests in the region. He is still quite optimistic about the resurgence of the socialist revolution in its erstwhile area of dominance and influence. More so, the inescapability of the phenomenon is necessitated by the unipolar tilt of world power in favour of the US!
The book is divided into 17 chapters circuitously encompassing its theme and purport. Being a committed ideologue, the author has his own untampered views that he has painstakingly condensed in the work, visualizing a radical transformation in the global socio-economic scenario reverting to the pre-dissolution era of the socialist regime of the USSR.
Hindustan ki Mausiqi
Maulana Abdul Halim Sharar (1860-1926) is a familiar figure in the annals of Urdu literature. He wrote novels, compiled history, and composed essays on a wide range of subjects. It would be amazing for the readers to learn that Sharar was a connoisseur of music, too.
This booklet comprises the key address that Sharar delivered at the Fist All India Music Conference held at Baroda, in 1916. The organizers of the event included stalwarts like Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, a pre-eminent musicologist, Atiya Faizi, an elitist intellectual and some others. The driving force for the organizers to invite Sharar at the event was the latter’s article on music that he had earlier published in his own periodical Dil Gudaz in its March 1913 issue. Sharar’s premier address at the conference was based on the aforesaid article that he had ingeniously adapted in it.
In a simplistic phraseology, Sharar has traced the origin of music in India to the advent of the Aryan civilization here besides ruminating over the evolution and growth of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Arabic, Ecclesiastic, Iranian and Indian music. The first book on music is stated to be Ratnakar in Sanskrit, authored by Sarang Dev Pandit in the 12th century AD. But somehow it has not been understood properly even to this date. The Hindu music had its beginnings in the religious rites performed within and without the temple, accompanied by dance and music. With the arrival of the Muslims in the sub-continent, the Hindu and Muslim brands of music blended together giving a strong boost to the understanding, practice and appreciation of the art in its length and breadth.
Sharar has assiduously probed into the origin and evolution of the Arabic music from the early days of Islam linking it to its Indian counterpart. He has also spelt out the various ragas in Arabic in the context of their melodic nuances. At the end, Sharar has stressed the need for a new but innovative notation for this hybridized amalgam of the two strains of music. Thus it would be seen that Sharar’s research on the subject is intended to highlight the role and contribution of the Muslim scholars and artists in enriching and proliferating the native tradition of Indian music. Muhammad Athar Masood’s editing is adroit yet apt.
MaeiN Lyallpur HuN
Ibne Shaher is the pen-name of noted journalist turned writer Mustafa Kamal Pasha. He belongs to that generation and brand of the denizens of Lyallpur who have not yet reconciled to the change of the name of their native habitat. They remember its golden past with a sense of unmitigated nostalgia. The book in hand is a semi-biographical attempt at highlighting the chequered history of the town.
The author has graphically recollected and compiled in the book the memories of his association with his home town. The narrative focuses on subjects such as the concept of Lyallpur, Baba Noor Wali Shah (a renowned spiritual figure of the area), the General Bus Stand, Tariqabad, Ghanta Ghar (the Clock Tower), the Railway Station, the Gumti (a small monument commemorating the coronation of the British King George V, standing as it were on the entrance to Rail Bazaar), Karkhana Bazaar, Montgomery Bazaar (now converted into a buzzing Yarn Market), Jhang Bazaar, Aminpur Bazaar, Bhowana Bazaar, Chiniot Bazaar, Kutchery Bazaar, Minerva Club, a miscellany of men and matters, and the educational institutions in the city. Thus he has covered all of the eight bazaars encircling the Clock Tower in the centre apart from discoursing on some men of eminence and events of significance.
The book thus presents a panoramic view of Lyallpur in the context of its short but rich socio-cultural history and serves as a sentimental journey into its distant and recent past. The style of the author is racy but incisive.
