Inspired by the words of Punjabi Sufi poet Baba Bulleh Shah, Aik Alif is an art movement that aims to revive the forgotten cause of education in society. This cause is being overlooked because society is in the throes of transforming from an agricultural society to an industrial (or capitalist) one. Perhaps it is due time for society to shed those of its appendages that could impede its path to modernisation. Aik Alif says that children of school age who are out of school and instead doing menial jobs in workshops and collecting garbage from industrial bins are the unwanted adjuncts — whether declared or not — of society.
Led by Qamar Riaz Cheema, a bureaucrat and painter who translates his feelings and inspirations onto the canvas of abstract art, Aik Alif intends to become the voice of these disadvantaged children. Aik Alif has arranged an exhibition of abstract art at Alhamra Hall III, Lahore, from May 16 to May 23, in the evenings. The translation of the key symbol of Aik Alif is a man prostrating in front of God while holding his child in his hands and praying for the child’s future. The message is that the age of praying is over and the age of practical action is beginning. Aik Alif is an attempt to bring Cheema’s vision of bringing abstract art on a two dimensional canvas to life, as the great painter Picasso did, for the cause of education.
It is heartening to see that individuals in society are taking pains to think about the future of school-age children who are out of school. As per an estimate, seven million children of three to five years of age in Pakistan are still out of school as of 2015 and more will join their ranks the next year. This means that Pakistan will be burdened with seven million unskilled and disgruntled youths after just a decade, two of the repercussions of which could be disorder and revolts. There will be no need for an external enemy; the enemy will surface from within.
Cheema says that in the language of abstract art, he has introduced Peelism, which has the potential to express the prevalence of ignorance in society. Peelism is a technique to create shapes through consistent and short strokes. By Peelism he perhaps also means the kind of abstract art that peels off external gaudy layers and brings out society’s kernel, the colour and kind of which is common for all societies of the world — just like the ultimate colour of all canvases, no matter what other colours cover them, is white. Cheema has not learnt abstract art in an academic setting but has tapped his own talent over the past five years. Cheema’s goal is to introduce legislation at the provincial level initially, stipulating that to obtain a master’s degree, a student must do at least three months of community work by teaching a child who is not attending school. In this way, at least, informal education can be disseminated in society. Cheema has expressed his intent to launch an apple movement (a for apple) in December of this year, as a subsidiary of Aik Alif, to offer an apple to each child who is out of school with the help of civil society, especially the educated youth. In this way, not only can society be made aware of its role but children who are out of school can also be made conscious of their wrongful decisions. The desire of a child to go school is as important as the urge of society to see all its children go to school.
The involvement of the educated youth of society in the cause of education is worth encouraging. However, another facet of the issue is that the rise in population every year decreases the chances of children being sent to schools when they reach the age of five years. There are few philanthropic movements in the country dedicated to the population explosion, which has the potential to engulf the future of the country. In 2012-2013, Pakistan became the sixth most populous country in the world. In 2014, the population growth rate was 1.49 percent and the total population was 188 million. According to the World Bank, “The population in Pakistan increased by 23 million from 1990 to 2008, with a 54 percent growth in population compared to 34 percent growth in India and 38 percent growth in Bangladesh.” Hence, Pakistan’s population growth rate is higher than any other South Asian country.
People are not being educated on the benefits of population control. The pressure on the government to increase the percentage allocation of the GDP from the current 2.1 percent to, say, three percent in the upcoming budget might be of no avail if the population growth rate is not decreased. Aik Alif should also turn its attention towards this fact and use the medium of abstract painting to make people aware of the perils of the population explosion. The past can be depicted on canvas, showing how people used to live when the population was sparse as compared to the present, where dwellings have become congested. Half the solution to this problem lies in making people aware of how overpopulation is overwhelming them.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at [email protected]