Daily Times

Not only did the social media accord us a high voltage of connectivity but we witness also another intriguing offshoot of this development – a certain degree of agency in proliferating, manipulating and controlling our reception as writers – an offshoot that cuts across nation-state borders. The bliss and benefit of this cross-border literary, though virtual, interaction can be truly appreciated by those who happen to be born and destined to live in hostile – armed to the teeth – neighbouring countries.

There was a time when the smooth flow of literary exchange between Indian and Pakistan – even between Urdu writers from both countries – was not so easy. Punjabi writers from Pakistan befriended with their Indian colleagues were looked at suspiciously by the establishment, if not regarded as anti-national or traitor. Barring those coming from the languages common in the two countries; Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi, writers from the ‘regional’ languages were utterly unknown in each other’s land. India, traditionally, and by virtue of its state ideology, was a country more accommodative for and generally receptive to Pakistani writers. Pakistan, on the other hand, and again by virtue of its state ideology was not a welcome place for Indian writers except Muslim/writing in Urdu. There was a period when even Urdu/Muslim writers from across the border were almost banned for coverage in the State-owned electronic media; both television and radio. Much water has however been flown under the bridges since that time and along with intermittent bouts of a quasi-democracy, the country has meanwhile witnessed a mushroom growth of private electronic media. These and some other factors have, despite a fierce element of nationalism still to be found at least in some sections of the society, Pakistan has already made room for a comparatively congenial climate of the mind.

The state of affairs in India, however, seems to have taken a U-turn – an unfortunate turn, indeed. In past, the cultural collaboration between Pakistan and India was hampered occasionally in a certain place like Bombay by a right-wing Hindu political party, but following an exclusionist hardliner party coming into power in the centre as well as in some states, the anti-Pakistani feelings have taken the form of almost a pan-India phenomenon. Cowed down by the state-sponsored Hindu hyper nationalism more and more cultural agents are disengaging themselves with their Pakistan colleagues. Well, this banal nationalistic hysteria is directed not only against the neighbouring country, it has a clear-cut majoritarian agenda that aims not only at marginalizing religious minorities but also stifling every dissident voice.

Any attempt to refute the colossal existence of borders would be a quixotic utopianism

The social media is here to play its effective role in bringing like-minded, peace-loving writers together and thereby defusing the nefarious and hateful machinations propelled by the myopic prophets of apocalyptic vision on both sides of the border and help the good sense prevail.

Given the non-pragmatic character of literary discourse, one may wonder as what great change a mere poem or a small short story could possibly bring about in the face of confounding business of political manoeuvrings. True. As W.H. Auden, himself a poet shares the same pessimism when he says: ‘…poetry makes nothing happen’. The voice of a poet, a writer for that matter, is too subtle, too soft, to be heard at all, especially by those who might not be hard of hearing, but they are generally not trained for such mellow stuff. Still, it is worth speaking, raising one’s voice and contributing one’s bit – irrespective of its effectiveness or otherwise. As Toni Morrison urges us convincingly to do so:

‘Silence from and about the subject was the order of the day. Some of the silences were broken, and some were maintained by authors who lived with and within the policing strategies. What I am interested in are the strategies for breaking it.’

One possible way might be an exchange of literature especially the one with a heightened degree of political correctness in order to send a positive message to the common readers across the borders and thereby to pave the way for shedding doubts, misconceptions, and mutual misunderstanding. This could be through translating writings from each other’s countries. Another step could be of working on and compiling of anthologies to be published and made available in the two countries – anthologies for literature that could help unite, and preferably from the regional languages that have not so far been exposed to the readers on the other side of the border.

Personal interaction by arranging common get-togethers, symposia, seminars and literary readings might be one of the major points on the agenda, but given the bureaucratic hurdles in obtaining visas in both countries, efforts should be made to select venues in the neighbouring countries, if not possible elsewhere. South Asian writers living abroad can be of great help by taking part in person as well as through offering their good offices in hosting such events.

But, above all that, the writers themselves need to be alert as not to be swayed by the hate-mongering rhetoric and opportunist expediencies launched by their respective leadership. Indeed, there is a substantial and qualitative difference between the commitment a politician displays vis-à-vis his country and the bond a writer has for his habitat; they two have quite distinct motivations and, in return, diverse, at times, divergent results. There is the thin and subtle line that our writer while retaining their natural love for the respective lands, ought not to pass over.

This is, however, not to suggest that borders and boundaries are to be altogether obliterated, removed. No. Firstly, visualizing a world with completely borderless states per se is an idea too dreamy. Secondly, the act of demarking, defining and deleting of physical boundary lines is situated entirely outside the domain of literary people. Therefore, it does not seem pertinent here to refer to Manto; his story ‘Toba Tek Singh’, who questions the very rationale of borders. Not because the story is fatally marred by its ridiculously melodramatic ending:

‘Shortly before sunrise, a weird cry rose from Bishan Singh’s throat. The man who had spent all the nights and days of the last fifteen years standing on his feet, now sprawled on the ground, face down. The barbed wire fence marked the territory of Pakistan. In the no man’s land between the two barbed wire fences lay the body of Bishen Singh of village Toba Tek Singh.

(Translated by Khushwant Singh as ‘Exchange of Lunatics’)

This is too visionary, too romantic to be expected to have come from a hardcore realist.

One Urdu poet, Ahmad Riaz, from the erstwhile Progressive Movement had, after Partition of the two countries, put rhetorically, somewhat vociferously:

Kaun Kar Sakta Hay Taqseem Adab Ki Jaageer!

(Who can divide the heritage of literature?)

Well, division of the geography has already taken place with its deep and far-reaching effects also on the socio-cultural life of the region. Literature too was deeply affected by this event, not in terms of its recurrent recourses to the eventful moment of the Partition, but also in respect to the dislocation, uprooting of and rupture it brought about between certain languages, and their resultant re-mappings – for example Urdu, Sindhi and Punjabi. So, any attempt to refute the colossal existence of borders would be a quixotic utopianism.

One is rather tempted to recall here Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” – ‘Good Fences Make Good Neighbours’. Notwithstanding the truth that state borders are not demarked by some divine decree, they are there as ‘total facts’, and one cannot simply wish away their being-there-ness. More important would be, perhaps, to make them flexible and fluid by building windows to let the smooth flow of air and light come across, maybe doors to interact, and who can do it better than writers whose words fly, transcend borders?

The writer is a Pakistan-born and Austria-based poet in Urdu and English. He teaches South Asian Literature & Culture at Vienna University