When the Ayub government awarded the Adam G Literary Award to Abdullah Hussain in 1963 for writing “Sad Generations”, the Governor of West Pakistan, Nawab Amir Muhammad Khan Kalabagh, was furious. His reaction is very well documented in Qudrat-ullah-Shahab’s biography.” We can’t copy foul language in a newspaper”. Alas, what does an ignorant ruler know about literature anyways!
If the person who called Abdullah Hussain an obscene writer was alive today, he would have been made to read Asad Muhammad Khan. Then he might have learned that life and literature are not obscene. Obscenity can only be found in ignorance, poverty, dictatorship and injustice. Suffice it to say about Asad Muhammad Khan that we live in Pakistan and can read and write Urdu. If so, reading Asad Mohammad Khan’s fiction is one of the duties of life. There is a signature story of Asad Mohammad Khan – “Naseeb-o-Waliyan” (Lucky ones).
Dadi Bai, the dancer residing in an upstairs apartment in the relatively poor “Kanjar Pura” vicinity on Napier Road, died suddenly one night. The five girls in the room, Balo, Nagina, Rozi, Champa, and Jamila, had submitted all of their life’s earnings to Dadi Bai, who had kept it in a safe. The key to that safe was with Dadi Bai’s relative, a police constable named Bashira. She had to come from somewhere near Jhang (a city in Punjab, Pakistan). Meanwhile, constable Meena, a not-so-respected resident of the building, has temporarily taken matters into her own hands. As soon as Dadi Bai’s eye closed, even the behavior of the birds of this nest had changed.
Everyone was waiting for Bashira to open the safe so they can take their savings and run away. Someone had kept their jewelry in the safe, and some had left a deposit of thousands of rupees with the late Dadi Bai. Two or four days later, Bashira arrived. The community gathered in the name of condolence. The main purpose was to open the vault in the presence of the witnesses.
The ceremony of handing over and receiving the essentials began with great care. The locker opened, but to everyone’s surprise, there was nothing left but a priceless crown made from a piece of cloth and a few old magazine cuttings.
It so happened that as soon as the news of Dadi Bai’s demise was received, constable Bashira had made a conspiracy with the constable Meena and cleaned the safe. Dadi Bai had taught her foster daughters to rip apart the rich pockets of their lovers, but not the harsh realities of human lives. Whole life their nights had been tumultuous and days had passed like the demands of a widow.
Great literature is not the headline of a newspaper, but literature certainly teaches us to understand the news of the paper. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a non-political organization of journalists around the world, has released an investigative study on fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, investing in offshore companies, and illicit assets created by elites in all countries. For two years, 600 journalists from 117 countries had been scrutinizing over 150 million documents, slamming rulers, celebrities, businessmen, and government officials from around the world. It should be noted that those who plunder the wealth of their countries usually build assets in states where tax laws are relaxed and there is not much hesitation about the source of wealth. An interesting observation is that in the light of this research, the vast majority of alleged criminals belong to countries where dictatorship or non-transparent governance prevails. The list includes very few European political leaders from stable democracies. It turned out, however, that “lamps burn with commoner’s blood in high-rise buildings.” Wealth thrives in the poor but gets marginalized in developed countries.
Pakistan ranks fifth in this colosseum of shame and 700 Pakistani names have emerged, including ministers, politicians, businessmen, industrialists, media owners, and retired military officers. Surprisingly, the name of Pakistan’s biggest dacoit Asif Zardari did not appear. Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s biggest thief was not on the list. Propaganda journalists convicted of the Fifth Generation Warfare lagged. The liberals who sell the agenda of the West and the democrats who are enemies of our family values could not find their name in the list of offshore assets.
It was disclosed that the total assets of these incompetents are the homeland and the people living here. We the bloody civilians cannot dare to point the finger at the military leadership. It can be said that the names of the politicians who are called ‘electables’ have been exposed and they change their political allegiances as soon as they see the first rays of sunshine.
Stay rest assured, we don’t need ICIJ. We can dig out an ‘Ikama’ whenever and wherever we want, we load evidence of money laundering into any Vigo, and, if necessary, help with video. We are under the protection of discretion, we have built a wall of national interest around us, and our assets are safe in the name of your security. If your coffers are empty at every turn in history, what is our fault? For an unlucky creature like you, this sentence of constable Bashira is enough, “Saari zindagi inna….bhagga walliyaan ney…ey kar kar k paisa kathaa kita c… tey lo g… hun tijori khali paai jey”
All their life, these unfortunate ones had collected their money by doing that. And yet at the end, the locker is empty.
