Known for his immortal play, ‘Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai’, Asghar Wajahat said governments on on both sides of the Indo-Pak border do not want peace and amity between the two nations and that those in power are always afraid of the arts. In an interview with Free Press, the 73-year-old author, who was in the city to attend a function on Friday, talked on various issues, including the relevance of his 30-year-old play and the contemporary problems confronting India.
He has been honoured by several literary organisations for his contribution to Hindi literature. Katha, a London-based organisation adjudged his novel Kaisi Aagi Lalaee as the best novel of the year in 2005. He has published five collections of short stories, six collections of plays and street plays, and four novels. Presently, he is Professor of Hindi in Jamia Millia Islamia. He was also A.J. Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia’s officiating director.
Excerpts:
You had written the play 30 years back. Is it relevant even today?
The very fact that it is still being staged is ample proof of its relevance. And it still evokes same feelings among the audience as it did then. You will be surprised to know that its Kannada version is also immensely popular. Once I asked its director how it was drawing such a response in South India, which was hardly impacted by partition.
He said that it was because the play so beautifully weaves the story of human relations that its setting in time and place becomes irrelevant. When it was staged in Sydney (Australia), the director told me that on seeing the play, a woman wept so bitterly that her tear ducts, which were blocked, got opened and she did not have to undergo the surgery she had been advised to!
When you wrote the play, did you imagine that it will become so popular?
No; not at all. It has been staged in India and abroad by different directors, including Habib Tanvir, Dinesh Thakur from Mumbai and Arvind Gaur from Delhi. In Pakistan, Seema Kirmani had directed it but the authorities refused to permit its staging. Ultimately, it was staged at the German Information Centre in Karachi and won huge accolades. A newspaper wrote that Pakistan badly needs the religious tolerance depicted in the play.
What made you write Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya…?
I happened to meet a journalist, Santosh Kumar, who was originally from Lahore. He had written a book called Lahorenama, which talked about a Hindu woman, who refused to leave the city after partition and preferred to die there. That was my inspiration.
Is it true that there were differences between you and Habib Tanvir over staging of the play?
Yes, we had some minor differences. But when a play is staged, that is bound to happen. For instance, Habib sahib, digressing from the manuscript, wanted to show that the funeral processions of the old lady and the murdered Maulvi are taken out simultaneously. It was not so in the play. But I said yes. After all, when a creative person is involved in anything, he has to be given liberty. You cannot expect him to be mechanical.
We have been hearing of a film on your play for many years now but nothing has materialised so far.
Yes. Rajkumar Santoshi is working on the project for the past ten years. But the problem is that no decent actor is willing to accept the role of the old woman – which is central to the play.
Your take on the recent clamour for a ban on Pakistani artistes in India and vice-versa
See, those in power are always afraid of the arts. And that is because art unites people and that is the last thing the rulers want to happen. Raghuveer Sahay had written a poem called ‘Paidal Aadmi’, against the backdrop of the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
It said that only soldiers with guns can cross the border on foot or men in authority can fly across it in aircrafts. Common people on the two sides cannot interact. If they interact, the enmity will melt away. But if that happens, what will become of the huge armaments industry? What will become of the commissions earned on purchase of arms? How will the rulers on both sides of the border instill fear into the minds of the people to garner votes?
How can art help in bringing the two nations together?
Art can bring people on the same platform. They are talking of shooting people and dropping bombs. But will it solve the problem? They have been doing that in Kashmir for the past five years. Has it brought about any change? Dialogue is the only way out – whether the conflict is within the country or involves other countries.
Has India become more intolerant?
Definitely. And the reason is the lethal, vulgar and reprehensible mixture of politics and religion. The ruling dispensation wants to promote RSS-BJP brand Hindutva and that is why it is spreading communalism. The RSS is spewing hate day in and day out.
What are your views on India’s youth?
Post-Independence, we neglected education. And that is why; our universities have been churning out generation after generation of ignoramuses. Politicos love ignorant masses. And they conspire to ensure that the people remain ignorant. Even the well-educated among our youth are staring at a dark future. Our government is more interested in fattening the wallets of Ambanis and Adanis than in generating jobs.
How has the literary scene changed over the past couple of decades?
Over the past 30 years or so, there has emerged a new genre of literature, centred on women, Dalits and other weaker and marginalised sections. That is a very welcome development. And social media has taught us how to write briefly and the cut the crap. That is also great.
Why the leftist and progressive ideology has failed to strike roots in India?
We have not been able to become even a welfare state. Even the basic needs of our people are not taken care of. As for the communists, they busied themselves with intellectual discourses and did not connect with the masses. In Kerala, they did it and the result is for all to see.
