If
at all Intizar Hussain presents any biased inclination towards a certain kind
of Muslim history – he chooses to translate the events of Karbala on to the
partition narrative and the individual life. The Shi’i events leading up to and
after Karbala are often quoted in this Shi’i household by Abba and Amma Jan.
The implications of these are tied quite closely to the recurrent themes of land,
belonging, migration, graves and spirituality. Shi’i history in this household,
in Lahore, not only represents certain Muslim identity that stems from the past
but also makes the present existence of Muslims in Pakistan problematic as we
question the ability of ideas such as hope, nationalism to make state narrative
for Zakir and his family.
The Shi’i history represents both the past
that has been left behind in India or one may say the Indian Muslamaniat
through Amma Jaan when she asks Abba Jaan for the keys of the kothri. In that
she remembers leaving behind objects of spirituality or the ‘samaan’ of their
death. She reminds Abba Jaan of the ‘Karbala Mua’la sey kafan mangawaya tha who
bhi wahi us trunk main rakha hai, jis main barey abba ki Madina Munawarra wali
ja’namaz aur khaq-e-shafa ka sajdagah rakhi hai…’ The mention of ‘kafan’
alongside the constant theme of death as the only peaceful end to existence in Pakistan
can be contrasted to the ideas of belonging associated with ‘Hindustan ki
chaaon’ main ‘qabr’. The Pakistani land, like the land of Karbala, is land
adopted and not home, and therefore it cannot allow for their graves, and makes
the idea of qabr and death in Pakistan an exilic feature for Abba Jaan. On the
other hand, to introduce the sajdagah and ja namaz, and kafan as objects of
great value but left in Hindustan, Intizar Hussain really questions the origins
of Muslin history and what part of that history truly does Pakistan aim to constitute
after partition. Having said that, it may be too simple to just say he
criticizes partition, but one may that the bases of partition on religion, and
then the 1971 war, both represent a failure of the Islam to uphold the state
narrative. This may be precisely because all the spiritual ‘samaan’ is locked
up in the kothri representing the loss of true identity, origin and perhaps
Muslim history. One can then take questions like the misplaced religious
identity of the people in Pakistan and what defines the history of Pakistan –
the coming in of a new land, or the continuation of a Muslim (In this case, Shi’I
history)
Next,
at the time of Abba Jee’s death, it is ironic that he only hands over a few
objects to both Zakir and his wife, both of which concern spirituality and the
Kothri back in India. Abba Jaan’s last conversation has this Shi’i perspective
like no other. There is a ‘hand over’ of sorts to the son and a few objects of
religious significance given to Amma Jaan. Amma Jaan receives ‘Hazrat Sajjad ki
du’aon ka majmoa’ and then quotes Shi’i history as if trying to resonate the
past with the present. He says ‘ betay, tab sey wohi subah chal rahi hai, aur
zahoor tak chaley gi’. Abba Jaan’s relation of the ‘zulm’ ki suabh as a
continuous loom over the Muslims from the time of Karbala not only attempts to show
that the condition of Pakistan was meant to be hopeless precisely because it is
a Muslim state but also disconnects any associations Hindustan might have on
the historical bearing of Muslims by directly making it very Shia and
sacrificial. The mention of the Imamat and the later zahoor are both intensive
Shi’i pillars of belief and in tying them up to the present Abba Jaan leaves no
room for the Muslim to disconnect with history rather believes in disposing off
all his identities up until he remains no more than a Muslim, and in that too,
a Shia. This completely eradicates any national narrative, or ‘qaumiat from Pakistan’
and completely finds the ‘inclusion’ fator of the state to be non-existent therefore
problematic.
Intizar
Hussain likens the origins and belonging of people in Pakistan to be apathetic
to the present. In fact, he makes it almost synonymous to the Shi’i narrative
where the sacrifice and ‘zulm’ won out eventually in a foreign land. This may
or may not be taken in the manner of indicating hope, but it definitely aligns
itself to an anti-political view of identity, in fact the lasts of Abba Jaan’s
identity in his conversation and objects left behind is only seeped into the
very past of the Shi’i history.
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