KARACHI, Nov 29: To mark the 65th anniversary of the partition of the subcontinent next year, Max Muller Bhavan/Goethe-Institut of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan will bring together artists from the three countries to contribute to a Partition anthology using a comic or graphic novel format.

This was announced by Goethe-Institut director Dr Markus Litz in the institute’s auditorium on Tuesday. Giving details of the project, Dr Litz said it was the first presentation of the joint project which would help reflect on partition.

He began his address with Ali Sardar Jaffery’s famous lines:

Guftugu bund na ho Baat se baat chale Subh tak shaam-i-mulaqat chale Hum pe hansti huee yeh taaron bhari raat chale  (Keep the conversation going One word leading to another The evening rendezvous lasting till dawn The starry night laughing down with us) With the help of slides, and stressing the need for having a constant dialogue, he briefly touched on the massiveness of the event. He said during partition 14.5m people crossed borders, 7,226,000 Muslims migrated to Pakistan and 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs shifted to India. In Pakistan, 5.5 million settled in Punjab and 1.5 million in Sindh.

Referring to the writers who chose the subject for their stories he mentioned the name of Sadat Hasan Manto and with respect to the anthology said it would be a ‘restorying’ of events. The aim was to know how people felt about the division and how it affected their thinking. As to why it was in the comic or graphic novel format, he said, it was done to attract the younger lot.

Dr Litz said writers, artists, illustrators, filmmakers, playwrights, etc could take part in the project, employing the medium of their choosing. The anthology, edited and curated by Vishwajyoti Ghosh (author of the novel Delhi Calm) would be released in Aug 2012. Only original work, submitted by Jan 15, 2012 would be accepted because the anthology did not seek illustrated forms of classic narratives or any author’s text whose consent hadn’t been taken, he said. About 20 selected stories would be published. The narratives could be woven by a single author or through collaboration. A range of tales within the genres of fiction, nonfiction, reportage, documentary, poetic narratives, abstract narratives etc were required, he added.

Dr Litz’s address was followed by the screening of a tele-film, Thandi Deewarein, based on a short story by Gurmukh Singh Jeet. The director of the film, Ehteshamuddin, informed the audience that it was part of a 13-film venture on partition aired on PTV three times (in 2008, 2009 and 2011).

Thandi Deewarein, written for TV by Shamim Manzar, revolves around a girl, Chandrakaanta, who goes missing during partition when she’s just 13 years old. It’s been eight or nine years and her father, Mohan Laal (Ghayyur Akhtar), is desperately looking for his daughter. His wife, Mayavati (Nasreen Qureshi), has fallen ill and keeps remembering her daughter.

The family has a neighbour, Ishwar Daas (Farooq Zamir), who is the narrator of the story.

Mohan Laal gets in touch with the High Commission in Pakistan and through their efforts one fine day his daughter Kaanta (Juggan Kazim) returns. It brings happiness to the family but Kaanta is no more the girl she used to be. There is an air of gloominess about her. When Ishwar Daas’ daughter, who befriends Kaanta, asks her about the reason for her constant sadness, Kaanta reveals that she has a husband and two children in Pakistan whom she sorely misses. She’s no more Kaanta and her Muslim name is Saeeda. When Kaanta’s parents and her brother come to know of it, they are perturbed. They even try and marry her off. But Ishwar Daas comes to Kaanta’s rescue and helps her escape back to Pakistan. As a result, he is put behind bars.

The tele-film was thoughtfully made. The script was carefully penned, keeping in mind the local audience. All the actors did a nice job, but Farooq Zamir was brilliant. Juggan Kazim was a tad overemotional initially, but as the film progressed she did better.