During the 1970s and 1980s, some popular slogans among politically charged progressive students in Pakistan included ‘Jamhooriyat ke teen nishaan/ Talaba, mazdoor aur kisaan [The three markers of democracy/ Students, labour and peasants]’ and ‘Loot khasoot ke raj ko badlo/ Chehray nahin samaaj ko badlo [Change the system of loot and plunder/ Don’t change faces, change the order].’ In Urdu, these slogans rhyme perfectly well.

Those were the times when the struggles for democracy and economic justice were waged in unison by students, labour movements, journalist federations and artists and writers’ associations. The Women’s Action Forum (WAF) came about in the early 1980s to challenge the anti-women laws that were enacted under Gen Zia’s martial rule and then to continue the struggle for the realisation of women’s fundamental rights, leading to their empowerment. WAF joined the existing fold of labour and student activists.

We saw a sharp decline in this unity between different class and identity movements after trade unions were suffocated to the level that now less than two percent of our labour is left with collective bargaining agency. Student unions were banned during the same martial rule and journalists and writers were systematically divided within their ranks.

Consequently, the link between literary writers and artists, journalists, labour and students became weaker and weaker. In present times, there is a demonstrated desire in some quarters to strengthen that link, but it still needs a lot of painstaking effort.

Among the very few activists of the old school left from the 1970s and 1980s who remain equally active now, one prominent name is that of Akram Kaimkhani. He was a left-wing student leader in Karachi and a pro-democracy activist after Gen Zia’s coup d’etat.

Kaimkhani was born in Tharparkar and moved to Karachi with his parents at a young age. He studied at Jamia Millia College, Malir, and the University of Karachi. Kaimkhani’s polio-affected leg, which limited his ability to run away in case of a police raid, neither had an effect on his own fervour nor inspired any sympathy in the hearts of the martial law operatives, who tortured him and kept him in prison.

After getting political asylum in the UK, Kaimkhani worked hard to make ends meet. Over the years, he managed to raise his family in a decent, respectable way. Now in his mid-60s, he continues to work long hours to run his household with dignity. All along, nothing could stop him from contributing to just political and social causes in Pakistan and the UK, and towards peace and development in the South Asian region.

From supporting struggles for democracy and economic justice to being a key volunteer for organisations such as the Edhi Foundation in London, he has invested his time, energy and finances beyond the extent of any normal person. Kaimkhani was a part of street politics and also remained a close confidante of both Mairaj Mohammed Khan and Benazir Bhutto, among other political leaders from Pakistan.

Some years ago, Kaimkhani realised that he should focus more of his energies towards promoting art, culture and literature, because they have the innate ability to humanise people of different ilks, which confrontational politics can seldom do. He had always been committed to promoting a culture of dialogue to strengthen democracy and the larger wellbeing of society.

Therefore, he spearheaded the establishment of the Faiz Foundation Trust, along with his friends from the Pakistani diaspora in the UK. They organised some outstanding cultural and literary events in pre-Covid 19 years, and brought together people from different countries, who were provided an opportunity to further the dialogue and deliberate upon issues that common people in South Asia and the developing world face.

Recently, Kaimkhani, along with podcaster Yousuf Abraham, chartered accountant Anjum Raza and physician Dr Umar Daraz mobilised political workers, artists, writers, journalists, culture aficionados and professionals of South Asian origin, along with his other British comrades, to establish the Voices of South Asian Art and Literature (VSAAL) in London.

VSAAL, after coming into being, took only a few months to organise, on September 14, the First South Asian Festival at the prestigious Bloomsbury Theatre in the heart of London, which I too attended. The Bloomsbury Theatre was filled to capacity for the event. Leading Indian dance and theatre curator and promoter Mira Misra Kaushik managed the event.

There was a panel discussion on the composite heritage of South Asian languages, involving writer Jami Chandio, British-Italian academic Prof Francesca Orsin and poet Uruj Asif. It was candid and sharp. Veteran journalist and trade unionist Mazhar Abbas spoke to another accomplished journalist and broadcaster Javed Soomro on current politics, journalism and censorship in South Asia.

There was a discussion led by British-Indian broadcaster Pervaiz Alam on a book by Dr Salman Akhtar, which does a psycho-literary analysis of four master poets Akhtar is related to — Muztar Khairabadi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Javed Akhtar and Asrar-ul-Haq Majaz. There was a launch of a book of poetry by Dr Razi Mohammed. Author and lawyer Saif Mehmood from Delhi made an exquisite presentation on Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir and Bangla poet Qazi Nazrul Islam.

A session was dedicated to veteran journalist, filmmaker, author and former secretary-general of the Progressive Writers Association, Hameed Akhtar, to mark his 100th birth anniversary. Leading actor (and Akhtar’s daughter) Saba Hameed and poet Iftikhar Arif recounted their memories of the times when Hameed Akhtar lived a life with pure ideological commitment and spent three terms in prison. Saba Hameed also read excerpts from her father’s witty pen portrait, written by himself.

The conversations on languages, literature and culture were followed by music performances of singers from South Asia. The mood in the crowd confirmed that it is the composite South Asian cultural heritage that unifies us across our ideological divides. If pursued consistently, it can perhaps make feuding states in the region shed their egos and come together for the sake of common people and their long-lasting prosperity.

The columnist is a poet and essayist. His latest collections of verse are Hairaa’n Sar-i-Bazaar and No Fortunes to Tell

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 29th, 2024