IOS lecture on “Contribution of Urdu fiction in the making of India”

IOS lecture on “Contribution of Urdu fiction in the making of India”

New Delhi: A lecture on the ‘Contribution of Urdu fiction in the making of India’ was organised by the IOS Centre for Historical and Civilisational Studies, at Aligarh on March 14, 2023.

The lecture began with the recitation of a Verse from Holy Qur’an by the director of the IOSCHCS, Prof. Syed Jamaluddin. Introducing the speaker, Prof. Tariq Chhatari, former professor at the Centre of advanced study, department of history, Aligarh Muslim University, he said that he was the guide of the research project on the subject. The research project has been assigned to the former principal, Jamia Urdu College of Education. Welcoming Prof. Chhatari, he noted that besides being a history teacher he was a well-known Urdu novelist and short-story writer.

Delivering the lecture, Prof. Tariq Chhatari, traced the brief history of Urdu novel writing. He said that Urdu novel writing began in the late eighteenth and early twentieth century. The first Urdu novels were written by Deputy Nazir Ahmad. Though his novels were weak in technique, yet they served as models of Urdu fiction writing. He said that Nazir Ahmad’s novels were inspired by the urge to reform Muslim society and save it from the growing influence of western culture. Nazir Ahmad’s writings left an impact on his contemporary Urdu fiction writers, like Altaf Husain ‘Hali’, Afzaluddin, Syed Farzand Ahmad, Saghir Bilgrami, Munshi Jamaluddin, Abdul Hamid, Ghulam Haider and several others, he said.

Prof. Chhatari observed that besides Nazir Ahmad, it was Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshar, who instead of choosing an individual, preferred to focus on society. It was aimed at inculcating a sense of social responsibility in an age of rush to adopt western life-style and values. He highlighted decline and fall of civilisations. Among the Urdu novelists of that period, Abdul Halim Sharar who occupied a place of prominence as an historical novelist as his novels portrayed Muslim personalities and historical events of those days. By writing ‘Guzishta Lucknow’ (The past of Lucknow), he focused on the life and culture of Lucknow. He said that Mirza Haadi Ruswa wrote ‘Umrao Jan Ada’ in which a courtesan known as Umrao Jaan was a central character. It depicted the literary taste of the nawabs of Awadh: Haadi Ruswa placed Urdu novel writing on strong and sound footing. It was followed by an era of taking novel to the level of a common man. Munshi Prem Chand emerged as a novelist who focused on the life of a commoner and the caste-ridden Hindu society. He belonged to the generation of progressive writers who were influenced from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he insisted.

Prof. Chhatari pointed out that Prem Chand demonstrated in his novels humanitarian concerns and the predominance of the wealthy in society. The period of Prem Chand witnessed storm in social, political and literary environment. In order to overcome this chaos, Prem Chand opted for the realistic portrayal of social environment surrounding him. He also spoke on the beginning of progressive writer’s movement in detail. He said that this movement introduced the concept of collectivity as opposed to individualism. This phase saw the novelists becoming very humane as they exposed the miseries of the common man. This was a journey from idealism to realism, he concluded.

The lecture was followed by a question-answer session in which several questions were asked by the scholars, students and other attendees. The function came to end with a vote of thanks extended by Dr. Zabeen Anjum.