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Working for
cross-border
prisoners
H
By Sumegha Gulati
Pakistani serial
Dastan, soon to
be shown in India
on Zee TVs new
Zindiagi channel,
is a powerful
contemporary
production
focusing on 1947
Horse-drawn buggis on
dirt paths surrounded
by mustard fields; villagers discussing the
weather, crops and marriages, speaking Urdu
tinged with a Punjabi accent; the turbulent love
story of a young engaged couple set against
the backdrop of a land
and its people divided,
amidst rapes, assaults,
killings and mass displacement.
Dastan, a 23-episode Pakistani television serial based on the late Urdu
writer Razia Butts acclaimed short
story Bano, is one of the finest works
produced on partition in contemporary
times. Soon to be broadcast on Zee TV
Indias new channel, Zindagi, it was extremely popular in Pakistan, winning
several awards and nominations for its
content as well as performances.
I stumbled upon Dastan on the Internet while researching literature and
cinema on Indias partition. Watching a
Pakistani TV show for the first time, I
was hooked from the first episode, not
just because it deals with a subject
close to my heart, Partition, but the
sheer beauty of the dramatisation.
The story starts with a Muslim family in Ludhiana, 1946. Women gather on
takhts in a courtyard, preparing for
Suraiyas (Saba Qamar) upcoming wedding. Indian audiences will immediately
related to their affectionate bantering,
so common on both sides of the border,
and showing neighbours the jahez
(dowry) and bari (grooms gifts to the
bride).
Cross-religion relationships emerge
through characters like Kamini chachi,
always present in the bridal house, or
the Hindu jeweler who acknowledges
how much he owes to the brides father.
Suraiyas nephew, Hassan, a finalyear engineering student and a member
of the Muslim League, is the main protagonist. The restrained performance
Pakistani heartthrob by Fawad Afzal
Khan (Khuda ke Liye, Humsafar),
apart from his undeniably good looks,
is outstanding.
The female protagonist
Bano (brilliantly acted by
Sanam Baloch) is the
younger sister of Suraiya's
husband, Saleem (Ahsan
Khan), a staunch Congress
member who admires
Gandhi and opposes the
creation of Pakistan. Overs
the passage of the years
spanned by the serial,
Bano emerges as a
woman of exemplary
courage, who fights all
odds to fulfill her dream
of reaching Pakistan.
Bano and Hassans
love story blossoms with
stolen glances and silent
nights spent watching
each other from their
terraces, their features illuminated by
lantern or moonlight. Sohail Haiders
theme song Aasmano se utaara soulfully plays in the background.
The idyllic earlier episodes feature
newly-weds Suraiya and Saleem sneak-
n a welcome move, the Supreme Court Bar Associations of India and Pakistan are working together to
help Pakistani and Indian prisoners detained in each
others countries, following the visit to Pakistan of
SCBA Indias senior executive member Prof.Bhim
Singh at the invitation of the Lawyers Congress headed by
Zulfiqar Ali Jehangir.
The Executive Committee of SCBA India on June 28 sent
a letter thanking SCBA Pakistan for facilitating and honouring Prof. Bhim Singh during his ten-day visit to Pakistan in
May.
In Lahore, the Supreme Court Bar Association (Pakistan)
presented Prof. Singh, has over the past 15 years provided
free legal aid to hundreds of Pakistanis detained or under
trial in Indian jails, with a shield. This is the first time an Indian lawyer was so honoured in Pakistan.
As a result of petitions filed by Prof Bhim Singhs State
Legal Aid Committee, the Supreme Court of India has over
the years intervened to free nearly nearly 250 Pakistani prisoners.
During his visit, the Islamabad Bar Association invited
Prof. Bhim Singh to speak on the plight of cross-border pris-
tis, at Lokpal agitations. After Partition, even poets were divided. Who
holds a greater claim to Iqbal?
When Hassan comments on the
over 3000 Muslims butchered in Calcutta in just four days, Saleem asks if
Hindus are not being killed too. The
two come to blows, earning severe
reprimand from Saleems father who
points out that neither Jinnah nor
Gandhi would approve of their behaviour. And Saleem asks how, given
his fathers deep friendships with Hindus, can he consider them his foes
now?
It is such ironies that Dastan so
beautifully portrays.
When Suraiya wants to give away
her jewelry for riot-affected Muslims
regardless of their allegiance to
Congress or Muslim League, Saleem
reminds her that riots also affected
Hindus, Sikhs and others. His
character, in fact, comes
across as exceptionally
strong and ahead of his
times.
A firm believer in
Hindu-Muslim
unity,
Saleem is even ready to let
his sister marry a Hindu.
His reasoning: both can follow their own religions without converting. Ram has a job, a reputed family background and is well-off. Will you
turn down the proposal just on the
basis of religion? he asks his father.
However, the divisions deepen with
daily killings, murders, loot and rapes.
Dastan depicts the horrors effectively
entire families butchered, killing
their own women to save them from
dishonour, houses illegally occupied,
their owners threatened with dire consequences if they tried to return.
One of the most chilling scenes -for which Ahsan Khan deserves full
marks -- is when the Muslim women of
the locality gather at Saleems house
ahead of an impending attack by
Sikhs. When Saleem seeks Ram's help,
the family turns him away refusing to
risk their lives for Muslims. The reality
then strikes Saleem the creation of
Pakistan is essential for the future of
Muslims.
Two recent Track-2 initiatives between Indians and Pakistanis underscored the need to ease travel, trade and visa restrictions between the two countries and let people meet
aka
aka
Destination Peace: A commitment by the Jang Group, Geo and The Times of India Group to
create an enabling environment that brings the people of Pakistan and India closer together,
contributing to genuine and durable peace with honour between our countries.