Monuments of Folly

JULY 2000 - People discovering what is currently Pakistan, thousands of years later, are bound to arrive at the speedy conclusion that here was a nation that had absolutely no sense of art, culture or style. This might to some extent mystify them. There could be question marks over some of the relics that will come to be examined, such as the submarine that sits forlorn and beached permanently in a lawn in Lahore’s Fortress Stadium. What was a sub doing 1100 miles from the nearest ocean is bound to cause researchers and anthro panthros much confusion. The Von Danikens of another age might even put together an alien theory forward, but the answers will not be hard to find. The truth is that fifty years and more down the line, we have managed to collect an enormous amount of ugly and dull public monuments that are living testimony to the death of our souls and our aesthetics. Do these reflect our national whatever (can’t use the word character since that’s against the law) it is that we have ? Most certainly, yes.

About sculpture, there is endless confusion and debate leading to more confusion and more debate. The main thing hinges on the can-we-can’t-we syndrome. From all accounts the question arises from the prohibition of images that lead to worship and therefore, living things such as human beings are a big no-no. But if sculptured images of human beings do not lead to worship, then why can’t we have statues raised to whoever we think deserves to be treated in such fashion ? Mind you, were there no ban on building such statues, it will be pretty hard to find half a dozen Pakistanis fit to be thus immortalised. Other than Mr. Jinnah, Miss Fatima Jinnah, Alama Iqbal and a handful of others, the rest is a long line of crooks, charlatans, swindlers and con artists. Those not blessed with such abilities are sure to be dictators, usurpers, sham leaders, petty bureaucrats, pompous generals and criminally-gifted landowners. Of course with no restrictions, the ruling junta would have a field day commissioning their favoured ones. If such a move was to be considered in the time of Mian Nawaz Sharif (he was Prime Minister in case the name doesn’t ring a bell), would it surprise anyone in the least if there would be statues raised to honour the nation’s gifted sons, among them being such luminous lights like Mian Mohammad Sharif, the two brothers and any amount of relatives in good standing ? And wouldn’t Gujrat, for example be replete with statues of Ch. Shujaat and his father beaming down at the rain-sodden folk who live out perilous lives buffeted by the politicos, the rampant police and any amount of happy crooks ? No prizes for correct answers there.

No, there is much confusion about sculpture being kosher or not. Apparently, while we cannot raise a statue to say Mohammad Ali Jinnah, we can raise any amount of the same items depicting elephants, zebras, ostriches (now there’s a national icon ) and hog deer. And these are not restricted to the Zoo alone. Of course every now and then, the moral and religious sensibilities of a handful are severely offended by the sight of an image that violates the tenets. There was something of an uproar when a statue depicting three soldiers (what else?) fighting on, went up in Lahore’s Defence area. It was removed later because rumour had it that there was no provision for anything that could be animate and could lead to worship. Apparently, elephants and such like cannot seduce our people, unlike other nations, to worship. Those who were behind the three soldier idea must have been asked to keep their creation under wraps and this may well explain why Queen Victoria rots somewhere in a rotting backyard, out of sight of the faithful who might be swayed to fall at her feet and ask her to come back.

This whole business about statues is spurred by the sight of an ungainly blob of fibreglass which has now adorned the capital of our follies, Islamabad. Complete with a door (that’s where the big cracker was placed), this is the mountainside of Chagai or whatever is left of it. Commissioned by the last government whose name I cannot recall at the moment, this ugly structure has surfaced at many places in the country. While one has resisted the temptation of travelling to all the fibreglass Chagais now erupting all over the country, and indulged in the national favourite pastime, i.e. picture of self - or moi as Amna-(ah !) Haq puts it, with the fibre-thingee at the back, what else can you call it but worship when grown up men, women and youth stare at the thing and then have pictures taken to capture their moment of glory ? Or is it that in the world of the clerics, only kneeling can be called worship and what we often see displayed is not worship ? Who can say what passes in the grey area that lies between the eyes of those who are in the know of such things ? It is very odd that we stand and reverently stare at old tanks, canons, dis-used airplanes, marooned submarines, kulfi-rockets (always remind me of the old kulfi seller and surely the inspiration for Dr. A.Q. Khan’s glorious vision) and other equally glorious artifacts that now litter every town and city and are happy to move on, but imagine a statue of the founder going up and the fist of God would strike down everyone. Since the Saudis determine which way we run in matters such as this, it is odd that they are happy to show falcons and eagles which too are living things, but draw the line where it extends beyond falcons. The logic fails me but then having never hunted the houbara bustard with a killer falcon, I cannot experience the pride and reverence that the falcon produces in our brethren across the sands. And one might add, sends distress signals to those who wail on about the luckless diminishing bustards, valued because of their aphrodisiac properties. Heavens save us.

It is a pity that we will not allow any images of mankind to be reproduced though how life-size posters, billboards and photographs which are displayed freely, do not cross the offending line, I cannot understand. This directionless nation would have begun to understand and appreciate its heritage had we kept an open mind on what was a clear directive in the early days of Islam. The worship of images was the issue, not the images themselves. To most of us, the sight of men in stone, bronze or steel, men like Iqbal, Faiz – I am sure there are a few more, prominently displayed, would be a source of inspiration and create a sense of pride in our past. Surely if the sight of William Shakespeare or Newton is inspiring for their countrymen, why can’t it be the same for us ? Instead we have Chagai, a monument to our folly or a submarine flopped on land. Goosebumps ? The heart swelling with pride ? Tears rising in the eyes ? Or a choice expletive coming forth ? Take your pick.