Written by: Syed Abbas Hussain
Posted on: February 27, 2019 | 
| 中文
Lahore Literary Festival 2019
The latest edition of the Lahore Literary Festival was an idyllic spectacle of colour, creative expression and passionate debate. Year after year, Lahoris fervently embrace the festival, congregating en-masse to attend the assortment of sessions that embody socio-political and artistic themes which resonate with the public conscience. The festival is especially looked forward to, due to the presence of some of the stalwarts in the field of academia, journalism, art, and culture. The literary carnival that celebrates the rich heritage of Lahore lived up to its signature style yet again, with its exciting line-up of well attended sessions this year.
Sindhi poet and activist, Amar Sindhu, author of “The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch,” Sanam Maher and Divisional Police Officer, Bahawalnagar, Ammara Athar led a heart-wrenching discussion on honour killings in Pakistan. The focus was on the case of Qandeel Baloch, a social media starlet, who was strangled to death by her own brother on the pretext of ‘honour.’ The session was tactfully moderated by Salima Hashmi, who shared her reflections on the book while posing pressing questions regarding the socio-cultural context of the case.
The writer described her book, A Woman Like Her, as “a story of gender, the rural-urban divide and the new phenomenon of the social media.” Sanam Maher underscored how the reactions of the public propelled her to the write the book; in her words, the way Qandeel’s murder was being condoned in the public sphere, rattled her.
Amar Sindhu spoke about how society tends to define the limits of what is considered permissible behaviour for a woman, and Qandeel’s case was an instance of that limit being crossed. “Every woman who crosses the line has to pay a price,” she said. The panel analyzed the dynamics of the public and private space, and how there is a dichotomy of norms which prevail across the two arenas.
The revelations of police officer, Ammara Athar, added grit to the discussion, as she shared her experience of dealing with cases of honour killings. She lamented the indifference shown by not only her colleagues towards victims of these crimes, but also of the victims’ own families. She added that victims are often facilitated and pardoned off by their own families when they are being investigated, which eventually culminates in judicial pardon. Such acts embolden potential murderers, she feared, as perpetrators tend to roam scot free after killing women in the name of honour. Salima Hashmi, profoundly delineated the genesis of patriarchy in society by postulating, “Each time a spirited girl is born, she has to face conflict in patriarchal societies.”
The theme of misogyny was explored in another session, which looked at the provenance of gender bias in the media, particularly in television plays. A session aptly titled the “Crying Game,” consisted of an engaging exchange regarding the portrayal of women in contemporary Pakistani drama. The unanimous opinion was that women are shown as symbols of misery, and given one dimensional roles. Perspectives were shared by the veteran actor, Atiqa Odho, as well as the young, Iqra Aziz (of Suno Chanda fame).
Fifi Haroon, the BBC journalist who was moderating the session, said that drama channels mostly hire ‘Digest Writers’ to script TV Serials, owing to which the characterization of women is skewed towards domesticated roles. This, she reasoned, was because they often lack exposure outside their homes, and rarely step into spaces where women are an active part of the workforce.
“It seems like drama makers believe that a strong or empowered woman has to be evil or arrogant,” stated Odho, “Two extremes are generally shown; either a woman is very sweet or an evil genius who is perpetually plotting against someone. Where are the women in-between?” she questioned.
The glorification of misery and its impact on society was a pertinent point of contention, during the discussion. The panel members also debated over the theory that current trends on TV are a reflection of the audiences’ demands, terming this as factually inaccurate. Iqra Aziz vehemently denied this line of argument, citing the success of her own show Suno Chanda, in which she plays a feisty, independent girl. The audience was graced with Iqra’s personal story of struggle, as she narrated her mother’s life journey as a Careem driver who juggled two jobs in order to educate her daughters.
A session on the, “Scars of Kashmir,” highlighted the impact of the Kashmir conflict on the lives of Kashmiris, who have borne the brunt of the political conflict for years. Around 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed, since the insurgency in the 1990s. South Asia’s leading historian, Ayesha Jalal, spoke about the trauma of militarization and how an enormous number of Indian soldiers deployed in Indian occupied Kashmir have paralyzed the lives of ordinary Kashmiris.
Writer Anam Zakaria, shed light on the plight of a large number of refugees who have crossed into Azad Kashmir, and have been separated from their families. According to her, these refugees, who number in the thousands, are living without proper heating and sanitation.
Ayesha Jalal expressed her concern over the gravity of the situation, which is seemingly spiralling out of control. She shared her own experience of visiting the Valley and hearing the stories of those dwelling in the area. “No Indian political party has the guts to take up the Kashmiri cause,” she bemoaned. She went on to suggest that the problem is not the absence of solutions, but a lack of political will to resolve the conflict.
British author, Victoria Schofield, who participated in the session as a moderator, alleged that it becomes difficult for the international community to mediate when a party to the conflict (in this case India), shows an unwillingness to involve a third party. India’s unflinching position, that it is a bilateral conflict, prevents a mediation orchestrated by the international community, in the words of Schofield.
The three day festival that began on Friday, 22nd February 2019, concluded successfully on the 24th of February and saw people from all walks of life, including prominent celebrities, in attendance.
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