Introduction 1

Notes Introduction 1 . See Ella Shohat, “Notes on the ‘Post-Colonial,’” Social Text 31/32 (1992), 103; and Arif Dirlik, “The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism,” Critical Inquiry 20/2 (1994), 328–56. 2 . S e e D i p e s h C h a k r a b a r t y , Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001). 3 . Beginning with Carlo Coppola’s PhD dissertation, Urdu Poetry—The Progressive Episode 1935–1970 , University of Chicago, 1975, we are fortu- nate to have some excellent studies of the Progressive Writers’ Movement. See, for example, Khizar Humayun Ansari’s, The Emergence of Socialist Thought Among North Indian Muslims (1917–1947) (Lahore: Shirkat Printing Press, 1990). 4 . See Yunus Javed’s comprehensive study of the history and activities of this important parallel organization: Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq: Tanzim, Tahrik, Nazaria (Islamabad: Dost Publications, 2003). 5 . I am grateful to Dr. Naimur Rahman Farooqi, for making available the merit list of graduating students in 1940 and 1942. 6 . The critical-essays volumes are separate from the “Jhalkiyan” corpus. 7 . I discuss this in chapter 3 . 8 . See Stephen O. Murray’s empathetic and convincing essay, “The Will Not to Know: Islamic Accommodations of Male Homosexuality,” in Islamic Homosexualities, Culture, History and Literature , ed. Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe (New York: New York University Press, 1997), 14–54. Apparently tales of Askari and Firaq’s “relationship” were common in Allahabad in those days, though almost impossible to find recorded. I found some oblique references, the closest being Syed Muhammad Aqil’s innuendo in Ga’u Dhul (Allahabad: Anjuman Tahzib-e Nau, 1995), 401. I discuss this in greater detail in chapter 2 . 9 . Interested readers should look at Dennis Altman’s thought-provoking essay, “Rupture or Continuity? The Internationalization of Gay Identities,” in Postcolonial, Queer Theoretical Intersections , ed. John C. Hawley (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001), 19–42. 10 . Digging into my own childhood memories, I can recall the excitement of my parent’s interaction with Pakistani writers. Pakistani journals such 224 ● Notes as Seep , Nuqoosh , and Savera were greeted with pleasurable anticipation by Urdu readers and writers in India. When the Indian Urdu journal Shabkhoon (Surprise Attack by Night) was launched in 1966, contributions from modern Pakistani writers were generally respected and admired. 1 1 . I a m r e f e r r i n g t o Jadidiyat ya Maghribi Gumrahiyon ki Tarikh ka Khakah (Rawalpindi: Ismat Mansion, Mayo Road, 1979). Askari’s lifelong friend, scholar-critic Dr. Aftab Ahmad is also of this view and says so in his introduction to the volume of Askari’s letters. Askari would have given the subject a fuller treatment before publication. Although the term “jadidiyat” translates as modernity, the book/notes is not about literary modernism. By jadidiyat, Askari meant Enlightenment. 1 Quot Rami Tot Arbores: As Many Branches as Many Trees—The University of Allahabad and Beyond 1 . Mukhtar Zaman, “17 Bailey Road,” ed. Mushfiq Khwaja, Takhliqi Adab 3 (n.d.), 418–24. 2 . The British literally bounded areas of the city by demarcating them with the military name of “Lines.” The most common were Civil Lines, Police Lines, and Military Lines or Cantonment. There were two cantonments: Old and New. They still exist. 3 . It became the seat of the British government for the North-West Provinces and Oudh in 1858. The legal courts were moved from Agra to Allahabad in 1858 through 1866 and the High Court was established. In 1876, Muir College was established; it was at first affiliated to Calcutta University. In 1887, the University of Allahabad developed as an independent university. By 1881, the city had become prosperous and eclipsed Lucknow and Benares. A lively account of Allahabad’s social life from the earliest times to the present can be found in Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, ed., The Last Bungalow, Writings on Allahabad (Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2007). 4 . For a cogent account of Allahabad’s political and social life in the early decades of the twentieth century, see C. A. Bayly, The Local Roots of Indian Politics: Allahabad 1880–1920 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975). 5 . This is the speech in which Iqbal brought up the idea of a Muslim state within India. 6 . Sajjad Zaheer’s history of the Progressive Writer’s Movement, Rushna’i , provides a detailed picture of the important writers and functionaries who lived in Allahabad and played an active role in its literary life. 7 . According to Bayly, Allahabad was a mixed urban community compris- ing largely of secular, orthodox, and professional Hindus and Muslims. It also had a fairly large concentration of European, Eurasian, and Parsi communities. 8 . Mukhtar Zaman, “17 Bailey Road,” ed. Mushfiq Khwaja, Takhliqi Adab 3 (n.d.), 418–24. Notes ● 225 9 . Kitabistan was a big publishing house and bookstore that was established in 1933–1934. It was located on Katra Road in the vicinity of the university and continued to operate till the early 1960s. After the death of Sultan Zaman, it was downsized and moved to the old city. Now, it is an insignifi- cant, dusty bookstore. 10 . See Zaman, “17 Bailey Road.” Askari’s interest in Anglo-Indians appears odd, but can be explained. Anglo-Indian women wore western-style dresses that showed parts of the body normally kept covered in the Indian style of dress that drew the male gaze. Askari seems more interested in their social and psychological makeup. 11. There is a fairly large settlement of Anglo-Indians a mile or two away from Bailey Road called Muirabad. This must have provided Askari plenty of occasions to observe members of this community at close quarters. 12 . The story is “Voh Teen” [Those Three] and appears in his first collection. 1 3 . I n t h e “ A f t e r w o r d ” t o Jazirey [Islands], his first collection of short stories published in 1943, Askari explained his choice of this atypical subject at some length. I have discussed this in my chapter on his short fiction. 14 . It has been speculated that “Askari” was a pen name. Apparently, his tarikhi name was Muhammad Izharul Haq, although he was never known by that name. Tarikhs or chronograms yield the date of an event that is being commemorated. In the undergraduate and graduate records at Allahabad University, his name appears as Muhammad Hasan Askari. 15 . Shikarpur was not a rajwara or “princely state” but a large estate similar to a zamindari. Its head was called chowdhury. I am grateful to Ather Farouqui for bringing this detail to my attention. 16 . All his brothers do have Muhammad Hasan as part of their name: Muhammad Hasan Musanna, Muhammad Hasan Salis, and Muhammad Hasan Rabey. His sisters were Amirah Khatoon and Nasirah Khatoon. Amirah died at the age of twenty. It is worth noting that musanna , salis , and rabey mean second, third, and fourth, respectively. Perhaps “Askari,” which means warrior, was a pen name. But Hasan Askari is also the name of the eleventh of the twelve imams venerated by the twelver sect of Shias. Hasan Askari, the eleventh, is the last imam to have lived openly among the people as an imam. He was followed by the twelfth and the last, Imam Mehdi, who soon disappeared in a cave near a city called Sarra Man Raya. Although the twelfth imam, according to the tradition, was accessible to his chosen followers for a few decades in secret, he then fell into full occultation and was no longer accessible to anyone at all. Thus to all intents and purposes, Hasan Askari was the last liv- ing sign of the imamate who embodies all the laws and mysteries of Islam and gnosis. It must be noted that all twelve imams are venerated by the Sunnis, although not in the same extent and manner as the Shias. The prayer-blessing term alai’al salam (may there be peace and salutation on him), in reference to the imam, is always used by Shias and almost always used by Sunnis. Askari’s choice of this pen name has certainly evoked curiosity from certain quarters as to whether he had any inclination toward Shiism or was himself a Shia. 226 ● Notes 17 . I have pieced this information from Askari’s younger brother Hasan Musanna’s open letter to Mushfiq Khwaja in response to the latter’s request for information about Askari’s early life. The letter has been published in the Urdu journal Mukalima [Dialog], ed. Mubeen Mirza, Karachi, No. 5. Askari himself was evasive, even in his so-called personal essays to talk about his family and his life in Shikarpur. 18 . Zaman, “17 Bailey Road,” 418–19. 1 9 . Naya adab , better known as “Progressive literature,” was a new wave of writing inspired by Marxist ideology and claimed to bring about social change via literature. 20 . In his short introduction to Mukhtar Zaman’s book of essays (1974), Askari profusely acknowledged Zaman’s role in pushing him to write. Apparently, Zaman’s own stories were never finished, and he would tear up all his attempts, but Askari’s very first stories were good enough to be published. I noticed that Askari did not have anything much to say about Zaman’s book, so he talked about how the debt he owed Zaman, which was now being squared after three decades. See “Mukhtar Zaman aur Main,” in Maqalat-e Muhammad Hasan Askari , ed. Sheema Majid (Lahaur: Ilm-o Irfan Pablishars, 2001), 359–61.

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