Page 23 - Urdu Link - May 25, 2018

COMMENTARY MAY 25, 2018 – PAKISTAN LINK – P23

n By Haroon Khalid Sikh-Muslim Connection Comes Alive in at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassanabdal,” he
said.
Why weren’t the Muslim rubabi protect- the Tale of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana “He was in the sacred pool taking dips
ed? Th ey held such high status in Sikh- when one Sikh got off ended and complained
“ism? Why were they allowed to leave East to the offi ce. He accused my father of polluting
Punjab at the time of Partition?” I asked. the water. My father was summoned to the of-
Th e question was direct- fi ce. When questioned why he had taken a dip in
ed at Ghulam Hussain. I was the water, he asked the offi cial, ‘Who did Nanak
in his home, deep within the create this pool for? To quench Mardana’s thirst.
older part of Lahore, close to Th is is, therefore, Mardana’s pool and I be-
the shrine of Data Darbar, ing a rubabi am his descendant. Now let me ask
the city’s patron saint. this question, who are you to claim ownership
Dressed in a white shal- over this pool?’”
war kameez and maroon He let out a loud chuckle at the end of this
waistcoat, a white scarf tied around his neck, the story, but quickly became serious as he spoke of
octogenarian had only recently recovered from his visit to India and to the Golden Temple in
what had become for him a recurring sickness. 2005 — for the fi rst time aft er Partition. “I want-
He had nevertheless agreed to my request for an ed to perform at the Golden Temple,” he said.
interview. “My family had performed there for seven
Behind him, the walls and cupboard were generations. We are the descendants of Bhai
adorned with symbols of the Sikh religion — a Sadha and Madha, who were appointed at the
picture of a kirpan, the Golden Temple — and Golden Temple by Guru Tegh Bahadur. Such
numerous awards he had received from Sikh or- was our honour that we used to receive a share
ganisations over the years. from the off erings at the shrine, which was then
Along with them were a few Islamic sym- equally distributed among all the rubabi fami-
bols, including a poster with a verse from the houses in Amritsar, all of which were three sto- Gurmukhi. However, I practised and gradually lies. Th roughout Sikh history, the rubabis have
Qur’an. It was February of 2014 when I met reys high. He was a millionaire at that time. He mastered singing in Urdu. My fi nancial condi- displayed their loyalty to the gurus. It was Bhai
Hussain. He died in April the following year, and used to live in Bhaiyyon ki gali, named aft er the tion also began improving.” Bavak, a rubabiwith Guru Hargobind, who res-
this was possibly his last interview. rubabi family. He became a pauper in Pakistan.” I asked him, “How similar or diff erent are cued his daughter, Bibi Veera, from the Turks,
I had searched for Ghulam Hussain for a Elaborating on his Sikh heritage, Hussain these two traditions, of kirtan and qawwali?” when no other Sikh dared cross into their ter-
few years, having heard that he was a descendant said his family’s ancestral gurdwara was Siyachal He answered, “Th ere is an old Punjabi say- ritory.”
of Bhai Mardana, Guru Nanak’s Muslim rubabi. Sahib, which lies between Lahore and Amritsar. ing — a hundred wise men sitting together will But Hussain’s wish to perform at the gurd-
Bhai Mardana played an important role in His father was a gyani — one who leads the con- end up saying the same thing, while in a group wara was not to be fulfi lled.
the development of the Sikh religion. Not only gregation in prayer — who also gave lectures on of a hundred fools each one will say a diff erent “Our family has a deep connection with
did he accompany Guru Nanak on his travels, Sikhism. thing. Bulleh Shah reiterated what Nanak said. the Golden Temple but now it has become ex-
he also played the rubab while Nanak sang his “My father was the gadi nasheen of the Guru Arjan’s and Sultan Bahu’s message is the tremely diffi cult for a rubabi to perform kirtan
divinely inspired poetry. rubabi seat there, which meant I would have same as that of Shah Hussain. Th eir kalam over- there. Th e offi cials there told me only Amritd-
Since their time, Muslim rubabi had been taken over his position eventually,” he added. laps… Th us, to answer your question, qawwali hari could perform there,” he said, referring to
given the responsibility of performing the kirtan But Partition changed all that. and kirtan are part of the same tradition.” Sikhs who have been initiated or baptised by
at gurdwaras — till the tradition was abruptly “Not only did we lose our money, we also taking amrit or “nectar water”.
disrupted during Partition. lost our profession,” Hussain said. “While we A dying connection He added, “I wanted to tell those offi cials
knew the [Guru] Granth by heart, we knew But not everyone shares his view of syncre- that my ancestors had been performing kirtan
From kirtan to qawwali nothing about being Muslim, besides the kalma. tism. here before Gobind Rai became Guru Gobind
“Everyone was only concerned about their Th e Muslims had no interest in our profession. Hussain’s son, sitting quietly with us as the Singh. Th ere is no tradition of any rubabi ever
own selves at the time,” Hussain recalled. Th us, we began doing odd jobs — selling samo- interview progressed, suddenly jumped into the converting out of Islam. When the gurus never
“We were Muslims, therefore we had to sa, kheer, meat.” conversation. asked us to become Sikhs, then what right did
leave. It did not matter if we were rubabi. What However, Hussain soon found a second “A few Sikhs say Mardana was nothing but these offi cials have?”
mattered was our Muslim identity. Th at became calling in qawwali, aft er receiving an invitation a funny character in Nanak’s Janamsakhis, who (Haroon Khalid has an academic back-
our only identity. In fact, a couple of our rubabi to a performan at a local cultural organisation was always either hungry or thirsty,” he said. ground in Anthropology from LUMS. He has
even lost their lives during the riots. My father- called Nizami Art Society. “I would choose to disagree. It was Mardana been traveling extensively around Pakistan, doc-
in-law, Bhai Moti, was one of them. He used “At one of these meetings, not many years who brought out the divinity of Nanak. It was umenting historical and cultural heritage. He is
to play tabla at a gurdwara in Patiala. Another aft er Partition, I was invited to perform qaw- for Mardana that Nanak turned sweet the bitter the author of Walking with Nanak, In Search of
rubabi who used to perform at Guru Amardas’ wali,” Hussain said. fruit of a Kekkartree.” Shiva: A study of folk religious practices in Paki-
gurdwara at Goindwal was also killed.” “In those early days, I struggled because Hussain had a personal story of his own stan, and A White Trail: A journey into the heart
He continued, “My chacha, Bhai Chand, my Urdu pronunciation was weak. I couldn’t about Mardana’s importance in the history of of Pakistan’s religious minorities.)
was a rubabi at the Golden Temple. He had three even read the script, having been trained in Sikhism. “Once, before Partition, my father was Grindlay’s Bank in the mid-sixties.

n By Dr Syed Amir Generational Turnover From then on his professional suc-
Bethesda, MD cess was rapid and impressive; he
rose to become the Executive Vice
e was one of the foremost mostly obliged, as he knew that even his meager Government salary. It ever, the meeting ended on a note President of United Bank and,
bankers and economists his symbolic association would pro- never occurred to him that accept- of optimism. Th ey were waiting for soon thereaft er, the President of the
Hin Pakistan, but it was dif- mote social welfare causes in Paki- ing money as bribery was an option. permission from their London of- Muslim Commercial Bank, follow-
fi cult to tell from his unpreten- stan. For the mere appearance of his He was a religious man, but his re- fi ce, the manager remarked, to select ing the Bank’s nationalization by the
tious ways and unas- name on an organizational brochure ligious devotion did not end at of- a few young Pakistanis for higher Bhutto Government. A few years
suming demeanor. would lend legitimacy to it. fering prayers and fasting, it found training in England. He advised later, he was approached by the Mid-
Syed Iradat Husain Iradat Husain was my fi rst sublime expression in a personal Iradat Bhai to leave his application dle East Bank, and moved to Dubai
died almost several cousin, but I always regarded him conduct grounded in honesty and a behind, just in case. On the face of to head their operations.
years ago in Kara- as my older brother. He came from compulsive desire to help others. it, there was only a slim chance that Finally, aft er a decade-and-half
chi, having followed a small, obscure town, Sahaswan, in In a few years, as the indepen- the proposition would ever materi- stay in Dubai, he returned to Kara-
a spectacular career Uttar Pradesh. All his successes in dence arrived, life was soon to take alize, but, miraculously, it did, and chi to settle in the house he and his
path which saw him rise from an life came by virtue of his personal a turn for the better for him. When Iradat Bhai was selected and sent for wife had designed and built with
ordinary government servant to integrity, professional skill and an asked to make a choice, he opted for training. much love. Although technically re-
President of the Muslim Commer- uncommon ability to exude warmth service in Pakistan. He was posted Some six decades later, it is tired, his life in Karachi opened up
cial Bank, Chairman of the Bank and sincerity. Otherwise, he had in- in a small town in Jacobabad, Sindh. hard to visualize how prestigious a whole vista of new opportunities.
of Oman, Dubai, and the founding herited no family fortune, political Th e summer heat was unbear- it was in those days to be sent to He got involved in a range of cultur-
member of the Modarba Associa- infl uence or any other similar ad- able, the town dusty, living condi- England for education or training. al, religious and charitable activities.
tion of Pakistan. vantages; just the opposite. His fa- tions harsh and, worse yet, there Only few from the subcontinent All his life, even when he was
His life story is signifi cant since ther, a police offi cer, died when he was nothing to do as the region did ever traveled aboard and the wave of heading major fi nancial institu-
it mirrors the trials and tribulations was still a child and some years later, not grow tobacco. Frustrated, he mass emigration was still a long way tions, Iradat Bhai had unfailingly
of that pioneering generation that his mother also passed away, leaving resigned and headed for Karachi in the future. It is paradoxical that stayed in close touch with his fam-
came to Pakistan in the wake of Par- him and his younger sister orphans. where his family and friends had at the height of the Raj, while the ily and friends scattered around the
tition, with little or nothing, except Aft er graduation and before settled. Government and business conduct of the British in India was world. Oft en, he was the only source
an indomitable spirit and singular independence, Iradat Bhai secured offi ces had not yet been established oft en egregious, Indian visitors to of family news to those of us living
devotion to help ensure the survival a job as a tobacco inspector. It was and Karachi, although peaceful, was England were generally treated well. abroad. Perhaps, the noblest facet of
of the fl edgling country. not a high-paying position, but very largely in a state of disarray. Especially, students from the sub- his personality unfolded when his
Besides his professional activi- much sought aft er as it had poten- In his quest for a new job, one continent were considered an elite, wife, Khalida Hasan - a cousin of his
ties, Iradat Husain was involved in tial for generating high income. Th e day he stumbled into the offi ce of privileged group. Iradat Bhai spent and mine and a highly educated and
a variety of social and charitable inspectors had the sole authority to the National Bank of India, a Scot- three years in London in the early cultivated lady- whom he had loved
organizations, serving as the presi- assess the quantum of taxes on to- tish bank that later changed its name fi ft ies, receiving training in banking, all his life, progressively became
dent of the Karachi Boat Club, and bacco crops. However, in exchange to National and Grindlay’s Bank. and fi nancial management. disabled through botched surgeries
a member of the Karachi Rotary for making inordinately low tax as- Th ere, fortuitously, he saw the Brit- On his return, he was posted and strokes.
Club. Many social and charitable or- sessments, they could receive large ish manager, a high-ranking posi- as a senior offi cer at the bank’s Chit- For several years, although paid
ganizations in Pakistan approached sums of money from farmers. Most tion in those days. Th e manager was tagong branch in the former East help was at hand, he insisted on per-
him to serve in some honorary ca- routinely did that. However, Iradat apologetic that they did not have Pakistan. He returned to Karachi sonally taking care of her needs, ad
pacity on their governing bodies. He Bhai never made any money besides any openings suitable for him. How- as the manager of the National and TURNOVER, P24
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