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Literary Review
Political satire in modern India
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The political uncertainties and the proliferation of newspapers in early 20th Century offered a variety of themes for political satirists to explore. Wilayat Ali was a product of that era. A profile by MUSHIRUL HASAN.
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THERE is an old Arab saying, originating from a tradition of Prophet Muhammad, that "humour is to speech what salt is to food." Abdul Halim Sharar (1860- 1926), the brilliant Urdu essayist-novelist, added: "it is true that without wit and humour speech is insipid and the company dull... The more advanced a language, the greater its ability to express wit and humour." No wonder, Urdu produced its share of wit, humour and satire that was expressed in witty jibes, sarcasm, jokes and sallies. Ghalib, Urdu's greatest poet, mastered the art both in his letters and ghazals.
Sharar boasted that "humorous and witty writing in particular was initiated in Lucknow and come to perfection here." He talks about Mian Mushir, a poet of comic verse, whose language and technique convulsed his readers with laughter. He conceded, however, that the spread of Urdu had given rise to "excellent humorists" in different parts of the country. Indeed, witticism and humour, once the preserve of Delhi and Lucknow culture, slowly but steadily spread to other places as well.
Two inter-related factors contributed to this development. First of all, poets like Nazir Akbarabadi (1739-1830) and Akbar Allahabadi (1846-1921) kept generations laughing at themselves, bringing home the realities of a situation to them, and giving forceful expression to truth without causing offence or hurting feelings. A folk-oriented poet, Nazir created humour from anecdotes; Akbar did so by distorting words, twisting their meanings, or resorting to pun, and idiom-based or verbal jugglery. He was at his best when he turned and twisted an ordinary phrase into a striking epigram. More and more poets and writers employed their idioms, picked their words, introduced humour into their similes, and emulated their style.
It was the Awadh Punch, a weekly started in Lucknow in 1877, that raised wit and humour to new heights. Besides Munshi Sajjad Husain (1856-1915), the founder-editor, the Awadh Punch's contributors included Sharar, Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshar who excelled in repartee and maintained his humorous tenor in his masterpiece, Fasana-i Azad, and Akbar Allahabadi. Mirza Began Sitam Zarif, Jwala Prasad Barq, Nawab Syed Muhammad Azad, and Muhammad Ali Shauq were the other well-known writers. All infused new life and elegance into Urdu prose.
The volume of prose humour produced by the Awadh Punch "school" was much larger and had both variety and range. One of its offshoots was that political satire, hitherto disguised, became a legitimate form of experience. Indeed, the glorious political uncertainties in early 20th-century offered a wide variety of themes for political satirists to explore. Moreover, the sudden proliferation of newspapers and magazines, triggered by the political and religious controversies that dogged the Muslim communities in North India, served them well. They now had a platform to satirise their individual and collective experiences.
Born in Masauli, a tiny village in the Bara Banki district of Uttar Pradesh and educated at Aligarh's M.A.O. College, Wilayat Ali (1885-1918) was a product of that era, though perhaps the least known today. One of the countless young men immersed in the impassioned debates that raged in his youth, he wrote mostly in English under the nom de plume "Bambooque". Reflecting the political mood of the age — an active, self-confident spirit — his articles eminently represent the period and ensure to them an enduring quality. His clear-cut convictions on a large number of issues mark him out as a writer with robust common sense. That he has strong personal convictions adds to the charm and force of his writing.
Why was he different from others? In plain and simple terms, he mocked at British rule and ridiculed it in skits and sketches, while many of his contemporary activists held forth from public platforms. His political pursuits were serious, and yet their expression was humorous and satirical. True, he was neither the greatest master of English prose to spring from his community, nor was he expected to generate a large following as a journalist. What he did remarkably well was to stimulate the imagination of his readers in Comrade, the most popular newspaper during his lifetime. And this he did not only in special cases where minds similarly attuned used his articles creatively but also amongst the widest circle of his readership. He did not write much in Urdu, but the few essays that he published demonstrated the skill to express the nuances of a modern mind and sensibility.
Many of Bambooque's ideas were influenced by Tahzib al-Akhlaq, modelled on the Tatler and Spectator. His style bore the imprint of the writings of Sajjad Husain in Awadh Punch. Hence the use of images and symbols to expose Pax Britannica. Lambasting its collaborators in the manner of Akbar Allahabadi, he ridiculed the loyalists who exercised a restraining hand on the Muslim League activists, and made roaring fun of the mongrel culture that had evolved in India under British rule. In much the same vein, the articles published in Awadh Punch had derided the "newly-made gentleman" and their new-fangled ways in a unique and original style.
Some of Bambooque's character sketches are convincing and some of his descriptive writing is vivid. He paints his portraits with depth, wisdom and tolerance. Sharar had written: "one exalts or demeans oneself or someone else to such a degree as to be very far from the actual truth. All this requires great discretion." Bambooque followed this golden rule. As a result, his approach is patient and fair, his outlook sombre. He was a good observer and writer who learned much from what he saw.
In his gallery of caricatures are the British who brought with them imperialistic arrogance and a powerful sense of cultural superiority. He described the "Title-Hunting" association of "Noisy Jee-Huzoors", the "gaudy survivals of a half-forgotten past, those living anachronisms who have made Oudh." He observed the "England Returned Barrister" desperately aping the sahibs in manners and speech, and pretending to have forgotten his native tongue during his brief stay in England. He describes the "England-Returned" as "the personification of false hopes, the embodiment of extravagant expectations and the incarnation of utterly vain delusions."
Specimens of the Baboo culture in India — from the patwari to the deputy collector and the honorary magistrate — are comic both in their servility to their white superiors and their arrogance towards the common people. Their pliancy, as indeed their sense of superiority, received a great number of attractive illustrations at Bambooque's hand. "The Hon'rary Magistrate", he jibes in one of his columns, "is the apotheosis of intellectual inanity, and an official recognition of native imbecility." What the author is saying is that if a man occupies an important position he incurs a responsibility, and is accountable to the people for his public conduct.
Read, furthermore, the sarcasm poured on the "Natural Leader", the indictment of politicians, and their depreciation. They are portrayed as self-seeking, lacking in courage, accurate judgement, clear expression, and the gift of social compunction and of equanimity. Their public pronouncements abound in platitudes and well-worn expressions, and their public conduct fails to meet the expectations of those they are expected to serve. In short, the politicians seeking official patronage fail to create an impression upon the public mind owing to their defiance of the elementary counsels of good sense. Bambooque's criticism is sharp and pungent, but without being limited to the leader. He extends his criticism to the patronage system developed by the colonial bureaucracy.
The style of writing in Awadh Punch savoured too much of Awadh's Nawabi court. The laughter was long and loud, the jokes full-blooded, and the criticism personalised and offensive. Bambooque developed his own moderate and restrained form. He made the most unpalatable insinuations and unpleasant comparisons without hurting anyone's feelings and without giving cause for disapproval. He was, by Sharar's standard, "a skilful person". No wonder, the English-educated enjoyed his reproaches, imagining that his strenuous exhortations had a concealed message. They credited his sketches with literary excellence. Indeed, their claim to survival rests on being part of the political and social history of the time, free from the social and cultural ambiguities that developed in the murky political climate after the Khilafat and Non-cooperation movements (1919-22).
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