The Sun over the Mountain Passes

Dr. Sher Zaman Taizi

Publishing Date: Sunday, August 7 2005

Recently I received some beautiful books of various sorts. One of them has been titled as نمر په کنډاوونو "Nmar pa kandawoono" (The sun over the mountain-passes). It contains poetry composed by Multan Khan Himmat Orakzai. The title page portrays the high mountains of Orakzai Agency - on the eastern slopes of Spin-Ghar (the White Mountain), just opposite Tora Bora, which earned fame in 2001 AD when U.S. B-52 and other warplanes bombed the hideouts of Osama bin Laden for almost four months without achievement of the desired result. USA has now realized that she could defeat the backward, poor and ill-equipped people but could hardly occupy the natural reliefs these people dwell in.

Orakzai is one of the seven Agencies inhabited by the Orakzai tribe, comprising 24 clans, under the Federal government and called Federally Administered Tribal Areas. These areas are rightly considered the most backward part of Pakistan due to lack of basic amenities, lowest rate of literary and highest degree of poverty. The people of these rugged and barren mountains are generally portrayed by the so-called civilized writers as barbarian. But, whenever and wherever these so-called barbarians have got a chance and found an outlet, they have demonstrated well their skills and talents. Hamza Shinwari, Murad Shinwari, Khyber Afridi, Laeq Shah Darpa Khel, Nisar Wazir and Mohib Mohmand are a few tribesmen who have made places of repute in Pushto literature.

Since the Gulf States were opened up in 1950s for labour, the poor Pakhtuns have entered many states of the region in large numbers to earn livelihood. So far I remember, the first man who took the lead to go to Gulf States was Fazal Rahman from Mamun Banda near Tall town in Kohat district. Now there are over three million Pakhtuns in Gulf States. Most of them have organised communities with hujras/deras in typical form and keep social contacts.

Besides hard work for earning livelihood and maintaining social contacts, which cost parts of their hard earning, a number of poets and writers have come out at additional cost with valuable contributions to Pushto literature in prose as well as in verse. Some of the poets and writers in the Gulf States are:

Feroz Khan, Wazir Badshah Janan and Imtiaz Afridi, Niaz Mohammad and Hazrat Habib Mohmand, Hasan Atshan, Multan Khan Himmat, Khog Naseeb Orakzai and Nadar Khan Orakzai, Ummat, Eid Wazir, Mohammad Ayaz Ghar and Aslam Sadiq Bangash, Raza Khan and Javed Hamdard Yousafzai in Qatar;
Jalat Khan and Taj Mohammad Afridi, Hakim Zalan and Mumtaz Orakzai, Taj Sorani, Ilyasuddin Bangash and Ijaz Khattak in the United Arab Emirates;
Fazal Rahman Zahid Buneri in Saudi Arabia;
Gohar and Hamid Parhar Afridi, Shamsul Arab Tabassum Yousufzai and Anwar Khan Mayel Banusay in Bahrain.

Some of them have published their own works and others were introduced in collective works of literary associations. They have formed literary associations in different parts.

Multan Himmat Orakzai The works of these tribal poets and writers that I have so far read give an impression that they maintain purity of language. They feel no problem in expression of ideas in pure Pushto with dialectic charm. In this age of technology, some Afghan Pukhtun intellectuals have been obsessed with the idea of purification. Instead of finding original words, they make and distort words and phrases, whereas the Pukhtuns in Pakistan stuff the language with Urdu, Persian and English words and phrases. In this backdrop, the contributions of the tribal poets and writers are really valuable in a sense that they maintain purity of language and purity of idea and also preserve words and phrases of their respective dialects. However, they can't be termed conservative. In the field of technology, they have also taken remarkable strides in advance. Some of them have made websites while some others have made groups for internet communication to justify the identity of Pukhtuns as a nation. The websites opened by Dr Yaseen Iqbal Yousufzai and Fazal Rahman Zahid are very popular, whereas Feroz Afridi has made a "Yahoo-group" to give its members a chance to discuss ideas.

At this time, I have the book of Multan Khan Himmat Orakzai for review. Poetry has its nature;

Whatsoever is talked about the "truth", but
It can't be made without the cup and the liquor.

The prosody gives a free hand to the poet to express ideas in metaphorical language to create charm and attraction. But sometime, the idea is expressed in plain words, too, with desired effect: as

When I was leaving, I was looking back;
I still cherish the yearn for my village;
Brown huts, ruins, our mud houses;
Of my village are dear to me, O, friends.

It is very simple, very reasonable and very straightforward, which certainly whisks the emotions with nostalgic pinches.

Himmat has expressed the same idea in some other lines as well, such as:

Strange is the town; strange are people and streets;
Whom should we greet on the New Year;
For your one poor afternoon; O, my land!
Be sacrificed every morning of the New Year.

What a passion for the homeland the poet has and how beautifully he has expressed that in pure and simple language.

In his poems, Himmat, 33, has shown that he is from Guldara (the valley of flowers). He belongs to Ali Khel clan of Orakzai. He was illiterate when he went to Doha, Qatar, in 1988 to earn livelihood and next year he joined the Pak-Pushto Literary Association there. He learned writing and reading and can read easily now works of other poets and writers. He has rightly adopted his pen name Himmat (courage) and has practically proved his courage in constructive direction.

The first 28 of 214 pages of the book have been covered by introductory notes on the poet and his poetry by Syed Sabir Shah Sabir, Feroz Afridi, Wazir Badshah Janan, Ummat Hassan Bangash and Mukhtar Ahmad and a brief note of thanks by Himmat. The other pages carry ghazal, a few odes and blank verses as well. There is a slip in the lay-out; the note by Syed Sabir Shah Sabir on the back page is on Jehanzeb Niaz and it has no link to the book.

The text has been computerised; the publisher is Pak-Pukhto Adabi Tolana Doha Qatar (Pak-Pushto Literary Association, Doha, Qatar) and the price is Rs. 70/-.