Today would have been the last, heady day of the Shanaakht Festival 2009. Today, CAP was going to present an exciting and diverse range of events; a kabaddi match, discussions with iconic Pakistanis, photo exhibitions, street theatre, and oral histories of the partition generation. Today T2F was going to host a story-telling session with Mrs. Raziuddin who played in the lap of Josh Sb as a child and was one of the first women in Karachi to drive a car, run a business, and make a film. Today, T2F was going to host a Mushaera featuring Karachi’s leading Urdu poets. Today, ADP and other musicians would have started arriving at the venue to set the stage for Raag and Roll. Today, thousands of Karachi’s citizens would have thronged the Arts Council to participate in a free, open festival celebrating our history, art, theatre, poetry, music, and resilience.

Today, why aren’t we all at the Karachi Arts Council, instead of sitting at home and writing frustrated blog posts? Answers will vary depending on who you ask. I think, as always, the real answers to such complex questions, are blowing in the wind.

Much has happened in the 4 days since the occurrence of the “incident” that unraveled the Shanaakht Festival 2009 in under 10 minutes. The press has misreported and reported, apologies have been rendered, threats have been issued, FIRs have been registered, government lackeys have lashed out at CAP, and aggrieved parties continue to expound their views on blogs and social networks. Many have spoken volumes by choosing to remain silent.

My earlier post on the Shanaakht mess has met with considerable criticism; which is absolutely fine – many valid points have been raised – but I am pained to be included in a group that one blogger writes about “… and it continues with tacit support of our so-called liberal intelligentsia”, because I commented strongly on the stupidity of the artwork. I have also been blown away by the inability of so-called educated people to read, analyze, and process.

After watching “Judgement at Nuremberg”, I lay in a crumpled heap for 2 hours, unable to speak for fear of throwing up. The film taught me, in no uncertain terms, about the granularity, complexity, and multi-hued textures of situations. Opinions evolve and can change over time. One can’t go through life being glib about everything, especially when commenting from very safe distances.

On a side-note, I tried to reconvene T2F’s Nadeem Aslam reading and conversation session at a venue that had earlier promised support to T2F following its eviction. Quite understandably, they said NO owing to security concerns. This is exactly what I expected following the Shanaakht fiasco, when I said that all our work will now be threatened and destablilized. This is why judiciousness and prudence is necessary in this environment, if you want to keep plugging away and making a difference. I don’t think that makes one a sell-out!

Since my stance is considered dubious and sketchy by some, I hereby declare my demands and an urgent call for a protest at the Karachi Press Club and other venues:

MY STANCE
I unequivocally condemn the violent attack of 8th April 2009 on arts, culture, and our freedom, and stand in solidarity with all voices of resistance

MY DEMANDS
1. Complete withdrawal of the FIR
2. Protection to be guaranteed to the organizers of the festival and the artist
3. Action to be taken by the government against the attackers
4. Retraction of the government’s statement supporting the armed attack on civilians

9 days have passed since the attack on the Shanaakht Festival 2009. I wrote the post below in a fit of rage and distress. Based on new information and people’s reactions, I now believe I should not have said all that I did, on a public blog. I certainly have a right to my opinion, but for someone who was preaching judiciousness, I think I didn’t practise it myself. I am not ashamed to admit mistakes; we’ve all learnt a lot from this incident, and in the wake of the deals that our government is signing, more so than ever, we need to stick together, collaborate, and avoid saying and doing things that cause divisiveness. One voice in my head tells me to remove this post altogether. Another voice tells me to remove certain portions. There is no right answer and I admit I’m confused. If I’ve done any damage, it’s already been done and Google has cached it. So, I’ll leave the original post as is, lest I then be accused of tampering with content because of sinister agendas.

Much has already been said and written about the Shanaakht Festival 2009 and the subsequent cancellation. My stance, very quickly, since there is a lot of BAD STUFF happening and my brain and heart are devastated …

I am enraged about the shutdown of the festival barely a few hours after it began with such vibrancy and energy. The pain of T2F’s eviction from its original premises was somewhat alleviated by the excitement of being at the festival and being able to continue with our programming for 5 days in a public space.

I will attempt to put my rage and aggravation into perspective …

Everyone, not just an artist, has a right to self-expression. Governments have no right to muzzle independent points of view or interpretations of events. That’s obvious. I am not an idiot and don’t need to be told that.

HOWEVER …

The reality is that we live in a city that makes international news, every single day, for incidents of violence and terror. Against this chilling backdrop, artists, curators, organizers of public festivals, and anyone working for the cause of arts and culture need to be cognizant and sharply aware of reactionaries, political workers, double agents, the evil designs of members of spaces designed to support the arts, the sensibilities of the junta, the games people play, and everything else that you can’t possibly pre-empt. This makes doing anything at all extremely difficult. And that is our challenge.

And so, the very act of submitting an artwork for a free, open, public festival being held in the heart of an out-of-control city, displaying BB sitting on Zia’s lap, indicates that the artist is disengaged from reality. The work itself was monumentally stupid. I say this not as a PPP or BB supporter but as an individual who can’t suffer fools.

Moving on … the idiotic artwork was submitted to VASL which curated the Sohni Dharti exhibition. Apparently CAP was asked if the work should be included and gave it a green signal. VASL should have rejected it upon receipt.

CAP has duly acknowledged that this ‘offensive contribution’ should not have been put up and have apologized repeatedly through press releases and at a press conference. I’m glad that they are taking responsibility. However, I am appalled that VASL has not.

My elevator pitch: I strongly oppose the inclusion of the above mentioned artwork in the festival on the grounds of lack of judiciousness and prudence. I even more vehemently condemn the manner in which PSF and PPP workers lodged their protest; i.e. by storming the Arts Council with guns and sticks, spreading terror and mayhem, hurling abuse at everyone in sight, and destroying art and property.

As a CAP founder member and as a collaborative participant in the festival, I have some questions:

1. Why has VASL not stepped forward and acknowledged their role in creating this mess?
2. Why has the government condoned the manner in which the armed hoodlums lodged their protest?
3. What was the role of the Karachi Arts Council in the attack? Why were they not pro-active in handling the armed, violent attackers? Were they complicit?

All art and cultural activities will now be further under attack in this city. We don’t have the luxury of making mistakes like this. We have to live for our causes, not die for them – and to fight obscurantism, oppression, and extremism, we need to be smart, savvy, and strategic.

Oh, and for all of you who think that the show should have gone on, PLEASE, get real. I was there throughout the attack. There WAS firing and the threat was severe and frightening. We were trying to get our American guest speakers out of there alive as well as pack up all our stuff whilst trying to stay safe from bullets. You can’t fight armed madmen with art and poetry when they’re out of control and calling for blood. CAP did the right thing to cancel the show and I stand by their decision.

Aur haan, 17 crore Pakistani diloñ kee aek shanaakht naheen hae. Let us not delude ourselves and let’s embrace our myriad identities and celebrate our diversity.