Woh intezaar tha jiss kaa, yeh woh seher toe nahin (This is not the dawn we longed for, so long)
— Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the celebrated Urdu poet, is a much loved figure both in India and Pakistan. His romantic poetry exhorted people to fight for a classless society and adopt the principles of humanism. Writers, scholars, musicians, artists and lovers of poetry on either side of the border never miss an opportunity to quote him to approximate feelings of love and revolutionary fervour.
The Faiz Foundation Trust in Lahore was set up to assemble the poet's entire corpus of writings, photographs, documents, letters and other memorabilia to encourage further research into his works and promote his poetry and ideas. To this end, they have hosted numerous Indian scholars, writers and other creative functionaries on a regular basis. So when Moneeza Hashmi, the younger daughter of Faiz and a trustee of the foundation, was barred at the last minute from attending a major media summit hosted by the information and broadcasting ministry on May 10 in New Delhi, there was widespread shock and dismay. Especially since she was invited for the summit.
Allegations of political meddling have been raised, while reports have also pointed out technicalities of visa entry—that Hashmi had been granted a “six-month, multiple-entry” visa to India in February for a conference and did not have permission to attend another. But as Hashmi told The Telegraph, "I come to India all the time as I have a multiple-entry, year-long visa...My sister Salima and I have attended several conferences on this very visa, which has been renewed annually for years now by the Indian high commission in Islamabad."
Why exactly was Hashmi denied entry at the 15th Asia Media Summit, organised by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), certainly requires investigation. Hashmi deserves an explanation and apology.
The Faiz Foundation put out a statement on Sunday reiterating their respect and admiration for India.
Meanwhile, Farha Noor, a former JNU student from Kolkata, put up a Facebook post in which she remembered her fond association with The Faiz Foundation Trust. Noor, currently pursuing Modern South Asian Language and Literature at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, is now regularly hosted by the daughters of Faiz in Lahore. She first visited them in 2013 when she was doing her MPhil on the letters of Alys Faiz written to her husband Faiz in prison. The post reminds readers of how difficult it is for majority of students in India and Pakistan to get visas for academic research and fieldwork.
"While our constantly depleting higher education system has no funds, nor any process to fund MPhil archival work, it is institutions like the Faiz Foundation Trust and strong people like Moneeza Hashmi and Salima Hashmi who with their continuing interest and enthusiasm, always lend support to researchers and artists across the border. The Faiz Foundation Trust practically funded my archival work and the Hashmis hosted me, a complete stranger, for 2 long months in their own house in Lahore, while making all required research material accessible to me and at the same time, making sure that I was comfortable and looked after.
After my research trip, every time I have visited Lahore, I have been constantly supported by the Hashmis - right from applying for a visa (which is a Herculean task) to making a room available for me in their home, and every other issue a single woman traveller has to deal with, Moneeza Hashmi, Salima Hashmi, their families and households have always been most approachable and hospitable to me. And I know, for certain, to many other Indians, year after year.
Today, when cross-border research and collaboration is almost deemed impossible due to government hostilities, it is families like the Hashmis and institutions like the Faiz Foundation Trust that offer alternate spaces for any possible collaboration and friendship."
She later told The Week that "it has been really impossible for Pakistanis to get visas to India but the Hashmi sisters have always had that extra special exception due to the love of Faiz on both sides of the border."