THE PROVERBIAL ICON OF LAHORE M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI,
MISSED MENTIONS ARE DELIBERATE OR MERE IGNORANCE
Ms Tania Qureshi is an esteemed lady, writing about Lahore and fresh to this complicated field. We have always found her responsive to new information. Some time back she wrote an article on Kocha Chabuk Sawaran Lahore and mentioned many residents there. But missed mentioning the most famous resident of that Kocha, that is artist Khan Bahadur M.A. Rahman Chughtai. It was very surprising for us. But a day or two back, a new article on important people of Lahore and again name of Chughtai is not there. Obviously if we write a letter to the editor today, editorial people have no room for putting such facts down. I personally think Ms Qureshi is well informed and that there is some bigoted editorial assistant who is allergic to Chughtai artist.
M.A. Rahman Chughtai is no ordinary citizen of Lahore. It is a Lahori family from more than 400 years. Chughtai was born in in Lahore on 21st September, 1897, and died in Lahore on 17th January, 1975, and lived his entire life in this city. He put Lahore on the Art map of the world again. This is Chughtai’s Lahore, who put the word CHUGHTAI ART in the Urdu Encyclopaedia. We can say a thousand things, but one is enough. This is injustice to the memory of an icon of Pakistan and also an icon of the Art world. We are there to correct wrong.
The name of Lahore is synonymous with M.A. Rahman Chughtai.
I would not put, whoever Tania might be, her name on any Chughtai pages owing to the fact that she is ignorant, deliberate or otherwise. Instead, I would publish Chughtai on media pages so many times that her articles would simply become irrelevant.
Rumour is that media carries name of only those approved by foreign lobbies. Mullahs and Secular, not patriotic Pakistanis. After all funding requires obeisance.