THE FEMME FATALES OF LAHORE
ZUTSHKI SISTERS GLAMOROUS

Fashion starters and Civil disobedience hand in hand

Where there was dearth of women on roads, on streets or in clubs, there were some amazing citizens of Lahore. The Zutshki sisters were one of them. Excellently dressed, up to their mark, they had no hesitation with boys, who grovelled around them. They forced their admission in Government College Lahore, and could startle most people. Mostly seen in Arab hotel opposite Islamia College Lahore, as places on the Mall, was beyond the financial reach of this kind of crowd. Arab hotel was run by owner Bhai Aboud, who was lest bothered about the paying abilities of the entrants, and the intellectual elite frequented it. That is why people thronged the hotel, to eat the relishing kababs, smoke their heart out, and perhaps come cross the Zutshkis themselves. One could find there journalists, writers, artists, as well as all those who could provoke a laughter in the people. A literal festive mood of the IN people, perhaps replaced later in times by the Pak Tea House near Nila Gumband, Lahore.

In one such incident a journalist relates, how Abdur Rahman Chughtai was transfixed when the Zutshki sisters entered the room. He was spell bound and perhaps thinking of some new creation of his. As Paul Drury would say that the artist had memory bank of faces from where he could issue cheques at will for his works. My uncle Abdur Raheem Chughtai had tales to tell about Zutski sisters too. The mother Lado Rani Zutshki loved to display her daughters, all dressed up, at various places.The beguiling charm of the three sisters, namely Manmohini, Shyama and Janak was extraordinary. They were on the desire tips of Lahore.

The funny thing is that these were amongst the first women in Lahore who were able to get their B.A degrees. Remarkable for that period. More remarkable they joined hand with Congress and started civil disobedience movement against the Government of British India. They made salt at River Ravi and in general meeting, Nehru was seen dancing with them. All the 2000 volunteers at the camp near Ravi was dancing of all dances, the PATHAN dance. Sardar Mangal Sngh was GOC Congress at that time, and we present an image of him too.

Finding images of people, who were once famous and then forgotten, is not an easy job. I always wanted to do a piece on Zutshki sisters but could not find an image. Strangely the images come from the scrap book of a student of Government College who was doing his Masters at that time. It seems that the Zutshkis had cast a spell on him too and he had cut some pictures from magazines, newspapers etc, to keep afresh the beguiling charms of an era gone bye.

BASHING GENERAL ZIA UL HAQUE ALL THE TIME
IN HIS OWN WAY HE DID MOST FOR CULTURE

Brought Ideology back into fashion lore

The civil servant Masud Nabi Noor Sahib was Secretary Culture and he called at the museum. The President wanted to inaugurate a show of M.A. Rahman Chughtai. I was impressed, but I did not accept the idea. The Military Secretary to President Zia ul Haque rang us many times. Desire that we publish special edition of our book for the President’s gift policy to other countries and Heads of State. In India an auction house is selling copy of Amal e Chughtai gifted by President Zia to someone in India, at a phenomenal sum of Nine lakh rupees. But I knew more.

He inaugurated exhibitions at Alhamra. He organized show of Pakistani paintings at Hirshorn Museum in USA. He visited Metropolitan Museum and requested Stuart Cary Welch to open a Pakistani room there for which President Zia promised the museum a cool million dollars. Stuart Cary Welch visited the President in Islamabad who presented him with a carpet. A committee was made here to receive the American scholar in town (Hilton Hotel), enlist his support for propagation of Pakistani culture. Yasmeen Lari was there and would remember it well, as was B.A. Qureshi Sahib . And everybody starts bashing President Zia, as a paragon of Anti-Culture.

Tell me one thing about Art and Culture that recent democratic regimes did here for Artists. Nothing! And yet three Martial Law regimes fascinated with Pakistani Art, did more than all the others. Although the approach of all three was different in their own way. We have short memories. We remember what the media wants us to remember, we forget the rest. President Zia ul Haque was presumably son of a mere Maulana of a mosque. That he could adapt himself, and see so much, which was normally beyond his capacity, is a credit to him and his memory.

Why is there so much venom against him? He brought the term Pakistani Ideology back into the forefront. He achieved an unparralleled victory in neighbouring country by driving out foreign forces, but he also gave Pakistan a memory of its past. The education of Quaid e Azam and Zia ul Haque was vastly different, and strangely in their obsession for an Islamic State, they were both not that different. The foreign lobbies like to paint Jinnah Secular and Zia a villain. Both were not that, and most of us know that too. No time to pick up arguments with well paid and well prepared real villains of Pakistan. People who want to rob us of our Islamic Identity of life.

P.S.

FAIZ AHMAD FAIZ AND M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI
POLES APART AND YET INTERACTIONS MANY

GEOGRAPHY VERSUS IDEOLOGY A DIVIDING LINE

M.A. Rahman Chughtai never became controversial ever. He was the greatest painter of the region of his times and the world had acknowledged that. But he was also a thinker, a philosopher, deeply ingrained in the teachings of the Holy Quran. About twenty years spent in the shadow of Dr Allama Iqbal, he could be nothing else. At those times even before primary school, children went to the mosque for Quranic education and Chughtai was a student of the Quran from day one. In fact his desire to be a Hafiz ul Quran like his elder brother Muhammd Hussain, could not be fulfilled in his life time., He had memorized the Quran, about half of it, but could not complete the venture as he was involved in so many other things. Pakistan, unlike others, was a dream come true for M.A. Rahman Chughtai.

Jawaharlal Nehru lured many Pakistanis towards India and some did migrate there after partition. Some had both feet in both areas. One foot there, one foot here. The feet of M.A. Rahman Chughtai was firmly implanted in Pakistan. It was a sad thing that controversy surrounded Faiz Ahmad Faiz in many ways. We need not comment on that for the present, but Faiz Ahmad Faiz was in Jail in Hyderabad Sind. No doubt about that. As he was in jail, M.A. Rahman Chughtai did not let him down, and wrote a letter to him. The reply, initially torn by Jail Authorities, and later sent to the artist. It is part of our many archives and we felt we could share that. M.A. Rahman Chughtai designed many dust covers of books of Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Known by some, not known to others. But this letter I do not think anyone has ever seen. We like to share it with the public. Writing a letter to a person in jail and designing his dust covers with obvious hints was not an easy task. It was an act of courage. And Chughtai naturally had it.

Lobbies try to project the image of the Intellectual as an incessant smoker and drinker. It is a proud fact to state that M.A. Rahman Chughtai, forgetting about alcoholic consumption, did not even touch a plain cigarette in his whole life time., His mind was free from the smoke of life. That is why he clearly saw Pakistan as the first step towards an Islamic State. Through peace be a mover and shaker of Pakistan was his goal in life, and he achieved that and remained free of any negative remarks about his life.

More on Faiz and Chughtai in other blogs

NO INVASION OF VIJAY NAGAR IN INDIA
ONLY MUSLIM CULTURE INFLUXED INTO HINDU EMPIRE

Startling imagery of Muslims on Hindu Temples

Not much has been written on Vijay nagar. It is in a remote area, non accessible to most. Nobody owned to go that far in India. The earliest account is of the Portuguese Nicolo Conti and then the account of Abdur Razzak, who called with an embassy from Persia. Yes, the Muslims were there and battles did take place, and reconciliations done, but mostly it was ruled by Hindu Rajas. Considered as the bulwark of Hinduism against Muslim conquest, little was known about it.

The most sensational is the story of PERTAL, the daughter of a farmer from Mudkhar, on whose level battles started between the Muslim and the Hindus. The King of Vijay nagar was DEVA RAYA II, and he fell madly in love with the girl. When marriage was offered, Pertal did the strangest thing possible at that time. She refused a proposal from the King himself. The result literal anarchy as the King went into rage.The farmer sought protection of Sultan Feroze Shah and a great battle took place, and the General involved was AHMAD KHAN KHANAAN. The Hindus were defeated and in spirit of reconciliation (either lose the Empire), Deva Roy II much against his will, consented to give the hands of his daughter to the Sultan. This proposal of the girl had brought peace and allowed Deva Raya II to retain his throne. The girl was married by the Sultan to his nephew Hassan Khan. The great General Ahmad Khan is still there in Vijay nagar both with his tomb as well as the Mosque he built there.

Modern research has hounded scholars with Muslim imagery in Vijay nagar as well as in famous Temples in it from 1400 to around 1600 A.D, and the Muslims there represented are various types, including Arabs, Turks, Central Asians and even Bahmani Sultans. No history exists about this but the monuments themselves. Less this is written off as mere heresy, there is for instance the Tomb and Mosque of certain Ahmad Khan. There is an inscription highlighting it as the Mosque of Ahmad Khan and dated around 1439 A.D, in the reign of Hindu Raja Deva Raya II (1419 AD to 1444 AD). Other Muslim forms of Architecture are visible both in gates of Forts as well as Arches in the Palaces itself. But the most astounding imagery is of Muslims in friezes in Temples as well as life size imagery of Muslims riding fantastic beasts in the Temples themselves. The friezes tell us about various professions of Muslims there. There are Muslims taking care of Horses and animals. There are Muslim delegations paying homage to the Rajas. And the funniest part is Turkish dancers entertaining the Raja himself with Muslim dances.

All this shows the huge flux of Muslim Culture in forgotten Hindu empire. The Rajas could resist the conquest of the place but could not resist the lure of Muslim Culture in their own lives. And at times where the written word becomes meaningless, the visual imagery becomes most important in preserving lost times. These things were noted by famous scholars of our times but the first to point it out was DR Hermann Goetz of Germany and he wrote an article on it. Various other scholars have contributed to same over the years. The researcher Anna L. Dalla piccolla has done most for it in recent times. The fact is that historians have given various twists to history and the interaction of Hindus and Muslims in the region did not always mean war. The so called invaders were accepted as any other nation by the Hindu Rajas of that time.

THE FARCE OF BALOCH INSURGENCY
FEUDAL SARDARS OR PEOPLE OF BALOCHISTAN

Vested media twisting facts all the time

A long time back there were injustices. Some people with physical powers got away with subjugating the masses. These sweet people ruled ruthlessly by their feudal Sardars had no options but to surrender their every right. Holdings were taken away. Their women and children were subject of atrocities. The solution was to lick the boots of the lords in servility. This was an international phenomena and that is why we have Robin hoods fighting with the Sheriffs of Nottingham. Islam gave the world emancipation and the concepts of equal rights. So when Pakistan came into being, the prospect was to remove feudal lords from the scenes and bring in an egalitarian society.

Jawaharlal Nehru was an intelligent man. He got rid of the power of the Maharajas as well as feudal lords. This was being done in Pakistan too and feudal reforms brought in curtailment of feudal powers by fixing land hording. I remember Agha Sahib of Classic Books telling me once, NO ONE SURRENDERS POWER WITHOUT A FIGHT. The Feudal lords waged a war against emancipation. This is the root cause of the Baloch Insurgency.

The so called enlightened West as well as so called Indian leadership would not like the Balochs to prosper and wish to take them back to medieval times to be roasted by the Sardars till eternity. Whereas the Pakistani politicians failed, the military tried its level best to bring in reforms for the people of Balochistan. Who is more important? A handful of tyrannical Sardars or the people of that region. Sardars who are open murderers of their own people. I remember one Sardar who murdered a Lahori girl and three her in the compound of United Christian Hospital, Lahore, in a moving car, and he escaped to Balochistan. He was never caught for his crime. His father reputedly killed his first man at eight years of age to reinforce his strength in poor people.

Missing people hype goes on all the time! Western satellites are capable of looking down at movement everywhere. They could see President Saddam taking his tea all the time? Why has the survellance satellites of USA, India, as well as Europe not scooped down and see the fate of these missing persons? Is it because they are themselves responsible for all this? A London group of insurgents were caught by the Pakistan Army and then pardoned by the graciousness of General Zia ul Haque. The Pakistan Army is saviour of the people of Balochistan, not the feudal Sardars. I am a PAKISTANI MUSLIM. Let us start being proud to be Pakistanis, the first step of progressive Islam in the world.

Let us not forget that a working GWADAR PORT is a death knell to many other ports in the region. Money is being poured inside Balochistan to stop the growth of Pakistan, especially so that the people of Balochistan can never flourish in any way. Now who is actually wrong? Missing persons is a tactic to cheat on both sides. Bring tragedy to Balochistan and defame our sacred Pak Army! A certain gentleman namely Khattak Sahib is doing a documentary on this issue. Let this be represented in it too, for actual ideas to be taken into account.

JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI AND ANNIE BESANT
THE REBEL PROPHET

Detached from Freemasonry finally

The story of Theosophical movement in India is like the Freemasonry ideas. Annie Besant, a dedicated Freemason, reared up a young Hindu boy, to cultivate him as the new Prophet of India. She was dedicated and tried her best, but Jiddu Krishnamurti was no stooge. He was an intelligent boy who became more and more well versed with the issues of life. In the final episode, Annie Besant was totally disappointed with Jiddu Krishnamurti. A sad event, but it spoke of the actual greatness of Krishnamurti, who refused to recognize in other words, Satan as the ultimate god of life. A idea which is there in full force even today, as every thing good to humankind is credited to Lucifer himself. Devil incarnated!

Dr James Cousin, the first critic of M.A. Rahman Chughtai was attached to the Theosophists too. He took a painting as a present for Jiddu Krishnamurti and he sent a reply to the artist. We thought it would be good to present this for the view of the present generation, who hardly know about all this. The race for intellectualism was in full vogue in the British times, and it was there that D Allama Iqbal presented his thesis about Ijjtehad in Islam. Well done, Sir!

THE IMMORTAL HEADMASTER RALLIA RAM
MISSION SCHOOL LAHORE AND HIS CHARISMA

In memory of Lahori boys all the time

Reverend Forman came to Lahore. Most people say that he founded the Rang Mahal Mission High School, Lahore. Others say that it was Chandu Lall. Lala Chandu Lall had been involved with the St. Stephen’s School which later became the prominent St. Stephen’s College of Delhi University. Family sources say that Lala Chandu Lall joined the Government Education Department in Lahore and there was involved with the starting of the Rang Mahal School which later became the renowned Forman Christian College. He was an educationist and a disciplinarian even though he was a loving father to his children and all his children did exceedingly well for themselves. Our object here is not to refer to DR Forman or Chandu Lall, but to the man, who ran the School for decades as Head Master, and who became synonymous with the school in all ways. Ask any other old student of the school, and he would swoon with the memory of Rallia Ram.

No cars, no bungalows, an average man obsessed with education as well as other things. He loved to ride his bicycle everywhere. History was his passion and he wrote a text book on Punjab, which is there in our archives. He was also fond of music and loved to play the piano. He had many students in the field of music too, and Muhammed Afzal Khan, son in law, of Dr Yar Muhammed, was his pupil too.

Very near to the Mission School, was the Mohalla Chabuk Sawaran, Lahore. In fact this area was part of the old Rang Mahal, palace of Mian Lutufullah Khan son of Mian Saadullah Khan, Prime Minister of Emperor Shah Jahan. In that mohalla lived, M.A. Rahman Chughtai, and as he became famous, so Rallia Ram was attached to the new artist of Lahore. The success of the book, Murraqqa e Chughtai, was a pleasant surprise for Master Rallia Ram, and he wrote a letter of congratulations to the artist, which we attach here as an image. A lot of children of the Chughtai family went to the Mission High School, Lahore, and my cousins recall Master Rallia Ram, with great fondness.

RANA CHANDRA SHAMSHEER JANG AND M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI
THE PASSING OF SHAH JAHAN

The Nepalese connection

We plan many things. Interactions are beyond all plans. There is a long story behind the CHALLENGE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI TO THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART, and I have discussed it at many places and it will be continued as talk when art history is a subject of discussion. The work was obviously not well received in Calcutta and Abindaranath Tagore did criticize it. That is a separate matter. It did win a prize at Bombay Art Show in 1921. But then it was exhibited at Mussorie, a hill station beyond our comprehension these days. Not much activity there at all, lest art sales and things like that. And the work THE PASSING OF SHAH JAHAN was priced at RS 1500, a phenomenal sum for that times. A young man who made it around twenty, was asking a fabulous sum at a mere 25 years of age. Facing the bigotry which was self evident even at that time.

The strange part is that Nepal is a country marred by contradictions to this day. On one hand there is the intelligentsia who believe in Westernized concepts of democracy and on the other is the traditional people of Nepal, who always believed in the divine power of RANAS and RAJAS are part of their folk lore. We receive comments on our site of Nepalese who like to ridicule their RANAS but let us be fair. Democracy itself is a concept which has bombarded us with hopes, little else. Even England does not plan to give up their CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY, another trick of the trade. We hear that Rana Chandra Shamsheer Jang gave up his Monarchy and became the PRIME MINISTER OF NEPAL. There is no doubt about that. And if so, the man must be considered with compassion for his far sight into the future. No one give away power without a struggle and this man indeed did so. So we pray for his soul with compassion too!

I heard from my father that the beloved wife of Rana Chandra had died and he was in deep grief, as he went to the hills to console his soul at the loss. There near the Christ Church, he attended a show in the Parish Room, and there he saw the work, THE PASSING OF SHAH JAHAN. He immediately felt attached to it and not only did he buy it, he wrote a letter to the artist in Lahore, in appreciation of same. Well done, Rana Sahib!

Our archives are full of history of Art of our region. We take the facts and figures out to enrich this history ever more.

MULLAHS ALWAYS OPPOSED THE TRICHOTOMY OF PAKISTAN
DR ALLAMA IQBAL, QUAID E AZAM AND IJJTEHAD IN ISLAM

A minority who got enriched by opposing the Creation of Heaven on Earth

It is fashionable with Mullahs these days to rave about Dr Allama Iqbal. In fact they hate his very soul, due to their own Satanic urges. Who put them on the TV screens? Meaningless discussions to confuse people and spread anarchy of thought. The dynamism of Islam their fossilized brains cannot even understand. Halwa Puri is their key words of success. The man in the mosque always used to be poor and dependent on his food even to the neighbours of the area. I remember regular food going from our house to the poor man administering the mosque rituals. The posh life these Mullahs lead now proves that they have undisclosed treasures and hordes of wealth. Where it comes from? The foreign lobbies who are allergic to Pakistan.

I know that Dr Allama Iqbal’s message was revolutionary, to go back to the ORIGINAL ISLAM of the Arabs, by reference to the Quran alone. The issues picked over the years should be discarded and ijjtehad done. A serious blow to Mullahs. I came across a PRESS CUTTING of the lifetime time of Dr Allama Iqbal, when the Imam of Wazeer Khan Mosque issued the FATWA of KAFIR on him. This was of course made possible by influx of the NEW MUTAVALLIS OF THE MOSQUE, engendered by Deputy Commissioner Charles Aitchison, later who became the Governor General of Punjab too. Of course the same man, who founded the Aitchison College Lahore, and was determined to raze the Mausoleum of Emperor Jahangeer to the ground as its new site. See my book “The Legacy of Nawab Wazeer Khan Lahori”. Most of these civil servants were Freemasons, and Aitchison was present when the Freemason Hall was built in Lahore n 1859 (separate blog).

The spirit of Dr Allama Iqbal these Mullahs have undermined all their life. It is time to put some common sense in them.

INDOCTRINATION CAMPAIGNS GOING ON ALL THE TIME
TO TAKE US AWAY FROM OUR PAKISTANI IDEOLOGY

Why does Ideology hurts people so much?

We curse Mullahs all the time but even they have some sort of Ideology, however corrupted it may be with time. In contrast the BAYGHAIRAT SECULARS have no Ideology at all but materialistic desire to emualte foreign lobbies for cheap gains. No commitments to higher thoughts in life. They are proud to be atheists and agnostics and fashionable words for shameless character people. Heavy amounts are poured in their system every year by foreign lobbies. One thing they forget, that the common citizen is already indoctrinated with the love of Allah and his prophet and nothing on Earth can shake his faith in his life. Yes he is uneducated and not worth much, but when defending the country, he is hundred percent golden hearted.

Seculars develop an itch for EASY LIFE. Easy life and mostly alcohol to hide their characters from their own selves. They probably look at the mirror in the morning and the hangovers drive them mad. Material pursuits on their own, and cursing those who hold ideas about their country. It is thankful gift of Allah that besides these common people, our Pak Army is beset with Ideology too. This is Allah’s bonus to us!

How bout indoctrinating the Indians across the other side? Perhaps to tell them not to indulge in rhetorics which are driving us mad. Hard Core Hindus on other side sticking to their Ideology and not one secular has the dare to tell the other side to refrain themselves from their Ideology. No on in Pakistan bothers to put money in such foolish venture. Everybody believes in something. It is their natural right. For someone to come and tell me that your Ideology is wrong, I would use more than four letter words. Expletives not enough for Satans bred to their soulless existence.