WHEN GOVERNMENTS OF PAKISTAN WERE CONCERNED ABOUT ARTISTS
BIZARRE STORY OF PENSION GIVEN BY TWO PRIME MINISTERS PAKISTAN

The story of partition is about the worthy becoming poor and the corrupt ready to file notorious claims. Financial throwback was there for M.A. Rahman Chughtai and he rendered meritorious services for the Government of Pakistan, like designing flags, insignias, mausoleums, postal stamps, icons for organizations, coins, and gifts for foreign Heads of State, etc etc. In various interactions with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, financial help for publication of the book on Dr Iqbal was under discussion.  But the assassination of the PM on 16th October, 1951 upset all schedules. An editorial appeared in Daily Imroze about the same, which we enclose as rare thing. At this time another lover of Chughtai Art, Khawaja Nazim-uddin was the Prime Minister. He did not stop proceedings on same.

An editorial appeared in the newspaper IMROZE about the financial condition of artist M.A. Rahman Chughtai.  Strangely Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan was fully familiar with the artist, as well as Khawaja Nazimuddin. On instructions from Quaid e Azam, the artist had submitted many designs, which included the flag of Pakistan, insignias for the Government of Pakistan, Postal stamps, and what not? All this meritorious service was free of any charges. To put the country on the art map of the world was the aim here. The designs were appreciated by Quaid e Azam and some were used for same. The Postal Stamps won award in the world, as the most beautiful stamps of the world. The foundation of Pakistan’s first Art Council Alhamra was due to him. The show art Alhamra in 1949 won international laurels as the diplomatic community flew from Karachi to attend the same here. Chughtai was offered visit lectures from both USA and USSR. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan presented Chughtai’s art works to President Truman in USA as well as to the National Art Gallery in Canada (still there). But the artist was not in good financial condition.

An idea was to award a monthly stipend to the artist. The proposal was read by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and he seconded it. But before he could initiate it, he was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was then picked up by Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin and in January, 1953, it was approved as a pension for Rs 500 per month. It was to start from 1st July, 1953. It went on till 1975, and the last one was picked up in January, 1975. The shame was that Rs 500 was a lot of amounts in 1953, but it was not a lot of amounts in 1975. It was the habit of the artist to pick up his finances after three months, every time, in form of Rs 1500.

The news of the pension was reported locally but also in foreign press. For instance, the Lethbridge Herald, 6th November 1953, carried the news internationally.

On 1st January, 1975, I drove him to the State Bank of Pakistan. The realization never came that would be his last pension. Actually 16 days after the same, M.A. Rahman Chughtai died at home in the evening. An era had come to an end.

P.S.

The pension report came in international newspapers too. For example, Lethbridge Herald reported same on 6^th November, 1953.

PHOTOGRAPHY REIGNED IN CULTURAL CAPITAL LAHORE;
MANY FAMILIES OF PAINTERS PICKED NEW TECHNOLOGY.

It pains me to think that, shunned by West for a long time, knowledge about Lahore became more and more scarce. This adds to most things, and photography is one of them. Certainly world famous photographers stationed in India were visiting Lahore, It applies to Bourne and Shepherd too, like Samuel Bourne. One finds various photographs of people and monuments of Lahore by these photographers. Add to it the other casual visitors who were too bringing in their cameras and shooting personal photographs of Lahore. Most of them ended up being printed in books and journals. The way inward of photographic equipment was taking place.This was a replacement of traditional manuscripts with illustrations, and later by printing versions.

It is probable that the first batch of photographers and equipment was related to the influx of Archaeological survey of India, as well as the Mayo school of Arts. In any case there were a number of studios operating in Lahore, and they included both Hindu and Muslim owners. Studios like P. Girdhar Roy and sons in Anarkali around 1880s and Shankar Dass and Co, around 1911. Muslim owners Andrabi (Mcleod road) and Beg studios (Owner Rashid Beg) again in Anarkali. In Baghbanpura, Abdur Rahman Ejaz and his son Mian Majeed were there. Here also started Photo litho department at Mayo. A commercial requirement of the time. And the most interested was Abdur Rahman Chughtai. Somehow, he got access to a wooden camera with a big Zeis lens and with glass plates in it. He also got his hands on an aerograph pen and air throwing pedal compressor. He achieved fame by making an official photograph of Secy education, an Englishman, and the photo was used at various places. Family portraits became his speciality. But strangely he was also asked by publisher Mian Sirajuddin to make nude photographs of his favourite prostitute in Heera Mandi. The assistance was provided by Miran Baksh, Vice Principal Mayo School of Arts.

There was a Punjab Photographers Association and contests used to be held of various works. M. A Rahman Chughtai  used to send his chosen photographs and later used pseudonyms for contests in photography. Others participated too. A new media was largely being innovated here.

MARC undertook massive photographs of monuments in Agra and Delhi and had his dark room on the roof of his house. Dr Zafar Chughtai, his nephew, had a complete album of his monumental works. Various families asked him for group photos and many still had records at present. On 12th February, 1929 Abdur Rahman Chughtai made a number of photos of Dr Iqbal and his son. He colored one with his aerograph pen. In 1930s later a Parsee photographer Rustom P. Kharas made portrait of Dr Iqbal. He signed the same and it was published in Narang Khiyal magazine (a few times), and we have a record of same with his signature. There were also professional copyright photos done by Egyptian Photo Co, on 20th September, 1932. Not much is known about these Photo studios, but we can surmise the background of some.

Egyptian Photo Co, Lahore:A fresh research takes us to a famous personality, known as Meher Baba, who had an Ashram in Nashik, near Bombay. Intercession was also with Ahmedabad. One of his disciples, Rostum K, Irani was born in Ahmedabad in 1898, and disappeared in the Himalayas in August, 1941. He was the son of Kaikhushru Sarosh Irani. A devoted follower of Meher Baba, and possibly his nephew too. He was indulging in photography as well as film making. He appeared in front of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1931 or so. But he signs his name as Rostum P. Kharas. Being son of Kaikhushru, we can understand him writing as Rostum Kaikhushru, but where has Kharas come from? And he adds P, knowing that as Secretary of Meher Baba, he was known as PENDU. And he stops writing Irani with his name. Although it is understood that the whole family had Iranian background. But the remarkable thing is a photograph done in a studio of Dr Allama Iqbal, on 20th september, 1932, and it is copyright by Egyptian Photo Co, Lahore. Why does a company or  a studio names itself as Egyptian, when there was no contact with the same.But there is. Meher Baba is seen in Devonshire in 1928, but in 1931, he is pictured in Egypt. A visit which seems to be repeated in 1932, and 1933. To pay homage to him, Rostum K. Kharas named his company in Lahore as Egyptian. There is a trailer available of a film he was making, and it is 1932. So the sequence of same can be explained. But why was Abdur Rahman Chughtai absent from the scene? Very simple the  artist was visiting Europe in 1931 and 1932, and was not in Lahore.  in his formal dress. it is naturally Dr Allama Iqbal. Obviously the photographs tell us a lot about the photographer and its studio. The initial photos of 1929 and 1931, it is same Allama Iqbal, but the different use of the chair, the carpet (or the Dari), and the expression as well as composition tells us a lot about the photographer. Strange two photos of Rustom P. Kharas are with us, returned from some Photo contest, and are with us and establish a line between both photographers. Perhaps returned as he had disappeared from scene.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai, has a record of many noteworthy photographs of various families and various monuments. Many professional photos were taken by him. This includes his favourite theme of Father and Son, as exhibited in many photographs. On 12th February, 1929, the photograph of Dr Iqbal with his son was taken by him on Eid day at Havelli Nizamuddin. The artist used to frequent the Haveli, because of his connection with its various inmates. In particular Dr Muhammed Taseer, nephew of Mian Nizamuddin.

Rostum P. Kharas (Rostum K. Irani).P stands for Pendu, and K for Kaikhushru: Professional photographer took the sitting photograph of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1931 and the copyright one in 1932 in Western dress. Made the Egyptian Photo Co in Lahore. Later in Havero, Amritsar, participated in Photo Shows. Disappeared in Himalayas in 1941 and never seen again.

Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia (1870–1954) was an Indian aristocrat, scholar of Sanskrit and philosophy, and photographer. He was known as one of the pioneers of photography in India, leaving behind over 3,000 prints, including the hundreds of family portraits and over 80 self-portraits staged in a mise-en-scène style.
Amrita Sher Gil, the famous artist took a photograph of Dr Allama Iqbal in Paris, and she was daughter of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia. Necessary for record of that period.

With the death of Dr Allama Iqbal in 1938, the photography craze and had come to an end and led to sketches of him done by Abdur Rahman Chughtai, as well as the famous etching of him. Painted representation is in the book Amal-e-Chughtai. However detailed writing of the meetings are in various articles. There is a signed book of Bang darya, signed Afghan visit, a letter to Narang Khiyal, a letter condoling the death of Chughtais mother in 1925, as well as other letters. The original Foreword of Murraqqa e Chughtai is missing but advance copy is there. Iqbal’s tick of his best verses of Ghalib are there too. May both great men rest in peace!

WHO SPINS THE NARRATION OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY?
EVER HELL BENT ON PROMOTING HINDU, SIKH, NARRATIVES;
ANOTHER  BOOK ON LAHORE BY NEELUM CHAUDRI, IGNORANT,
OF NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN, AND HIS CHUGHTAI MUSEUM.

It is noticeable for a long time. There was an elite  who fostered our country and its ideology. And there arose another group of elite, who continuously spoke of our country in perspective of geography only. It started with the role of MI 6 itself. The British left with their cronies behind, to muddle the Ideology of Pakistan. And to steal the Art treasures of Pakistan. This was told to me by Basil Gray, former Curator of British Museum, who inaugurated one of our shows in 1977, and was looking forward to curating a show of Chughtai Art in Teheran of the Shahbanou Foundation. I have written about it many times.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai died on 17th January, 1975, and we immediately began a world tour of promoting him. On 17th January, 1976, we held our first show. We have held more than 65 shows in the last fifty years. We helped hundreds of students and scholars to research on Chughtai Art. From many who did their PHDS on Chughtai Art, to even high school students writing on Chughtai Sahib. Endless list and signed affidavits with us. We started various publications on Lahore and Abdur Rahman Chughtai. First for  some years BEAUTY series. Later NATIONS IN ACTION series. We invited world class scholars from all over the world here to give lectures on Chughtai art. Later we started a blog which to date was seen in 204 countries, with total views of 696,727 from all over the world. For instance 77,975 views from USA and 79,306 views from even India. A few hundred views from even Israel and Cuba. And yet there are groups who totally ignore us.

So who is behind controlling our adverse narrations? Foreign lobbies with their paid agents here.

A number of so called morons struts the streets of Lahore, looking for any signs of Hindu temples and Hindu Havelis. Not understanding that decline of Muslims in Lahore started after the 1857 Mutiny. The walls of Lahore were brought down, the gates demolished, and the gallis widened so that no uprising could take place. Muslims were stressed out, a poverty class overnight.Muslim households could not even sustain the houses they lived in. We are not merely patriotic p[eople, we are patriotic to the Spirit of Islam. Dr Allama Iqbal wrote the RECONSTRUCTION lectures to guide us for future at all times. All we and the adverse group can think of is belittle our national icons, including Dr Allama Iqbal and Quaid e Azam. It is a fight between SOULS and SOULLESS people. Even Amrita Sher Gill honoured Dr Allama Iqbal by making a photograph of him in Paris. Romance is created of atheists who do not even believe in Allah, how can they believe in Pakistan? 

Abdur Rahman Chughtai, the legend who introduced the word Chughtai Art for a beautiful girl in Urdu vocabulary, as reflected in many films of that time, when the hero calls his beloved as  Chughtai art.  The artist who put Lahore on the art map of the  world again. An artist who designed insignias for Pakistan, and an art which western scholars called him MODERN MASTER OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION. A true native of Lahore from the last many generations, and spineless authors are afraid of even giving his name, for retribution from Masters. A spotless character, who Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, designated as the NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN.

CHUGHTAI MUSEUM faced the wrath of various governments in Pakistan, at both Federal and provincial level. Not for anything we have done, but our motivations of welfare of not only Pakistan, but its Ideology. When two penny junkies speak against our country, it boils us down. Stop it! Love Pakistan, or leave Pakistan. We do not need lunatics like you here, who cut the branch on which they stand. Pakistan is the Islamic Republic, the first step towards a better world.

P.S.

Poet Neelum Chaudri, please learn more about Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Chughtai Museum. It is not a world of ignorance.

THE SPIRITUAL GODDESS OF MUGHAL KINGDOM JAHAN ARA
DAUGHTER OF AN EMPEROR LIFE DEDICATED TO COMMONERS
MOTHER BURIED IN TAJ MAHAL, SHE BURIED IN SINGLE GRAVE

Books can be written on Jahan Ara and books have been written, but she herself wrote books and also wrote verses. No Diwan has come out so far, but her takhallus was BEGUM SAHIBA and verses have been recovered from various sources. Some of her books are found here and there, mostly on Muslim Saints of our region. Chughtai Museum is proud to possess one of her books, written probably by Dara Shikoh himself and the final copy, her presentation to her father Emperor Shah Jahan in Jamia Masjid, Delhi. All this is recorded on the manuscript itself.

The calligrapher is AINEE. No Ainee is known, but we do know that due to her love for brother Dara Shikoh, she used to call him Ain, or in more personal terms as Ainee. The reference to Dara Shikoh in the book is written simply and she in her own hands has corrected the attributes, which shows that Dara did not regard his name in a royal way and she corrected it.

The Manuscript of Munis Arwah is only one of three 17th century manuscripts known to exist. As the book was written in 1049 AH 1640 AD, the two others found are different. An Autograph copy is known to exist in Lucknow but of a later date. There is a beautiful Ms in Azamgarh dated 1068 AH. But ours is the earliest Manuscript known and is dated 1051 AH, although the presentation part to Emperor Shah Jahan is later, both in Ajmer as well as in Jamia Masjid Delhi. Ours stands as the rarest and very very beautiful and elegantly written.

A lot is said about Jahan Ara and we will write more but where we introduce a rare manuscript of hers, we also reproduce the verses she wrote on the death of her father:

“Oh thou Sun of mine that hast hidden thyself from my eyes,
Will there ever be a morning to this night of separation.
Thou monarch of the world and qibla of existence,
Open thine eye of mercy and behold our condition.
I cry in sorrow and it availeth me nothing,
I burn like the candle in anguish and there is smoke in my head.”

Jahan Ara is the epitome of our women hood and to this days fathers love to name their daughters after the spiritual goddess of Mughal kingdom.

THE 167TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF SALAH MIMAR CHAUGHATA – 
THE CREATIVE LEGACY IN LAHORE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

The ancestral background is amazing in its perspective. Two architects of Herat, namely Yusuf Mimar and Isa Mimar, sought guidance under Mimar Sinan of Turkey. Historians speak of their journey to Hindustan with Emperor Zaheer ud din Baber. Infatuated with Lahore, they sought their residence here and moved to other areas of the region. However Ahmad was born in Lahore and the affix Lahori was attached to his name forever. Our archives are full of facts about this creative family. A whole almarih of manuscripts and documents on them.

This is pay homage on the 167th death anniversary of Mian Salah Mimar Chaughata, who was born in Lahore and died here on 11th May, 1858. He was reputed to have attained the age of 120 years plus. Many Sikh buildings as well as of later Mughal period are attributed to him. References are there. Khalsa Darbar Records also tells us the obvious. But his two sons Mian Raheem Baksh and Natha (Mian Elahi Baksh) were also amazing in their own rights. Mian Raheem Baksh also an able architect, carries as a record certificates of many English administrators and engineers. Mian Raheem Baksh was father of Mian Kareem Baksh, again a hardworking Mimar, as also the father of Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mussawar e Mashriq, National artist of Pakistan, and Modern Master of Twentieh century Islamic Civilization.

Fathers and sons leaving a legacy of creativity. A house in Chabuk Sawaran where only one portion is left, and the land still there, with a blue plaque on it, courtesy of a Lahori organization, and sensitive architect, Ms Fauzia Quraishi. Where we find so many unconcerned persons, there is pride in the fact that sensitive people still exist and surely keep the flag flying of creative endeavours anywhere. Lahore may not remember in its official organizations, but  certainly people keep things alive. 

Ever since the day I got my hands on the miniature of my great great grandfather, I fell in love with him. Imagine in those difficult days, could he imagine a great great grandson, loving him, with the image in front of him. BABA SALAH I LOVE YOU! And as long as I live your memory will remain fresh in my heart.  

We write about the family all the time. This is a day to remember their contributions to culture of Lahore.

FASCINATION OF THE WEST WITH ALIENS;
YET NO ACCOUNT OF ISLAMIC CONCEPTION.
PAKISTAN FOREVER ENDORSED BY ALIENS.

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” – 21:107

At times dates are important. This date is important for both the world as well as Pakistan. On 8th July, 1947, is the day that Sir Cyril Radcliffe arrived in India to draw the boundary lines for the Partition of India and Pakistan. And on that same day two alien crafts crashed in the world famous Roswell incident, although one craft was recovered much later. It was surmised that both crashed together. The craft was recovered along with bodies of the aliens. Some say that some of the aliens were alive and died later.It came in the newspaper and then the news was suppressed for reasons unknown. Then bogus stories were made of that incident, although to this day people believe otherwise. Funny that the hoax itself was named Mughal. Roswell incident does not go away.

In the Quran it is clearly written that Allah has placed life on various parts of the cosmos. Allah says that Allah has created humankind as a most superior being, for Allah has given humans the capacity to choose between right and wrong. This favour was not given to others.  

For us Quran is the beacon light. As you know a group of “jinn” declared their eiman after listening to a recital of the Quran from the Rasool, and it is recorded in the pages of the Quran itself. The whole story appears in 72:1-15. Replace jinn with alien and it actually implies that aliens live among humans, and are unable to return to their home world because space is too dangerous for interstellar travel (so this might mean they crash landed on earth with no way back). These jinn say that they have believers and disbelievers in their community, just like humans. They even mention a “foolish one” who misled their people about God, while the Quran makes perfect sense to them. So their “foolish one” must have been a false prophet or equivalent.

The jinn/alien account might not imply an alien crash. It might be a long-distance communication. The surah opens with an instruction to the Rasool to announce to human beings the news that the jinn have “heard” the Quran. It is not implying that they met the Prophet, but rather that Allah has revealed this information to him, and he has been asked to pass on the message. 

This makes more sense when taken into account another section of the Quran that mentions, quite clearly, that humans will only ever have a limited capacity for interstellar travel. The jinn/aliens too say, in this Quranic account, that they tried to go into “the heaven” (singular) but were stopped. A thought this meant they were prevented from leaving earth, but it more likely means they were prevented from travelling too far beyond their home planet.

More than seventy years, and the West is not ready to offer the secrets. President Donald Trump promised revelation but could not do so at all. Fear of repercussions. Jacques Vallee in a speech as well as in his books clearly say that the lack of revelation is not only due to security reasons but the religious complexities that the revelation will create in our minds. That these beings come from other dimensions or FROM THE FUTURE. Or is it as simple as that, the aliens clear the Islamic conception, and the West could not commit suicide by talking and endorsing Islam in any way. And the whistleblowers are there more to confuse the issue with use of AI, and intent of most losing direction.

It is disclosed that even the Vatican has documents about UFOs, hidden ones, but the surprising thing is that they are in Arabic and have Seal of Muslim rulers on them. Check yourself! Not being revealed because of danger to religion. We can guess dangerous to other religions, not Islamic conception of DEEN, which recognizes Alien life, as ascertained by the Quran itself.

And among His signs is the creative design of the heavens and the earth, and the

living creatures which He has dispersed throughout them. And He is Able to

gather them together when He wills. [Here is an allusion to the existence of

life in other celestial bodies, and to man meeting with the ‘aliens’ someday. 42:29

Indeed, before God, bows in submission all that is in the heavens and all that is on

earth, from all moving creatures to the angels, for none are arrogant. 16:49