CONSPIRACY AGAINST IDEOLOGY BUILDERS
CONDOLENCES ISSUE OF M A RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

The first episode of Chughtai Museum

Compared to politicians, artists are there forever. The greater the Masters, the greater their continuity in the life on earth. That is why when bad things happen to artists, generally the leaders are supposed to listen to the wrongs being done to the segment of society which makes that ideology. The death of an artist is a catastrophe for any Nation. Leaders condole death of great artists as a matter of basic right of them.

M. A. Rahman Chughtai, the greatest Muslim Artist of the 20th century (western critics rating) died on 17th January, 1975. It was his right that his death should have been condoled by the President, Prime Minister, Governors, Chief Ministers and others. Prime Minister was out of the country and came back that night. He held a meeting at PM House about Chughtai. Faiz Ahmad Faiz was there as an adviser as well as Hanif Ramay. It was decided to keep a low profile. The result the death of the artist was not condoled by the stooge Fazal Elahi Chaudry, nor by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, as matter of state policy. The result nobody else did at federal level.

Who condoled on the Pakistani level? Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, the Education Minister, who led a plan for the encirclement of family of the artist later on. Governor Punjab Sadiq Hussain Qureshi and Hanif Ramay the Chief Minister of Punjab. Chief Minister of Punjab Hanif Ramay to satisfy the media came to the house of the artist to offer Fateha on the second day. There were his own people to receive him. He never met the wife nor the son of the artist. It was to be a low key affair. Startling by world standards. An unusual condolence came from the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmeer, Sardar bdul Qayyum, a stalwart who understood all this well. We were very grateful to him.

But then a new phenomena came into motion. Dr Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General UNO New York condoled the death of the artist (three of Chughtai’s works are at the UNO to this day). Queen Elizabeth II who was a collector of Chughtai art herself. The Prime Minister of India, Ms Indira Gandhi, who knew Chughtai from childhood as Jawaharlal Nehru was a great fan of the artist. President Walter Scheel of Germany, who again knew the artist well. Vice President Nelson A Rockefeller who and his wife had collected Chughtai Art from decades before and so on and so forth. Indeed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was acutely embarrassed for he was so adept at foreign relations, that these condolences unsettled his mind. Begum Nusrat Bhutto was quick to invite the artist’s son to the Prime Ministers House Rawalpindi for conference on issues. The ball was rolling. Destruction was the ultimate aim.

The Chughtai family said simply ONE THING. You did not bother to even condole his death, how can you put him on scale of a NATIONAL ISSUE? His body was buried in amanat. No one wanted to give an official place for his burial. The maltreatment had become exceptional. Rage was on. PNCA was told that if you want the Chughtai cake, you got to have all of it. You cannot eat the piece of your desire only.

JOKE OF THE YEAR:
For a grant of Rs 1000 per month to the family, the family was asked to donate the museum as well as all the art treasures to the Government of Punjab. HA HA HA or CURSE YOU CURSE YOU OR CURSE YOU is better, for the IQ of governmental mind.