Fateh Muhammad Malik: Dodging criticism

Literary critic Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik is no stranger to controversy as it comes with the territory.

Upon reading the inscription “Malik Fateh Muhammad, Talagang” on the cover of a manuscript, the staff of a literary magazine tossed it aside as the name and place sounded ‘un-literary’. This was the fate of Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik’s first attempt at literary criticism. But like many great names in the world of literature who initially struggled, Malik went on to become one of the greatest critics the field of Urdu literature has seen.

Over the decades, Malik passionately wrote and spoke about the Urdu language, the relevance of Pakistan’s ideology and Iqbal’s rediscovery of Islam for our times. They serve as his reference marks for judging all literature, and Malik is considered an authority on these subjects. A recipient of the highest civilian award, the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, he has written works that have appeared in prominent literary magazines such as Funoon, Naqoosh and Nusrat, and he has authored famous books such as Ta’asubaat (Prejudices), Tehseen-o-Tardeed (Praise and Denial) and Andaaz-e-Nazar (Perspective). He served for a long time at the National Language Authority (now the National Languages Promotion Department), a primary institute to promote Urdu language, and he has taught at Gordon College, Quaid-i-Azam University, Columbia University, Heidelberg University and has delivered lectures at universities in Russia, the US, the Netherlands and Italy.

Most importantly, he stands out from his peers for championing the notion that all literature has to subscribe to an ideology — a moot point for many who oppose his views on literature. “Malik, as opposed to other critics, has a set of ideologies rather than formulas to criticise works of literary giants,” says Mazharul Islam, Urdu short story writer and novelist. His style of critique is rather distinctive: he quotes long passages from the literary piece in question to help the readers understand the work and the writer rather than promoting himself. His foremost consideration while judging a work is whether it contributes to society.

A self-confessed progressive, Malik’s staunch views on Pakistan’s ideology may hint otherwise: he asserts that Pakistan’s existence and progress hinges on Iqbal’s thought, which serves as a protective wall for the Subcontinent’s Muslims. Even for the Indian Muslims, he says, the concept of a separate nation enables religious and civilisational survival. But writer-poet Harris Khalique clarifies this paradox in Malik’s views: “Prof Malik stands with the progressive movement when it speaks of pro-people politics and inclusive society, but at the same time, he believes in the sanctity of the Pakistani state and fully understands the reasons due to which the state was founded.”

This could probably explain how the critic easily straddled the two divergent groups that emerged within the Progressive Writers’ Movement on the use of literature after Partition; each headed by the noted poets Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

There are reasons for his unwavering patriotism and support of the two-nation theory. When the Socialist bloc collapsed, the Russians called it their own failure and not of the system, says Malik, but we in Pakistan blame the country and its creation for all ills. “We had made a good beginning but derailed it afterward.” Even Manto left a successful and stable career in Bombay, when his actor friend Shyam Sunder said, “For the stories I have heard I could have killed you,” relates Malik.

But his own critics in the field of literature abound, Malik has attracted no less flak for his political leanings towards the PPP and his progressive ideas.

Malik resigned as rector of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) when he reportedly offended certain Arab countries by inviting the Iranian ambassador to a university event in 2012 and consequently developed differences with the faculty of the Arabic department. His son Tahir Malik recalls how his father read out an essay, ‘Arab Spring and Iqbal’ at a function that annoyed the Saudi Arabian ambassador. He once called novelist Muhammad Hanif for a lecture and people protested against the supposedly ‘obscene language’ the writer had used in his novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes. His suggestion, Tahir says, of starting co-education at MPhil and PhD levels and other reforms also met with resistance.

His critics termed his appointment at the IIUI and his son Tariq Malik’s as deputy chairman and later chairman NADRA a reward from the PPP government that came into power in 2008. His association with the party dates to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s time, when the leader personally requested Malik to head their daily Mussawaat before and during the 1970 elections that propagated the ideology of Islamic socialism. For two years he also served as a press secretary to the then Punjab chief minister Muhammad Hanif Ramey.

“Bhutto is irreplaceable,” he says. “After Bhutto there was no one who could run the party.” Malik also supports Bhutto’s decision to nationalise educational institutions. “That gave teachers the respect and the salaries they needed and stopped the outside influence on our daily lives.”

However controversial the figure of Fateh Muhammad Malik may be, his towering legacy in the field of literary criticism is undeniably his biggest contribution.

Tariq Masood is a subeditor for the Islamabad city desk at The Express Tribune. He tweets @tariqmasudmalik 

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, June 29^th,  2014.