Raza Rumi on how the voice of the liberal and the idiom of resistance in Pakistan is being appropriated by the conservative and the status quoist:

It was the lyrical, direct poetry of Habib Jalib that stirred the street for decades, echoing the vision of the world from below. Jalib’s expression was popular and immediate, and could be related to easily by the average listener. During the rule of General Ayub Khan, from 1958 until 1969, Jalib particularly represented the public conscience when he chanted his poem Dastoor (Constitution), which was about Ayub Khan’s tailor-made “constitution.” Later, this work was utilised in support of Fatima Jinnah’s (the Quaid-e-Azam’s younger sister’s) campaign against the general:

Aisay dastoor ko,

Subh-e-baynoor ko,

Mein naheen manta,

Mein naheen janta

In India, the problem is slightly different- at a large bookstore that stocks progressive literature (run by one of the communist parties) in Hyderabad, I named some Dalit poets and inquired if they had any of their books. I was directed to a small, hole-in-the-wall kind of shop across the street. I didn’t bother asking them if they had any feminist stuff.

This post was published in the Friday Times first but I couldn’t help linking to it.