ATTIA HOSAIN 1913-1998 A FLOWER FORGOTTEN

 

09.06.11

I never heard of Attia Hosain untill I had the chance to read her book’ Sunlight on a broken Column’. The book touched my soul and my mind was numbed as if hit by a stroke of lightning. The sheer force of her truthfulness,the purity of her thoughts and revealing of her inner most convictions ripped apart the veil of hypocrisy and hate which prevailed in those times of partition . It is an autobiographical novel set in the midst of Nawabs and Taluqdars of Avadh(Lucknow) in the 1930’s till the partition of the country.

 Attia Hosain was born in 1913 and grew up in a princely Taluqdar family. She studied in the leading British schools and colleges in those times in Lucknow and was the first woman to graduate in her times.She refused to leave for Pakistan , rejected partition and was steadfast in her loyalty to the country where she was born and her ancestors lived. I am giving below some of her thoughts and beliefs picked from her book as well as from a interview which she gave. The modern generation should know and perhaps appreciate keeping in view that these were expressed when others were bent upon spreading hatred and divide.

1. There were people all around including her cousins in the Muslim household of her Mansion in Lucnow who constantly expounded the theory that Hindu and Muslims are different nations and both can never live together. She questioned them boldly and asked is it not true that many of her fathers friends were Hindus who would give their life for them.Her closest friend was a Hindu. For centuries both communities lived together as brothers. She stated that those who are preaching this divide and want to form Pakistan are doing so for gaining power and for accumalating wealth.
2. Her brother taunted her that Hindus are idolators and make their Gods according to their convenience. She reciprocated by saying that is it not true that Muslims create many Gods in their mind to suit their selfish needs.God means one thing to the jihadis and other thing to the power seekers.
3. She believed in honesty and possessed a conviction to live her life according to her beliefs. In a conservative muslim family she had the courage to revolt and marry the person she loved. Consequently she is shunned by the family and prefers to live in a small house discarding all the comforts she was accustomed to in a princely family
4. Her many relatives argued with her that she should come to Pakistan as there is no future for them in India. She told them that they are traitors who are leaving innumerable Muslims behind for their selfish gains. Who will look after them?Abondoning their ancestoral homes and leaving behind loved ones was the worst kind of betrayal.
5. She was of the firm belief that nations cannot be formed on the basis of religion.She argued that if that was so then the Arabs should welcome them as their own.Which  was not the case.
6. Many in her family  said look the Hindus never even allow us near their kitchens and would never touch the food cooked by a muslim . She answered that it hardly matters since each of us has their own beliefs and both the communities have lived together respecting each other sensibilities for centuries.
7. Beef was never cooked in their house because many of their close friends were Hindus
8. All the festivals like Holi,Diwali, Eid were celebrated together in all the Taluqdar families.
9.  She studied at LaMartiniere" Lucknow at that time a very British school.Many a time she went there wearing Khadi Saree with a border designed in the form of the would be national flag to express her revolt.
10. She said in the interview ‘ I believed in a religion that never said you can kill anybody.It was never out of my mind that I was a Muslim. Today it is almost as if somebody is slapping you in the face saying you are Muslim’
11. To a question( from a Pak journalist) that Muslims are being mistreated in India she replied that if you leave your people behind then a Indian would obviously say that you are disloyal and go back to the country you created.
12. The people who were in the forefront in demanding Pakistan were the Muslims from U.P. Since they were in minority in U.P. they thought that in election they would be completely washed away by the majority rule and would loose  all the powers which  they enjoyed till now. It was not religion but the hunger for power and the prospect of becoming rich that was the motivation force for their demand for creation of Pakistan.Most of the Taluqdars, Landlords and buisness people opted for Pakistan.

The agony of breaking of a family which has nourished in the soil for centuries was heart rendering.All that was good was destroyed by this single episode of Partition.

For me it is unimaginable that in the period from 1930s to 1947 such a person like Attia Hosain existed void of any hatred and preaching the purity of religion and humanity. Her every thought is geared towards maintaing love,kindness and brotherhood of mankind. A truly courageous lady.

Today when I think I feel sad that there are forces in our country that consolidate and preach hatred towards Muslims. They call themselves Hindus but their true religion is to accumalate power and wealth through the medium of hatred and by inciting people to hate the Muslims. We cant get rid of them because they justify themselves by invoking the name of religion which effects the mind of the common people. But thank God that a equal number of people also exist who neutralise them . This is a game of the hound chasing the hare endlessly but never succeeding.As the younger generation is now taking over the affairs of this country,change will inevtiably come and these Sangh parivar elements would be finally defeated and  a new  shining India would emerge where religion of a person would be immaterial and merits would be the consideration.

I also believe that the decision to make Pakistan was not justified. Something went horribly wrong. Politicians and wealthy Muslims created a fear psyche in the minds of the common muslims and created Pakistan for their own selfish reasons and in the process severed centuries old ties for wealth and position.They who went to Pakistan never for a moment thought about their brother and sisters they were leaving behind. Had they remained here they would have in time received izzat and prosperity in the country of their forefathers.

Attia died in 1998. Many questions about this great lady arises in my mind. Why did she settle in London instead of India? Why the Govt of India did not offer her a constuctive position in public life? Why did she write only two books? How did the end came and where is she buried? What happened to her ancestral home in Lucknow and in the district where her forefathers were Taluqdars? Where are her close relatives and what position they are holding in India? She has a daughter Shama Habibullah who is a director/film maker. I would very much like to interact with her to know more about her mother beliefs and about the remaining family in India. Unfortunately I don’t know her contact details.

I would like that every young person should read this book so that they come to know that they were such great Muslims thinkers in this country who loved this nation and its people and wash away from their minds the prejudices which the Hindu jihadis have painted against the Muslims.

More about her can be found on harappa.com.

A.K.BUNDI