The imperialist approach to literary aesthetics has rendered our hearts and minds to know and appreciate only the dictated narratives sold by the imperialist powers. We have divided even the literature and languages on the biased sides.
Although all the lingual artistic masterpieces are equal some seem to be more equal than others. This is the reason that whenever we explore the world of translations from all other languages to Urdu we come across a heart-rending reality that most of them are from highly established developed languages and literature.
Our post-colonial nostalgia has made us believe that whatever is written in English, French or Italian is an esteemed writing but the art keeps no boundaries, and imaginations are bestowed on minds, not on locales.
When we dive deep into the ocean of trans-lingual translations where Urdu is the ultimate concern, after a thorough search we hardly find the translation from Punjabi and Kashmiri languages into Urdu which are pure oriental languages of the Indo-Pak Sub Continent.
Even more astonishing fact is that these ignored eastern languages which owe pithy pragmatics are not placed on higher ranks in the literary arena. Punjabi is a celebrated literary language that has the right to be eyed with the same lingual and literary preferences as any other language.
There was a dire need in literary circles to uplift the morale of the Punjabi Speaking and Writing Community to bridge the literary gap among languages and cross the barriers put by Colonial and Post Colonial narrators. No lingual bias should be encouraged to manipulate the readers with the orientalist and imperialist approach which had drawn a thick line between the cultures across the borders and established Post Colonial English language supremacy, particularly in India and Pakistan which were ruled as British Colony.
جنگل میں جمہوریت (Democracy in Jungle) is such an amazing effort to introduce Punjabi Short Stories to the Urdu Speaking and Writing Community by Dr A Aziz Malik, an Academician, critic, researcher and translator who has picked up a true picture of Punjab and has paid a tribute to the soil he lives by translating his maternal language Punjabi into his national language Urdu to serve his society and nation both.
This book is a compilation of Akbar Lahori’s fifteen Punjabi Short Stories translated into Urdu including ۔جنگل وچ جمہوریت Akbar Lahori is a famous Punjabi Laureate whose Punjabi fiction and poetry masterpieces are celebrated across the globe among Punjabi Community worldwide. His political wisdom and literary wit worked hand in hand to produce a charming effect on the readers.
This translational effort by Dr. A. Aziz Malik is a healthy drop of rain amid the smog of literary and lingual prejudices and this is going to be a storming sea flooded with a pragmatic approach to inculcate literary aesthetics of harmony and peace among the readers.
As a student of literature and academician, I foresee Mr Malik's translational compilation of a great literary work to break lingual hegemony by serving his native and national languages in his translation work. It would for sure have long-lasting effects on the minds and souls of all Urdu and Punjabi literature lovers.
