POST-CONFLICTT LITERATURE, TRAUMA AND GLOBAL PEACE

I feel myself indebted to the NUML for giving me a chance to attend the conference. In the very beginning,
I want to include, it was the most precious, different and extraordinary experience of my couple of years’
stay at NUML. May be attending a conference is not a big matter, but attending such conference like I have
attended is a great experience in itself. I believe that I haven’t learnt so much within my twin years’ stay
here in the university that I have learnt in my two days’ presence in the conference. By attending the
conference, I just wanted to explore the ways, people explore their ideas in front of others. I have learnt
many things which I might not be able to learn without attending the conference. It was my first ever
experience of attending any conference, and it has made up my mind to attend all the coming conferences
without any hesitation and wasting my time in other activities. The conference start with the introduction
of the guest speakers to speak on different topics of their interest which may be the subcategory of the main
topic. There are eight guest speakers; Miss. Sana Tariq, Dr. Asif Farrukhi, Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, Dr. Kamal
Sayyed, Dr. Asma Aftab, Dr. Mohsin Iqbal, Miss. Saima Anwer and Dr. Zia Ur Rehman. Dr. Shahid
Siddique is first invited on the stage to present on the topic of Post Migration Trauma (1947 Partition).
Post Migration Trauma in Urdu Short Stories by Dr. Shaihd Siddiqui:
He starts with the presentation of impacts of the migration
of 1947 on human life. He explains that migration has impacted life over three levels; individual, family
and living style. He explains that post migration trauma can be explained on three levels of life. The first
one can be explained that individual life has been disturbed by the post migration trauma and life of people
has been changed individually in many ways. People start their life after the trauma in very strange manner.
They suffer from many kind of disorders, like identity crisis. People begin to think that they are not valuable
and their lives are just being wasted on the name of the interest of other people. People become mentally
ill just because they have faced so many harsh kind of experiences. Besides this, family life is also disturbed
in many ways. People, when leave their houses, and shift from one place to another. It’s kind of a tough job
to create a survival over there, at the new places. Besides all this, living style of people also get changed
and people start their inner struggle. A strange kind of fear always remains with them and even they see
that bombing in front of their eyes all the time. He talks about the different short stories in Urdu literature
that has been written after the trauma of 1947. He describes different stories like “KALI RAAT,
GADDRIYA, LAJWANTI, SHUKAR GUZAAR AANKHAIN, ANDHI GALLI, APNI GALLI MAIN
AJNABI”, and says that there is diversity in the themes of all these stories. These stories also show the
violence, identity crisis, girls committing suicide, nostalgia and sacrifice. All these stories carry out such
themes because these are describing the trauma of 1947. Besides these themes, these all stories have a
specific and common theme of “HOME”, and actually show the importance of home. Beside this, home, at
a broader level, also represents the HOMELAND. Home also can be divided into three types of homes;
home where you are, home you are expecting and the home which you finally get. Home also shows the
social relationship. These stories also represents the dream of 75000 women’s dream of home which gets
shattered after the trauma of 1947. He further talks about the fiction of Saadat Hassan Manto, “KHOL DO”.
Manto has used different structures and words which apparently show the vulgarity but actually they have
been used to show the creepy face of the society. He also elaborates that literature doesn’t create any kind
of distinction among Hindu, Muslims or Sikh writers but actually it shows the reality, and it considers the
trauma of every person and also accepts. He also talks about another fiction of Saadat Hassan Manto,
“TOBA TEK SINGH”. He says that we can find stronger emotion in the stories written after the trauma of
1947. The writer from the both sides talk beyond the level of cultural, religion and social boundaries. They
give the message of peace, love and respect for other human beings.
Dr. Asif Farrukhi on 9/11 Trauma in Urdu Literature:
He starts by using the lines, “Those who say war
is good, they don’t know it gets you far away from morality, life and peace.” He further says that when we
talk about peace, first we have to talk about war but actually war is not something which should be used to
create peace. He further gives the reference of an Urdu story “ZAMEEN KA NOHA”. He then, directly,
comes to the topic of trauma of 9/11. He exclaims not to type 9/11 over Google to find the desired results.
9/11 is beyond all that information which is available on the internet and all online search engines. He
argues that as war infected the all world in the same way it has infected the Urdu literature. And the trauma
of 9/11 or any war is not just a single story neither it can be explained or covered in just one instance or
sitting. But if you call it a single story then single story can be dangerous and you should avoid single stories
like this. The dates 1947 and 1971 both have a great importance in the history of Pakistan, and both of the
dates are very important for us but he decides to skip the trauma of 1947 and decides to talk about 1971.
He gives the reference of “FASADAAT KE AFSSANE” by “Mumtaz Shereen” and novel “ANGAN”.
These both literary pieces explain the difficulties of women like harassment, rape and family difficulties.
Further he says that different writers of that time has talk about all these individual and collective problems
of the women but the tragic thing is that their writing has been shattered. He also gives the reference of
“BASTI” by “Intizar Hussain”, “SAWARI” by “Khalida Hussain” translated by “Qurat Ulain Haiderr” and
different stories by the name of “MAHAAZ 1971”. Last line of the story of Khalida Hussain has a great
importance which is “AB TUM DAIKHO GE, TUMHAARI BAARI HAI”  (You’ll see now, it is your
turn). May be the writer is referring to 1947 or 1971 or 9/11 or it’s all about Kashmir or may be reference
to any other trauma. Whatever the trauma is it’s all about us. People also talk about Manto that he is a
pornographic writer whatever he is, he is also showing the brutal face of the society and describing different
traumas his own way. Neelam Ahmed Bashir also talk about this incident, at that time she was there, in
New York. She saw all these things with her own eyes. And she is the witness to the trauma of 9/11. Dr.
Najeeba Arif has also written a book by the name of “PAKISTAN AFSANA” and she talks about different
responses after the 9/11 trauma like; great east-west conflict, the US is not just a state and Pakistan is a
disorderly nation Masood a famous Pakistani writer has also written “SURKH”. It is story of young boy
who loves blood, conflicts, war, terror and bombing. He loves to listen the sound of ambulance. If any day
he does not find any such thing he goes to the hospital to see the blood, and ask the people why there is no
bombing today. Later he does not go to the home and starts wandering here and there in the streets. Further
he explains that our story does not begin with 9/11 neither it ends with 9/11. It is still continue.
Trauma, Testimony and Critical Refashioning of the Self in Selected Pashtun Songs about Waziristan
by Miss Zahida Younas:
She talks about the different Pashtun songs in which imagery of death and distinction, different references,
dismantling of stereotypes and war and terror/drones attacks have been mentioned. They are refashioning
their own culture and reconnecting themselves with the past through their songs. They always keep on
mentioning towards the past incidents which has happened to them during the attacks and bombing in
Waziristan. They mention, ‘we believe in Pashto code of honor, respect of elders and our history full of
Jirga’s.’ The land is the land of fighters and the land of honored people. They also show their customs
through their songs and try to show the image of their community by using this medium. Although there is
a perception about the Pashto girls that they are oppressed by their male community yet they have described
a different image through their songs. They say that female are not oppressed by the male community but
they are the women which feel proud to hide themselves and to use the dress which may cover them
thoroughly. “We are too proud and shy.” “I am a proud and shy and I am a respectable Pashtun woman. It’s
better for me to die than to wander uncovered in the streets.” They are creating democracy by using anti-
democratic way. They also try to explore that they are being killed by their own people. “My own people
kill me.” “In on hand he holds a dagger and in the other he holds a rose.” It is not possible for them to
identify their enemy and it is also not possible for them to create a distinction between the enemy and the
friend. They demand, “Stop killing us, stop snatching our natural rights.”
Dr. Asma Aftab on the Fluidity of 1971 War:
She starts by raising a question, why certain regions are
forced to live in the state of war? She also talks about the delimitation of the Pakistani writers. She explains
that most of the Pakistani writers are state sponsored writers and they are not allowed to speak about the
different points. They just speak what they are asked to speak and they can say nothing except of these
things. She further explains that on the one hand we have so called socialists of Pakistan and on the other
hand we have Bengali nationalists. “One’s history gets in the way of other’s memory.” She shows herself
on the side of Bengali nationalist writers sometimes. She explains that she believes, to some extent, at least
they are right and they have the right to say what they always try to say. She explains that the history writers
are biased and prejudiced towards Bengali nationalist writers. She gives the reference of the story of Tariq
Rehman, “BINGO”. In the story the imbalance representation of 1971 war has been shown. The story give
a new thought to the readers that how history can be changed and how it can be molded. Pakistani socialists
and Bengali nationalists always play the blame game and one always tries to put blame on the other. She
also gives the example of the Urdu story “HAVELI” by Sardaar Begam and Mohsin’s story “End of
Innocence”. She explains that literary texts are always the best way to the think about the reasons of
conflicts and besides this, they make one to think beyond the conflicts. “A critical productive distance.”
She concludes by saying that no one tries to get and present the true picture of the 1971 conflicts. She also
says that we have made some mistakes it is totally a different matter whether we accept them or we don’t
admit that we have made these mistakes.
Mr. Mohsin Iqbal on Trauma of Post 9/11:
He starts by presenting the poetry of Sahir Ludhiyanvi that whether the
blood belongs to us or not it is the blood of some human being and it is not useless, it should not be wasted
and shouldn’t be shed. Blood is blood either it is the blood of one of us or any other’s. He explains the
collective trauma wounds. He says that wounds, created by any kind of trauma, are not individual rather
they are the collective wounds and they can never be forgotten and negated. He explains collective trauma
does not belong to one’s individual suffering and not the representation of individuals. He says collective
trauma of Pakistani community is post 9/11. He gives the reference of the play “The Odysseys” by Usman
Ali. He says that the play presents the peace for all, peace dialogues and respect for the sovereignty of the
every country. This Odysseys is different from the play or poem which was written in past centuries. This
Odysseys is actually a fighter against the war. He wants the war to be stopped and doesn’t continue in any
region of country or in the any part of the world. Although his wife was raped and his son was murdered
by some unknown people yet he does not support war and gives the message of peace. He further says,
“Presence of any suicide bomber in any region, country or part of the world is a trauma in itself.” The
question arises what 9/11 has to do with Asia and Pakistan? Why Asia and Pakistan are labeled to be the
reason of 9/11. Is every Asian and every Pakistani a terrorist? Does it right to generalize or overgeneralize
and tag? These question has great importance in themselves and they should be answered. Why every
Pakistani is labeled as terrorist? He concludes by saying that the idea of war westerns agencies is criticized
in this research and it is proposed, “War cannot end the war. If we could end war, then there must be no
war.”
Mr. Zia Ur Rehman on Imagery in in Pashto poetry on War:
 He talks about different forms of imagery
used in the Pashto poetry and explains there are different types of imagery in Pashto poetry. He gives the
examples visual/cite/eye, auditory/sound, olfactory, tactile, taste and movement imageries. He translates
few poems and give the examples that how these poems narrate different images of bombing and bloodshed.
“There is smell of blood, dead birds and bodies and in this way my country has been disserted. Pashto poets
has used imagery as a good poetic tool to elaborate the effects of 9/11 and war. These traumas has brought
tragic changes in the lives of people and they have described how life becomes miserable after any trauma
like 9/11 and other wars. They also give the message by using the imagery that literature is the reflection
of life and it gives the message of peace, love, beauty and life. It gives the hope to live and let the others
live.
Miss Katherine Hubrick on Trans-lingual literature in Pakistan:
She explains that no matter people are
bilingual or multilingual still one language effects the other. The theory of translingualism tries to challenge
L1 and L2. She argues that although all Pakistani and all Muslims are not terrorists yet why after 9/11 all
Pakistanis and Muslims are labeled as terrorists. She asks why the writers use English as their medium of
communication. Later, she explains, people prefer to use English as their common medium of
communication because through this way they can attract more reader, because English is the most common
foreign language. They use this language even most of them are not the resident of this culture neither they
ever have been the part of English culture. It is not that Pakistani writers are trying to convince the
Americans that we are not terrorists neither they are trying to convince Pakistani people that Americans are
fundamentalists. They are just trying to explain the impacts of migration, how they feel when they have
arrived at an entirely different place and how they have been suffering from the disorder of identity crisis.
Pakistani writers are also among the trans-lingual writers. As translingualism is totally a new theory and
people are not much aware about it. Code mixing and code switching is used and the user is aware about it.
But if the person is trans-lingual he is not aware about it. They discuss about all the aspects of tradition and
culture so the readers may easily relate with their lives and culture. She further argues that you could hear
people arguing that Pakistanis are a confused nation. It is not true at all, we are not a confused nation. It is
just happening because we are trans-lingual nation and we should not be called so. We should also deny
such stereotypes that Pakistanis are terrorists. She refers to a novel “LOVE”. He explains about the main
character of the novel who is a young and handsome boy. He meets his beloved before 9/11 and he loses
his beloved after 9/11. It was his own choice because he was no more American. She concludes by saying,
Trans-linguals are much better than monolingual because they have deep exposure to cultures.
Canonizing Trauma, Relativizing Peace, Cannibalizing History by Dr. Sibghatullah Khan:
He
starts with the statement, “The Western traumas have been foregrounded on the expenses of our traumas.”
He argues that we desperately need to foreignise our politics. He also says that in “Geetanjli” –which is the
best and only example to quote here—we find, how the western trauma is canonized. It always happen and
the traumas are canonized when you have power and knowledge or you are the only power who is existing
over the earth. The wording of the third world countries is extensively constructed by Europe. He further
talks about the theory of Biological determinism. The theory talks about the people having big heads and
faces who are uncivilized and dumb then the small head and small face people. He also mentions about
different traumas of Muslims like: trauma of Kashmir, 9/11 trauma, Palestine trauma, trauma of Syria. The
west has been planning that their traumas will never be forgotten and our pain may be forgotten. One the
on hand they have been highlighting their issues and their traumas while on the other our trauma have never
been given a chance to be remembered. Here the question arises why the novels that have been written
during the American Civil War are the part of the syllabus of the universities around the whole world. It is
just because that the American Civil War should never be forgotten. He, more, argues that different
Pakistani writers like Mohsin Hamid and Ahmed Naqvi have talked about 9/11, two gulf wars, issues of
Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iran. All above stated traumas have been fashioned by the imperialist and
nationalist history writers. He concludes that our traumas are not considered as traumas while the traumas
of the West are considered as traumas. Our traumas, pain and sorrows are not considered as traumas.
Translation in Trauma, Trauma in Translation. Speaking the Unspeakable Mr. Mubasher:
“Happy
families are all alive, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” He starts by saying that everyone
has a tale, everyone is unhappy and has a unique trauma. Each one of has a unique and rare trauma in their
own life. He mentions about the character of the novel Marlowe, at the end of the novel, and questions
about everything. When he is returning home, he has own trauma with him. Trauma is not validated without
catharsis which has been mentioned in the Greek tragic. If it (Trauma) is not validated, it makes you suffer
till the last moments of your life. And sometimes you face different kind of disorders when the catharsis
does not take place. You want to deny something but your own mind says that it is has happened. This is
actual trauma. And incapability of the language to express the trauma is called existentialism. The
unspeakable is which is not dealt in present, it comes later. Something which is unspoken, unexpressed and
untold. He further says, “Everything is unspeakable but it should be spoken. Life is absurd, meaningless
and useless but we have to live it.” During the holocaust the natives have to leave their language, how is it
possible for someone to leave their language? He exclaims that all the great plays and poetry is the
translation of the mental state and it also involves the complexity of the mind. He gives the examples of
“Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, Geetanjli and also quotes the poem of Allama Muhammad Iqbal “WALIDA
MARHOOMA KI YAAD MAIN” “KITNI MUSHKIL ZINDAGI HAI, KITNI ASAAN HAI MAUT”.
He argues that no matter how terrible the trauma is but there is always hope for the survival. Colonial’s
slavery was the worst trauma according to Iqbal.  “KISI LAB PE HARF E SITAM TO HO”
Miss Sara Gul on Trauma and Colonialism:
She refers to a novel “Burnt Shadows” in which the writer
talks about the other trauma that is the result of war. She explains the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). She argues that war has never been the center of the interest of any human being neither it should
be focused in the coming future. She presented a paper about the different disorder which can easily be
found as the result of war. Common people always suffer from many disorder like identity crisis. They
forget what they actually are and what they should be. It always happen, and the same situation has been
shown in the novel. The characters of the novel are the victims of bombing and war attacks. After the very
end of the war they become numb and hollow. The even dream of wars and bombing around them. They
start suffer from different mental illness. They Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms can be
seen in their personalities and they start behaving like mental patient. They suddenly lose their temper and
they remain in a strange kind of world. May be the result of bombing leaves the bad impacts on their minds.
Their houses have been destroyed and they have no place to get shelter and they remain unsecure. An
atmosphere of insecurity can be seen as the novel progresses. She concludes by saying that war is not the
way to get peace or create peace, rather sometimes you have to give another chance to peace. And peace is
the only scale which can maintain peace. We can also relate the situation of novel to our own traumas like;
9/11, 1947, 1971, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and all the traumas form which we are suffering up till now. Even
the trauma of being labeled as terrorists.
Muhammad Ehtsahm on Exit the Big Other:
 Here the presenter simply explains the story of the novel
where there are two main characters of the novel Nadia and Saeed face the traumas of their lives. Nadia
and Saeed live in an unnamed city--most probably the city is located in Pakistan but may the writer does
not want to name and tries to hide so the people may not judge anything about the country by just keeping
in view the story of the novel---- where it is not allowed for a girl to get married with her beloved one.
Saeed’s mother becomes the victim of a bullet and as a result, gives up the ghost. Here the story of the
novel begins. The purpose of the presentation is not to tell the story of the novel rather this paper tries to
illustrate that how common people become the victim of detesters although they are not holding weapons
in their hands to fight against anyone. It is not about any specific region, country or piece of land, rather it
is applicable for every part of the world. Why do the common human beings become the victim of hatred
and war every day? Why peace cannot be created and maintained without war? Why love is not winning
the hearts? The conclusion is the same as described above all. Life is beautiful and purposeful and it should
not become the victim of hatred, war, bombing and bullets rather it should be given a chance to spread love.
CONCLUSION:
In a nut shell, all the presentation and presenters have tried to explain the same
thing that war is not the best way to create and maintain peace. War should not be glorified and it world
should see the creepy face of it, and the only thing which could help maintaining peace is peace, love and
sacrifice.

By: Arslan Aslam