PRINT CULTURE AND LEFT-WING RADICALISM IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN, C.1947-1971

Abstract

THIS STUDY LOOKS AT THE PPL NEWSPAPERS AND THE PROGRESSIVE WRITERS MOVEMENT (PWM) AS SITES OF RESISTANCE. IT DEMONSTRATES HOW LITERARY AND CULTURAL SPHERES PROVIDED AN ALTERNATIVE VISION OF PAKISTAN. THIS STUDY PRESENTS THIS ARGUMENT TO CHALLENGE THE EXISTING SCHOLARSHIP, WHICH HAS LOOKED AT PAKISTAN THROUGH STATIST FRAMES BY HIGHLIGHTING ISSUES OF AUTHORITARIANISM, CIVIL MILITARY RELATIONS AND PRAETORIANISM. THE STATIST FRAMEWORKS HAVE NEGLECTED THE LEFT WHICH HAS BEEN SEEN AS A PASSIVE HISTORICAL ACTOR IN MAKING OF CONTEMPORARY PAKISTAN. THIS ENQUIRY SEEKS TO COMPLICATE THIS PICTURE AND MAKES AN EFFORT TO RESCUE TO THE LEFT THE HISTORICAL ROLE IT PLAYED IN THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN PAKISTAN, IN ITS FORMATIVE YEARS, AS A UNITED NATION, IN RESTRICTING THE RIGHT-WING AGENDA TO ISLAMIZE PAKISTAN AND TO ADD TO VIBRANCY OF POLITICAL DEBATE.