{"id":7611,"date":"2019-02-25T15:08:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T10:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pakistanpressfoundation.org\/?p=94335"},"modified":"2019-02-25T15:08:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T10:08:32","slug":"freedom-of-expression-speech-fundamental-human-rights-zarrar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/freedom-of-expression-speech-fundamental-human-rights-zarrar\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom of expression, speech fundamental human rights: Zarrar"},"content":{"rendered":" $\"Freedom$

LAHORE: Zarrar Said, the author of latest international fictional thrill \u2018Pureland\u2019 and a master story\u2013teller, emphasises that freedom of expression and speech are fundamental human rights and must be protected. No one can be hated because of his or her religion, sect and race, he viewed.<\/p>\n

He expressed these views while talking to The News in an exclusive talk during the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) at Alhamra Arts Council here on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Zarrar Said, a Pakistani national, living in the USA, revealed that when he went abroad for study, he got familiar with the story of Dr Abdul Salam, who has great influence on the world, but unfortunately, he was not given deserving respect and worth in Pakistan. \u201cBy writing this novel I tried to tell the young generation to recognise their hero and his services. Such incident should not happen with another Abdul Salam, and that\u2019s what I have conveyed through this book titled \u201cPureland\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

History is witness to this hard fact that nations and countries progressed because of science. And, Salam was a world recognised, top of the line great scientist, unfortunately, he was not recognised in his own motherland where he was born and brought up. USA progressed because of science. Salam would have inspired a lot of people if he had been living in Pakistan, his own country. No society can flourish with hatred, Zarrar vehemently added. He said others are getting benefits from the achievements of this great man. However, Zarrar accepted the fact that hatred which has no boundaries and limitations is everywhere and in every country in one form or another. He added that hatred is prevailing in India and it is being spread even in USA too. About his novel \u2018Pureland\u2019 and Abdul Salam\u2019s connection with it, Zarrar explained that Salam is the main character of his novel and it is purely fiction only. According to Zarrar, theme of the book is that a child is born in a village of Pakistan. He went abroad and got Nobel Prize. Because of patriotism he wants to come back home. Unfortunately, he could not come back to his motherland to serve it just because environment was not favorable for him.<\/p>\n

Zarrar has already been nominated for the Prestigious Literary Award in Pakistan for this highly appreciated literary debut titled \u201cPureland\u201d. According to many reviews, published in the internationally acknowledged newspapers and literary magazines in the West and USA, \u201cPureland\u201d is already making a lot of waves in the international circles of the writers .Some of the reviews have stated that \u201cPureland\u201d is dedicated to the late Dr Abdus Salam \u2014 \u201cwho loved a nation that never loved him back\u201d \u2014 and the storyline as well as the blurb try to highlight this connection. It is Said\u2019s attempt to grapple with the politics of Pakistan that makes this novel noticeable, apart from the fact that it signifies a promising first attempt. Zarrar Said is a New York-based finance professional who has just released his first book, \u201cPureland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zarrar Said\u2019s Pureland presents logical conclusion to that great act of collective and individual delusion. When Said\u2019s novel begins, Pureland, obviously based on Pakistan, has been taken over by Caliphate. The narrator of the novel is (supposedly) a dreaded terrorist working for Caliphate, now under arrest for killing the scientific genius, Salim Agha. It is this terrorist\/ assassin\u2019s confession that provides us with the text of the novel.<\/p>\n

\u201cPureland\u201d is described as \u201ca tour-de-force novel about a nation that has lost its way.\u201d Task has been difficult for Said but he did not write this book for himself, it was a story that was waiting to be told. The magical realism in the story is visible throughout from the levitating saint to the witch-like mother. Said has even incorporated a love story amid the political aspects of the story between Agha and Laila Khan.<\/p>\n

With \u201cPureland,\u201d Said wanted to make sure his writing was relevant and easy to comprehend for the average reader because it has an important message for humanity. Moreover, \u2018Pureland\u2019 is a product of Zarrar\u2019s profound desires to bring back the people to book reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cCultures will suffer from prejudices that they keep. One example is Germany losing Einstein to anti-Semitism. MF Hussain spent the last years of his life in exile because of Hindu fundamentalists who wanted to slay him. In the same way, Pakistan lost out on Abdus Salam\u2019s achievements,\u201d Zarrar said and told a unique incident in which a European Professor, who is in Pakistan to teach Engineering at a local University, told me:\u201cI am here from Abdus Slam Foundation, and I appreciate your dedicated feelings for the great man.\u201d He added: \u201cSalam is still giving back to his motherland even after death\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the end of the interview, Zarrar concluded the discussion with these words: \u201cWe cannot afford to be culturally monogamous, meaning we need multiple voices in our discourse in order to move forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

The News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"