r Shahid Siddiqui is a renowned educationist, linguist, novelist and columnist. He has authored notable books on education, language, ideology and politics. His book, Education Policies in Pakistan: Politics, Projections, and Practices (OUP, 2016) offers a comprehensive and convincing analysis of various educational policies, their politics and implications for the state of education in Pakistan since 1947. His recent book, Pothohar: Khitta-i-Dil-ruba [Pothohar: The Beautiful] is grounded in social history with an added focus on the historicity, orality, politics and poetics of northern Punjab the region that historically and contemporaneously carries immense significance for statehood, military strategy, arts and crafts, literature and languages as well as primordial and contemporary tales of bravery, kindness, forbearance and love of life. a

Although the book is a compilation of the author’s columns for newspapers and literary magazines, it is organised and presented in a manner that accords it not only a professional outlook but also an academic tinge since it carries valuable data on local history, arts, socioeconomic indicators, cultural values and political preferences of the Pothohari people. What makes the book so readable is the nostalgic, lifelike manner in which the places and people of the region are portrayed.

Moreover, local history is narrated from the perspective of a local person. However, it is portrayed in an autobiographical style where the memories, emotions and expressions of the author add literary value to the accounts of people and places, some of which have assumed historical significance due to the extraordinary rise and contribution to politics, music and arts in both India and Pakistan of some prominent personalities who opened their eyes on the fertile land. Gulzar’s journey to re-discover his house in Dina, one of the famous cities in the Potohar region, is indeed moving since the author also travelled, though imaginatively, in the by-gone years along with Gulzar to seek meaning for the fulfilment of the self which seemed to have been partitioned in 1947 when the British divided colonial India into India and Pakistan. Millions of people left their homes and relations in that catastrophic migration. What they carried, in most cases, were bitter memories of partition. Some of them, however, retained a sweet sense of belongingness to the Potohar that nourished them in the first place.

The book can serve as an essential reference for not only the living legends of both Pakistan and India who hailed from Potohar but also historians working on South Asia.

The same historicity and nostalgia can be found in the stories of Sarang Khan, Mian Mohammad Bakhsh, Shah Murad, Baba Fazal Kalyami, Balraj Sahni, Madan Mohan, Sunil Dutt and Anand Bakhshi. The author has not only acknowledged but also rediscovered these sons of the soil by not invoking their religion or ideology but through their connection to the land, thus, hermeneutically recovering a culture that emphasised solidarity and forbearance rather than disunity and decadence.

Besides carrying a regional dimension, the book offers some of the author’s personal accounts of identity and belonging. Based on his sharp memory and deep social observation, Dr Siddique takes a reader to the vastness of his village where he was born some six decades ago and introduces his parents, the long-lasting impact of his wise father on his personality, childhood friends such as Sakina, school going days in the country, local food and folks and the eventual journey to the urban life which is equally full of activity, passion, love for learning and advancement as an individual. The years the author spent in Rawalpindi, particularly in the city’s famous Gordon College, are worth dwelling on. These provide original insights into the academic and cultural life of the Potohar region, which, even in ancient times, had been a centre of learning. The establishment and vibrant existence and dynamism of, for example, Takshshila [Taxila] university is a case in point.

Put differently, Dr Shahid Siddiqui combines two eras in his narrative. The story begins in the present, goes into the past, and returns to the present with added value. His memory is amazingly sharp: he remembers places, events, personalities and conversations with them in great detail. Moreover, the narrator is an authentic witness to the events in the story. His social conversations with renowned people like Prof Khawaja Masood and Fateh Muhammad Malik testify to it.

The book is full of cultural, linguistic, experienced and expressive diversity that any lay reader can relate to. One can see a parallel in one’s own story of life, love, struggle and progress. The book can also serve as an important reference for not only the living legends in both Pakistan and India who hailed from Potohar but also historians working on South Asia, particularly sub-continental culture, languages, identity and politics. The specialist and students of Pakistan studies and (social) history can also draw meaningful insights from it. It also contains abundant data for those affected by the 1947 partition or working on some aspects of it.

Potohar: Khitta-i-Dil-rubaa is so captivating a narrative that anyone with a little bit of interest in social history, cultural diversity and historicity of Potohar in particular and Pakistan/ South Asia, in general, will benefit from it. The book’s publisher, Book Corner, is also located in the same region. Given its artistically designed cover, impressive layout, good paper quality and easy accessibility (order online), the subaltern publisher deserves support.

Potohar: Khitta-i-Dilruba

Author: Shahid Siddique

Publisher: Book Corner, 2022

Pages: 335

The reviewer teaches at the Lahore School of Economics. He can be reached at ejaz.bhatty@gmail.com