TAHIR Jamil Noorani’s recent book ‘Walayit Nammah’ (304 pages) followed by ‘Mashriq kay Basi Maghrib Main’ has captured a large canvas of Muslim and Pakistani life in the United Kingdom — sensitizing them to uphold their peculiar identities in the highly pluralistic and globalised metropolitan cities of the Western world.
The book has brought the two continents (Asia and Europe) closer through comparisons and contrasts frequented with glimpses from social, cultural, religious, historical, political, and economic landscapes of the two different geographical locations.
The unique and creative approach of the writer has made it easy to understand the two countries: Pakistan and England, and “Why is England so attractive to us.
” The lifelong yet diverse experiences and keen observations of the author in the UK in different domains of life had empowered him to speak with authority.
The deep-rooted, historical, and bilateral relations between the countries had made his work rich and worth reading.
The dilemma of migration always affects social, cultural, linguistic, and religious paradigms of the dislocated communities.
The external and geographical divide also brings internal division within — living at the threshold of border area.
Therefore, Noorani speaks a lot about the powerful influence of the host country on the diasporic Pakistani community in collection of his journalistic articles in the book.
The book has also captured the most recent and interesting topics for Pakistani readers in their national language.
The author who worked as journalist, columnist, translator, feature writer and editor of London based Urdu newspapers and magazines has creatively highlighted the Pakistan-UK historical relations, migration, Muslim and Pakistani identity, Eastern culture, and other common traits of the humanity.
The author has expertly used Urdu language to express in appealing and easy-to-understand manner.
He handled different and challenging topics efficiently.Noorani stands at the crossroad between the rich and poor discussing diverse topics pertaining to both the classes.
The author upholds the indigenous cultural values of the East in general and Pakistan in particular with high esteem.
He sheds light on importance of English language but at the same time he criticizes the wrong approach of Pakistani elites who had brought themselves to the complexity (superiority or inferiority) for considering English language as the only yardstick of education.
The book has brought into limelight different aspects of Pakistani community living in England — making in-depth analysis of Pakistani diaspora living in the UK.
The writing of Noorani makes manifestation of the fact that he worked to safeguard the Eastern values while sensitizing the new generation from Pakistani origin grown up in England to uphold their peculiar cultural values.
He seems to register his resistance through his writings against the forces of Westernization and globalization.
He also discusses the historical landscape of migration from Pakistan during 1960s.The journalistic yet scholarly work has made an effort to bring the West closer to the East for bridging the gap through seeking common grounds on multiple fronts.
According to him, the Muslim Pakistani community residing in the UK is unique and it should maintain its uniqueness in the multicultural and diverse society of England.
The book has also urged both the elected and selected Pakistani leaders: politicians and bureaucrats that in order to alleviate poverty, the government should follow UK for ensuring maximum investment in the field of education.
The government has to show farsightedness to envision economic policies to handle the economic situation of the country.
The writer has taken up interesting topics pertaining to society, culture, history, economy, education, language, Muslims, and immigrants.
The book also discusses the current issues of both Pakistan and the UK with possible solutions and future roadmap.It takes the Pakistani readers on long visit to the UK.
It also takes the UK-settled Pakistani community on a visit to Pakistan.
