II ULUSLARARASI ÇOCUK VE GENÇLİK EDEBİYATI SEMPOZYUMU

Children Literature: Post Pakistan Perspective
In the early years of Pakistan, new ideas and approaches were being developed. The society was
in the development phase, so as the case of children literature. There were a few magazines and
books were being published for children. Although the quality and standard of these books and
magazines were not up to the mark, but in the early years of the independence of Pakistan, these
magazines and books played a vital role for the propagation of ideology of Pakistan. As Dr
Asad Areeb stated:
“It was a challenge for the writers to bring new approaches in children literature. This challenge
was first accepted and fulfilled by those publishers who were publishing magazines for children.
It is a fact that these magazines established a strong tradition for the development of children
literature in Pakistan. The ideological foundations of Pakistan emerged most prominently in the
magazines of the early years of Pakistan. These magazines were full of new trends and
knowledge. After independence, these magazines shaped the nature of children literature in
Pakistan.”( Areeb,)
Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam. It declared an Islamic state in the early years. Dr
Mahmood ur Rahman has the view that,
“We are not disappointed when we analyze the situation of children literature after the establishment
of Pakistan. In the very short span of time, children literature progressed and flourished
tremendously. There was not any example of such development in the history. Pakistan
came into being in the name of Islam so it was an obligation to convey the message of Islam to
the young generation specially the children and youth. Further to inform them about the teachings
of Islam and give them knowledge about the great personalities of Islam. A lot of work
had been done for this purpose, both in prose and poetry.” (Mahmood ur Rahman)
Furthermore, these magazines, shaped the future of Children Literature in Pakistan. Most of
these magazines focused on the themes and topics which were correlated with Pakistan; for
instance, independence movement, Pakistan resolution, need for a separate land for the Muslims
of India, great Muslim heroes and the ideology and objectives of Pakistan. It is quite interesting
that there were a handful number of magazines published in the early years of Pakistan, now the
number is more than forty.
After the creation of Pakistan as a separate state for the Muslims of India, many academic, literary
and research institutions formed at private and government level. These organizations and
institutions contributed for the development of children literature along with their other areas of
research and academic works. A brief introduction of these institutions and organizations is
presented in the following lines which would be helpful to understand the historical development
of children literature in Pakistan.
In 1950, a special weekly page for children published for many years in Daily Jang, a largely
circulated Urdu newspaper. In the coming year, in 1951, a magazine Bhaijan, published from
Karachi under the editorship of Shafi Aqeel. Just after four years of independence, in 1951,
Iqbal Academy was established by the government of Pakistan. The main objective for the establishment
of Iqbal Academy was to propagate the message of great poet of the East, Allama
Muhammad Iqbal. Iqbal Academy presented the message of Iqbal for children through books
and audio visual literature. In 1955, Pakistan Scientific Society was established in Karachi with
an aim to transmit the scientific knowledge in Urdu. This society issued a Monthly magazine
Jadeed Science (Modern Science) and a magazine for children Science Bachoon ke liye( meaning:
Science for Children). For the spread of Urdu, government of Pakistan established Idara e
Tarraqi Urdu Board in 1958. Urdu board published many books for children. In 1960, another
literary institution National Book Center of Pakistan formed. National Book Center published a
monthly Kitab. It also published a special number for children literature and a list of the books
which were published for children in Pakistan in 1965. Later the Center reestablished with a
new name as National Book Council of Pakistan.
174 II. Uluslararası Çocuk ve Gençlik Edebiyatı Sempozyumu