KARACHI: The second day of the three-day Sir Syed Ahmed Khan International Bicentenary Conference at the University of Karachi was marked by some thought-provoking research papers that made the audience, chiefly comprising university students, glued to their seats till the last thesis was presented.

Eminent critic and short story writer Nasir Abbas Nayyar delivered a talk on Sir Syed with reference to Eastern disciplines (mashriqi uloom).

He said there were three kinds of noted personalities. First: those who present an ideology; second: those who create a school of thought based on their ideology; third, those who lay the foundation for an era or epoch. Sir Syed belonged to the third.

Quoting Louis Althusser, Mr Nayyar said there were three ways through which we received information: Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) used by institutions such as the army and police, Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) used by virtue of education, family and religion etc and Public Sphere (media). Sir Syed had to do with all three. He was a reformer who always focused on education. Colonial rule [in Indial tookeducation into its hands. Before Sir Syed`s arrival on the scene, a debate that began in the 18th century between Orientalists and Anglicists had raged on. This led to the binary opposite that Eastern disciplines (thought to be old) were different from Western disciplines. Sir Syed`s effortsshouldbeseeninthatcontext.

Mr Nayyar said Sir Syed kept and treated Eastern languages and disciplines (uloom) separately. He was all for languages but not for disciplines, which meant that his position on the matter was that of an Anglicist. He wanted the languages to be utilised for educational purposes. For example, when at one time there was opposition to the Persian language, he came forward in its defence arguing that it was used in our madaris, therefore, could not be done away with.

But he was against the uloom.

Perhaps he was the only person who praised Lord Macaulay to the skies.

There`s no doubt that modernity began in our part of the world with Sir Syed but we needed to draw a line between `what is true modernity` and `what is colonial modernity` Modernity was about allowing people to take their decisions on their own. To challenge authority was the basic condition for modernity.

Whereas in colonial modernity, youneeded to keep the consent of the authority in mind. `Sir Syed was in favour of colonial modernity.

Swedish scholar Prof Heinz Werner Wessler read out a paper on Sir Syed`s attempt at coming up with an inter-religious discourse. He said there were certain questions that were rearing their heads after the 1857 revolt, and he wanted to find answers to them. Sir Syed was a public intellectual brought up in the traditional educational system who had a profound understanding of the challenges of colonial modernity. His interest in Christian scriptures and in inter-religious discourse was underestimated. His main inspiration was Shah Wallullah.

Shah Waliullah saw the decline of the Mughal Empire and the later brief period of the golden age was disrupted by the extreme brutality of the East India Company. After the revolt [of 1857] questions of the colonial West became even more pressing than before. Sir Syed`s intellectual engagement should be seen against that backdrop, and translating Aaen-i-Akbari is part of that ef fort.

After the revolt Sir Syed started to think on how different religions could be reconciled, and in the process studied Biblicaltexts.

Prof Wessler said Sir Syed was ahumble man who urged people not to follow him but draw their own conclusions. He recreated an open space to deal with the challenges of the multireligious realities of his time.

He wanted to have an insight into his own identity by a better understanding of the other.

Sharf-i-Alam`s thesis was on Sir Syed and journalism. He pointed out the importance of advertisements and the way they were placed in the journal Tahzeeb-ul-Akhlag published by Sir Syed.

Mohammad Salman read out a paper on the Scientific Society set up by the reformer. He said Sir Syed had a deep interest in agriculture which was the reason for the emphasis on using modern techniques in agriculture.

Dr Asghar Ali Baloch in his speech said Sir Syed wanted to revolutionise people`s cultural lives. He played an important role in shaping the modern mind (zahn-i-jadeed).

Dr Nisar Turabi also shed light on the part that Sir Syed played in furthering the cause of education.

Prof Sahar Ansari, who presided over the session, said Tahzeeb-ulAkhlag opened new vistas for Urdu prose. He gave his views on the papers read out by Mr Nayyar and Prof Wessler as well.