Adil Najam
These are distressing times. But this is not a time to be depressed.
This is a time, as Owais reminds us in his last post, to reaffirm our hopes for the future. True defeat would be to give up on those hopes. I have put up the splash image (on the front page) that I have to reassert and to remind ourselves that ultimately Pakistan will be what we make of it. Emergency or no emergency, no one can snatch our Pakistaniat from us. Not until we ourselves surrender it!
Back in May, at a moment of similar desperation, I had written a post where I had sought “solace in the one place where I always find it. In poetry. Especially in Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry.” The video clip I had used there is worth repeating here.
I had written then - and it seems even more pertinent today to repeat it:
Here is Faiz - in his own words, in his own voice. The second half has the same poem masterfully sung by Nayarra Noor. Enjoy this rare find of kalam i Faiz, ba zaban i Faiz. But more than that, think about what he is saying and how it relates to what is happening today.
What I had to say (including about US role) I said at length in an NPR Radio show today (or here). But what Faiz has to say is far more profound.
The words of Faiz certainly cut deeper than anything I can say. They are an invitation to action. But they are also an invitation to thought. An invitation to responsibility. An invitation to continuing the struggle no matter what. An invitation to keep moving onwards despite the odds. An invitation to celebrate the spirit of defiance of those who will not give up.
I had ended that post by reaffirming ATP’s committment “to celebrating all the diverse trials and tribulations of being Pakistan … the mundane as well as the profound; the sad as well as the gleeful; the immediate as well as the long-term.” It is time, today, to repeat that commitment.
This is our commitment to Pakistaniat. We love Pakistan not because everything is right in it. But despite that which is clearly not right. And with a commitment to make right that which has gone astray. Ameen.
<p>It is astonishing to find many people still support Musharraf. They think an individual is more important than the country. What skewed thinking. If according to the law and the constitution, NS or BB win the elections. Let them rule. If we are decent and we don’t like them we should just vote against them rather than supporting over them, the likes of Mush.</p>
<p>As for another stupid logic that is mostly put forth by the “overseas” variety of Pakistanis, that most Pakistanis are illiterate. Firstly, who keeps them illiterate? Definitely the huge defence budget leaves very little for other purposes. Secondly, how many people were literate in 1776 in the USA? Or 1789 in France, when the French revolution took place? But no one there, arguably the most educated lots in the world, gives the same argument that passing of the American Constitution in 1776 or the French Revolution in 1789 were wrong just because many people were illiterate there. So get over this stupid argument.</p>
Lal masjid and all other extremist have done nothing but facilitate US or Musharaf cause, whenever bush popularity graph is going down, usama’s video came for rescue, similarly the suicide attacks came to help musharaf, it’s funny when you say that these extremist groups are anti-us or anti-musharaf, they actually are the biggest supporter, first killing innocent people of their own country and then having US attack “them” , killing again the innocent civilians. I wonder what would US have done without usama or Al-qaida, or musharaf without these recent suicide bombers.
Hey higlight the fact that musharaf has added judges in his newly crafted Supreme court who gave the decision on the red mosque issue but still accusing the ex supreme court.I think he did this for western sympathy
Qandeel@
So true You are, and the words You have put forth are imperatively highlightening the situation we are in !
As Søren Kirkegård expressed the human nature ;
that it is a constitutional parameter about being a Human
to think, and as You quoted pastor ;
IF we dont act , we miss our HUMAN dignity,
-it is , in mine minor understanding of ISLAM, that
I am obliged to ACT upon a ZULM/cruelty, otherwise
I will in this life and in the Hereafter be judged by THE LORD , and I will have to stand in front of all those persons whom I did not deal with in way of INSAAF.
Giving vent to your anger and your feelings on this blog is OK. It may help influence opinions. But for those living in the US or Canada and who believe the Martial Law in Pakistan is unacceptable and must go, it is important to speak up and organize protests wherever you are — on the campuses, at public places, in front of the embassies and consulates. Also, write to your congressmen, senators, and the leading newspapers.
Despair can easily take you down the path of either passivity or mindless violence. Historically, poetry, verses etc have helped raise consciousness and shake people awake from inertia. Especially when outright protest was considered perilous. I think its a pity that we don’t have more contemporary political poets (do we?) in Pakistan.
To quote a quote from an article in The Nation today, which I think is apt and should encourage us more to take action:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out- because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out- because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me. - Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
Are we , the Pakistanii´s only able to make Dua, ???
It’s not that easy to form a political party, even if there was one, u still won’t be able to beat the “wadehras” and “chohdaries” in their hometowns, even in big cities many ppl still blindedly follow nawaz and bibi, it’s just younger generation, which is sick of these old faces.
And Tehreek-e-Insaf is not even a party and it will never be one, i dun rate imran very high either, i have never saw anyone else representing this party at any forum and he talks of democracy, he will never allow any strong personality in his own party. Even the media persons are biased, i feel so sick when i think of how helpless are we.