Adil Najam
Having to write regular posts of ATP can sometimes become a heavy burden. Not because of the workload. But because of the pain and hurt that can come with following the daily struggles for survival. Today, once again, too many did not survive those struggles.
The News reports from Karachi:
Death toll in the bomb blast in Quaidabad has risen up to eleven, while number of wounded to at least 40. Many labourers, who work in the Landhi industrial area, were stated to be among the victims. Two minors and a woman have been also counted among the dead. Twenty injured were shifted to Social Security Hospital, 40 at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) hospital, while some others were moved to Steel Mills hospital.
Meanwhile, Rangers personnel were deployed at the JPMC hospital to avoid any law and order situation at the facility. Sindh police chief, Azhar Ali Farooqui, visited the crime scene. He claimed that the explosive device was planted in a motorcycle parked at the spot…
“I was leaving the factory when I heard a huge explosion and I saw several people lying in pools of blood on the road. There were more than 30 people who were hit by the blast,” eyewitness Rehman Malik said while talking to a news agency. “As soon as the bomb went off the electricity pylon caught fire and the lights went out. There were bodies lying all around and I could hear people screaming in the darkness,” he added. Wounded people covered in blood and with their clothes blown off by the force of the blast were brought to hospitals in ambulances and the back of pick-up trucks, a reporter of the news agency said.
Gunfire erupted in the area in the wake of the attack.
See more videos on vidPK.com
The politics of violence, of uncertainity, of extremism and of military authoritarianism comes together to create a sense of helplessness. Talk to any Pakistani, anywhere, and you can feel the palpable fear and helplesness. A sense that not only have we lost control of what is happening around us, but also that we have no sense of what might happen next.
As I often do in times when I need solace, I went to poetry. This time to this ode of Karachi and Sindh by Ahmad Faraz. Darwaish had inserted this video in a recent post of Pakistan’s multiple crises, but I think it is worth re-inserting here.
It is am immensely powerful poem. Those of you who have heard it might want to hear it again. Those who have not, urge you to do so. In both cases, do please think about what he is saying. A few lines from the poem worth thinking about as we grieve, yet again, the loss of innocent lives at the hands of those who wish to prove the ‘righteousness’ of their cause by violence, murder and mayhem.
On how none of this is new and how the result is always a heightening of ethnic, sectarian and other ‘differences’. Note the “phir say tou kouN hai, meiN kouN houN, aapas meiN sawal” [once again, we ask each other: who are you? who am I?]
phir wohe aag dar aaye hai mairi galiyoun mein
phir mairey shehr mein barood ki boo phaili hai
phir say tou kouN hai, meiN kouN houN, aapas meiN sawal
phir wohi soch miyan-i-mann-o-tou phaili hai
On how we are sp quick to blame ‘outsiders’ for our misery, as if we had no hand in it ourselves. Note the “ mairey seenay meiN sadda apna he khanjar utra” [it has always been my own dagger that has pierced my heart]
mairi basti say parrey bhi mairey dushman houN gay
par yahaN kabb koee aghyaar ka lashkar uttra
aashna haath he aksar mairey janab labkay
mairey seenay meiN sadda apna he khanjar utra
This part is my favorite. About how fear (khouf) and uncertainty (tazabzub) rules, and how much havoc is brought forth by those who use the rhetoric of patriotism (naara-i-hubb-i-watan) and of religion. Note the “ naara-i-hubb-i-watan maal-i-tajarat ki tarhaaN“ [slogans of patriotism are traded like commodity in a bazaar] and the “ jinss-i-arzaaN ki tarhaaN deen-i-khuda ki baateiN” [talk of religion has become like a commodity in over-supply].
phir wohi khauf ki deewar, tazabzub ki faza
phir hoeeN aam wohoee ahl-i-riya ki baateiN
naara-i-hubb-i-watan maal-i-tajarat ki tarhaaN
jinss-i-arzaaN ki tarhaaN deen-i-khuda ki baateiN
And he ends with these words of hope that give me great solace. When he talks about “mairey dilgeer, mairey dard kay maarey logou” he seems to be talking to us directly today. But the real kicker is in the last two lines: “ kissi ghasib, kissi zalim, kissi qatil kay leeaye, khod ko taqseem na karna, mairey saarey logou” [do not, O please do not, let the usurpers, the tyrants, the murders divide you into factions].
aaj aisa nahiN, aisa nahiN honay daina
aye mairey sokhta jaano, mairey piyarey logou
abb kay gar zalzalay aaye tou qiyamat ho ge
mairey dilgeer, mairey dard kay maarey logou
kissi ghasib, kissi zalim, kissi qatil kay leeaye
khod ko taqseem na karna, mairey saarey logou
How many more have to die ? Before one man rule ends.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/azrainman/1872096093/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/azrainman/1469510606/
I think this khutba by Ashraf Zaghloul is an excellent discussion countering these extremist views and acts of violence..
Another really powerful and heartfelt writeup. I can feel the hurt and greif you feel in the words you write and I share them. I think teh choice of the Faraz poem is very good. I had not heard this before and listening to it now has big effect on me. He is right, we must not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated.
This is really condemnable…
I still can not imagine who will be our next prime minster. Imran Khan? At least he will be honest but no he supports Mullahs. Majority of “Mullahs are Neem Hakeem Khatra Jaan” Lets see who else? ummm Zardai? HAHA
ok who else? Pervaiz Elahi? ummm NO
NS no way with all honesty when NS became PM I was not into watching politics and now I can not believe he was even anything in Pakistan .
SS ummm
who else Shaukat Aziz YESSSSSSSSSSS
The religious fanaticism that has set in and the extremists are killing Pakistan one city at a time. The tragedy is even worse because we have a military government that is incapable of solving religious extremism and ends up diverting everyone’s attention.
Step 1: Militarty has to go. It does not matter who comes, whoever it is, PP, PML(N), MMA, Imran, whatever, anyone will be better than the military government.
Step 2: We must stand against these religious extremists and fight terrorism in Pakistan. Otherwise they will do to Paistan what they did to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Allah bless all who lost their lives and limbs and those Pakistanis who are not directly involved in conspiracy against our homeland.
I guess many of readers here might have gone through this
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va& aid=7705
“Apna hi khanjar utraa….”
People of Pakistan are hostage to political thugs and Armed forces who will kill if you don’t agree with them.
I think the basic schools in the army have to be changed COMPLETELY. There is something in those classes that teaches one the superiority complex and insecurity that compels them to divide their own people and kill them.
On average ~5000 Pakistanis/month since 1947 ( ~3 million in East Pakistan genocide).
I hope one of the Chief would realize that and change the system before it is too late.
I wish any of my words could heal Pakistan.
Message of Ahmed Faraz has to get to the ordinary people, the masses…those people only have limited access to TV or newspaper…and TV Channels like ‘Aaj’ are barred and print media is more interested in creating panic rather than getting the right message across.
May Allah have mercy on our country.
Pakistan Opposition Attacks Musharraf
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON,Associated Press
Posted: 2008-01-14 14:38:12
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif accused Pakistan’s president Monday of blindly following America and ordering anti-terror operations that have left the country “drowned in blood.”
Sharif’s tirade against President Pervez Musharraf came as troops and militants clashed near the Afghan border, leaving 30 dead. Separately, a bomb concealed on a motorbike in the southern city of Karachi killed at least nine people and wounded 52. Musharraf was in Karachi on Monday to inaugurate a road several miles from the bombing, but he did not appear to be the target.
“Musharraf has destroyed Pakistan. He is blindly following America’s orders,” Sharif told an election rally of about 3,000 people on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad. “The whole of Pakistan is drowned in blood.”
The former prime minister reiterated his demand for Musharraf to step down and for a government of national unity to take power and oversee the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections. Opposition parties say the current caretaker administration is biased and the elections will be rigged in favor of the pro-Musharraf ruling party - allegations Musharraf denies.
The latest violence underscored the volatility of Pakistan as the nation heads into the elections. The United States and other Western nations are hoping the vote will usher in a period of stability as the country battles rising attacks by al-Qaida and Taliban militants.
Sharif’s speech was his first major campaign event since the Dec. 27 assassination of another key opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto. It was one of his harshest attacks on Musharraf over his alliance with Washington forged after the Sept. 11 attacks and may strike a chord with Pakistanis disenchanted with the war on terrorism.
Militant attacks, perceived by many as a response to Pakistan army operations launched against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in recent years, have deepened the sense of insecurity in this Islamic nation of 160 million people and risk undermining the political process.
There have been at least 20 suicide attacks in the past three months, mostly targeting security forces and hitting even relatively stable cities such as Lahore.
In the latest violence along the lawless Afghan border, suspected pro-Taliban militants ambushed a military convoy in Mohmand, a tribal region of South Waziristan. The attack sparked a clash that left 23 fighters and seven troops dead, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad.
Maulvi Muhammad Umer, spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban, an umbrella group for pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan’s tribal areas, claimed responsibility for the attack. He denied that the rebels had suffered any fatalities, but said some had been wounded.
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy are believed to be hiding out somewhere in the lawless tribal region straddling the Pakistan-Afghan border.
In Karachi, the bomb planted on a motorbike near fruit vendors’ carts ripped through bystanders late Monday, killing at least nine people including two children.
There was no claim of responsibility. The city is vulnerable to violent crime, but the scale of the attack is likely to raise suspicion of Islamic militant involvement. In the aftermath, local residents enraged by the blast hurled stones at passing vehicles.
The provincial home secretary Arif Ahmed Khan described it as a terrorist attack but did not blame anyone specific.
Pakistan is still recovering from a spasm of rioting after Bhutto’s death that left dozens dead and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. It also forced a six-week delay in the elections.
Musharraf, who late last year gave up his position as army chief under intense opposition pressure, faces the prospect of a hostile parliament and possible impeachment if the opposition does well in the elections. Many expect Bhutto and Sharif’s parties to gain seats in parliament, but it remains to be seen whether they can secure the two-thirds majority needed to force him from office.
Despite Musharraf’s apparent unpopularity and allegations that elements within his government may have been involved in Bhutto’s assassination, a spokesman for her party said Monday that they were not ruling out working with the president if they win.
“These are bridges which we will cross when they come,” Farhatullah Babar said, echoing remarks reported in Pakistani media by Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now the de facto head of the party.
Those comments were in sharp contrast to the fiery address of Sharif, although he has aligned himself more closely with Bhutto’s group since her slaying.
_____
Associated Press writers Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Ashraf Khan in Karachi contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
01/14/2008 14:20 ET