Adil Najam
Best wishes to all our readers for the new year.
May your dreams for this year come true. May your fears prove unfounded.
One is reminded today of a verse from Saba Akbarabadi:
Har saal yeh samajh keh guzara hai aye _Saba_
Yeh ishq ki saddi meiN adaawat ka saal hai
We have two current posts that look at the year that was (The Most Important News Stories of 2006) and at the years to come (Pervaiz Hoodbhoy) and we do not wish to divert the discussions already in progress there. But at this time of the year it is customary to make New Year Resolutions. So let me share some with you.
Most of one’s goals and resolutions tend to be personal and this is not the place to talk about them. However, in terms of ATP
we resolve to remain intellectually honest; to say things as we see them; to be fair and firm in implementing ATP policies and pursuing ATP goals; to remain focused on Pakistan in all its dimensions, trying never to ignore the things that need to become better but also not failing to celebrate that which is worthy of celebration.
Our goals are modest. We have no illusions that this, or any, blog can change the realities that are. But we do believe that in talking about this thing we call Pakistaniat, we begin contributing to its creation. Ideas are important in the lives of nations. Action, of course, is more important; but action without ideas is dangerous and actions based on the wrong ideas can be disastrous.
Ours is the dukandaari of ideas. But we cherish our wares because we believe that good ideas can – and will – spur good actions. We resolve today to be diyanatdaar dukaandaars. We ask of you to keep us honest in this endeavor.
Maybe you have some New Year Resolutions of your own that pertain to Pakistaniat. Do please share.
Dear friends:
In the past two three weeks there have been several posts, educative and thought-provoking, heart-warming and uplifting, some moving and deeply distressing. For this we should be grateful to all those who have posted them on ATP.
We should be equally grateful to those who have contributed so richly of their views, with restraint, clarity and so much wisdom.
In this post which deals with the New Year–and beyond– I offer, with some diffidence, the following thoughts. These are quotations and I quote them only to express myself better:–
i)The day we see the truth and cease to speak, is the day we begin to die.
(Martin Luther KIng)ii) Yeh bhi nahin theek kay har dard mitaa dain
Kuch dard kalaijay say laganain kay liyai hain
iii) Aik bhi khwaab na ho jin main woh aankain kya hain
Aik na aik khwaab to aakhoon main basaaw yaro
(both from Jan Nisar Akhtar)
Working harder to undo the propaganda unleashed against Pakistan and Pakistanis by certain quarters.
A happy new year and hoping that all had a happy eid as well…i am glad i found out about Pakistaniat because in a way reviewing this web site at least once or twice a week keeps me a proud pakistani…the fact that despite all the bad there is still lots of good and we are at least thinking in the right direction…it is true that everything must begin with an idea and so here’s the best to a pakistan that can be even better and its people who can be the most successful…if you can imagine an idea you can live it too…
My New Year resolution (besides the usual about watching out for my waist line)…is to identify and take care of the education expenses of at least one child in Pakistan who is unable to attend school as a result of financial difficulties that his/her family is facing. I have been looking at few organizations which are involved in such work.
Anyone else willing to do so?
Happy new year to the readers of ATP. It was intellectually satisfying to read different opinions on this site. I wish and hope that during 2007 our discourse will be more rewarding.