Raza Rumi
Aggrieved by the recent sinister, senseless violence and brutal murders in Karachi, this is my feeble attempt at poetic expression.
I have also trans-created this Urdu poem below titled Adrift.
Jal gaya – tha ik roshniyon ka shaher
Jal gaya – tha ik roshniyon ka shaher
Bujh gaye kitnay jaltay aur adh-jalay chiragh
Magar kotwaal-i-shaher ne mur kar na dekhaJism kis ka, khoon kahan aur maut kaisee?
Yeh qatl na tha dosto
Yeh qatl hai ik ehad ka
Yeh nohaa hai insaniyat kaInsaniyat ka khatma karnay walay jantay nahee
Insaan marta hai – bhujta naheeAhle-hawas aur ahle-dil
Huay sab ke sab, aseer-i-shab-i-siyahaur ham
roshniyon ke muntazir
bhujtey jugnoo-on ko dhoondtay
thakay haray
gharon ka rasta bhool gaye
And here is a version trans-created in English
Adrift
Once a city of lights, stands ruined
Lamps – lit and half-lit, all extinguished
And the guardians of the city, unmovedWhich body, what blood and whose death?
This was not a murder my friends
This was the murder of our times
A prolonged elegy of humanityThose hell-bent on erasing humanity, are, unaware
Man dies but cannot be lostThe bleeding hearts and the hearts with no remorse
All trapped in the darkness of the nightAnd we the forlorn
Wait for the light
Attempting to seek dying fireflies
Tired, exhausted
Lost on our way home!
Raza Rumi blogs at Jahane Rumi where this was first published.
Thanks bitter truth for posting these links. Adnan has also posted these links.
I have watched these links which shows flagrant violation of law. Who are they? Poor Talat was finding it difficult to pinpoint them for the reasons every one knows. But, I have no hesitation to say that they were MQM operatives.
I got chill in spine when I saw a blue government car with a siren lamp on its top. What does it indicate? This car undoubtedly was a government vehicle and was being used to ferry automatic weapons to these thugs.
The other thing which is noticeable and clearly shows collusion between the Sindh Government and so-called law enforcement agencies. One could see Rangers and police vans in the midst of gunmen.
How on earth MQM propagandist leaders could throw dust in the eyes of public and boldy tell the journalists that MQM had no hand in that.
These footages are beyond reach of Altaf Hussain and his propagandists and they can not be deleted and these very footages will be used as evidence one Altaf’s great supporter Musharraf shows his back.
You must have also seen how a young man in blue T-Shirt is being brutally beaten by police and others.
[quote]Insaan marta hai – bhujta nahee[/quote]
Excellent. Great poem, yet so sad.
While the negativity of these pages recently is understandable I am astounded at the relentless self criticism of an entire nation. Work for positive change rather than sitting around going hai hai and accusing entire people of being without shame.
What AAJ TV didnt fail to show :
AAJ TV In depth Analysis 1
AAJ TV In depth Analysis 2
AAJ TV In depth Analysis 3
MQM’s Don Altaf must be sulking away after his disasterous handling 5/12. His words are still echoing in which he was disrespectful and abrasive to the Chief Justice who was stranded at the airport. Mafiosi thought that he will get away, as he has been on many occasions in the past, with some more rewards from his patron-in-chief Musharraf. This man never thought that in this era the electronic media will tell the facts in black and white and so it happened. Aaj TV was filming his thugs live and showing the footage all over the world.
Don has convened an ‘important conference’ in his headquarters in London and another terrorist, Ishrat Ibad is travelling from Karachi. Ishrat is the governor of Sindh and I will not be surprised if he acts as a courier to bring brief cases full of sterling pounds. I also suspect he may make Ishrat Ibad as a scapegoat and that may mean his humiliation.