Eid Mubarak from Pakistaniat!

Posted on October 13, 2007
Filed Under >Adil Najam, About ATP, Society
36 Comments
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Adil Najam

From all of us at All Things Pakistan we wish our regular readers, our contributors, and all passers-by a wonderful and very happy Eid Mubarak (Eid Greetings). We wish you happiness, prosperity and all things good; now and forever.

[Pictures: Empire State Building, New York City, lit green to mark Eid-ul-Fitr, 2007].
We had started our Eid post a year ago with exactly the words above. Our sentiments remain the same, so do the words. Our best Eid wishes to all Muslims everywhere, including Pakistani Muslims everywhere.

Eid Id The post had also highlighted that Eid is about community. And so is Pakistaniat.Com. We believed that then, and we believe that now. This year since the last Eid has been tumultuous. There have been too many ups and down. Maybe more downs than ups. The guiding spirit of community that had been behind this blog has not wavered. We have never wanted to make this a haven for like-minded robots who all think alike and say the same things. We have strong beliefs and so do you. We have wanted this to be a forum to share those beliefs, to discuss, to debate. But never to misbehave. Never to disrespect. Never to degrade. We do not want people to be disagreeable, but we never shy from disagreeing ourselves or letting others do that same.

Why am I saying all this today, in our Eid post? Because I believe that the spirit of Eid has much to teach us all about coexistence and respect for each other. This morning as I got up after Eid prayers and began embracing those around me, I realized that I disagreed (sometimes profoundly) with many of those who I was embracing on many issues, political, ideological, and others. I am sure that some of them disagreed with me on many issues even more than I disagreed with them. But that did not reduce the intensity or sincerity of the hug. Hopefully, that post-namaz embrace was not just a ritual for me or for them.

The galley milna at the end of the namaz, I realized, is not an indication of my total agreement with those I am hugging. It is an appreciation that at a higher level we are the same and we adhere to the same hopes, same aspirations, same principles. Even if you think it is just a ritual, it is a ritual of coming together, not of tearing apart!

Pakistaniat – both the term and the blog – is similar. It is a commonality of identity that does not demand common views and the same opinions, but merely the same aspirations for our nation. So, as I finished embracing those around me I thought about Eid, and I also thought about Pakistaniat. But, most of all, I thought about identity. Because that is central to both.

So, let us embrace each other today – in Eid and in Pakistaniat. Tomorrow we will have plenty to crib about and disagree about again. Today, let us just embrace each other. Not because we are all the same, but despite our differences.

Here is a sampling of our past Eid posts:
Eid Mubarak!
Eid Poetry
Hajj and Eid Greetings
Bakra On-Line
Multiple Eids
Auspicious Days: Juma-tul-Vida, Diwali, and Eid
Gallay hum ko laga kar milliye
Eid Is…
Eid Dishes.

36 responses to “Eid Mubarak from Pakistaniat!”

  1. happy Eid Mubarak (Eid Greetings), to all muslims and pakistani people, Allha give all of you success and pleasure all over the life.

  2. Dr. Nayyar Hashmey says:

    Apropos the concept of Pakistaniat.

    Well friends! all said and done, Pakistaniat is just our love for our dear homeland, our ownPakistan. I do understand Qandeel’s hurt feelings, his sauer reactions, his depressions and frustrations. But these are the feelings experienced by almost every Pakistani who returns home.

    But may I ask, how did he feel when he was in the company of his Indian colleagues or friend. And to that not only the Indians, but also many of our Muslim friends (like the Egyptians) tried to equate us with the Indians.

    The other day I happened to ask this question from Mr. Sartaj Aziz, an old time Muslim Leaguer. I sked him, he saw the Pakistan Movement but many of our younth are questioning today the raison de’tre (why Pakistan?).
    And his reply was:
    Anybody who questions why Pakistan, needs only to look on the other side of the border and he will know why Pakistan.

    Once we have a perception of this typical phenomenon relevant to the South Asian psyche, its history,its culture and its character, we can be then be very clear on what pakistaniat is.

    Now the depressions and frustrations after being back into Pakistan, is rather a thought process when one has lived for a long time abroad.

    I do agree Pakistan has lot of corruption, lot of non sense but who is resposible for this nonsense, this corruption and all sorts of bla bla.We Pakistanis ourselves. Pakistan has nothing to do with this.

    So Q.S. don’t be pessimistic. Pakistaniat has both aspects: bad and good and the good aspect many a times takes a beautiful turn as well. See during the last earthquake how the youth of Pakistan who had always busied themselves with their cozy lives, driving cars like mad, blirting pop music at full volume as if they want the whole of Pakistan to listen to their noisy, ear piercing music, the same spoiled kids of Pakistan sacrificed their sleeps, worked day and night just to help their brothers and sisters in need. So Qandeel, this is Pakistaniat. It has two sides of the picture.But its one side is inddeed graceful, attractive and full of love for this land which though corrupted molested and I would rather say raped by every type of leadership that came into fore yet, the same corrupted, molested land resurrects itself again and again. THIS IS PAKISTANIAT.

    Dr. Nayyar Hashmey
    nhashmey@gmail.com

  3. Fahim says:

    Nice that u have given reference to old posts. Also read an interesting article on fitrana, that will hopefully refresh yr faith. Visit the following link:

    http://www.chowrangi.com/fitrana-status.html

  4. Sridhar says:

    A (belated) Eid Mubarak to all.

  5. ME BHI PAKISTAN HOON TU BHI PAKISTAN HAI says:

    @ Reality Bites

    Hi,

    Reality Bites , i dont like drawing room gossip, and i want to do something for the guy standing outside the mosque, now can you help me on that ,,lets make a joint effort so that no no child under the age of 15 is working in Pakistan..no one is cleaning car windows at traffic signals, no child is begging at traffic signals, no child is working in Auto Workshops…no child is working as a servant in our houses, no child is abandoned by his or her parents in SOS villages.. no male child is born just for the hope that he will be the bread winner of the family and in the process two or three unwanted females are born..come on lets do something to gether…send me an e-mail my address is mudassar_95@yahoo.com..lets see if the soln lies in everybody being a doctor banker or an engineer or the solution lies in a just society

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