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.
Bilal Bhai,
Superb questions, they should form the main plank of the next post me thinks. But in short my views are as follows:
1. Both
2. Both
3. Neither if I had the chance to decide, why not a government of national unity with people like Asma Jehangir, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Dr Adil Najam ( they cant do any worse!)
4. Mush’s view is pure bull
5. Yes its the biggest threat to our nation and needs to be tackled in the spirit of a national debate. Dividing you and me as secular liberals or conservative fundos does nothing and bombing the smitherins of the tribal areas whom have never felt part of Pakistan because we never cared about them until Uncle Sam picked up the phone and said ‘hey you got terrorists there’.
I will expand on my plans/solutions for all of the above soon, perhaps via a guest post at ATP.
Feimanallah
Wasim
Steve,
The US only wants what’s in its own national interest. That should not be a surprise to you. And I don’t blame or condemn the US for holding such a position. It is the rigt of every nation.
So you should not be surprised if Pakistan decided to prolong / delay / play up the fight against the Taliban. It is in our national interest to keep the aid flowing as long as we can. Based on prior experience, as soon as the US gets what it needs, Pakistan’s interests get dropped like a smelly sock.
The US not only needs to devise a Pakistan policy (instead of a Musharraf policy), but it needs to devise a long-term policy. Relationships are cultivated over long periods of time.
That being said, we may have bitten off more than we could chew where the Taliban are concerned. So let’s hope for your sake and mine that we overcome this menace.
I also heard Najam Sethi’s interview on Geo. He was very very conciliatory towards Musharaf. He seemed more interested in projecting Benazir. If I am not mistaken The Daily Times is owned by Salman Taseer, one time leftist and PPP leader.
-just wondering………
is it MUSH
I agree that Musharraf should go. It would definitely be ideal if he voluntarily gave up his position. It may be too late for him to be able to do so now. What scares me to death is another 4 years with either Mr. Sharif or Ms. Bhutto.
Ideally, it would have been great if we actually had a plan for how to tackle some of our issues such as extremism. Given the way the wind is blowing on this site, I am about to make a very unpopular statement but I do not believe that Musharraf is to blame for all of our woes. He did not create Osama or the Taliban. One could argue that he did not deal with it as well as we would have liked him to, but he is not the cause.
What is frustrating for me is that we scream “democracy, democracy” as if it will solve all our problems instantly. It will not. The US will not solve our problems: They have rewarded every military ruler and sanctioned every civilian government in the last two decades. The Chief Justice will not solve our problems: He is no longer a judge but a politician. My only hope is that under a democracy we will finally lose our last excuse for why Pakistan is broken (Musharraf) and will be forced to face the facts.