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.
Yes we can’t fight though we are ready to fight, but we need some sincere leadership which i m afraid is not available, that’s the reality.
“Today in the market place, chained and fettered walk ” lolz , ok, i will, a whole crowd will join with flags of PPP, PML (N), MMA, shouting “go musharaf go”, baton-charge, tear gas, media, agitation increases, musharaf have to leave, fair elections held, PPP or PML wins (forget about ppl of larkana choosing other then benazir or someone beating chaudary in gujrat or sheikh rashid being challenged in his union etc), Benazir, Nawaz, etc for prime minister, bla bla bla.
Welll i better not waste my time in this “chained and fettered walk” , Sorry :(
Today In the market place, though chained and fettered walk!
The misty eye, the fiery spirit , not enough
The allegations of intense love, not enough
Today in the market place, chained and fettered walk !
Walk waving your arms– dance in ecstasy, walk!
Walk to protest in sorrow, walk with blood splattered clothes, walk!
Destiny awaits you, walk!
The masters too, the masses too.
The arrow of accusations too, the stones of abuse too,
The unhappy daybreak too, the failed day too.
Who else is their companion other then us?
In the city of the beloved who is defiant?
Who is worthy of the executioner’s hand?
Take courage, wounded ones, walk!
Let us once again go to be murdered–friends, walk!
Aaj Baazar Mein pa bajaulan chalo
Chasme naam jane shorida kafi nahin
Tuhmat e ishq e poshida kafi nahin
Aaj bazaar mein pa bajaulan chalo
Dast afashan chalo mast or raqsan chalo
Khak bar sar chalo khun ba daman chalo
Rah takta hai sab shahr e janan chalo
Hakim e shahr bhi majma e am bhi
Tir e ilzam bhi sange dushnam bhi
Sobho nashad bhi roz e nakam bhi
Inka dam saz apne siwa kaun hai
Shahr e janan mein ab ba safa kaun hai
Dast e qatil ke shayan raha kaun hai.
Rakht e dil bandh lo, dil fagaro chalo
Phir hamin qatl hoaen yaro chalo.
Translated by Narjis and Maniza Naqvi
Adil,
I have seen many videos, political, motivational, all sorts, but your choice of this video and Faiz, is just amazing. At times, we need reminders of what we have been through.
Keep up the good work.
Farhan Syed
London
Fully agree with you Abid sahab.
Ahmad sahab: There is no disagreement on the point that the