Owais Mughal and Jauhar Ismail
The division of opinion between the column writers of Urdu and English press in Pakistan has been quite stark in the past few years. May be we are generalizing the above statement too much but some degree of truth is not hidden from any regular reader of both Urdu and English print media. In the last few days, we have seen a significant increase in the number of Urdu columnists who admit that they can’t deny the ugly reality that Pakistan has become the hub of bad guys and we need to act now for the sake of our own future. Some examples of this new shift is evident from today’s (12/21) Jang columns:
(1) Sadiq Saleem’s “mohazib dunya ka hissa baniye”,
(2) Rauf Klasra’s “jang se bachna hi bahaadri hoti hai” and
(3) Jeevan Khan’s “qaumi salamti ke taqaazay”.
owais:
it is a moot point!
the established big name columnists in both urdu and english are generally high on rhetoric and low on insight…and…usually they regurgitate their own oft repeated thoughts
speaking of urdu columnists specifically, klasra is an exception as is kishwar naheed
zak:
TFT chooses the best of the outlandish from urdu yellow….
Timely article especially considering what the Indian newspapers are spewing these days post-Mumbai tragedy days; if the Indian English language newspapers are belligerant and propagandist then the Hindi ones’ require no guessing.
Along with these articles, there is also one from Nazir Naji (within last couple of days in Jang) where Naji praises Nawaz Sharif for the bold statement about the alleged ‘cover up’ in Faridkot. There are many more and in most places you see deep anguish (not anger), fear, and a yearning for quieter days.
Indeed, as I see it, Pakistanis have been so traumatized by repeated acts of violence over last 16+ months that there is a sense of yearning for peace. No segment of Pakistani political/military class has been spared of violence–even the Officer’s Mess of the elite SSG.
Thank you for starting this timely topic.
PS. ‘Officer’s Mess’ has made some major contribution to Pakistan’s mess.
This is certainly an interesting move away from the bull that the vernacular press has been feeding its readers. (TFT has a weekly feature of the choicest gems from the Urdu press that, for those who don’t have access too in the original language).
This trend will also help lessen the ‘divide’ between the two readerships as both realize that the differences in their views are not as deep as they imagine.
Kalasara always has been a moderate.
In Urdu press there are very few but big names who have always written in favor of peace and they will never fail you to go along any kid of rhethoric that is against common man’s interest. Those include Hasan Nisar, Munno Bhai.
I especially liked Rauf Klasra’s article…
I had actually stopped reading Urdu newspapers for a while… but looking at these articles, there is certainly some wisdom at work. I hope this helps educate the people and snap them to face reality.