Adil Najam
Did you know that today, December 6, was “Sindhi Topi Day”?
I did not. But I now do. I also now know that it was celebrated with great fervor. I am glad that it was.
Even though some have raised concerns about how such a celebration might “isolate” Sindh from the rest of the country, especially in the wake of the violence that the country is in the grips of, I think the idea of celebrating our heritage is a good one. In fact, I hope that it will be followed by the “Pakol Day,” the “Karakul Cap Day,” the “Kulla Day,” and days for celebrating all the diverse and rich array of caps and turbans worn all across the country.
I mean that in all sincerity. After all, we at ATP have been celebrating the Caps and Turbans of Pakistan right from the beginning (here and here).
What I cannot understand, however, is why the centerpiece of the celebrations seemed to be guns and fancy firepower, even more than ajraks and Sindhi caps?
This was so not just in this picture, but in a number of other pictures too. And it is by no means specific to this celebration. All across Pakistan, we see this morbid fascination. Guns at Basant are as disgusting as guns at weddings or guns at college graduations. And yet, the insecure amongst us cling to them in shallow bravado and false machoness. In ordinary times, the spectacle are merely disgusting displays of bad taste. In times like these, such acts become ominous reminders of how the validation of violence (also, here) is a deep deep scar on all of our society.
The picture above is particularly disturbing, not only because of the ugliness of the weapon but for the obvious glee on the lady’s face (from the photo’s caption, she is a “political activist”) – not to mention that in her glee she forgot to don the Sindhi Cap she is supposed to be celebrating. One assumes that the child clinging to her (in a state of shell shock, as he should be) is her’s. One wonders what lesson he is taking back from this episode?
But the bigger question really is, what lessons are we teaching our children about violence and the validation of violence?
Three past posts from ATP still haunt me to this day – the first about an angry mob burning a thief alive, the second about WAPDA engineers opening fire at protesters, and the third of a man beating his wife a his son looks on. All three are really stories about the validation of violence; stories that we have had to write again and again.
The question, indeed, is: with all this fascination with guns and all this violence thick in teh air, what have we become ourselves and what are we teaching our children to become?
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “Shame on our politicians … Kabhi Pakistan day bhi manaliya karoo ….”
– “stupid leaders and stupid public to follow them, it is gould to have cultural day but what is this topi drama day to save zardari.”
– “excuse me ? ^”
– “topi utarna….ak dosray ki .. hahahaha”
– “aaj k din topi drama he chalay ga….mujhay aesa lagta hay kya yeh waqai sai hay”
– “The whole world is busy thinking how to explore the stars and the galaxies… while we’re here talking about topis and ajruks…. no doubt some of us Pakistanis woke up and just found out on 14th August ’47 that Pakistan was created… these guys are backward and will always be…”
– “we call that “Aqal Choos Topi” :)”
– “i think its Pakistan Topi Day”
– “hey man not a pak topi day okkkkk its sindhi topi drama”
– “This is pathetic. At a time when we need to be united under one flag, these bloody politicaians and the blind sheep that follow them are creating all kinds of ridiculous topi dramas and diversions.”
– “aaj kya inko topi yaad aa gyi hai kal kahan thy or i think me ne ye topic shahid sindhi topi ka read kiya hai na ke guns ka ise gun ka angle change kar do bus phir dekho…………………”
– “agree yaar..This was not the rite time to celebrate such traditions when the blood of Muslims is spilled throughout the country..we must be united as a nation..but our politicians are such a pathetic persons that they want us to stay away rom each other..”
– “same comment as the photo caption…why the guns? the rest is just a cultural celebration.”
I think there is some background to this Topi Day. I remember reading in a newspaper, a couple of weeks ago, that some anchorperson (or possibly a guest on a talk show) had made fun of Sindhi cap when he was targeting some politicians. If it is true, it was a dumb thing to do. So, this Topi Day was an answer to that remark on TV.
However, the display and use of weapons for celebrations does not make sense. This should be banned. Period!
I agree with that, I woke up after 12 that day and it was the gun shot that woke me up. It disturbed me mentally, I thought this could have gone peacefully, why guns. Then I thought to drive for grocery to Lajpat road. I drove under HMM(Hosh M Sheedi) flyover and there I saw the crowd, I still had that anger against this kind of celebration as I was of the view “such a celebration might “isolate” Sindh from the rest of the country, ” , but when I saw all this closely and I saw participants from all walks of life , cute children with caps, it made me feel good. I found a sense of festivity around me. I started to enjoy it. I gathered lot of snaps on cell phone camera that i could. The writer should have uploaded those pictures which we were showing how people really enjoyed it. I totally agree that guns part is the worst part of this event, but most of the day was good. May be, ATP followed GEO news coverage this time.
i am no way justifying it.
when state dont understand the language of Ballet then people are forced to go to the route of bullet.
Sindhis [right or wrong] had an impression that when ever the elect a Govt it is not allowed to Govern.
the same what Bengalied felt, the same what Baluchs are feeling.
we need to look deep are we missing something, there must something terribly wrong somewhere.
I usually find ATP very tolerant and open minded but I am really dismayed to read the post. First, why would a cultural event isolate Sindh from rest of country? Does Basant isolate Punja from rest of country? In Sindh, Basant is celebrated in universities and by general public despite the fact it is culture of Punjab. Topi is the symbol of not only Sindh but of whole Pakistan as it is worn by Baluchi, Pakhtoon and in Southern Punjab as well. Second, in my opinion that terrorism can in no way demoralize us. We have not stopped celebrating Eid despite terrorism and have just celebrated Eid with ‘great fervor’. I am of the opinion that such evens show that we are not cowered by such acts of terrorism and we still have spirit to live life on our own terms. Third, I fail to understand why two entirely separate things like gun culture and topi day are juxtaposed here? I abhor gun culture. In fact gun culture is not part of Sindhi culture. Why Adil Najam Sahib chosen this picture out of hundreds of thousand of beautiful pictures showing people’s love for their own culture. Lastly, it should be remembered that Pakistan is a federation comprises of four federal units. These units were in existence thousands of years before Pakistan came to being. All these provinces have their distinct cultural identities. These cultures belong to Pakistan. In no way celebrating one’s culture is negation of our national unity as being described by some comments. Happy provinces who feel secure about their rights and identity are strength of Pakistan.