Adil Najam
A cascade of horrible recent events, all involving an outpouring of violence – in thought, in words, in deed – and culminating in the brutal murder of Salman Taseer continues to haunt the Pakistani psyche. We are left numb in disbelief of a reality which we always knew: the dysfunctional divisions in society are not just a scar on the face of modern Pakistan, it is a bleeding wound that threats the very body politic of our fragile being.
The fanatical murder of Salman Taseer, and even more than that the reaction to it, has shaken us as we should have been shaken well before. As one tries desperately to make sense of the senselessness that surrounds us, this line from an old poem by Himayat Ali Shair – Abhi tou kuch nahiN hua – keeps coming back to hound one’s senses. Indeed, this, along with two other poems – Obaidullah Aleem’s ‘Meyray shehr jal rahey hain, mairey loug marr rahen hain’ and Ahmed Faraz’s ‘Aaj aisa nahiN, aisa nahiN honay daina’ – resound today even though all three were written inn very different times for different (but not unrelated) crises. They are all worth a listen again:
Himayat Ali Shair: Abhi tou kuch nahiN hua
Obaidullah Aleem: Meray loug marr rahey haiN
Ahmed Faraz: Aaj aisa nahiN, aisa nahiN, honay daina
All three were written in very different times – Aleem in 1971, Faraz and (I think) Shair in the 1980s – in different contexts and about different but very related challenges to the ones we face today. Each was a cry of pain and a warning to the nation. Warnings we did not heed. One listens to them today and one wishes we had paid attention then. One also wonders if, in fact, we are paying attention even today.
The self-righteousness and intolerance on everything that everyone seems to have is frightening. Even on the most minor things and even in our comments section, just disagreeing seems to be never enough; there seems to be a compulsion to be disagreeable and uncivil, and forever angry. The hatred we display for anyone who we do not agree with and the violence we justify on the basis of that hatred boggles the mind. Intolerance is everywhere.
Anyone we disagree with becomes not just a subject of disagreement, but a fair target for slander and character assassination, verbal abuse, and ultimately murder. Indeed, there is a huge difference between venting anger with words and anger that leads to murder. But both lie on the same progression. A society that tolerates – and promotes – too much of the first will inevitably harvest too much of the latter.
It is good that at least some discussion has begun on what is happening to this society where everyone seems forever angry, forever incensed, and forever aggrieved, and forever at the tip of blowing up. But in proportion to the air of self-righteousness that pervades society the discussion is too little, and may well be too late. Some of the chest-beating is also self-serving and itself so angry as to lose its own meaning. But, at least, we are beginning to talk about things we have been ignoring for too long. That is a good sign. Maybe we should also do a little listening. It would be good to begin by listening to the reasoned words in these three poems. Reason is often the first casualty of anger. Ultimately, it is also the only antidote.
P.S. We are adding a fourth poem, sent to us by a reader, called “Abhi kuch dair baqi hai“ by Shakil Jaffery:
Sorry – I disagree – Basically “extremism” is not only in one side, all “fanatics” are not only religious people, all “bigots” are not those who love their faith. Support to “Violence” is not from Taliban Supporters.
Discussion- should be open we need to see the other side of the coin also. e.g. in Karachi power game is revolving around MQM, PPP & ANP, are these organization has any religious ideology- everyone know what is happening & who is responsible. Govt Corruption cases – NRO – are for all these types of evils, religious people are responsible or secular – liberal lobbies.
Let pick another case from Karachi, a young lady (who was reported as messager) was raped by gangsters of young people all belongs to hifi society amongst these no one was religious.
An extremist liberal who drunk on Governor house, who is calling again & again “Kala qanoon” who is calling ulema as “Jahil” & said “I put them at my toe” have insulting, arrogant behavior towards religious people, who supported Musharaf regime. I don’t want to discuss his family personal life style which is very well known & easily available at cyber space. What we call above all – Innocence???
All this is Liberal Fascist-ism. This lobby is taking “Actions” in the results everyone is seeing “Reaction”. Both sides are extremists – even above post also has extremist views. All blames on one side- single track, single mind & approach.
This is what we call “Liberal Extremism” which is increasing & need to control as advised by Waseem
These poems are ok, but as a matter of fact its very sad that you had to dig through last 30 years to find something like this. every time i hear about an act of voilence i wonder what happened to our poets, writers, artists ……. are they alive? is any body there? why there is such a graveyard silence? why no body says anything? or are they scared too. may be just speech less, numb.
The most telling message for us came from VP Joe Biden-
“Societies that tolerate such actions wind up being consumed by those actions”.
Intolerance has seeped into the DNA of the silent majority. It is spreading its tentacles like cancer. For some, we may be on the cusp of something big. For others, it may be too late. The genie is out of the bottle. Societies cannot be made to change on a dime.
@Daktar
Well said dear! The problem, I agree with you, is the delegitimization of the intolerance. But this cannot perhaps be done either by liberalization or moderation now in the extant scenario as this requires deep analysis.
Just see some people are celebrating the murder of ST by accusing him of blasphemy against the prophet of Islam’s person, but they remain somewhat reticent when the terrorists destroy mosques, kill namazies and other people indiscriminately in the name of islam. So there is apparently a clash between extreme devotion to the person of the messenger and that for the message he brought or those for whom he brought it.
Now if we go back in Islamic history and recount the clash between Yazid and Hussain, we see the same phnomenon – Yazid banking on literal Islam and Hussain on his relationship with the person of the prophet. Yazid epitomized this clash when he is stated to have said, “I would use Hussain’s naana’s sword against him” and he was apparently successful in using that sword by getting a fatwa-e-qatl against Hussain from the mullah of the time. The history is repeating itself today in the Pakiland leading to the dialectics of islam, the Karbala, but with three players – Aashiqaan-e-Rasool, Aashiqaan-e-Islam (the khaarijites) and the Jokers (like interior minister, Rehman), called the PPP government of Pakistan. Let us see what comes off.
Sorry for the rambling, but what else can we do in this scenario, but wait and see and find catharsis in blogging.
Is there a more clear recording or text of “Abhi tou kuch nahiN hua?”