Adil Najam

The obvious and logical followup to our last ATP Poll is to now ask the question: which of our leaders did the most harm to Pakistan? A number of readers suggested, and we agree, that such a poll should be conducted. We ask only that you please respond to the question with the same care with which it has been structured.

As we had done in the last poll, we have structured the question carefully to focus only the harm that these leaders might have caused (all leaders do bad things as well as good, some more and some less).

Umair Ghani

“Mast O Mast Qalandar Teri Haan Mein Teri Haan”, Abida Parveen’s deep drone filled the air as special train to Sehwan crawled into Railway station like a lazy dragon. Motley crowd of devotees, malangs and dervishes hung from compartments, windows and train top. Loud chants “Dam Mast Qalandar”, “Ali Maula“ and “Bolo Lal Qalandar“ rocked the platform.

People waved red flags and ran along the train. Thousands thronged dusty streets of sacred city of Sehwan to attend the annual Urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (currently underway). Cramped on a berth, I witnessed this unprecedented gathering of pilgrims from the compartment window. Tears of devotion faded my vision. Scenes blurred but I could hear this happening all around me in grand glory.

The medley of performances – from Abida Parveen, Junoon, Nur Jahan, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – above demonstrate the special place that Lal Shahbaz has in our spiritual heritage.

Owais Mughal

Have you ever thought of a situation where a policeman nabs a bad guy red handedly but instead of putting handcuffs he softly utters this verbal warning in very polite Punjabi:

nayeen labhday laal gawaache
tu matti na pharol jogia

and the bad guy replies:

gunah ka apne motarif hoon, ye iltija hai pakbazo
karo mujhe sangsaar lekin, gunah ki dastaan to sun lo

Well, after reading the following news in Pakistan’s largest Urdu daily you may also agree that above poetic episode does not seem like a far cry from reality. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. For our English readership I’ll provide the translation towards the end.