Adil Najam

Last year the mobile phone company Mobilink had released a wonderful tribute to Mehdi Hassan on the occasion of Independence Day, conceived and produced by actor Shaan; now of Khuda key Liye fame. We had carried a number of posts on that wonderful tribute (here, here and here) and have recently featured it again on our sidebar. This year, Mobilink released a similar tribute, this time to Farida Khannum.

It is done equally tastefully and although the song itself does not have the gravitas and passion of ‘Yeh watan tumhara hai‘, the visuals and the sentiments are very moving. I, at least, have been listening to it repeatedly over the last many hours.

Guest post by Kruman

Since we have been talking here about Jinnah’s vision for Pakistan, maybe we should also think about Jinnah’s vision on Pakistan’s governance. Particularly on the issue of ‘uniforms’ in politics, which is the concern of the day in Pakistan. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was thinking well ahead of his time. His following address has never been so pertinent as it is now.

On June 14, 1948, addressing the officer at the Military Staff College in Quetta, the Quaid-i Azam said:

During my talks with one or two very high-ranking officers I discovered that they did not know the implications of the oath taken by the troops of Pakistan. Of course, an oath is only a matter of form; what is more important is true spirit and heart. But it is an important form and I would like to take the opportunity of refreshing your memory by reading the prescribed oath to you:

Adil Najam

Some of the best political commentary anywhere in the world is done in humor. In Urdu we have a great tradition of political commentary in verse and some of the best poetry (a la Faiz Ahmad Faiz) is of this variety. What I present here is no Faiz – not even close. But it is a fun parody.