... for without victory, there is no survival!

It’s not just cricket anymore. It has gone much beyond the contest between bat and ball. This T20 victory is a kind of a vindication of a resolve, not just for Pakistan’s cricket team, but the whole nation at large. The nation that was hurt, hurt bad and bleeding, a nation that was longing for any news that didn’t involve death and blood, a nation that was mourning one death after another for past few years, a nation which had lost hope.


Finally the news came, a ‘good’ news. We were victorious, even if in a cricket game, and the victory was sweet, least expected, but a victory nonetheless. As Winston Churchill once said, “Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” And who would understand these words better than us? This is a victory which has rejuvenated a nation that was down and out. A victory that gave 160 million people a reason to smile in the darkest of the days. A victory celebrated by and one, and a victory celebrated by all. A victory, that brought tears to my eyes.


A hope has finally emerged out of despair.


This T20 win has got much more symbolic value for Pakistan and Pakistanis than anybody could imagine. For others this may be a just another competition win, but for us this is much bigger, for it has given us a reason to re-imagine our future. A future that can be built on the principles of unity, faith and discipline, principles that helped Younus Khan and his men to lift the cup that nobody thought was their. May this nation witness plenty more victories and may the people of Pakistan be always as happy as they are today.


Pakistan Zindabad.

If instability was a sport . . .

"Pakistan aik intehai nazuk mor se guzar raha hai"

Lit:' Pakistan is crossing through an extremely tricky curve,' meaning 'Pakistan is going through tough times.'

This is an extremely popular line in Pakistan, and we get to hear it a lot, usually in official addresses on TV by our presidents or prime ministers. Now it's a common phrase on the lips of almost every politician almost every time they speak.

Instability and Pakistan go hand in hand, so much so that it now feels absolutely normal to be living in an unstable country. We have accepted it as a matter of fact, and do not seem much bothered about it. In the 62 years of Pakistan's short life, we have seen instability of almost every form, shape and kind. First five years were relatively stable under the prime minister-ship of Liaqat Ali Khan, until his assassination in in 1951. From October 1951 to October 1957, six prime ministers were changed in the country, out of which one lasted only for two months.

In 1958, General Ayub Khan took over in a military coup, and ruled the country for over ten years. After his resignation in 1969, General Yahya Khan, another army chief, took over and his two years in office saw the division of the country in 1971 with East Pakistan becoming Bangladesh. This forced Army out of government and Pakistan saw it's first ever elected government under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after the 1971 general elections. Bhutto's five years were relatively stable only to end in the infamous and controversial elections of 1977. The elections opened a road to another phase of instability and martial law in the country. General Zia Ul Haq threw Bhutto in the gallows and took over as a military dictator. His elevn years are by far the darkest in Pakistan's history. After his death in a plane crash in August 1988, Benazir Bhutto took over as Pakistan's prime minister after winning the elections in December, but only to be thrown out in 1990 after 20 months in office.

Nawaz Sharif was the new elected prime minster after BB's dismissal because of corruption charges. Nawaz didn't last long either and was sacked in April 1993 by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Benazir's second term started in October the same year, and was dismissed in 1996, again without completing the full fiver year term. Nawaz Sharif's historic victory in 1996 elections, giving him 2/3rd majority in the parliament, gave him the second stint at power. He was ousted by General Musharraf in October 1998 after Sharif's alleged involvement in hijacking General's plane while he was on his way home from Sri Lanka. Mush's first 7 years were quite stable until his decision to dismiss chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Cahuhdary, starting country wide protests by lawyers. Before the elections of 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated which made it even more difficult for the General to hold on to power. His party lost the elections in February 2008 and he resigned later that year.

Zardari, alleged to be the most corrupt person in Pakistan and widower of Benazir Bhutto, took over as President in August, which is an act of instability in itself. Since then, we have seen an alarming rise of Talibanization in the north western province of the country bordering with Afghanistan. Taliban now pose a serious threat to the country, and pushed at least one province into extreme instability.


So I can safely conclude that if instability was a sport, we'd certainly be its champions.

Koi Ummeed Bar Nahi Aati, Koi Surat Nazar Nahi Aati!

With every passing day I'm loosing hope, hope of a secure, peaceful and bright future, if I'll have one at all, in my beloved country - Pakistan.

Every incident (like the one of lashing a 17 year old girl publicly in Swat for liking a boy) instills fear in me. I think of the days, months and years to come.. I think of my own daughter and it gives me shivers, just the thought that what the future might hold for her.

Every news item makes me feel that things have gotten out of hands, that there is just no hope, only fear. And when I see my fellow Pakistanis not realizing this almost certain threat, it saddens me even more.

So I ask myself once again.... Hope - All's lost, Or all that remains?

A Pakistani's Anthem of Hope!

A hope of a new dawn, a dawn much awaited after a long dark night. A night that has been full of of tyranny, terrorism, bloodshed and hopelessness;


Umeed-e-Sahar

Jigar dareeda hoon, chaak-e-jigar ki baat suno
Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

Alam raseeda hoon, daman-e-tar ki baat suno
Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

Zubaan bureeda hoon, zakhm-e-guloo sey harf karo
Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

Shikasta pa hoon, malaal-e-safar ki baat suno
Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno

Musafir-e-rah-e-sehra-e-zulmat-e-shab se
Ab iltafat-e-nigar-e-sahar ki baat suno

Umeed-e-sahar ki baat suno


-Faiz Ahmad Faiz


Hope of the dawn


I'm torn inside; hark what my tormented entrails tell
Hark to the hope of the dawn

I'm swept by sorrows; hark to what my tears have to tell
Hark to the hope of the dawn

My tongue is tortured; hark to my wounded throat
Hark to the hope of the dawn

My feet are lacerated ; hark to the travails of my travels
Hark to the hopes of the dawn

From a traveler through the desert of the dark dark night
come! and listen to the tidings of bright & beautiful morn

Hark to the hope of the dawn



(The poem has been sung by a Pakistan pop band, LAAL, and video can be seen on this link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjaNQFChkCY )

Article From The Dawn

 

Daddy?
Yes, son.
Are we going to have a war with India?
Perhaps.
Oh, goody. We will thrash them, right? Like we did in 1857!
It wasn't in 1857, son.
Oh, okay. But whom did we thrash in 1857?
The British, son…
And the Hindus too, right?
Well, not quite - we were on the same side then.

Did Qaid-I-Azam fight in that war along with Muhammad bin Qasim and Imran Khan?
No, son. The Qaid and Imran were born much later and Muhammad Bin Qasim died many years before.
Then who ruled Pakistan in those days?
There was no Pakistan in those days, son.
But there was always a Pakistan! It has been there for 5,000 years!
Who have you been talking to, son?
No one. I've just been watching TV.
It figures.
Daddy, why are all these people against us Arabs?
Arabs? But we aren't Arabs, son.
Of course we are because our ancestors were Arabs!
No, son. Our ancestors were of the Sub continental stock.
Sub-what?
Never mind. You seem to like wars, son.
Yes. I like to watch them on TV.
But real wars are fought outside the TV, son.
Really? What sort of a war is that? Never mind. Daddy, you look worried.
Of course I am, you little warmongering punk!
Daddy! Why are you scolding me?
Because TV is talking rot and so are you!
Daddy, are you supporting Hindus?
No!
Daddy, have you become a kafir?
Keep quiet! No more TV for you! Go watch a movie on DVD or listen to a CD.
Can't do that.
But we have so many DVDs and CDs, son.
Not any more.
What do you mean?
I burned them all.
What?!
I burned them all.
I heard that! But why?
They are all Bollywood trash and spread obscenity.
Oh, God. Son, go do your homework. What happened to that science project you were working on?
It's almost complete.
Good boy. What are you making?
A bomb.
What?!
A bomb.
I heard that! But why?
Because I am a true Muslim who hates America.
But only last week you wanted to go to Disney Land.
That's different.
How come?
Mickey Mouse is Muslim.
No, he isn't.
Is so. He converted when he heard azaan on the moon.
On the moon?
Yes.......Daddy, do you want to see my science project, or not?
Gosh, that bomb? But your science teacher won't like it.
No, she wont.
Really?
Yes. I plan to blow her up as well.
God, what is wrong with you? Go call your mother!
She can't come.
Why not?
I've locked her in the kitchen.
But why?
I will not let her out until she covers herself up properly!
But she's your mother!
She's also a woman!
So?
So she should be hidden.
Hidden from whom?
The whole world and Tony.
Tony?
Yes, Tony.
But Tony's a dog.
Yes. But he's male.
Son, have you gone mad?
No. By the way, I've made sure Kitto starts covering up as well.
Kitto?
Yes, Kittto.
But Kitto's a cat!
Yes. But a female cat.
But she'll suffocate.
Oh, she's already dead.
What?
I said she's already dead.
I heard that! But how?
I buried her alive.
You what?
Yes. To avenge Tony's honour. But now I will behead Tony.
But why?
To save mom's honour!
Oh, God!
Don't say God. Always say Allah.
What's the difference?
Daddy, do you want to be beheaded too?
No!
Do you want to be stoned to death?
No!
Do you want to be flogged?
No!
Do you want to get your arms chopped off?
No!
Then stop asking silly questions. By the way, I won't call you daddy anymore.
What will you call me then?
Whatever that is Arabic for daddy.
I don't know any Arabic, son.
That's because you are a kafir.
Who the heck are you to tell me who I am, you little fascist twit!
What's a fascist?
An irrational, violent, self-righteous mad man!
W... aaaaaaa...
Why are you crying?
You scolded me you kafir.
Okay, I'm sorry. You have to be tolerant and rational, son. Now be a good boy and go read a book instead of watching TV.
I have no books.
Of course, you do. I bought you so many books.
I burned them.
But why?
They were all in English.
So?
It's a non-Muslim language!
But we are speaking English, aren't we?
W... aaaaaaa…
What now?
Zionists made me forget my Arabic.
But you never knew any Arabic, son.
Yes, I did until you and mommy gave me the polio drops
Okay, tell me, can you do me a favour?
Sure, dad.
Can you blow up something for me?
Oh, goody! Of course, dad. What should I blow? A hospital, a hotel, a barber shop...?
No, no, something a lot more sinister.
Mom? Tony?

No, no…
What then?
The TV set!
Blow the TV set? But why - I don't want to do it, mom won't like it too.
Just do it!
Uh... Dad?
Yes.
How come you're so undemocratic, we outvoted you 2 to 1!!

Freedom at Midnight

Recently I read Dominique Lapierre's Freedom at Midnight. Has anyone read this? Its a very famous one which gives ample insights into an outsider's view about India and Pakistan and their independence.

This book covers the last days of Raj - The British Rule of India. It talks about extravagance enjoyed by the British, the miseries of Indians(and the then unborn Pakistanis of course), the country with its huge population, thousands starving, hundreds living a life as good as the British. It talks about the country which once was truly called the crown jewel of the British empire. 

The tight struggle between Nehru's congress and Jinnah's Muslim league is really gripping in nature. the offers made by Gandhi to keep India united (the one where he told Mountbatten that let India be given to Muslim League's rule and he will tour the whole of country to get the leaders of Congress and common man's agreement) was astonishing in nature. It also talks about 

the experiments of Gandhi. Lapierre obviously had his share of doubts on Gandhian policies. 

The best thing about the book is its not a mere drab monotonously written historical account. Rather it is full of anecdotes dotted through out a historical account. This book is impartial in nature. It has certainly highlighted British values in some places, while denouncing its color apartheid in many. Lord Mountbatten can bee seen in a different light than what we are used to look at him with, the husband of Edwina Mountbatten who used to have an affair with Nehru. :) But Mountbatten's character and his grip on politics comes to the fore again and again in tihs book as he shapes the face of the world's largest secular country, and the second largest Islamic country. It depicts the vagaries the Europeans had to go through while in India too. 

Dominique roamed around India to different historical cemeteries. Those containing hundred year old tombs of English men in India. In one place he found tombs of two kids who died in consecutive days. there were many tombs which told many unknown stories. These in all, gives a feel of an India which was full of snakes, mosquitoes diseases and what not. 

Then there was a vast account of native states and their princes. The grandeur they lived. Their show off. The kind of riches the Nizam of Hyderabad enjoyed and the kind of cheapskate he was. The book is full of legends, anecdotes and stories about different events that unfolded during those years. The best part of the book is its lucidity and story telling. Dominic is a master at (hi)story telling. and he excels in this book. Its a must read for all Indians and Pakistanis to generate a view about themselves and to come out of the staunch feeling of nationality that we suffer from whenever we face each other.

I mean, as a Pakistani, I always try to show Jinnah as an out of the world person probably the best leader of the world. And as an Indian, the same I try to do with Gandhi. They were not super humans, and when you read about them in a book which carefully avoids the eulogy you find elsewhere, they turn out to be perfectly normal and human beings. Gandhi a social experimenter some of whose experiments brought India the much sought after freedom, while some of his experiments or rather inability of conducting those, could not stop its vivisection. On the other hand, Jinnah, a staunch believer in United India, who could not hold on to his initial ideals, and took petty party politics over his ideals which finally led to the partition. The good and bad of both sides comes in to picture pretty clearly, and its hard to close your eyes and deny that.

The book takes a dig at the pettiness with which Hindus and Muslims fought over petty things like ink pots and bookshelves when all the official assets were being divided. It also has a lot of inside stories about the scandals of the Princes of different native states. I won't tell you more about this book. Go, get it and have a pleasant read! Cheers.

Not on!

Pakistan is going through one of the worst financial emergency to hit the country. Escalated terrorism had brought the country’s economy to a fester, only to make it even worse with the worldwide recession. Pakistan is dreadfully seeking help not only from international financial institutions but also from the ‘friendly countries’ or ‘Friends of Pakistan group’ as they would call it. Country, they say, is at the verge of a bankruptcy since they do not have enough dollars to support even one month’s import bill.

One would expect the government to take desperate measures to solve the liquidity crunch and to bring back the economy on track. Things like cutting down on avoidable imports for a while, lessening non-developmental government expenditure, efforts to save every penny in the exchequer that can be etc. But what do we see instead? A cabinet expansion in the central government; by not just one or two, but by forty ministers. A fifty member cabinet now increased to a big fat 55, with as many advisors inducted by the Prime Minister with all the perks and privileges that come with the designation. What an open and cold-blooded injustice with the tax payers’ money, as ten million rupees is the budget for each minister for a period of one year.  

There is still a likelihood the number of ministers may swell up to seventy, once two othercoalition partners of the government are accommodated in the federal cabinet. Nepotism at it’s worst.

What one fails to understand is that what do they actually plan to do with all these ministers? If Chinese government can run its country, rather successfully, with only twenty five ministers, if Japan can do exceedingly well with only eighteen, if Germany is content with a fifteen member cabinet, why does Pakistan need fifty five? The other thing that one needs to know is the credentials of all those ministers and the basis on which they were chosen to lead a particular department. One would also like to meet the genius who invented portfolios like ‘Ministry of Population’.

If that was not enough, Mr. President – the Fresh King of Islamabad, Asif Ali Zardari took an army of 200 delegates with him on a chartered flight to meet the King of Saudi Arabia just to get concessions on oil payments.

How long will nepotism rule the roost in this ‘Land of pure’? How long will it take before our taxes would actually be spent on us? I hope I live to see that day.

Hope - All's lost or All that remains?

It has been a year and a half now. It all started with that gloomy morning of March 9^th last year when (ex) President Musharraf decided to dismiss then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chauhdary, and we haven’t had any respite since then.

It seems as if we have gotten into a never ending cycle of disappointments, disasters, depression and dismay. Suicide bombings, processions on roads, strikes, political tug of war, assassinations, economic melt down, flight of capital, earthquake and what not has stricken this ‘Land of pure’, since then, all of which earlier seemed to have been doing quite well, atleast since 2001. Musharraf, a dictator, had everything under control, apparently, until his decision to sack the Justice. Things just never got back on track, if they ever were, but deteriorated with every passing day.

We saw a panel of Supreme Court judges reinstating their ‘Boss’ back onto his position only for a couple of months before they all were to go because of an ‘emergency’ imposed by the former President/Army Chief of Pakistan. Country was back on streets, chanting anti Musharraf slogans and reciting revolutionary poems in corner meetings, from Khyber to Karachi. All of a sudden ‘Army ruled-Land of the Pure’ had found new saviors in form of leaders of protesting lawyers. Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister, ousted by Musharraf in a bloodless coup back in October 99, attempted to come back to the country he once ruled  after an 'exile’ of about seven years, only to find him thrown on a Jeddah bound flight just an hour after he touched Islamabad. He eventually was allowed back again, in a month’s time, after dew deliberations by ‘foreign friends’ of the ‘Holy Land’.

Benazir Bhutto, too, ended her self imposed exile and came back to Pakistan after a deal brokered by British, later hijacked by the Americans to lead the supposedly ‘planned’ setup that was to form after the polls. She was greeted by thousands of people and a bomb blast in Karachi.

Unfortunately we lost her in the following month in a successful assassination attempt. No one has yet claimed responsibility of this murder. This brought Asif Ali Zardari, the ‘unpopular’ widower of late Ms. Bhutto into the forefront of Pakistan's political wrestle mania. In the aftermath of Bhutto’s assassination, country saw widespread lawlessness for at least three days, especially in her native province, Sindh. Polls were delayed for a few weeks. 

February 18^th was the D-Day. People voted. Pakistan Peoples Party of the deceased former Prime Minister won a majority in the centre and Sindh, with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) coming in second lead in centre. Musharraf backed party, PML Q was voted out but not completely. Sindh went entirely to the PPP, where as Punjab got a coalition government as did NWFP and Balochistan.

People held high hopes of this new government, rightly or wrongly, and the whole nation seemed up beat, which wasn’t to last long. A tug of war started between PPP and PMLN on over the issue of deposed judges. Governance was ignored all this time. A sudden flight of capital started from Pakistan and within months Pakistani rupee devalued by some thirty percent. Federal reserves decreased by half and country came on the brink of bankruptcy. In the midst of all, Musharraf ‘wilted’ under the pressure put by the ‘democratic forces’ and resigned. This brought Asif Ali Zardari, aka Mr. 10%, at the helm of the affairs as he was crowned as the ‘Fresh King of Islamabad’. Rupee devalued even further, stock markets crumbled, industries closed down when democracy finally ruled the 170 million frustrated people after nine years. International financial conditions and oil prices didn’t help either. As of today, Pakistan has agreed to enter in a support program with IMF, an institution Pakistan had got rid of only two years earlier. 

 All this time, western borders of the country adjacent to Afghanistan have seen an intense fight between Pakistani forces and ‘Taliban’. Conditions have been sores then ever before with people being killed day in and day out in this ‘holy war’ of sorts which doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

It has been several months since the inception of the new ‘ray of hope’ government, but things have gone worse. Economy and terrorism are the two bleeding wounds draining this overly populated country of ours, Pakistan.

So, should we lose hope? I don’t think so. I am hopeful that things would change – for good- if we pull up our socks and take on all these problems head on.

 

 

When curiosity didn't kill the cat..

As a kid, my biggest fascination was to have a pen friend! Unfortunately, nothing of that sorts happened. Always fascinated by cultures, I was sorely disappointed by that fact that I never got to know anything about others.

Then internet happened. And with internet came Orkut. By that time, I was very fascinated with the happenings on the other side of the border. Maybe my first friend was a Pakistani. I don’t remember his name but I remember well that making friends across the border was something I was very keen upon.

That was sometime back. Today when I look back, I see that I have made some really great friends from across the border and the experience has not only been on an upward learning curve, but has made me realize the frivolity of the line that separates us. I may or may not meet my friends in reality, but they are my friends nonetheless and are very much indispensible in my life.

Indian and Pakistani friends are a rare breed of people because still the majority believe that the guy across the border is the cause for our downfall. Government propaganda doesn’t help matters either. But then we are again the same bunch of guys who look at North - South Korea with a sorry kind of “Tch .. Tch” and resume hating across the Wagah!

No matter how much we harp upon being so similar and yet being so spiteful, the differences that are; are too complex to be resolved. The differences are simply political in nature and there are huge political interests involved, so unfortunate though, but they will not be resolved, at least in the near future.

                         We can definitely not change the Government policy but can try to make a difference by improving upon people to people contact. I mean, when more of Usmans come into contact with the Anands from India, the perception of the neighbour is bound to change and the chances of sanity prevailing is more.

If only I had my way..

Of Indians, Pakistanis and desis...

What socks your mind first up when you think of India and Pakistan? War? Kashmir? Astringent diplomatic rivals? Why is it that we always fail to remember the fact that we were once a single country? Why is it that we fail to remember that our ancestors were born and brought up on the same piece of land? Why is it that we forget that we fought together to evacuate the tyrant British from our motherland? We might forget everything but one thing that we cannot do is change the views of the Americans about us.

People who have been to the US must know what my point is. Approach an American and ask him what he feels your native place is. I can bet a thousand bucks that he won’t name a place but will call you a ‘desi’. Go ask an American about some of the differences that we (Indians and Pakistanis) share. I am ready to scotch a vein from my hand at every single difference that he states.

It all started when I came to the US in the year 2006. I had an Indian student with me on the same flight. We had a 4 hour long stay at Doha. Such a long stay can really sting you after you have gone through what the guys at customs have to offer. We sat down together to have a chat. I still remember clutching my bag like he had come to Doha just to take my bag away from me. As we chatted for 30 good minutes, the clutch on my bag started to loosen a bit. I realized that he is exactly like me and makes the same number of grammatical mistakes as I do=). I wasn’t too surprised when he spoke the same thing I had started to feel-“Dude, your psyche is pretty much the same as any Indian teenager. ”

That wasn’t the first time I was interacting with an Indian. I’ve been to India four times and every single time I found them to be exactly like us. But that is how you ought to behave when you are meeting a visitor who has come all the way to your country. That was the first time I was meeting an Indian with absolutely no fear whatsoever of him abusing my country, leaving me behind with my mouth wide open.

That is when I started to realize that regardless of what amount of hatred we have in our hearts for each other, no matter how many borders we draw between each other, we know for sure that we certainly are no different. We share the same ancestry and the borderlines between us are nothing more than a series concerned with provisioning bilateral politics. I don’t want to sound too poignant at the end so I will leave it for you people to decide what to do next in terms of improving two-pronged relations between India and Pakistan.

With or without you…

Relationship between India(ns) and Pakistan(is) can be precisely understood by a very popular line in a U2 track…'I cant live….. with or without you'.

We love to fight, we love to hate, we love to abuse, we love to blame each other for most of our problems, we see each other as enemies and we vow to defeat each other come what may in every possible encounter. Everyone, whether a cricket follower or not, would be glued to TV during an Indo-Pak encounter just to see the other lose. We’ll take great pride talking about the wars that we have fought, both sides claiming to have won each one of them. We would leave no stone unturned, in this case no news piece unread, to show the other ones about the shortfalls of their country. So much so, that we even talk about rooting each other out from our very existences. In nutshell, it seems, as if we cannot live with each other.

But on the other hand, no discussion in Pakistan would be complete without citing India as an example, good, most of the times. You would hardly find an Indian who wouldn’t want to visit Lahore or at least hasn’t heard great things about the city. Pakistanis have grown on Indian films and film music, and Indian shake hips on Pakistani popular music. Pakistanis would debate as passionately about how Aamir Khan is a superior actor to Shahrukh or how Sourav Ganguly was being treated unjustly among each other as Indians would. Atif Aslam’s feud with Jal would be the talk of the town among Indians as if it happened in India. No matter what the intensity of conflict, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or Lata would always be owned by both. No matter how much a Pakistani talks ill about Sachin in online debates, he still admires him to the core and Wasim Akram enjoys as much popularity in India as he does in Pakistan. Expatriate Indo-Pakistanis would live like families in foreign countries that even the ‘goras’ won’t be able to tell them apart.

When we meet in person no body can tell that we are actually the bitter nuclear rivals with a number of bloody wars under our belts. In fact an Indian visiting Pakistan would have hundreds of tales of love to share back home… and vice versa. It is this bittersweet relationship because of which we can’t live with or without each other.