TIGblogs - Anu

The queue of snuff of candles in the Corridors of Heart,

Fear and sick from the light of sun,

Blurry image of the beauty of the loved one.

Embrace and intertwine their own Darkness.

Extreme pain and affliction,

Same use-less curiosity, same use-less questions,

Fatigued from the Color-less period of Today

Sad from the Past, Tired from the Dictator,

Thirsty thoughts, that never gets full-filled,

Burnt tears, that never comes into eyes,

A Stiff Pain that never shaped into Beautiful Song,

Song that never came out from the dark shadows of Heart,

In Search of Un-solved imaginary remedy,

The lust of being slaved, Search of affliction.

(Faiz Ahmed Faiz – Naqsh-e-Faryadi)

Last night I read the poem, quoted above, of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of the great political activists, a poet, a thinker and a humanist and was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. I read his poem (“we the people”) and felt that no poet can translate the nature of this society as beautiful as Faiz described in this poem. Which is really superb!!!

It sometimes makes me think that what is the problem with the Pakistani society? Aren’t we capable of reading our future, aren’t we capable to elevate our thinking over the widespread tribulations, like Faiz did?

Pakistan, the land of beautiful people, which is a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society, came into being on 14^th August 1947, but still in search of a system best suited. How many times we asked for a right system. From Parliamentary Democracy to federal Republic, from personal Dictatorship to Khilafat-e-Rashida (Islamic system according to Sunni Muslims). How many times we changed our slogan? More than that how many times we changed our rulers? Khalil Jibran, a Lebanese poet once said “Disgraced are those Nations who welcome every new ruler with a slogan and bye the former with abuses”. And I’m sure that he had a present day Pakistan situation in mind before saying so. Our every past ruler was either a security risk or a traitor. If you find some thing less, you may call them thieves of National wealth.

one of the security Risk to the nation is Shaikh Mujeeb of Bengal, who was so insane that worked day and night for the creation of Pakistan. But suddenly we realized that he was the same traitor who wanted to create a separate homeland, but the public asked “Why he! We get separate from them, not Bengalis”. What about genocide of the innocent Bengali’s? Which is accepted worldwide but we close our eyes to all the facts and realities. The killing of right of questioning and criticize is the first step to stagnate the formation of any civil society. And we did it better since our creation. We killed our elected PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, killed Akbar Bugti, twice the CM and once the governor of Baluchistan. They are people’s representatives if they work along with establishment but Ahh, Suddenly we realized that they are the fifth Columnists, whose mere presence is a risk to the nation.

My question and objection is not with the State. State from all over the world are organized and disciplined institutions whose first task to hide truth from the public, some times in name of religion and some time in name of nationalism. You can give it any name, but their prime purpose is to protect the crime and clandestine of that organized institution. And this is not new. And side-by-side we have those peoples who question on the virginity of government. These peoples are some times journalist or intellectuals or some times the group of common masses, whose presence is as necessary in any society as other institutions. I call them the “real face of any society”. And believe me, large part of masses supports them; believe in the every word of their pen. If it’s not that so, huge crowd never ever gathered in the streets of London, Washington DC, and Tel-Aviv against the illegal Iraq war. Noam Chomsky never gets so popular in America. Indra Gandhi never trialed by Justice Khanna and later rejected by their constituency. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela never got so popular. Journalists never gave their life in battle-zones.

But when it comes to Pakistani society, large part of society satisfied with the ready-made opinion came from the State machinery or from the State controlled Media. Our minds are designed in such a manner that it can’t see the issues beyond the shadows of witnessed events. Our mind is not ready to raise or ask any question. I don’t know what is this called but indeed it’s not a good sign. And I see this thing more in big cities than Villages. I meet with the peoples of small town, and it’s shocking for me that they have more socio-political sense than citizens of big towns. This sense came to them through their local culture and through their folk literature in the form of poems and writings.

Yesterday, our professor told us that why research is so important for any society. Why Doubts are necessary to find the truth. Taking interest in the lecture, when professor said “The societies who close the door of research towards them are……” I cut the talk and said “their ratio of progress stopped”, He smiled and said “I was happy if it is so, I can compromise, but the thing is not stop on progress, a series of wrong schism introduce in the society. The wheel of progress was jammed and some times travel backward”. Indeed our society is the strong victim of this so many wrong schisms.

Coming to the intellectual Drawbacks. In the name of socio-political to economics and from General attitude to Daily life, we all live in our perceptions. This has nothing to do with the reality. We have our own fool’s paradise and we are happy to live in our own virtual world. Let’s take few examples, India the largest democracy and secular state. But talking in the public, India disguised the real face of Hindu fascism under veil of their secularism. You give thousand arguments in front of those but no they set their mind. And refused to move an inch of it. It is right some part of society in India infected with Hindu fascism, but put this blame on whole! What does that mean! And second if Hindu fascism arises in the society so as Muslim fascism, so as Maoist rebels in different states. Does it mean the whole society?

Politics! Most favorite topic of our publics, whether you can go to some tea stall or a student canteen from offices to markets, you will find large part of public discussing the political situation. No, I don’t say it’s bad at all or you fire a counter question to me, “what’s wrong in this?” there is nothing wring, but why our talks remain centered to personalities, why we always cry over split milk. Why we always talk on the issues that were either solved or continue delay by the administration. Why not we give the solution. Ok, if our political awareness is so high then why Pakistan is one of the societies where Voter factor decreases in every election! Why we have four marshal laws in our short History. Why we have same corrupt faces around? Why we were always ruled by Power? Isn’t it a disgrace for a Nation? Every person who read some two or three news of newspaper imagines his or her self an opinion leader. And guess what! The worst part of those discussions are when you take part in the discussion having some professional degree of political science or read books about current affairs, you are discouraged by the thumb-pin majority, because we are so immune to that culture and no one want to awake. Why we always talk about the corrupt system, why not change the system. Changing the system is some big thing, how many of us took part in the demonstrations and protests against any kind of injustice, from political to women issues. And the new trend after introducing tons of Blogs and virtual stations like Orkut and Hi-. If you know some good English and avoid grammatical mistakes than you are the master of current affairs. No matter you got administration degree or B.Com degree, your opinion can beat any one (at least in your imagination). Just click on the web-portal and make beautiful design of writing and keep insist that you are an intellectual. And it is not amazed we made dwarfs on name of intellectuals for past 60 years, so if this trend is so common in public, what’s new?

Why do we always prefer to be the part of that vicious circle? The basic truth and facts grow around us; we continue to live with these imaginations. Who will break the status quo? Who can ask raise question on the system, believe reality rather than Dreams. Immature knowledge is not a curse, but if one’s keep insisting to give name “divine truth”, it is a curse.

Religion, the beliefs every body respect and defend. But I think love has certain responsibilities. With out understanding responsibilities that love brings, love is nothing. We always get emotional when it comes to religion. And some times the situation comes to the matter of life and death. We have image that Islam is the religion of peace and respect mass opinion (Islam and all other religions are indeed religions of peace). But forget that in more than 60+ Muslim countries we have strict dictator ship or kingship. Which protect each other. Infect middle eastern and Arab countries have family terms with each other and protect each other, and when this protection requires of course at time of peoples revolution or at time when public chanting the slogans of democracy on streets. In fact our country is so merciful to Arab countries that their Intelligence chiefs conducted press conferences in our country and decide about our future (Nawaz-Sharif Case). And in the common masses we have so much respect for these self appointed guardians of Islam, Saudis, that they are the genuine guardians of Islam, who protect the two holy mosques at Mecca and Medina. A best friendship between a king and a dictator.

Not in one case in all issues we are the victims of our own double standards. Protesting against Salman Rushdi. Who wrote “Satanic verses”, I bet that million of us who protest against Rushdi never ever in life read Rushdi. I care a dam about this book (But respect “mid-Night children’s” and “Shame”); I think this book is worst on name of fiction. But it is only a fiction, nothing more than that. And I might said to Mr. Rushdi that they must be thankful to all Muslims of the world who made popular his book all among the Globe. The peoples who don’t know about the book are curious to read the book. And if protest against Rushdi, Why not protest against Dictators of our own country? Why not burnt the palaces of their Kings and Dictators who suck our blood? Why not divert their aggression to some cause. Why only destruction?

Nations need time to grow. But remain under ignorance and asked for progress is a difficult thing. Accept the mistakes and then on basis of that mistakes progress yourself.

Lets lift our hand, we too.

We don’t know the custom of pray..

We who don’t know nothing except sorrow of love..

Lets asked, the Creator of the world..

Fill the sweetness of tomorrow in the poisons of Today..

Those whose religion is to follow the path of lie and deceit

Do give him power to disagree, power of research..

Those whose heads are waiting to cut..

Give him courage to reject the hands of killers..