Mohammad Yousuf: A tribute

Re:manto#30

[...Brilliant Youhanna! ....]

Sure, but he is not Youhanna anymore. The poor guy succumbed to the non-stop societal pressure in Pakistan to become a muslim.

It is clearly evident that people in Pakistan are totally obsessed beyond all rational limits with Islam. They wear the religion on their sleeve, shout about it from rooftops and in case you still miss it, point it out to you in your face that they are devout muslims. Take the author of this article for instance. He is an educated, average Pakistani guy living in the US and working in the IT industry. But scratch the surface, and you see the naked gloating over the conversion of one man from Christianity to Islam. The triumphant tone of his artice, his conviction that he is Allah`s chosen, is just breathtaking, as if Yousuf Yohanna personally scored a victory of Islam over Christianity. If a ordinary person thinks like this, multiply that with the vast illiterate millions living in Pakistan and you can sense the incessant, non-stop, not so subtle pressure to ``revert`` to Islam.

So much for Jinnah`s dream of a secular country!!

It`s rubbish to link religion with sports.

Though Imran was a religious man I dont rememebr him invoking the name of Bismillah.....in the presentation ceremonies. I first came across such invocation by Waqar Younis and later by Inzi (in all presentations). I find that invocation odd in sporting arenas. Imagine for a while Freddie/Rahul saying, Jesus is the saviour/Har Har Mahadev or some other slogan or sloka? Sounds ridiculous!

I think religion became Pakistan`s only weapon but not the cricketing abilities! Though my favourite is Younis Khan in the current lot, Yousouf is indeed a class player but look at what happend in the recent past. Younis was offered captaincy but when he refused (bcoz of Shahryar Khan??) the mantle was passed on to Yosouf but Yousouf was treated like a real choorha when Younis prefered to take back captaincy when PCB placated Younis by sacking Sharyar Khan! PCB preferred to sack a cricket mandarin (a royal/Princely material) and bring-in Younis as captain than having choorha as Pakistan`s captain! (I dislike to call Yousof with this tag but that`s how Pakistan treated him in the recent episode of captaincy issue).

I agree with Mr. TE Shah`s opinion on cricket in Indian subcontinent. It was started & promoted by Indian Princes who tried to get closer to the British during Raj. Most of the Indian players in the early history of Indian cricket are Princes. They even promoted this game by becoming cricket mandarins during Raj and after Raj as well. We still have Baroda, Saurastra, Hyderabad teams i.e Princely State teams i/o state-wise teams!

Now in the commercial age it doesnt need any promotion as cricket became `the` game of our countries. The one-day game even gave India a new identity i.e sky blue colour became the symbol of India. Even our PM Dr. Singh signifies that by putting a blue turban on his head. The football crazy Bengalis now rate cricket ahead of football! It came to such a pass that even Englishmen (who gave us this game) poke fun at us for being cricket maniacs!

Only Gujaratis come closer to Pakistanis when it comes to mistaking cricket for national pride. They burst firecrackers whenever India wins against Pakistan. In 1995 or 96, there were spaonteneous Garba dances by Gujarati women in Ahmedabad when India defeated Pakistan in Bangalore (World Cup, I think). It`s a mark of celebration for them. I have not heard of such open display of street celebrations in other parts of India.

As for religious fervour in cricket, the praying women and men in Sharjah still reels.....players and Pak public are alike when it comes to cricket.

Brilliant Youhanna!

May God bless him.

Re: # 27

Aapki gaand mein mirchein kion lkag gai hein? Kia aap bhi musalli hein ya aapko bhi us musalli loot se kuchh hissah milla he? Did you ever ponder why rulers, especially the illegitimate ones, are interested so much in cricket? It is the best way to keep the people busy and to forget politics even if it is manifestly against the Mush`s cult of enlightenment and moderation - Yousaf`s unkempt extra long beard and raising his ass in the oval. In fact cricket is essentially an immoral game, engendering greed, selfishness and jealousy instead of sport and team-spirit.

MYOPIC VIEWS

Re: # 21

Shah Sahab, There is a saying in Urdu ``Nach na janayy Aangan tayrha``. Although i have no doubt that you come from a ``Dancing`` family but your furiosity at mohammad yosuf has more to do with the failures of your own kids. Look it up it`s called ``Low-Self Esteem``. Yosuf might have hailed from a por family, but he has more class and character in his lil pinky finger than your entire lineage, i gave you an advice to wise up and fear the wrath of the creator that you are about to encounter in very very near future. Buzurgoo qabarr mein paoon latkayeyy baythayy hoo orr tharakk nahii khatam horahii

gypsy_heart, this should have rightly been a great opportunity for any nation to come together to bask in cricketing glory. The author squanders that opportunity.

Instead, he leaves any outsider with only two alternative conclusions: Either Christianity is a debilitating physical and mental handicap. Or Pakistan is a very very abnormal country.

wow!! this country must have been pregnant with bigots, to allow a masih -belonging to a family of sweepers, a guy who played uptill his teenage days with his amma`s washing sticks in impoverished slums- the privilege and opportunity to climb up to the national cricket team, and consequently to the vice captaincy of the country. how could a christian get to such a high rank in pakistan nationals?? sacrilege indeed!! and how could we allow a devoted hindu to be our primary spinner?? blasphemy! blasphemy! we should send him to india to help them continue their home dominance on their dusty pitches.

im sure the whole of pakistan is bearded with sword wagging moulvis waging Allah`s holy jehad!! every single man dresses solely in shalwar kamiz -no doubt above his ankles- and all women veil their faces in dread of these raping bearded pakis!! what else could there be in pakistan, absolutely nothing else!!

And no, it is not his conversion to Islam credible for his immense form, but as anyone who has found a new belief, turned a new leaf in his prolifgate life can emphasize, that a new faith -or a reinvigorated faith- brings along with it a new found discipline, inner peace, focus, and belief in your own abilities, indeed all religions preach same virtues and discipline of soul, albeit in a variety of forms and languages!!

or it could all be put down to a new found love, a loving wife, a peaceful married life, as credited by ricky ponting for his recent amazingly prolific form, after his early binge drinking and bar brawling indisciplined days.

in the end, in any profession or passion, it needs focus, discipline, self-confidence, along with the inherent skill to scale great heights!! whatever might be the tool to achieve those qualities; a great example is two hugely talented bastmen and childhood friends of our age, sachin tendulkar and vinod kambli, one reached atop, the other ended up in minor bollywood roles!!

Please consider the FACT that author lives in Karachi, a city, which went through
an extra-ordinary voilent phase for two , decades, obviously it has dis-oriented a lot from that city.


...they will come back to their senses, ........in say........ another decade, provided things remained calm.

Despite the temptation to rip into the author like a hungry vulture rips into carrion, all I will say is that the Muslim world needs more role models like Mohammed Yousuf. If converting to Islam has given him the mental strength he lacked earlier, then good for him. If his family indeed made his life hell for converting, then a plague be upon them.

He is a brilliant batsman, one the entire subcontinent can be proud of, and comes across as very good human being. More power to him.

``even if it means eating bhindi ``(hamidm)

why? -- do you have something against the hairy lady`s finger? -- or lady`s hairy fingers?

It is shere non-sense. Cricket is no longer a sport but a profession so downgraded that it is fit now only for `Chooras` (sweepers) and `kanjars`. In fact, in the sub-continent, when a chora (Shoodar) converted or more aptly, reverted to Islam, he is called a Musalli and not a Muslim. Yousaf Yuhanna has proved that he has `reverted` from a Masih to a Musalli by chnging his name given to him by his parents as none of the greatest of the Muslims like Hazrat Farooq change their names on accepting Islam.

It appears not only the game of cricket the entire Paky nation has been `musallized`. Look at Mush who paid Rs.50 lacs to that Musalli for making so much runs in cricket like a Mughal king squandering public money at his sweet will despite his long immoderate unkempt beard. It is perhaps the very camouflage provided by his long beard that has added to his run count. Or he may have contrived it by fixation which is not uncommon nowadays in cricket when you can win such a big reward by which you can purchase the whole team.

Ricky Ponting for 2005/06
Matches:12 Runs:1483 Avg:78.05 100s:8 50s:6 (not including the 196 at perth)

I heard he reverted to a more attacking style since the last couple of years.

#7 by xcom_cheetah on December 4, 2006 7:43am PT
Very well summed up thing... although i see most of the people here have bashed you but the number of evil will always surpass by the number of righteous...

X comm you are so true..... the Muslim Population is increasing world wide. (i.e the number of evil)

Insularity is the curse of the human race. I have never ever heard a person from any other nation or religion crowing about the greatness of his religion or community as unabashadly as Pakistanis.

People whose thoughts are bound in ideas like `punjabi`, muslim-non-muslim aren`t Muslim. Why o why do Pakistanis take so much pride in being `Muslim` and knowing the `true way to live?.` Verily that makes them non-muslim, because doesn`t Allah punish takabbur?`.
Anyway, a little bit of prophetizing, since that sells so much in the Land of the Pure. Of course the prophet of Islam has a monoply, but here`s hoping for some affirmative action.

As for spirituality, it has gone the way of the dodos, instead arrogance, materialism and hypocricy have taken root. And yet the people call themselves Muslims.

S

This article actually IS all over the place...
but still.... i agree with most of the things u said and put in a less dramatized/romanticized way these things are quite true...
the article itself might not be worthy of a lot of praise but the thoughts definitely are...
overall a very good piece