Courage in a Time of Chaos

Romair,
Throughout this article you have stated some very informative and logical points. Your questions posed to Bina are also very valid. While I respect Bina for her education, her talents, and her articles, I am perplexed that she did not outright reject feudalism as necessary in these times.
As you know very well, a great many feduals, e.g. zamindars, came to Pakistan as Mohajirs. Of course, not being able to indulge in their traditional family business, they used their administrative and organizational skills in government and commerce in the major urban centers of Sindh.

I think that there is a great future for feudals if they let go of their habit of bloodsucking. :) I say that as a descendant of zamindars, a hated profession that my grandfather left and never looked back.

#9 Posted by ahmedmadani on December 30, 2007 2:14:37 pm
{"Re: # 7 romair you have described correctly social situation . country has become stagnant pool of feudals. one person can not clean this mess,they go to other clean pond, usa , west, middle east etc. every body who can leaves, these are good ambitious people , cream of pakistan. ..before g we were lucky as many hindustani ambitious muslims left for freign country, pakistan. that kept feudal backward minded peoples country alive by addition of hindustony muslims which brought up social iq. then they started leaving and more calamity started even more backward like jungli tribals of afghanis poured and changed b stan and nwfp. now these jungli tribals influence everthing. it is like weed invading normal crops ...when liquit khan was killed hindustani muslims did not went on rumpage. while feudals sindis just went on burning , like mad men and that was for saddist fun.really they wanted to blame mqm but there was no smoking gun. central leadership of mqm was afraid to stop violence due to possible pouring gas on fire and giving reason for sindhis to make riot. anyway now we have god bilawal, praise bilawal. "}

Madani Sahib,
I am an avid fan of your keen perception and how you call it like it is - regardless of where the blame falls. You are my hero when it comes to understanding Pakistani matters. Please continue with your refreshingly honest viewpoint. I agree with you even when you disagree with me, sir. :) Thanks.

The rioters and looters are just criminals - not a matter of ethnicity. Everyone knows what's going on here as far as that's concerned.

Bulleya: your questions bore me. Go and ask Fatima Bhutto her life story; I haven't got a clue.

And where I live, little girls don't work in the fields. Nor do little boys. You've got some romanticized idea of what the interior is like - have you ever been there to see it?

lemon #23: "Bulleya, not nice or even fair..."

let me give you an example.....amin fahim may well become the next pm of pakistan.....he is a big time feudal and pir (doubly dangerous)......the guy, allegedly, has four sister married to the quran....southern punjab and sindhi feudalism is soaked in the worst women's rights violations.....orders of magnitude worse than what maulvis do.....i cannot see a mukhtaran mai type incidence happening in ji's territory.....

now suppose, amin fahim starts preaching women's rights and writes about it.......what would you think?......shouldn't charity begin at home......shouldn't he look in the mirror first.......

lemon #8: "also, there are some ivy league and public uni grads who do a lot of good work. the questions are always about service and proven records of credibility"

it's great to go to ivy league schools.....many of these graduates do great work.....what is wrong is to go there on the backs of young peasant girls who work in the fields, and will never be able to go to harvard, themselves......what is even worse is to, then, turn around and start writing about social injustice........

however, i could, maybe, tolerate feudalism, however, i simply cannot tolerate poor literature!........

Bina_Shah #: "To answer your question, I am indeed from a feudal background."

what are your views on feudalism?.......do you think it is the cause of various problems in pakistan: let's start suppression of women and honor killings......

or do you think it is a good thing, from which its beneficiaries should continue to benefit, as feudalism is in pakistan's interest, as a whole?......

is benefitting from feudalism a sin?.....or is there nothing wrong with it?....does it lead to equitable opportunty for peasants, or does in suppress them?

any answer other than, "feudalism is generally bad, but there are good feudals, and we are one of them,".....more interested in feudalism as a social system....

p.s. why do girls with feudal backgrounds write mediocre english poetry and books and articles....apparently, fatima bhutto went to columbia and published poetry at a young age....and she writes in the news...

isn't it bad enough that they are torturing us with their feudalism......must they torture us with their literature skills also.....

and how in the world do all of them get admission into ivy league schools.....and why in the world, once they get, do they not study the tougher subjects like medicine, comp. sci etc......

Hey Bina, Bulleya,

My questions were asked without ulterior motive-I don't know the backgrounds of most of the writers here, nor do I think one's background dictates one's labor, committment and dedication towards movement/nation building. In reading your responses, in hindsight, I have realized that I missed the subtext of Bulleya's comments, with which I do not agree.

Bina, your work is clearly excellent and in service of admirable goals that I share. Bulleya, not nice or even fair.

Also, any stats on the looters/rioters in terms of ethnic background, nabe, political affiliations, class, etc.?

Sometime back I watched a bbc documentary about a sindhi feudal girl in Karachi.
She lived quite a liberal life in Karachi but, when she went to her ancestral feudal landholding she wore more traditional cloths.

“The enemies of our country are vast and they are clever”…There are no enemies of our country. There is only one enemy & he shamelessly calls himself a Pakistani & says that whatever he does is for “the well being of Pakistan”whereas his actions have made 2007 the worst in the history of Pakistan. The funny way in which the investigation of this hideous incident is being carried out & the quick way in which the blame is being put on others leaves no doubt in the minds of the people about the perperators of this crime. The criminal is so thirsty for power that he doesn`t even take time to think about the effects his actions will have on others.

“As of last night, mobs took to the street and burned cars, smashed shops, looted, and raged. Every citizen is hurt and lost and looking for direction.”…This tells that our country is on the verge of a mass nervous breakdown.
I just want to say “We are and we have always been our own greatest enemy”

"The enemies of our country are vast and they are clever; they would like nothing better than to see us sink into lawlessness and despair."

Typical feudal words that instil fear in the minds of people that strip their courage, rationality and make them seek you for protection.

sir , the west pakistanis particularly the punjabis terrorised the hindus into accepting separate electorates so that they could manipulate them en bloc

Tigram:
In the beginning it was so called Mohajir/Punjabi nexus which shaped the policies.
Bengalis were Dalits anyway for us. We did not differentiate between Hindu and Muslim Bengali as far as our treatment of them is concerned. And we treated them as such. It was only Indian Army which helped us realize our shortcomings.

Re: # 16 i think hat this problem started from 1947.Even Liaquat feared the Bengalis and specially Suharwardy who he did not allow to take oath of the East Bengal Assembly.Thus he delayed constitution making.Remember that first general elections were only held in 1970.As a Baloch Hindu i can say that West Pakis led by Punjabis terrorised Bengali Hindus into accepting seaparte electorates so that they could be coerced as a group by West Paki Punjabi dominated intelligence agencies.

ex army men:
No wonder Pakistan lost with disgrace in 1971.

Re: # 14 i think you have a point .Compare Punjab in 1947 with Sindh.The Punjabis on both sides Indian and Pakistan made sure that all Hindus or Muslims or Sikhs were killed down to not yet born babies while Sindh was peaceful.Very few Hindus migrated from Sindh.Th same happened in Bengal where Hindus were not attacked on the Pakistan side.Now compare Bengal in 1971.Its all situational.100 marks to Bina Shah.

To answer your question, I am indeed from a feudal background. I do live in Karachi, I have studied at an Ivy League university, and I have written articles in the Friday Times about the suppression of women in Pakistan. I have even gone on to publish four "mediocre" books in English.

I have no political ambitions. I am not interested in "ruling" anyone.

I am interested in supporting the people of Pakistan. I believe in education. This is why I have been teaching at the university level in Pakistan for the last year and will continue to do so.

I am not a spokesperson for any political party, including the PPP. Therefore I did not write a "political" article, nor would I be comfortable commenting on last night's conference or the handing over of the leadership reins to Benazir's son.

I can say, however, that the looting and rampaging that has taken place in Karachi and Sindh over the last three days has been perpetrated by criminal elements of all ethnic persuasions.

A hundred and fifty vandals entered the Edhi Home on the Superhighway and beat up the inmates, including orphans and disabled people. They also smashed ambulances which were menat to go to the interior of Sindh. They did not steal anything. They simply indulged in their urge for violence.

A psychiatrist was asked about these events and he stated, very intelligently I might add, that human beings are capable of the worst types of violence. Without social control, they can do anything.

I think you'll find this is true of any person, no matter what ethnicity or nationality or religion she or he holds.