This Pyre Will Burn…!

Re: #322

Seen/experienced firsthand? I saw the ad in Dawn myself.

Re: # 245 You have hit the nail on the head. Clearly there is an issue of assimilation(lack thereof). The muslims who migrated to the Punjab assimilated either because they were Pujabis from the East or because they had to due to a smaller nummber of non-punjabi speaking migrants.

On the other hand, in the case of migration to Sindh, there were very large number of Urdu speaking immigrants who landed up in a couple of places. In addition to this the immigrants took over the middle class jobs and government positions that were vacated by the Hindus. Due to these reasons, the mohajir did not have to learn to speak the local language and infact could manipulate things in his favour to propagate the use of Urdu in official and business dealings.

#314 Fuzair {"...The interviews for people with Sind Urban domicles were to be held in Karachi but for those with Sind Rural domicles interviews were to be held in Wah itself; no TA/DA was to be paid. I asked my father what kind of an idiot set this up and he laughed and said that it was not stupidity. The point was that very few candidates from interior Sind would travel at their own expense to Wah just on the off chance that an interview might pan out...The unfilled Sind Rural quota would then be divvied up between Punjabis/Pathans/Muhajirs, whoever happened to be on the selection board. ..Now, in this case, the guilty parties were probably Punjabis who had set this little scheme up but things of this sort were happening all the time."}

Fuzair,
I have heard stories where there were application forms and even verbal interviews where applicants (especially Mohajirs) had to provide "your name & place of birth (POB)." Later on, it became "your name, POB AND your father's name and POB," much later it became "your name, POB, your father's name, POB, AND your grandfather's name and POB." Pretty soon we will all be talking about Muhammad Tughlak and Alauddin Khilji with Delhi as POB and be dead giveaways as HindustaaNRaas. :)

#319 Eklavya {"Please don't break my heart speaking of hazratganj."}

Kaaly Bhayya,
Speaking of Hazratganj, it reminds me of a story. It was a very hot afternoon and some relatives and I were returning from Hazratganj. We saw a rikshaw driver resting in the shade with his feet up on the handles. We asked him if he was going to go to Daaliganj. He responded. "Nahin bhayya, yeh hummare aaraam ka waqt he." That is typical Lucknowviat. :)

Eklavya #309 {"They all started from more or less the same place, with as much opportunity to make the Pakistan of their dreams as any other Pakistani. "}

Kaal Bhayya,
Very good point that no one has mentioned. After partition, there was a deliberate effort by Mohajirs to leave behind all the titles and honorifics that many had accumulated over the centuries.
The Pisser-e-Zameen then showed off their Pir, Double Khan, Amir, Chaudhry, Shaikh, and other marks of nobility to establish their superiority over the neem-Hindus, naPaaks, and HindustaaNRa Panahguzeers.

salim bro, from a friend, those are embarrassing words. We are all children of asaf-ud-daula, and we learnt much from each other, no doubt.

IMHO, what happened has happened. The great nation of Pakistan (it is a huge country, for God's sake) needs to move on.

Some momentous events took place. We all participated in those events. Millions of ordinary people left their homes on a promise. After dangerous travel, they became Pakistanis. And then worked hard to realize the very promise that brought them to Pakistan. Denying that promise, or implying that somehow they did anything wrong in simply looking after their interests, or that shouldn't have done anything for themselves without also doing the same for the locals seems be the same privileged mindset as behind denying the stranded Pakistanis an opportunity to return home in Pakistan.
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Please don't break my heart speaking of hazratganj. Everytime I hear that word I feel like abandoning everything here in the US :)

#308 HP {"Ah! looks like salim is back...
Now read twenty posts of no substance and complete bull!"}

I always wanted a VaDera as a butler to announce my arrival. :)

#307 Bubba,
Che is right about you. In #294, Che said:
{"Guys Bubba is a troll on a wind-up mission no real person can actually be this retarded. "} LOL

#307 Bubba,
Che is right about you. In #294, Che said:
{"Guys Bubba is a troll on a wind-up mission no real person can actually be this retarded. "} LOL

Eklavya #277 {"ras sahib, salim chauhan is a lucknowite, tried and tested....offering salim bro Indian citizenship.
... but UP/Aligarh Muslims literally made Pakistan (without denying great and key contributions of people like Iqbal).
...These people had a vision. They worked for it, toiled for it, sacrificed for it. Then they took huge risks, and travelled to a country with a distinct glimmer in their eyes for the future (in many cases, probably that is all they had).

In their new country, they didn't grab the lands and the houses of Sindhi Muslims. ...It may be hard for some to hear, but the truth is that Indian Muslims did not go to any Sindhi land to become Sindhis ... They went specifically and only to Pakistan to become Pakistanis. And no matter what people may say, they have carried the banner of Pakistan, sometimes against all odds."}

Kaal Bhayya,
A very eloquent and touching post that should make every MOHAJIR hang his/her head in shame and sorrow for leaving behind such loving, compassionate, and friendly humwatans.

Yes, every time I talk to a Lucknowi Hindu, I regret partition more and more. I think that the myth of Muslim culture of Lucknow is overblown and the truth may be that the Hindus of that area were so decent, so warm, so wonderful, that the violent Muslims were tamed by them and together they developed the most civilized culture east of Isphahan. :) At this point, Indian citizenship with a flat overlooking the Gomti with easy access to Hazratganj would be greatly appreciated. LOL :) Too bad the BJP destroyed the best part of Lucknow - CHOWK and now some Pisser-e-Zameen bigots from Pakistan want to destroy the last remaining CHOWK that is interesting. :)

I appreciate your support for Mohajirs, despite the numerous mistakes we made in helping to materialize this terribly short-sighted vision. :( Please try to understand that there was a serious, lively, and emotional debate within Muslim families in UP, CP, and elsewhere in Hindustan. I have been told that families were split right in the middle between League supporters and Congressis. Fathers stopped talking to sons and brothers and sisters were separated for decades over this debate. Many siblings and their children still don't talk to each other for the decisions made in 1947. Thanks for seeing our side of the story. You are a real saint, sir.

Re: Salim #306,

Things are changing even in the interior of Sind. Quite a few years ago, in the mid1990s, my sister was at QAU and she heard some students speaking Sindhi among themselves. She went over to ask them where in Sind they were from and--absolutely true story--it turned out they were from my mother's village! All three of them were in QAU on the interiro Sind quota and NONE were sons of waderas, even small waderas like my cousins/uncles. IIRC, one of them said he had a brother/cousin (? can't recall now) at PMA Kakul; his parents had tried to dissuade him but "Fauji banNaen jo DhaDo showk thi" After she told them who she was, one of them said that he was the nephew of someone who had worked for my parents many, many years ago and he knew who my father was.

This is is stark contrast to how things used to be in the 1970s and 1980s when the system was deliberately rigged to discriminate against Sindhis. I didn't really believe this until I say myself, entirely by accident, an ad in the Dawn for recruitment for trainee engineers or something of that sort (Grade 16 IIRC) at the Heavy Mechanical Comples in Wah. The interviews for people with Sind Urban domicles were to be held in Karachi but for those with Sind Rural domicles interviews were to be held in Wah itself; no TA/DA was to be paid.

I asked my father what kind of an idiot set this up and he laughed and said that it was not stupidity. The point was that very few candidates from interior Sind would travel at their own expense to Wah just on the off chance that an interview might pan out. The unfilled Sind Rural quota would then be divvied up between Punjabis/Pathans/Muhajirs, whoever happened to be on the selection board. The Sind Urban quota could not be messed with in this way since there were far too many powerful Muhajir officers at all ranks of the govt.

This is just a small example of why so many Sindhis were quite resentful and felt they had legitimate grievances. Now, in this case, the guilty parties were probably Punjabis who had set this little scheme up but things of this sort were happening all the time.

==============

Major Sahib,

I knew that eastern Haryana was obviously a part of the Urdu/Hindi belt but didn't know how/why it was included in the Punjab. Ranghars have always been natural cavalrymen, or so my Ranghar friends at Mona always told me!

While some Ranghar chiefs may well have sided with the mutineers, I thought the Ranghars as a whole stayed loyal; why else would they have continued to be recruited into the Army?

Ras #268 {"Salim_Chauhan Sahib,
Either you are the stupidest "Mohajir" to walk this planet,
or a plant of some kind (from which side of
the border I cannot but wonder) but let me assure you
as one "Mohajir" to another that the murder of
Benazir Bhutto was not to your benefit.

There are 250,000 to 300,000 stranded Pakistanis
or "Biharis" waiting in Bangladesh who would love to
be home in Pakistan. If "your people" cannot show even a
minimum amount of gratitude to the Sindhi people who
let us settle in their land then there is little I can
say about their future or yours."}

Ras Sahib,
First of all, please stop using double spacing. It's impolite and exposes you as a spendthrift, a careless, non-green, and extremely selfish person. Now, concerning your need to kiss Pisser-e-Zameen ass, please don't let me stop you for placing your lips wherever you like - just don't force others (especially me) to follow your pusillanimous example.

Nobody "let" us settle anywhere. When the Pisser-e-Zameen put their faith in that Governor General and Viceroy wanna be and his nonsense about TNT and partition then overnight, the Muslims of India became a fifth column to be despised and removed from the host body as the remnants of the cancer that was uncleanly cut out.

As for whose benefit the murder of BB was performed for, perhaps you can answer the question I posed before.

"A Sindhi ex-PM of Pakistan gets murdered in Pindi, Punjab probably by a Punjabi under the orders of a Pakhtoon from FATA, while a Mohajir dictator couldn't provide enough "protection" to her, especially when she was foolish, stupid, or vane to voluntarily stick her torso out of a bomb-proof SUV. Then, why are the mostly Sindhi PPP goons going around burning Mohajirs in their cars, buses, and factories?

Masadi #274 {"The quota system is necessary to undo injustices of the past. Nationalization is necessary to consolidate resources of an economy where industrialization is in its infancy for the people, to benefit the people through enhanced employment and to set roots for further industrialization through protectionism.
.... "}

Masadi Sahib,
Now you are sinking fast - you are sounding like a horrible hybrid of ZAB and PJN - extolling the worst of their failed policies :)

Masadi #271 {"Don't make ZAB a scapegoat for your sickness which is showing us all that you are just another skunk like Arjun whose morality goes as deep as superficial constructs.... "}

Masadi Sahib,
You are hell bent on making that sage of a rascal Hamidumdum Sahib into my best friend ... LOL... see you even got me wasting periods (that's fool stops for you!) all over Chowk. :) But don't despair, I will continue to drink to your health and safety. :)

#265 anil {"Salim sahib:

You wrote so eloquently. Why was it essential to call them Mohajirs and create an identity? Even worse you call yourself Mohajir. After all if you call Juhi Chawla and Raveena Tandon refugee, they may ban you from watching their movies.

I do not think, Stuka for example, will like any Indian to call him refugee, just because his grandfather came from somewhere in Pakistan. I am sure Dost-Mitter would be the same too.

Don't you think, Mohajir identity should have been buried long time ago? Instead, Mohajir's should bring out a true Pakistani identity."}

Anil Bhai,
Very good questions and thank you for being so clear about them by using distinct examples.

My friend, MOHAJIR means one who goes from one place to another to settle. Before we adopted this generic, non-abusive, self-effacing identity, we were called PANAHGUZEER and HINDUSTAANRA by the Pisser-e-Zameen. These terms were intended to be abusive and hurt our feelings. Just like African Americans decided to call themselves BLACK rather than the NEGRO, COLORED, COON, and NIGGA terms of increasing profanity. We wanted to be known simply as Pakistanis, but the Pisser-e-Zameen were so obsessed with provincial and ethnic labels of PAKHTOON, BALUCH, PUNABI, SHER DA PUTTAR, KASHMIRI, MAKRANI, SARAIKI, SINDHI, etc.. that they had to refer to us as something else and usually derogatory.

Juhi Chowla, Raveena Tandon, Stuka, and DM Sahib (though not necessarily related in looks or any other department!), all seem to hail from West Punjab. Fortunately for them, they have an East Punjab and can still be identified as Punjabi.

We discouraged ourselves to be known as Dilliwalla, Lucknowi, Jaipuri, Ajmeri, Hyderabadi (I am not too sure about this bunch having lost their love and nostalgia of the Deccan), Bumbaiwalla, Madrasi, Bihari, Rohillay, Bhopali, Gujrati (again, this group was clannish for a long long time), or even Pathan. Mohajirs probably have more Pathans among them than all of Peshawar does.

So, all things considered, I would rather be in Saharanpur, Chandni Chowk, Pink City, Chowk, Hazratganj, or Nakhass, and MOHAJIR is not a bad choice of words.

Salim, I have no doubt many Urdu speakers tried their best but where told to keep their mohajir hands off. That's how human beings work, no matter which group they belong to.
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HP, true, the communal divide is the biggest lens Indians use. It does not show everything.

But would it not be better for Sindhi Muslims too to move forward with the times, and use the communal lens? After all, Pakistan was made for Muslims, and not for Sindhi Hindus. Major creators of Pakistan probably never entertained any thoughts about what place Sindh would have within it, if any. Sindhi Muslims agreed in forging in a common *new* nation for Muslims.

In that new nation, nobody had any prior, God-given, rights. They all started from more or less the same place, with as much opportunity to make the Pakistan of their dreams as any other Pakistani.

For whatever reasons (probably because of their strengths) Urdu speakers succeeded quite a bit, Sindhi Muslims, not much (it seems, except for the Bhutto family).