Local Liberal Dribble

HP,

I forgot to mention....did you realize that the motto of the Pakistan army has always been, "Jihad fi sabiillah"? Our boyys have always defended Pakistan in the name of Allah and Islam...It is Islamic sentiment that protects our country because bhayghayrat anti-Islamic fanatics like you wouldn't dare take the risk to fight and die for this country...you have no faith in anything. If you insist on being a bhayghayrat...that is your prerogative, but you should recognize who has been defending this country and you should have some respect.

HP,

You're a total hypocrite man...why don't you see it?

"I would attribute this more to the mullah threats of declaring anyone opposing them blasphemous or non Muslim. Mullah supports the laws used against the naysayers. The reason for the aggression is to stifle the debate."

You're the one saying that those who you disagree with are insane and therefore cannot be reasoned with!! Now you say that if the other side holds this same point of view about you....its unfair? There is your hypocrisy right there! Also....personally I dont believe you wont say what you think in public because of this reason...I feel it has more to do with the fact that you realize you are just a fringe burger boy who's out of touch with reality and too scared to to speak in public IN PERSON.

"I would welcome the opportunity. Can you suggest any newspaper in Pakistan to publish my thoughts against mullah and his ideology? For starter, can you take the initiative and ask the mullah to support the removal of the anti blasphemy laws from the books? The only purpose of that law is to block any challenge to the religious bigotry in Pakistan."

I am glad that you keep showing your intolerance. You keep referring to a whole segment of society that you disagree with as "mullah" as if you are talking about one single person. And...if you have the guts to say what you think...then you shouldn't need laws to support you...cmon dude...be a proud burger.

Really? Is that all you got man? A little ranting and pissing about "mullah" and "i hate you people" kind of tantrums? Can you picture a loser burger like you leading any kind of movement in Pakistan except his little group of 3-4 bhayghayrat burger friends?

#62 Posted by Zyxius
“Honestly I find it pathetic that there are so many fanatic secularists who say so much about mullahs that they would not dare say in public.�

I would attribute this more to the mullah threats of declaring anyone opposing them blasphemous or non Muslim. Mullah supports the laws used against the naysayers. The reason for the aggression is to stifle the debate.

“Which one are you HP? Can I invite you to present your anti-mullah manifesto anywhere in Pakistan on a public podium?�

I would welcome the opportunity. Can you suggest any newspaper in Pakistan to publish my thoughts against mullah and his ideology?

For starter, can you take the initiative and ask the mullah to support the removal of the anti blasphemy laws from the books? The only purpose of that law is to block any challenge to the religious bigotry in Pakistan.

Religion does not provide any answers to any problem faced by the people in Pakistan. We are witnessing the destruction of the Pakistan society because of the unnecessary emphasis on religion. Religion is a personal matter and should remain so.

I was impressed by KKL because it was a serious attempt

to make world class movies in Pakistan. Critics have

their own views on its message, but I liked it a great

deal.

On the baseball cap, the message was that attire should

make little difference to worship.

I did not send my review to CHOWK because YLH had already

done that. So mine went to the Pakistan Link.


Ras



KHUDA KAY LIYE/IN THE NAME OF GOD DESERVES ACCLAIM

Last Saturday, I had the privilege to view Shoaib Mansoor’s widely anticipated Pakistani movie “Khuda Kay Liye� or “In The Name Of God� on a full screen at NAZ8 Cinemas in Fremont, California. I call this a privilege because Pakistani movies being shown to the wider public on a full screen in Northern California are something quite rare, even when the theaters screening them like NAZ8 are known for showing Indian (Bollywood) blockbusters. Since this was a 1:00 PM show on a Saturday, we hurried to the venue to get a good seat. There were five of us and when we stepped into the theatre we were surprised that there was plenty of room. Either word about this movie has not circulated or the impact of pirated DVD’s had already been felt. But after seeing it I can write that this movie should not be missed by Pakistanis, Americans or other Desi-South Asians. We saw it with English subtitles but a great deal of this movie is already in the English language.
South Asian films have overcome many barriers in the United States over the past few years. Most of them have been made by the Indian-Pakistani Diaspora resident in Britain, Canada and the US. Mira Nair, Hanif Kureishi and now Tariq Ali have entered into filmmaking for western audiences. Mira’s “The Namesake� is being released on DVD and is being considered Oscar material. And indigenous Indian movies such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya are getting international funding. But where does this movie fit in?
Khuda Kay Liye is a remarkable film that can compete with any movie coming out of either Hollywood or Bollywood these days. Unfortunately it will not penetrate the mainstream US movie market because it is going to be very controversial on both sides of “the divide�. This is not fun entertainment (except for a wonderful soundtrack). It is a must see for those interested in the Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations� model for the immediate future of the West’s relationships with Islam and the rest of the world. This movie tears that model to shambles. It brilliantly exposes the shortcomings of bearded fanatics or “Islamic� warriors� involved in false Jihad while at the same time revealing hypocritical truths of overeager warriors on the other side who in the process of fighting this menace might actually be creating it. This movie is about the moderate middle being attacked by two extremes.
That moderate middle is a represented by an educated and relatively affluent liberal Pakistani family living in the city of Lahore, The parents and two sons are interested in playing music (the duo somehow reminded me of two Pakistani Pop/Rock stars that we know). Like all creative young people searching for something more, one son Mansoor brilliantly played by actor Shan reaches the shores of America to find his calling in music. The other son Sarmad played by Fawad Khan is pulled into religious extremism by fanatics with their own vicious agenda and ends up fighting in Afghanistan. The two are allowed to develop their own ways by their liberal parents but their initial falling out deserves the viewer’s attention. One son happily pursues music in America till 9/11 horribly intervenes. The other gives it up music “Cold Turkey� because he is told that it is against Islam. It is this struggle that forms half of the core of the Khuda Kay Liye/In the Name of God. And here I just have to write that Shan, the son of Pakistani actress Neelo and one of my favorite Pakistani movie directors of all time the late Riaz Shahid has made them proud in this movie.
The other half-core in this film is the story of Mary or Maryam, wonderfully played by Pakistani Model Iman Ali. Mary is the daughter of a Pakistani father and a British mother. Her father, a beer drinker who lives with a woman who he is not married to suddenly develops “morals� and executes a devious plan to lure his daughter to Pakistan to get her married even against her will, because she wants to marry a white boy named Dave in Britain. Mary is the cousin of the other two young men (Mansoor and Sarmad the musicians) mentioned here earlier. She is deceived into traveling to Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal areas and forced to marry Sarmad, the young man who has given up music for what he thinks is religion and “for saving her soul.� It is the moving story of Mary and her futile attempts to escape from the remote village after her forced “marriage� that gives Khuda Kay Liye a truly sensitive side and paints a portrait of a part of Pakistan and the lives of women there.
The twin issues of whether music is allowed in Islam and if a woman has the freedom to marry of her own free will, both end up in a Pakistani court. Here a religious expert is called. Maulana Wali, brilliantly played by Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah, in his best (ten odd minute) performance that I have ever seen since his portrayal of Urdu’s greatest poet Mirza Ghalib. This character will certainly make the Muslim viewer think. For those that have the pirated DVD in circulation that have somehow cut out Naseeruddin Shah’s role in the movie, please throw it in the trash. It is this role that brings the main message of Khuda Kay Liye/In the Name of God to us.
The gruesome and detailed segment of torture and humiliation via extraordinary rendition of Mansoor, the Pakistani music student who is now married to an American, Janie (played by Austin Marie Sayre) by security officials’ post 9/11 is bound to raise many eyebrows. Shan’s acting and that of his torturers makes it all so believable that this movie is not suitable for people under 17 years of age.
Khuda Kay Liye/In the Name of God is a story of a family (and a country?) caught in the clutches of a war not of its making. Two young men here face extreme disappointment in their pursuits. It is all about young people who dream of finding salvation in today’s world, but the reality they face is quite brutal. All one can say when Khuda Kay Liye ends is; “Thank god there is the music�. A special thanks to Shoaib Mansoor for making us all look into the mirror of our times via this superb film. One can only hope that the world beyond Pakistan will get its message.


Ras H. Siddiqui

11-25-07

"First of all, just how his family (and the government), never bothers to apprehend the fanatic who is seen remaining free to preach hatred, is a rather strange happening.

But the azaan scene takes the cake in the art of offering a gimmicky response to a question that requires a more substantial answer. I mean, what is Manoor suggesting through this scene? Is he suggesting that attire is the only overwhelming problem in the moderate vs. fanatic debate?

In fact, the film actually never takes a firm stand against the fanatics on issues other than the question of what is the correct "Islamic attire." As a matter of fact, subjects like sex, girlfriends, alcohol, etc., are treated and dismissed by the moderates in the film almost as mindlessly and myopically as they are by the fanatics.

For example, after Fawad comes to his senses, he says he was a good Muslim even before he became a fanatic. And he justifies this by saying "main sharaab, larki, jhoot mein nahi involve tha …" (I wasn't involved in alcohol, girls, lies).


What does that mean? Is he saying he was a better human being than those who do drink and have girlfriends? And how can he be a better Muslim when instead of a womanizing and alcoholic Muslim, it was him who had the tendency to join fanatics in the blackening of billboards, kidnapping women and killing fellow Muslims? How can he be a better Muslim when he was the one with some serious psychological issues and violent urges enough to get brainwashed by an irrational and sadistic band of fanatics? "

All Hail NFP - This is EXACTLY what I felt after the movie ended - what the hell was THAT??

Re: # 67

apologies.....it is THERE and not their!

Re: # 66

sorry...we are at cross purposes their; I thought you were refrring to the originals!

I am only familiar with fifty-fifty

Regards

Re: # 64

what do you mean akcheema?
i'm on about shoaib mansoors storytelling from a pakistani perspective, have you seen his older work? alpha bravo charlie, sunehre din, ankahi, gulls and guys (voyage of discovery), hell even fifty fifty?

Re: # 61

Ras, I dont know about India or US, I watched it in England though, couldn't make it back to Pakistan, and waited for the film to release in England, and it was a nightmare to begin with, as the local cinemas weren't aware of it, and then the day before it screened it was listed under 'bollywood' no publicity whatsoever, i managed to book four tickets, once we got there, it was fully sold out, we had to sit in seperate seats wherever we could (lucky, i'd booked!) and once the credits rolled, there were loud cheers and applause.
apparently it stayed that way, played to a full house for those 2 months it showed, they had to create more time slots for it too! :)

Re: # 63
[[it's something only shoman would've been able to do, all pakistani's have seen alpha bravo charlie, gull's and guys etc,]]

are we all talking about the same country here???

just wondered!

Zyxius, i'm so glad there is someone else who disagrees with this sudden eruption of anti-mullah rhetoric.

islam is a journey we take on our own, a mullah is there as a guide if you get lost somewhere, utilise them for that purpose, dont depend on them blindly, they're human just like we are and make mistakes!

nfp no doubt was going to have an issue about a movie with 'khuda' in the title, but hey that's his view.

i just dont like him painting this picture of pakistani-muslims as primeval beings who lack intellect, cant think for themselves and get jazbaati quick!
thats really undermining us.

on a seperate note about the movie, there were many parts i could relate to, either myself or from situations i've seen and could understand them re-enacted on screen.

it's like mary, iman ali's character, i like how they show her an estranged girl within her own home, and she's quiet and meek, almost afraid of her father, and that is today's youth, we're not like ''love you mummy... you're the best dad'' (in a cheesy american accent).
or when she's in the village and whilst she's in such an adverse situation, we could say she was going through 'hell', but even then, she found moments of happiness, she made friends, and that is life, that we are never quite in hell or in heaven, even in the most happiest situation there will be a glimmer of sadness, and even in the face of such tragedy, there is a glimmer of hope etc.
it's all this attention to detail, it really matters.
it's something only shoman would've been able to do, all pakistani's have seen alpha bravo charlie, gull's and guys etc, he's quite holistic in his appraoch to storywriting.

HP,

I think it only makes sense to say what you're willing to also say in public, otherwise you're either a hypocrite....or so much on the fringe that you dont have enough people who agree with you to have the guts to say it in public. Honestly I find it pathetic that there are so many fanatic secularists who say so much about mullahs that they would not dare say in public. I wonder if its because they're hypocrites and know what they're saying is bullshit and unrealistic, or they know they're such a marginal group that they'll be talking to a loser/fringe audience of extremists who are out of touch with reality. Which one are you HP? Can I invite you to present your anti-mullah manifesto anywhere in Pakistan on a public podium?

For tahir's benefit......

Once again my take on this movie here at:

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Community/2007/Dec07/07/01.HTM


By the way, I really liked this film and was not happy

with the limited publicity that its release generated here

in the US. How did it do in India?


Ras

#58 Posted by Zyxius
“it is YOU and PIRACHA who have adopted that takfiri brand of logic.�

I don’t know what takfri brand of logic is this must be some new word in mullahspeak.

#57 Posted by grandtrunkroad
“It's pretty much an intellectual dead-end to dismiss the other end of the Islamic spectrum as populated by a bunch of lunatics with unresolved Freudian sexual issues.�

Okay that’s fine. If you two insist, can you spell out what the thought at the other end of Islamic spectrum is and why that qualifies as logical?

“they're crazy but because most of what passes as liberal criticism of extremism is usually not presented from within Islamic tradition,�

As I said in my previous post, you cannot beat mullah on his own turf. Using the religious books against the people that in our society are accepted as the authority on religious affairs would backfire and you would hand them the victory. That is exactly what is happening in Pakistan. No one challenges them and people step back for fear of blasphemy charges. Mullah is not much in to argument and would reject you right away because the accepted wisdom is that the mullah knows religion more than any western educated scholar does.

The youth would not listen to you if you present your case and your arguments are based on knowledge and logic. The knowledge should use every possible source.

Arguing the mullah using the religious books alone would perpetuate the myth and the whole debate would revolve around something that is already illogical and hearsay.

I object to Mr. 'P' taking over Mr. Ras Siddiqui's job of writing movie reviews.

Will the real Mr. Siddiqui please stand up!

Grandtruckroad,

I totally agree with you.

HP,

You are basically doing the same thing that Piracha is and that is to divide between into an "us" and "them"....the "them" being mullahs. Furthermore, to feel that you have the power to label a group insane or crazy because you don't agree with their views or logic is the definition of intolerance and I think it is YOU and PIRACHA who have adopted that takfiri brand of logic.