Why Pakistan?

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I knew someone by that name some twenty years ago as a young major when I was a cadet in JCB, if I am not wrong are Brig. Mateen Mohajir?

A small reference to KAHLIL GIBRAN for all those who feel slighted by my rhetorical subject query:

``At the city gate and by your fireside

I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,

Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel

I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?

If it is an unjust law you would abolish,

That law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.

And if it is a despot you would dethrone,

See first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride?

And if it is a care you would cast off,

That care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.

And if it is fear that you would dispel,

The seat of that fear is in your heat and not in the hand of the feared.``

- Kahlil Gibran

Siagalph 235#

I think you understand the difference between Barbarians and snakes.

A friendly Afghanistan is a necessity for Pakistan.

The alternative Ahmed Shah Masood is equal to or worse than Taleban.

If Taleban are religious, he is religious with poppy grower.

Recently his colleagues have massacred forces of his friend Dostam.

So for me it does not matter if a Mullah or Heroine trader is there as long as it is friendly to Pakistan.

re krashid 96

Doctor sahib

No Afghan regime has ever accepted the Durand line and nor will the Taleban. If this expected acceptance is the reason for Pakistan`s appeasement of barbarianism, I am afraid that Pakistan needs to learn a lesson from the 1930s. If Baldwin and Chamberlain proved anything with Hitler it was the fact that you cannot wish away the crocodile by feeding him occasional bites in the hope that it will spare you. SOme snakes are so terribly poisnous that you simply cannot defang them politely.

India threatens only Pakistan`s borders. The Taleban threaten her very soul. The world will not long tolerate the barbarianism of the Taleban; nor will it take well to those who propped up that medieval regime. The irony is that after all this sacrifice Pakistan would not have diverted one inch the Afghan lust for greated Pakhtoonistan.

Pakistan will do well to recall the successful British policy of being distant and FIRM with those across the Durand line.

Siagalph 235#

The reason for rapproachment between Pakistan and Taliban is out of necessity.

Pakistan cannot afford to have a hostile neighbour on Eastern front and also on Western front.

Afghanistan was the only country which did not recognize Pakistan at its creation.

Afghanistan does not recognize Durand line.

People in North West of Pakistan are closer to Afghanis than say from Punjab or Sind.

If you keep these factors in mind realizing minimum of three wars on Eastern front (or more) you should realize the importance of friendly Afghanistan for Pakistan.

hobbyt#94

``The tragedy is that we never developed an intellectual or ideological contruct that would sanction living side by side.``

``In India, for the most part interacted with each other in either official or superficial ways, of necessity.``

Better be a little careful here hobbyt, you are speaking to many Indians who grew up exposed to Kabir and Rahim right from their school days in their govt-sponsored syllabus.

Re Rsridhar # 82

`` The tragedy of our people is we forgot that we used to live side by side...``

The tragedy is that we never developed an intellectual or ideological contruct that would sanction living side by side.

I don`t mean just living, but interacting, in a meaningful way, as for instance, neighbors in Pakistan or in India do. Muslims and Hindus, In India, for the most part interacted with each other in either official or superficial ways, of necessity.

History is witness, that we as peoples have always tended to need a power authority exerting that authority on us, for us to behave. Daanda!

Whether it came from the Moghuls or from Prince or Nawab or better still, someone we both be united against, the British.

This mentality is our tragedy. This mentality is an example of our poverty, our lack of education, our lack of study and understanding of the religious faith we seek to uphold.

Why pakistan?, ``the answer my friend is byting in the chips``

Indo-Pak techies are chips of the old block

By Chidanand Rajghatta

WASHINGTON: It was chemistry at first sight as Malik Khan sat there listening to Manickam Sridhar. The cherubic Pakistani and the gaunt Indian had been colleagues in Motorola`s Boston office for several years, but they had rarely gone beyond pleasantries. Malik, who was on the sales side of things despite an engineering background, had been flitting around the world.

// from times of india of today

re eklavya 88

If I read Quaid-e-Azam alright then his Pakistan would have asked Mullah Omar`s Nazis to go to hell a long time ago instead of coddling them so far. Recall what he said to the Ahrar militant who tried to kill him in the Delhi session of the AIML: ``Islam does not need fanatics like you; grow up, will you?`` I am glad Pakistan has shown some minimal backbone in questioning the Nazism of the Taleban. It is long, long overdue. What intrigues me is how a nuclear power which claims a 500,000 armed force is so intimidated by supposedly disorganized tribal levies that the Taleban are. If the Taleban can browbeat Pakistan so easily, then India is a fool to spend so much on defense.

krashid # 89

Dear Krashid,

I have had the privilege of being well-acquainted with a few such rational and liberal Muslims. These are amongst the finest human beings I have ever met. Therefore, on a personal basis, I now make absolutely no distinction between Muslims and Hindus, although, I must confess there remains much to debate about between Islam and Hinduism as guiding idealogies for modern human living.

I think that debate is very healthy, and given a modicum of intelligence, can be carried out meaningfully in a civil and productive fashion.

Asad K #

``Lovely timing``

I cannot agree more.

I have seen an article in ISNA magazine on Hyderabad written by Umair Khan and Asad Khan.

Was it you or somebody else?

Eklavya#

I don`t know about Hinduism.

But Muslims have taken the challenge not to shred religion, but to interpret it in changing circumstances.

It is very well evidenced by not only rising tide of fundamentalism among Muslims, but also highly educated Muslims find no contradiction between their beliefs and practice.

The liberal among Muslims are very liberal also, but still have to reconcile with sentiments of majority.

re: Assad_K # 87

This Pakistani statement is most commendable. I hope Pakistan gives some real heat to Taliban.

Re: 85

Lovely timing, I think... but it won`t make any difference as the response wil be something marginally comprehensible about TNT, jihad, collapse of Pakistan, yadda yadda.

ISLAMABAD, May 25: Pakistan publicly took a strong line on the Taliban`s decision to make the Hindus wear distinctive cloth badges. A statement by the ministry of foreign affairs said on Thursday that Pakistan deplored ``all discrimination against religious or any other group or minority anywhere in the world.``

The statement was issued four days after the Taliban ordered all Hindus to wear separate badges to become distinct from the Muslim population.

The carefully-worded statement said that Pakistan was looking into the ``veracity of the reports of the edict,`` adding that ``as a matter of policy Pakistan upholds the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights including the principle relating to religious tolerance and equal rights and opportunities for all.``

In an apparent reference to the controversial edict, the statement said: ``We consider this against the spirit of Islam.``

This is the first time that Pakistan, which besides Saudi Arabia and the UAE is the only country in the world to have recognized the Taliban, has taken such a tough stand towards the government in Kabul.

Afghanistan embassy sources confirmed to Dawn that the Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, was informed before hand of the stand Islamabad had taken on the issue.

``The ambassador was informed by the Pakistani officials that the Taliban`s move was discriminatory and regardless of the intent behind it cannot be condoned,`` a source said.

I understand what has offended some Pakistanis at Sheema Kermani`s speech at Yale is her comment that Dance is still officially banned in Pakistan.

The ban had come during Zia`s ``puritanisation`` process when many forms of performing arts were banned. So much so tha Naheed Siddiqi was hounded to the point that she had to seek exile in London