Shadowlines (Part I)

Muslims have the divine right to be violent?!? Audio-video-radio, methinks your bhang has been poisoned, or perhaps your mind was poisoned before and the bhang has just enhanced the poison?

Please, spare us and do not enlighten us any further. I will not deign to be like the other protesters and apologists who point out the imperfections of the Hindus. Enough blood has been spilled throughout the 5000 plus years of our civilization, let`s not continue to spill it on this board, theek hai?

Nobody asked you whether you felt bad about Ehsan Jafri`s head being decapitated and paraded around the city. Your response indicates that you didn`t. You throw history in our faces to remind us that what the Hindus suffered was taken for granted, that no pain was felt, nothing. And you know that for certain? And therefore, what, are we to take Jafri`s life, and those who died in Gujarat, and those who died in the train, are we to take their lives for granted as well? Are we to continue this horrible thing of taking lives for granted, no matter who we are, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Indian, Pakistani, humans, for crying out loud?

Clearly those of you who believe that ALL Muslims, be they in India, or Pakistan are evil, murdering jihadis, and don`t deserve much of anything, seem to be more interested in pursuing hate and intolerance than anything else. Likewise, those of you Pakistanis, who believe that ALL Indians, or should I focus on Hindus, are right-wing, fanatical, murderous Hindutvas don`t seem to be interested in pursuing anything positive either. Perhaps some of you spout out your venom to prove to either side that they are not living in reality, but all you end up showing us is the reality of your venom.

Just the other day, my mother shared with me things she had never shared with me before about what it was like growing up in a time when people were killing each other out of rage and fear, and evil. All my life I had thought that my mother had lived this sheltered life, free from the horrible events that were going on around her, because whenever I asked her about Partition, she never shared these things. And now we see this continuing cycle of violence, what has been happening in Kashmir, what has happened in Gujarat, what continues to happen to women in both India and Pakistan, the fact that both sides so carelessly and casually talk of war. No one is left untouched by violence, not in the days of Nadir Shah, not in the days in which our parents saw the world around them break apart, and most definitely not now. But if we want to devalue human life by saying they did it to our forefathers, and they continue to do it to our Kashmir, so they deserve what they get, well, is it any wonder that peace looms so distant in the horizon for us? Is it any wonder that people like Rehan who continue to write about connections, and the desire to make connections get dissed? Audio-Video-Radio, you and people like you can try to turn Chowk into a virtual verbal battleground filled with hate, or no emotion at all, all you want, noone can stop you. The staff here have declared in so many words that in addition to us being free to go to our temples, our mosques, our churches (Jinnah`s words, not theirs), we are also free to voice our likes, our loves, our hates and our indifferences. There will continue to be those who challenge the cycle of violence and bigotry, and those of you who defend it.

There are some writings about the Holocaust which in acknowledging the Germans as being the masterminds, the main perpetrators of such unspeakable acts of violence and murder, also blur the lines between perpetrator and victim in some cases, making for shades of gray. I say this, not for comparison`s sake, but to point out that our civilization is not devoid of such blurry lines in our tumultuous history, as much as some of you want to point out that it is. So why don`t we descend from our high horses, or get out of our glass houses, or work on removing these cobwebs of hate and find ways to end this cycle of violence we seem to have trapped ourselves in. Or we can remain prisoners of history, bent on disproving the adage, `those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it`, for apparently, we all remember our distorted or `real` versions of history, and are bent on repeating it.

Re: fawad79 reply #17

The answer to your rhetorical question about what do middeleastern men get out of Pakistan is delicately addressed in the following piece i wrote some time back.

Asim

BAHAWALPUR, Sept 6: The Emir of Dubai has offered financial assistance to

the government of Pakistan for upgrading the Bahawalpur airport and widening

its runway to allow landing of Boeing aircraft. ``

++++++++++++++++++++

My father has always maintained that ``there is no free lunch anywhere and

that one does not get breaks from others for no selfless reasons``. I read

the above news with much amusement. I recall that there was a Dubai Palace

on the road leading to Sadiq Public School; the road which i had biked on

back and forth to the school a gazillion times, which i still recall as

vividly today. The Sheiks used to come regularly during the prime ``murghabi``

season to wreck havoc on the local wildlife, back in the early seventies and

eighties. They probably still do, if there is any murghabi left that is.

They would close this road so that we had to take a longer route to get to

school, for which i would always curse these hawkish men in white flowing

robes.

I guess that it have been all too bearable, as long as they only

concentrated on that type of ``shikaar``. Unfortunately, a lot more transpired

at this so called ``Dubai Palace``, where these Sheiks commingled with the

crem de la crem of Bahawalpur and other leading cities (joke tha)to revel in

good times, that easy money and prosperity eventually brings forth.

Naturally most of this good clean fun was out of bounds for ordinary folks

such as myself, another thing i used to curse these Sheiks for, as they used

to pass by in their swank limousines on this broken and poorly maintained

main road. Rumours have it that the Sheiks come to enjoy the innocent

prepubescent young poor girls within our lands, perhaps more so than the

murgahbis. But are not the forcefully abducted young girls, within Feudal

lands such as ours, the equivalent of murghabis;cornered, unarmed,

petrified, much like standing targets. Rumours indeed! Often the word rumour

is used a substitute of the truth by the infirm such as I.

Coming back to the airport, i guess our Arab cousins are not happy flying in

to the Bahawalpur oasis on a fokker or twin engined place, as it hurts their

soft spoiled posteriors, and would rather want to fly first class to enjoy

the vacation and revel in God`s delights which HE has sprinkled so heavily

onto them.

Yet despite our knowledge about the ``forced prostitution`` ring of young

poor, women, who are abducted from the various small nameless villages for

exports for the consumption of the Sheiks to UAE, Bahrain and other such

``Islamic states``, we report news such as the above with much relish and

fervour, almost as if we have been validated as good Muslims because an Arab

has bestowed such kindness on us. An Arab who possibly does not even perform

istinja, perhaps. Its a shame that we look up to these monuments of

debauchery, consumerism, and total decedance(in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait

etc) as being superior to us, just because they happen to speak the language

Quran was written in. Again, my words are harsh but not without truth. Its

time we stop looking towards these symbols as our messiah.

Bahawalpur shall be grateful for getting a bigger airport in exchange for

losing its dignity, heritage, and honour at the hands of these ill educated,

non-Islamic louts, in white robes and little winkles. But the question

remains at what ``effective`` price is Bahawalpur getting this bigger airport.

For me perhaps the price is too high.

Asim

Reply audio-video-radio # 10

“…several thousands of heads on spikes, beheaded by pathaans, Ahmed Shah Abdali, Nadir Shah, was considered routine those days. No pain was ever felt. No emotions. Screams was not considered an anomaly. Rape, plunder, insults and abuse of Hindus was taken for granted. Muslim had and still have the devine right to be violent…So what is a big deal if one head was seen mutilated. What about Hindu heads?”

I’m unclear as to your point, ya Urstruly Ka Evil Twin Brother. Please explain.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0702/p01s02-wosc.html

from the July 02, 2002 edition

Al Qaeda thriving in Pakistani Kashmir

Sheltered by Pakistani intelligence, officially banned Islamic militants are moving freely near the Indian border.

By Philip Smucker | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

TARSHING, KASHMIR – Nasir Ali, a wiry jeep driver, says Al Qaeda fighters from Afghanistan have arrived here in large numbers. He should know, he says, because he was the one who gave them a lift in from northern Pakistan after their escape from Afghanistan. ``I, myself, drove three Arab fighters into the center of Kashmir,`` says Ali. ``I carried them only part way in and their own jeeps met us and drove them the rest of the way. Hundreds have entered Kashmir in the last several months.``

Mr. Ali, an employee for a private transport company, described in detail subsequent meetings with Middle Eastern fighters he admires. Ali`s account, and several others gathered this week, of how groups of Al Qaeda fighters have infiltrated Kashmir present a harrowing prospect for Washington. Strategic analysts have long warned that Osama bin Laden`s Al Qaeda network is keen to exploit tensions between the two nuclear powers of India and Pakistan, whose governments both claim full rights to divided Kashmir.

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Romair - The Gypsy Airline

I know that the vast majority of Indians give a wide berth to your land of pure. Remember the grandparents of many of our citizens were forced out and for the ones who mistakenly venture into a mirage , our land is much the better without having them around.

You must be crazy to think that anybody other than Achmed or Abduli would venture into yoru homeland. The destitutes of Afganistan sure find heaven there.

jay #15
Yes, people kind of forget Jinnah was `Indian` too, as was Zia and as is Musharraf. tahmed may be more right than he thinks about who is responsible for messing up Karachi.
--
Many months ago, I read about a number of Malayalis who had migrated to Pakistan in their youth and had now returned after living their life in Pakistan, indigent, to spend their old age in Kerala. These people were officially Pakistanis and illegal and hence were being viewed suspiciously in the wake of the open-ended `jihad is not terrorism` attacks in India. I remember feeling very angry that the Kerala govt. was questioning the credentials of those who were afterall fellow Malayalis wanting only to die in the land of their birth. But thats what Jinnah held out hope to these folks about after all, that these people were primarily NOT fellow Malayalis or fellow Indians.

tahmad #7: Well said.

It is interesting, that within the South Asian demographic context, I believe, far more South Asians migrate into Pakistan, then Pakistanis migrating into other South Asian countries.

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Achmed - that is tahmed321

To all the Gholam Nabis, Gholam Rasools and Gholam Arab of Pakestan.

Abdul says - History says your country was founded as a refuge for Muslims , so why is it that you do not want to take them in. You took them in when you were promised greenbacks , so are you suggesting that more greenbacks might help the Muslims cause.

Abdul says- Remember you have an identity that is solely tied to your religion, the moment you lose that you have disowned your founding father/s.

Abdul says- We must also take Syed Bukhari.

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audio-video-radio #10:

``So what is a big deal if one head was seen mutilated. What about Hindu heads?``

It is not about Hindu heads or Muslim heads, but human heads and the rule of law. Do you justify this `one head` because of past `hindu heads`? Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah etc were invaders of the past, Gujarat govt is doing it to its own citizens.

If someone justifies 800+ muslim deaths in gujarat for the 60+ hindu deaths in godhra, then how many hindu deaths in the future will justify the 800 muslim deaths in gujarat? The cycle of violence must stop. The rule of law must be equally applied to all violators. The victims are human, not hindu or muslim, the perpetrators are criminals, not hindu or muslim.

Muslims in Kashmir not seeking Pakistan merger

USA Today

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — In a dramatic about-face, the most influential and hardline Islamic political party in Indian-controlled Kashmir announced on Sunday it was not seeking Kashmir`s merger into Pakistan.

The Jama`at-e-Islami also said it had no links with Islamic militants staging terror attacks and strikes on military targets since 1989 and hinted that it could break ranks with other Kashmiri separatists and consider participation in elections.

The announcement was described as a significant development ahead of state elections in Kashmir. The Himalayan region has been the cause of five decades of tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and two wars. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring the 12-year insurgency, which has left more than 60,000 people dead. Islamabad denies the allegation.

For five decades, Jama`at has struggled politically for a merger of Jammu-Kashmir, India`s only Muslim-majority state, into Islamic Pakistan.

However, Jama`at`s president Ghulam Mohammad Bhat said Sunday that there is no mention of merging with Pakistan in the party`s constitution. ``We didn`t ever even pass a resolution demanding accession since we have been working here,`` he told reporters.

The Jama`at is the only one of the hard-line Islamic parties in Jammu-Kashmir that has an organized, disciplined, region-wide network and thousands of members spread across the Kashmir Valley.

Bhat also said he wants to ``make it clear that we have no connection with the militants or militancy, particularly with the Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen,`` the biggest of a dozen militant groups fighting India.

Many Jama`at members have been arrested or detained over the decade on suspicion they were working secretly for Hezb-ul Mujahedeen.

Jama`at also expressed differences with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a group of 24 Muslim religious and political groups in Kashmir to which it belongs. The Conference, which opposes Indian control of the region, boycotted the last elections in the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir.

Indian officials have for months asked Kashmiri separatist parties to take part in the elections planned for September or October if they want to prove that they are the true representatives of Kashmiris.

Bhat said that ``right now`` Jama`at has ``no plans of participating in the polls, but anything can happen in the future.`` He added that his party would not call for a boycott of the elections, which he said would be ``unlawful.``

The ramifications of Bhat`s announcement were unclear. In the past, groups or leaders in Kashmir have made announcements, only to reverse them later. At other times, new factions have formed.

Indian political scientist Haseeb Ahmad described Bhat`s comment as ``the biggest gain for the government of India since the onset of the militancy.``

``This is a clear indication that the Jama`at wants to reaccept ... the basic framework of the Indian democratic setup in Kashmir,`` he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/06/30/kashmir.htm