Look Ahead In Terror

InYour Face

Quit whining. You talk about a middle path then come out with the ``hate mongering`` slur as soon as someone points out the rancid state of Indian politics? Get a life.

Making ethnic caste slurs like ``yamla jatt`` then play the ``middle path man``. Dont make me laugh.

{{Wow! That`s deep, man. Surprised you didn`t say that Modi was responsible for Godhra. Some of your friends actually beleive that 4000 jews didn`t show up for work.}}

Who are ``my friends``, you asshole?? You mean those Muslim fundamentalists who believe in the 4000 holidaying Jew theory are ``my friends`` because I criticise Indian politicians and the fact that they remain free after slaughtering thousands of innocent people like hogs? That puts me in the same boat as Muslim fundamentalists?

You truly are pathetic.

{{Unfortunately, Indians like you are penny a dozen }}

Yeah, it is unfortunate that there are people like me who hate the mass murdering establishment of Indian politics. Indians are of course lucky to having an oh-so-middle-path-treading person like you who resorts to caste slurs and implies Muslim fundamentalist motives at the slightest ounce of criticism of the Indian establishment. I cannot freaking stand Muslim fundamentalists.

Yes INDIA IS SO LUCKY to have you and your type.

Your responses are becoming more incoherent. Give it up, Einstein.

-h-

Stuka; zaroor likhein; it`ll make interesting reading.

actually RSAXENA--I AM the same Asif Naqshbandi as before; it is not someone using a nick similar to mine but me myself....

Stuka: Yes I didn`t say they were unpatriotic--it just seems there is not much opportunity for the average person...

Harpreet:

Instead of calling names, you would have gained lot of respect if only you commented about what Ashuthosh Versney said.

I don`t understand people like you .... who are seemingly sensitive to human condition yet jump to calling names if different perspective arises.

``The people responsible for the obscuring of Godhra are the lynch mobs inspired by Milosevic Modi. ``

Wow! That`s deep, man. Surprised you didn`t say that Modi was responsible for Godhra. Some of your friends actually beleive that 4000 jews didn`t show up for work.

Unfortunately, Indians like you are penny a dozen.

PS. THERE IS A MIDDLE PATH.

In Your Face

You make alot of presumptions about my religious background. It is more complex than your reductive brain sems to presume. Whats with the reference to Jats? I am not a Jat.

hari makes a simple point which you seem unable to reconcile or assimilate. B***ards responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent people should be punished in perpetuity until the proponents of a political culture that absolves and allows politicians to get away with the mass slaughter of thousands of innocents are destroyed. Of whatever political hue. Comprendez?

The people responsible for the obscuring of Godhra are the lynch mobs inspired by Milosevic Modi.

The accusation of ``stirring hate`` because I insist on justice for the victims of pogroms most clearly illustrates the hysterical mindset you display so unashamedly here. It is truly pathetic.

Read my post again. It will test the casuistry skills of a master evader like you, but you should be able to understand it eventually.

-h-

Naqshbandi:

``A sad thing I noticed was that amongst the young ppl almost everyone was desparate to get out of Pakistan and go to the West... ``

Yes, but do not make the mistake of thinking that these people have no love for the soil. A distrust of the establishment is not the same as not having love for your country. If the establishment is parasitic, then the individual who wants to live an honest and dignified life has an obligation to escape.

Maybe I will write an article for Chowk about my experiences and thoughts...


I would really look forward to it.

#33:Romair

....`` I am no literary critic....``

Perhaps that is the reason you are a productive member of society.

In order to be a Lit-Leechur of the englo-type one must:

1) Drop hints about having smoked narcotics in a nudge nudge wink wink kind of `politeness`.... Charsee & bhangee is now a lifestyle because their massas are proud of it.

2) Must let the word out that liquor is a subject worth discussing & drunkards are really not bad guys...except that they just OD on it.

3) Some hints about extra-marital & illicit encounters on exotic trips further elevates their grammatical & expository skills.

4) Mentioning of having a respect for musli8ms, islam, saying eidmubarak, ramazan mubarak and visits to masjids suddenly brings down their engloIQs.

5) Identifying with atheist, communists, humanists, satanist, & humanists suddenly gives them the tingling feeling of being rushdickic. Their hair rise like porcupine quills whenever mullah, maulana, and Allama kind of learned & knowledgeable people are mentioned.

Only losers are Lit-leechurs in life.

Just ask Urstruly and he will corroborate what I`ve said.

InYourFace

Polite to me but not to jat yamla brother Harpreet? I am a brother Indian too. Give me the bad with the good too :(

#46 in your face:

Modi got away.....

Didn`t Tikka Khan(butcher of bengal) who caused millions of bengali hindu/muslim deaths got away? The last I heard he died in his 90s of old age with full military honors from pakistani establishment, right?

people who cause death and destruction should be punished no matter what their religion/status. Now that makes sense.

#38 by Jat Yamla (aka Harpreet)

I asked, ``What kind of tyranny is it if people who raise such questions are classified as bigots? ``

You didn`t disappoint me, you called me a facsist just because I asked few uncomfortable questions.

By bringing up acquittal of Sajjan Kumar et al in this context, I have a weird feeling that this jat yamla is trying to lay the seeds of hatred. I hope not.


``And dont try any of that ``More Hindu than thou`` hysteria with me, it wont wash. ``

I won`t. I don`t consider myself as hindu. Definitely, I am more polite than you are.

``take off your blinkers`` and read what another `hindu fascist` is saying ....

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20021230&fname=Cover+Story%28F%29&sid=10&pn=3

(The author is director, Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, US. His book, Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India was published by the Oxford University Press this year.)

``However wrong it may sound to liberal or secular ears, nothing gives greater life to Hindu nationalism than a credible claim that Muslims are intolerably violent. It is in the interests of those who care about India`s pluralism to somehow make sure that a Godhra, or an event equally symbolically dangerous, is not repeated. For a pluralistic future in India, minority communalism must be fought as vigorously as majority communalism. This claim should not be equated with blaming the Muslims for the horrors of post-Godhra Gujarat; it is an undeniable practical reality of Indian politics. ``

#35 by Ralph

``Not big bad hindu conspiracy but our democracy is so screwed up that people get away with cold-blooded murder of hundreds of Indians. ``

Yes, I agree. Unfortunately, we don`t have a tradition of commissioning war tribunals. Indira got away with emergency. Advani got away with rath yatra. Congress got away with 1984 riots. Thackeray got away with bombay riots. So did numerous terrorist outfits (khalistanis, naxalites, northeast groups etc) got away with murder. And now, Modi and his godhra and akshadharam friends will get away for sure.

...harimau #39...MUCH better....:)

harimau sahab, #39

your post was a pleasure to read. if only the people in charge could show as much understanding.

yours, in cross-border solidarity,

aamir

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

...how long will it take some of you gullible idiots to realize that this ``naqshabandi`` is not the individual you all are referring too...one of those farangi_kush vs. farangi-kush type deals....

stuka--I was born in Pakistan but came to the UK when I was 2 and have grown up and lived here ever since. I am British-Pakistani. Another thing which I realised during my trip was how Anglicised I actually really am even though I speak Urdu and Punjabi fluently, have a deep love of Urdu poetry and literature and am a traditonal Sunni Muslim...

I also noticed (I travelled a lot in Punjab province only) how totally dominant the Barelvi school of Ahlus Sunnah is in Pakistan and how much of a minority the hardline Deobandis actually are too! They can hardly be seen!! Sufi shrines dominate everywhere! Alhamdulillah. Also I noticed how the common people are deeply re;ligious Barelvis yet most of them distrust the maulvis politically!

A sad thing I noticed was that amongst the young ppl almost everyone was desparate to get out of Pakistan and go to the West...

Maybe I will write an article for Chowk about my experiences and thoughts...

``rehan has a body of work and has consistency to show for his talents...``(temporal)

right.

may be for the ``buzurguwar`s`` pleasure -- rehan`s next column should be on Ismail Meeruthi --

shukre adaa kur rub kaa bhaaiee
jisney hamaaree gai banaaiee

Ref Naqshbandi #21

Dear Naqshbandi Sahib,

You are a rare human being. Others may congratulate you for having the courage to change your views and that, I grant you, is a courageous act by itself. But you had the compassion and sensitivity to observe the situation in Pakistan. It would have been so much easier to fly into the country, visit your folks, and dismiss the poor as lazy bums and the poverty to be a result of that laziness. Even worse, the poor could have been invisible to you for, as it has been truly said, there is none so blind as one who would not see. But you chose not to be blind to the sufferings of others and for that I salute you.

No one can speak for the bureaucracy/state/military in India but I can assure you that no sane Indian has any enmity toward Pakistan. Nor does India have territorial ambitions against Pakistan -- all you have to do is to look at how Bangladesh survives as an independent country. I am not asking Pakistan to disarm but your suggestion that Pakistan should curtail its military spending is a wise one. If the LOC in Kashmir can become a cold line just like India has with its border with Tibet/China as opposed to a hot one with daily firings across it, then Pakistan has the opportunity to spend more of its budget on development of its human potential.

No one can deny that while the nuclear weapons program is an indication of misplaced priorities, it has produced world-class scientists in Pakistan in that field. Just imagine what the country can achieve if that same dedication is brought to bear on education, manufacturing, research in other scientific fields, etc. Pakistan will then have the ability to turn itself around and showcase to the world what a progressive Muslim-majority country would be like. There will be no hankering for the Indonesian model or the Turkish model for the best model for governance would be the Pakistani model.

Just as you despair at the current state of affairs in Pakistan, we in India despair at the situations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and a few other backward states. So Pakistan is not alone in its predicament and Indians should not think they have accomplished a whole lot: there are still ways to go. But a first step would be peace between the neighbors. With that, everything is possible; without it, nothing is.

InYourFace

Dont make presumptions about me. It is really tragic to see you spewing your own complexes on this board and projecting them onto other peoples arguments. Your knee jerk defence of ultra right wing facism is pathetic.

Congress and BJP are both part of the same rancid political system. Except where Congress was concerned it was the defence of a private empire, the BJP wallahs are implementing a systematic fascistic vision.

And dont try any of that ``More Hindu than thou`` hysteria with me, it wont wash.

take off your blinkers


Ralph,

You said it mate. Thanks.

-h-

#33 by Romair:

I am not a literay critic...

---nor am i one...honest!...don`t pay heed to rumours


... but I have not seen enough in the writings of the author to justify his articles being published in magazines in India/Pakistan etc. His writings aren`t bad (they are OK), but they are no better than the other writings on Chowk....

---buzurgwar, how many wiritng credits do you have on chowk?....elsewhere?...

rehan has a body of work and has consistency to show for his talents...

...you may not agree with what he says or how he says it...and god knows he has received more bricks than laurels from those who cannot construct a simple sentence...

kam azz kum itna hee likh daitay apnay khayalat say pehlay kay ---`hamaray khayal maiN` tou is paraishani say yaqeenan buch jatay....;)

...t

ps:

yaar I must say this..of lately.... both you and feroz has shown a remarkable improement in your compositon skills...

pps:

slodhi: shukria for the poems...on unplugged we had a collection of faiz poems going that the chowk editors in their wisdom saw it it fit to delete because.....well...i don`t why...

Peace,
The biggest problem of Pakis is that whenever somebody point out any problem in Pakistan we get emotional and start attacking the other person with out seeing what they actually have to say. Killing of Muslims or Hindus in India does not legitimise the killing of shias or sunnis or mohajirs, bengalis or punjabis. We should deal our problems within our boundaries. I might be labeled as an Un_patriot if I would say that a lot of our problems are there only because we poke our nose in other people business, but this is the fact. One can argue that Kashmir is important for our survival, but remember we lost a full arm in 71 as a price. I agree the partition was not fair as some may argue but why cry over somethings which you cant change. In our effort to get Kashmir we have already lost half of what we had and at the point of losing the rest of it. Our main issues are illetracy, poverty, unemployment, not kashmir, or murders of sikh, hindu, muslims, in India, nor should we have to run to aid the relilgous militia in any neighboring country, or any where else in the world.
There are countries in the world who dont give a $hit to what ever is happening in other parts of the world and guess what? their citizens are more happy than Pakis.
So lets get down to the real problems and try to find their solution without finger pointing on otherslike India, British Raj or US, or Usama or Saudi king or some one else.
Peace...

InYourFace #34

Not big bad hindu conspiracy but our democracy is so screwed up that people get away with cold-blooded murder of hundreds of Indians.

#28 by Harpreet

``Go and read up on Sajjan Kumar`s acquittal and the Nanavati commision then ask me that question again. ``

Do you think Sajjan Kumar was acquitted because of this big, bad hindu conspiracy? I thought this guy was congresswallah.

People who talk about gujrath without the mention of godhra are actually harming secular cause in India. I understand why pakis do that but I don`t understand why Indians do that. Why didn`t congress talk about godhra during elections?

I am not a literay critic, but I have not seen enough in the writings of the author to justify his articles being published in magazines in India/Pakistan etc. His writings aren`t bad (they are OK), but they are no better than the other writings on Chowk. One would expect far more from a, ``featured writer.`` Or maybe I am missing something, because I am not much into literature. One or the other.

I do understand Faiz, however. And must say that Faiz`s poetry is (was) genius. ``Bol`` and ``Hum Dekhein Gay`` (the, ``Gay``part is not about Gay rights, by the way :)) are his best works. Tina Sani, Nayyara Noor and Hadiqa Kayani have sung Bol - best to worst in that order, in my opinion. Iqbal Bano`s Hum D Gay is excellent. This should be the anthem for anyone representing suppressed people. I submitted it as the official anthem for Tehrek-i-Insaaf. I wonder if they considered my sugggestion.

While I have been complaining about Indian critics always mentioning Pakistan while pointing out problems in India, Pakistanis apparently do the same, when pointing out problems in Pakistan.

If the purpose of this article is to point out Pakistani problems, what is the need to mention Modi and Gujrat. Though having mentioned it, I have to disagree with the analogies between Shia killings in Pakistan and Muslim killings in Gujrat, due to the following reasons:

- Shia killings in Pakistan were (are) being carried out by a terrorist militant wing of an organization called Sipah-e-Sahaba. It was recently banned. Its leaders were (are) the most wanted people in Pakistan. Their top leadership has recently been caught after a nationwide hunt (I think with help from FBI) and will probably be hanged, if they haven`t already been hanged. Sipah-e-Sahaba does not have any political following in Pakistan and is infact hated by all Pakistanis - except a small group in Jhang and a few fanatics.

What has happened in Gujrat would be equivalent to something in Pakistan if the Sunnis in Pakistan started chasing down Shias openly in neighborhoods. That has never happened and I doubt it ever will.

The position of Shias in Pakistan is far stronger than position of Muslims in India. I believe (not sure) BB is Shia. The current Chief of Air Staff is Shia. The previous Interior minister, Moin-ud-din Hadier, chasing down SSP, is Shia (SSP ended up killing his brother). The current Interior Minister, Faisal Hayat (I believe) is Shia etc. Shias are in the mainstream, and are only targeted by a banned terrorist militant wing of SSP, with a tiny following.

- Sipah-e-Sahaba has only one seat in the National Assembly. Even that guy won his seat while he was in jail. The courts ordered his removal from jail, since there was no proof or case against him. He wins from Jhang, because Jhang is caught in a situation where it has a majority Sunni population with a feudal Shia leadership.

BJP owns the Gujrat Assembly. It has a lot more than one seat there. And it has been elected again and again in the Central Govt. also. It is not a banned outfit. Infact it is banning adn jailing other outfits, like SIMI and APHC, in India. It is infinitely more powerful in India than SSP is in Pakistan.

As the senior leaders of the militant wing of SSP have been caught the killings of Shia doctors have stopped. It seems like there were only a few people who were carrying out all the killings. On the other hand, after the Gujrat elections, the chances of anti-Muslim violence has increased in India.

Modi can defintely be compared to the SSP leadership who carried out Shia killings in Pakistan. And BJP can definitely be compared to SSP. The above two are identical matches (BJP is far more extremist and right wing than say Jamaat-i-Islami however). But the popularity of BJP in India is much much greater than the popularity of SSP in Pakistan (not counting the tiny city of Jhang).

Thus, this article is weak on two counts - One: it unnecessarily brings in problems in India to point out problems in Pakistan. Two: the comparisons it does make with India are inaccurate, since the problems in Pakistani democratic system are different from those in the Indian democracy.

Aisha Sarwari:

Wow!! Can`t believe I`m going to say this, but a Happy New Year to you as well and welcome back to Chowk. Haven`t seen you around for a while.

Naqshbandi:

Wow!! Your post is amazing. It is a complete turnaround from all that you have espoused in the past. It makes me wonder though. What areas of Pakistan did you visit, and what class of people did you speak to?

Also, are you a genuine Pakistani or a British version of an ABCD? The reason I ask is that do you have a first hand connection to the soil of your country or is it textbook inspired nationalism?

Another one.
Faiz wrote it in Beruit, 1980, still true after 23 years,

Palestini bachey kay liye Lori,

Mat ro bachey
ro ro kay abhi
teri ammi key aankh lagi hai

mat ro bachey
kuch hee pehley
terey abba ney
apney gham sey rukhsat lee hay,

mat ro bachey
tera bhai
apne khawab key titley peechay
door kahin pardais gaya hai

mat ro bachey
teri baaji ka
dola paraye dais gaya hai

mat ro bachey
terey angan mein
murda suraj nehla kay gaye hain
chandarma dafna kay gaye hein

mat ro bachey
ammi, abba, baji, bhai,
chand aur suraj
too gar roye ga to yeh sab
aur bhi tujh ko rulayen gey
too muskaye ga to shayed
sarey ik din bhais badal kar
tujh sey khelne lot aaen gey

From ``merey dil merey musafir``

Peace...

freesoul;

Look up IRONY in the dictionary

InYour Face;

Go and read up on Sajjan Kumar`s acquittal and the Nanavati commision then ask me that question again.

-h-

``kaheen tub jake hota hai chaman meiN deedawar paida`` -- Faiz was one of those deedawar -- a gohare nayab -- jiskee subcontinent ne qadar kee -- there are poets and ther are ``sukhunwar bahut achchey`` -- they come and go -- but Faiz -- none like him EVERcame again -- gur chey intazaar hai -- aur rhaegaa ...

phir koiee aya dile zar naheen koiee naheeN -- raahrau hoga kaheeN aur chalaa jaigaa

laRkhaRaney lugey aiwanoN meiN khabeeda chiraagh -- sou gaee raastaa tuk tuk ke hur ek rah guzaar --

phir yahaN koiee naheeN koiee naheeN aye gaa

thanks Rehan

#22:slodhi

``agar jarahat-e Quatil sey bakhshvaa laa-ay
tO dil siyasat-e charaN garaN kee nzr huaa``--------------------Faiz A Faiz.

meaning:

It`s the meddling & manouverings of the well-wishers which undid (me).

Thanks Rehan Ansari for bringing to light two issues that are tragically downplayed!

Your writing............its like `buttah`!

#22
You spoke too soon.

#12 by Harpreet

``It has democratic tyranny, ...... ``

What kind of tyranny is it if 58 innocent people are burnt alive or 38 sikh farmers are slaughtered, just because they they are that? What kind of tyranny is it when victims some how become suspect? What kind of tyranny is it if people who raise such questions are classified as bigots?

After Akshadharam, Modi and BJP did the right thing. Thirtyeight people are dead. No riots. But, ``we should catch the criminals``.

This is for all the liberal pakis who get all worked up about gujrath ... ``you should catch the criminals``.

Faiz is a magnificent poet but I don`t think he would be a fair source to use for pakistani history; he`s far from objective being a staunch socialist as is evident from his poetry and his lifelong friendship and love for communism and the USSR...Thus he looks at history with the eyes of dialectic materialism...

Yet who can fail to love his poetic gems such as:

raat yoon dil mein teri khoee huwi yaad aayee

jaisay veeranay main chupkay say bahaar aajaaye

jaisay sehraoon main chalay holay say baad-e-naseem

jaisay beemaar ko bay wajha qaraar aajaaye

:-)

Then again having just visited pakistan for the first time in a decade I have undergone a 100% change in my views about what is important for pakistan: education, jobs, economic, social, technological and scientific development are the needs of the day. I wasn`t aware of how poor the average pakistani was. No one is interested in idealisms. People want the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their children (hence why everyone wants to go to the West!)--and THAT is what pakistan`s govt must deliver on. Above all else economic and social development.
If that requires swallowing the bullet and making peace with India and even giving up the nuclear bomb I now think it is worth it. When no Pakistani child goes to bed hungry and we have 100% literacy and people can get good jobs and earn a respectable living THEN we can return to the more idealistic dreams I used to think were our priority! Yes, I think that the country`s leaders need to make these economic goals the priority EVEN if to achieve that we hav to become a secular state temporarily. I learnt that the vast majority of ordinary Pakistanis are devout, moderate Sunni (Barelvi) Muslims who do NOT want an ``Islamist`` state but rather worry about their daily bread and that of their children. I think the keys to this are education and scientific advancement, female equal opportunities etc and NOT nukes!!

After all, to paraphrase Sayyidina Umar ibn al Khattab the leaders will be responsible if even a single dog goes to sleep hungry!

Peace
Faiz is no doubt one of the greatest sons of the land now called india and pakistan. Tanhai was published in Naqsh-e-Faryadi, which was his firts dewan, and includes poems from the years 1928,29 to 1934, 35, which was his college and early adulthood days when he got the first ``Ghao`` (wound) of ``Ishq``. There is another poem from same Naqsh-e-Faryadi called ``Kuttay`` (dogs). Its a beautiful poem which on a quick glance looks like an overview of life of a dog in the street. However if you, realy want to understand the message just replace the word of ``Kuttay`` by the people of our beautiful land. Isnt it ironic that the miserable conditions of dogs about which Faiz is crying, are actualy the same of the people of south asia.
I am glad to see that in 20 responses so far there is no reflection of hate as we see in some other responses to the articles on chowk. This may be because the author cleverly hide his message in a fairly benign introduction
##Look Ahead In Terror by rehan ansari 12/31/2002

In college I decided that that I would learn Pakistani history through Faiz Ahmed Faiz`s poems ##
This way all these hate mongers who we see at other places in chowk paid no attention to the article, as they know that if somebody is talking about Faiz then the message would be of universal love and that of greatness of the human kind, and about the ways to achieve the lost integrity of the soul, and means and methods of achieving the Nirvana of human greatness, and these people have no time for this bull$hit. They only care about how to acuse India or Pakistan and the people of this reagion for all the things which are wrong in their lives, and just sit there spread more hate without any practical effort to rid themselves of the evils of their lives.
Enough for them, its great to see that there are some people who still hope fro good and want to work for that. ( compare the number of response to this article with number of responses to some other hate filled articles ).
Peace

Scout,

Thanks matey. You`re a doll!!!

Umer M.

UmerMurtaza,

as long as freesoul, saminashah, harpreet, ansari, sadna, ghalibzaman,
humsab, ahmedmadani, ras, and aisha-sarwari keep quiet, your secret identity is safe with me....scout`s honor..

Re: ahmedmadni (5)

I like ur pessimism, and the ironic yet optimist wishes for us.

:)

Oh $hit,

The bloody thing didn`t change names. Seems I need to explain myself... Right then, I am Moarsh. Moarsh stands For Mohammad Arshad because that`s the name of my unc. No, I am not 12 head incarnate and neither do I intened to stalk anyone. I Promise.

So let me explain, I got this ID `cos I wrote something (nothing offensive - I want you to know - I don`t need a ID for it - I`ll say something offensive it if I have to) in the lit unplugged board which I just didn`t want anyone knowing I had written. Don`t ask why...hence the ID. Now I`ll just have to get another one.

B0ll0cks!
Umer M.

#12 by Harpreet

Well, ur definition of democracy is like giving knife to mentally deranged man.

Yes, India can be democratic if it encourages or permits killing of its minortities by majority, yet it would not be civlized.

At the end of the day, a man killed by govt-supported party or his racist neighbour, is an innocent man killed. What is the difference? In the first case. u might end up with 600,000 ppl dead.

This is just a general comment/question to y`all,

-h- mentioned about Democracy so this question just sprang to mind. I have always thought of democracy as empowerment of people. In the ideal democratic model, I would like to think that the public was running and contributing, and aware of every single affairs of the country, as opposed to just putting your faith in someone and hoping that he`d/she`d do their best.

However, I also believe that the democracy the world practises is anything but the ideal model. Governments do get away with murder, literally. But I wonder whether democracy can be used as a tool to legitimise terrorism (in the sense of killing innocent civilians). After all, we are the people who go out and commit `democratic slaughter` by electing politicians who commit such actions. Does that then make all of us a little responsible for that other person`s misery?

Thank you,
Umer M.

Mr Ansari,

Didn`t Faiz also write
`aaj bazaar mein ba-wa-joulan chalo`(which Mr. Freethinker kindly translated for some of us on chowk)

Would leftist poets ever advise `wait and see`, wouldn`t they rather rouse to thought and action? Of course, cannot answer for leftist with charpoy, ie a tired leftist.

Your (literary) attitude towards the Hindu right in India seems the same your attitude toward the Muslim right in Pakistan, ie highminded passivity.

PS: Modi said that if the Congress wins in Gujarat, Pakistanis would celebrate. Seems he got that one right.

Rehan

The difference between Gujarat and Pakistan is that Gujarat has democratic slaughter. Therefore India is more superior to you.

It has democratic tyranny, ie: the tyranny over the minority has been legitimised by the voters and is therefore unquestionably unfortunate but hey, its the will of the people.

Not like Pakistan where your minorities are terrorised by unelected killers. How outrageous.

I mean I would so much rather be killed by democratically elected and accredited politicians than by the dregs of a military dictatorship.

Now that is real freedom of choice.

Its called democracy.

But I wouldnt expect you Pakistanis to understand because you are all soooo backwards.

-h-

Madani sahab,

Good to see you back! Kaise hain aap? Aapki poetries tau lajwaab hain. Here`s wishing you a very new year!

Aamir

Scout,

Please come to CUNY; you need to be spanked very badly ;)

reha nan sari,

i know you meant well with this article, but it was boring and made me hate desi politicians and desi politics even more. why waste time on those jerks when you can`t do anything about them.

#5: ahmedmadani

This is the BEST poem I have read on CHOWK to date. It is also a harbinger of many more ones to follow. Your prose is excellent as well.

Very original & with no pretense or affectation this IS the stuff chowk needs . I, like many others, have been rendered a cultural & intellectual cripple and ideologically-corrupt by the english-intellectualisation of our `education` system.

Please accept my humble salaams.

Mr rehan ansari
Ashis Nandy is a psychologist or sociologist?
Regards

saminasha,

can i come to CUNY too, i wanna see yours and rehan`s pretty faces....
oh and to learn too

Thank RA about N. Modi. and what indian said.

I recall similar thing I recall vividly. My relative served from february71 to sept.71 in east pakistan in civilian job. When he returned I was only 22 and he came to visits us. My father wanted to know how things are going in East pakistan. I brought tea and sat listening not very interested. He said our soldiers are killing our own people and they will kill in hundreds of thousands. My father did not ask more. Afterwards I asked father he said son I do not know but when I look at Tikka, Yahyya, Niyazi Its all possible and it will happen he said empathetically. I asked him why he said no reason he said I can see it.

Same feeling happened to me about General sahib. He was talking nice on TV after kicking NS. BUt I knew some how inside its all bogus its just talk he will climb down from his horses. Some times just you get feeling of coiming things. To day general is just pragmatic. I feel I am smarter Than honorable `big Khan`. Even foreign ex-pak were charged by good feeling about general and democracy we got same no more no less.Even Big Khan feels cheated by army.
Does it means people , ordinary , karchi citizen had some times fast future seeing capacity. Wonder that type of research is done in america , foreign countries. Happy new 2003 for every good.
My first and last poem welcoming 2003
Let poors get money
rich get more money
religious get slavation
dark people get wheatish wife.
wheatish get white
expak get milkwhite wife and get milk white babies with witout no brown mixed complexion.
all peoples children get whiter spouses and babies
Mohajirs become white, punjabis loose fat
Sindhis get asif freed and balu. stan find more gas fields
all Pashtuns get longer white beards
Saddam get hart attack and save inconvience to all muslims.
Let indus flow full, with lots of fish. Let every body be happy
welcome 2003 . ......Its not bad at first attempt

Rehan,
Will do.
Also, come to CUNY; we need people like you teaching classes!

thanks samina... though i have brought up ashis nandy who has really given me ways to think about our culture, and this idea of feeling history through the career of faiz was a heartlfelt exercise once, there are more private, perhaps incommunicable experiences i would rather refer to, and i will write as if ``you`` will know what i am writing about, one evening in lahore (where else!) sunny razvi, currently of dawn, who i know from the frontier post in the early 90s, and working for sajjad gul in the late 90s (there i did that again drop public proper nouns as landmarks), and most memorably from a legendary trip we made to india (a legend, again, in my mind), pulled out tanhai and said it should not be read like this but like this... he read it aloud with his trademark disdain (when i know he is not only mocking himself)...

so read tanhai sometimes, not softly as it seems you should, but disdainfully...

Faiz Ahmed Faiz should be a part of every Pakistani College
kid`s reading syllabus.

Ras

It didn`t occur to me that Shias in Pakistan are the same percentage as Muslims in India. Our law and order situation is sorry indeed.

As much as I have tried to be cynical about Faiz I`ve grown to admire him more with passing years. My deep fascination and near obsession with the PTV drama serial TAPISH, makes it almost permanent. The performances in the 5 long tapes are absolutely brilliant, especially Jamal Shah`s and Rubina Ashraf`s. Tapish is basically based on Faiz. Its about university students in Zia`s era. Its just a masterpiece.

Tina Sani sang the soundtrack -``bol`` and ``Mere Palko ko matt dekho`... I watch the drama every new years eve, interesting that you wrote about him.

Faiz`s poems have helped make dreams divisible. He breaks ideals down so nothing seems overwhelming. Your article however seems a little abstract and moves people to judge negatively- its very elitist- The other part of Faiz I don`t enjoy coming to terms with.

Happy new year to all Chowkies. Hope the dramas in our nations make heroes out of us.


Aisha F Sarwari.

Nice parrallels and literary reference points. This is the function of a broadly based essay; to take ideas and events from various disciplines and tie them together.
I have also been using poems as a way of understanding history, and Faiz most particularly; from his poems the reader is allowed into a Pakistan that seems to exist in twillight, in the heart of some Pakistanis, and people all over the world.
Lovely ending.