Growing Up Red

re #51
What Stalin has to do with conditions in Pakistan or India?
Dunno about Pakistan but Naxalites (violent communists) in India do not shy away from executing the bourgeois and other assorted ``reactionaries``. There is a passage in one of Naipaul`s books (Million Mutinies?) where an ex-Naxalite justifies killing a small baby if the baby was born in a landlord family.
Currently the Communists of Nepal are the leaders in commie style revolutionary executions in South Asia.

#47 by fuzair
“We have it on record, from no less an august revolutionary than Tariq Ali,”

Your record as usual came from the cooked up army history books in Kakul.
Tariq Ali was never in the communist Party of Pakistan so how did he know?
Tariq Ali left Pakistan when he was barely out of college. Never worked for the communist Party, did not know a single soul from the party. His parents Mazhar Ali Khan and Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan were communist sympathizers but never members of the communist Party.

In fact, His father’s magazine “Viewpoint” was reportedly financed by Russians.
Most of the communist in Pakistan were Urban intellectuals and Labor/ social workers none of them was capable of killing even a bird. Only a person with Fauji background and a follower of bloody thirsty generals would accuse a humanitarian and peaceful person like Faiz to be part of a plot to kill people.

There is no historic tradition of political killings and massacres in Pakistan during any type of coup. Four Generals have successfully attacked the civilian governments in Pakistan but even those general never killed anyone during the coup. What they did afterwards is a different story.

What Stalin has to do with conditions in Pakistan or India? Russia had a tradition from the Czar era and before of killing political opponents but that was never the case in India and Pakistan. So historically, your accusation is also not tenable.

Only a blood thirsty fauji would accuse civilian political workers and intellectuals of plotting to kill people.
Read some more about your hero Tikka Khan before coming out with lies about Faiz or any other civilian politicians of Pakistan. Stupid fauji murderers.

#35, #50 by Kulharee
``I consider him to be my spiritual Guruji.``

Then what is the need to be disrespectful to someone’s nana or nani?

Faiz and Mrs. Faiz met in London. Her father owned a book store and Mrs. Faiz worked along with her sister (who married another Pakistani intellectual from Lahore). Faiz used to go there to buy books and that is how they met.

Thanks

Re: # 43

Bhatti Saab… Ay Lahore da Panni ee Kuch aysa ay key Satr Asee Sal taeN Jawani Khatam naee hondi.

Ay Phajay dey Pawvey tay Darulmahi di Machchee kithay BuDDah hon daendee ay? Tusi vi kisi vaylay Chakar lao tay tunhanoo vi VikhawaN gay.


Re: #38

Aashee Ji, I have nothing but admiration for Faiz Ji. I consider him to be my spiritual Guruji. “Chale bhi aao ke Gulshan ka Kaarobaar chale..”

Ali’s account of his growing up and his memories of his Nana are as much about him as much it is about men of his generation who could possibly not see the light as those around us were so towering and we continue to live under their shadow. It is a story of Paki baby boomers.

Re: # 41
Here is a comment I posted earlier on another page. We agree to the extent that we even use some of the same words! I hope that we are taken seriously, and that some will begin to more closely examine their religious beliefs.
When we humans can`t easily create prejudice and hatred through obvious physical differences we invent ways. The formation of religious groups is one of the principal means we`ve invented in order to classify and separate one person from another. It (religion) stimulates hatred and violence, sometimes in service of theologians and often in service of demagogues and tyrants. My antipathy towards all religion resides principally in this...the prejudice it engenders and the hatred that follows.
Today`s prejudices for the most part are not caused by historical events - the real causes are proximal, not distal. They are nearer in time and nearer the heart. Demagogues and other unprincipled people use historical events and distort religion to arouse our latent prejudice and hatred, but we can do it on our own. We are fully capable of citing religious texts or historical events to ``justify`` the expression of feelings or attitudes that are within us, that are profoundly a part of (or a chink in) our nature.
mirmir

Re: # 47

Have you been following Algerian politics lately? Has Khomeini or his regime apologized to the moderates and leftists that were imprisoned, tortured, raped and killed? I could go on, but these examples drain me.

Re: Faiz and Teshah #42

We have it on record, from no less an august revolutionary than Tariq Ali, that the Communist Party of Pakistan had a (presumably long) list of people that it was going to kill as soon as the coup was carried out; no trial, no hearing, just executions. This was standard communist practise since, after all, if Stalin can kill a few million people, how hard can it be for his followers to kill a few dozen or a few hundred?

Just curious, Mr. Hashmi, how much input did Faiz have in preparing this list? Did he contribute a few names? Veto some? Or did he prefer not to know which eggs were going to be broken in order to make the glorious revolutionary omelette he craved?

I`ve never understood the fascination some people have for a pathetic man who slavishly followed every order his masters gave him. When Britain was allied with the USSR, he followed their orders and joined the British Indian Army (Lt. Col. Faiz A. Faiz--no one remembers that, even if it was just ISPR. But isn`t that worse? Prostituting your intellect for the Party?). Did he, like Khruschev, at some point repent his past? Did he apologize to the ghosts of the millions killed by his fellow Communists? Did he return his Lenin Prize? Considering that it was awarded to him in 1962, he clearly spent a long time knowing of Stalin`s crimes and not criticizing him, or his beloved Party.

When Faiz was working for Arafat, was he uncomfortable at the thought that millions of Palestinians were living in such abysmal squalor while Arafat was, even then, worth millions? Or did he not believe in criticizing fellow revolutionaries, lest this aid and comfort the reactionaries?

We all know that Zia and Co. were lying hypocrites of the worst sort. We all know that members of the JUI/JI/LeT/HuM/etc are deluded dupes at best and homicidal psycopaths at worst. What are members of the Communist Party? Why not just admit that, at best, Faiz was modern day Bahadur Shah Zafar: someone whose poetic gifts do not excuse all his failings. While the children are not responsible for the sins of the fathers, neither should they glory in them.

Re: # 45

Ok maybe welcoming you was not on the dot... since you`ve been on Chowk for atleast 6 years...

sorry about that slight.

Dear Ali Hashmi...

Welcome to Chowk:

Your article was amazing. BTW recently the word ``Dehria`` was in the press... Ch. Shujaat Hussain promised the Mullahs that he will expel all ``Dehrias`` from the Muslim League.

... on another note are you Muneeza Hashmi`s son?

Sincerely

Yasser Hamdani

Dear Ali Hashmi:
You have all reasons to be proud of your family legacy, or in particular Faiz, the poet.
I have heard my elders telling me about him, who happened to know him personally. I have read his poetry, no doubt, he was one of his kind. the beauty of his legacy as a poet is that he still is one of his kind. somehow, always, when we talk of him, I can see the shine in the eyes of most present there, which has sorrow for not having him around in person, and has pride for having him there for always.

Pride of family legacy brings responsiblities along. I hope you and ur sons and the rest of your family will be able to carry that with them.

but one thing I would like to mention. I happend to see a copy of a dewan of Faiz, gold crafted, signed by him on every copy, worth of more than 5000 Pounds. when I heard of it, I couldnt believe Faiz could sign such a copy, when I saw, I believed. it no doubt is a worthy gift, however, I wonder ever it was thought, for who would exactly buy such an expensive collection? only those who can afford it, and those who afford it, will never read it, will never understand it, will never believe in it and in Faiz himself as a legendary person, but will put it in ther study room or their ``library`` as a decuration piece. I believe that is the worst treatment any art/intellectual piece of work can ever get, that too of an immenent poet and of a revolutionary like Faiz!

teshah sir ji, tusi te baRhe ee purane niklay O. tuhade naal diaN buildingaN choN vi ittaN khiskan lagg paiyeaN te tusi ajjay vi internet highway te dauRangay laa rahe O. jeenday rahvo!

Ali

Oh, dear Hashmi your article above reminded me of my boyhood when I was also a medical student in KE Medical College. I went to see your Nana when he resided in a flat near Shimla Pahari in 1949, perhaps. We were greeted by your nani, Mrs. Faiz. She looked so graceful clad in shalwaar qameez and, surprizingly, welcomed us in such a chaste Urdu that I never heard afterwards. And then long afterwards, I also saw the janaaza of your great nana, like which I saw never again. It was not carried on shoulders as done usually but on hands by people standing on both sides of the long pathway to the burial ground in Model Town.

Kahiin to ho ga shabe sust mouj ka saahil
kahiin to ja ke ruke ga safiinaae ghame dil

How wonderful were those days as in the words of your nana:

Janoon mein jo bhi guzri bakaar guzri he
Garchih dil pih kharaabi hazaar guzri he

As regards the so called `Pindi Consipircy` it was actually a conspiracy not against the Liaqat Ali government but against the communist party of Pakistan.

Ali has a point...fear of death..end of this life and then what? is so ingrained in our subconsicous minds that people fall for the trick called God when they face death or unknown.
religion has been taking advantage of humans for this very reason since beginning of time...and still does. but what you call a man who strarts worrying about death in his 20`s? fanatic? no, an idiot.

If it was not God and religion invented to deal with this issue, something else equally insane would have been invented by man for same reasons.

very nicely written piece. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
I have not read much of his poetry except few pieces here and there available in Gurmukhi. I love his `vey pardesiya, teriaN kithray na paindeyaN dassaN`..sung by NFAK. I did not know it was Faiz`s poem until much later. khair he is much respected in India at least in East Punjab where we are also proud of him for another reason - that he started writing in Punjabi in his later days. We wish he had started earlier and given some more memorable work to Punjabi language. At the same time it is somewhat disappointing too that Iqbal and Faiz both were brought up in Punjab and Punjabi was there first language and Had they contributed to Punjabi even half of what they did in urdu, our literature would have been richer...they could have easily rubbed shoulders with Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah in Punjabi psychie.

Do you know that a Punjabi/English poetess from Canada has transliterated some of Faiz`s poetry to Punjabi last year and published it? though I have not got my hands on the book yet.

I specially liked the para concluding with “Choro bhai, theek hai``.Reminded me of something Jordan Zevon said about his Dad.Very heartfelt writing.
To All the ``dehrias`` ( 1 number, 2 number, aadhay, paunay) ,>>Stop messing with urstruly! Show some compassion for Shaitan`s sake!

Kulharee(aka axe), you seem to be chopping people with your Shairs!....and its highly improper to ask Ali how his nana jaan phunsa his nani. They might have fallen in love. Poets have a very romantic gene in them, u know. And besides in those days a lot of men who went abroad brought back a mem bride.

ali: ``Pakistani Dehrias are 2 number........``

i agree with that. that is indeed a rule. the whole sinusoidal loop and back to from where they started. 360 degrees. period. a zero degree output on the look back. :-)