Growing Up Red

Nadia_Zhera:
Thanks alot. I couldn`t have imagined.

peace.

Chund roz aur meri jaan.....

A few days more, my dear

A poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz translated by V.G. Kiernan



A few days more, my dear, only a few days.
We are compelled to draw breath in the shadows of tyranny;
For a while longer let us bear oppression, and quiver, and weep:
It is our ancestors` legacy, we are blameless;
On our body is the fetter, on our feelings are chains,
Our breaths are captive, on our speech are censorings;
It is our courage that evens then we go on living.
Is life some beggar`s gown, on which
Every hour patches of pain are fixed?
But now the days of the span of tyranny are few;
Patience one moment, for the days of complaining is few.
In the scorched desert of the space of this age
We must stay, but not stay like this;
The nameless, heavy oppression of foreign hands
Today must be borne, but not always borne.
The dust of tribulations enfolding your beauty,
Counting of the frustrations of our youth of two days,
Futile burning pain of moonlit nights,
The heart`s profitless throbbing, the body`s despairing cry
A few days more, my dear, only a few days.

nadia:

barai meh`rbaani! thank you so much for posting both of those poems. :)

Ashk Abad ki Shaam

Jab Sooraj nay Jatay Jatay
Ashkabad kay Neelay Ufq say
Apnay sunhairi jaam
mai.n Dhaali
Surkhi-e-Awwal-e-Shaam
Aur yeh Jaam
Tumharey Samnay rakh kar
Tum say kiya Kalam
kaha Purnam
Utho
Aur apnay Tan ki Saij say uth kar
ik Shiri.n paigham
Sabt karo is Shaam
kisi kay nam
Kinar-e-Jaam
Shayad tum yeh man gayi.n aur tum nay
apnay lab-e-gulfam
kiye enaam
kisi kay naam
kinar-e-jaam
ya shayad
tum apnay Tan ki saij peh suj kar
thi.n yu.n mehv-e-araam
keh rusta taktay taktay
bujh gayi shama-e-jaam
Ashk Abad kay neelay ufq par
Gharat ho gayi shaam
--1972

**For ana Ashk Abad ki Shaam

sheeshoo.n ka maseeha koi nahi

moti ho keh sheesha, jaam keh dur
jo toot gaya, so toot gaya
kab ashko.n say jur sakta hai
jo toot gaya, so choot gaya

tum nahaq tukray chun chun kar
daman mai.n chupaye baithay ho
sheesho.n ka maseeha koi nahi
kiya aas lagaye baithay ho

shayad keh inhi.n tukro.n mai.n kahi.n
woh saghir-e-dil hai jis mai.n kabhi
sad naz say utara karti thi
sehbay-e-gham-e-jana.n ki pari

phir duniya walo.n nay tum say
yeh saghar lay kar phor diya
jo maiy thi, baha di mitti mai.n
mehma.n ka shehpar tor diya

yeh rangeen rezay hai.n shayad
un shokh bilori.n sapno.n kay
tum mast jawani mai.n jin say
khalwat ko sajya kartay thay

nadari, daftar bhook aur gham
in sapno.n say takratey rahey
be reham tha chomukh pathrao
yeh kaanch kay dhanchay kiya kartay

ya shayad in zarro.n mai.n kahi.n
moti hai tumhari izzat ka
woh jis say tumharay ijz par
shamshad qadro.n nay raksh kiya

is mal ki dhun mai.n phirtay thay
tajir bhi buhat, rehzun bhi kai
hai chor nagar, yaa.n muflis ki
gar jan bachi tou aan gai

yeh saghar sheeshay laal-o-guhr
salim hoo to qeemat patay hai.n
yu.n tukray tukray hoo to faqt
chubtay hai.n, lahoo rulwatay hai.n

tum nahaq tukray chun chun kar
daman mai.n chupaye baithay ho
sheesho.n ka maseeha koi nahi
kia aas lagaye baithay ho

yadoo.n kay garebano.n kay rafo
par dil ki guzr kab hoti hai
ik bakhia udhaira, aik siya
yu.n umr basr kab hoti hai

is kar geh hasti mai.n jaha.n
yeh saghar sheeshay dhaltay hai.n
har shay ka badal mil sakta hai
sub daman pur ho saktay hai.n

jo hath barhay yawar hai yeha.n
jo aankh uthay, wo bakhtawar
ya.n dhan dolat ka ant nahi
ho.n ghat mai.n lakh daku magar

kab loot jhapat say hasti ki
dukanai.n khali hoti hai.n
ya.n parbat parbat heeray hai.n
ya.n sagar sagar moti hai.n

kuch log hai.n jo is daulat par
parday lutkaye phirtay hai.n
har parbat ko, har sagar ko
neelam charhaye phirtay hai.n

kuch wo bhi hai.n jo lar bhar kar
yeh parday noch giratay hai.n
hasti ki uthai geero.n ki
har chal uljhaye jatey hai.n

in dono.n mai.n run parta hai
nit basti basti, nagar nagar
har basti ghar kay seenay mai.n
har chalti rah kay mathay par

yeh kalak bhartay phirtay hai.n
woh jot lagatay phirtay hai.n
yeh aag lagatay phirtay hai.n
woh aag bujhatay phirtay hai.n

sab saghar sheeshy, laal-o-guhr
is bazi mai.n bid jatay hai.n
utho sab khali hatho.n
us ran say bulawey atay hai.n

* For everyone who admires Faiz`s poetry. I read in this board people wanted to read this nazm.I had submitted it before on UP as well. This is my favorite piece of poetry with superb lyrics and flow.

for us:

du`aa

aiyey haath uThaaiN hum bhi
hum jinhaiN ras`m-e-du`aa yaad nahiN
hum jinhaiN soz-e-mohabbat ke siwa
koi but, koi khuda yaad nahiN
aiyey `arz guzaaraiN ke nigaar-e-hasti
zehr-e-imroz maiN shirini-e-farda bhar dey
voh jinhaiN taab-e-giraaNbaari-e-aiyam nahiN
unki palkoN pe shab-o-roz ko halka kar dey
jin ki aankhoN ko rukh-e-subh ka yaara bhi nahiN
unki raatoN maiN koi sham`a munavvar kar dey
jin ke qadmoN ko kisi rah ka sahaara bhi nahiN
unki nazroN pe koi rah ujaagar kar dey
jin ka deen pairavi-e-kizb-o-riya hai, unko
himmat-e-kufr milay, jur`at-e-tehqiq milay
jin ke sar muntazir-e-tegh-e-jafa haiN, unko
dast-e-qaatil ko jhaTak denay ki taufiq milay.
`ishq ka sirr-e-nihaaN jaan-e-tapaan hai jis se
aaj iqraar karaiN aur tapish miT jaye
harf-e-haq, dil maiN khhaTakta hai jo kaanTay ki tarah
aaj iqraar karaiN, aur khalish miT jaye

siyana ji:

thank you for posting those websites. bohat kuch faiz saheb ka mila (i think it is the urdulife site which has zia mohyeddin reading certain poems). none of the poems that kachchi miTTi or i have referred to are on those sites, though. but i am glad for the number of websites for urdu poetry. i wish they wouldn`t post most of the same ghazlaiN/nazmaiN though.

kachchi miTTi:

i`m going to check out what the library here has. . . found a collection in the catalog which has both the urdu, and the translations. don`t know which ones, but somehow, your wish will be granted, `tis all good. :)

r.a.janjua:
besides Nabokov, Joyce and Pynchon were famously overlooked too. Though, Pynchon is alive, it seems that he has been counted out.

re: 74 ``Faiz should have received the Noble Prize just like Tagore``

yes!

people often talk about iqbal as someone who should have been given the nobel prize - but iqbal, although brilliant, brought nothing new to urdu potery in terms of the language - and in terms of subject matter, quite a bit is borrowed from western philosophy - e.g., iqbal`s mard-i-momin seems like nietzsche`s ubermensch in shalwar kameez.

faiz on the other hand was a true innovator - he used the language in a way that was inconcievable before - new expressions - new metaphors, new similies - and all of it crafted in a stunningly beautiful manner - the man was a true genius.

nobel prize in literature has sometimes been quite political - imagine they give it to that moron, naipaul - solzhenitsyn got one but they ignored nabakov.

ana:
siyana sahib has put up an offer. siyana sahib: could you post ashkabad ki aik shaam (it shouldnot be more than 8 lines), if you still feel like it. i cannot possibly request sheeshoan ka maseeha koi nahin, it is huge! unfortunately, i dont have his Nuskha with me and the library i have access to has three collections of his poems But all translations.

i just remember one stanza from that poem, off the top of my head.. here it goes..

Kyun Nahuqq Tukrray Chunn Chunn Ke, Daaman Main Chhupayay Baithay Ho
SheeshoaN Ka Masseha Koi NahiN , Kyaa Aaass LagaYay Baithay Ho


Ras:
Nobel Prize for Faiz? that seems like a bit of a stretch to me. :-)

peace.

As someone who has been ``Gulabi`` but not ``Red`` all his life I just wanted to add that

Faiz Sahib`s poetic documentation of the miseries and romances of my often voiceless

people and culture during the last century are a treasure that has to be passed on.

Even his jealous enemies could not help but appreciate his penned truths.

Faiz should have received the Noble Prize just like Tagore. But his continued

expression of these many truths that he witnessed including the plight of the Palestinian

people did not win him too many friends amidst the powers that be in this world.

The literary legacy of Faiz Ahmed Faiz is the crown jewel of Pakistani Culture and Indians

are welcome to claim it as theirs too since he was born before Partition.

In gratitude we should collectively remember him. His religious beliefs are

not important. His mastery of Urdu and his ability to feel for his people should put

him permanently in our prayers.

Ras H. Siddiqui

Ali strange as it seems this seemed like a letter from a long lost family member.
You see the root cause of my own `problems` is that I grew up with a heavy dose of of Iqbal and Faiz, not to mention my own `dehria` father. May Allah forgive all their sins.
Faiz is part of my own memories in an entirely different way in the sense that Mrs. Faiz was a regular visitor to PECHS school and Mrs Majeed Malik a great admirer and friend of his.
We celebrated his silver or golden jubilee in 1973 or 1975 at the school. Where we were immersed in his poetery. I did not, at that time, realize `Phir Barq Faroozan hai sari wadi-e-Sina`` had any connections with his being in Beirut with PLO. One day however, Mr. Faiz came to see the rehearsal. I was standing right behind him. I drew myself closer to his chair, so that I could have touched him and preserved the memory of the moment in my mind. To tell my grandchildren about. My grandchildren, unfortunately, may or may not ever know who Faiz was, but now I have told the whole world.

hashimi ji - thanks for sharing - your nana is not just pakistan`s national treasure - he belongs to all humanity - his ideals are the very essence of all that is decent and he had the gift to express them in such a magical way.

maqam faiz rah may koi jacha hi nahin
jo ku-i-yar say niklay to su-i-dar chalay

Re: # 51
just a correction. faiz and alys did not meet in london. they met in india where alys was visiting her sister who was by then married to dr taseer.

The first time I learnt that Faiz was a ``Pakistani,` I was quite taken aback. Such was the connection some members of my family felt with the man.

Dear Friends

I feel Islam has inherent issues with the intlectual query.

First thing the Muslim invaders did in India or for that reason in other places was kill the intlectuals. Then it becomes very easy to convert/control/terrorise a man in street.

That is exaclty what happened in Pakistan after 1947. The country appropriated in the name of Islam found it self in conflict with intelectuals of the time.

For exampl Qurra-Tulain Haider( I don`t know how to spell her name), the author of Aag Ka Dariya had to leave Pakistan and settle in India.

Sahir Ludhianvi migrated to Pakistan but had to leave and settle back in India.

What happened to Manto?

Faiz had to face the same mind set.

Faiz a man of beautiful poetry, a man of delicate sensibilities was not fit for the land for pures.

I can think of one stanza of his poem

Aaj phir husan-e-dil-aran ki vahi dhaj hogi
Vahi khwabeeda si ankhen, vahi kajal ki lakeer
rang-e-rukhsaar pe vo halak sa gazay ka gubaar
...... ( My memory is failing me).

Ali
Faiz has been praised by many many people. He was a poet of people, who felt their mysries at heart, and wrote beautifully about injustice, exploiatation, and ZULM in the society. That is the beauty of poetry that his describes an extremely undesirable situation, yet it brings a joy when one reads it.
Your essay imply that he was treated bad by authorities. I agree to that. But he earned more respect and recognition from people more than any of his contemporary intellectuals.
Authorities represent very small number of people, while common people represent majority. I disagree with you that he was treated bad in his lifetime, and now treated like a saint. Look at Habib Jalib;s life. He was much more poor than Faiz, and as passionate as Faiz about social injustices. I dont think this would have been an issue with Faiz that authorties treated him bad. I am very sure that his vision is broad enough that it would have been minor issue for him. I think focal point of his poetry is people, and not himself.
Such people are aware of consequences of raising the flag of freedom, justice, and yet chose to walk on the path of righteousness. Some have been recognized, and others die without any recognition. Even that would be a non-issue to learned people. Their purpose is to see a just society and how human conditions can be improved for exploitive poor people, who represent a large majority of our population. I think that was the romance of his poetry.
As for as about picking on you, tell me how many are not picked on? After reading your essay, you remind me the term mummy-daddi. No offense please.

Regards and take care.

I have ``Nuskha hai wafa`` with me. I can type some of the requests up in Roman urdu if you would like.
You can also find faiz at most of the urdu poetry websites on the web. Its available in both Nastaliq as well as Roman script.
Some websites:

urdupoetry.com
urdulove.com
http://www.ebazm.com/mushaira.htm
http://www.urdumanzil.com
http://www.urdulife.com
http://www.urdustan.com/

kachchi miTTi:

do you have ashkabad ki ek shaam with you? or better yet, what do you have of faiz? i have none of my poetry books to comfort me unfortunately. kuch mangwaanay paRenge. i don`t think i`ve come across sheeshaon ka maseeha yet. if you do have ashkabad ki ek shaam could you please post it either or that other place a.k.a unplugged?

meh`rbaani hogi. . .

can someone have the urdu copy of sheeshoan ka maseeha koi nahin by any wild chance and like to post it here?


thanks.

Excellent article. I suspected you to be related to Faiz even before this writing.
Faiz is no doubt in the same league of Urdu poets as Ghalib and Iqbal. One of my favorite piece of poetry is his nazm ``yeh dhoop kinara``, sung to perfection by Nayyar Noor.

Thanks for sharing.

Rawalpindi sazish case was an intriguing episode. I think everyone would agree on that :-). I am looking forward to further opinions/hearsays/nalysis/etc. on the case. Thanks in advance to peeps who are taking the time to write about it.

Guys, stop the bullcrap, who cares about the politics of yesteryear, (as if today’s mess is any better). With all due disrespect, Tariq Ali is a wet napkin – an insignificant little Commie and inconsequential in Pakistani political scene. Intellectuals like him come dime a dozen). This is about Ali’s recollect of his Nana, and here’s something from Faiz Ji. Although Faiz Ji wrote this on the passing of his brother, but it certainly summarizes how many in Ali’s generation feel:

Mujh ko Shikwa hai Meray Bhai keh Tum Jate Hooay
le gaye sath Meri Umre Guzishta ki Kitaab
Is mein tau Meri bohut Keemati Tusweerien Thein
Is mein Buchpun tha mera, aur mera Aihd-e Shabab
.
.
.
Aa ke le jao Tum Apna yeh Damukta hua Phool
Mujh ko lota do Meri Umre Guzishta ki Kitaab

#56

“The Inspector-General of police was not amused to see that his name was fifth on a list of notables to be executed without trial, and even less pleased to discover that the friendly professor he had met at dinner had compiled the list. Jawaharlal Nehru—a family friend of Zaheer—intervened and the latter was released and returned to India. It was quite bold of Musharraf’s mother to claim friendship with two convicted traitors.”

So this is what you are relying on make your claim. Tariq Ali quoting a Police officer about a list compiled by Sajad Zaheer. It shows how stupid you are and how stupid Tariq Ali is.

People who know Tariq Ali also know that he writes things to project himself as somebody who knows but the truth is he did not know a whole lot. Did the list say “execute” these guys without trials or was it a list of people Sajad Zaheer knew?

Just for your benefit during the whole Rawalpindi Sazish case no list was ever presented and why are you so idiot to believe that Sajad Zaheer would compile a list with police officer’s name on it? Try and think from what is left in your spaghetti brain. No police officer in Pakistan was ever so important to be on any list. Even in 1948, 49, 50 or in 51.
There was no list. That was all part of the propaganda that was fed to the media when Liaquat and Ayub tried to destroy opposition both in the army and in civilian politics.


It is well known now that there was no coup attempt by anyone. It was just another case that was created to fix the opposition. Remember the Agartala Sazish case and then the Hyderabad Sazish case. Every one knows who the real Sazishis are.

It may be true that Sajad Zaheer stayed at Mazhar Ali place but I am sure Tariq was in his diapers at that time to know why Sajad was at Mazhar Ali’s place. Though I am surprised at the language Tariq Ali used about Sajad Zaheer and Sibte Hasan (convicted Traitors) Coming from Tariq that is precious!
Tariq left Pakistan after College. He never took part in student politics and never came back to take part in Pakistani politics. He does lots of research but his conclusions are often bogus.

So I am gonna learn from this fazool admi about Tariq ali and his being Trotskyite and their difference with Marxist-Leninist. Get lost and get some other brief from your ISI bosses.

Chowk Staff - Why hasn`t Saminasha been banned permanently?

This is what she posted in her own ``WTF`` thread:


#97 by Saminasha on September 30, 2005 9:38am PT
Stuka,

Fuck you. Seriously. Make all your references than act like it was out of innocence

# 58

oops, I called your mother Salima Hashmi in one of my posts. I appologize.

Re: # 45

Yes, I am Moneeza Hashmi`s son.

Thank you to everyone who took time to read the article and respond. Writing it was cathartic for me in a way, although it brought back some painful memories. Thanks to everyone who loves and admires Nana`s poetry, I count myself as one of you. I wish I had begun to understand and appreciate his work before he died so I might have discussed it with him but c`est la vie...
I am not going to comment on the politics of his life or my own social/political/religious beliefs (that would require another article and I`m not sure I want to open that Pandora`s box ;-) except to say that yes, a person`s life`s work defines his life and those of us who chose to pursue goals higher than simply working for a paycheck pay a price for that (unfortunately, I haven`t had the courage to do that yet).

Thanks also to all those who have contributed titbits about Nana`s life that I never knew about. It has been informative and illuminating.

I`ll respond to the braindead moron who calls himself HP, and his fellow travellers, in a day or so when I have more time but you can read about the hit list from the horse`s mouth, ;-), yourself. Take a look at footnote #4.

http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR25301.shtml

As to how serious was the coup attempt and how likely was the CCP to carry out the killings, that is immaterial. The leaders of the party planned to do so. If they didn`t plan on it, I doubt Tariq Ali would deliberately strengthen the Army`s case against the plotters. Or is the fact that he is a Trotskyite enough for him to side with the Army against the Marxist-Leninists (assuming you idiots know the difference between the two....).

fuzair, HP, kulharee...
fuzair saheb, your bracketing faiz with lenin shows your bitterness with the commies, faiz saheb was a drawing room communist who like sajjad zaheer and other high profile intellectuals was worried about the masses and wrote about it in their works but they wanted their comforts too...here a grandson is reminicsing about his grand father and growing up with the tag of a dahriya because of his association with a supposed dahriya... it`s immaterial that the one throwing the stone at him or his progeny was no where in the same class as faiz as a poet, as a human and as an artiste... look at his poetry, look at his humanity, look at his concern for the people and look at his popularity across the social class... he was a great poet, probably the greatest after ghalib, a wonderful human being million times better than a maudoodi, qutub or osama...as for rawalpindi conspiracy is concerned HP`s clarification is better than army`s lying...

hum parvarish e lauh o qalam kerte raheNge
jo dill pe guzarti hai raqam kertay reheNge

Re: # 47 Fuzair.

``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. ``

What is the evidence to support this statement? How has Tariq Ali corroborated it. I always thought that the Rawalpindi Conspiracy was just a bunch of huey and at best it was a sort of a pre-emptive strike by the GOP at the urging of their Americans masters.

Re: # 51

Dear HP Sahib, Thank you. I had read that much. It was an honest question, and not meant to be disrespectful. I could never even imagine being disrespectful to Faiz Ji.

Manzur yeh Talkhi yeh Sitam hum ko Gawaara
Dam hai to Madaawa-e-alam Kartey rahenge

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. :-)

ali_1:
you can take comfort in the fact that i`ll die as a hardcore dehrya. :-) there is indeed no hope for me, my heart and soul is sealed and posted for Hell`s second-most deadly compartment. The single most deadly compartment as you may well know is reserved for selective-followrs, munafiqeens and progressive types. :-)

oh and by the way i have read molana ilyas` famous manifesto for tableeghis from cover to cover all 800+ pages of them. (it is alright nothing special)

see you around, then?. :-)
peace.

Ali Hashmi Sahib, can I ask you a personal question? Your Nana is a national heritage of the people of the Indian Sub-Continent (not to take away your own bond with him by any means) therefore I think, as a Pakistani, I am entitled to ask this question. My question is two-fold, (1) How did he Phasa (courted) a white women when it was not that common – it was extremely rare? And (2) “Mujh se Pehli se Mohabbat Meray Mahboob na Maang”…. Did this Nazm reflect his personal struggle with your Nani (if there was any) or did it reflect his switching styles from more like going from Ghalib to Karl Marx (or switching from romance to socialistic humanism). Or was it a little bit of both?

I will greatly appreciate your views on that.

Thanks Ali - excellent writing!

Kya ``Aap bhi Shaairi kartay hain``? :)

Re: # 32

Ali Yaar, Faiz Ji said:

Maikhana salaamat hai to hum surkhi-e-mai se
Tazzain-e-Dar o Baame Haram Karte Rahen Gay

#31 kulharee, buddy... how come you get away with murder :)

Re: # 30

Arz kiya hey

Jab Gandh lagi Pathnay
Niaz lagi Batnay

Pakistani Dehrias are 2 number.........

- Have you read the the Hamd/Naat in Nushkaha-hai-vafa? Its on the last page I think
- Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi has been to Hajj
- Munnoo Bhai has been to Umra

Jab maut nazar aati hai to khuda yaad aata hai.......

I see hamidm, Kacha_Jullab and other resident chowk dehrias visiting Raiwind in their twilight years!

RE: UrsTruly
``But when Allah took His guidance away from ``

so when Allah willed someone to become a Dehrya; shouldn`t Allah, like ordinary mortals, be taking responsibility of his actions and go and burn in His own Hell whenever if ever that judgement day comes. You know for the extreme charges of straying people off of the path of Guidance through his surrogate Shaitaan? hmm, hmmm? :-)

Urstruly (#24),

You may not realize this, but your description of Mirza Sahib actually applies to all prophets of Allah. That is, they were considered honest, righteous men by everyone … before they claimed prophethoood. And once they claimed to be prophets, they and those who accepted them were violently persecuted by the old guards.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) too was considered an honest, pious man by all. But this changed when he claimed to be a prophet ... and was then considered a misled madman, a lunatic, and an opportunist by the corrupt elements of the society. Quran attests to this. And today, same identical terms are used against Mirza Sahib! Sheer coincidence? I don`t think so ... and tragic deaths of your kings ... Faysal, Bhutto, and Zia ... attest to this truth.

Everything Mirza Sahib taught is rooted in Quran. Your failure to accept Quran is your main problem. And this is precisely the reason why Allah raises prophets … to warn and to remind people as they go astray.

And your Quran-based self-righteous morality is useless … nay, dangerous … if it requires killing those who leave Islam. And this is just one example of hopelessness of your ullema in this day and age.

Ali Hashmi…
You write with such ease and simplicity that I can only marvel at your craftsmanship. You are very lucky to have had the advantage of a liberal household and education. As to atheism, if - as Urstruly claims - it is a religion then it is surely an easy, undemanding one. I’m spared attendance at temple or mosque, untroubled by either catechism or ritual and, thank god, I’m not subservient to either prescriptions or to proscriptions. (You see, Urstruly, I even give you a point on which to impale yourself.) How wonderful indeed if religion causes people to be more tolerant, more understanding, more forgiving of their neighbors. Yours truly doesn’t seem to work that way, does it Urstruly?
mirmir

Urstruly #24:

bhai aik baat batao

Allah kay paigham `ootertay` rahay...akhri paigham aai hu`aye bhee 1500 saal ho ga`aye...humaiN yeh bataiiyay...kay is sub kay bawajood...aaj 2005 maiN bhee....cheh billion main say muslamaan srif aik hee billion kyun haiN?

rgds

t

Re: # 24

Urstruly, what a load of crap are you on about? This is not about your bigoted beliefs. It is story of Hazrat Faiz Ahmed Faiz (PBUH), and his grandson, who encountered bigotry at the hands of his Muslim brothers, not different from what the Grandsons of Mohammad experienced.

Here’s one for you:

Viraan hai maikada, Khum-o-Saaghar Udaas hain
Tum kya gaye ke routh gaye din Bahaar ke

To some of the objectors of my earlier post:

These are the words of God:

Cattle 6.125

Those whom Allah (in His plan) wills to guide,- He opens their breast to Islam; those whom He wills to leave straying,- He makes their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe.

It means that true guidance is form Allah alone. Some people are blessed with it by birth, some are blessed with it sometime later in their lives and then there are some who are never blessed with His guidance. But there is a third category as well, which I think is the most unfortunate of all. It is those people whom were once guided, but then Allah takes His guidance away from them.

Not many people would know that Faiz Sahib was a Hafiz-ul-Qura`n i.e. he was blessed with the opportunity to memorize Qura`n by heart. And if my memory serves me right his father was a religious scholar too. But what happened later in Faiz`s life that he spent all his life leading the people astray to a vile political and economic ideology that not only denied Divinity but out rightly promoted hatred against Him.

Same thing could be said of Mirza Quadiani. In his days of youth he was a Muslim zealot who actively debated Evangelical missionaries that had come with British to convert us. These Evangelists would challenge Muslim scholars at public places such as playgrounds and schools to ``debate``, but instead used this opportunity to insult Islam and sometimes Hinduism. According to such staunch pro-British as Sir Syed Ahmad this vile behavior of Evangelists was the core reason that caused the ``Indian Mutiny`` of 1857. But when Allah took His guidance away from Mirza, he started his own religion and rest is history.

Communism had a great appeal for all the oppressed nations of the world, in its earlier days. These unfortunate and helpless people and nations were suffering under the vassalage of colonial powers for centuries. In communism these people saw the emancipation that they have been searching for. The two core reasons that communism attracted these huddled masses to itself was its promise:

1. To abolish colonialism and free the slave nations all around the globe.
2. To establish an economic system that had a potential of being fair and just.

These two promises appealed all the people under oppression, including Muslims, like no other, so much so that they were even willing to overlook the fact that in Europe, Communism had emerged in reaction to three oppressive forces:

1. Unbridled Feudalism and Monarchy whose only morality was to stay in power at all costs.
2. Laissez Fair Capitalism. Which had no morality at all except that money should be generated at all costs and human beings were nothing but a means of production
3. Christian Clergy, which exploited the human beings using the power of religion. This exploitation cannot be challenged, because any challenge would mean defying God.

So in short, Communism was nothing but a reactionary extremism to the above mentioned challenges. Since it denied God in its reaction it rendered itself devoid of any morality whatsoever. So without a moral guidance, as the time progressed, Communism itself turned into the monster that it once promised to slay. It promised to end colonialism but it itself turned into a brutal colonial power. Just like Capitalist colonialists it also started installing its proxy puppets upon oppressed nations. It attacked defenseless smaller nations and captured them. Only in Afghanistan one million Afghans paid with their lives for its expansionism.

Just like the Clergy that it hated, Communism turned into the Clergy itself indoctrinating and exploiting people all around the globe promising them a Red Heaven which was nowhere.

The oppressed people of the world could tolerate all that because they had been tolerating it for the past two hundred years at the hand of colonialists., but they could never tolerate the animosity to their God. So this vile ideology had to be destroyed. And since this monster was standing on nothing but hollow foundations with no moral backbone at all, it collapsed in the matter of days.

May God keep us all on His righteous path always. We must beg Him everyday to keep us from going astray because when He sets someone astray ``He maketh their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies``

Faiz Sahib is dead. Now the matter is between him and his Creator. As all human beings Faiz Sahib did some wrong things and some right things. May Allah forgive his faults and bless his good deeds. As far as his behavior with his fellow human being is concerned I think everybody has a positive opinion about him. Probably because Faiz could put God`s message aside but he couldn`t get rid of the morality that had formed his moral genetic make up in his early days.

Re: # 14
Yes, Adeel and I are brothers.

Re: # 5

I`m afraid I don`t know if that couplet is by Faiz.

NEAT! I thought this was just a story at first, the way it was written. Read an english translation of some faiz poetry once, not bad at all. It`s always a boon being related to someone famous; you seem pretty modest about it, so that`s doubly neat.

It’s all relative. Better that than being a Mirzai growing up in Pakistan around the same period. The only difference is that the label will follow you until your head is firmly placed up some Molvi’s ass.

Jazak Allah for sharing Ali. I am a big admirer or your Nana (and who wouldn’t be?).

Qafas udaas hai Yaaro, Saba se kuch to kaho
Kahin to Bahr-e-Khuda aaj Zikare-yaar chale

very nice.beautiful style.
Ali ,It means you are related to Shohab Hashmi?

Just look at urstruly`s obfuscation he says islamists admire the ``prose and poetry`` of faiz, faraz, qasmi (he could have added Sahir and Ghalib too) so atheists should acknowledge the ``scholarship`` of Maududi and qutub, mind you not the poetry of religous poets like Iqbal, shibli etc which they admire, this is like agnostics asking them to acknowledge the scholarship of Hitlar, Golwalkar or Arun shourie or Aurobindo Ghosh or Savarkar.

He takes war`s whose origin lay in nationalism and puts it at the door of agnosticism/atheism, forgetting that Iqbal himself said: ``in taaza khudaon mein....... ``. extremem nationalism is more dangerous than religion but that does not mean that agnosticism should be ditched.

Then he puts up a mythical straw man that all morality is derived from religion, being ignorant that morality along with religion is a derivative of man`s biological neccessity of being a social animal even at the stage of hunter gathere and the imperatives of technologies such as agriculture with led to settled living and civilization, with its attendend needs of rules and social structure to maintain a functioning system.

he also states that devoid of religion man turns to a beast, forgetting Russell, Nehru, Faiz, sahir, Shaw, churchill and countless others.

since he believes that the opposite of god and religion is the devil he probably also believes that all those departments of anthropology, history, archaeology, evolutionary biology, economics and sociology/psychology at thousands of the world`s universities, which do not take the existence of god as the basis of their research are being run by the devil.

Can you beat such a warped mindset, i know you can match it after having read the views of Indian right wing coders on this web site, but beating it? Nay, impossible.

Infact if this man hadnt been the best writer of fiction on this web site i wouldnt have bothered this with a response.

Ali Hashmi,

thanks for sharing this writing with us.


Q) Who was your Nana?

A) Just one of the finest writers the 20th Century had ever produced.


Last December I was showering rose petals on his grave in in Lahore.

There are few Pakistanis or writers that I respect more than Faiz Sahib.

It is only because of him and two singers Madam Noor Jahan and Iqbal Bano

singing his poetry that I still retain a strong attchment to Urdu and the past.

People in Pakistan will continue to visit the Lahore Fort and pay their respects

to the national poet (Iqbal) buried there.

But on my rare appearances in the same city I will continue to visit

the grave of the ``Dahria`` out of respect, affection and awe.

One of my biggest regrets in life is not having met Faiz Sahib. But through his writing

a generation of idealists can be considered related to him.

A talent like his can only be considered a gift from God.

``Dahria`` my foot!

Ras H. Siddiqui

Ali Hashmi:

Some brief memories in my childhood are refreshed as growing up in a secular ``Nazriat family``

17 August 1988, the sudden mysterious plane crash, I was in 3 class and it was summer vaccations. I was admitted in Children Hospital of Complex Hopital then now PIMS. My khala was near me as she was strictly taking care of dose and diet of a Hepatitis `A` commonly known as Jondus infected kid.
The TV placed in the nursery she was watching when the blissful news appeared. She became excited and told other aunties which gave a mixed reaction. Then the Sindhi Child specialists gathered and started speaking sindhi and rise their voice for a few slogans and congrated each other.
I remember there was a kid who was to be operated and her parents were sorry for Zia`s demisal as he was the one who at least prayed five times a day and also his Islamization was helpful for Pakistan.
There was a merry situation back at home and the word ``Jabra`` and the jokes related to it originated among piplians (PPPians).
I also remember the occassion when first time Benazir appeared in Public in Rawalpindi. It was tremendous. The people were crying out loud for democracy. My father returned from tht jalsa and told she was taken in Truck and ws crowded the one and only ``Liaqat Bagh`` Rawalpindi.
Our family rituals had been to mourn at death of Bhutto, to refrain and condemn refrendum, Jamat-e-Islami and our Tarbeat to hide away from Tableeghi. Be a campaign supporter in elections, monitor elections and resist agains marshal laws.
The literature of communists which flourished in 70`s is a great assest and magazines like ``Pakistani Adab``, ``Al Fatah`` showed the struggle of peasents of sindh, workers of Punjab and all jialas anywhere in Pakistan.
Starting life by reading ``Intesab`` of Faiz made some thing to realize which was further cleared with time.

Anyways thanks a lot for bringing back old memories...

Dear Friend:

Please tell me what does a person gain by attending a mosque every Friday or praying 1, 2, 3 4 or 5 times a day?

Religious orientation should be nobody`s business. Those who called u Dehria must have serious issues. I grew up being called as Qadiani and non-muslim just because i was born in an Ahmadi family. All thanks to Mullah-ism, Bhutto-ism, Zia-ism and what not.
I am just wondering is that guy your brother who hosts a show on Geo TV where he invites celebrities and interviews them?

Shukriya Saathi. Buhut Shukriya. There are generations of people who are proud because of a fleeting or indirect association to Faiz. I am very sure that your children will be very proud of their family legacy. I was once in the same room as Faiz for 30 minutes. I will be proud of that till i die.

Ali Hashmi:
as someone who personally would have been on the receiving end if found out as ``pukka dehrya ``in the 90s (though i was successful or perhaps scared sh**less to hide it like a curse on my soul) - i can relate to your piece on a personal level.

Labels are not important but they do serve as pointers to the psyche of a society which is infused with an insecure dogma and a society that prides itself in conformity. This, my friend, our uncle brigade would brushoff in their mighty indifference. I wonder maybe they are dead already and not to be paid any attention to.

peace.

PS: my personal Faiz favorite is gotta be : sheeshoan ka maseeha koi nahin or perhaps ashkabad ki aik shaam.

I am 22 , communist and had worked for different communist causes in Nepal and in Karachi , Pakistan and if everything goes right we working to form a student wing of Mazdur Kisan Party of Pakistan which will be present in atleast 328 educational institutions of Pakistan .
As for Faiz Sahab , I never read his poetry but I admire him for his courage , courage to stand up against a system which is based on the theory of * smashing heads to climb up to prosperity *
Urstruly Hazur, it`s not athiests and godless people who thinks of human`s as objects but capitalists *a product of which is religionists* who thinks of humans as objects and kill them in the name of god..

ali hashmi,

as i was reading this, i could relate to so much of the confusion that you`ve expressed you went through during your childhood, for different reasons of course, but i was a teenager around the time of the regime change that brought zia in. and so that part of the article spoke to me.

thank you for sharing this with us. it is ironic isn`t it that your grandfather, so maligned as he was in his lifetime, should now be regarded as a national treasure? but to be honest, there have always been so many of us who regarded him as ``humara apna``, i was a latecomer to his poetry, but i know many who didn`t care what his affiliation was. his poetry spoke to them. his poems in exile in beirut are some of my favorites. . . if i can pick and choose a favorite. :)

as for how your children grow up. . . . what does it matter if they are liberal, religious, ``red`` or republican? as long as they`re instilled with good values and are decent human beings/humanitarians, ``choRo bhai, sab theek hoga!``

best,
ana

Re: # 6

Unless you have corroborated evidence that self proclaimed atheistic govts have murdered more people than religious and/or capitalist govts., this argument is specious. While the massacres of Stalin and Mao may be apparent to the world-and this is in no way tacit apology or justification for these crimes against humanity-murderous regimes also operate quietly and under the guise of fundamentalism and/or totalitarianism. There`s just no reliable body count.

Also, it is possible to be areligious and engage with the world in a manner that respects its dignity. I`m sorry you seem to find that impossible. but I assure you, this world exists and accepts all.

Nice article Ali.

I just finished watching this movie called ``Hazaro Khayeshai`` which deals with the communist inspired Naxalite movement in India. One of the thoughts that came into my mind is that in the journey after independence of Pakistan, you people did not have to face the conflict of ideology of communism in its various forms which we had to in India. So your article was an eye opener for me.

Urstruly - Interesting comments. I always thought that so many people have died due to religion inspired wars but on reflection, more people have died due to facism and communism in the last 100 years.(Franco Stalin Mao Mussolini Tojo Hitler etc. etc.)

I think that any form of ideology taken to an extreme form where it becomes fanatical has cause for concern. I am sure that you would agree.

Ali,

I still remember you from Govt. College Lahore around 1986-88. I don`t think our group at college gave a rat`s ass about the political or religious affiliation. You probably mingled with the wrong crowd. You should have hungout with us kafirz ;)

haideri

Just as no one likes a Mullah to tell you how one has to live life according to the religion, similarly no one likes an atheist imposing his religion of unbeleif onto others as well. However, there is a difference in the mindset of atheists and religionists; while a religionist may be able to differentiate between actions and words of an atheist and evaluate them in their own right, an atheist on the other hand is potentially devoid of this judgement. For eaxample, and as it is also evident thru this write up, religionists may hate people like Faiz, Faraz, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Munnu Bhai, Zahida Hina, Shoaib and Saleema Hashimi, Ismail Mairithi, and Kishwar Naheed but there is no denying that they are in love with their poetry and prose, Sach Gup, Akar Bakr, sona chandi. But you will never ever read an atheist saying that ``I may not agree with the political philosphy of Syed Qutub, or Mujadid Alif Thani, or Moududi or Tahir ul Qadri, or Dr. Israr but their scholarship is incredible........`` never.

But on the other hand the hate that an atheist exhibits for a religionist is all encompassing. To them all Mullahs all Moulvis and every individual that invokes God and His Prophet (pbuh) in the matters of life is not even worth of a worm.

This kind of extremism disgusts and worries people. By nature atheists are fascists. To them every other ideology is mutually exclusive to their religion of unbeleif. The violence that they have exhibited towards humanity in the past two hundered years pales the violence committed by religionists upon each other in the known 10,000 years of history. The reason is that they (atheists) do not have their own source of morality; all the morals that they act upon and hold up are borrowed from one of the religions they hate. If they are stripped off those morals, which they occassionally do to themselves, they are rendered to nothing more than multicellelar organisms and that is what they think of themselves too. Just read Freud or Jung or any modern social scientist; to them human beings are nothing more than organisms.

This is worrisome. The opposite of God is Shaytaan but that is another discussion.

(Zahida Hina is an exception to this rule. She is an amazing woman).

What a relief from the freakin` politicians, soldiers, western press & NGOs and their tamashabazi.

gill stole my words...very good writing indeed. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Mr. Hashmi, could you please tell me if the following is your Nana`s:

badan mein aag se chehra gulaab jaisa hai
k zehr-e-gham ka maza bhi sharaab jaisa hai
wo saamnay hai magar tishnagi nahi jati
ye kya situm hai k darya saraab jaisa hai

It`s part of a very few lines of good poetry I care to remember. I heard/read it looooooong time ago, and not much of a poetry buff I can`t remember who wrote these.

Thanks!
:-)~~

Mr. Hashmi,
I had the honor of meeting your grandfather at least on three occasions along with some friends in Karachi and Lahore after he came back from Beirut. I did have a sip with him in one mehfil, a highlight of my life.

Are you aware of the fact that he was made a member of the Pakistan Communist Party after he came back from Beirut? Despite being known as the most famous communist in Pakistan he was never a member of the communist party all those years.

Yasser Arafat hired him in Beirut after it was felt that he would be arrested by Zia ulHaq and reportedly, the Russian Communist Party recommended him to Yasser Arafat and Al-Fateh. For a brief period, he was very close to Yasser Arafat and was advising him on political matters.

This is a well written piece but I wish you had inherited your father’s sense of humor and wit. (Assuming, you are Shoaib’s son.)

Thanks.

Wow!

ali:

labels ka kya hay?

aap achchay insaan haiN...that is what matters ultimately...as was faiz saheb!

rgds

t

Very cool write-up. I really enjoyed the flow. Thanks.