Black Pencils
Fatima,

Wonderful style of poetic verse.

Welcome to CHOWK!

Keep writing.

Poet for Paperless People

A great writer in the same tradition as Faiz and Faraz.

A huge loss for his people.

Celebrating 61 Years of Broken Dreams

Mr. C

Some very powerful writing here on a deeply disturbing

topic. How we wish that things were different..

Ahmed Faraz: The Light Stays
It is like losing a member of the family.

Khuda Hafiz Faraz Sahib...


Ras

It\'s Politics Uber Alles In Kashmir ..... And India
Kashmiris need self-rule, that is certain.

The question is, should they also have a country to

go along with that self rule?

It is time to utilize maximum creativity.

We all need to put 1947 behind us for a new south Asia.

India is very much in the driver's seat "at the moment".

Kashmir is the last wound of Partition. It has to be

healed. Our people need to move on...

Reviving the Pakistani cinema

Great job as usual Laila.

Keep the Jazbah going!

I am waiting to see this movie.

Hope it arrives here soon.

What Talibanization?
Subhe Azadi

ye daaG daaG ujaalaa, ye shab_gaziidaa sahar
wo intazaar thaa jis kaa, ye wo sahar to nahii.n


ye wo sahar to nahii.n jis kii aarazuu lekar
chale the yaar ki mil jaayegii kahii.n na kahii.n
falak ke dasht me.n taro.n kii aaKharii ma.nzil
kahii.n to hogaa shab-e-sust mauj kaa saahil
kahii.n to jaa ke rukegaa safinaa-e-Gam-e-dil
jawaa.N lahuu kii pur-asaraar shaaharaaho.n se
chale jo yaar to daaman pe kitane haath pa.De
dayaar-e-husn kii be-sabr Khwaab-gaaho.n se
pukaratii rahii.n baahe.n, badan bulaate rahe
bahut aziiz thii lekin ruKh-e-sahar kii lagan
bahut qarii.n thaa hasiinaan-e-nuur kaa daaman
subuk subuk thii tamannaa, dabii dabii thii thakan


sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai firaq-e-zulmat-e-nuur
sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai wisaal-e-ma.nzil-o-gaam
badal chukaa hai bahut ahl-e-dard kaa dastuur
nishaat-e-wasl halaal-o-azaab-e-hijr-e-haraam
jigar kii aag, nazar kii uma.ng, dil kii jalan
kisii pe chaaraa-e-hijraa.N kaa kuchh asar hii nahii.n
kahaa.N se aaii nigaar-e-sabaa, kidhar ko gaii
abhii chiraaG-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh Khabar hii nahii.n
abhii garaani-e-shab me.n kamii nahii.n aaii
najaat-e-diida-o-dil kii gha.Dii nahii.n aaii
chale chalo ki wo ma.nzil abhii nahii.n aaii

Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Long Live Pakistan Subhe Azadi

ye daaG daaG ujaalaa, ye shab_gaziidaa sahar
wo intazaar thaa jis kaa, ye wo sahar to nahii.n


ye wo sahar to nahii.n jis kii aarazuu lekar
chale the yaar ki mil jaayegii kahii.n na kahii.n
falak ke dasht me.n taro.n kii aaKharii ma.nzil
kahii.n to hogaa shab-e-sust mauj kaa saahil
kahii.n to jaa ke rukegaa safinaa-e-Gam-e-dil
jawaa.N lahuu kii pur-asaraar shaaharaaho.n se
chale jo yaar to daaman pe kitane haath pa.De
dayaar-e-husn kii be-sabr Khwaab-gaaho.n se
pukaratii rahii.n baahe.n, badan bulaate rahe
bahut aziiz thii lekin ruKh-e-sahar kii lagan
bahut qarii.n thaa hasiinaan-e-nuur kaa daaman
subuk subuk thii tamannaa, dabii dabii thii thakan


sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai firaq-e-zulmat-e-nuur
sunaa hai ho bhii chukaa hai wisaal-e-ma.nzil-o-gaam
badal chukaa hai bahut ahl-e-dard kaa dastuur
nishaat-e-wasl halaal-o-azaab-e-hijr-e-haraam
jigar kii aag, nazar kii uma.ng, dil kii jalan
kisii pe chaaraa-e-hijraa.N kaa kuchh asar hii nahii.n
kahaa.N se aaii nigaar-e-sabaa, kidhar ko gaii
abhii chiraaG-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh Khabar hii nahii.n
abhii garaani-e-shab me.n kamii nahii.n aaii
najaat-e-diida-o-dil kii gha.Dii nahii.n aaii
chale chalo ki wo ma.nzil abhii nahii.n aaii

Faiz Ahmed Faiz

And then there was The Impeachment Issue… It appears that tahmed and ahmedmadani have a mutual

admiration society going on here. And I will be the last

person to crash their party...

The brave people of Pakistan are being crushed by rising

prices, joblessness, lack of water/electricity and

increasing lawlessness.

I admire their courage in this regard.

Democracy on the other hand has not been their brand.

They have initially celebrated every military dictator

who has seized power since 1958.

The only breathing room that the people have had from

dictatorships since that time has been provided by the

PPP and that INCLUDES THE CONSTITUTION OF 1973.

The "Brave Chief Justice" did take an oath under a PCO.

But then again we like to be economical with the truth

here (Although I am all for empowering the judiciary).


Let a Party and leader come to power in Pakistan who will

address the basic problems of the people (Which I listed

above).

The rest is hogwash.


Ras


PS: In my opinion Benazir Bhutto as a leader was head and

shoulders above the current crop. Whoever killed her saw

her as a direct threat.

And then there was The Impeachment Issue…
RE: Ahmedmadani #177

People who thought that he could still do some good threw

him a lifeline. We were sincere. But he threw it away and

showed his true colors.

Ab humari duaayen aap aur aap kay hero kay saath hain..


The "Billion Dollar Chor" as you called her could have

saved your collective hides...

Without her its the forty thieves who will rule...

K2, the Savage Mountain
Thanks for sharing this writing Gul Sahib,

It is a shame that most in Pakistan know about K2

from a brand of cigarettes...

Brick Lane is About Immigrants Making Difficult Choices
This was a wonderful film!

It has mature content which would rate a PG amongst

mainstream American viewers but Desis may need to

think twice about taking their children to watch it.


Ras

And then there was The Impeachment Issue…

The fat lady is clearing her throat...

PM should have done everything in his power to ensure

that Bibi had the best security possible. He did not.

It was ultimately the responsibility of the uniforms

to keep Benazir Bhutto rattling the beards.

Instead Pakistan was shaken by her murder and lost the most

famous face that it had.

Aafia Siddiqui to Appear in Court

A very unusual case here...

She did not change her name after her marriage?

Where are her children?

Where has she been for the past 5 years?

Is she a US or Pakistani citizen or both?


I only thing that I know is that she is not a relative

and that this is going to be a high profile case....

An Ode Called Amritsar


Joining hands for peace


By Rajmohan Gandhi


MANY in India have been troubled over the charge publicly levelled by a senior official that Pakistan’s agencies planned the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, and over suggestions that Indian agencies should consider retaliating in like fashion against locations in Pakistan where hits against Indian targets are allegedly planned.

If New Delhi had found evidence of the ISI’s role in the destructive act in Kabul, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee should have confronted their Pakistani counterparts with it. If the evidence was confirmed, the Indian premier should have solemnly presented it to the Pakistani and Indian peoples, and to the world.

Given the power and secrecy of the subcontinent’s intelligence agencies, anything, it is true, can occur. Yet if extremist pro-Taliban groups in Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s tribal areas have on numberless occasions targeted Pakistani leaders and its security forces for supporting the US-led war on terror, the Indian embassy in Kabul would also be a natural target for them.

Apart from the fact that Indian backing for the war against terror has been unambiguous and well known, India’s role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s infrastructure also invites the Taliban’s hostility. Therefore assertions in New Delhi (or Kabul) that a Pakistani agency rather than one of Afghanistan’s Taliban-related extremist groups attacked the embassy have to be backed by solid evidence.

And if the ISI or sections of it are indeed in cahoots with the Taliban, it is the people of Pakistan who should worry the most and devise steps necessary to break the unholy alliance. In the struggle against the threats of extremism and terrorism, the people of Pakistan are the Indian people’s natural partners, and a key constituency for Indian leaders perturbed by the threats.

In fact the Kabul incident should trigger a much-needed partnership between the people of Pakistan and the people of India. Pakistanis should demand from Islamabad the truth about the charge that an intelligence agency was involved, and Indians should likewise ask New Delhi how its agencies quickly reached the conclusion that not pro-Taliban extremists but the ISI was responsible.

People on both sides of the India-Pakistan border (and on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border) have the right to know the facts about the embassy bombing, for their security is at stake. And if security agencies are engaged in dirty work or in disinformation, then the peoples of Pakistan and India must jointly take up the daunting yet inescapable task of putting the agencies in their place.

To take our countries back from the agencies may well be the need of the hour. Ministers are our servants, and the agencies our servants’ mazdoors. Of course servants too are always entitled to respect, and to appreciation when they do their job well. I for one refuse to endorse the assessment of some of India’s Pakistan-watchers that elected leaders will prove worse than the military in dealing with extremism. The late Bhutto’s powerfully articulated rejection of extremism is a strong legacy that is shared, as far as I can see, across the spectrum of mainline Pakistani politics, by PML and ANP leaders as by the PPP. However, for figuring out effective ways of addressing grievances and defeating extremism and terrorism these politicians may need to consult more closely with one another across party, provincial and ethnic divides, and also with military and security experts.

Perhaps intellectuals on both sides of the Pak-India border should prepare an updated manifesto for the subcontinent. Some items on such a manifesto are obvious: mutual respect, including unreserved respect for the other nation’s independence; an equally unequivocal rejection of violence, whether direct or indirect, open or concealed, for solving internal, bilateral or international disputes; a clear rejection of the clash-of-civilisations theory; a solution for Kashmir acceptable to Kashmiris and to India and Pakistan; and a commitment to minority rights in both countries.

Also critical to such a manifesto, yet not so obvious in our dazzlingly globalised world, is a commitment to search for subcontinental and regional solutions instead of looking to global powers or a superpower for interventions. The US and China are formidable countries, and both India and Pakistan have tried to build relationships with them. Given the history of India-Pakistan mistrust, such relationships have seemed attractive.

Yet geography is stronger than history. Oceans and mountains remain large impediments even in the 21st century. For years India and Pakistan have tried to involve distant powers in their dealings with each other, with poor results. It is time to put the subcontinent first. Whether we like it or not, geography mandates coexistence. We can decide to enjoy what cannot be helped and seek to profit from it.

This does not mean that Pakistan should give up on its China links, or that India should turn its back on Afghanistan or on India-US relations. What it does mean is that India-Afghanistan or India-US links should not grow at Pakistan’s expense, or Pakistan-China links at India’s cost. It also means that our peoples should be vigilant against inviting external conflicts to the soil of the subcontinent.

We should acknowledge, in both India and Pakistan, not only the divisive roles of the agencies but also the hegemonic character of our societies. The arrogance of the high-born, the high-placed and the man with the stick is known to both countries. While Pakistan may not formally accept caste hierarchies the way India continues to do (despite progressive laws and the emerging political power of the so-called lower or ‘untouchable’ castes), Pakistani society seems to tolerate armed elites and private jails.

In India and Pakistan alike, muscle-power or gun-power is celebrated in posters and movies. In real-life interactions between the citizen and the policeman or the government functionary, the citizen usually comes off second best in both countries. Correcting this equation, and honouring the listening policeman or politician rather than the macho one, has to be part of our subcontinental manifesto. If despite disasters and misgovernance our economies have grown, the credit should above all go to the subcontinent’s hard-working and enterprising people. Our countries are on the move because of what our ‘common’ people grow, create, repair or remit, and the millions of vehicles they skilfully drive on hazardous roads.

Should we be betting on the subcontinent’s civil society, on the sanity and energy of our peoples? Though not permanent, hates and fears can after all continue for long, especially when politicians feed those fears and hates instead of working on education and healthcare. Still it may be a good idea to bet on our peoples and on their willingness to become partners. Better to bet thus and lose than concede that mutual destruction is the subcontinent’s destiny.

The writer is research professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

An Ode Called Amritsar India-Pakistan ties: Seeds of Peace in a foreign land

By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON, July 20: “Books are not a reliable source of information when it comes to India-Pakistan relations,” says Keshav Pasari, a Bombay teenager.

Keshav, who never used the new name Mumbai in the conversation, is part of a team of 14 high school students from India spending 21 days with a team of 14 Pakistani students in the US capital. All Indians are from Bombay or Mumbai and all Pakistanis are from Lahore, which has remained Lahore. All the students agreed that the history taught in their schools is not reliable.

“If you need information about each other, take it from whichever source you can but do not trust the books you are taught,” said Keshav. Usman Chaudhry, his new friend from Lahore, agreed. “We should read neutral authors, international experts,” he said.

“Don’t demolish this wall or they will learn not to hate each other,” says a poem recited at a similar India-Pakistan gathering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.“Brown skins, black eyes, black hair do not separate them, nor do their culture, food or dress; but their fears do, so let this wall remain.”

This group of 28 students decided to leave this wall behind and fly over to a strange land to know each other. And what they found? “I thought Pakistanis were rigid, unreasonable and they hated us,” said Keshav. “Now I know they do not.” He wanted to join the Indian army before he came to this “Seeds of Peace” camp. Now he does not.

“I will have to look for another profession because I do not want to fight Usman.” Saroj Merani, who teaches journalism at a Bombay college, comes from a Sindhi family whose parents were from Karachi and Rohri. Her students did a research project on Dawn, comparing it with Indian newspapers.

“Things are changing,” said Ms Merani who came with the group as a coordinator. “We are learning to know each other. We have to know each other.”

“See, we were together even when the rest of the world was drifting away, when continents were colliding with each other,” said Keshav.

He stopped there. No one in the group suggested that India and Pakistan should undo their borders and merge, as those of older generations often do. Pakistan’s Ambassador Hussain Haqqani, who also addressed the students, noted that it was a little too late to suggest merger. “It is like saying to a 60-year-old man that you had no right to be born because your parents should not have married each other.”

An Indian student got up after the ambassador’s speech and reminded him that three out of five items served at two separate receptions at the Indian and Pakistani embassies were the same: samosa, gulab jamun and chaat.

“Awesome,” said Isbah, a Lahore student, when asked to define her experience. “We need to know each other better.” The programme is organised by a group called Seeds of Peace, formed by a journalist, John Wallach, to promote peace between Arab and Israeli children.

In 2001, India and Pakistan were added to the list. Since then, seven groups have come to the camp from various Indian and Pakistani schools.