An important peace of Karachi's history

 

He who stands up for an ignorant people...

It is often said that when Che Guevara was finally captured in his Bolivian hideout—betrayed by a shepherd who revealed his position—one of the astonished soldiers asked the shepherd:

 “How could you betray a man who spent his life defending people like you and fighting for your rights?”

The shepherd, unmoved, calmly replied:

 “His battles frightened my sheep.”

This story reflects a tragic reality in history: many who sacrifice for the oppressed are ultimately abandoned by those they defend.

A similar episode took place centuries earlier in Egypt, during the French invasion led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Egyptian commander Mohamed Karim (1751–1799), who valiantly resisted the French in Alexandria, was captured after a long struggle.

The French court sentenced him to death, but Napoleon intervened, saying:

 “I regret executing a man who defended his homeland with such courage. I do not wish history to remember me as a killer of heroes. I will pardon you—if you can pay 10,000 gold coins as compensation for my army’s losses.”

Karim laughed and replied:

 “I have no such wealth, but the merchants of Alexandria owe me more than 100,000 gold coins.”

Napoleon granted him time to collect the sum. Karim, still in chains and surrounded by soldiers, was taken to the marketplace. There, he pleaded with the wealthy traders—men for whom he had sacrificed everything—to contribute to his ransom.

Not one merchant stepped forward. Instead, they coldly accused him of being responsible for the city’s devastation and their financial troubles.

Heartbroken, Karim was led back to Napoleon. The French commander then declared:

 “I will not kill you because you fought against me, but because you sacrificed yourself for a cowardly people who love trade more than freedom.”

Years later, the reformist scholar Mohamed Rashid Rida (1865–1935) reflected on such tragedies, writing:

 “He who stands up for an ignorant people is like one who sets his own body on fire to light the way for the blind.”

Three Lessons of Life

 

There is no single ‘right’ answer

 Carl Sagan once told his students in an assignment:

“There is no single ‘right’ answer — what matters is the clarity and strength of your argument.” 

That’s the real spirit of learning — to question, to think, and to reason with coherence. 

Ear is a womb

 

Individual vs humanity

 

Yaap!

 دشمن مرے تے خوشی نہ کرئیے

 سجناں وی مر جانا

Unt aur Kutte!

 

Dina Wadia to her father Jinnah

 

Farz aur nafal

 Ye duniya Allah Mian ke hoshruba bandoN se bhari paRi hai. Kal aik sahab farmaane lage:

"Farz to jun-tun dil kaRa ker ke paRh leta hun, magar asal namaz ka maza to nafal main aata hai! Farz chuTTi hai to chuT jaaye per nafal paRhte raho!"

Main ne poocha: Is baat ki kiya mantiq

Jawab mila: "Farz to dande ke zor pe hai, per nafal to khud ke dil se hai,, asal baat to wahi hui"

Two Kinds of People

 There are two kinds of people in the crowd.

First, who wants everyone to know who they are. Second, who would prefer no one know them.

My bias is that the second type of people are deeper.

As Ghalib said:

So true

 

یہ گزرے ہوئے لوگ، گزر کیوں نہیں جاتے

 تاریخ کی قبروں میں اُتر کیوں نہیں جاتے

یہ گزرے ہوئے لوگ، گزر کیوں نہیں جاتے

جون ایلیا | کتاب : کیوں