Lahore vs Karachi

 On ongoing teasing between Lahore and Karachi

گو لہور میں ولادت اپنی جگہہ اہم ہے

 مگر کراچی میں زندگی “جینے” کا اپنا لطف ہے

On Pakistan

I landed at NY JFK airport on April 13. That day, I was full of Pakistaniat. As I get boiled in the melting pot of humanity in the USA, it still sometimes hurts me to see my previous homeland not doing well.

 

 

Green (and Pakistan)

Jab pehli dafa Pakistan se America ke liye rawana huwa - aur sab ne gaari main bitha ke fi-aman-illah kiya to main ne dekha mera 7 baras ka chota bhanja gaari ke peeche bhagta chala aa raha hai. Main ne dost se kaha gaari roko. Mere bhanje ke haat main Pakistan ka aik chota sa parcham tha. Us ne apni totli si zaban main kaha: "Mamu! ye sab se ziyada kaam ki cheez reh gai. Ise sambhal ke rakhiye ga". Baik-waqt meri aankhoN main aansu anr honton pe hasi aa gai. Main ne us se wada ker liya ke - "Yaara! teri qasam, hamesah ise sambhal ke rakhun ga - wada - pakka wada". Aur main ne us ka maatha chum ke usey wapas rawana ker diya.

America main koi 22/23 baras ho gaye - mujh main se poora ka poora Pakistan nikal gaya - magar main ne apna wada nibhaya (ab bhi woh chota sa parcham meri library ke shelf pe lehrata hai).

Jab Chicago main tha to hamare apartments ka janitor 'Pablo' maxican tha. Tab internet nahi aaya tha. Pablo hume mexico ke qisse sunata aur hum use Pakistan ke. Aik din Pakistan ka parcham dekh ke kehne laga: "Hamare Mexico ke parcham main bhi hara (green) rang hai. Tum jaante ho na green colour ka kiya matlab hai?" Main ne bachpan se rata-rataya jawab de diya: "Khush-haali". Pablo ne hame bataya:

"Hamari dev-maalaai (mythological) kahanion main kaha jaata hai ke - jab aasmaan pe khuda raazi hota hai to woh us qaum ko hara rang ataa kerta hai. Suraj ka peela rang aur samandar ka neela rang jab aik saath markooz hote hain to un dono rang ki aamezish se wahan khuda ki muqaddas aur zarkhez zameen ubhar aati hai aur insaaniyat khub abad hoti hai".

Jab bhi Pakistan ke parcham pe nazar paRti hai - dil kehta hai - kaash pablo ki baat sach ho.

(Pakistan ke halya election ke pas manzar main likha gaya)- 

Qaziye-shehar ka matha chumo

After a long time, I heard this poetry of Mustafa Zaidi when someone posted after gruesome killing of Pakistani Christian couple - Pakistan ke naam

meri palkon ko mat dekho 
inka uthna inka chapkna 
jism ka na-mehsoos amal hai 

meri ankhon ko mat dekho 
inki auT main shaam e gareebaN
inki aaR mai dashte azal hai 
meray chehray ko mat dekho 
iss mai koi wada e farda 
iss mai koi aaj na kal hai 

ab us darya tak mat aao 
jis ki lehrain toot chuki hain 
uss seenay sey lo na lagao
 jis ki nabzain choot chuki hain 

 ab meray qatil ko chaho
 mera qatil, marham marham darya darya sahil sahil 
Qaziye-shehar ka matha chumo 
jis ke qalam mai zehray hilahil, jis ke sukhan mai lehle salasil 

ab uss raqs ki dhun per nacho 
jis ki gat per lut gaya qazi 
ji ki ley per bik gaya qatil 
bik gaya qatil, bik gaya qatil

May Allah protect Raza Rumi

I never met Raza but connected to him via blogging. He moved towards tweeting and over time he became a strong voice against fast changing and religiously getting ritualistic obsessed Pakistan. He is more of sufi and tolerant type human. As his voice was getting stronger on tweet, blog and social media,  he was attacked in Lahore and his driver was fatally wounded. Read story below

http://razarumi.com/?p=6181

RIP Irfan Khudi Ali

Irfan died in bomb blast while rescuing injured from first blast in Quetta which killed more than 100 Hazara Shias. Irfan was not only a key board warrior like tons of fake people on facebook, twitter etc. but he had courage to go out and raise voice.  - Hum jo tareek rahoN main maare gaye. If tomorrow - (if) - Pakistan sees a better future, there should be a statue of Irfan's name somewhere.

Aik zillat ka qissa

(One of my friend just returned from Pakistan's flood relief work)

There is a flood relief camp set up at Sohrab Goth near Karachi for people displaced from interior Sindh. That day they were distributing food cans in line. There was a girl of about 24 years age standing in line to get food for her small kid in lap. Policeman who was distributing food - without any shame - first played with her breasts and than hand over food. She walked away quietly with food!

Suna hai janglon ka bhi koi dastoor hota hai

Zehra Nigah ki khubsurat nazam - Pakistan ke har Shahr ke naam


Suna hai janglon ka bhi koi dastoor hota hai

Suna hai sher ka jub pet bhar jaaye
to woh hamla nahi kerta
darkhtoN ki ghani chauN main ja ker let jaata hai

Hawa ke tez jhonke jub darkhtoN ko hilate hain
to maina apne bacche chor ke
kawwe ke andon ko paron se tham leti hai

Suna hai ghonsle se koi bachha gir pare to
sara jangal jaag jaata hai

Suna hai jub kisi naddi ke paani main
baye ke ghonsle ka gandumi saaya larzta hai
to naddi ki rupehli machlian use parosi maan leti hain

Koi toofan aa jaaye koi pul toot jaaye
to kisi lakri ke takhte per
ghilari, saanp, bakri aur cheetah saath hote hain

Suna hai janglon ka bhi koi dastoor hota hai

Khuda wanda, jaleel-o-mautabar,
daana-o-beena, munseef-o-akbar
mere is shahr main
ab janglon hi ka koi qanoon naafiz ker

Suna hai janglon ka bhi koi dastoor hota hai

Sang muqayyad O sag azad

See this video - how a simple couple get harassed on the street of Karachi. Per Faiz

Nisar main teri galion ke aey watan ke jahan
chali hai rasam ke koi na sir utha ke chale
Jo koi chahne wala tawaf ko nikle
nazar chura ke chale, jism-o-jaan bacha ke chale

Hai ahle-dil ke liye ab ye nazme bast-o-kushad
ke sang-o-khasht muqayyad hain aur sag azad *

* last line used by faiz is a famous hikayat from Sheikh Saadi regarding any lawless place:

"aik shaks safar kerte huwe aik aese shahr main pauncha jahan har taraf pagal kutte azad phir rahe the. Jub us shaks pe aik pagal kutte ne bhonkne ki koshish ki to us ne zameen se patthar uthana chaha magar patthar zameen main dhansa huwa tha. Us shaks ne kaha: 'Ajeeb shahr hai ke sang muqayyad o sag azad - mutlab patthar qaid main hain magar kutte azad hain"

Smile Again

Picked up from suffering with behaviours

"Nasreen Sharif was once beautiful. So lovely that when she turned 14 her cousin poured a whole bottle of sulphuric acid on her face as she slept. His only excuse was that he couldn't stand other boys whistling at her when she crossed the street. This young woman is now 23 and she no longer bears any resemblance to that youthful beauty. "My skin melted and my hair burned away. I am now blind, I have no ears and I have no sense of smell."

Please visit this site Smile again Foundation

(Foundation to help female survivors of acid and kerosene oil burns in Pakistan by providing them essential first-aid treatment, appropriate medical attention and reconstructive surgery, psychological/ psychiatric support, shelter and vocational training).

meri palkon ko mut dekho

Aaj Pakistan, bulke mera Pakistan - jin halat main hai - Mustafa Zaidi ki ye nazam bohut yaad aa rahi hai. Yun lugta hai mustafa Zaidi ne mere dil ka haal likha hai.
Tina Sani also sung it so well , listen here


meri palkon ko mut dekho
inka uthna inka jhapkna
jism ka na-mehsus samar hai

meri aankhon ko mut dekho
inki aut main shame gareeban
inki aar main dashte azal hai

mere chehre ko mut dekho
is main koi wade farda
is main koi aaj na kul hai

ab us darya tuk mut aao
ji ki lehrain ruth chuki hain
us kunwain se lo na lagao
jis ki nabzain chut chuki hain

ab mere qatil ko chaho
mera qatil marham mrham
darya darya sahil sahil

qaziye shahr ka matha chumo
jis ke qalam main zahre hilahil
jis ke sukhan main lahle salasil
ab us raqs ki dhun pe nacho
ji ki gat per lut gaya qazi
jis ki ley per bik gaya qatil

bik gaya qatil
bik gaya qatil

meri aankhon ko mut dekho

Who else - Voltaire!

Sitare

Ye ittafaq to nahi ho sakta. Ye sitaron ka kesa khel hai... ?

Liaqat Ali Khan jub qatal ho ke Rawalpindi Hospital laaye gaye to Dr. Sadiq Khan ne unhe attend kiya.

56 years later....

Jub Benazir Bhutto qatal ho ke Rawalpindi Hospital layi gai to Dr. Sadiq Khan ke bete Dr. Mussadiq Khan ne unhe attend kiya.

Shayed Khan family ke sitaron main ye kaam kerna likha tha. Ye sirf "husne-ittafaq" to nahi ho sakta. Baqol Faiz:

Is tarah hai ke pase-parda koi sahir hai
jis ne afaq pe pehlaya hai yun saher ka daam

(Its like, there is a magician in the background
who weaved the mirage of magic over universe)

Benazir's Hand

I received this pic and following text in email from one of my palmist friend:

"Look closely, She has very short life line, abruptly finished (red), but very strong line of fate and fame (blue circle). Mostly, you find this combination in hands who get fame by destiny but die of unnatural cause mostly assassination or accident. Infamous Osama bin laden and famous princess diana have similar combination (OBL & Diana). I guess it was her destiny like her father".

P.S: Z A Bhutto himself had very keen interest in palmistry and famous palmist M M Malik was said to be regularly seeing his lines and actually was warned that election date of March 7, 1977 will lead to his death. Bhutto was aware of one fact - short life spans of Bhuttos. As Irfan Hussain mentioned also in his latest column (here): "Days after he announced that elections would be held in a couple of months in 1977, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was asked by a western journalist how many terms he expected to win.“I am not looking beyond the next term,” he replied. “The Bhutto men do not live very long.”
Click to enlarge pic

Subhe be-noor

Aaj Pakistan ki jo halat hai, mujhe Habib Jalib ki nazam, "aese dastoor ko, subhe benoor ko, main nahi manta, main nahi manta" - bohut yaad aa rahi hai.

Listen in Habib Jalib voice here (taken from windmills of my mind)

Click on image to see enlarge poster.

On Benazir's assassination & aftermath riots

Agar aaj ke daur main bhi nabi aate hote to woh dua kerte:
"Ya Allah! is jungli qaum ko neest-o-naabud ker de".

Maulana Hali hote to phir musaddas ko parhte

Ham hain qatal-o-garat main chalak aese
Darinde hon jungle main bebak jese

Jinnah ka asli Pakistan - kiya huwa?

Aaj Quaid-e-azam ka yaume-paidaish hai. Mera dil kerta hai aaj un logon ko yaad karun jin ki badaulat Jinnah ke banaye huwe Pakistan ka naam abhi tuk duniya ke naqse pe maujud hai. Ye woh log hain jinhon ne sach likha aur us Pakistan ka mafhoom zinda rakhne ki koshish ki jo Quaid-e-azam ka Pakistan tha, na'ke kisi fauji general ya Ziaul-haq ka islami Pakistan.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib, Eqbal Ahmad, Hamza Alvi, Dr. Mubarak Ali, Janab Tariq Ali, Ardeshir Cowasjee, Munnu Bhai (kuch naam) - ye woh log hain jinhon ne na sirf Pakistan bulke duniya main hur zulm ke khilaf awaz uthai aur musibatain jhelin. Ye log Zameer ke qedi hain. Inhon ne sachchai se apne sach ko likhne ki koshish ki.

Agar aap "History and Philosophy of Pakistan" ko sahi andaz main dekhna chahte hain to aap ko Prof. Hamza Alvi ka ye article zaroor parhna pare ga...


On Religion and Secularism in the making of Pakistan

"It was not until the mid-Forties, when the approach of independence began to look like a reality, that the landed magnates of Punjab realised, firstly, that they would not be given an Independent Punjab within the Commonwealth, which they wanted. Secondly they saw a mortal danger to their survival as a class, if independence came to the Punjab under the Indian National Congress. The Congress was fully committed to Land Reform, on which a Committee, presided over Pandit Nehru himself, had been working for some years. The Congress was fully committed to Land Reforms. For the survival of their class, the Punjabi feudals reckoned that Pakistan under the Muslim League was a workable alternative for them, the more so because they knew that if they joined the League, they would, in effect, take it over.They would control it. Mian Mumtaz Daulatana was amongst the first to see this and he joined the Muslim League in 1943. By 1945 virtually all of them had joined it except for a small misguided rump under Khizr Hayat Khan.

The situation in Sindh was similar to that of the Punjab. So by the time that independence came, the feudal landed magnates of Punjab and Sindh had taken over the Muslim League. No ideology except their concern forself-preservation was needed to draw them to the League. The Pakistan movement was not driven by any religious ideology. Many pirs in Punjab and Sindh were among the great landed magnates who opted for Pakistan. At their behest their mureeds celebrated the idea of Pakistan with gusto. From this a false impression has been taken by some scholars that it was the idea of Pakistan which had motivated them, whereas in truth what they were celebrating was the joy of their pir, when he joined the League and there by averted the threat of Congress land reforms."

Click here to read full article

My post at Pak Tea House

Pak Tea House is a recently launched online forum to keep tradition of "chai khanas" alive virtually. They recently posted my article:

Karachi - “Basta hai iss kohar kay peechay raushanion ka shehr”

"....Its original name was Kalachi-jo-Ghote. Kalachi is said to be named after a women whom people identified as Mai Kalachi or Mai Kolachee. Kalachi-jo-Ghote was a small fishing village, made up of a cluster of fishermen huts. on the three islands of Manora, Bhit and Baba. It has also been described as having name of Kolachee, Currachee, Crochey and Kurrachee. I also found mention (but no authentic record) that Karachi was first founded when Alexander-the-Great’s admirals, sailed back home from the Greek expedition to India, stationed at a point at the mouth of the Indus, and called it Morontobara (which later became Manora). Later 3 nearby islands, Manora, Bhit and Baba became together and called Kalachi-jo-Ghote...."

Read full article here

Radio Pakistan ki aag

Aaj Pakistan ke akhbar roznama 'Jang' main aik column shaya huwa hai. Yun to Pakistan ke mojuda halat pe itna likha aur suna ja raha hai ke main is blog pe us ka izhar redundancy hi samjhta hun, magar baqol Ghalib - Dil hi to hai dard se bhar na aaye kiun

Ye column batata hai ke ilmi aur ruhani tor pe hamari qaum kitni diwaliya ho chuki hai. Ye column na to emergency ke nifaz pe hai aur na 'dhashatgardi ke khilaf jang' per hai, bulke ye parto hai hamari muflisi ka, hamari dam torti qaumi gairat ka.

Radio Pakistan ki aag by Azeem Sarwar

Ye column aap ko us Pakistan ko yaad dilaye ka jo hum sab ki aankh ka tara tha aur dil kahe ga - kubhi hum khubsurat the

Jub Azeem Sarwar jese zinda-dil log mayoos ho jayain to samjho fatiha ka waqt hai. Dil kerta hai keh dun ke - aesi qaum ko barbad hi ho jana chahiye. Magar kese keh dun - us mulk ki galion main beechi be-hisi mere dimag ko sun kiye de rahi hai. Jee chah raha hai ke is column ke aakhri jumle ko thora badal ker yun likh dun:

"Jis mulk ko main ne gulistan ki surat dekha tha, us ko shamshan ke roop main kese dekhun, himmat nahi hai...." !

October 18 Tragedy

Karachi was my first love. I loved that city even before I loved any woman. On October 18, carnage was carried out in Karachi in most brutal way. Raza Rumi wrote an excellet article in newspaper and put words to my emotions. (Thanks Raza)


The Oct 18 tragedy and our collective conscience

The foreign media, usually proficient in the rant on Talibanisation, gun-totting radicals and burqas were also at a loss on how to comment on this day. The castle of stereotypes on Pakistan had fallen: men and women were dancing spontaneously, often together on the loud, tacky party songs. There were very few burqas, no guns and no favourite signs of a west-hating native populace. This was a day heralded as a watershed in our recent times, from the left to the right and from the khaki to the mufti. Not because there was a revolution in order but that the real face of the many millions, who aspire for better livelihoods in a secular framework, had been rediscovered.

(click here for full article)