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Posted by admin in Art & Culture on March 17th, 2013
Ahmad Faraz (Urdu: احمد فراز) born Syed Ahmad Shah (Urdu: سید احمد شاہ) on January 12, 1931 in Kohat, was a Pakistani Urdu poet. He was considered one of the great modern Urdu poets of the last century. Faraz is his pseudonym ‘takhalus’. Faraz died in Islamabad on August 25, 2008.
Faraz has been compared with Faiz Ahmad Faiz, holds a unique position as one of the best poets of current times, with a fine but simple style of writing. Even common people can easily understand his poetry. Ethnically a Hindkowan, Ahmed Faraz studied Persian and Urdu at the Peshawar University. He later became lecturer at the Peshawar University. He was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and after his death Hilal-e-Pakistan by the government.
Biography
Faraz was born in Kohat, Pakistan to Syed Muhammad Shah Barq. His brother is Syed Masood Kausar. In an interview with Rediff he recalls how his father, once bought clothes for him on Eid. He didn’t like the clothes meant for him, but preferred the ones meant for his elder brother. This lead him to write his first couplet:
:سب کے واسطے لائے ہیں کپڑے سیل سے
:لائے ہیں میرے لیے قیدی کا کمبل جیل سے
Sab kay waste laye hein kaprye sale se
Laye hein mere liye qaidi ka kambal jail se
(He brought clothes for everybody from the sale)
(For me he brought a blanket from jail)
His parents asked him once to learn mathematics from a class fellow during the summer vacation. But he was weak in mathematics and geography, he didn’t remember maps and roads.
He was from a respectable family of Syed, descendents of ”Haji Bahadar” a famous saint of Kohat, he moved to Peshawar with entire family. Studied in famous Edwards College, Peshawar and then did his Masters in Urdu and Persian from Peshawar University.
During his time in college, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ali Sardar Jafri were the best progressive poets, who impressed him and became his role models.
Literary and Political life
Outspoken about politics, he went into self-imposed exile during the Zia-ul-Haq era after he was arrested for reciting certain poems at a Mushaira criticizing the military rule. He stayed for 6 years in Britain, Canada and Europe before returning to Pakistan, where he was initially appointed Chairman Academy of Letters and later chairperson of the Islamabad-based National Book Foundation for several years. He has been awarded with numerous national and international awards.
He was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2004, in recognition of his literary achievements. He returned the award in 2006 after becoming disenchanted with the government and its policies.
“My conscious will not forgive me if I remained a silent spectator of the sad happenings around us. The least I can do is to let the dictatorship know where it stands in the eyes of the concerned citizens whose fundamental rights have been usurped. I am doing this by returning the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (civil) forthwith and refuse to associate myself in any way with the regime…” a statement issued by the poet.
About his current writings he says: “I now only write when I am forced to from the inside.” Maintaining a tradition established by his mentor, the revolutionary Faiz Ahmad Faiz, he wrote some of his best poetry during those days in exile. Famous amongst poetry of resistance has been “Mahasara”. Faraz was also mentioned by actor Shahzada Ghaffar in the Pothwari/Mirpuri telefilm “Khai Aye O”.
Despite his deteriorating health, he was quite active in the Judicial Crisis, in 2007. He joined personally the lawyers to protest against the government, and also encouraged his colleagues to do the same.
Death
Faraz died from kidney failure in a local Islamabad hospital on 25 August 2008. His funeral was held on the evening of 26th, by many admirers and government officials at H-8 Graveyard, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Samples of poetry
A sample of his poetry is:
Nazm: Khwaab martay naheen
Khwaab martay naheen
Khwaab dil hain, nah aankhen, nah saansen keh jo
Rezaa, rezaa huwe to bikhar jaayen ge
Jism kii maut se ye bhii mar jaayen ge
English translation:
Dreams do not die
Dream are not heart, nor eyes nor breath
Which shattered, will scatter
Die with the death of the body
Phir isee raahguzar par shaayad
Hum kabhee mil sakein magar….shaayad
Jinke hum muntazir unko..
mil gayein aur humsafar shaayad..
ajnabeeyat ki dhund chhat jaayein
chamak utthein teiree nazar.. shaayad.
Jaan pehchaan se bhee kyaa hoga
Phir bhee ae dost ghaur kar shaayad..
Jo bhee bicharay woh kub miley hain Faraz,
Phir bhee tu intezaar kar …. shaayad..
Posted by admin in BOOT THE SCOUNDRELS OR SHOWDAZ, Corruption, Corruption in Islamic Countries, Looters and Scam Artists, Pakistan's Hall of Shame, Pakistan's Ruling Elite Feudals Industrialists, Politics on March 17th, 2013
It is real news to me that ECP can commit such a blunder by asking leader of the opposition to submit his certificate of FA or its equivalents. How can a leader of such high profile not have genuine educational credentials? Like my favorite Nusrat Javed I was also mad at eve maligning bureaucracy.
However by thinking a little bit, it seems that Election Commission officials may have some valid reasons too. As per information available on media, Ch. Nisar Ali Khan was born to Brig Fateh Khan on July 31st, 1954. He was at Army Burn Hall Abbottabad (ABH) till 1968 and left at the approximate age of 14 years. As per general age pattern of kids going first grade in school at the age of 5, he should have completed 9th grade at ABH. However when boys join boarding schools, they lose one year compared to regular schools. I am sure of this about Cadet College Hassan Abdal, similar to ABH.SO if we consider that, his age at time matches to one who had passed eighth class when he joined Aitchison. However ABH may have its own policies. Ch. Nisar Ali Khan was admitted to Aitchison College on July 31st, 1969 wind left on December 31st, 1970.His school number at Aitchison was 4224. As per policy, one has to have two years to complete ‘A’ levels after doing ‘O’ levels. He left Aitchison College at the age of fifteen and a half years. This corresponds more with someone passing O levels (matric) than that of ‘A’ levels (FA).
Again let us assume he passed FA (A levels) at Aitchison. It takes some time to have results and BA classes usually start after summer vacations. He could not have started his BA at Government College Lahore before end of summer vacations of 1971. He claims to have passed BA from GC in 1972. This means he studied for only one year and passed his BA during the wartime of 1971.BA examinations were usually held in summer. So he was eighteen years old when he passed BA. Very unlikely considering that he went to boarding schools and delays in academic schedules during wartime.
Posted by admin in Hypocrites in Islam, Islam: The Universal Message of Peace, ISLAMOPHOBIA, Rabi-Zidni-Ilma on March 16th, 2013
Looking back at over 1450 years of Islam, we would find that maximum damage to the image of this holy religion has been done not by its opponents, alleged Kafirs (non believers) or other enemies of islam, but unfortunately by those who proudly recite Kalma in the name of Allah and call themselves the true followers of Islam. Whether it was the internal conflict during the time of the Prophet, the period of Khilafat and Imamat, the battle of Karbala or violent expansionism, terrorism or plundering in the later period in the name of Islam; we can see that no non-Muslim society, group or community was involved. How can a religion like Islam, which spread so fast to become the second most followed religion in the world, is today equated with terrorism? Not only terrorism, lately Islam has been in the storm of many controversies.
Kalbe saadiq
For instance, there is an ongoing debate amongst various groups of Muslims on the issues of female education, music, hijab, costume, beard etc. Usually, such issues come to the fore when some Maulvi or cleric representing a responsible authority, gives a controversial statement. In this age of social media, any type of controversial statement delivered by a cleric of any country spreads across the world in no time. Such statements are then debated upon, praised and mocked upon at different social networks. Some time back, such a controversial statement by a Maulvi of Egypt was broadcast on TV. He might have thought that his statement was in the interest of the Islam. But actually, it did the opposite.
A famous Egyptian cleric Mahmood Al Masri found saying on TV that even though lying is a crime in Islam, yet in certain circumstances a Muslim can tell a lie. To give weight to his argument, he alluded to a story. As per the said story, there was a Jew living in neighborhood of a Muslim. That Jew was very honest and talented. The Muslim guy thought of inviting him to convert into Islam. One day he asked his Jew neighbor about his views on Islam and exhorted him to become a Muslim. On this, the Jew replied that Islam was definitely a good religion and he liked it very much. But his problem was that he was an alcoholic. He couldn’t stay away from liquor. Hence, he couldn’t follow Islam, since Islam strictly prohibits the use of liquor. On listening this, the Muslim trick fully assured the Jew that he could continue to drink even after converting to Islam. The Jew couldn’t believe this. He asked the Muslim again if it is possible to continue drinking even after following Islam. The Muslim again replied in affirmative. The Jew got excited. He recited Kalma in front of the Muslim and after due process, got converted into a Muslim. Just after accepting Islam the converted Jew expressed his temptation to have alcohol, the Muslim said, “now that you are a Muslim, you can’t indulge in any anti-Islamic activity such as drinking. If you dared to drink, then that would be treated as a sin and you will be punished according to the Islamic law. The converted Jew got scared and finally stopped drinking.
Masri
Through this story, Maulvi Masri tried to explain in which situations a Muslim can lie. But after this was broadcast, Masri had to face a lot of criticism. People mocked at him. Besides, a debate was sparked whether propagation of religion by the use of lies, deceit and terror is justified? Similarly, many such controversies involving various Islamic “scholars” show that the wrong interpretations regarding Islam by these little-knowing clerics since the last 1450 years has brought a bad name to the religion.
Now let’s look at another interpretation of Islam by a famous Indian cleric Kalb-e-Sadiq. On the importance of human life in Islam, Maulvi Sadiq gives a hypothetical example whereby a Roza(fast) observing Muslim, after taking bath and Vazu for Namaaz, is on way to perform Haj with the Haj travel passport in his pocket. On way, he finds a Hindu/non-Muslim drowning in a river and screaming for help. In this situation, Sadiq says, it is the duty of that Muslim to jump into the water and save the life of that non-Muslim. Although doing this will break his fast and wet his passport, after which he won’t be able to perform Haj. But in the eyes of Islam, saving the life of a human being is more important than Namaaz, Roza and Haj. After giving this example, Maulvi Sadiq asks the charlatan clerics and extremists that how can a religion, which attaches the maximum importance to the human life, permit the killing of innocents?
Statements and fatwas by different clerics help initiating a global discourse on the teachings of Islam. Unfortunately, the statements given by the liberal maulvis, showing the humanitarian side of Islam, are less highlighted; whereas the staments and fatwas delivered by the radical Mullahs in which they present Islam in bad light, spread like fire across the globe. Undoubtedly, such illogical, misguiding and baseless examples, stories and interpretations, as told by Masri, play a major role in bringing a bad name to this holy religion of Islam.
Tanveer Jafri
Columnist
1622/11, Mahavir Nagar, Ambala City (Haryana) (INDIA)
PHONE: 0091-171-2535628, Mob: 091-9896219228
EMAIL: [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]
Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on March 16th, 2013
By Irfan Ghauri
Published: September 22, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Balochistan had the highest rate of fake voters during the 2008 general election, according to findings from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
A glance at statistics from the province do not reflect well on the electoral process. In Killa Abdullah there were total of 387,823 registered voters and only 70,820 could be verified. In Kech, of the 218,953 registered voters only 84,500 were legitimate. In Loralai there were 226,658 registered voters, of which a meagre 52,657 could be verified. Of Jaffarbabad’s 391,608 registered voters, only 98,919 were not bogus.
The legitimacy of our current government has been severely questioned by recent findings that almost half of the entries in voter lists at the last election were fake.
The startling facts emerged as the ECP and NADRA were preparing new voter lists based on computerised national identity cards (CNICs). Discrepancies emerged between the electoral rolls used for last general election and succeeding by-polls held so far.
(Read: Democratic process – Balochistan seeks quick completion of voters’ list)
The official documents, copies of which are available with The Express Tribune, reveal serious flaws in the electoral system used in the 2008 general election. Among the 81.2 million voters registered, 37 million were either ghost voters, multiple entries or the voter was registered without any authentic proof of identity. The figures for dubious entries were as follows: 65 per cent in Balochistan, 62 per cent in FATA, 54 per cent in Sindh, 43 per cent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 41 per cent in Punjab.
The 2007 electoral rolls were an updated version of lists compiled by the ECP for elections held in the 90s and 2002.
Statistics from around the country are alarming. Larkana, the hometown of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had 484,727 fake entries against 240,762 genuine registered voters who could be verified. The town had a total of 725,489 registered voters.
The district of Multan, from where Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s stalwart Makhdoom Javed Hashmi were elected to the National Assembly, had 1.16 million bogus entries out of a total 2.2 million registered voters.
Karachi had more seats than any other city in the national and provincial legislatures, and a total of 6.6 million registered voters. Only 3.9 million could be verified. A glaring 2.7 million entries had been fake.
Similarly, Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city and capital of most populous province Punjab, had a total of 3.7 million registered voters. Among them 2.1 million have been declared genuine and the remaining 1.6 million could not be verified.
Islamabad, the capital and considered the most developed city in the country, was not free of electoral fraud. Out of the total 482,548 registered voters, 153,965 were bogus entries. Peshawar had a total of 1.2 million registered voters. Of these, 610,197, just over half, were fake. Quetta had a total of 652,799 registered voters. Among these, 323,837 could not be verified as genuine registered voters.
The findings make uneasy reading for the incumbent national and provincial legislatures. The electoral system has been uncovered as falling well short of fair democratic standards.
Posted by admin in BOOT THE SCOUNDRELS OR SHOWDAZ, Corruption, Corruption, Corruption in Islamic Countries, Jahiliya "Jihadis"Illiterate Fanatics, Looters and Scam Artists, Morosi Siyasat & Political Crooks, Nawaz Sharif US Agent, PAKISTAN'S CORRUPT POLITICAL PARTIES:PPP, Pakistan's Hall of Shame, Pakistan's Ruling Elite Feudals Industrialists, PPP 's Raja Rental Pervez Corruption, Punjab Held Hostage Sharif Bros, THE NEOCON STRATEGY IN PROCESS, ZARDAR'S CORRUPTION on March 16th, 2013
LETTER TO EDITOR
March 16th, 2013
E.Filing of Nomination Papers
Now that the ECP duly supported by the SC has been able to get the nomination forms printed with the changes that it wanted in them, the clever politicians are bound to think of means and measures to thwart its full implementation. Their very first step in this direction was to deny the ECP the 30 day scrutiny period asked by it to scrutinize more than 10,000 applicants” thousands of particulars in detail. It is, therefore, suggested that the contestants should be asked to e.file their applications along with all the supporting documents like tax returns, bank statements, bank loan papers, travel tickets and other documents, utility bills, cars and vehicles registrations etc. etc, which should all be immediately uploaded on the ECP website for all to see. Anyone detecting any discrepancy/ inaccuracy/false or fake statement/ document could immediately draw ECP attention for its detailed scrutiny. This shall assist/help the ECP tremendously in scrutiniz ing the particulars of the applicants in the shortest possible time.
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi
Pakistan
E.mail: [email protected]
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