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Monday, November 30, 2009

[mukto-mona] Fwd: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fwd: Article by Jeremy Scahill--Blackwater in Pakistan.



--------------------
From: omarali502000@yahoo.com
To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com, abdalian@yahoogroups.com, kirfani@aol.com, shaheryar.azhar@gmail.com
CC: crdp@yahoogroups.com, Pakistan_Futures@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 11/30/2009 12:42:50 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fwd: Article by Jeremy Scahill--Blackwater in Pakistan.

So are the mercenary sections of the Pakistani army doing this without the cooperation of the jihadi sections of the army? Is there any overlap (are some of the jihadis also making good money off these shady deals?) and are there any professional sections left that can function as a "normal army"?
 
I worry more about the way such shady operations are undermining the remains of the above-ground state in Pakistan. There is already a sort of civil war going on between the extreme jihadis and the state but there is also a more opaque struggle going on within the national security state and these operations with Blackwater (if they exist, one must keep in mind that the truth is likely to be at least a little bit different from what "The Nation" is reporting) are just one aspect of the underground, opaque and shady manner in which the domain of "national security" operates within Pakistan (and no, I dont think its the same in the US..in the US, the above ground state is still capable of getting a handle on these people, though that may change in the future)......
 
Omar

--- On Mon, 11/30/09, Asad Zaidi <asadzee1@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Asad Zaidi <asadzee1@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: Article by Jeremy Scahill--Blackwater in Pakistan.
To: "Abbey Maharaj" <devan.maharaj@latimes.com>
Date: Monday, November 30, 2009, 3:54 AM

 
Here we go again!

Jeremy Scahill first exposed the existence of Blackwater and its activities through a book he wrote on the subject two years ago. He is considered the foremost U.S authority on the subject of private security contractors like Blackwater. Now he has written the first authoritative account of Blackwater activities in Pakistan. Click on the link below to read his article.



http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/scahill?rel=emailNation




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[mukto-mona] Fwd: Firing on the house of Mr Kamran Shafi, Journalist with "Dawn" In Pakistan



 
 
From: pavocavalry@gmail.com
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: 12/1/2009 12:23:25 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Firing on the house of Mr Kamran Shafi, Journalist with "Dawn" In Pakistan
 
kamran shafi has been criticising the generals so this explains it.
 
agha

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 4:30 AM, <Kirfani@aol.com> wrote:
 
 Fyi
 
  
> << Six shots were fired upon my house in Wah a little past midnight on 
> night 27/28 November, 09 with my family and I inside. 4 bullet 
> holes are clearly visible on the house.
> Kamran Shafi
>
> Further to my last sms: Got a phone call at 17:33 this evening from 
> a woman saying what happened last night was only a trailer and that 
> the whole film will also be shown if I dont behave myself! The 
> number was: 0300-274-9185. >>
 
From: asie@rsf.org
To: mehulkamdar@yahoo.com
CC: Kirfani@aol.com, kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk, aimranh@gmail.com
Sent: 11/30/2009 12:49:26 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Firing on the house of Mr Kamran Shafi, Journalist with "Dawn" In Pakistan
 
Dear M. Kamadar, thanks for introducing my to your friend.
Dear M. Shafi, can you please update us about this situation and if 
any investigation has been started.

Regards - vincent brossel


Le 30 nov. 09 à 00:48, mehul kamdar a écrit :

> Dear M. Vincent Brossel,
>
> This is to bring to your attention an attack on the residence of Mr 
> Kamran Shafi, journalist with Dawn, the largest newspaper in 
> Pakistan earlier today. I received this information from Dr Kalim 
> Irfani, a respected Doctor of Medicine in the USA whose internet 
> discussion group I interact with, and the relevant mails exchanged 
> are below for you to please look at. I trust that Mr Shafi would 
> get in touch with you shortly and I would request that RSF please 
> try to raise awareness of the extreme danger that Mr Shafi has been 
> subjected to.
>
> Thank you very much, M. Brossel, and the contact details of all of 
> the gentlemen whom you may need to contact are in the e-mail in 
> addition to the CC list.
>
> My best wishes to you and thanks in advance for your very valuable 
> support in this grave matter,
>
> Mehul Kamdar
>
> Chicago, IL.
>
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> From: "Kirfani@aol.com" <Kirfani@aol.com>
> To: mehulkamdar@yahoo.com
> Cc: kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk; aimranh@gmail.com
> Sent: Sun, 29 November, 2009 17:06:55
> Subject: Re: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Firing on the house of Kamran Shafi
>
> Dear Mehul
>
> Thanks for offering your help in this serious matter of great 
> concern. Since the e-mail has been public, I am taking the liberty 
> to forward your message of support to Kamran Shafi and Agha Imran 
> Hamid.
> Needless to say our best wishes and prayers are with Kamran and his 
> family.
>
> <kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk>
> <aimranh@gmail.com>
> Regards,
>
> -Kalim Irfani,
>
>  NY, USA
>
>
> In a message dated 11/29/2009 5:36:43 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
> mehulkamdar@yahoo.com writes:
> Dear Dr Irfani,
>
> If you would like me to, I would be happy to introduce you to Mr 
> Vincent Brossel of Reporters Without Borders whom Mr Shafi may talk 
> to, if he doesn't know him already. RSF would be the best group to 
> demand protection for him as it is the collective voice of the 
> world's journalist community and they work hard to raise awareness 
> of the dangers that journalists are exposed to around the world.
>
> Mehul Kamdar
>
> The Ark was built by amateurs. Experts built the Titanic.
>
>
> From: "Kirfani@aol.com" <Kirfani@aol.com>
> To: Kirfani@aol.com
> Sent: Sun, 29 November, 2009 16:23:26
> Subject: Fwd: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Firing on the house of Kamran Shafi
>
>
>
> From: omarali502000@yahoo.com
> To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com, apnachat@yahoogroups.com
> crdp@yahoogroups.com
> CC: Pakistan_Futures@yahoogroups.com, shaheryar.azhar@gmail.com
> manzurejaz@yahoo.com
> Sent: 11/29/2009 5:01:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
> Subj: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Firing on the house of Kamran Shafi
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Sun, 11/29/09, Agha Imran Hamid <aimranh@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Agha Imran Hamid <aimranh@gmail.com>
> Subject: Firing
> To: omarali502000@yahoo.com
> Date: Sunday, November 29, 2009, 12:14 AM
>
> Two SMS messages received from Kamran Shafi:
>
> Six shots were fired upon my house in Wah a little past midnight on 
> night 27/28 November, 09 with my family and I inside. 4 bullet 
> holes are clearly visible on the house.
> Kamran Shafi
>
> Further to my last sms:Got a phone call at 17:33 this evening from 
> a woman saying what happened last night was only a trailer and that 
> the whole film will also be shown if I dont behave myself! The 
> number was: 0300-274-9185.
>
> Agha Imran Hamid
>
> 8B-II, Street No. 4
> Chak Shehzad Farms
> Islamabad
> Pakistan
> Phone:             + 92-51-835-8195
> Fax/Messages: + 92-51-835-8196
> Mobile:             + 92-321-856-8196
>
>
>
>
>
>

Vincent Brossel
Asia-Pacific Desk
Reporters Without Borders
33 1 44 83 84 70
asia@rsf.org




--
Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."  --
Albert Einstein !!!


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RE: [mukto-mona] Vande Mataram protests & India's defence & economic needs



That time I was in 10 Th. standard in a school where Anandamath was in syllabus as our rapid reader. One pupil asked the Bengal teacher why Bankim Chandra used in some places 'Muslim' ....in Anandamath.

Our teacher in school was an expert in Bengali literature.

He told Bankim actually was under administrate service as a district collector of a district of undivided Bengal under British rule. He also told that by the word 'Muslim' in Anandamath actually Bankim meant the British ruler. If he would mention in his novel directly about the oppression of British ruler his novel could be banned by British and Bankim Chandra might be imprisoned.

 

I have understood with the help of what the knowledge I have accumulated from the endless ocean of knowledge that big and brave hearted people are always secular minded. Bankim Chandra was a secular man like Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and later Seikh Mujibar Rahaman.

 

As in higher level there is no difference between mathematics and physics, like wise in higher level of thinking there is no difference between Hindus, Muslims, Bhuddhists, Christians. Only the paths are different as told by Ramkrishna. And this difference, ignoranltly, is the origin of all haterd. All the so called fake religious groups are the breaking forces in our time who never agree with this.

 

Religions becomes lethal when they are twisted wrongly in the hands of these fundamentalists. Except God, ones head shall not be bowed to any other.Is the God is very jealous? Is the God is a communal one ? Is God is inherently very fearful or full of false confidence ? I don't think so. But I think it is the men played  false games on the name of God.This kind of devastating playing is until now prevailing in us. Those fundamentalist intolerant persons shall be wiped out to save our counties from catastphe and to make our counties peaceful.  

 

Well, don't bow your heads to your fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. They are not God. But you bow to them because they are the persons who gave you lives and place to stand.

 

The country or land of ones place to live shall be honoured in such a way that it shall affect our biological nervous system. As prayer is needed to satisfy of ones libido to God, in the same way prayer is needed to satisfy ones libido for arising patriotism in ones mind which was a need in British rule, which is a need now and which will be the need in future too. But whome to tell this and who will listen this? 'Just- Do- It' doctrine without question will keep them pulled by hundred years back from the current time.    

 

A Bandana (Vandana) in a sound, in a form of a song, is a parameter of exciting the libido of ones attarction to some thing and thus it creates a bond. This is true in all Faiths. This is most psychological and neurological aspect of our biological system. Patriotism is nothing but a sense of attraction to accomplish the duty for ones country of birth, the mother land. The patriotic libido is affected in a positive way by uttering a song of nationalism. Farida Majid expressed truly that it is not at all related to any religion.It is a basically a patriotic song.This song is not from Veda, not from Gita or Upanishads. It has no relation with Hindu riligion.

 

Some irresponsible persons in this forum has written that Bharat Mata was imagined as Durga Debi (Devi). Bharat does not belongs to Hindus only that Bharat Mata (mother land India) shall be depicted as Durga or Gagatdhatri or any Goddess. Does Indian constitution tells that Bharat Mata means Durga ? No. Then why some diverted people think Bharat Mata means a Goddess and Bande(Vande) Mataram means that Goddess is prayed? 

 

Some times one can see that Indian maps with a small picture of Goddesses on the top of it were displayed in shops or footpaths for selling purpose.Some phanatic people becomes happy to see that. This does not mean that mother land India is a Durga or any Debi.       

 

The land of birth is auspicious. In that way it is our mother. If we bow head and sing song in her praise it will help us to make solidarity and will enhance our patriotism to our nation. The patriotism is going to be diminished day by day. That's why from lower level to higher level there is only corruption and corruption. Riots among Hundus, Muslims, Christians, etc.First we need patriotism. If we can be a true patriotic then only we can be able to build up our country, I mean any country, healthy, wealthy, prosperous and respectful. 

 

Let us become more tolerant to those intolerant allowing them what they like not to utter Bande Mataram. At least some one should be tolerant to make a nation more democratic.Tolerance has no alternative and tolerant will ever survive in the coming catastrophe.     

 

Sentu Tikadar

 

--- On Sat, 11/14/09, Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com> wrote:


From: Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [mukto-mona] Vande Mataram protests & India's defence & economic needs
To: "mukto-mona Yahoogroups" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009, 11:14 PM

 

 

From its inception during the Independence Movement, Bande Mataram controversy was artificially canned by shrewd manipulators of communal politics posing as village idiots pitifully needing protection of their "religious sentiments." The recent re-visiting of the controversy was unnecessary and a publicity stunt by the Deoband Maulanas.

 

Some quick facts:

                           The text is completely secular

                            It was composed before the writing of the novel, Anandamath

                            The novel is mis-characterized as anti-Muslim, and a recent English translation confirms that there is no full-blown communalism in the text

                            It was written for Mother Bengal and adressed to her 'saat koti' children, half of whom were Muslims. In a sly bit of editing, 'saat koti' was changed to 'koti koti' thereby not only decoupling it from Bengal, but also distorting the song's homage from Mother Bengal to a divine Durga. Bankim was long dead, and had nothing to do with this doctoring of his song's text.

 

Like the popular American sports news-broadcaster bellows on camera: "Let's go to the videotape!" I would like to roll the 'tape' of the time of production of the text of Bande Mataram.

 

At the timing of the composition of the song, it would be more than a couple of decades since the British had dropped all mercantile pretensions and gobbled up India as a part of its Empire. The not-too-distant memory of the bitter battles fought and lost in 1857 is still smarting in many a heart. Bengal, whose plentiful wealth had been systematically robbed to enrich the British Treasury for more than a hundred years now, is the seat of governance of this foreign imperial power over whole India.  Calcutta, a flourishing metropolis, was turning out an educated middle class whose intellectual and cultural accomplishments far surpassed the expectations of Mill-Macaulay & Co. who wanted nothing more than mediocre servicemen of the Empire by their Indian education policies.  Bankim was the first graduate of the newly established Calcutta University after trudging through an incredibly cumbersome and tough syllabus.

 

Exposure to English language and literature acted as an enabler in the rapid development of Bengali as a modern language.  There was a new awakening of love and pride for motherland and mother language, and nostalgia for the freedom that used to belong to the people. Bengal had traded with foreigners for centuries, and even endured Company rule since the fall of Sirajuddowla in 1757.  Heavy taxation and privatization of community land caused unprecedented famine that devastated the population. Even so, the effect of outright colonization took some time to sink in.  Bankim lamented in one of his essays: "Nowadays we hear a lot about Administrator and rules and regulations. In this land in the olden times you could call a bunyan tree an 'administrator' (shasonkarta)". By which Bankim is stating unambiguously that we Bangalis were a free, self-ruled nation before the British came and took away our freedom.

 

Bankim's Bande Mataram was the most powerful, but many of his contemporary poets and composers, both Hindus and Muslims, wrote paeans for Mother Bangla (the word 'bangla' denoting both the land and the language).  Two generations after Bankim, my grandfather, the poet Golam Mostapha composed his song showing clear influence of both Bankim and Iqbal: "Shakol desher chaite shera moder Bangladesh, sujala sufala shasya-shyamola snigdho shitalabesh." Kazi Nazrul Islam, one of the greatest Bengali poets, my nana's friend, wrote: "Namo namo namo Bangladesh momo, chiromonoramo, chiro madhur." Unfortunately the village idiots of Bangladesh today do not sing Nazrul's song because it has 'namo namo namo' as invocation that is considered a bit too Hindu-like. Invocations are common parlance, and any speaker of that language should be free to use them regardless of the religious identity of that person.  Imagine Hindi/Urdu-speaking Hindus not singing A. R. Rahman's "Ma, tujhe salaam" because 'salaam' sounds Muslim-like!

 

[Will be continued with more facts and findings .. .. .. ]

 

                 Farida Majid
 


To: aryayouthgroup@ yahoogroups. com; karmayog@yahoogroup s.com; mukto-mona@yahoogro ups.com; JAGO-INDIA@yahoogro ups.com; sachai_pazzar@ yahoo.com; Geo-politics@ yahoogroups. com
From: surajcap@yahoo. com
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 05:09:26 -0800
Subject: [mukto-mona] Vande Mataram protests & India's defence & economic needs

 


--- On Thu, 11/5/09, suraj prasad <surajcap@yahoo. com> wrote:

From: suraj prasad <surajcap@yahoo. com>
Subject: Re: Vande Mataram protests & India's defence & economic needs
To: media_monitor5@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 3:23 PM

Worshipping Motherland as Divinity is highest form of patrioism and all nationalists do so who keep Nation over Religion as Vande Mataram asks us. While attacking the Muslims in the Novel Anandamath (having Vande Mataram song) is justified as not common Indian Muslims but the ruling invaders - Colonial Muslims were fought by Hindu Nationalists in the novel which is freedom struggle but due to lack of educational and military development at the end they accepted British Rule which removed the more repressive and perverted Islamic Jihadi rule for the time being and the 'Leader' also asked members not to hurt common Muslims when one of them was going to strike an Indian converted Muslim who fearing his life have hidden in pond.

Anti-Muslim Geet Wilder's Movie is banned in India

So is Da Vinci Code which is allegdly anti-Christian without even a protest showing the extra concern vote bank loving Indian Politicians have for minorities but Hindus must protest 'London Dreams' as otherwise they would not listen!
http://www.banglade shihindu. com/a-true- memoir-of-peace/

विजय की आशा अब भले ही न रही हो , फिर भी शाक्यों के लिए एक आशा अभी भी शेष है, और वह है प्रतिशोध की । मृत्यु को टालना असम्भव है,परन्तु फिर भी एक बात भर सम्भव है और वह है -''मारते हुए मरना'' आप यह सोच सकते है कि मेरी यह धारणा विशुद्ध क्रोध की अन्ध प्रतिक्रिया भर है। हाँ, वह वैसी ही है। पर यह दलित क्रोध की प्रतिक्रिया ही उन्मादरूपी हाथी का अंकुश होती है। सर्पपुच्छ पर पैर पड़ते ही सर्प त्वरित उलटकर दंश करता है तथा स्वतः मृत्यु के मार्ग पर होने पर भी शत्रु को भी मरणोन्मुख बनाके छोड़ता है। विजय के हेतु नही , रूधिर-प्रज्ञान के हेतु नही, तो प्रतिशोध हेतु .....तथा सर्प की जाति इस प्रकार प्रतिशोध लेने वाली है ऐसा भय मानव मात्र को होने के कारण ही वह उसे उस प्रकार कुचलने का साहस नही करता जिस प्रकार बालक चीटी या झीगुर को हंसी-खेल में कुचल देते है। पूरा कहानी पढने के लिए देखे साईट http://www.hindusth angaurav. com/savarka r.asp
 
HANS KE LIYA PAKISTAN LORKE LEGE HINDUSTHAN:
 
Real Defence & Economic problems of India: -
 
1) Ordnance production and paramilitary should be strictly under defence ministry only and not in private hands or under home ministry. We dont need gun culture like USA or manipulation by Arms production companies to wage continous wars.
2) Chief of Defence Staff or CDS should be made and Secretary to CDS will also act as Defence Secretary and no non-defence IAS personal should be given this strategic post.
3) Mayanmar and Mauritus should be included in expanding SAARC and India should also try to join ASEAN.
4) While even North Korea & Iran has long range 2,500 km missiles as our enemies China & Pakistan we have longest - 350 Km short range ones only, like Islamic Bangladesh & must soon acquire them by development or buying off.
5) Sectarian divisions based on Religion and Castes/Regions in Indian Armed Forces like Sikh Regiment, Gurkha Regiment, Rajputana Rifles, Assam Rifles, Jat Regiment, etc must be dissolved and named after Indian Freedom fighters like Shivaji, Govind Singh, Rana Pratap, etc or simply n alpha-neumeric forms like West!
http://members. lycos.co. uk/surajcap/
All external & military intelligence be united under RAW and Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) for internal one continue!
I think they can provided, top 50% of their passed students in masters and above levels are each year absorbed in Govt Universities and R & D facilities so that students go for basic fundamental sciences more than all running after engineering and technology which can't survive without the mother - Science! Govt scientists are now paid more than many technos at MNCs after 6th Pay Commission beside fundamental research and earning patents can be rewarding greatly and make you rich beyond imagination!

Or else - http://tehelka. com/story_ main43.asp? filename= Ne071109coversto ry.asp

--- On Tue, 11/3/09, Sachai pazzar <sachai_pazzar@ yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Sachai pazzar <sachai_pazzar@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Look at this garlanded thug named Koda who stole US $ 1.3 Billion
To: surajcap@yahoo. com
Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 7:22 PM

Please forward to your forum members...

Look at this garlanded thug from Jharkhand, one of the poorest states of India.
Irony is that despite a huge sum of 1.3 billion dollars having been swindled by him he still is a small fry (a chhutputya) amongst the king sized Dons of Mangal Singh type like Sharad Pawar, CK Jaffer Sayeed, Patang Rao Kadam, Suresh Kalmadi, Mufti Sayeed, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mayavati, Lalu Prashad, DS Patil, Mulayam Yadav, Filmi Amma from Madras, Bhajan lal, Om Prakash Chautala, Virbadar Singh and hundreds more.
 
    







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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] Fwd: comments Re Fwd. Introspection of Pakistan's Creation [Haq's Musings]



 
 
From: sminhas@sbcglobal.net
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Sent: 11/30/2009 4:02:23 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: Fwd. Introspection of Pakistan's Creation [Haq's Musings]
 
Kalim:
 
I am impressed by Ayesha Jalal's thinking. The more I think about it, the more sense her theory - that jagirdari was the root at the creation of Pakistan - makes to me. Certainly the powers that be in the nascent nation of Pakistan were not the same as the Muslim League that nurtured the two-nation theory.
 
Was division of India inevitable? I firmly believe it wasn't. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs did live side by side in peace for generations. Divisions were fomented and exploited by ambitious men seeking power. I continue to believe that peace and harmony are still possible in South Asia. People of goodwill on both sides must NEVER give up.
 
Regards,
 
Sardul Minhas
 

--- On Sun, 11/29/09, Kirfani@aol.com <Kirfani@aol.com> wrote:

From: Kirfani@aol.com <Kirfani@aol.com>
Subject: Fwd. Introspection of Pakistan's Creation [Haq's Musings]
To: Kirfani@aol.com
Date: Sunday, November 29, 2009, 6:01 AM


 
Posted earlier: Maulana Azad's interview by Shorish Kashmiri (April 1946) re the partition of the subcontinent. Subsequently a couple of comments by list members were shared as well.
 
Now here is a related forward from Riaz Haq.
 
-Kalim
 
 
خون  کے  دھبے  دھلیں گے  کتنی  برساتوں  کے بعد
 
فیض احمد فیض
 
<<...A serious introspection of events which led to the partition of India can either reopen or help heal the wounds, depending on how the mainstream scholars and leaders in the two nations choose to deal with history.

In my view, Pakistan is a reality that must be accepted, and supported by all to make it a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation, and to ensure regional peace and prosperity. A healing process in the subcontinent can do a lot of good for all of the people of South Asia. It can bring lasting peace between India and Pakistan, and potentially move the region toward a successful common market similar to the European Union. >>
 
 

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Introspection of Pakistan's Creation

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Sixty-plus years after the end of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent, a number of authors, historians and scholars are now speaking or writing about the circumstances of India's partition, and the reasons for the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
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Several of them, including Pakistani historian Ayesha Jalal and former Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh have offered their varying perspectives on the subject. Ayesha Jalal has called the creation of Pakistan a "mistake" and Jinnah a "great lawyer with feet of clay". Contrary to popular perception, Singh argues in his recent book "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence", it was not Jinnah but Nehru's "highly centralized polity" that led to the Partition of India.

Ayesha Jalal has argued that the partition of India -- the event that created Pakistan -- was an accident, a huge miscalculation. Further, she has insisted that Jinnah never wanted a separate Muslim state; he was only using the threat of independence as a political bargaining chip to strengthen the voice of the Muslim minority in the soon-to-be sovereign India, a view shared by Jaswant Singh in his recent book on Jinnah and partition. Unlike Jalal, however, Singh lauds Jinnah as a "great Indian" and blames Nehru and Patel for the partition.

And now, veteran Pakistani writer Afzal Tauseef, who has been honored by Pakistan with "Pride of Performance" award for her service to the nation, has added her voice in a recent interview with Newsline. In her provocative style, she argues that Pakistan was created to preserve the interests of the big landowners in Punjab and Sind, and to serve the interests of the landowning class that would have been threatened by Nehru's insistence on land reform. Tauseef explains in the following words: "I personally think that if Nehru had not included land reforms in his program, Pakistan would never have been created. The country was made so that the jagirdari system could remain intact. The jagirdars, who were all protégées of the British, knew that if left in the Congress fold, they would be wiped out since at that time Marxist thought was moving into the subcontinent. The Muslim League was a product of the British and the land-owning Nawabs. On the other side was America, who wanted something in return for the money it had given to the British during the war. They wanted an area where a new imperialism could be let loose. And this is what continues to this day. Now we are paying for it dearly."

The fact that the quest for Pakistan by the Muslim League won the crucial support of the powerful Unionist Party in Punjab, representing the interests of the feudal Punjabi zamindars and jagirdars, lends support to Tauseef's contention that "the country was made so that the jagirdari (feudal) system could remain intact".

Each of these authors has challenged the widely accepted two nation theory in Pakistan as the basis for partition, attributing the event to other causes. Each of them has come under attack from various quarters for his or her work and pronouncements on this highly emotionally-charged subject. Almost all of these views are continuing to generate considerable controversy in South Asia.

Here is the complete text of Afzal Tauseef's recent interview with Nyla Daud published by Newsline:

Having spurned the government of Pakistan's first offer in recognition of your literary merit some years ago, you have once again been nominated for the prestigious Pride of Performance this year. Will you accept the honor this time?

When a senior police officer representing Zia-ul-Haq came to me offering a Pride of Performance with a prize of eight murabbas of cultivatable landholding, I had refused pointblank. Because, one, all my life I had written against the very system that was being perpetuated by Zia. Two, my acceptance would have led to the indictment of 41 other comrades in the Libya Conspiracy Case in which I had been named a party. So, my answer had been that to be remembered as a freedom fighter and revolutionary were far greater awards. That having been named as the best teacher by 25,000 students was a far greater honour. That I did not care for the bait of a landholding because my grandfather had owned three villages in undivided India. That my late father who had been the Quaid's security officer in Ziarat had made no claims against his ancestral holdings, despite being in a position to do so, even while others were making fortunes. But yes, now I will accept the Pride of Performance because I have been convinced by friends that the award comes as an honour not from the establishment, but from the country that I have fought for. That it is my right.

What has been the single, most powerful factor in the development of your political ideology?

Growing up in Balochistan, reading the world's literature with teachers who were book lovers with a progressive bent of mind and acquiring the feel for the Marxist revolution and for social injustice that had already taken seed. But when I moved to Lahore as a teacher at the Lady Maclagan College in the late '60s, the contrasts in society became more glaring. I realised that the Punjab, with its vast population of honest folk, was a hotbed of oppression perpetuated by good-for-nothing land owners aided by bureaucrats. They had all the power, all the wealth; the awam led miserable lives. I awakened to the reality and joined the rank and file of the Peoples Party as it rose up against the Ayub regime.

Those were exciting times and it was a unique experience to teach younger people who were looking for direction. I had been selected by the Public Service Commission for my lecturer's position and, although we were not activists in the real sense of the word, the generally suspicious environment forced us to attend party meetings in burqas so as not to be detected, because there were spies everywhere.

Along with Shaheen, Haneef Ramay's wife – whom I knew from my Quetta days – we formed the underground wing of the PPP. There were about 25,000 female members with us at the time of the crackdown. Then later, during the Zia regime, I was in the forefront of the Bhutto Bachao Tehreek because we wanted to save him at any cost. But even as lakhs of people agitated for the cause and received public lashings, we could not save him. In fact, this has been one of the greatest defeats I have suffered in my life.

The fact remains that Bhutto, your ideological hero, too failed democracy. As did his daughter Benazir.

Yes, in a way, because even during Bhutto's lifetime, the PPP was on the way to being derailed. All the pioneers, the real persons behind the ideology were so disillusioned that, but for Sheikh Rasheed, they all went their separate ways. Hanif Ramay, one of the original PPP members, was subjected to torture in the Lahore Fort when Bhutto was in power. Dr Mubashir Hasan walked out, giving up a ministry when Bhutto sacked the NAP government in Balochistan. But Bhutto realised his mistake because when asked for his last wish, he had said, "Give me a pistol with 32 bullets and my central committee."

Benazir, like Bhutto, disappointed although she suffered a lot. We were all for her but as soon as she took oath as prime minister, we realised that the position had been won on the basis of compromises. Benazir compromised with the very people who had killed her father. But had she not acceded to the American point of view, she would have remained in exile all her life, which might have been better in the long run. Her worst mistake was that she compromised on ideology, at the cost of the masses and, that too, at the behest of an imperialist power.

Today, there is no Peoples Party and Zardari's promotion of Bilawal without in-house party elections is child's play. It is a game like so many other games that the people have been fooled into accepting.

The Baloch cause, with its apparently anti-federation, separatist viewpoint, has always won your sympathy. Why?

Because Balochistan took me in when I was homeless, when I had no identity. It nurtured me, gave me an awakening and maturity of thought. I have seen how the rights of the Baloch have been trampled upon. Under such conditions, what do you expect? That they will be appeased by being given a hospital or bags of atta? You have to first dress their wounds, which have been festering for so long. Treat them as a part of Pakistan. By the way, Balochistan came to Pakistan only by one vote and that belonged to Akbar Bugti, who was ultimately annihilated by bombs. You don't bomb your own countrymen like that.

As for representing Balochistan, Bugti (now dead), Marri (who is too old now) and Attaullah Mengal were the only people who had a genuine feeling for the land. Just because they rose up for the rights of the Baloch, they were put into prison, some of them for 25 years at a stretch. All they wanted were their rights in a Pakistan where provincial autonomy does not exist. Balochistan, Sindh and the Frontier province, all have the same grouse.

So the Punjab would be the villain of the piece and, in that case, where does the federation figure?

There never has been a federation and even the Punjab would have been better off with autonomy because I believe that provincial autonomy would strengthen democracy. That was what the Quaid had planned. As for my loyalties, I am all for the awam irrespective of the province they belong to. Punjab is my birthplace and it is to Punjab I owe my identity as a thinker and writer for which I have received so many awards. In fact, if I had not moved here, I would never have learnt to speak my mother tongue nor developed the courage to write in it. Punjabi brought me the friendship of people like Amrita Pretam who has written a book about me, calling me "the child of a lesser God" for my sensitivity in portraying the sensibilities of the masses. My Punjabi writings got me invited to India for an award, thereby giving me the chance of a lifetime to visit the village of my forefathers and relive the tragic ironies of their lives for having sacrificed life over loyalty to the homeland at the time of Partition.

In spite of all this you went to India to accept an award from the very people who had murdered your family and rendered you homeless ?

The Millennium Award people had arranged a very big function in my honour. I was sitting on the stage when they came up, putting their hands together as a gesture of apology. But I said that if you do so then I will also have to apologise because the same sort of cruelties were perpetuated here against the Sikhs and Hindus. The only difference is that those stories have not been written about on the Pakistani side of the border.

How would you review the academic scene in view of your 35-year experience as an educationist?

Zia-ul-Haq's period was the darkest. At a personal level, I was haunted by the agencies to the extent that once I escaped by jumping over the walls of neighbouring houses at two in the morning. This led to a long period of hide-and-seek, ending only when I myself surrendered to the ISI in Quetta in order to save my sympathisers.

At the public level, one of the first things Zia did was to get together a bunch of pseudo literateurs and publicly tell them that Progressive literature and thought were mere rubbish that would eat up the system. Waris Mir died of shock when he saw the treatment being meted to progressive thought. But the most direct fallout happened when they started scratching away at the history and literature syllabi. They redesigned courses with the express notion of introducing very warped versions of Islamiyat as a subject. I was a sitting member of the Senate Committee on syllabi planning and I told them explictly that while one could somehow compromise on the removal of Faiz from the syllabi, why had we suddenly taken affront to some very beautiful expressions of Iqbal when in the same breath they continued to maintain that Iqbal gave the idea of Pakistan. When I persisted, they told me that the order for the removal of Iqbal's verses like "Uththo Meree Dunya Kay Ghareebon Ko Jaga Do" had come from above! I maintained that it was not a divine order. So their next excuse was that Iqbal was too difficult to teach. I offered my services to prepare teachers of Iqbal if that was the problem. The very next day I was informed that I was no longer on the Senate Committee.

Where would you pin the cause for the state of things in Pakistan today?

Jagirdari and the jagirdari mindset, especially as it grew to gather political backing. It cost us a wing of the country. This system is an enemy of those with socially-awakened intellect. Nowhere else in the entire world can you find such an oppressive system. India put an end to it at the very beginning but our leaders continue to nourish it. I personally think that if Nehru had not included land reforms in his programme, Pakistan would never have been created. The country was made so that the jagirdari system could remain intact. The jagirdars, who were all protégées of the British, knew that if left in the Congress fold, they would be wiped out since at that time Marxist thought was moving into the subcontinent. The Muslim League was a product of the British and the land-owning Nawabs. On the other side was America, who wanted something in return for the money it had given to the British during the war. They wanted an area where a new imperialism could be let loose. And this is what continues to this day. Now we are paying for it dearly.

But the initial thought behind Pakistan was La illa ha illallah.

That slogan came much later when Liaquat Ali Khan passed the Qarardad-i-Maqaasid. The Quaid had seen Pakistan as a secular state, but within a year-and-a-half he was almost a helpless prisoner in Ziarat. My father was very close to him and I remember him quoting the Quaid as telling a group of students who had come to visit him in Ziarat, "Where is the Muslim League? This typewriter and myself?" The Quaid had never envisioned the Muslim League as a party of landowners. In fact, he was against the allotment of property to people against claims of things left behind in India during Partition. For this reason the rift between him and Liaquat Ali Khan grew to the extent that they were not even on talking terms towards the end. We all know how he was treated on his final journey from Karachi Airport to the governor general's house.

What is your greatest concern today?

That Pakistan survives. That it is able to weather all the malicious intent directed at it. That the murder and mayhem rampant across its length and breadth may come to an end. I have always been against military intervention but today, there is so much at stake – the country, the people, the very culture – that I believe the army must act.

I also maintain that along with the overall influence of the imperialist powers in the face of a weakened awam, Mullahism is the most significant threat. Pakistan was not made solely for Muslims. The very fact that Muslims are daily at each other's throats proves the point that there is no such thing as the Muslim collective. Today, society is just a configuration of the different statuses enjoyed by Muslims … the poor, the rich, the oppressed, the oppressors, the powerful and the powerless.

Your hypothesis reeks of disillusionment, meaning that your life-long activism led nowhere.

No, I still believe that the people who came under our influence will eventually rise to recreate the system. I am proud today of the number of students who learnt to think with me. My generation may have failed but I still see light at the end of the tunnel.


It is interesting to see the conventional historical narratives being challenged and analyzed in more depth on both sides of the divide in South Asia.

A serious introspection of events which led to the partition of India can either reopen or help heal the wounds, depending on how the mainstream scholars and leaders in the two nations choose to deal with history.

In my view, Pakistan is a reality that must be accepted, and supported by all to make it a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation, and to ensure regional peace and prosperity.. A healing process in the subcontinent can do a lot of good for all of the people of South Asia. It can bring lasting peace between India and Pakistan, and potentially move the region toward a successful common market similar to the European Union.
------------------------------------


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               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] In it, up to our necks By Kamran Shafi -Dawn.com



 
In it, up to our necks
 
By Kamran Shafi
Tuesday, 01 Dec, 2009
Dawn
 
 
 
According to Kamran Shafi the coup against the elected, constitutional government of Punjab by Salmaan Taseer was completely foolish and self-defeating. – Photo by Reuters.

So then, December is upon us, another year has gone by in the Fatherland's struggle to keep its head above water, to be accepted as another half-civilised country in the comity of nations.

The very same terrorists who were running amok during the Commando's time in the sun while he and his collaborators ran with the hares and hunted with the dogs, are somewhat under control due to the political will of the major political parties of the country which has forced the security establishment to become pro-active.

I say 'somewhat' because almost all of the Swat/Fata Yahoo leadership is either not yet apprehended or killed, the chief murderers Fazlullah and Mehsud either escaping into Afghanistan, Fazlullah purportedly on one leg, the other melting into the countryside. The ones apprehended, such as Muslim Khan the Terrible are being kept under wraps, i.e., have appeared in no court of law. He is charged, may we remind ourselves, with cold-hearted murder, rebellion against the state, robbery and dacoity, and petty theft.

More, much more has happened to us hapless and lay Pakistanis, and to our country in the year gone by. And the jewel in that is the wilful near-revolt by our Rommels and Guderians when they thoughtlessly and recklessly came out publicly in a press release by the ISPR against the aid bill that the American Congress voted into law to give mainly civilian aid to help upgrade the education, health and other infrastructure sectors. It came with a military component too under certain conditions, mainly that the secretary of state will certify to Congress periodically that the Pakistan Army is firmly under the control of the civilian, elected please note, authority. Our Rommels and Guderians were said to be 'furious' at the wording of the bill.

Yet, barely nine days after their 'fury' had been vented on us 'bloody civilians', the commander US Centcom came a-calling, in which meeting the COAS Pakistan Army, conveniently forgetting the 'fury' he and his fellow generals felt at the wording of the aid bill, by now called the KLL for it had become US law, asked for early shipment of 'sophisticated weapons' for the fight against terror!

And what has yours truly been writing about during the past year? About hypocrisy and two-facedness. About the foibles of our politicians, specially of the PPP breaking its solemn promises made with the PML-N; the completely foolish and self-defeating coup against the elected, constitutional government of Punjab by Salmaan Taseer, erstwhile friend and campaigner for people's rights, foolishness soon put right by the newly independent judiciary.

I noted, however, that whilst politicians can be put in their places by the electoral process itself which is always the preferred method, the superior judiciary is also there to correct the course where it is seen that a certain action is unconstitutional. Such as Salmaan's coup. But what, pray, does one do with a rampant security establishment that deems it below its dignity to submit to the popular will i.e. the will of the people, as exercised through their chosen, elected representatives, 'bloody civilians' though they be? I have written about all of the above.

And also about why that Holy of Holies, the Mother of All Agencies, should be considered the exclusive preserve of the Pakistan Army when every other intelligence agency of note across the world is headed by civilians? I must add here that I received at least three emails containing the vilest abuse after I asked why a civilian could not head the ISI, a few weeks ago.

A little anecdote here: during CIA director Leon Panetta's (Panetta was President Clinton's chief of staff and is a 'bloody civilian') recent visit to the citadel of Islam, a vehicle in his motorcade from Benazir Bhutto airport to the ISI HQ overturned due to over-speeding and the penchant of Pakistani 'security car' drivers to stay as close to the VIP's car come what may, was said in the press release to belong to a 'sensitive agency'. I ask you! As if we 'bloody civilians' thought the overturned vehicle belonged to that dead-as-a-dodo ministry of tourism.

On the night of Nov 27-28, 2009, my house in Wah, where my wife and daughter and I had come to celebrate Eidul Azha, was fired upon six times by a high velocity firearm, probably a Kalashnikov (on single shot mode) judging from the half-inch deep and two-inch across holes in the concrete wall of the bedroom above ours, possibly a Takharov 30 MM pistol, popularly known as 'TT Pistol' in the Land of the Pure.

There was no sound of a motor vehicle driving away, suggesting professional hit-men who had probably parked their vehicle a way away towards the main GT Road and then calmly walked to it after doing their deed.

There were no empties found at the site giving further credence to the above theory — the assailants had taken care to catch the bullet casings before they fell to the ground, for you do not start looking for empties in the dead of night for fear of getting caught in the act. One of the ways that we used in the army during firing practice in my day was to hold a beret over the ejection port. We had to account for every round fired which I am sure is the case even now.

There is more: at exactly 17:33 on Nov 28, 2009, I received a telephone call from a woman speaking in uneducated Urdu and using a mobile phone (0300-274-9185). She asked if I was Kamran Shafi. When I said I was, she said that what had happened to me last night was just the 'trailer' and that the complete movie would also be shown.

When I asked why any of this should happen, she said, 'One does not spit in the plate one eats from', and that if I was not careful about what I write I would soon see the complete movie. I am a pensioner of the Pakistan Army, getting the princely sum of Rs1,200 a month, by the way. FIR No 827 has been registered at the Wah Cantonment PS in which I have in an additional application said that I suspect an 'agency' of doing the deed.

I must end by saluting Mian Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari for telephoning me inside of 15 and 17 minutes of my sending messages to their staff respectively, about what had happened. And the Punjab government for providing me and my family the best security it can. This is exactly why I stand on the side of elected leaders and against any further interference in our country's politics by the men on donkey-back.

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk



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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[mukto-mona] Re: Minaret Issue : It Exposes Intolerance in Europe --please see this editorial

Better "Intolerance"  today & ASAP than "Islam/Shariah" taking over, screwing Europe & turning it into a third world Islamic Hell-Hole...............



--- On Mon, 11/30/09, S A Hannan <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com> wrote:

From: S A Hannan <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com>
Subject: [khabor.com] FW: Minaret Issue : It Exposes Intolerance in Europe --please see this editorial
To: sahannan@yahoogroups.com, mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com, khabor@yahoogroups.com, political_analysts@yahoogroups.com, inquisitivesisters@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, November 30, 2009, 10:03 PM



"We are stunned by this vote which shows the extent of intolerance  to Islam in the Swiss community .This probably represents European mind though that has not been expressed in this manner because such provision of referendum of this type is not there in most constitutions. The propaganda against Shariah is meaningless. Islamic law has most rational family laws, economic and financial laws , it is for peoples government. Most of the punishments are Tajir punishments which is basically Parliamentary legislation these days. A few are Hadd punishments, these are strict but not inhuman like western model warfare. To say Minaret is like Missiles is nonsense. Most European people  want assimilation of Muslims,nor multi-culturalism.All these are the result of false and distorted propaganda against Islam. Europe should know that Islam is a great civilization, they have seen it in Spain in the past and it was the reason for present civilization and culture in Europe . This was brought to an end by force .We urge the western leaders and thinkers to end false and skewed propaganda against Islam and  find out a solution for this new problem " ( please see the whole below)


 

Minaret Issue : It Exposes Intolerance in Europe

 

 

BBC and international  press have reported that Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show. More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons - or provinces - voted in favour of the ban. The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People's Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation. The government opposed the ban, saying it would harm Switzerland 's image, particularly in the Muslim world. But Martin Baltisser, the SVP's general secretary, told the BBC: "This was a vote against minarets as symbols of Islamic power." The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Bern , says the surprise result is very bad news for the Swiss government which fears unrest among the Muslim community. ur correspondent says voters worried about rising immigration - and with it the rise of Islam - have ignored the government's advice.

In a statement, the government said it accepted the decision.

It said: "The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted."

Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said: "Concerns [about Islamic fundamentalism] have to be taken seriously.

"However, a ban on the construction of new minarets is not a feasible means of countering extremist tendencies." She sought to reassure Swiss Muslims, saying the decision was "not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture".

 

 

Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets.

After Christianity, Islam is the most widespread religion in Switzerland , but it remains relatively hidden. There are unofficial Muslim prayer rooms, and planning applications for new minarets are almost always refused. Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible with Swiss democracy. But others say the referendum campaign incited hatred. On Thursday the Geneva mosque was vandalised for the third time during the campaign, according to local media.

Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights.

 

The president of Zurich 's Association of Muslim Organisations, Tamir Hadjipolu, told the BBC: "This will cause major problems because during this campaign mosques were attacked, which we never experienced in 40 years in Switzerland . "Islamaphobia has increased intensively."

And there was dismay among Switzerland 's Muslims upon hearing the result.

 

Farhad Afshar, president of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland , said: "The most painful thing for us is not the ban on minarets but the symbol sent by this vote.

"Muslims do not feel accepted as a religious community."

Elham Manea, co-founder of the Forum for a Progressive Islam, added: "My fear is that the younger generation will feel unwelcome. "It's a message that you are not welcome here as true citizens of this society." Sunday's referendum was held after the SVP collected 100,000 signatures from voters within 18 months calling for a vote. In recent years countries across Europe have been debating how best to integrate Muslim populations. France focused on the headscarf, while in Germany there was controversy over plans to build one of Europe 's largest mosques.

 

We are stunned by this vote which shows the extent of intolerance  to Islam in the Swiss community .This probably represents European mind though that has not been expressed in this manner because such provision of referendum of this type is not there in most constitutions. The propaganda against Shariah is meaningless. Islamic law has most rational family laws, economic and financial laws , it is for peoples government. Most of the punishments are Tajir punishments which is basically Parliamentary legislation these days. A few are Hadd punishments, these are strict but not inhuman like western model warfare. To say Minaret is like Missiles is nonsense. Most European people  want assimilation of Muslims,nor multi-culturalism.All these are the result of false and distorted propaganda against Islam. Europe should know that Islam is a great civilization, they have seen it in Spain in the past and it was the reason for present civilization and culture in Europe . This was brought to an end by force .We urge the western leaders and thinkers to end false and skewed propaganda against Islam and  find out a solution for this new problem.