Wednesday, 27 January 2010

... the truth is the truth ...

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi:



"A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble."

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

"We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it."

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."

2 comments:

  1. Dear Tor Khan,

    This is a wonderful blog, but I wish the
    number of comments showed it to be a bit
    more popular - it truly deserves to be.

    Let me point you to a well-organized site
    of an Indian journalist - Vir Sanghvi -
    www.virsanghvi.com. He agrees, as I do,
    that we need to strengthen our partnership
    with the Pashtun people in both Afghanistan
    and Pakistan, as well as be better bosts to
    the thousands of Afghan students in India.
    You can contact him and ask him questions in his 'Ask Vir' section - he usually answers.

    Without having rose-tinted glasses, I am
    proud of my country for being - or, at least,
    trying to be - a modern, forward-thinking,
    secular state. Consider the plight of the
    Ahmadis in Pakistan - we all know it is
    illegal for them to call themselves Muslims,
    and so on - in India they have complete
    liberty to practise their own beliefs.

    I do not know what your views are viz. Jinnah
    or the Pakistan theory, but let me provide an
    example that seems illustrative: In 1948,
    Jinnah travelled to Dhaka; uncompromisingly
    propounded his only-Urdu policy (was heckled
    at the University of Dacca) which sowed the
    seeds of the genocidal 1971 civil war. Now,
    Jinnah was a man who could not read the Urdu
    script. It's true - you can check it out -
    his car driver used to read him his mail.
    If this wasn't extreme hypocrisy what was it?
    How can a durable nation be built on religion?

    And so, my friend, let us hope for a better
    future for our nations - with more freedom,
    secularism, and cultural contacts between
    the Pashtun people and the people of India.

    And with relevance to this particular blog post,
    please remember that most Indians hold Bacha
    Khan - Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan - in every bit
    as much esteem as they do Mohandas Gandhi.
    Perhaps more. (But that's just me) God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you very much for your kind comments of support.

    On the whole, I share your criticisms - Jinnah is an interesting character without doubt. Like all humans he was flawed and it's difficult to discuss specifics in the public arena in Pakistan.

    Similarly, it's difficult to speak of Bacha Khan with praise, because he challenged the nature of partition and the emergence of Pakistan. He was a man of incredible intelligence and I am aware of his popularity in India.

    I shall visit the link you suggested InshAllah.

    As for this blog - it's quite an organic thing. It started off as a university project, but has become a special place for me where I can organise my thoughts and document some of my experiences.

    I seem to get new visitor regularly, but I guess they look over the fence and withdraw.

    Comments are very helpful - because they form the dialogue that helps shape the blog as it develops.

    Please feel free to visit again and spread the word!

    ReplyDelete

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