"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."
"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."
Dear Tor Khan,
ReplyDeleteThis 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!
Thank you very much for your kind comments of support.
ReplyDeleteOn 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!