tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6121257605505093204.post8322970704527047522..comments2023-08-17T18:52:14.888+04:00Comments on ... musings from a distance ...: ... the truth is the truth ...Tor_Khan تور خانhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05644675368222202737noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6121257605505093204.post-10267387911554299892010-01-30T01:31:25.813+04:002010-01-30T01:31:25.813+04:00Thank you very much for your kind comments of supp...Thank you very much for your kind comments of support.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />I shall visit the link you suggested InshAllah. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />I seem to get new visitor regularly, but I guess they look over the fence and withdraw. <br /><br />Comments are very helpful - because they form the dialogue that helps shape the blog as it develops.<br /><br />Please feel free to visit again and spread the word!Tor_Khan تور خانhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05644675368222202737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6121257605505093204.post-43211674395525404232010-01-29T09:21:13.995+04:002010-01-29T09:21:13.995+04:00Dear Tor Khan,
This is a wonderful blog, but I wi...Dear Tor Khan,<br /><br />This is a wonderful blog, but I wish the <br />number of comments showed it to be a bit<br />more popular - it truly deserves to be.<br /><br />Let me point you to a well-organized site<br />of an Indian journalist - Vir Sanghvi - <br />www.virsanghvi.com. He agrees, as I do,<br />that we need to strengthen our partnership<br />with the Pashtun people in both Afghanistan<br />and Pakistan, as well as be better bosts to<br />the thousands of Afghan students in India.<br />You can contact him and ask him questions in his 'Ask Vir' section - he usually answers.<br /><br />Without having rose-tinted glasses, I am <br />proud of my country for being - or, at least,<br />trying to be - a modern, forward-thinking,<br />secular state. Consider the plight of the <br />Ahmadis in Pakistan - we all know it is <br />illegal for them to call themselves Muslims,<br />and so on - in India they have complete <br />liberty to practise their own beliefs. <br /><br />I do not know what your views are viz. Jinnah<br />or the Pakistan theory, but let me provide an<br />example that seems illustrative: In 1948,<br />Jinnah travelled to Dhaka; uncompromisingly<br />propounded his only-Urdu policy (was heckled<br />at the University of Dacca) which sowed the<br />seeds of the genocidal 1971 civil war. Now,<br />Jinnah was a man who could not read the Urdu<br />script. It's true - you can check it out -<br />his car driver used to read him his mail. <br />If this wasn't extreme hypocrisy what was it?<br />How can a durable nation be built on religion?<br /><br />And so, my friend, let us hope for a better<br />future for our nations - with more freedom,<br />secularism, and cultural contacts between<br />the Pashtun people and the people of India.<br /><br />And with relevance to this particular blog post,<br />please remember that most Indians hold Bacha<br />Khan - Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan - in every bit<br />as much esteem as they do Mohandas Gandhi.<br />Perhaps more. (But that's just me) God bless!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440966441745311252noreply@blogger.com