Tagheyyur.

Aazadi book lays down the journey of freedom from slavery and foreign rule. This book breaks so many idols and brings out shocking facts, yes facts which were literally erased from our books, minds, hearts. It rightly claims that if only we accept what is presented in this book we will have our legacy again., and it is not a mere wish of the author but what our hailed ancestors struggled and lived for. Where do we come from? Why did we come out of India? How did it happen and many more likely questions are answered in this book. It is usually wrongly believed that there was mutual hate among Muslims, Hindus and Britishers and thats how Pakistan came into being. The author discusses this lie which is fed especially to young Muslim of Pakistan. The hate was not mutual. Neither it always existed. Hindus and Muslims lived peacefully in Muslim Empire. Muslim Emperors went out of their ways to keep the peace for Hindus and not make them feel they were ruled by foreigners....

  (Int erview continues) SELF(BN): And does that also apply to defense? JINNAH: Of course it applies to defense. Once again I will ask you a question. How is Afghanistan defended? Well? The answer is not very complicated. By the Afghans. Just that. We are a brave and united people who are prepared to work and, if neces- sary, fight. So how does the question of defence present any peculiar difficulties? In what way do we differ from other nations? From Iran, for example? Obviously, there will have to be a transition period. We are not asking the British to quit India overnight. The British have helped to make this gigantic muddle, and they must stay and help to clear it up. But before they can do that, they will have to do a lot of hard thinking. And that reminds me I have something I would like to show you. He excused himself and left the room. I lit a cigarette and waited. And suddenly I realized that something very remarkable was happening, or rather was ...

This is the third part of the interview series. You can read previous parts here and here . Beverly Nichols interviewed Quaid-e-Azam in 1943 and included it in his book "Verdict On India". He was quite taken with Quaid's personality. Look how he describes him [Jinnah] in the chapter when he reached at his place to meet him.  THE most important man in Asia is sixty-seven, tall, thin, and elegant, with a monocle on a grey silk cord, and a stiff white collar which he wears in the hottest weather. [...] I have called Mr. Jinnah 'the most important man in Asia That was to ensure that you kept him spotlit in your mind. Like all superlatives the description is open to argument, but it is not really so far from the truth. India is likely to be the world's greatest problem for some years to come, and Mr. Jinnah is in a position of unique strategic importance. He can sway the battle this way or that as he chooses.    JINNAH: [with a smile] What other question...

It is a common notion that Quaid-e-Azam united Muslims of India but it is hardly ever acknowledged that the Muslims of India were an organic entity and it was growing on its own terms especially after 1857. This aspect is discussed in depth in my teacher's book "Azaadi" in which he describes painstakingly how Muslim Nation evolved and Pakistan came into being. I am by no means diminishing Quaid's role in freedom movement, no. What I mean to highlight is the Muslims of India had developed their intuition and they were growing onto that. Quaid himself always believed that the people had bestowed the power upon him and not vice versa. He acknowledged this principle number of times. For example, when he was proposing the 14 points for Muslim League he clearly conveyed that these are only suggestions based upon numerous meetings with different minority groups within India and it is unto these groups whether they accept them or reject them.  Here, in below responses al...

My teacher Khurram Ali Shafique sahab recommended me a book, "Verdict On India". There was a chapter in which the writer,  Beverly Nichols interviewed Jinnah in 1943. Though Jinnah promised to give him just half an hour but they actually talked for three hours, concerning matters of wide range.  This post is part of a series where I am going to break down this interview into smaller posts for effective reading.  What I found profound about this interview is the stature of Quaid-e-Azam. The power in his answers is almost tangible. You can feel the strength of his argument and relive the faith which the Muslims of that time felt when they were in Quaid's presence.  Its also amusing (for me) that this interview is sort of an elder is admonishing a child of stupid behavior. Or may be Pakistan has been so much a reality for us that we almost (mentally) accuse different nations of not seeing it so. May be every national feels the same for their country which we fe...

The stadium was filled with blue. (India's cricket uniform is blue). Commentators were saying how they can't find the single green among this 'sea' of blue. (Obviously, who would have wanted to be burned alive by those biased people). Mum commented during the match that Pakistanis weren't granted the visas for today's match. We couldn't believe it. She said it's in today's paper. (The 'paper' who is the biggest trumpet for Pak-Ind friendship) and we were furious for India's hypocrisy, yet again. This is no hate post, I am hurt the way they treat us. It's unfair. and our representatives, who runs to them like a dog, who goes to it's master when called, wagging it's tail and gets kicked instead of being thrown a bone to him. I just want to show the real face of those who talk about 'Aman ki Asha', on both sides. This idea infuriates me from the very beginning. This hypocritical idea of Aman ki asha between India and Pak...

The advertise of "Parhny likhny k siwa, Pakistan ka matlab kia" on Geo TV always disturb me. It makes me think, how would the education, they talk about in it, be able to change our generation's attitude and help us to work for the betterment of Pakistan? Because our education system is a total failure. It lacks the vision, reforms, and principles which a nation need to teach their young ones. In fact our syllabus has not been changed for like 40 years. I was shocked to discover some 6 or 7 years back that I studied same syllabus which my mother studied in her metric and on-wards. Would this kind of a syllabus make Pakistan a better place? Is it the meaning of Pakistan? Was it what Quaid, Iqbal, Jauhar, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had in mind when they proposed and worked for Pakistan? A stagnant stale rotten education system which doesn't even help students to walk with the rest of the world? Make them slaves of the advanced nation and in inferiority complex with them? Sure...

Narration of Altaf Hussein Qureshi, cheif editor of urdu digest. He went to Bangladesh (I can't know the exact year but its some time around before fall.) Let's read him together. "Simple culture and light society displays special character. People here are since above societal biases so they have harmony and understanding between them and this characteristic gives them nationale tendency. Whenever culture is divided, people get divided. However long this cultural unity exists in them, they will have same level of intellect and relationships.  This is the reason of their simple life that they don't bow down before necessities of life. person who owns nothing can dare any type of challenges and dangers. He is fearless. We, who make lives luxurious are in reality, coward. We give reason to evertyhing then. That is why elite can never take revolutionary steps. Bengalis are free of luxurious lifestyle, they are not slaves of trends, they are strong, challenging. They ...

"...Nationalism in the sense of love of one's country and even readiness to die for its honour, is a part of the Muslim's faith; it comes into conflict with Islam only when it begins to play the role of a political concept and claims to be a principle of human solidarity demanding that Islam should recede to the background of a mere private opinion and cease to be a living factor in the national life. In Turkey, Persia, Egypt and other Muslim countries it will never become a problem. In these countries Muslims constitute an overwhelming majority and their minorities, i.e., Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, according to the law of Islam, are either "People of the Book" or "like the People of the Book" with whom the law of Islam allows free social relations, including matrimoni...

"... We need to rid ourselves of the absurd notion that we can change Pakistan, reform its government, or create real trust. We have neither the capacity nor the capability, and we certainly don't have the spare billions to keep throwing away on these fool's errands. "No more magical thinking. It's time to grow up and deal with Pakistan as it is, not as we hope or wish it to be," he said at the hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan held by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs . Taken from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Time-to-change-policy-towards-Pakistan-US-lawmaker-Ackerman/articleshow/10601734.cms