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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Hasan Mujtaba is a Pakistani journalist and poet living in self-exile in the US since 1999. His Urdu poetry collection “Koel Shehr Ki Katha” (The Tale of a Cuckoo City) is more of a treatise on his experience of exile and pangs of separation that he felt for his native land.
Like Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali who saw Calcutta in Ohio as described in his poem “When on Route 80 in Ohio,” Hasan Mujtaba also has similar feelings as he writes in his poem “Alan Ginsberg Kay Naam” when Avenue Fifth takes him to the streets of Sehwan Sharif and River Hudson appears the River Indus.
In the same poem, he talks of the cause of his exile with reference to the powers that be in Pakistan:[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/6″]
[/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1447242886419{background-color: #d6d6d6 !important;}”][vc_column_text]“O my motherland
Whenever I sing of separation from you
I get myself back
But they talk to me through bullets
They don’t read the writing on the wall
That a donkey pisses on the generals’ uniform.”
(Translation by the author)
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Title:
Koel Shehr Ki Katha
Author:
Hasan Mujtaba
Publisher:
Sanjh Publications
Pages: 160
Price: 360PKR
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Talking about his exile, Hasan in one of his interviews says: “Pull and push factors between my country which I left behind and the new country where I arrived would really play buzkushi with me. It ripped me off every day and pieced me together in my dreams every night. That is why most of the poetry I wrote here revolves around exile. I think any poet and writer who has to say something which puts him into real hot waters must have a country of exile.”
Hasan, who spent most of his life in Sindh and working as a journalist in Karachi when he left, says at another place, “I have made my own kind of Sindh in America: Sindh in exile.
“I return every second or third night in my dreams in my sleep. I have made America my home but Sindh exists somewhere else. I want to return one day like Gabriel Garcia Marquez returns in his ‘Clandestine in Chile’. Or, only after my death, in the form of my ashes to be scattered onto Sindhu, the river Indus.”
In a poem on his friend Zafaryab Ahmed, Hasan Mujtaba defines exile considering it more of a torture than relief which renders one dreamless. He calls it a word of abuse, the poet’s beloved, stepsister of suicide, national anthem and old newspaper clipping.
His poems “Ik Koel Shehr Ki Katha” and “Ba Naam-i-Darya” has themes of his native country. While the first poem shows how the socio-political conditions in his homeland have gone from bad to worse, the second one presents the River Indus, the erstwhile life source which has turned poisonous.
In the whole collection, there are references to Hyderabad, Sindh, Jamshoro, Attock, Jhelum, Sehwan, Bhambore, Jhang, Jhelum, Sheikh Ayaz, Bhatai, Waris Shah, Amrita Pritam, Sultan Bahu and many other poets of the land of Pakistan which manifest the connection that Hasan felt with the land of its people.
Hasan has taken on the themes of terrorism, army as well as dictatorship in his poem on Ahmed Faraz, “Tareekh Ki Khooni Gali,” Khuda Kay Naam Par”, “Tum Kitnay Bhutto Maro Gay,” “December 16”, and “Ziaul Haq 99”. In the last poem he also takes on writers and journalists as he says, “Maliha Lodhi, Azhar Lodhi, Najam Sethi Aur Akbar S Ahmed / Teri Sarkar Mein Pahunchay to Sabhi Aik Huay” while referring to fatal nexus of journalists and dictatorship. Of the abovementioned poems, two of them are obituaries on Ahmed Faraz and Benazir Bhutto. There is a poem on missing persons also as many of the nationalists went missing in Balochistan and Sindh during the last one decade.
One of the best poems in the book is the sole Punjabi poem that Hasan Mujtaba wrote on the sale of the Amrita Pritam and Imroz’ house “K-25, Hauz Khas” in New Delhi for building a plaza there. The poem titled, “A Poem on the Sale of Amrita Pritam’s House” is a dirge on the unhindered commercialisation and capitalism which has devoured everything that’s worth saving.
What can be shocking for Urdu poetry readers is the use of cuss words that many poems carry like in the poem dedicated to his fried Zafaryab and in other poems like “Janay Walay Dost Kay Naam” and “December 16”. There is hypertextuality where Hasan refers to other poets and their lines.
The collection is a treat for the poetry readers as the poems are not diluted by the traditional techniques and themes that we find in most of the contemporary Urdu poets and many of them are like confessional poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell. One such poem is “Yousif Naam Ka Larka” which also hints on the sexual proclivities of the poet.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_empty_space height=”300px”][vc_column_text css_animation=”right-to-left”]
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“…nothing is more political in Pakistan than religion.”

While reading “A White Trail – A journey into the heart of Pakistan’s religious minorities” I realized how much religion influences the degree of acceptance towards certain minorities. As a foreigner, I actually came to Pakistan to get to know its culture, its people and its values better in order to gain my own insights beside the image which is drawn in the international media. Of course religion plays an important role while encountering Pakistanis and their culture, but in the beginning I tried to maintain a certain separation. However, staying in Lahore now for around one month, I realized that it is not reasonable. In contrast, I would suggest that a look at the minorities, their situation and the way they are treated reveals a lot about a society.
Haroon Khalid’s book is divided into five sections, each illustrating one religious minority by describing their main religious festivals, their traditions and their history, situation and obstacles in Pakistan. Overall, the author is taking into account Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and Sikhs. The greatest part of the book deals with Hindus and Sikhs as the ‘major’ minorities and those who have to endure the most negative prejudices and propaganda in Pakistani society.
Only three percent of the Pakistani population is non-Muslim. This small percentage underlines that Pakistan is mostly a monolithic country. Despite the fact that Punjab is not as religiously diverse as the other provinces, “A White Trail” focuses on Punjab because the author is based in Lahore. That is the reason why Haroon Khalid emphasizes that his book is not generalizable but provides an insight into the situation of religious minorities in Pakistan.
Beginning with Hinduism, Haroon Khalid points out that many prejudices against Hindus emerged from the re-interpretation of history after the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947. Within literature it is for example often not mentioned that religious followers of Hinduism lived in the current territory of Pakistan before the Muslims arrived. However, this common history is visible in the Punjabi culture which includes many traditions that both Muslims and Hindus are still practicing. These similarities become evident as well on Hindu religious festivals – the similar designs of Sufi shrines and Hindu temples in matters of the decoration are somehow obvious.

Despite those commonalities, Hindus are mostly demonized in Pakistani society, especially since the period of Islamization under General Zia-ul-Haq (1977-1988). Hindus regard their environment with suspicion and are reluctant regarding religious issues like the restoration of abandoned Hindu temples and the public celebration of religious festivals like Holi. This behavior is understandable considering the inequality Hindus face which is further emphasized by the Muslim adoption of the concept of untouchability. Muslims have been considering Hindus as untouchables, people with whom they cannot eat from the same plate or drink from the same well due to their impurity caused by their faith. Unaware of the origin of this concept it seems that people do not question their behavior so much when it comes to religion.
Especially in the case of Hinduism it becomes obvious that the religious tolerance towards Hindus in Pakistan is related to current political ties between India and Pakistan. Fanatic attacks like the one on the Babri Mosque in 1992 and its consequences or the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 aggravate religious intolerance. The following reduction of religious exchange and dialogue between both countries does not help in overcoming prejudices – in contrast the isolation facilitates radicalism and non-critical thinking.
In the second part of “A White Trail” Haroon Khalid deals with the Christian community in Punjab. Due to the fact that Christians are a greater minority in Punjab than Hindus, they also have more influence on the societal and political life in the province. On the other side Christians are also more exposed to extremist attacks. A common method to silence Christians is the accusation of blasphemy. The blasphemy laws in Pakistan prescribe the possibility of a death penalty. Nevertheless, the social descent that follows a blasphemy accusation is much worse. The accused is under the fear of being murdered by fanatics; his or her family is threatened, as well as their lawyers and even the judges dealing with the case.
Several religious and political leaders already condemned the blasphemy laws. The former governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, and the Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, supported for example Aasia Bibi who was accused of blasphemy statements. Both were assassinated and in the case of Salman Taseer the so called “silent majority” (p.168) of the population even expressed its support for his murderer. Another example is the first Punjab priest John Joseph who committed suicide in front of a civil court as a form of protest after a twenty-six year old man was convicted of blasphemy although everything pointed towards a property dispute between the Christian and his Muslim neighbor.
Besides that the author describes that several relations and similarities exist between Christianity and Hinduism like the pilgrimage to Maryabad and Mata Durga. On the one hand this is related to the fact that many low-caste Hindus and untouchables converted after the British spread Christianity in South Asia. On the other hand many Hindus became Christians after partition due to security reasons. Therefore, the differences between Hinduism and Christianity became blurry especially in some Muslims’ view and in the following they transferred the principle of untouchability on Christians as well. However, this principle is also applied on Sikhs and in general on non-Muslims as it is used as one way to define the ambiguous identity of the country.
After covering two main religious groups in Pakistan the author gives a short insight into the community of Zoroastrians. Due to their small number of only thirty-five religious followers they almost disappear in between the chaotic environment of Lahore. Moreover, the religious tradition of Zoroastrians demands that they always obeyed the government of India and nowadays Pakistan. That is the reason why they do not protest and stay neutral although they are affected by the laws restricting their freedoms. Nevertheless, the Parsi belief (name for South-Asian Zoroastrians) is tolerant regarding all religions, but one can only become a Parsi if the parents belong to the Zoroastrian community. This requirement reduces the number of the community further and it becomes more and more difficult to maintain traditions and avoid disputes among its members.
Another small community in Lahore consists of Baha’is. This young religion includes a unifying approach by stating that all religions were sent by God and are therefore true. This tolerance regarding other beliefs is also underlined by the tradition that interreligious marriages are accepted. Besides unifying religions, Hazrat Bahaullah, one of the prophets of the Baha’is, believed in a unified world with a global government and a global language. This impression of a small and peaceful community is strengthened by the fact that Baha’is focus on education of their youth, in spiritual as well as in civic terms.
The Baha’i community is seen as neutral given that one of their orders says that Baha’is should not talk about religion. That might be a reason why rumors state that many Ahmadiyas converted to the Baha’i faith due to their precarious situation in Pakistan. The Ahmadiyas believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who declared himself as the promised prophet in 1889. The community which always faced threats supported the creation of Pakistan because they believed that they would be able to practice their religion freely. However, the Ahmadiyas were declared as non-Muslim by a law in 1974 and are constantly exposed to attacks.
The last section of “A White Trail” deals with the Sikh minority. The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, emphasized religious tolerance through his friendships with Bhai Mardana (a Muslim) and Bhai Bala (a Hindu). For centuries these religions existed side by side and shared several religious traditions. However, nowadays common gatherings at religious places are difficult to arrange.
The partition in 1947 affected the Sikh community in many ways. Particularly, the border of India and Pakistan within the Punjab region resulted in a division of holy places in both countries. In the 1980s the demand for a separate state for Sikhs called Khalistan became urgent within India and reached its peak when the Indian government attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar and killed Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of the separatist movement. Afterwards, as an act of revenge the Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards and riots arose in Delhi.
“Guru Gobind told us that we should keep a kirpan (sword) with us all the times for our protection as well as for those who are victimized. Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale told us that we should upgrade our weapons according to the need of the times and keep a gun instead.” (p.224)
Although Pakistan supported the Khalistan movement due to its rising hostility against India after the war in 1971, the Sikh community was not really included in the Pakistani society up to ten years ago. This is emphasized by the fact that only sixteen out of hundred and twenty-five historical Gurudwaras are in function. However, nowadays two movements strengthen the awareness of their rights. First of all more Sikhs become educated to a greater extent and beside their traditional businesses of grocery shops, cloth trading and hikmaat (traditional medicine) they get involved in other fields. Secondly, the Sikhs who were living peacefully in the tribal areas were dispersed through the rising influence of the Taliban. Gathering in Punjab, they now represent a greater community which is utilizing this advantage in the form that for example religious festivals are celebrated more often in public again.
Overall, “A White Trail” gives an insight in the complex relations between the Pakistani state and its religious minorities, as well as in the relations between its citizens. On the one hand, there are developments which indicate a harmonization, but at the moment the intolerance seems to be more dominant. This powerlessness against the current situation is underlined by the author’s descriptions:
“The colour of the sky starts to change. The orange stream diminishes and dark blue takes over. It is almost symbolic of what is taking place in Pakistan. The dark blue sky is the “monolithic” Muslim culture whereas the diminishing orange light is the multi-religious pluralistic society that Pakistan was at her onset.” (p.250)
The inequality of non-Muslim religions becomes evident due to several descriptions of Haroon Khalid which seem to be secondary while reading. However, especially the banality in which they are expressed makes me sit up and notice. For example the impression that minorities are expected to be more tolerant regarding Islam than the other way round.
“Two loud speakers have been placed on the top of the Samadhi, facing the direction of the ground, erected opposite the mosque and the city, perhaps as a respect to the Muslim religion, a respect that is only expected of the religious minorities.” (p.286)
Another time the author underlines that the Pakistani media still illustrates religious festivals of minorities as “exotic” (p.91) events, which do not belong to the mainstream society events and have to be mentioned separately.
These incidents indicate that the two-nation theory is interpreted in the sense that Pakistan is a country only for Muslims and not a state in which non-Muslims can practice their religion without being persecuted. Under these conditions religious tolerance suffers and religious minorities have to prove their loyalty towards Pakistan if they don’t want to be suspected or persecuted.
In general, I hold the opinion that the book is well structured and provides a good overview at least about Hindus, Christians and Sikhs in Pakistan. Personally, I would have preferred more detailed information about the Parsis and Baha’is. Especially, a separate chapter for the Ahmadiya community would have been interesting regarding the persecution they are facing in Pakistan.
I liked that every chapter focused on a religious festival which served as the initial point for personal stories describing the situation of religious minorities. Nevertheless, the descriptions were sometimes too detailed and instead it would have been interesting to get to know more about the everyday life experience of these religious minorities and the problems they are facing. However, on the other hand I can also understand that the author used this stylistic device in order to underline the similarities between various religious festivals and to emphasize that all these religious followers have similar sorrows and expectations regarding their religion. It simply makes them human. In addition, authenticity results from the author’s descriptions which do not idealize Pakistani minorities by hiding behaviors which are considered as non-Muslim like the drinking of some Hindus during Holi. All in all, the descriptive language Haroon Khalid used resulted in impressions of religious festivals which are characterized by beauty and joy.
In the end I got to know many new aspects of these religions and I’m sure that everybody who reads this book will receive a greater understanding of the fact that religious followers are just humans with a faith in different goddesses but their faith is actually unifying them. From my point of view people would recognize the similarities between their religions if they would start again and put more effort into religious dialogues and exchanges. According to the principle that knowledge is the mean to achieve a better understanding I would advise this book as a possibility to got to know more about Pakistani society and its religious diversity.
‘Tareeqat—7 Elements of Living Sufism in Pakistan’ comes from Dr Kamran Ahmad who has previously authored ‘Roots of Religious Tolerance in Pakistan and India’. Having had a PhD in South Asian Spirituality with international teaching experience of both Religion and Psychology, apart from extensive international travelling, exploring various spiritual traditions including several Sufi Orders, he is able to pull out the essential elements of spirituality that underlie the different religious forms, and identify them in the everyday life of Pakistan.
The book has an attractive cover showing an indigenous oil lamp burning in the middle of a carved wall opening in a shrine, introducing one to a spiritual journey. Its contents include the Introduction–essentials of spirituality along with its theoretical/historical base; 7 vital elements of our everyday spirituality i.e., Ishq, Rawabit, Tawakkul, Aks-e-Muqaddas, Rawadari, Wahdat-ul-Wujud and Jamaliat; Meezan (balance of all the elements); and finally, Reminders, embodying the crux of every element. The book also includes the Shadow sides of some of the elements, which tell us what damage can be done individually and collectively if an element of spirituality loses its balance with the other elements. Lastly, after each element of spirituality, useful exercises and practices have also been recommended that can enhance that aspect of spirituality further within our lives.
The message of the book is universally appealing and attempts to revive our 11,000 years’ old heritage of Sufism in the present society. Looking at the hatred, division and violence in our midst today, we need to actively preserve and reclaim our forgotten roots. It highlights the importance of love and heart matters, family and community relationships, submission to the will of a loving God, the Sacred as reflected in names and forms, pluralism and respectful tolerance, sacredness of everyday life, and beauty and creativity. All these spiritual elements experienced in daily life will ensure a peaceful society free of harsh judgments for others, resulting in intolerance and subsequent violence. The book rightly urges us to cleanse and open our heart to compassion and love; to bring our heart to life and soften and deepen it. It talks about the beauty of the life spiritually-lived, with love for all and prejudice for none.
‘Tareeqat’ is based on direct experiences with spiritual people and practices in this region and in other parts of the world. Even more than that, this book is based on an appreciation of the essence of the spirit in the everyday life of this land. Given the need today, it is an acknowledgement, a bringing to light, a seeing of that which already resides in the psyche and the spirit of the people of this land. The crux is to keep our heart and spirit alive, in a way that is the heritage and the pride of this land.
The author has conveyed his point of reviving our Sufi heritage very effectively. According to him, we do not need to re-learn our religion and spirituality. The spirit runs strong and deep in our everyday lives and relationships. We just need to recognize it for what it is, embrace it with love, and live it with pride, in its eternal flow, in its ever-changing forms! The book is a richly woven visual feast, decorated with magnificent images of our spiritual heritage (shrines, mosques, and diverse cultural and religious items) as well as excerpts of famous Sufi poetry. It reminds us of how little it takes to enrich our lives by mindfully incorporating our indigenous, lived elements of spirituality. Renowned social activist Dr Fouzia Saeed sums up the whole message of the book perfectly in these words:
“This book is exactly what we needed at this critical juncture in our cultural and religious lives. For me, the most beneficial part of the book is the practical guidance it provides to incorporate the 7 elements of spirituality in our lives. It is almost like a manual for rediscovering peace within us and in our society. This book touched the inner core of my soul.”
Novelist Musharraf Ali Farooqi is out with a new book called “Between Clay and Dust”, the drafts of which he laboured over for ten years.
The cover is intriguing enough on its own, showing a man covered in dust – making one wonder if he is caught in a dust storm or has just emerged from the earth.
However, the contents of the book throw light on the cover. The story revolves around a wrestler Ustad Ramzi and a courtesan Gohar Jan – both proud, ambitious and well-known in their heyday – who are now dealing with the struggles of growing old as they try to come to terms with modern times and the changes that Partition has brought to their unnamed town. The town is simply called the Inner City, leaving the reader to make his or her own decision about whether the book is based in India or Pakistan.
It is, in Farooqi’s own words, a story about “two people faced with similar challenges… one of them is able to make good choices within that situation and the other is not.” It is also “a love story, and a story about missed chances and redemption.” In words of renowned Indian film star Naseeruddin Shah:
“A privileged peek into the mind of the Pahalwan and Courtesan, the Subcontinent’s most intriguing symbols of romance. Storytelling at its best.”
The two main characters face dual challenge of losing their age and vigor, and the changing social norms. The prospect of diminishing relevance brings shattering consequences for them who were habitual to admirers from a wide social circle. Through these challenges Farooqi has constructed a penetrating study of human nature in terms of honor, love, redemption and strength. The book is worth reading for both its gripping story and its “spectacular imagery”.
Farooqi is a man of many talents; he also writes children’s’ books and is well-known for translating Dastan-e-Amir Hamza into Urdu. His earlier novel “The Story of a Widow” has been shortlisted for South Asian Literature Award 2010. “Dust” is already being critically acclaimed on both sides of the border for “telling a story fraught with emotionality” and telling it well.