''Cha-no-yu''- The Japanese Tea Ceremony

 Cha --i.e. Chinese tea, was introduced from China to Japan around the 9th century AD/CE, by Buddhist monks, who also brought along the original tea-making ritual from China. This practice later developed and evolved in Japan.

 In its earliest phase, Tea-making as an art, or aesthetic, developed in the Zen monasteries and schools. It began to gain popularity amont the nobles/aristocrats, by the late-Ashikaga era (1338-1568 AD/CE).

Master Sen-no-Rikyu (1521-1591) was one of the greatest of the early Tea-masters, who did a great deal to develop and lay down the basic principles of the art; although he cannot be properly called the 'founder'. Among late works, we have manuals such as the famous and very useful The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo (1862-1913).

There continues, even today, a deep and abiding connection between Tea-making and Zen spiritualism. The essential elements of simplicity, rustic/natural harmony and tranquility in Tea-making are reflections of the Zen concepts of sabi-wabi and Jaku, as taught by the great Zen masters.

Like the Sufis of Pakistan and India, these enlightened souls have permeated all fields and aspects of Japanese cultural life.

A Lesson

Pakistan is a strange country. We must be the only state in the world, ironically, at this time where a pseudo-political duo, like Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri, are actually staging a pseudo 'revolution' to in fact get rid of democracy and rule of constitution, to establish some sort of non-political and non-democratic, military-backed dispensation.  An elected government is being held hostage and gradually being forced out, by gangs of goons led by crooks. Of course, while Qadri is a rank outsider, of extremely dubious credentials, and possibly even funded by some anti-Pakistan elements abroad; what is wrong with Imran Khan? The leader of a major Pakistani political party, an elected member of parliament, a person of credible patriotic and (previously) socially responsible attitudes--what ails him now?
Perhaps, as many commentators say, he is by now somehow desperate for power at any cost? Who can look into his heart and say, for sure? But, three things have clearly emerged with Imran and the PTI's recent showing: (a) Imran and his PTI can pull in sizable popular support  (b) most of this support is derived from the midde and lower middle classes of Pakistan, and (c) most of this support is derived also from youth, young Pakistanis who are enthusiastic and often rowdy and very violent, even destructive.
They say that 'Nations that forget history, are forgotten by it'. And when we look carefully at world history, for parallels to the present rise of Imran Khan and his PTI, we come across a most disturbing view. For, like it or not, the rise of Imran and the PTI are almost the exact mirror image of the rise of Adolf Hitler and his fascist style 'Nazi' Party. This is a most alarming thing indeed, and no cause for joy or hope. Let's look at some hard historical facts:
1.  Hitler and Nazi doctrine rose out of the chaos of World War 1, after Germany had been defeated and was facing severe economic and political crises, with major issues relating to the downfall of national morale, a corrupt and inefficient governmental system and big problems relating to the provision of basic utilities and facilities to the vast majority of the war-torn population.  The PTI also emerged, stronger in war/terrorism Pakistan in the post-9/11 period, with many thousands of deaths and a plummeting public/national morale; faced by galloping inflation, severe energy and other ultility and services crises and with an extremely inefficient bureaucratic system.
2. Hitler proved himself to be a charismatic figure and leader, under these circumstances, winning many frustrated and angry people over to his gospel or creed, of Nazism. He laid down many of the basic points of this strict and cruel creed in his book ''Mein kampf'', rejecting many of the essential and sensible principles of national institutional reform and strengthening, in favour of a 'supermensch' style Nietzschean leadership. Similarly, Imran has also shown himself a very popular and charismatic leader and he, too, has expressed his views and opinions quite clearly in a number of his books, most recently his so-called 'personal history' of Pakistan--expressing a rather sick and unnatural world view and a very narrow and conservative, rigid historical narrative, glorifying the primitive tribal cult and a path of a centralised unitary rule, under some sort of 'divinely inspired' leadership that is not at all different to the Hitlerian conception. The thing is, as Marx Weber so well understood, that there always exists in nation-states, a conflict between (on the one hand) 'bureaucracy' -- i.e. the rule of strong state institutions and, on the other, 'charisma'-- ie the rule of charismatic and ambitious leaders who are willing to destroy the state itself for their ends, to perpetuate their own dominant sway at all costs.
3. Hitler and his infamous henchman and chief propagandist, Goebbels, evolved a uniquely nefarious methodology to 'sway the public to our tune' i.e by (a) holding mass rallies (b) where music, drama and passion were combined to (c) incite the people, the excitable mobs, to highly emotional and even violent behaviour. Today, on the streets of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, we see Imran and his propagandists--Jahangir Tareen, Shah Mehmood, and Shaikh Rashid-- using exactly the same tactics, to the same ends. In this regard, Tahir ul Qadri, Imran's new-found 'cousin' is also following a very similar script, so that it seems that this Nazi style tactic might have been instilled in both the so-called 'revolutionaries' by someone acting behind the scenes and with an in-depth knowledge of such tactics and strategies.
4. Even among the incited mobs, Hitler and his Nazis especially focused on the youth--winning over and inciting the youth, young people, to a frenzy of violence and madness, whereby they could become like puppets in the hands of their 'puppeteers'. the Hitler 'Youth League's' , and many other such gang-style organisations for the youth, were examples of how this was doen and to what terrible effect. Having (for example) incited the youth against the German Jews, as 'enemies' and 'traitors' these furious and violent young people were thrown at them--the poor Jews were attacked, brutally assaulted and abused at every turn, before the 'programs' finally began, to exterminate them. At the same time, state/official authorities were also cowed down whenever they tried to come to help the Jews, as citizens within their legal-constitutional rights, sometimes policemen, magistrates and such, were also subjected to the same brutal treatment as the Jews. Again, the parallel is almost exact--Imran and his PTI 'Young Insafians' and 'Young PTI Leagues' etc--gangs of angry, incited young ruffians, let loose to create anarchy, to target and attack any people (politicians, police and state officials, journalists etc) who are first demonized and abused. Even a person of very low intelligence can see the parallels and similarities, and it is also quite clear that these are deliberately followed/implemented tactics, no mere coincidence.
5. Hitler and Nazism acted out their brutal historical 'game' within a politically weak and unstable milieu (the Weimar Republic) and eventually came to power with devastatingly negative consequences and effects. The Second World War, the estblishment of the fascist/repressive 'Gestapo' state in Germany, the systematic genocide of the Jews, and other communities; the utter socio-political and economic wreck of Germany by 1955, that was all that ultimately resulted. It took the German nation over 3 decades to build up some modicum of its previous status, and that too, because they were Germans, a hard-working and committed people. What can we expect, now, in Pakistan, if an Imran or Imran/Qadri type dispensation ever comes to power? What is the most likely future scenario under such circumstances? History will gradually reveal and unfold this, if such an eventuality ever comes to pass.
Possibly, Imran and Qadri are not exactly Hitlers--one hopes not-- but the 'games' they are at this very moment playing are ominously Hitlerian, ominously and yet clearly based on Nazi methods. And make no mistake, history is a hard teacher, it allows little or no room for mistakes. Every one of us has to account for their deeds to history and to our own morality, our conscience. Will we all, also, one day, be called like the German nation before a Neuremberg tribunal to be accused of 'passive complicity' to crimes against humanity? Or will we today stand up to reject the politics of self-interest and egotism, the Nazi style doctrines confronting us, and to support fully the strengthening of parliament and the constitution? Our present responses will be vital in informing our future directions. So, think.

Pakistani Sufi Shrines issue Statement re Tahir ul Qadri

This below statement (translated into English ) appeared in several Urdu papers and in advertisements and notices posted yesterday and today. It purports to be from the various guardians/representatives of major Sufi shrines in Pakistan, commenting on the person calling himself  'Dr Tahir ul Qadri', a political demagogue, with false claims to be a Sufi. The statement seems quite clear and categorical in its condemnation. For the rest, you may judge yourself.


 JOINT STATEMENT BY VARIOUS SUFI TARIQAS IN PAKISTAN REGARDING TAHIR UL QADRI'S ACTIVITIES


Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Raheem

In the Name of Allah , the Beloved Guide and Lord of Creation

Dear People of Pakistan,

Assalam o aleikum wa rahmata allah wa barakata Hu!

We, the following/undersigned do hereby issue this statement concerning the activities of one Tahir-ul-Qadri, aka 'Dr Tahir ul Qadri' etc, who claims many things fallaciously and without any moral or spiritual authority whatsoever. A self-proclaimed 'Sufi' we have regarded and viewed his activities with considerable trepidation and skepticism and suspicion, for quite some time, quietly, but do now herewith give this jointly:

1. The said 'Tahir ul Qadri' is NOT a recognized or known Sufi, of any rank or level whatsoever, and he is and has been for long merely cashing in on the name of late Hzt Tahir Allaudin al Gilani, al Qadri RA, a notable Qadriyya Sufi sage, whom this Tahir ul Qadri exploited and befooled for his own ambitions. We also have doubts and reservations to his other claims eg of doctoral degree, of Islamic 'knowledge' and scholarship etc. Thus, all of us, jointly, do hereby fully and wholly reject Tahir ul Qadri's status and fake claims-- we leave him to the judgment of Allah, the Supreme Judge and Reckoner, and he will soon receive his just desserts.

2. We also strongly stress that the various connections and links of this Tahir ul Qadri are extremely suspicious, and fully anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam; indeed, he has most probably been supported and financed for long by the USA and British agencies and organizations, and with their lucrative funds, opened and established various dubious institutions, NGOs, etc etc, as well as a Political Party: and has been and is actively brainwashing and befooling the public and people of Pakistan at large. Some of the ideas he has propagated are of a moderate nature, but he also does and say a great deal that is purely and only a furtherance of foreign agendas; and these activities and political ambitions, have NOTHING AT ALL to do with Tassawuf/Sufism, indeed run contrary to many of our sacred teachings. Tolerance, liberality, moderation and so on, should be extended to all, but as a false self-proclaimed Sufi and a demagogue, Tahir ul Qadri is only and solely exploiting his position to incite rebellion/revolution and to destroy the very fabric of the Pakistani state , and to inflame its citizens by fake claims and cajolery, to become his willing pawns, in helping to destroy their very house, or home. They are now in fact cutting down the very limb on which they are precariously perched. We pray to Allah taala to awaken these people and bring them out of this Tahir ul Qadri's Satanic ''Fitna'', and negative influence, and to achieve normalcy. Ameen.

3. This is a crucial and sensitive time, in Pakistan's history--our army is fighting a Jihad against terrorism, and the elected government, no matter what its faults and weaknesses, has the support at this time of most other political parties and groups; and this should be the case, rightly. For this is the time for all true Pakistanis to stand by the state fully and support the present Jihad against the terrorists. May Allah the Lord of Power and Glory grant full and complete victory to our valianty forces InshaAllah. Ameen. We do thus declare that ANY PERSON, who claims any false and dubious role at this time, who comes from abroad, with suitcases full of dollars given by foreign masters, who comes to destabilize and betray Pakistan and Islam, and incites any sort of violence or negative anti-social and anti-state acivity, is but only a traitor and a false person, a ''Munafiq'' (Hypocrite) and an exploiter with selfish ambitions and purposes. No Sufi in history has even done such things, astaghfirullah, nor does any Tariqa or Silsila teach or encourage the sort of bestiality that Tahir ul Qadri is doing. We once again openly warn all and sundry, to desist, not to follow the false ones and self-proclaimed ones, without any authority or rank or standing whatsoever, but to hold on strongly to the Rope of Allah and trust in the Divine and Eternal Support. Allah knows best, He is the Living Truth and His Support is nigh.

Therefore, in exercise of the authority vested in us, by Allah's Will and by the grace of the Holy Prophet (SAWS) and the prayers and ''baraka'' of the Auliya i Karam, we the following do condemn and castigate Tahir ul Qadri, the renegade and satan, and leave him to his destruction. We also advise all good brothers and sisters who are true Pakistanis and Muslims, to leave this fraudulent person's wake and to turn to Allah alone, for He alone is Merciful and Benificent . May He guide us to His Light and to true understanding ameen, summ ameen. For ours is the Path of Love and of Goodness, of peace for all.

Wassalam, and Darood o Salawat to our master and true guide, Hazrat Muhammad, Rasul Allah (SAWS).

Peace unto all.


Signed:

1. Representatives of Hzt Data Ganj Baksh al Hajveri RA, shrine

2. Representatives of Hzt Baba Faridudin Ganj Shakar RA, shrine

3. Representatives of Hzt Bahauddin Zakriya RA, shrine

4. Representatives of Hzt Jalaludin 'Lal Shah' Bukhari RA, shrine

5. Representatives of Hzt Lal Shahbaz Qalandar RA, shrine

6. Representatives of Hzt Abdullah Shah Ghazi RA, shrine

7. Representatives of Hzt Abdul Latif Bhittai sahib RA, shrine

8. Representatives of Hzt Mian Mir Sahib RA, shrine

9. Representatives of Hzt Sultan Bahoo RA, shrine

10. Representatives of Sial Sharif shrine (RA)

11. Representatives of Hzt Meher Ali Shah sahib (Golra) RA, shrine

12. Representatives of Hzt Bari Shah Imam RA, shrine

13.Representatives of Hzt Kaka Sahib RA (NWFP//KP) shrine

14.Representatives of Hzt Sain Saheli Sarkar RA, shrine

15. Representatives of Hzt Sajjan Saeen sahib, present at Larkana, Sindh.

(+  other shaykhs, faqeers, darveshes & etc)

Kamran Shafi --Nawaz Sharif's bizarre and suspect choice

Some people never ever learn from their past mistakes, and never really mature. Take PM Nawaz Sharif for example, who has been once again making mistakes similar to his past.

One of the biggest such mistakes, recently, has been his decision to send Kamran Shafi--a Pakistani journalist/news analyst and ex-Pakistan Army soldier-- as Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, which seems to be a rash and ill-advised step. Once again, it seems, the politics of narrow-minded self-interest has swept away all larger national considerations, and favouritism and jobbery are rife. How so, in this case? Let us see.

Mr Kamran Shafi, while a long-serving journalist with some sane views, is mostly  hysterical and loudmouthed in his opinions, and is hardly 'diplomatic' in his dealings and actions. Not quite the best choice to send to the UK, or any other major, sensitive embassy posting abroad at this crucial time, at all. One wonders, are there no good Foreign Office ''babus'' left to take on theis onerous charge in London to replace present High Commissioner Mr Wajid Shams ul Hassan, who has been there for quite some time? Is a political style posting really advisable there? If not then why not opt for a Foreign Office (FO) officer, or if necessary at all costs, then why not think about this matter carefully and select someone more appropriate? Does Mr Nawaz Sharif require someone to look after his own personal interests in the UK, somehow? Why this rather flabbergasting choice?

In addition to his hysterical attitudes, Mr Shafi is also a bad choice as Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK, or as the country's ambassador/representative to anywhere, on several other counts. Some of these are mentioned below:

1. Mr Shafi is an ex Pakistan Army major, although he tends to make a lot of hue and cry supposedly 'against' the army -- yet, strangely, at the same time, he seems to have all manners of mysterious connections with covert organizations here. In addition, and more disturbingly still, he is closely connected to some army officers and other people who have served in the suspect ISI and some of whom, have been probably implicated in hiding Osama bin Laden in the hill city of Abbottabad in North West Pakistan, and who were conveniently 'forgotten' during the recently concluded inquiries and investigations of the so-called 'Abbottabad Commission'.  In addition to these pro- terrorist connections (despite all his hypocritical ravings and pretensions) he is also very closely related to the infamous Hamesh Khan, a criminal in Pakistan who perpetrated a massive bank fraud in the country and, via this cousin of his, also connected to many other insalubrious persons. Do we really want to have such a person as our High Commissioner or ambassador anywhere at all? It is also worth remembering that Mr Shafi has, in the past, been very closely linked to the Pakistan People's Party and the late Benazir Bhutto sent him to the UK too, in the early 1990s; but later on, Mr Shafi switched his loyalties to Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PML-Nawaz. He is a highly political creature and on this count, too, to be looked upon with suspicion. Isnt it time that we stopped promoting such opportunists and time-servers in our sad and pathetic polity? Is it at all advisable to do so?

2. Mr Shafi belongs to the famous Mian (Arain) family of Baghbanpura, Lahore, and thus also has very close connections to Nawaz Sharif and Co, at various levels. In many circles, he is viewed as the PM's 'personal choice' --not for any diplomatic reasons or rationale, but as essentially a PML-N stooge, who will probably be used to further various nefarious political ends in the UK; maybe also looking after the PM's personal investments and interests there. Again, what sort of actions are these, to nominate and send out such an individual, of such shockingly dubious and lax credentials, to serve as a lackey in London?

If PM Sharif must necessarily send a 'political' appointee (although we dont for a minute agree, the FO should be entirely capable of manning the UK High Commission) why cant he make a more sensible and rational decision and nominate some other person, who at least has the right credentials to represent Pakistan and Pakistani interests properly, out there? If it has to be someone with military connections, why not our outgoing COAS General Kiyani? One is sure that he has done good service and is a much more experienced administrator and someone capable of dealing excellently with people abroad? Or, if it has to be someone with political and/or media connections, why cant PM Sharif take other party leaders and senior media personnel into confidence and find a consensus candidate? By themselves, party and personal choices are not at all a good idea, at any time.

Whether the UK Government has the courage to reject the candidature of the highly suspect Kamran Shafi, doesnt really matter. Self-accountability is the thing and the Sharif led PML-N came in on a manifesto of real comprehensive change, this time round, so lets see a proper transparent appointment process, please. It is also hoped and prayed that the large Pakistani expatriate community in the UK will also take a hand in this particular issue and outrightly reject Kamran Shafi, once and for all. If the PML-N still insists on sending him, let them boycott him publicly.

Lets see what happens, and what sort of wisdom or lack of it, manifests itself.

'History'--Of Sorts

The former Pakistani nuclear scientist and illegal proliferator, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, has recently taken to writing rather sentimental and naïve articles for a couple of prominent English dailies in this country. While it is good, perhaps that the Dr is keeping himself occupied and busy in this way, it is also rather dangerous, this ‘writing’ business of his.

It is dangerous because (a) Dr Qadeer Khan chooses to mostly write about ‘history’, or historical events as he sees them, with very little or no proper research or objective analysis, and with some sort of sentimental, over-romanticized ‘historical agenda’ in mind, whereby he is out to prove that some ‘Muslims’ (i.e. those who appeal to his tortured and twisted psyche) were in fact ‘great heroes, or freedom fighters or some such thing and (b) Dr Qadeer Khan happens, ominously and sadly, to be a sort of ‘hero’ for many misguided and brainwashed Pakistanis, and an opinion leader/maker—and the crass drivel he is writing, is likely to be mistaken for ‘historical truth’ by large segments of our English-reading population, especially our youth in colleges and schools. That is in fact a major disservice to the entire nation.

Take a recent example, forwarded to me by a dear friend who happens to be a serious and committed historian and research scholar, with an objective and analytical/critical view of history and with a large body of research publications in Pakistan and abroad—this new ‘article’ by Dr Qadeer appeared in daily “The News”, Pakistan, on Monday, 26^th March 2012. It purports to give us some ‘information’; of a supposedly ‘historical’ sort, about a famous Frontier/border incident that occurred during British colonial rule, circa 1920s, concerning an Afridi Pashtun/Pathan by the name of Ajab Khan, and a (then) young English lady, Miss Mollie Ellis, whom this Ajab chappie daringly abducted from the military cantonment of Kohat town in North-West Pakistan (now, then British India) and carried off into the adjacent Tribal Areas.

Mollie Ellis was, luckily, released and restored to her family a few days later after this incident, which indeed caused quite a  furore back in 1923-24, and she was returned unharmed and in fact quite appreciative of the good treatment meted out to her by her abductors, Ajab Khan Afridi, and the gang which he belonged to, in fact led by his brother Shahzada Khan; and in later years, she came back s an old lady of 80 or more years, to visit Kohat and the past memories of her life. That is all well and good, and we all know and appreciate that by the code of Pukhtunwali, which rules the life and conduct of all tribal Pukhtuns/Pushtuns (‘Pathans’ to the British colonials), any mistreatment of any woman hostage, especially one expected to yield a lucrative ransom, would be unthinkable. Yet, Dr Qadeer Khan, in his article, without the benefit of any objective research or detailed study into this once-famous case, and on the basis of only ONE book which he had happened to read and on the basis of accompanying hearsay by a dozen Frontier gossips, tends to ascribe a rather different ‘motivation’ than the real one (abduction for financial gain/reward, a common Tribal Pukhtun/Pushtun habit and activity) –by Dr sahib’s lights, this Ajab Khan was actually not a common border thief and bandit, but a ‘hero’ and ‘freedom fighter’ who undertook this action as an act of ‘resistance’ against our so-called ‘colonial oppressors’, whom he refers to a number of times as the ‘wily British’! This narrow and uninformed view is totally erroneous and with no factual/historical substance at all and is only part of Dr Qadeer Khan’s own anti-West discourse at this present time, supported (and long financed) by some sections of the Pakistani establishment, that seeks to create its own parallel paradigms to justify their fanatical, extremist-Islamic views, as a counterpoise to the real anti-colonial struggle and views of the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his close lieutenants and supporters in our Freedom Movement against the British Raj. This is the point of view, or perspective, which in the first place ‘created’ the Taliban and turned a somewhat prosperous, normal and happy Pakistan into the veritable hell that it now is.

This whole farcical view, presented in Dr Qadeer Khan’s article, is based on some other, totally mistaken inferences and bits of ‘information’ that he so kindly ‘shares’ with us, and which relate to the undue promotion of several figures, of people who were involved in the effort to get Mollie Ellis back from her abductors and in these small but fallacious points, there is also a whole story, which ultimately connects with Dr Khan’s larger hypothesis and discourse. This information is hereby challenged and corrected, on the basis of firm historical evidence, from various historical primary and secondary sources, and on the basis of many years of research and analysis, as follows:

 1. The notorious 'Shahzada Gang' (Bosti Khel Afridi) seems to have been overly

romanticized in this present article, but the fact is, they were not the heroes

that they are depicted as. Even prior to the Mollie Ellis abduction from the

Kohat cantonment on 14th April 1923, this gang--led in fact by Ajab Khan's

brother Shahzada, and with Ajab himself, and Gul Akbar, Sultan Mir and Haider

Shah as its main members, were 'proclaimed offenders' with a very long criminal

record: they had previously also abducted several Hindu merchants from the area

for ransom, stolen goods and chattels from various people, including some of

their own Afridi clansmen and there were a sizable number of police FIRs lodged against

them and had also been arrested a number of times and served jail terms. In

addition, a few years prior to the famous 1923 abduction, they were also

implicated in the robbery at the house of and murder of old Colonel Foulkes and

his wife.

2. At the time of Mollie Ellis's abduction, her father was away on

out-of-station duty and the servants etc far away and asleep, hence Mrs. Ellis's (Mollie’s mother) attempts to raise a hue and cry, for which she was cold-bloodedly murdered by

Shahzada. Hardly a 'heroic' deed.

3. During the course of the investigation in the abduction, the Chief

Commissioner of the NWFP, Sir John Maffey, appointed the following officers and

others, to look into the matter and bring Miss Ellis back safe-- (a) Major

Heale, Political Agent in the Kurram Agency (b) his assistant, Khan -bahadur

Kuli Khan, APA Kurram (c) his own (Chief Commissioner's special political

assistant) Khan -bahadur Risaldar (retd) Moghal Baz Khan Afridi, who had been a

Risaldar of the Guides and was one of the most well-known and gallant native

army officers, with several famous medals and awards, from various expeditions

and campaigns, (d) Malik Zaman Khan, Afridi, who was a Khyber tribal malik, and

was sent out separately to Tirah to ensure that the abducted girl was not

allowed by the tribals there to be carried over into Afghanistan (e) a local

'Tirahwal' Malik, Subedar-Major (retd) Malik Azimullah Khan, who was appointed

to negotiate with the local mullahs to ensure Miss Ellis's release, by bringing

pressure on the Shahzada/Ajab gang to let her go without any fuss; and (f)

finally, Mrs. Lilian Starr ('Sitara'), a nurse at the Peshawar Mission Hospital,

who was in fact the widow of the former doctor incharge of this hospital, the

late Dr Vernon Starr, who had also been murdered by some Afridis, some years

earlier--she was nominated by Maffey to go along as a medical aide and possible

female companion/escort for Miss Ellis, once she was recovered.

4. The various members of this specially appointed party set about their various

tasks, and Risaldar Moghal Baz Khan and Mrs Starr set out for Tirah area on 19th

April 1923. They reached the main Khanki Bazaar on the night of 21st April, where

Kuli Khan and some of the others had already reached. Negotiations were carried

out between the chief mullah of the area, Mullah Akhundzada (under whose

protection Shahzada/Ajab and gang were hiding in that locality) and the

government party and on the night of the 22nd April, the Mullah also called and

closely cross-questioned Shahzada/Ajab and their companions, who subsequently

confessed many of their crimes and apologized to the Mullah and the government

party. According to the account given at that time, by both Khan-bahadur Kuli

Khan sahib and Risaldar Moghal Baz Khan, later confirmed in their official

statements, that Shahzada and Ajab etc had NOT acted the way they did because of

any 'notion of honor being slighted' but because sometime earlier they had

stolen some rifles from the Frontier Police and, on someone giving 'information'

, an army contingent had raided their village, and some of them had tried to

escape wearing ‘burkas’ but were caught and 'jeered at by their own womenfolk',

who said that they were 'not true Afridis to pose as women'. This had angered

them and they decided to make a truly daring plot to abduct an 'Englishwoman

from the cantonment', to 'restore their standing'. On this, even the Mullah

Akhundzada condemned them and ordered them to release the English girl. On the

same night, 22nd April, Mollie Ellis was thus handed over to the party sent out

for her, and by 10th May they were all back in Peshawar and on the 12th May, Sir

John Maffey was able to announce that the 'affair was ended'. On May 13th

(Ramadan 26th 1341 AH) a grand Jirga of the Afridi and Orakzai tribes also

openly and strongly condemned Shahzada/Ajab and their gang members and declared

their actions as 'dastardly' and assured their full cooperation to the

Government in case of any future criminal activities on their part.

These are the essential facts of the matter. It is indeed the mode, today, in

post-independence and post-colonial times, to easily dub the British colonists

as 'evil' or 'wily' etc--and of course, no one can justify colonialism-- but I

also believe that we need to look at objective facts and

also recognise (for example) some of the positive things that the British did,

such as establishing law and order on a once-lawless Frontier, and bringing

safety of life, limb and property to many people. There is no good achieved by making up insane, fictitious accounts of history to suit our own purposes. We seriously need to grow up and leave some of our childish notions and to evolve into a mature historical outlook.

 

   

Boot-licker

  Dear all, am sorry for not being so very regular in writing my 'blog these days, but the truth is am very very preoccupied with many things and have been traveling a lot too, with the universities' examinations in full force-- and had several viva voce examination duties too, apart from everythng else. Quite likely, will remain busy well into August-September as new projects and responsibilities emerge.

So what I have been doing, skipping from place to place, is mostly reading newspapers of all sorts and a couple of things seem to be common to all our sorry little rags here : namely (a) there seems to be a general and very mistaken campaign underway to smear our armed forces, which arent entirely bad and it seems our so-called 'journalists' are going overboard with whatever nefarious and vested purpose/s they have in mind; and a lot of outright lies and shameful gossip is going is being reported as 'news' (b) there seems to be a proliferation of all manners of stupid reports on the doings of our so-called 'politicians'-- and even their most inane statements are being given major importance.

Take the case of the Hoti chappie, as big an ass as ever drew breath, and his silly little letter of invitation. Now, the Hoti chap is Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province (mistakenly refered to as 'Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa' these days) and the reason he's CM of this beleaguered place. replete with daily killings and bombings and what not, with its economy in tatters and almost 59% of its population  finding it nearly impossible to survive and make ends meet anymore, is because he's a very big bootlicker. He has the special knack of being able to lick the boots of all and sundry, ranging from 'Greedy Pig' Zardari to Slimy Owais Ghani, so it doesnt matter what is really happening in the North-West Frontier, people may die or starve to death for all he may care, so long as he can be CM.

But at last, Hoti has overdone himself. He has reached new heights (lows?) of bootlicking. He has written a letter to HH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (better known as Prince William and Kate, the newly-weds) in the UK,  in truly fawning and shamefully extravagant terms, grovelling and squirming like its nobody's business, inviting them to come and see the Shandur Polo Festival (pl see my last post)! All our newspapers seem to have picked up this item and made much of it.

Of course, the British Royal Family is 'into' polo and other equine sports and all; and Shandur is undoubtedly a spectacle worth seeing, even if not exactly Hurlingham. But what I would please like to know is: (a) has Hoti thought about the safety angle, with hundreds of militants lurking about in Dir and Swat, barely 70-80 kms away and with many rough and unpatrolable mountain tracks linking these places and every possible risk looming? and (b) does it make sense to invite 'Royals' at this time, to this poor shattered province, wasting meagre and much-needed provincial resources and police manpower on a show-shaw, a whimsical protocol excercise?

But there's no end to the lengths our politicians will go to get press coverage from those other idiots, our 'journalists'.

And Hoti's bootlicking propensities must, no doubt, also seek higher and higher levels, all the time; some sort of international bootlicking scope and expression. What next, I wonder? Will he invite the Pope to officiate at his nephew's wedding, soon? Or maybe invite Obama to come and take over the NWFP as an American fief? We await Hoti's new actions with bated breath. And while we wait, we recollect that Hoti belongs to the ANP (Awami National Party), formerly the NAP (National Awami Party) banned for years, the direct organisational offspring of the famous 'Red Shirts' of the late Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the 'Bacha Khan', also known as the 'Frontier Gandhi', who once struggled against the colonial-minded grovelling that Hoti specialises in. What more can one say? Shame.

The Lion of Mysore Remembered

Today was the 4th of May, the day Sultan Fatteh Ali Khan 'Tipu' (1750-1799), the 'Lion of Mysore', better known to history as 'Tipu Sultan', died in the year 1799, while defending his fortress at Seringapatam against the colonial forces of the British Hon'ble East India Company (HEIC)-- in what is termed as the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.

The Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent, or South Asia, has indeed produced very few such men of bravery, high integrity, outstanding intelligence and unique leadership and foresight. He was and remains a true hero for all of us here.

Tipu Sultan's rule in Mysore was a truly enlightened one, where tolerance and humanity prevailed-- people of all creeds and races were welcome, a proper public welfare and social services programme was in place, education and economic and trade development were encouraged and the Sultan and his officials were not averse to meeting and learning from foreigners, especially Occidentals. At the same time, they were keen to meet all such people as equals and with dignity and openness and straight-dealing. They were neither outright  slaves and toadies nor rabid, delusional, irrational fanatics.

There are lessons that our government, 'leaders' and people here in Pakistan, can very well learn from Tipu's life, times and rule, at many levels.  Above all, in his words, that it is ''better to live one day like a lion, than a hundred like a jackal''.

When we compare Tipu's life and death with that of the recently deceased Osama Bin Laden, we can see how Tipu emerges as a true, gallant Muslim and a man of honour and a proud patriot; whereas OBL is revealed as the shallow, villainous little creep and hypocrite that he truly was.

One hopes that our youth shall be wise enough to be able to discern the vast differences between these two men who lived and died in this vast subcontinent of ours, and to follow in due course the higher path of the Lion and shun the low one of the Jackal.