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| India-Pakistan |
| We Are A Dead Nation |
| 2008-08-15 |
| By Aqil Abdul Razzaq Khan. Today is the 14th of August, 2008. It’s a special day, we got independence from the English-Hindu alliance on this day, exactly 61 years ago. But I’m not going to write about this day, I am going to write about today. I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, sent some “Happy Independence Day” SMS to a few people, and changed the picture and status message on my facebook profile to reflect my patriotic feelings. I went to my classes as usual, but at 5:30 pm in the evening, the Pakistan Student Society of my university had organized an Independence Day get-together for the Pakistani students of my university. I reached the venue sharp on time, and about half an hour later, about ten of the thirty five odd Pakistani students were present. The rest were either not in the university at that time or were in their classes. Besides the Pakistani students, a few students from Indian Occupied Kashmir were also there to celebrate the Pakistani Independence Day. After wishing each other Happy Independence, we had some refreshments and a discussion about the socio-economic and political situation of Pakistan ensued. After a while, a Kashmiri student whom we had invited arrived, and as soon as he arrived he exclaimed, “Do you know what is going on in Kashmir? The Indian army is killing people, they are targeting the youth. The situation has not been this bad since decades, people are out on the streets in the thousands and scores have been killed by the Indian army.” We told him to sit down and tell us what is going on in detail. He said that he had just talked to his father who lives in Srinagar, and he told him that the situation is very bad. There are dead bodies everywhere, the Indian army is killing everyone, they are even stopping ambulances and killing the injured. I knew that this was not like the other stories which I hear from people. I could see the tears in his eyes, I could feel the pain in his voice, this was a real story. And suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, a thought due to which I could no longer swallow the food which I was eating. These Kashmiris were here today to celebrate our independence day with us, to show their love and gratitude to us and our nation. And here we are, doing absolutely nothing at a time when the brothers and sisters of these very Kashmiris are being ruthlessly killed by the Indian army. At that particular moment, I realized, we are a dead nation. We are physically alive, but spiritually dead. We are willing to ransack the whole country when a corrupt politician like Benazir dies, or when someone slaps Ghulam Arbab, but we are sound asleep when our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are being killed, even at this very moment. We can gather in the thousands to hear a traitor’s phone call from London, but when our Kashmiri brethren cry for help, all their calls go unanswered. We love to express our dissatisfaction when the prices of wheat or tomatoes go up, but when the Kashmiris have no wheat or tomatoes to eat at all, who cares. We are a dead nation, a nation which is not independent even after 61 years of independence. A nation with a mammoth human capital and natural resources, but no will and sincerity at all. This is not Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan, this is not what Allama Iqbal dreamt of. This is not the Pakistan for which Leopold Weiss left his native Ukraine. This is not the Pakistan for the Muslims. This is the Pakistan of Musharraf, Zardari, Altaf Hussein, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir (yes, she still haunts Pakistan from her grave). This is the Pakistan of the Generals, the politicians, the fuedals and the elite. This is a nation of personality worshipers, a nation of zombies whose minds are controlled by the corrupt puppets of the west. Our nation has lost the spirit which it was created in. Is this is the outcome of the sacrifice of a million human lives? I am confused, I do not know whether to celebrate my country’s so called independence or to mourn the death of my brothers and sisters. I do not have the courage to look into the eyes of the Kashmiris, I feel ashamed, because me and my nation have let them down. We taught them how to dream, but never worked for its realization. We helped them when it suited our interest, and ditched them when they needed us most. We talked big, but did little. And I am forced to say this with utmost regret, and I have to say this even though it pains my heart, that the blood of the tribals who died in Kashmir in 1948, the Pakistani soldiers who died in 1965 and Kargil, the blood of the average Pakistani who volunteered to help his Kashmiri brethren, and most importantly the blood of the thousands of Kashmiris who have been killed, has gone to waste. Good going my countrymen, keep watching those bollywood movies, keep listening to the Indian songs, keep watching their TV shows and dramas. Allow their movies to be shown on our national airlines, remove the visa restrictions for them, increase trade. It’s a matter of time before you become indianized, or maybe you already have. Your love for Shahrukh Khan and Ayeshwaria Rai is very touching, only if you had the same love for an average Kashmiri. Before I end this emotional speech of mine which must be irritating many ears, I would like to clarify one thing. I am not writing to create awareness amongst my countrymen. I am not writing to wake up my nation. How can I? You can wake up someone from his sleep, but you cannot wake up someone from his grave. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #10 FOX NEWS AM > MUSHARAFF RESIGNATION? CONTROVERSY > FOX Reporter claims that whomever succeeds MUSHARAFF AS PAKI PRESIDENT WILL HAVE HIS PRESIDENTIAL POWERS SERIOUSLY [Legally/ Constitutionally]RESTRICTED, AND LIKELY WON'T BE ABLE TO FREELY COLLUDE WID THE USA AS AT PRESENT. PAKISTAN = POST-DUBYA USA = FUTURE USSA, versus UNITED SOCIALIST REPUBLICS ala "OIL STORM" [OWG Global SSR]??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-08-15 19:05 |
| #9 A lack of violence does not indicate spiritual death. It is more the willingness to have endless strife until you get your way, that is spiritual death. He mourns that the Indians are killing his people, but doesn't reflect for a moment that this is because his people have killed Indians, and first. The Indians are fighting back against the senseless violence of his people. He knows that his nation's leaders are corrupt. But he does not explain the source of their corruption, be it tyranny or Islam. He doesn't even note that his country isn't even a real country, because large sections of it are enclaves of barbarian tribes, where the government does not rule. His house is not a home, it is a sty. And until he and his countrymen clean up the pig swill they wallow in, they cannot blame others for the muck that covers them. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-08-15 14:09 |
| #8 He should be more worried about what Pakistan will look like when the Taliban takes over. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-08-15 11:27 |
| #7 Bring back the Brits. Those days are long gone, McZ. The British soldiers and administrators who had the brains and balls to give India the most honest government it has ever had are long since gone and they don't produce people like that in Britain anymore. Even if they did, they couldn't spare them for India; they would be too badly needed in Britain sorting out their own collapsing society. There were giants in the land once though. I'd give a lot to hear what John Nicolson or Colin Campbell had to say about the state of modern British society... |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-08-15 11:09 |
| #6 He's right, nobody cares. Including me. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-15 11:04 |
| #5 McZoid, I think the Brits would like to send back the Paks. They are unlikely to want to reclaim the Raj. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-08-15 10:58 |
| #4 "These Kashmiris were here today to celebrate our independence day with us, to show their love and gratitude to us and our nation. And here we are, doing absolutely nothing at a time when the brothers and sisters of these very Kashmiris are being ruthlessly killed by the Indian army." Note that "these Kashmiris" are also doing absolutely nothing -- except spreading some tall tales to fan the flames of nationalism on independence day. "I knew that this was not like the other stories which I hear from people." Yes, this storyteller has a vivid imagination. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-08-15 10:12 |
| #3 Bring back the Brits. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-08-15 10:08 |
| #2 Because that is the whole point of being Pakistani rather than being an Indian Muslim. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-08-15 09:05 |
| #1 ItÂ’s a matter of time before you become indianized, or maybe you already have. And that would be bad... why? |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-15 08:58 |