Cogito, Ergo Sum

My Letters Published in National Dailies in August 2021

2021-08-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

Dawn:

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Express Tribune:

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The News

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My Letter Published in "The News"

2017-10-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

My letter "Government action needed against intolerance" is published in the daily "Pakistan Today", on 12 Oct 2017. To read the letter, please click here.

Following is the text of the letter published:

Learn how to love

Hafeez Center, Gulberg Lahore, is one of the largest mobile and computer markets of the city. However, it is shocking that almost every shop in the centre has a sticker on which the following statement is written: ‘Ahmadis are not allowed to enter. This is not only against the constitutional rights of the Pakistanis, but it is also in contradiction with the teachings of Islam.

The National Action Plan of the government suggests strict action against promoting religious hatred, extremism and intolerance. Would our government and law-enforcement agencies take any practical action to clean our society from such hate speech?

Muhammad Uzair Bhaur (Lahore)

My Letters Published in Pakistan Today

2017-10-19T02:45:00.000-07:00

Government action needed against intolerance

I happened to visit Hafeez Center, Gulberg, Lahore – one of the largest mobile and computer sale centers of the city. I was shocked to observe that almost every shop of the center had a sticker bearing statements that Qadianis were not allowed to enter in those premises. This is not only against the constitutional rights of Pakistanis, but also in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. The National Action Plan of the government suggests strict action against promoting religious hatred, extremism and intolerance. Would our government and law enforcing agencies take any practical action to cleanse our society from such hate speech?

MUHAMMAD UZAIR BHAUR

Lahore

Westernism Secularism

2011-11-18T06:07:00.001-08:00

* Westernism-secularism and Islam are mutually exclusive word-views. In principle a person cannot be a Westernist and a Muslim at a time.

* Religous extermists and militants like Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan are violating clear injunctions of Quran and Hadith regarding morality and sanctity of human life. What they are doing is not sin, it is Kufr (denial of their faith).

* Keep away from Madrasa and the Maulvi of Madrasa. Both are extremely dangerous for our religion.

* Quaid-e-Azam said, “I have one underlying principle in mind, the principle of Muslim democracy. It is my belief that our salvation lies in following the golden rules of conduct set for us by our great law-giver, the Prophet of Islam. Let us lay the foundation of our democracy on the basis of truly Islamic ideals and principles. Our Almighty has taught us that 'our decisions in the affairs of the State will be guided by discussions and consultations.'” (Sibi Darbar 1948)

Kafka's "Before the Law": Urdu Translation

2011-11-06T03:06:00.000-08:00

فرانز کافکا: جدید فکشن کے بانیوں میں
سر فہرست

Franz Kafka was a German-language author. He was one of the best writers of 20th century. He is among the founders of modern story. Kafka's prose has multivalent nature. It allows for a number of interpretations. Here is an Urdu translation of his parable "Before the Law".

قانون کے سامنے
فرانز کافکا

قانون کے سامنے ایک چوکیدار کھڑا ہے۔ اس چوکیدار کے پاس دور دراز سے ایک شخص آتا ہے اور داخل ہونے کی اجازت طلب کرتا ہے۔ مگر چوکیدار اسے کہتا ہے کہ وہ اس وقت اسے داخلے کی اجازت نہیں دے سکتا۔ وہ شخص کچھ دیر سوچتا ہے اور پھر چوکیدار سے پوچھتا ہے کہ کیا کچھ دیر بعد اسے اجازت مل جائے گی۔ "یہ ممکن ہے۔ مگر اس وقت نہیں۔" چوکیدار کہتا ہے۔ چونکہ حسب دستور دروازہ کھلا ہے اور چوکیدار ایک طرف ہٹ گیا ہے اس لیے وہ شخص ذرا سا ترچھا ہو کے اندر جھانکتا ہے۔ یہ دیکھ کر چوکیدار ہنستا ہے اور کہتا ہے۔"اگر تم ایسا کرنا ہی چاہتے ہو تو میرے منع کرنے کے باوجود کر دیکھو۔ مگر یاد رکھنا، میں ایک طاقتور آدمی ہوں۔ اور دوسرے چوکیدار مجھ سے بھی زیادہ طاقتور ہیں۔ اندر کمروں پر کمرے ہیں اور ہر چوکیدار کے بعد ایک چوکیدار ہے، جو پچھلے چوکیدار سے زیادہ طاقتور ہے۔ تیسرا چوکیدار ہی اتنا ہیبت ناک ہے کہ میں اس کی طرف نظر اٹھا کر دیکھنے کی بھی ہمت نہیں کر سکتا۔" دور دراز سے آئے ہوئے شخص کو ان مشکلات کا کوئی اندازہ نہیں ہے۔ اس کا خیال ہےکہ قانون کولازماً ہر انسان کے لیے، ہر وقت قابل رسائی ہونا چاہیے۔مگر اب جب اس نے فر کے کوٹ میں ملبوس بڑی اور نوکیلی ناک اور لمبی سیاہ داڑھی والے اس چوکیدار کو قریب سے دیکھا تو اس نے فیصلہ کر لیا کہ داخلے کی اجازت ملنے تک انتظار کرنا ہی بہتر ہے۔چوکیدار اسے ایک سٹول دےکر دروازے کے قریب بیٹھنے کی اجازت دے دیتا ہے۔یہاں وہ دنوں اور پھر سالوں تک بیٹھا رہتا ہے۔ وہ بار بار اندر جانے کی کوشش کرتا ہے اور چوکیدار کو بار بار کے تقاضوں سے تنگ کرتا ہے۔ چوکیدار اکثر اس سے گفتگو کرتا ہے اور اس کے گھر اور دوسری چیزوں کے بارے میں پوچھتا ہے۔ سوالات ایسی ہی لا تعلقی سے کیے جاتے ہیں جیسے بڑے لوگ سوال کیا کرتے ہیں اور ہر مرتبہ گفتگو کا اختتام اسی پر ہوتا ہے کہ ابھی اسے اندر جانے کی اجازت نہیں دی جاسکتی۔ اس شخص کے پاس کافی زاد راہ ہے، اور وہ ہر چیز ، خواہ وہ کتنی ہی قیمتی کیوں نہ ہو،چوکیدار کو بطور رشوت دے دیتا ہے۔ چوکیدار یہ کہہ کر ہر چیز قبول کر لیتا ہے۔"میں یہ صرف اس لیے قبول کر رہا ہوں کہ کہیں تم یہ نہ کہو کہ تم فلاں چیز مجھے دینا بھول گئے تھے۔" ان سب سالوں میں اس شخص کی توجہ مسلسل چوکیدار کی طرف ہی رہتی ہے۔ وہ دوسرے چوکیداروں کو بھول جاتا ہے اور یہی پہلا چوکیدار اسے قانون تک رسائی میں سب سے بڑی رکاوٹ محسوس ہوتا ہے۔ وہ اپنی بد قسمتی کو کوستا ہے ، شروع شروع میں بڑی جرات کے ساتھ بآواز بلند، اور پھر بڑھاپے میں بڑبڑاتے ہوئے۔ اس میں ایک بچپنا سا آ جاتا ہے۔ اپنی اس سالہا سال کی تگ ودو میں اگر اسے چوکیدار کے کالر پر مکھی بھی بیٹھی نظر آتی ہے تو وہ اسے بھی کہتا ہے کہ وہ چوکیدار کا ارادہ بدل دے۔ آہستہ آہستہ اس کی بینائی جاتی رہتی ہے اور اسے یہ بھی نہیں پتہ چلتا ہے دنیا میں واقعی اندھیرا ہے یا اس کی آنکھیں اسے دھوکا دے رہی ہیں۔ لیکن اس اندھیرے میں بھی وہ اس روشنی سے آگاہ ہے جو قانون کے دروازے سے مسلسل آرہی ہے۔ اب اس کی زندگی کا کوئی بھروسہ نہیں۔ مرنے سے پہلے، ان تمام طویل سالوں کے تجربے اس کے ذہن میں صرف ایک نکتے پر جمع ہو جاتے ہیں، ایک سوال جو اس نے اب تک چوکیدار سے نہیں کیا۔ وہ اشارے سے اسے اپنے پاس بلاتا ہے ، کیونکہ اب وہ اپنے اکڑے ہوئےجسم کو نہیں اٹھا سکتا۔ چوکیدار جھک کر اس کی بات سنتا ہے کیونکہ دونوں کے قد کا فرق بہت بڑھ چکا ہے۔ "تم اب کیا معلوم کرنا چاہتے ہو، تم جو مطمئن ہی نہیں ہوتے؟" چوکیدار پوچھتا ہے۔ وہ شخص کہتا ہے۔"ہر کوئی قانون تک پہنچنے کی کوشش کرتا ہے۔ تو پھریہ کس طرح ممکن ہے کہ ان تمام سالوں میں میرے سوا کبھی کسی نے اندر داخل ہونے کی اجازت نہ چاہی؟" چوکیدار جان لیا ہے کہ اب اس شخص کا آخری وقت آن پہنچا ہے، اس کی تمام حسیں ختم ہو تی جارہی ہیں، اس لیے وہ اس کے کان میں چیخ کر کہاس ہے،" کوئی دوسرا کبھی اس دروازے سے داخل نہیں ہو سکتا تھا، کیونکہ یہ دروازہ صرف تمہارے لیے بنا تھا۔ اور اب میں اسے بند کرنے جا رہا ہوں۔"

(حضور کرشن جی مہاراج) A Brief Biography of Krishna

2011-09-01T03:14:00.002-07:00

A Brief Biography in Urdu

In Pakistan two inflows of history merge with each other. One is religious, having origin from Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It gives a universal spiritual message for whole humanity. We own it very deeply. The other one is that of the history and culture of our land. We live in Muslim India, which we named Pakistan. This land has a history, along with its culture and traditions, other than that of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. There is no reason to not own this culture and tradition, as far as it does not contradict with our religious teachings.
Some (perhaps all) foolish policymakers of Pakistan want to remove our bonds with our secular history. They believe it is good for Pakistan. But weakening of our links with our secular history cannot serve us in achieving our religious goals.
This is a brief biography of a praiseworthy son of the land, Krishna, translated in Urdu as an effort to revive our links with our secular history.

حضور کرشن جی مہاراج ان شخصیات میں سے ہیں جن کے متعلق قوی امکان ہے کہ وہ خدا کے نبی تھے۔ ان کے مختصر حالات زندگی ذیل میں پیش کیے جا رہے ہیں جو ظاہر ہے کہ ہندو مآخذ سے لیے گئے ہیں اور یہ کہانی کرشن جی کے متعلق ہندو مزاج ہی کی عکاسی کرتی ہے۔ ہندو عقیدے کے مطابق وہ وشنو کے اوتار تھے۔ اس کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ خدا ان کی شکل میں انسانی روپ دھار کر زمین پر اتر آیا تھا۔ کرشن جی وشنو کے آٹھویں اوتار تھے۔ لگتا ہے کہ جس طرح یہود نے حضرت سلیمان [ع] کی شخصیت کے بعض گوشوں کو مسخ کیا ہے، اسی طرح ہندوءوں نے بھی کرشن جی کی شخصیت کے بعض حصوں کو مسخ کیا ہے۔

پٹان کرشن جی کو اپنا زہریلا دودھ
پلانے کی کوشش کر رہی ہے

کرشن جی 3228 ق۔م میں پیدا ہوئے اور ان کی وفات 3102 ق۔م مِن ہوئی۔ ان کے والد کا نام واسو دیو اور والدہ کا نام دیواکی تھا۔ ان کی پیدائش متھرا میں ہوئی۔ متھرا یاداواس کا دارالحکومت تھا، یاداواس پر کرشن جی کے والدین کی حکومت تھی۔ کرشن جی کی پیدائش کے وقت کرشن جی کے ماموں کانس نے ان کے والدین کو قید کر رکھا تھا اور خود تخت سنبھال رکھا تھا۔ کسی نے کانس کو بتایا تھا کہ دیواکی کا آٹھوان بیٹا کانس کو قتل کر دے گا۔ اس انجام سے بچنے کے لیے کانس اپنی بہن کے ہر بیٹے کو مار دیتا تھا۔ کرشن جی پیدا ہوئے تو انہیں خفیہ طور پر قید سے باہر یسود اور نندا کے پاس بھجوا دیا گیا، جنہوں نے ان کی پرورش کی۔ کانس کو جب اس بات کی خبر ہوئی تو اس نے ایک آدم خور بلا پٹان کو بھجوایا تاکہ وہ کرشن جی تو اپنا دودھ پلا کر مار دے۔ مگر اس نے جب انہیں اپنا زہریلا دودھ پلا کر مارنے کی کوشش کی تو ننھے کرشن نے الٹا اس کے دودھ میں سے قوت حیات چوس لی۔

کرشن جی کا رضاعی باپ نندا گوالوں کے قبیلے کا سربراہ تھا اور برندا بن میں رہتا تھا۔ چنانچہ کرشن جی کا بچپن اور جوانی گایوں کے چرواہے کے طور پر گزری۔ اس دور میں کرشن جی نے آدم خور بلا پٹان کو ہلاک کیا، جو انہیں قتل کرنے کے لیے بھیجی گئی تھی۔ کالیا ایک سانپ تھا جو دریائے جمنا کے پانیوں میں زہر ملا دیا کرتا تھا جس سے گائیں مر جایا کرتی تھیں۔ کرشن جی نے اس سانپ کو سدھا لیا۔ ہندو پینٹنگز میں اکثر کرشن جی کو کالیا کے ساتھ رقص کرتے دکھایا جاتا ہے۔ کرشن جی نے دیوتاءں کے بادشاہ اندر کو بھی خوب سبق سکھایا۔ بھگوت پران کے مطابق کرشن جی نے لوگوں کو بتایا کہ بارش برسانے والا اندر نہیں، اس لیے وہ اس کی پوجا نہ کیا کریں بلکہ اس پہاڑ کی پوجا کریں جہاں سے بارش برستی ہے۔ اس پر اندر کرشن کا دشمن ہو گیا اور اس نے ان سے بدلہ لینے کی ٹھانی، مگر اسے شکست ہوئی۔

اسی زمانے میں کرشن جی کی دوستی گوپیوں سے ہوگئی۔ یہ گوپیاں چرواہوں کی بیویاں اور بیٹیاں تھیں۔ رادھا رانی ان میں سب سے مشہور گوپی تھی۔ کرشن جی گوپیوں کو ان کے گھروں سے بلانے کے لیے بانسری بجاتے تھے۔ ان گوپیوں کی کرشن جی سے محبت کو خدا سے محبت کی علامت سمجھا جاتا ہے۔ کرشن جی اور گوپیوں کی عشق و محبت کی داستانوں کو ہندو مت میں بہت اہمیت حاصل ہے، یہاں تک کہ گوپیوں کی پوجا بھی کی جاتی ہے۔

کرشنا جی جب واپس یاداواس آئے تو انہوں نے اپنے ماموں کو قتل کردیا اور اپنے نانا اُکراسین کو تخت پر بٹھا دیا۔ یہیں ان کی دوستی ارجن اور پنڈاو سےہوئی جو کوروءوں کی سلطنت کے سردار اور کرشن جی کے کزن تھے۔ کرشن جی نے ودربھ کی راجکماری رکمنی سے شادی کی۔ یہ شادی رکمنی کو اس کی مرضی سے اغوا کرکے کی گئی کیونکہ وہ شیشو پل سے بیاہ نہیں کرنا چاہتی تھی۔ بعد میں کرشن جی نے 16100 کنواریوں سے بھی شادی کی، جن کو نارا کسور راکھشس نے اغوا کر رکھا تھا۔ جب کرشن نے اس راکھشس کو قتل کر کے اس کی قید میں موجود ان خواتین کو آزاد کروایا تو ان سے کوئی بھی شادی کرنے کے لیے تیار نہ تھا۔ کرشن جی نے ان سے شادی کرکے سماج میں ان کی حیثیت کو بحال کروایا۔
ہستھنا پور کے تخت کے لیے کوروءوں اور پانڈوءوں میں جنگ ہوئی۔ یہ جنگ مہا بھارت کے نام سے جانی جاتی ہے۔ کورواور پانڈے آپس میں رشتہ دار تھے۔ کرشن جی نے دونوں فریقوں کو پیشکش کی کہ اس جنگ میں وہ چاہیں تو کرشن جی کی فوج نارائنی سینا اور کرشن جی میں سے کسی ایک کو چن لیں۔ مگر اس جنگ میں کرشن جی خود کسی پر ہتھیار نہیں اٹھائیں گے۔ پانڈوءوں کے ایک سردار ارجن نے کرشن جی کو چن لیا، جبکہ کوروءں نے کرشن کی فوج کو چنا۔ اس جنگ میں کرشن جی نے ارجن کے رتھ بان کے فرائض انجام دیے۔

کرشن جی مہا بھارت میں ارجن کے ساتھ

محاذ جنگ پر پہنچنے پر ارجن نے جب دیکھا کہ مخالف فوج میں اس کے گرو اور بزرگ موجود ہیں، تو وہ جنگ کے متعلق مخمصے کا شکار ہو گیا۔ اس موقع پر کرشن نے اسے ایک شاندار لیکچر دیا۔ یہ لیکچر بھگوت گیتا یعنی خدا کا گیت کہلاتا ہے اور ہندوءوں کی مقدس کتاب مانا جاتا ہے۔ یہ کتاب خدا کی محبت اور اس کے حضور میں رہنےکا نہ صرف درس دیتی ہے بلکہ پڑھنے والے کو ایک زبردست تجربے سے گزار دیتی ہے۔ کرشن جی کی کامیاب جنگی حکمت عملیوں کے باعث کورو یہ جنگ جیت گئے۔
اپنی زندگی کے آخری ایام میں کرشن جی مراقبے کے لیے جنگل میں چلے گئے۔ ایک شکاری کا تیر ایک دن غلطی سے انہیں جا لگا اور کرشن جی کا انتقال ہو گیا۔ ارجن نے ان کی ارتھی جلا کر ان کی آخری رسومات ادا کیں۔ ان کی وفات پر دواپر یگ کا اختتام ہو گیا اور کل یگ [بد ترین انسانی دور] شروع ہو گیا۔

مولانا حسرت موہانی رحمۃ اللہ علیہ

Famous leader of Muslim League and religious scholar Maulana Hasrat Mohani (RA) paid tribute to Krishna in these words:

آنکھوں میں نور جلوہء بے کیف و کم ہے خاص

جب سے نظر پہ ان کی نگاہ کرم ہے خاص
کچھ ہم کو بھی عطا ہو کہ اے حضرت کرشن

اقلیم عشق آپ کے زیر قدم ہے خاص
حسرت کی بھی قبول ہو متھرا میں حاضری

سنتے ہیں عاشقوں پہ تمہارا کرم ہے خاص

If you liked this post, you will also like Ramayana in Urdu.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's Predictions Regarding Future of Pakistan

2011-04-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (RA), President of Indian National Congress, with Shorish Kashmiri (Editor Chitaan) in April 1946. Maulan Azad was such a genius visionary that all his predictions regarding Pakistan came out to be true.

(It is not necessary that the writer of this blog agrees with the views expressed by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (RA). The interview is reproduced here only to show how Maulana's predictions came true).

Q: The Hindu Muslim dispute has become so acute that it has foreclosed any possibility of reconciliation. Don’t you think that in this situation the birth of Pakistan has become inevitable?
A: If Pakistan were the solution of Hindu Muslim problem, then I would have extended my support to it. A section of Hindu opinion is now turning in its favour. By conceding NWFP, Sind, Balochistan and half of Punjab on one side and half of Bengal on the other, they think they will get the rest of India — a huge country that would be free from any claims of communal nature. If we use the Muslim League terminology, this new India will be a Hindu state both practically and temperamentally. This will not happen as a result of any conscious decision, but will be a logical consequence of its social realities. How can you expect a society that consists 90% of Hindus, who have lived with their ethos and values since prehistoric times, to grow differently? The factors that laid the foundation of Islam in Indian society and created a powerful following have become victim of the politics of partition. The communal hatred it has generated has completely extinguished all possibilities of spreading and preaching Islam. This communal politics has hurt the religion beyond measure. Muslims have turned away from the Quran. If they had taken their lessons from the Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet and had not forged communal politics in the name of religion then Islam’s growth would not have halted. By the time of the decline of the Mughal rule, the Muslims in India were a little over 22.5 million, that is about 65% of the present numbers. Since then the numbers kept increasing. If the Muslim politicians had not used the offensive language that embittered communal relations, and the other section acting as agents of British interests had not worked to widen the Hindu-Muslim breach, the number of Muslims in India would have grown higher. The political disputes we created in the name of religion have projected Islam as an instrument of political power and not what it is — a value system meant for the transformation of human soul. Under British influence, we turned Islam into a confined system, and following in the footsteps of other communities like Jews, Parsis and Hindus we transformed ourselves into a hereditary community. The Indian Muslims have frozen Islam and its message and divided themselves into many sects. Some sects were clearly born at the instance of colonial power. Consequently, these sects became devoid of all movement and dynamism and lost faith in Islamic values. The hallmark of Muslim existence was striving and now the very term is strange to them. Surely they are Muslims, but they follow their own whims and desires. In fact now they easily submit to political power, not to Islamic values. They prefer the religion of politics not the religion of the Quran. Pakistan is a political standpoint. Regardless of the fact whether it is the right solution to the problems of Indian Muslims, it is being demanded in the name of Islam. The question is when and where Islam provided for division of territories to settle populations on the basis of belief and unbelief. Does this find any sanction in the Quran or the traditions of the Holy Prophet? Who among the scholars of Islam has divided the dominion of God on this basis? If we accept this division in principle, how shall we reconcile it with Islam as a universal system? How shall we explain the ever growing Muslim presence in non-Muslim lands including India? Do they realise that if Islam had approved this principle then it would not have permitted its followers to go to the non-Muslim lands and many ancestors of the supporters of Pakistan would not have had even entered the fold of Islam? Division of territories on the basis of religion is a contraption devised by Muslim League. They can pursue it as their political agenda, but it finds no sanction in Islam or Quran. What is the cherished goal of a devout Muslim? Spreading the light of Islam or dividing territories along religious lines to pursue political ambitions? The demand for Pakistan has not benefited Muslims in any manner. How Pakistan can benefit Islam is a moot question and will largely depend on the kind of leadership it gets. The impact of western thought and philosophy has made the crisis more serious. The way the leadership of Muslim League is conducting itself will ensure that Islam will become a rare commodity in Pakistan and Muslims in India. This is a surmise and God alone knows what is in the womb of future. Pakistan, when it comes into existence, will face conflicts of religious nature. As far as I can see, the people who will hold the reins of power will cause serious damage to Islam. Their behaviour may result in the total alienation of the Pakistani youth who may become a part of non-religious movements. Today, in Muslim minority states the Muslim youth are more attached to religion than in Muslim majority states. You will see that despite the increased role of Ulema, the religion will lose its sheen in Pakistan.
Q: But many Ulema are with Quaid-e-Azam [M.A. Jinnah].
A: Many Ulema were with Akbare Azam too; they invented a new religion for him. Do not discuss individuals. Our history is replete with the doings of the Ulema who have brought humiliation and disgrace to Islam in every age and period. The upholders of truth are exceptions. How many of the Ulema find an honourable mention in the Muslim history of the last 1,300 years? There was one Imam Hanbal, one Ibn Taimiyya. In India we remember no Ulema except Shah Waliullah and his family. The courage of Alf Sani is beyond doubt, but those who filled the royal office with complaints against him and got him imprisoned were also Ulema. Where are they now? Does anybody show any respect to them?
Q: Maulana, what is wrong if Pakistan becomes a reality? After all, “Islam” is being used to pursue and protect the unity of the community.
A: You are using the name of Islam for a cause that is not right by Islamic standards. Muslim history bears testimony to many such enormities. In the battle of Jamal [fought between Imam Ali and Hadrat Aisha, widow of the Holy Prophet] Qurans were displayed on lances. Was that right? In Karbala the family members of the Holy Prophet were martyred by those Muslims who claimed companionship of the Prophet. Was that right? Hajjaj was a Muslim general and he subjected the holy mosque at Makka to brutal attack. Was that right? No sacred words can justify or sanctify a false motive.
If Pakistan was right for Muslims then I would have supported it. But I see clearly the dangers inherent in the demand. I do not expect people to follow me, but it is not possible for me to go against the call of my conscience. People generally submit either to coercion or to the lessons of their experience. Muslims will not hear anything against Pakistan unless they experience it. Today they can call white black, but they will not give up Pakistan. The only way it can be stopped now is either for the government not to concede it or for Mr Jinnah himself — if he agrees to some new proposal.
Now as I gather from the attitude of my own colleagues in the working committee, the division of India appears to be certain. But I must warn that the evil consequences of partition will not affect India alone, Pakistan will be equally haunted by them. The partition will be based on the religion of the population and not based on any natural barrier like mountain, desert or river. A line will be drawn; it is difficult to say how durable it would be.
We must remember that an entity conceived in hatred will last only as long as that hatred lasts. This hatred will overwhelm the relations between India and Pakistan. In this situation it will not be possible for India and Pakistan to become friends and live amicably unless some catastrophic event takes place. The politics of partition itself will act as a barrier between the two countries. It will not be possible for Pakistan to accommodate all the Muslims of India, a task beyond her territorial capability. On the other hand, it will not be possible for the Hindus to stay especially in West Pakistan. They will be thrown out or leave on their own. This will have its repercussions in India and the Indian Muslims will have three options before them:
1. They become victims of loot and brutalities and migrate to Pakistan; but how many Muslims can find shelter there?
2. They become subject to murder and other excesses. A substantial number of Muslims will pass through this ordeal until the bitter memories of partition are forgotten and the generation that had lived through it completes its natural term.
3. A good number of Muslims, haunted by poverty, political wilderness and regional depredation decide to renounce Islam.
The prominent Muslims who are supporters of Muslim League will leave for Pakistan. The wealthy Muslims will take over the industry and business and monopolise the economy of Pakistan. But more than 30 million Muslims will be left behind in India. What promise Pakistan holds for them? The situation that will arise after the expulsion of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan will be still more dangerous for them. Pakistan itself will be afflicted by many serious problems. The greatest danger will come from international powers who will seek to control the new country, and with the passage of time this control will become tight. India will have no problem with this outside interference as it will sense danger and hostility from Pakistan.
The other important point that has escaped Mr Jinnah’s attention is Bengal. He does not know that Bengal disdains outside leadership and rejects it sooner or later. During World War II, Mr Fazlul Haq revolted against Jinnah and was thrown out of the Muslim League. Mr H.S. Suhrawardy does not hold Jinnah in high esteem. Why only Muslim League, look at the history of Congress. The revolt of Subhas Chandra Bose is known to all. Gandhiji was not happy with the presidentship of Bose and turned the tide against him by going on a fast unto death at Rajkot. Subhas Bose rose against Gandhiji and disassociated himself from the Congress. The environment of Bengal is such that it disfavours leadership from outside and rises in revolt when it senses danger to its rights and interests.
The confidence of East Pakistan will not erode as long as Jinnah and Liaquat Ali are alive. But after them any small incident will create resentment and disaffection. I feel that it will not be possible for East Pakistan to stay with West Pakistan for any considerable period of time. There is nothing common between the two regions except that they call themselves Muslims. But the fact of being Muslim has never created durable political unity anywhere in the world. The Arab world is before us; they subscribe to a common religion, a common civilisation and culture and speak a common language. In fact they acknowledge even territorial unity. But there is no political unity among them. Their systems of government are different and they are often engaged in mutual recrimination and hostility. On the other hand, the language, customs and way of life of East Pakistan are totally different from West Pakistan. The moment the creative warmth of Pakistan cools down, the contradictions will emerge and will acquire assertive overtones. These will be fuelled by the clash of interests of international powers and consequently both wings will separate. After the separation of East Pakistan, whenever it happens, West Pakistan will become the battleground of regional contradictions and disputes. The assertion of sub-national identities of Punjab, Sind, Frontier and Balochistan will open the doors for outside interference. It will not be long before the international powers use the diverse elements of Pakistani political leadership to break the country on the lines of Balkan and Arab states. Maybe at that stage we will ask ourselves, what have we gained and what have we lost.
The real issue is economic development and progress, it certainly is not religion. Muslim business leaders have doubts about their own ability and competitive spirit. They are so used to official patronage and favours that they fear new freedom and liberty. They advocate the two-nation theory to conceal their fears and want to have a Muslim state where they have the monopoly to control the economy without any competition from competent rivals. It will be interesting to watch how long they can keep this deception alive.
I feel that right from its inception, Pakistan will face some very serious problems:
1. The incompetent political leadership will pave the way for military dictatorship as it has happened in many Muslim countries.
2. The heavy burden of foreign debt.
3. Absence of friendly relationship with neighbours and the possibility of armed conflict.
4. Internal unrest and regional conflicts.
5. The loot of national wealth by the neo-rich and industrialists of Pakistan.
6. The apprehension of class war as a result of exploitation by the neo-rich.
7. The dissatisfaction and alienation of the youth from religion and the collapse of the theory of Pakistan.
8. The conspiracies of the international powers to control Pakistan.
In this situation, the stability of Pakistan will be under strain and the Muslim countries will be in no position to provide any worthwhile help. The assistance from other sources will not come without strings and it will force both ideological and territorial compromises.
Q: But the question is how Muslims can keep their community identity intact and how they can inculcate the attributes of the citizens of a Muslim state.
A: Hollow words cannot falsify the basic realities nor slanted questions can make the answers deficient. It amounts to distortion of the discourse. What is meant by community identity? If this community identity has remained intact during the British slavery, how will it come under threat in a free India in whose affairs Muslims will be equal participants? What attributes of the Muslim state you wish to cultivate? The real issue is the freedom of faith and worship and who can put a cap on that freedom. Will independence reduce the 90 million Muslims into such a helpless state that they will feel constrained in enjoying their religious freedom? If the British, who as a world power could not snatch this liberty, what magic or power do the Hindus have to deny this freedom of religion? These questions have been raised by those, who, under the influence of western culture, have renounced their own heritage and are now raising dust through political gimmickry.
Muslim history is an important part of Indian history. Do you think the Muslim kings were serving the cause of Islam? They had a nominal relationship with Islam; they were not Islamic preachers. Muslims of India owe their gratitude to Sufis, and many of these divines were treated by the kings very cruelly. Most of the kings created a large band of Ulema who were an obstacle in the path of the propagation of Islamic ethos and values. Islam, in its pristine form, had a tremendous appeal and in the first century won the hearts and minds of a large number of people living in and around Hejaz. But the Islam that came to India was different, the carriers were non-Arabs and the real spirit was missing. Still, the imprint of the Muslim period is writ large on the culture, music, art, architecture and languages of India. What do the cultural centres of India, like Delhi and Lucknow, represent? The underlying Muslim spirit is all too obvious.
If the Muslims still feel under threat and believe that they will be reduced to slavery in free India then I can only pray for their faith and hearts. If a man becomes disenchanted with life he can be helped to revival, but if someone is timid and lacks courage, then it is not possible to help him become brave and gutsy. The Muslims as a community have become cowards. They have no fear of God, instead they fear men. This explains why they are so obsessed with threats to their existence — a figment of their imagination.
After British takeover, the government committed all possible excesses against the Muslims. But Muslims did not cease to exist. On the contrary, they registered a growth that was more than average. The Muslim cultural ethos and values have their own charm. Then India has large Muslim neighbours on three sides. Why on earth the majority in this country will be interested to wipe out the Muslims? How will it promote their self interests? Is it so easy to finish 90 million people? In fact, Muslim culture has such attraction that I shall not be surprised if it comes to have the largest following in free India.
The world needs both, a durable peace and a philosophy of life. If the Hindus can run after Marx and undertake scholarly studies of the philosophy and wisdom of the West, they do not disdain Islam and will be happy to benefit from its principles. In fact they are more familiar with Islam and acknowledge that Islam does not mean parochialism of a hereditary community or a despotic system of governance. Islam is a universal call to establish peace on the basis of human equality. They know that Islam is the proclamation of a Messenger who calls to the worship of God and not his own worship. Islam means freedom from all social and economic discriminations and reorganisation of society on three basic principles of God-consciousness, righteous action and knowledge. In fact, it is we Muslims and our extremist behaviour that has created an aversion among non-Muslims for Islam. If we had not allowed our selfish ambitions to soil the purity of Islam then many seekers of truth would have found comfort in the bosom of Islam. Pakistan has nothing to do with Islam; it is a political demand that is projected by Muslim League as the national goal of Indian Muslims. I feel it is not the solution to the problems Muslims are facing. In fact it is bound to create more problems.
The Holy Prophet has said, “God has made the whole earth a mosque for me.” Now do not ask me to support the idea of the partition of a mosque. If the nine-crore Muslims were thinly scattered all over India, and demand was made to reorganise the states in a manner to ensure their majority in one or two regions, that was understandable. Again such a demand would not have been right from an Islamic viewpoint, but justifiable on administrative grounds. But the situation, as it exists, is drastically different. All the border states of India have Muslim majorities sharing borders with Muslim countries. Tell me, who can eliminate these populations? By demanding Pakistan we are turning our eyes away from the history of the last 1,000 years and, if I may use the League terminology, throwing more than 30 million Muslims into the lap of “Hindu Raj”. The Hindu Muslim problem that has created political tension between Congress and League will become a source of dispute between the two states and with the aid of international powers this may erupt into full scale war anytime in future.
The question is often raised that if the idea of Pakistan is so fraught with dangers for the Muslims, why is it being opposed by the Hindus? I feel that the opposition to the demand is coming from two quarters. One is represented by those who genuinely feel concerned about imperial machinations and strongly believe that a free, united India will be in a better position to defend itself. On the other hand, there is a section who opposes Pakistan with the motive to provoke Muslims to become more determined in their demand and thus get rid of them. Muslims have every right to demand constitutional safeguards, but partition of India cannot promote their interests. The demand is the politically incorrect solution of a communal problem.
In future India will be faced with class problems, not communal disputes; the conflict will be between capital and labour. The communist and socialist movements are growing and it is not possible to ignore them. These movements will increasingly fight for the protection of the interest of the underclass. The Muslim capitalists and the feudal classes are apprehensive of this impending threat. Now they have given this whole issue a communal colour and have turned the economic issue into a religious dispute. But Muslims alone are not responsible for it. This strategy was first adopted by the British government and then endorsed by the political minds of Aligarh. Later, Hindu short-sightedness made matters worse and now freedom has become contingent on the partition of India.
Jinnah himself was an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. In one Congress session Sarojini Naidu had commended him with this title. He was a disciple of Dadabhai Naoroji. He had refused to join the 1906 deputation of Muslims that initiated communal politics in India. In 1919 he stood firmly as a nationalist and opposed Muslim demands before the Joint Select Committee. On 3 October 1925, in a letter to the Times of India he rubbished the suggestion that Congress is a Hindu outfit. In the All Parties Conferences of 1925 and 1928, he strongly favoured a joint electorate. While speaking at the National Assembly in 1925, he said, “I am a nationalist first and a nationalist last” and exhorted his colleagues, be they Hindus or Muslims, “not to raise communal issues in the House and help make the Assembly a national institution in the truest sense of the term”.
In 1928, Jinnah supported the Congress call to boycott Simon Commission. Till 1937, he did not favour the demand to partition India. In his message to various student bodies he stressed the need to work for Hindu Muslim unity. But he felt aggrieved when the Congress formed governments in seven states and ignored the Muslim League. In 1940 he decided to pursue the partition demand to check Muslim political decline. In short, the demand for Pakistan is his response to his own political experiences. Mr Jinnah has every right to his opinion about me, but I have no doubts about his intelligence. As a politician he has worked overtime to fortify Muslim communalism and the demand for Pakistan. Now it has become a matter of prestige for him and he will not give it up at any cost.
Q: It is clear that Muslims are not going to turn away from their demand for Pakistan. Why have they become so impervious to all reason and logic of arguments?
A: It is difficult, rather impossible, to fight against the misplaced enthusiasm of a mob, but to suppress one’s conscience is worse than death. Today the Muslims are not walking, they are flowing. The problem is that Muslims have not learnt to walk steady; they either run or flow with the tide. When a group of people lose confidence and self-respect, they are surrounded by imaginary doubts and dangers and fail to make a distinction between the right and the wrong. The true meaning of life is realised not through numerical strength but through firm faith and righteous action. British politics has sown many seeds of fear and distrust in the mental field of Muslims. Now they are in a frightful state, bemoaning the departure of the British and demanding partition before the foreign masters leave. Do they believe that partition will avert all the dangers to their lives and bodies? If these dangers are real then they will still haunt their borders and any armed conflict will result in much greater loss of lives and possessions.
Q: But Hindus and Muslims are two different nations with different and disparate inclinations. How can the unity between the two be achieved?
A: This is an obsolete debate. I have seen the correspondence between Allama Iqbal and Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni on the subject. In the Quran the term qaum has been used not only for the community of believers but has also been used for distinct human groupings generally. What do we wish to achieve by raising this debate about the etymological scope of terms like millat [community], qaum [nation] and ummat [group]? In religious terms India is home to many people — the Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs etc. The differences between Hindu religion and Islam are vast in scope. But these differences cannot be allowed to become an obstacle in the path of India gaining her freedom nor do the two distinct and different systems of faith negate the idea of unity of India. The issue is of our national independence and how we can secure it. Freedom is a blessing and is the right of every human being. It cannot be divided on the basis of religion.
Muslims must realise that they are bearers of a universal message. They are not a racial or regional grouping in whose territory others cannot enter. Strictly speaking, Muslims in India are not one community; they are divided among many well-entrenched sects. You can unite them by arousing their anti-Hindu sentiment but you cannot unite them in the name of Islam. To them Islam means undiluted loyalty to their own sect. Apart from Wahabi, Sunni and Shia there are innumerable groups who owe allegiance to different saints and divines. Small issues like raising hands during the prayer and saying Amen loudly have created disputes that defy solution. The Ulema have used the instrument of takfeer [fatwas declaring someone as infidel] liberally. Earlier, they used to take Islam to the disbelievers; now they take away Islam from the believers. Islamic history is full of instances of how good and pious Muslims were branded kafirs. Prophets alone had the capability to cope with these mindboggling situations. Even they had to pass through times of afflictions and trials. The fact is that when reason and intelligence are abandoned and attitudes become fossilised then the job of the reformer becomes very difficult.
But today the situation is worse than ever. Muslims have become firm in their communalism; they prefer politics to religion and follow their worldly ambitions as commands of religion. History bears testimony to the fact that in every age we ridiculed those who pursued the good with consistency, snuffed out the brilliant examples of sacrifice and tore the flags of selfless service. Who are we, the ordinary mortals; even high ranking Prophets were not spared by these custodians of traditions and customs.
Q: You closed down your journal Al-Hilal a long time back. Was it due to your disappointment with the Muslims who were wallowing in intellectual desolation, or did you feel like proclaiming azan [call to prayer] in a barren desert?
A: I abandoned Al-Hilal not because I had lost faith in its truth. This journal created great awareness among a large section of Muslims. They renewed their faith in Islam, in human freedom and in consistent pursuit of righteous goals. In fact my own life was greatly enriched by this experience and I felt like those who had the privilege of learning under the companionship of the Messenger of God. My own voice entranced me and under its impact I burnt out like a phoenix. Al-Hilal had served its purpose and a new age was dawning. Based on my experiences, I made a reappraisal of the situation and decided to devote all my time and energy for the attainment of our national freedom. I was firm in my belief that freedom of Asia and Africa largely depends on India’s freedom and Hindu Muslim unity is key to India’s freedom. Even before the First World War, I had realised that India was destined to attain freedom, and no power on earth would be able to deny it. I was also clear in my mind about the role of Muslims. I ardently wished that Muslims would learn to walk together with their countrymen and not give an opportunity to history to say that when Indians were fighting for their independence, Muslims were looking on as spectators. Let nobody say that instead of fighting the waves they were standing on the banks and showing mirth on the drowning of boats carrying the freedom fighters.

Courtesy: New Age Islam

Free Tal

2010-10-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Syrian government's security agents have arrested Tal al-Molouhi for posting poems about Palestine. She was a high school student. She was arrested on 27 December 2009, and has not yet returned. Her family even does not know where she is detained.
I strongly protest against her arrest and detention. I request the authorities to release her as soon as possible. Violations against human rights must be stopped now!
Here are links of her blogs:
http://talmallohi.blogspot.com/
http://latterstal.blogspot.com/
http://palestinianvillages.blogspot.com/

"Stoning to Death" and Dishonesty of the Vatican

2010-09-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

An Iranian court has sentenced a woman to be stoned to death. Reacting on the decision, the Vatican declared Islamic punishment “stoning to death” as brutal. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the church opposes the death penalty in general. He added that stoning is particularly a brutal form of capital punishment.
Bible is Word of God, according to the Catholic Church. Those who have read Bible know very well that “stoning to death” is an established punishment in Abrahamic religions. Here is a verse from Bible in which God ordained this punishment:
“Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.” (Deuteronomy 22: 21)
This clearly shows that the punishment of “stoning to death” was included in the Law given to Moses (AS). Before criticising a punishment of Islamic Shariah, we hope that the church must show some courage and moral honesty. Thus the church should first declare the punishments ordained by God in its holy book Bible to be brutal.

Elegy of Voices

2010-09-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

I wrote this poem back in 1992.

آوازوں کا نوحہ

آوازوں کو دیکھا ہے نوحہ کناں؟

سبھی کے ہیں لب کپکپاتے ہوئے

ہے سیکھا سبھی سے یہ ہم نے یہاں

صداءوں کو کر دو صداءوں میں گم

برہما نے پھونکا مرے دل میں یہ

"آوازوں سے گوندھا ہے میں نے جہاں،

حسیں شوخ رنگ اور چنچل صدائیں،

سریلی، نشیلی، رسیلی صدائیں،

تھیں کچھ زیر لب اور مدھم صدائیں،

بلند بانگ آہنگ، سجیلی صدائیں

بہت سی آوازیں یوں گرم نفس تھیں،

کہ جیسے ہو عاشق کی روح تپاں،

بہت سی آوازوں میں خنکی بھی تھی،

کہ جیسے زمستاں کی ہو سرد رات

آوازیں تو ایسی کہ سن لے جو کوئی

تو روح و بدن میں تفاوت پڑے

کچھ ایسی کہ ان سے میرے دل میں تھی

تڑپتی ہوئی اک نمو کی خلش

انہی سے بنایا ہے میں نے جہاں

انہی کو تو میں نے مجسم کیا

یہ سبزہ، یہ گل، یہ زمیں آسماں

آبشاروں کے جھرنے مچلتے ہوئے،

کوہ و دمن اور صحرا کی ریگ،

انہی سے تو سورج کو گرمی ملی،

انہی سے تو پائی ستاروں نے تاب"

گلستاں میں کرتے ہیں گل گفتگو

دم شب جب سبزے پہ شبنم گرے

فلک پرستاروں سے ہو ہم کلام

سمندر بھی بھیجیں پہاڑوں کے نام

چلتی ہواءوں سے اپنے پیام

مگر ہم جو انساں ہیں رہتے ہیں چپ

کہ جیسے صنم خانہ ء آزر کے بت

صنم خانہء آزر ہے پر شور سے

آوازیں نہیں ہیں صرف شور ہے

ہمی نے کیا ہے آوازوں کوگم

ہمارے دلوں میں ہیں چند خواب بند

چاہتے ہیں ہم ان کی تعبیر پائیں

نہیں جانتے پر کہاں سے یہ لائیں

اسی پر آوازیں ہیں نوحہ کناں

آوازیں ہمیں بس بلاتی رہیں

آوازیں رہیں ہم کو دیتی صدا

آوازیں مگر شور ہی میں ہیں گم۔۔۔

آوازیں زمان و مکاں کی ہیں مائیں

وہ کہتی ہیں لاءو ہمیں خواب دو

ہمیں خواب دو ، ان کی تعبیر لو

اور ہم ہیں کہ جیسے کسی سے شناسا نہیں

ہمارے لیے سب صدائیں ہیں گم

یہی ہے سبب

ہمارے سب خواب گم۔۔۔

ان کی تعبیریں گم۔۔۔

ہم بھی گم

Paulanity is From Devil: Some Facts About Christianity

2010-08-29T04:35:00.000-07:00

Ed Decker is a Christian apologist. According to Dick Baer, he wants to sensationalize and shock people. Previously he has attracted people by criticising Mormonism. Now he is criticising, rather vilifying Islam through his biased writings. Recently he has published a book whose very name is blasphemous. Through this blog I want to convey to Decker and others like him, that before criticising Islam, they must first critically analyze Christianity.

Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him) never claimed that he is the founder of a new religion: Christianity. Even he never uttered the word Christianity in his whole lifetime.
It was Paul, a self-claimed apostle of Christ (Peace be upon him) who was the founder of Christianity. (Reference).
Gospels indicate that Christ (Peace be upon him) always kept himself under the Divine Laws of Moses (Peace be upon him). He announced that he had not come even to change an iota of the Law revealed to Moses (Peace be upon him). (Mathew 24:35)
Though Christ (Peace be upon him) used the words “Son of God” for himself, but this phrase is extensively used in Bible for pious believers. (Reference).

"Saint" Paul: Self claimed apostle of
Christ (PBUH)

In Bible there is no evidence that God told human beings that Christ (Peace be upon him) was died on cross. Either it is mentioned as the observation of the people present there, or it is the insistence of Paul. Paul claimed that he was an apostle of Christ (Peace be upon him). Though Bible is devoid of this. Christ (Peace be upon him) never appointed him as his apostle. Paul proved that he was actually “the Apostle of Devil”.
Old Testament and Gospels are free of any concept of Trinity. Trinity was something whose groundwork was prepared by Paul.
It was Paul who put forward the idea that Christ (Peace be upon him) was divine Son of God, and thus God himself. He insisted that he died on cross. This idea was a great triumph of Satan. Today, Every Christian believes that his God, Christ was died on cross. What else could be a greater victory of Satan?
Another victory of devil is that instead of considering the cross as unholy it is considered holy in Christianity. Naturally cross must be considered unholy as the God of Christians was died on it.
Bible tells us of a story of a conflict between Paul, the Apostle of Satan and Peter (May God be pleased with him), the true Apostle of Jesus Christ. (Reference). There were also conflicts between Barnabas (May God be pleased with him) and Paul. These historical facts also show that what were the real intentions of Paul.

Cross: According to Christians, it
is the instrument by which his
enemies killed Christ (PBUH),
whom they believe to be their god.
Instead of considering it unholy,
Christians consider it to be
holy!

Paul was introducing new heretic doctrines to the teachings of Christ (Peace be upon him). This resulted in disapproval from the followers of Christ (PBUH). That is why Paul was summoned to explain his heretic doctrines. (Reference).
It was Paul who preached not to follow the Laws revealed to Moses (PBUH). According to Paul following the Laws of Moses was foolishness. (Gal.3:3. Also click here for detail). Wasn’t it a victory of Devil?
Paul made grounds of Trinity. Trinity is none but polytheism. Old Testament is devoid of Trinity. Gospels are devoid of Trinity. But Paul introduced such ideas which resulted in Trinity. Trinity can be summed up as following:

* God is one.

* The Father is God.

* The Holy Spirit is God.

* The Son (Christ) is God.

* The Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son are not same and one.

What else is polytheism? Isn’t Trinity a victory of Satan?

Other related posts:
Ridiculous Claims of Some Christians Regarding Word “Allah” (1)
Ridiculous Claims of Some Christians Regarding Word “Allah” (2)

Madhu Lal Hussain

2010-08-15T03:14:00.000-07:00

Mela Chiraghan is one of the most popular festival of Lahore. It is actualy "Urs" of a famous mystic Shah Hussain, who is also known as Madhu Lal Hussian. To some, he was a Sufi mystic, and to others he was a Mustaswif (one who pretends like a Sufi for the lust of worldly gains). Here is an Urdu translation of an essay of Yoginder Sikand "Madho Lal Hussain of Lahore: Beyond Hindu and Muslim". One can himself judge whether he was a sufi or a mutasawif after reading it.

شاہ حسین، شہادت پائیں

جو مرن متراں دے اگے

برصغیر کی تصوف کی تاریخ بہت بھر پور اور طویل ہے۔ برصغیر کے دوسرے علاقوں کی نسبت غالبا ً پنجاب میں اس کی جڑیں سب سےزیادہ گہری ہیں، جنہوں نے یہاں تصوف کے عظیم علم بردار پیدا کیے، اور جنہوں نے عوام کے ذہنوں میں تصوف کا گہرا تاثر قائم کیا۔ آج تک اس علاقے کے ان گنت صوفیاکی اس صوبے اور دیگر علاقوں کے کروڑوں مسلمان، سکھ، دلت اور ہندوبے حد عزت کرتے ہیں ۔

شاہ حسین بھی ایسے ہی صوفی بزرگ ہیں جنہیں ان کی وفات کے چار سو سال بعد بھی کروڑوں پنجابی یاد رکھتے ہیں۔ وہ لاہور میں 1539 میں ڈھاٹا راجپوت گھرانےمیں پیدا ہوئے۔ ان کے خاندان نے کچھ عرصہ قبل ہی اسلام قبول کیا تھا، اس لیے ان کے نام کے ساتھ "شاہ" کا لاحقہ استعمال کیا جاتا تھا۔ بچپن ہی سے انہیں لال رنگ کے کپڑے پہننے کا بہت شوق تھا، اس لیے انہیں لال حسین کہا جانے لگا۔ اوائل عمرہی سے ان کا تصوف کی جانب رجحان عیاں تھا۔ اپنے استاد شیخ ابو بکر کی نگرانی میں انہوں نے بچپن میں قرآن پاک حفظ کر لیا تھا۔ دس سال کی عمر میں وہ چنیوٹ کےمعروف بزرگ بہلول کے ہاتھ پر سلسلہ قادریہ میں بیعت ہو گئے۔ اگلے پچیس سال انہوں نے اپنے پیر کی کڑی نگرانی میں گزارے اور روایتی اسلام کےاحکامات اور رسوم پر سختی سے عمل پیرا رہے اور سادہ زندگی بسر کرتے رہے۔

چھتیس سال کی عمر میں ایک ایسا واقعہ ہوا جس نے ان کی زندگی کو مکمل طور پر بدل کر رکھ دیا۔ ایک دن لاہور کے شیخ سعد اللہ سے تفسیر پڑھتے ہوئے جب وہ قرآن کی اس آیت پر پہنچے [جس کا ترجمہ ہے]: "اس دنیا کی زندگی تو بس کھیل تماشا ہے"، تو انہوں نے اپنے شیخ سے اس آیت کی تشریح کرنے کےلیے کہا۔ شیخ نے بتایا کہ اس کا مطلب ہے کہ یہ دنیا اہمیت دیے جانے کے قابل نہیں ہے۔ شاہ حسین نے یہ تعبیر قبول کرنے سے انکار کردیا اور اصرارکیا کہ اس آیت کو لازماً معروضی معنوں میں لیا جانا چاہیے۔ انہوں نے اپنے استاد کو بتایا کہ انہوں نے اس آیت کا جو مطلب لیا ہے اس کے مطابق اب وہ اپنی باقی کی زندگی پر لطف طریقے سے بسر کریں گے۔ اپنی زندگی کے اس حصے میں شاہ حسین کی مادھو سے ملاقات ہوئی۔ مادھو ایک برہمن زادے تھے۔ ان دو افراد کا تعلق اتنا گہرا ہو گیا کہ عوام شاہ حسین کو مادھو لال حسین کے نام سے جاننے لگے، گویا وہ دونوں یک جان ہو گئے۔ قربت کا یہ گہرا تعلق جو ان کے درمیان پیدا ہوا، ان کی زندگی ہی میںبہت سی بدگمانیوں اور اختلافات کا باعث بن گیا۔ ہندوستانی تصوف کے ماہر جان سبحان لکھتے ہیں کہ ایک ہندو لڑکے اور مسلمان فقیر کا یہ انتہائی قریبی تعلق ان کے معاصرین کے نزدیک "قابل شرم" ہونے کی وجہ سے "قابل اعتراض کردار" کا مظہرتھا۔ جبکہ جان سبحان ان دو افراد کی درمیان تعلق کی اس "ناقابل صبرکشش" کو "عشق" قرار دیتے ہیں۔ اسی طرح پنجابی تاریخ دان شفیع عاقل مادھو اور شاہ حسین کے اس تعلق کو "لا محدود محبت" کہتے ہیں اور اس تعلق کو بیان کرنےکے لیے زبان و بیان کے وہی پیرائے اختیار کرتے ہیں جو عام طور پر مرد اور عورت کے تعلق کو بیان کرنےکے لیے اختیار کیے جاتے ہیں۔ چنانچہ وہ لکھتے ہیں کہ "مادھو سے شاہ حسین کو پیار تھا اور خود مادھو بھی ان کو چاہتے تھے"۔وہ یہاں تک لکھتے ہیں کہ "شاہ حسین مادھو سے کسی صورت جدا ہونے کے لیے آمادہ نہ تھے۔"

"تحقیقات چشتیہ" کے مصنف نور احمد چشتی کہتے ہیں کہ اس جوڑے کے کچھ معاصرین نے اس تعلق کو "نامناسب" جانا۔ وہ لکھتے ہیں کہ مادھو کے رشتہ داروں نے جب دیکھا "کہ وہ شاہ حسین کے ساتھ انہی کے بستر پر سوتے ہیں، تو وہ ان دونوں کو قتل کرنے کے لیے آئے"۔وہ کہتے ہیں کہ خوش قسمتی سے" شاہ حسین کی [روحانی] طاقت نے انہیں اندھا کر دیا، اور وہ اندر داخلے کا دروازہ نہ پا کر واپس لوٹ گئے"۔ پنجاب کے صوفیا پر معروف اتھارٹی ، لاجوانتی رام کرشن کہتے ہیں کہ بہت سے لوگ "غیر فطری تعلق کے وجہ سے [ان کے متعلق] شک و شبہ میں مبتلا تھے"۔ جو بھی بات ہو، ان دو چاہنے والوں کی کہانی دلچسپ بھی ہے اور اور پنجاب کی تصوف کی روایت کے اعتبار سے انوکھی بھی ہے۔

شاہ حسین کی مادھو سے پہلی ملاقات کیسے ہوئی؟ تاریخ کا ریکارڈ اس کے متعلق مختلف کہانیاں سناتا ہے۔ تحقیات چشتیہ کے مصنف لکھتے ہیں کہ شاہ حسین نے پہلی دفعہ مادھو کو لاہور کے ایک بڑے بازار میں "ایک شاندار گھوڑے پر شاندار طریقے سے گزرتے دیکھا"۔ وہ مادھو کے حسن پر ایسے فریفتہ ہوئے کہ "سولہ سال تک اس لڑکے کو حاصل کرنے کی ناکام کوشش کرتے رہے، جس کے بعد کہیں انہیں کامیابی ملی"۔ رضوی جو ہندوستانی تصوف پر اتھارٹی ہیں لکھتے ہیں کہ شاہ حسین نے پہلی مرتبہ مادھو کو ایک بازار سے گھوڑے پر سوار گزرتے دیکھا اور انہیں دیکھتے ہی وہ حالت مستی میں مبتلا ہو گئے۔ وہ کہتے ہیں کہ اسی وجہ سے شاہ حسین شاہدارا منتقل ہوگئے جہاں مادھو رہتے تھےاور ایک غلام کی طرح ان کا پیچھا کرنے لگے۔ رام کرشن کہتے ہیں کہ بعض کے خیال میں شاہ حسین کی مادھو سے پہلی ملاقات شراب کی ایک دکان پر مے نوشی کی ایک محفل میں ہوئی ۔ مگر وہ اس نظریہ کو ترجیح دیتے ہیں کہ مادھو ان کی تصوف کی مجلسوں میں باقاعدگی سے شرکت کیا کرتے تھے اور یہیں شاہ حسین اس "خوبصورت لڑکے" کے حسن سے متاثر ہوئے۔

ایک تاریخ دان لکھتا ہے کہ " شاہ حسین کا مادھو سے پیار بہت انوکھا تھا اور اس لڑکے کو خوش کرنے کے لیے ، جو کچھ ان کے بس میں تھا ، انہوں نے کیا"۔ کہا جاتا ہے کہ کوئی دن ایسا نہیں گزرتا تھا جب وہ دونوں ملاقات نہ کرتے ہوں۔ شاہ حسین کی مادھو کے لیے فریفتگی اتنی زیادہ تھی کہ اکثر وہ آدھی رات کو اٹھ کر راوی عبور کرکےاور کئی میل پیدل چل کر مادھو کے گھر جا پہنچتے تھے۔ البتہ مادھو کے والدین کو اپنے بیٹے کا شاہ حسین سے یہ تعلق پسند نہ تھا۔ ایک مرتبہ انہوں نے مادھو کو یاترا کے لیے ہندوءوں کے مقدس شہر ہری دوار لے جانے کا منصوبہ بنایا۔ انہیں امید تھی کہ شاید اس دوری سے مادھو شاہ حسین کو بھول جائیں گے۔ شاہ حسین اپنے محبوب سے دوری کے خیال کو بھی برداشت نہ کر سکتے تھے۔ چنانچہ انہوں نے مادھو کے والدین کو مادھو کو ساتھ لے جانے سے منع کر دیا۔ مگر یہ وعدہ کیا کہ وہ مادھو کو بعد میں ہری دوار بھیج دیں گے۔ داستان کے مطابق، مادھو کے والدین جب ہری دوار پہنچ گئےتو شاہ حسین نے مادھو سے کہا کہ وہ اپنی آنکھیں بند کریں۔ جب انہوں نے آنکھیں بند کر لیں تو شاہ حسین نے اپنا پائوں زمین پر مارا اور مادھو سے آنکھیں کھولنے کے لیے کہا۔ جب مادھو نے آکھیں کھولیں تو خود کو کرشماتی طور پر ہری دوار میںپایا۔ ان کے والدین انہیں وہاں پا کر حیران رہ گئے۔ کہا جاتا ہے کہ اس کے بعد مادھو نے اپنے گھر کو چھوڑ دیا اور شاہ حسین کے ساتھ رہنا شروع کر دیا۔

ممکن ہے، بلکہ قرین قیاس یہی ہےکہ شاہ حسین کے مادھو سے تعلق کا ان کی فکر، ان کی صوفیانہ شاعری اور سب سے بڑھ کر ان کی مذہبی زندگی پر اثر ہوا۔ مادھو کے عشق میں انہوں نے پوری جراءت سے معاشرے کے دستور کی خلاف ورزی کی اور روایتی علما کو شدت سےان کے جرم پر مورد الزام ٹھہرایا، جن کے لیے دین بے روح رسوم ، اٹل ضابطوں اور سخت پابندیوں تک محدود ہو گیا تھا اور جس کا محبت، لطف اندوزی، ہمدردی اور جذبات سے کوئی تعلق نہیں رہ گیا تھا۔

مادھو سے شاہ حسین کے تعلق نے انہیں دوسرے مذاہب کے معاملے میں بہت روادار بنا دیا تھا۔ مادھو کو خوش کرنے کے لیے وہ پنجاب کا موسم بہار کا تہوار بسنت بڑے جوش و خروش سے منایا کرتے تھے۔ اسی طرح ہندو تہوار ہولی بھی مناتے تھے۔ ہولی میں وہ ایک دوسرے پر رنگ بھی پھینکتے تھے۔ قرون وسطی کی فارسی کتاب "حسنات العارفین" کے مطابق شاہ حسین کا اصرار تھا کہ"میں مسلمان ہوں نہ کافر"۔ اس طرح انہوں نے اپنے وسیع المشرب اور وسیع النظر ہونے کا ثبوت دیا ۔ یہ انداز فکر اس دور میں نایاب بھی تھا اور اس کی تحسین بھی نہ کی جاتی تھی۔ رام کرشن نے لکھا ہے کہ شاہ حسین کا ہندو سادھو چھجو بھگت اور سکھوں کے پیشوا گرو ارجن سے بھی روحانی تعلق تھا۔

شاہ حسین کی مادھو کے لیے انمٹ محبت کی گہری جھلک ان کی کافیوں میں بھی ملتی ہے جو آج بھی پنجابی ادب کا سب سے قیمتی اثاثہ شمار ہوتی ہیں۔ ان کا خیال تھا کہ سچی روحانی معرفت لا محدود محبت کے ذریعے ہی حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔ جیسا کہ انہوں نے اپنی ایک کافی میں کہا ہے [ترجمہ]" یہ جوانی پھر واپس نہیں آئے گی اس لیے ہنسو اور کھیلو، جب تک تمہارا محبوب تمہارے پاس ہے۔"

شاہ حسین کا خیال تھا کہ محبت دو روحوں کو[یا انسان کو خدا کے ساتھ] اس طرح ایک کر سکتی ہےکہ وہ اپنی انفرادیت اور علیحدہ ہونے کی خاصیت کھو دیں اور ایک دوسرے میں مکمل طور پر مدغم ہو کر ایک ہو جائیں۔ چنانچہ مادھو اور شاہ حسین اس طرح ایک ہوئے کہ انہیں ایک نام سے یاد کیا جاتا ہے: مادھو لال حسین۔

غالبا ً اسی کی طرف اشارہ کرتے ہوئے شاہ حسین نے کہا تھا"رانجھا رانجھا مینوں سب کوئی آکھو، ہیر نہ آکھو کوئی۔"

شاہ حسین نے 1599 میں وفات پائی اور لاہور میں راوی کے کنارے دفن ہوئے۔ مادھو، ان کے بعد اڑتالیس سال بعد تک زندہ رہے، اور انہیں شاہ حسین کے برابر میں ایک مقبرے میں دفنایا گیا۔ یہ مزار آج تک عقیدت مندوں کی بہت بڑی تعداد کا مرجع ہے کہ یہاں جدا نہ ہو سکنے والے دو ایسے عاشقوں کی قبریں ہیں جو مرنے کے بعد بھی اسی طرح ایک ہیں جیسے زندگی میں تھے۔

Suicides in Pakistan and Our Responsibility

2010-06-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

Today, I received an email, which is an eye-opener. I am reproducing that email here:

Please have a reading of the undergiven discussion and give your input.

DO WE REALIZE
THAT WE ALL ARE MURDERERS?

During the past few days some incidents of “SUICIDE” have come to the knowledge of all of us.

Incident 1

A rickshaw driver in Karachi gave poison to all his family members including children of just few years of age and his wife. He also took poison himself and died. His children also died and his wife was in serious condition (God knows whether she survived or not).

Reasons

Media told that this incident happened due to financial reasons.

Incident 2

In another incident a person committed suicide in Lahore .

Reasons

Media told that this incident happened due to financial reasons.

Back ground of the DISCUSSION

I personally got very much disturbed on these incidents as these were due to financial reasons. These days I get opportunity of having lunch with “highly educated” and “highly cultured” group of senior bankers of NBP. These are all at least Senior Vice Presidents.

I normally do not participate in there discussions during the lunch as these discussions are very much informal, and resultantly very much vulgar.

But last day I could not refrain myself when a TV channel discussed these incidents during our lunch time in presence of all above mentioned senior professionals.

Discussion during the lunch

After the half an hour of their effort to satisfy their appetite of extreme vulgar talk, I interrupted them and drew their attention towards the above mentioned 2 incidents.

My views

I shared with them that I am very much ashamed of the happening of these incidents and being the part of this society, I feel myself proportionately responsible for happening of such incidents. I said that I want to put my efforts to stop such incidents but I alone cannot create a difference but if we all (Pakistanis) put some effort to extend financial and moral support to such people around us who are living in extreme poor financial conditions, these incidents can be minimized.

Others’ views

Those learned people surprisingly went against me and said that financial conditions in our country are not that bad that one can attempt suicide. There are many organizations like Edhy and Silani Welfares from where one can have one’s meals for as many days as one wishes.

They also told me that there were a lot of beggars in the country but no beggar does suicide.

The most surprising thing which they added was that in fact these people did suicide not because of financial reasons but they must had been mentally retarded or suffering from Psychological problems.

One of the participants said that he had intense feelings to punish that father who killed his sons. He is
the murderer of his sons. If he had to commit suicide, he could do it without killing his sons. His sons could be taken care by Edhy. He added that he desires Allah give that father another short life so that he could be punished for what he did.

One of the participants told that as he gives Zakat, he fulfills his 100% financial liability towards the society.

My response

I told them that I am too of the view that the father of the children is murderer of his children but at the same time we all are murderers of not only his sons but also of the father.

Every one of us, being the part of this society if not legally but definitely on moral grounds is the murderer of all that family. I was told that if I feel this, I may be murderer but all others are not murderers, more over I should accept if some one requires me to give the same statement before the Police. I told them that I am always ready to repeat my statement in front of any institution, organization or authority of my country.

I also added that I feel sorry that the participants could only find this discussion to be the means of their
amusement but no one realized any responsibility.

I also told them that the person who is not even ashamed of such incidents and does not feel that he has also contributed to such murders is in fact a greater killer.

I also addressed them and told that all of you live in centrally air conditioned houses. Load shedding does not affect you as you all have such generators at your homes, which run the air conditions as well. You just get up from such houses and come to office in luxurious cars with your drivers. Your offices are also air conditioned. Your servants purchase all the eatables of daily use and many of you do not take pain to know the prices of the purchases.

For an instance just change the scenario if you are deprived of your assets and your job is also lost and you remain job less for 6 months I bet many of you will become mentally retarded.

The most important factor of Mental illness is stress and stress of financial problems is the greatest.

I also told them that Zakat is the minimum what we have to give, we should also give all which is in excess of our needs and surprisingly there is no end to our needs today.

They said that they are not responsible but only the system is responsible. I told them that as long as they will blame the system, the system will not be changed. If they realize their responsibility, the system will automatically change.

I also added that yes beggars do not commit suicide and those who go to Edhy or other such organizations do not commit suicide due to non availability of food. But at the same time there is a large part of our society which has self esteem and does not want to beg. This part of society is the target of the evil of suicide. Hence we have to try to find out such people.

MY CONCLUSION

I am responsible for such suicides as I am the part of this society. Under no law I can be convicted in this world but there is also a world after this one and that is the real world. I am sure that I shall be answerable in the world hereafter. My responsibility is not 100% but I am proportionately responsible and all others are also responsible in the same manner.

We should look around to find out such people who do not demand anything but are unable to get both ends meet and should help them financially and morally to what ever extent we deem possible.

I am also shocked to know the thoughts of our educated people. If our thinking remains same no one can
save us from complete disaster. I believe that even God does not help such nations what ever be the religion of the nation.

Regards,

Some Questions Regarding the History of Pakistan

2010-05-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

Secular people always insist that in the light of 11 August 1947 speech of Jinnah, Pakistan should be a secular country. It is claimed that had he been alive, he would have never allowed the Objectives Resolution to be passed.
Following questions rise in every person, having knowledge of history and religion:

It is assumed that had Jinnah been alive, he would have not allowed the constituent assembly to pass Objectives Resolution. The question is that how could Jinnah prevent it. Does they want to prove that Jinnah was a dictator and could dictate constituent assembly and could reject will of the nation?
Is there any historical evidence to show that Jinnah was a secular person, and wanted secular constitution for Pakistan? Can it be substantiated that Jinnah ever declared that Pakistan will be a secular state, or Islam will not be the highest guideline for Pakistani constitution?
Can any reasonable person interpret the 11 August speech of Jinnah as a secular framework for the constitution of Pakistan?
Does the right of the interpretation of that speech lies within the handful of secular, Westernist and communist journalists and politicians, or to the elected representative parliament?
In his letter Iqbal clearly wrote to Jinnah that I new country should be founded to implement Shariah. From 1940 to 1947 people raised slogans, “Pakistan ka matlab kai? Laa Ilaha illallah”. If for a moment, we agree that in his speech Jinnah meant secularism, then on this U-turn should he be admired or denounced?
Jinnah refused to see his daughter because she married a non-Muslim guy. So could this Jinnah be a secular?
Many a times, Jinnah used to refer to the last prophet (PBUH) as “our great law giver, the prophet of Islam”. Isn’t this notion exactly against secularism?
The flag of Pakistan was approved by the constituent assembly in the life of Jinnah. It consisted of green area representing Muslims and white representing religious minorities. It clearly indicates that Muslims will always be Muslims and non-Muslims will remain non-Muslims before state. Jinnah never opposed this flag. Doesn’t it mean that Jinnah had changed his views that, "Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State."
Why do the champions of democracy forget their own principles on this issue and want to impose the opinion of an individual (if we suppose that it was as per interpreted by the secularists)?
How should we Muslims be secularists and support secularism, when secularism is in exact contradiction to Quran? Are we advised to abandon our faith to become secularists?

New Provinces of Pakistan

2010-04-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

For the sake of better administration, isn’t it advisable to create these provinces in Pakistan?
Punjab
It be divided in the following three provinces:
Saraikistan
Wasti Punjab
Pothohar

Balochistan
It be divided in:
Balochistan
Pashtunistan (it can be merged in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw)

Khyber Pakhtunkhaw
It be divided in:
Khyber Pakhtunkhaw
Hazaristan

Sindh
It be divided in:
Sindh
Jinnahpur (consisting mainly of Karachi)
Makran

Why is Pope Benidict Spreading Hatred?

2010-04-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

To know how is he spreadingg hatred, please click here.
In the following blog, I will try to explain the reasons of his spreading hatred:

One reason is that the pope is not a well educated man, and had perhaps not read the Bible completely. Had he read the Bible, then in order to favour “rationality”, he should have first criticized Bible and Christian God, before criticizing Islam.
The second reason is that the present institute of papacy is heretic and fake. Let me explain it with the help of history.

Pope Embraces Islam

Peter (may God be pleased with him), one of the apostles of Christ (Peace be upon him) was the first in the series Popes. Popes continued to come one after the other, until the last Prophet (Peace be upon him) started his mission in Arabia. After migrating to Madina, he (peace be upon him) wrote letters to different neighboring rulers, including the Pope of his times. His name was Zaghatar (Arabitised form of his name).

On reading the letter of the last Prophet (peace be upon him), and talking to the envoy of the holy Prophet (peace be upon him), the Pope embraced Islam and openly testified the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). It was one his most important religious duties to testify the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Zaghatar fulfilled his duty, and the very act of his embracing Islam ended the institute of Pope and Church. Moreover this act of Zaghatar merged Christianity with Islam, in principle.

Unfortunately his courtiers and followers did not act according to his wish. They killed him. This Zaghatar (may God bestow His Mercy on him) was among the first martyrs of Islam.
After the death of Zaghatar new Pope was appointed; he was obviously a heretic and fake Pope. The reason being that he was among the treacherous courtiers who refused to obey Zaghatar. Since then the institute of fake and heretic papacy came into being. All the Popes from the false successor of Zaghatar to Benedict are heretic and fake.
It is worth mentioning here that according to Quran, it was one of the most important duties of Christ (peace be upon him) to foretell about the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Thus, Pope as the vicegerent of Christ (peace be upon him) and the representative of God, had religious obligation to testify the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Zaghatar perfectly fulfilled his duty.
If the people related to the Church are not in the habit of hiding truth, the account of the martyrdom of Zaghatar could be found in the archives of the Church of Vatican City.

Pakistani Media Is Using Hidustani Instead of Urdu

2010-02-26T23:28:00.001-08:00

Urdu is one of the most important elements of the culture of the Muslims of Indian subcontinent. That is why Quaid-e-Azam declared Urdu as the national language of Pakistan.
As, unfortunately, in last 62 years, we failed to emerge as a living society, we became a victim of severe inferiority complex. It compels us to copy others blindly, just to try to raise our self esteem. Our electronic Urdu media is doing the same these days. Instead of speaking Urdu, the people in Urdu media are using Hindustani, just to copy Indian media. Hindustani is an inferior language and not a standard language, contrary to Hindi and Urdu. It is used for low level everyday communication.
The following table shows that how Hindustani is replacing Urdu in our media:

I wish that we should come out of this inferiority complex, and should start living as a nation which has confidence in herself.
One thing is important to clarify here. By no means I am against evolution of Urdu, through positive interaction with other languages. So when Meeraji says:

کبھی آپ ہنسے، کبھی نین ہنسیں، کبھی نین کے بیچ ہنسے کجرا

کبھی سارا سندر انگ ہنسے، کبھی انگ رکے ہنس دے گجرا

I take it as evolution of Urdu. But when illiterate and semi-literate media persons borrow expressions from Hindustani, it is clearly a deterioration of the language.

Asghar Khan's Letter to the Officers of Defence Services

2010-02-20T02:56:00.000-08:00

Since long, Asghar Khan is blamed for writing a letter to the officers of defence services of Pakistan, and inviting army to impose martial law in Pakistan. Here is the text available in Kausar Niazi's book "Last Days of Premier Bhutto". On reading this letter one concludes that Asghar Khan never invited Pak Army to impose martial law in the country; on the contrary he only asked army officers to perform their duties according to the constitution and the law of the land. (The text of the letter is not complete; I am reproducing it as per I found it in Kausar Niazi's book):

"I am addressing this message to the Chief of Staff and the Officers Defence Services of Pakistan.
It is your duty to defend the territorial integrity of Pakistan and to obey all lawful commands of superior officers placed over you. To differentiate between a ‘lawful’ and an ‘unlawful’ command is the duty of every officer. Every one of you must ask your self whether what the army is doing today is ‘lawful’ activity and if your conscience tells you that it is not and you still carry it out, you would appear to lack moral fibre and would be guilty of a grave crime against your country and your people.
You should by now have realised that military action to East Pakistan was a conspiracy in which the present Prime Minister played a Machiavellian role. You know the circumstance in which military action in Balochistan was engineered and how completely unnecessary this action has been. You are also probably aware of the utterly unnecessary military action taken last year in DIR in the North West Frontier Province. If you have any interest in national affairs you must also be aware that during the election campaign the nation expressed its powerful disapproval of the present regime. Following the People’s reaction of the Government, you should have been surprised at the election result in which the ‘Pakistan National Alliance’..."

This letter shows that the notion that Asghar Khan invited imposition of martial law through this letter is a mere propaganda of PPP and the journalists on the payroll of PPP.

Actually, this advice of Asghar Khan was based on those principles, which were practiced by him in his own professional carrier. In 1942, during serving in Royal Indian Air Force, he refused to carry out an illegal order of a General. In a "Dunya TV" programme "Dunya Today" (15 February 2010) Asghar Khan himself related the account of this incident in these words:

“In 1942 when I was in air force, and I was about 20 or 21. I was ordered to fire machine gun rounds on a caravan of Hurs. At that time I was in Hyderabad. I refused. I looked at the caravan (from my aeroplane); there were women and children in it. I said, I would not kill them. It was not my job. I refused. The British General, who was also the martial law administrator, was present there. He personally ordered me. I replied that I could not do it. He said that you would be court marshalled. I replied okay, go ahead." (Translated from Urdu)

First National Anthem of Paksitan

2010-02-11T05:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the lines of the first National Anthem of Pakistan, written by a Lahore based Hindu poet Jagannath Azad. Quaid-e-Azam asked him on 9 Aug 1947 to write the National Anthem of Paksitan. This National Anthem was approved by Quaid-e-Azam and was played on Radio Paksitan. It remained our National Anthem for 18 months.

اےسر زمینِ پاک

ذرےتیرے ہیں آج

ستاروںسے تابناک

روشن ہے کہکشاں سے

کہیں آج تیری خاک

Amar Shonar Bangla: An Urdu Translation

2010-02-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

"Amar Shonar Bangla" is a marvellous song written by Tagore in 1906, when the British government divided Bengal in two parts, as per their policy of "divide and rule". Its first ten lines were adopted as the national anthem of Bangladesh. It is one of the most beautiful songs written in the love of one's fatherland.

This beautiful song is presented here, along with its Urdu translation. English translation (by Syed Ali Ahsan) and transliteration are also given۔

English Transliteration	English Translation	Urdu translation (منثور اردو ترجمہ)
Amar shonar Bangla, Ami tomae bhalobashi.	My Bengal of Gold, I love you.	میرے سنہرےبنگال میں تیرے پیارمیں ڈوبا ہواہوں
Chirodin tomar akash, Tomar batash, Amar prane bajae bãshi.	Forever your skies, Your air set my heart in tune As if it were a flute.	تیراآکاش، تیری ہوائیں جب بھی میرے دل کو چھوتی ہیں تو یہ بانسری کی طرح نغمےالاپنے لگتاہے
O ma, Phagune tor amer bone Ghrane pagol kôre, Mori hae, hae re, O ma, Ôghrane tor bhôra khete Ami ki dekhechhi modhur hashi.	In spring, O mother mine, The fragrance from your mango groves Makes me wild with joy, Ah, what a thrill! In autumn, O mother mine, In the full blossomed paddy fields I have seen spread all over sweet smiles.	اےمیری دھرتی ماں بہارمیں جب تیری فضاؤں میں آموں کی خوشبو مہکتی ہے تومیں اس کی مستی سے دیوانہ ہوجاتا ہوں اےمیری دھرتی ماں خزاںمیں جب دھان کے کھیت لہلہا اٹھتےہیں تو سب کے چہرےحسین مسکراہٹوںسے دمکنےلگتے ہیں
Ki shobha, ki chhaea go, Ki sneho, ki maea go, Ki ãchol bichhaeechho Bôţer mule, Nodir kule kule!	Ah, what a beauty, what shades, What an affection, and what a tenderness! What a quilt have you spread At the feet of banyan trees And along the banks of rivers!	تونے اپنی خوبصورتی، اپنے سائے، اپنی محبت اوراپنی لطافت کا ایک قالین بچھارکھا ہے برگدکے درختوں کی جڑوں سے اپنےدریاؤں کےکناروں تک
Ma, tor mukher bani Amar kane lage, Shudhar môto, Mori hae, hae re, Ma, tor bôdonkhani molin hole, Ami nôeon jôle bhashi.	O mother mine, words from your lips Are like nectar to my ears. Ah, what a thrill! If sadness, O mother mine, Casts a gloom on your face, My eyes are filled with tears!	اےمیری دھرتی ماں جولفظ تیرےہونٹوں سےنکلیں وہ مجھے شہد سےزیادہ شیریں ہیں اےمیری دھرتی ماں اگرتیرےچہرے پر دکھ کا سایہ بھی پڑے تو میری آنکھوں سےآنسوؤں کی ندیاں رواں ہو جاتی ہیں

Here is the text of this song in Bengali script:

A Summary of Ramayana in Urdu (رامائن کا اردو خلاصہ)

2010-02-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

In Pakistan two inflows of history merge with each other. One is religious, having origin from Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It gives a universal spiritual message for whole humanity. We own it very deeply. The other one is that of the history and culture of our land. We live in Muslim India, which we named Pakistan. This land has a history, along with its culture and traditions, other than that of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. There is no reason to not own this culture and tradition, as far as it does not contradict with our religious teachings.

Some (perhaps all) foolish policymakers of Pakistan want to remove our bonds with our secular history. They believe it is good for Pakistan. But weakening of our links with our secular history cannot serve us in achieving our religious goals.

This summary of the story of a praiseworthy son of the land, Rama, is translated in Urdu as an effort to revive our links with our secular history.

دسرتھ اجودھیا کا راجا تھا۔ بد قسمتی سے راجا بے اولاد تھا۔ تخت کے وارث کے حصول کے لیے اس نے دیوتاؤں سے دعا کی۔ دیوتاؤں نے اسے ایک مقدس مشروب پیش کیا۔ یہ مشروب راجا کی تینوں رانیوں نے بھی پیا۔ چنانچہ تینوں رانیوں نے چار راجکماروں کو جنم دیا۔ یعنی رام، لکشمن اور شتروگھن (جو جڑواں تھے) اور بھرت۔ رام سب سے بڑا تھا اور اس کی پرورش بطور ولی عہد کے کی گئی۔ سب بھائیوں میں بہت اتفاق تھا، مگر لکشمن کی رام سے محبت بہت گہری تھی۔ رام جب بڑا ہوا تو اس کی شادی ویدہ کے راجا جانک کی بیٹی سیتا سے ہوئی۔

<راجا دسرتھ جب بوڑھا ہو گیا تو اس نے سوچا کہ وہ راج پاٹ سے علیحدہ ہو جائے اور رام کو تخت سونپ دے۔ مگر راجا کی سب سے چھوٹی رانی کیکئی نے دسرتھ کو یاد دلایا کہ اس نے ایک مرتبہ اسے قول دیا تھا کہ وہ اس کی کوئی بھی دو خواہشات پورا کرے گا۔ کیکئی نے خواہش ظاہر کی کہ رام کوچودہ سال کے لیے جنگل میں بھیج دیا جائے (بن باس دے دیا جائے) اور اس کے بیٹے بھرت کو تخت سونپ دیا جائے۔ اس عرصے میں یہ احتیاط لازم رکھی جائے کہ رام بھرت کی حکمرانی میں دخل اندازی نہ کرنے پائے۔ راجا دسرتھ اپنا قول نبھانے پر مجبور تھا۔ چنانچہ رام کی تاج پوشی کی تیاریاں روک دی گئیں۔ رام کی خواہش تھی کہ وہ اکیلا ہی بن باس لے، مگر اس کی بیوی سیتا اور بھائی لکشمن اس پر کسی طور تیار نہ تھے۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ جہاں رام ہو گا وہی ان کا وطن اجودھیا ہو گا۔

چنانچہ ان تینوں نے بن باس لے لیا۔ اس دوران رام کے دوسرے دو بھائی، بھرت اور شتروگھن اتفاقاً ملک سے باہر گئے ہوئے تھے۔ رام کے بن باس لینے کے بعد دسرتھ بیمار رہنے لگا اور کچھ عرصے بعد مر گیا۔ اس کے مرنے پر بھرت اور شتروگھن کو واپس اپنی سلطنت میں بلایا گیا۔ ان کے واپس آنے پر جب بھرت کو معلوم ہوا کہ کس طرح اس کی ماں نے رام کو اس کی خاطر بن باس دلوایا ہے تو اسے سخت رنج ہوا۔ اس نے عہد کیا کہ وہ رام کو واپس بلوا کر تخت اس کے حوالے کر دے گا۔ لہٰذا وہ رام کی تلاش میں نکل کھڑا ہوا۔ بہت ہی دشواریوں اور جوکھم کےبعد اس کی رام سے ملاقات ہوئی۔ بھرت نے اسے اجودھیا آنے کے لیے کہا۔ مگر رام نے اس کی یہ درخواست یہ کہہ کر مسترد کردی کہ چودہ سال سے پہلے اجودھیا آنا اس کے باپ کے حکم کی خلاف ورزی ہو گی۔ بھرت اس پر بہت غمگین ہوا۔ آخر طے پایا کہ بھرت رام کی جوتیاں اپنے ساتھ اجودھیا لے جائے اور انہیں رام کی علامت کے طور پر تخت پر رکھ کر اس کے ماتحت کے طور پر حکومت کرے۔

رام، سیتا اور لکشمن کے چودہ سال کے بن باس کی داستان بہت طویل ہے۔ اس دوران کبھی ان کی ملاقات بڑے بڑے درویشوں اور سادھؤوں سے ہوتی ہےجو اس صعوبت میں خوشگواری پیدا کرنے کا باعث بنتی ہے، تو کبھی انہیں بڑے بڑے خطروں اور آزمائشوں کا مقابلہ کرنا پڑتا ہے۔رام اور لکشمن اس دوران ان راکھشسوں (شیاطین،بدروح) کا بھی مقابلہ کرتے ہیں جو جنگلوں میں مجاہدوں اور چلوں میں مصروف تارک الدنیا عبادت گزاروں کو تنگ کرتے ہیں۔ سورپانک ایک ایسی ہی راکھشس تھی۔ رام اور لکشمن نے جب اس کے شر کی وجہ سے اس کی خبر لی تو اس نے بدلہ لینے کی ٹھان لی۔

سورپانک کا بھائی راون شیطانی قوتوں کاحامل ایک بہت طاقتور راکھشس اور لنکا کا راجا تھا۔ سورپانک نے راون کو سیتا کے حسن و جمال کے متعلق بتایا۔ سیتا کے حسن و جمال کے متعلق سن کر راون نے تہیہ کر لیا کہ وہ سیتا کو حاصل کر کے رہے گا۔ اس کے شیطانی ذہن نے ایک منصوبہ بنایا۔ اس نے اپنے چچا مریچ کو اپنے منصوبہ سے آگاہ کیا۔ چنانچہ مریچ نے ایک خوبصورت ہرن کا روپ دھارا اور جنگل کے جس حصہ میں رام، لکشمن اور سیتا رہتے تھے، لگا وہاں گھومنے۔ سیتا کو ہرن بہت اچھا لگا۔ اس نے رام سے کہا کہ وہ اسے پکڑ لائے تاکہ اسے پال لیا جائے۔ رام ہرن کے تعاقب میں روانہ ہوا۔ کافی دور نکل جانے کے بعد رام کو محسوس ہوا کہ دال میں کچھ کالا ہے۔ چنانچہ اس نے ہرن کو پکڑنے کی بجائے اسے تیر سے ہلاک کر دیا۔ ہرن جو اصل میں مریچ تھا، نے مرتے مرتے رام کی آواز بنا کر سیتا اور لکشمن کو مدد کے لیے پکارا۔ وہ لوگ سمجھے کہ رام کسی مصیبت میں گرفتار ہو گیا ہے۔ چنانچہ لکشمن رام کی مدد کو بھاگا۔ سیتا اب اکیلی رہ گئی۔ راون اسی موقع کے انتظار میں تھا۔ وہ آیا اور سیتا کو اٹھا کر لنکا لے گیا۔ رام اور لکشمن جب واپس آئے تو سیتا کو نہ پا کر سخت پریشان ہوئے۔ ناگاہ ان کی نظر آسمان کی طرف اٹھی تو انہوں نے دیکھا کہ راون سیتا کو اٹھا کر جنوب کی جانب اڑتا چلا جا رہا ہے۔

<انہوں نے سیتا کو راون کی قید سے چھڑانے کا عہد کیا۔ وہ اسی طرف روانہ ہوئے جدھر انہوں نے راون کو جاتے دیکھا تھا۔ چلتے چلتے وہ کشکندا پہنچے۔ یہاں ان کی دوستی بندروں کے ایک گروہ کے سردار سگریو سے ہو گئی۔ یہاں انہیں سیتا کے زیورات کی ایک پوٹلی ملی۔ اس سے ان کے اس خیال کو تقویت ملی کہ وہ درست سمت میں سفر کر رہے ہیں۔ سیتا نے یہ پوٹلی جان بوجھ کر گرائی تھی، تاکہ اسے تلاش کرنے والوں کو اندازہ رہے کہ راون اسے کس طرف لے جا رہا ہے۔ سگریو نے بندروں کی ٹولیاں چار اطراف روانہ کیں تاکہ راون کے متعلق پتہ لگایا جا سکے۔ بندروں کی جو ٹولی جنوب کی سمت روانہ ہوئی اس میںسگریو کا وزیرہنومان بھی تھا۔ ہنو مان ہوا کے دیوتا کا بیٹا تھا اور مافوق الفطرت طاقتوں کا مالک تھا۔ ہنومان جب ہندوستان کے انتہائی جنوب میں پہنچا تو اسے اپنا سفر روکنا پڑا کیونکہ آگے سمندر تھا۔ آخر اس نے اپنی مافوق الفطرت طاقتوں کا استعمال کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا اور چھلانگ لگا کر لنکا پہنچ گیا۔ یہاں اس نے سیتا کو راون کی قید میں پایا۔ اس نے اسے تسلی دی۔ ہنومان واپس ہوا اور رام، لکشمن اور بندروں کی فوج لے کر ایک پل کے ذریعہ لنکا پہنچا۔ راون کی فوج اور بندروں کی فوج میں شدید جنگ ہوئی۔ یہ جنگ اٹھارہ ماہ طویل تھی۔ اس جنگ میں راون کو شکست ہوئی اور اس کی سلطنت تباہ کر دی گئی۔ سیتا کو آزاد کروا لیا گیا۔ رام نے یہ یقین کرنے کے لیے کہ اس دوران سیتا نے اپنی عفت پر کوئی آنچ نہیں آنے دی اسے آگ کے الاؤ سے گزرنے کا حکم دیا۔ سیتا بغیر کسی گزند پہنچے آگ کے الاؤ سے گزر گئی۔

اس دوران بن باس کے چودہ سال مکمل ہو چکے تھے۔ چنانچہ رام واپس اجودھیا آ گیا اور اس نے تخت سنبھال لیا۔ اس نے کئی سال ایک مثالی عادل حکمران کی طرح حکومت کی۔ رام کے ہاں دو بیٹے پیدا ہوئے۔ لاوا اور کوشا۔ کہتے ہیں کہ لاہور اور قصور شہر کے نام رام کے انہی دو بیٹوں پر رکھے گئے ہیں۔

ہندو اپنا تہوار دیوالی رام کی بن باس سے واپسی کی خوشی میں مناتے ہیں۔

In Bang-e-Dara, Iqbal wrote these couplets as a tribute to Rama:

ہے رام کے وجود پہ ہندوستاں کو ناز

اہل نظر سمجھتے ہيں اس کو امام ہند

اعجاز اس چراغ ہدايت کا ہے يہي

روشن تر از سحر ہے زمانے ميں شام ہند

تلوار کا دھني تھا ، شجاعت ميں فرد تھا

پاکيزگي ميں ، جوش محبت ميں فرد تھا

If you liked this post you'll also like Krishana.

کرشن چندر جی کی کہانی اردو میں پڑھنے کے لیے یہاں کلک کریں۔

Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Secularism & Quran

2010-01-29T06:19:00.000-08:00

Supreme Court of Bangladesh in his decision (3 Jan 2010) declared the fifth amendment of the constitution of Bangladesh illegal. (Click here for detailed news). Along with others, one consequence of this decision is that the secular status of Bangladesh is restored.

Secularism is Kufr (disbelief in God) according to clear injunctions of Quran. Quran declares:

“…and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.” (5: 44)
“…And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.” (5:45)
“…And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.” (5:47)

The religion-based political parties functioning in the country stands to be outlawed in the light of this judgment. Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said since the High Court judgment invalidating Fifth Amendment stands operational through reviving the fundamentals of the 1972 Constitution, "None would in any way be allowed to use religion as political instrument".
I agree that no one should be allowed to use religion as political instrument. But, similarly no one should use the name of humanity, nationalism, progress, human rights etc. as political instrument. And how can it be decided that if a party is using the religion for achieving political ends or it is using politics for achieving religious ends. As there is no harm in using politics for humanity, progress and human rights etc. what is the harm in using politics for meeting religious ends?

Here I want to pay tribute to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which in his famous decision against NRO validated Objectives Resolution (Article 2-A of Constitution). This resolution passed by the founders of Pakistan ensures supremacy of Quran in principle and democracy as working code of the country.

A Criticism on the Views and Knowledge Of Pr. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar

2010-01-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

I am reproducing a part of the critique of the views and knowledge of Pr. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar, from my website A Criticism on the Views and Knowledge Of Pr. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar.

Many a times, Prof Akhtar will try to show that modern scientific theories can be inferred from Quran and Hadith. The basic flaw in this approach is failing to appreciate that all scientific theories are rigorous as well as falsifiable. On the other hand, when Quran and Hadith narrate something about the universe, they narrate in allegorical way. Secondly what they say are not falsifiable. All scientific theories are fallible and subject to a constant change. Quran is not fallible, according to Muslim belief.
Professor Akhtar is also criticized for expressing such notions, which are not correct scientifically. He frequently refers to scientific facts, but quotes them erroneously. For example in his book, Pas-e-Hijab, he claims that in the galaxies other than ours, the faculty of human senses ceases to exist. On another occasion he maintains that if the force of gravity ceases to exist, the moon and the earth will collide. It is perfectly in contradiction to what science claims. As a matter of fact, if force of gravity is no longer there, the moon will cease to orbit around the earth. It will start moving away from the earth. Similarly he quotes scientific data in quite a misleading and erroneous way. He quotes that the thickness of earth and that of mountains on it is 2.7. (He does not mention any units of thickness here). It is wrong, the fact being that 2.7 is the average specific gravity of the rocks of the lithosphere. His books and orations are full of such scientific mistakes.
To read the complete critique, please click the following links:
Criticism on the Religious Views of Prof. Akhtar
Criticism on the Knowledge of Science of Prof. Akhtar
A Responce to Javed Choudhary on his Introduction of Prof. Ahmed Rafique Sb

Avatar--Film Review

2010-01-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

Avatar is a Hollywood science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It is a very successful movie in commercial terms, as it has become second highest-grossing film of all times worldwide within three weeks of its release.

My Comments

It is a movie with a heap of visual technology on the back of a very ordinary, plain, predictive and formulaic story. The story is stereotype, and can be summed up as the following.

There are two groups of people in the movie. Good people and bad people. There is a treasure hidden in the dwelling of good people, but they don’t know it. Bad people want to get this treasure at any cost. They send some of their spies to the dwelling of the good people. One of the spies, Jake Sully, falls in love with a girl from among the people of good ones. Good people admit Sully in their group. Bad people attack good people out of their brutality. Sully takes the side of good people. In the last war between the good and the bad people, bad people are defeated, in spite of all of their technological advancement over the good people.The story takes a mild turn when the confidence of good people on Sully is shaken, but very soon it is restored again.

The story and the science fiction in the movie could not be integrated successfully. A person can sum up the whole story without referring to anything related to that part which could be called science fiction, as I have done above.
The environment of Pandora, its creatures: hominids, animals and plants, landscape etc all are shown very intelligently. Obviously a lot of imagination, hard work, state-of-the-art technology and huge budget is involved. But all that was created, though unique and imaginative, was not pleasant. The overall impact was unpleasant and dreadful.
Like most of the stereotype movies of Hollywood it was full of violence.
It seems that the movie alludes towards an attempt of Americans, on subconscious level, to try to analyse the unexpected and surprising resistance faced in Afghanistan.

Scientific Facts
The movie is about invasion of Americans in Pandora. At a distance of 4.37 light years (41 million million km) there is a triple star system called Alpha Centauri. They are the nearest stars from earth, after the sun. Pandora is a hypothetical moon of some hypothetical planet of this system.

Apollo 11, which carried first man to our moon in 1969, had an average speed of 5,500 km/hr (or 1.53 km/second). Average distance of the moon from the earth is 384,403 km. Apollo 11 can cover this distance in 69.9 hours. Avatar is a story of 2154 AD. Suppose in 2154 we have a spaceship with a speed 10 times greater than that of Apollo 11. With this speed our spaceship will reach Pandora in approximately 85,750 years.

Some of the Reviews the Film Received
Most of the reviews are generally positive.

Culture Kiosque wrote, “But the really depressing aspect of the whole saga is still more fundamental. The Navi may be tall, strong, nimble, eco-savvy and intelligent (for the sake of our human "heroes," some even conveniently speak English). But the plot inevitably requires an American Earthling (or rather his virtual avatar) to come to the rescue, taking charge of his new-found exotic friends in order to save them.”
Hollywood Reporter wrote, “A dozen years later, James Cameron has proven his point: He is king of the world.”

The National Business Review wrote, “Avatar is saddled with the oldest and most predictable plot in the world, but still delivers an astonishing spectacle.”

In The New York Times a letter is published which criticising the movie opines, “Instead, “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world.”

My Views About Nawaz Sharif (Jan 2010)

2010-01-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

In my view Nawaz Sharif is chronologically third politician among Muslims of this region who enjoyed such an overwhelming political support. The first two being Jinnah and Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto also had vast support, but she was not the creator of this support. She was an heir of it.

Nawaz Sharif entered into the politics in early 1980’s. First he joined Asghar Khan’s Tehrik-e-Istiqlal. Soon he realised that the party is devoid of any potential of growth. In those days Zia’s martial law was imposed in Pakistan. No political forum was available for newcomers having extraordinary talent. So Nawaz Sharif adopted the same approach that was used by his predecessor Bhutto. He joined the government as finance minister of Punjab, under martial law regime. After non-party based general elections of 1985, he was made chief minister of Punjab. This was the beginning of his popularity. Until now he has an experience of more than 25 years of practical politics. It is more than that of Bhutto. This adds a lot of positive characteristics in his politics. I can describe the pros and cons of his personality as a politician as under:

Since 1990, he has stared taking anti-establishment stance. PML(N) is the only considerable party in Pakistan which is anti-establishment.
His politics does not thrive on creating and fuelling hatred among different groups of society, whether they are defined by religion or economy.
He has grown a sense of respect for his political opponents. A trait not found in his predecessors.
He is not in favour of increasing the temperature of political scenario.
He has acquired the quality of patience also, something rare in our politicians.
He is wiser than his predecessors, almost equally intelligent, but unfortunately less sharper than them.
He has a shy and less confident personality. No doubt, in recent past, he has much improved.
He is more democratic than his predecessors.
Unlike his predecessors, he is less egoistic.
He has the ability to tolerate opposition and difference of opinions.
He is not secular and westernised. There is a great allegation on Jinnah that he was secular and westernised. Similarly, though Bhutto was not secular, a fact evident from his books and the Constitution of 1971, that was made under his guidance; he was much westernised. In contrast to both of them, Nawaz Sharif is neither secular nor westernised.
Bhutto was an intellectual, but Nawaz Sharif is not. Bhutto was a very well read person. But he is not. This is one of the drawbacks of his personality.
Unlike Jinnah and Bhutto his verbal expression and communication skills are not up to the mark.

Following are some of the challenges; Nawaz Sharif has to face, at this time of the history:

What is the most efficient way of doing the role of opposition leader in prevalent situation?
What stance to adopt if Supreme Court gives decision against Zardari to oust him from Presidency?
What stance to adopt if US continues to pressurise Pakistan more and more regarding problem of Taliban and terrorism?
And the greatest challenge is---what if in the next general elections nation gives him the chance to rule? Do his team and he have intelligence, wisdom and capability to deliver?