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The Ruled Ones
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| Pakistan |
It is 100th birth anniversary of that mystic poet "Faiz Ahmad Faiz" who said these prophetic lines. Roughly translated as "The time when all crowns will roll and all thrones will be trampled...we shall see that time". The lines are taken from one of his most famous poem which is titled as "The destiny for us is to watch that time"
Muslim world has long been ruled by despots (whether military dictators, kings, religious fanatics and even democratic dictators). But it is also a trait of Muslim nations and their people that despite being subjugated and repressed for more than two centuries by various dictators, they keep coming out and forcing change. The irony is that whenever, we the people come out and change become inevitable, the change is again engineered to suit the interests of big players in the game. And yet, we, the people keep coming out and forcing change. They have been relentless in imposing their agendas but we have been tireless as well in resisting their designs and disturbing their equations time and again. All of us know what I mean by big players and "they". But as we have believe in ourselves...we should rest assured that "WE" shall always struggle to get our birthright, to become masters of our destinies. If not us, our children and our grandchildren and theirs...Our struggles and those of our fathers have written it in our bloods to continue struggling. We may be poor, backward, impoverished but we are not cowards and courage less for sure.
Pakistan in its 60 years history has seen the people's struggle many times. Our generation is the proud owner of legacy of "Lawyers movement" which toppled a dictator and restored the true justices to their rightful place. But what is also a collective treasure of other Muslim nations, us and the whole mankind is the way muslims from various countries have struggled to rid themselves of imposed rulers. It was heartening last year to see how central Asian nations made their rulers flee and it is also encouraging to see the struggle of Tunisians and Egyptians in making their rulers leave the reigns of governments. I, a few days back read a statement by an unknown egyptian on twitter and it made me feel like 20 years younger due to the fact that every word written reflected upon the courage and moral strength of those who had stood up against their dictator. The line read as "Mubarak...we never had a living "ex" president in Egypt...Gamal died as president while Saddat was assassinated as president...but God willing, we shall soon have a living "ex" president...President (EX) Hosni Mubarak". Such peaceful demonstrations, such commitment, such strength of character as exhibited by those protesting in Egypt has made me proud for being a Muslim and being a human.
I don't subscribe to the notion that imperialism and great powers were now willing to sacrifice these rulers. True that the outcome may have been engineered by these powers yet it was the heroic and brave struggle of people which forced these powers to make alternate arrangements. Otherwise, these rulers were deeply engrained withing the system, ruling for several decades, preparing their heir apparent and serving the interests of their masters quite well. It is ultimately "the people", the common man, the unemployed, the dreamer, the poet, the visionary, the street hawker, the farmer who has overthrown these despots.
Today's blog is a salute to all of the "PEOPLE" in Egypt, Tunisia, Algiers, Morocco, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Pakistan and everywhere who have strived and sacrificed their lives to win back their god given rights from those imposed by others. And who have promised to keep striving to win these rights back no matter how many times their sacrifices are engineered and tampered with. To martyrs of Egypt and Tunisia... For those who understand urdu...
لازم ہے کہ ہم بھی دیکھیں گے
وہ دن کہ جیسس کا وعدہ ہے
جو لوح ازل میں لکھا ہے
جب ظلم و ستم کے کوہ گراں
روئی کی طرح اڑ جائیں گے
ہم مخدوموں کے پاؤں تلے
جب دھرتی دھڑ دھڑ دھڑکے گی
اور اہل حکم کے سر اوپر
جب بجلی کڑ کڑ کڑکے گی
جب ارض خدا کے کعبے سے سب بت اٹھواے جائیں گے
جب اہل صفا، مردود حرم
مسند پہ بٹھاۓ جائیں گے
سب تاج اچھالے جایئں گے
سب تخت گراۓ جایئں گے
بس نام رہے گا الله کا
جو غائب بھی ہے - حاضر بھی
جو منظر بھی ہے - ناظر بھی
اور راج کرے گی خلق خدا
جو میں بھی ہوں --- اور تم بھی ہو
لازم ہے کہ ہم بھی دیکھیں گے
[Translation]
The destiny is That We Shall Also See
That Day Which Has Been Promised
Which Is Written With God's Ink
When The Mountains Of Cruelty And Torture
Will Fly Like Pieces Of Cotton
Under The Feet Of The Governed
This Earth Will Quake
And Over The Head Of The Ruler
When Lightening Will Thunder
All The Idols Will Be Shattered
Us People Standing In The Mosque
Will Be Elevated To A Higher Platform
All The Crowns Will Be Tossed
All The Thrones Will Be Toppled
Then Only God's Name Will Remain
Who Is Both Absent And Present
Who Is Both The Observer And The View Itself
When The Anthem Of Truth Will Be Raised
Who I Am And You Are As Well
And The People Of God Will Reign
Who I Am And You Are As Well
We Shall See
It Is Destiny That We Shall Also See
We Shall See
Andrew Hughes is a writer and avid cricket watcher who has always retained a healthy amount of cricketing wit intact inside him...In one of his writings about world cup and Pakistani squad that is participating in it...he came with perhaps the wittiest commentary yet on Pak squad...these are his lines that appeared on ESPN Cricinfo website recently
Shahid Afridi thinks that Pakistan are dangerous. I disagree. A tamer set of green-clad cricketers you will rarely see. Shoaib Akhtar is an ageing rockstar, Younis Khan and Misbah ul-Haq are as sensible as a stout pair of brogues and even the captain is on his best behaviour. They’re about as dangerous as a Sunday afternoon in Bournemouth. And frankly, all this harmony, discipline and focus is dull, dull, dull; we get more than enough of that from the other teams. Loosen up, Shahid, and do something silly!
