Thursday, October 15, 2020
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
I am sorry Naseer saheb…
I am sorry Naseer saheb... I did not know that my simple request, which you so kindly obliged to, would turn into a hate fest against you. I was there when you said, you were not scared, but angry at things in current India; I thought you just said what you felt, with no filters. I thought what you said was probably how a lot of people in India are probably feeling right now. But I guess, this lot as always got overpowered by the ranting voices of the few, and more to blame, the few powerful media channels, who distorted all you said, selectively picking half sentences and persecuting you with their concocted lies, and twisted hunger for sensationalism.
But I am glad, a few from this powerful media community remained sane and tried clearing the air. But, alas! The ranting, the fake crying foul noises, ended up slinging much mud on you and pulling you to the front page of newspapers in such an unseemly manner. Ah! if only I hadn’t requested you to contribute to the story on Katha Kathan; if only I had not brought along the journalist to your home to do this interview in-person; if only he hadn’t asked your opinion on your how you feel about the communalised situations that spring up in India, every now and then nowadays; if only Karawaan-e-Mohabbat had decided not to run this part of the interview…
Then again, I get angry too, just as you said you do, to think of what has my tolerant, and secular India come to… why are we making Sahir’s lines ‘Mitti ka bhi hai mol magar, insaanon ki keemat kuch bhi nahi’ ring true, all over again. You were right when you said, why should any Muslim use the shroud of religion to remain in the regressive shadows? Why should we Muslims not feel persecuted all the time? I share your anger at having to prove my loyalty again and again to my country, and why should I? this is my motherland. I share my anger with you, when some bigots believe they have the right to banish you or me or anyone else they like to Pakistan or anywhere else. I am in as much anguish as you, when innocent, ‘bezubaan’ cows are propped up every now and then as an excuse to lynch fathers, sons, brothers in the name of religion and yes, it is anguishing to see how more and more election results are the consequence of manipulated post-truth.
It saddens me that I am, and many of those belonging to my generation, and the generation after me, are responsible for all that is, as it is today. Somewhere we failed, in probably teaching our youngsters the ability to differentiate the right from wrong, the ability to remove the chaff from the grain, the ability to question based on logic, the ability to look at two sides of a narrative, so as not to be swayed by rhetoric... It hurts that these lines, penned by a Pakistani shayar seem to taunt me, mock me with their truth
“Wo jahalat jo hum pe sadiyon se taari thi,
Aapke dwaar pahunchi
Badhai, ho badhai”
But as is the nature of hope, I too say goodbye to 2018, and look forward to the new year, just about an hour away, humming to myself “Wo subah kabhi toh aayegi…”, as I eagerly await for the glory of another brand new morning, with the hope that I never ever have to say “I am sorry Naseer saheb” again.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
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