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My Pakistan trip
Thursday January 10, 2013 01:43:58 PM,
Ram Puniyani
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Invitation
The invitation to attend the seminar on South Asian Minorities in
Islamabad, Pakistan and other meetings in Karachi, promised to be
an exciting affair, as apart from other things it might have been
an opportunity to see the ‘enemy country’ in person. I thought of
combining the visit to Islamabad and Karachi with a trip to Jhang,
the place where I was born, slightly before the tragedy of
partition. I realized VISA to Pakistan is quite a difficult task
as VISA for each city is to be obtained separately so I dropped
the idea of going to Jhang and restricting my visit to Islamabad
and Karachi for which I had the invitations. The discussion about
the proposed trip to Pakistan with friends and relatives had a
standard response, ohh… you are going to Pakistaaaaaan… be
careful! The impression being given was not only that it is
Pakistan, which is masterminding all the terror operations in
India, not only that it’s a country with terrorists strolling the
street and killing people at will but also that it is an ‘enemy
country’ due to its wars against India, its meddling in the issues
of India and it harboring the terror dens by the dozen.
Islamabad
Islamabad sounded like an exclusive ‘Capital city’ with non
Government employees being a small fraction of the population in
the city. We could see the Raval Lake, from the nearby beautiful
hill. The lake separates this capital city from the nearby
Ravalpindi. What came as a pleasant surprise was the feeling of
being at home in the city, the language spoken, the people, the
warmth and affection and the food all gave the pleasant feeling of
being very much at home. While one learnt that the plight of
minorities is dismal in most of the South Asian countries on which
the papers were presented in the seminar, one also realized that
the human rights activists in Pakistan are very vocal and are
keeping the torch of democratic values aflame with great courage
and sincerity.
The banquet hosted by organizers was an occasion to interact with
the well known names in Human Rights movements from Pakistan, like
I.A. Rahman. Could lay my hands on Rahman’s booklet, ‘Pakistan:
Neither A State nor a Nation’ which gives a very accurate
understanding of the state which came into being more due to the
machinations of colonial powers than for the aspirations of
average Muslims. Incidentally majority of Muslims and particularly
the poorer lot, the artisans, farmers stood against the idea of
Pakistan.
The banquet dinner was a surprise for another reason also. In the
middle of the lovely food and equally engrossing conversation, I
had been so lost in the homeliness of milieu and the accompanying
songs from my favorite old Hindi films that I had to tell myself
oh I am not in India but am in Pakistan. The singing troupe
playing the music was very good and the choice of songs from old
Hindi films was a real treat of the day.
India’s Soft Power in the Region
Staying in Karachi was a different ball game. Here one was in the
middle of different communities staying in different localities.
The segregation of communities along geographical lines is a bit
different than what is the phenomenon of ghettotization of Muslim
community in many a cities in India. Karachi with its broad roads
and slow traffic reminded me of our own Mumbai nearly five decades
ago. Conversation with taxi derivers’ is so much revealing about
the things in a city. My driver was a young man from Peshawar. He
had to come to Karachi due to the Taliban nuisance. Taliban, in a
true fundamentalist fashion, are imposing dress-beard code on the
people and are killing people for any slight disobedience. This
young man told me that they used to organize Music and dance, week
long celebrations at the wedding times. Now Taliban has put a sort
of ban on that. The Taliban intimidation is forcing large segments
of population to shift from Peshawar to Karachi in particular. He
also informed about what many Indian writers are calling as soft
power of India, the Bollywood. For this young man, three Khans of
our Bollywood are semi gods, like he celebrated when Shah Rukh
Khan’s team won in IPL and he sported Mangal Pandey moustache and
kept the hairs like Mangal Pandey as depicted in the film. It’s no
secret that Hindi films and Indian music are a craze there.
Malyalee Comrade in Karachi
I happened to meet innumerable friends who are struggling it out
not only to strengthen democracy but also to build bridges with
India. One remarkable Comrade from our Kerala, B.M. Kutty is a
very popular figure in Karachi. Kutty Sahib, as he is generally
addressed there is part of most of the progressive campaigns and
movements, shaping and guiding the younger lot into the values
needed for a democratic society and secular sate. This Malyalee
doyen is there from last six decades and his autobiography is
aptly titled, ‘Six Decades of exile: No regrets’. Other friends
and comrades from media, trade unions and Karachi University were
not only warm but also expressed how much they long for the state
of affairs where military can be packed off to the barracks and
civilian society is able to have its say through the democratic
government.
The very concept of Islamic state also meets its nemesis in the
form of Mohajir Qaumi Movement, supported by many Muslims who left
for Pakistan from India. They could not get due rights in Pakistan
and are now organized enough to get represented in Pakistan Senate
and corporations. The legendary Karachi press club has been able
to maintain its independence, despite the pressure of military and
it keeps inviting the diverse speakers to speak about their views
on matters controversial, on the lines which may be against the
ideas of ruling cliques. One of the favorite themes of talks there
was, ‘Shared heritage: Common aspirations’, where the commonality
of our cultural past was highlighted and a need for broad
cooperation between these two so called ‘enemy nations’ is
articulated in a very positive manner.
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