Qudratullah Shahab

'I yearn to explicate the motive behind my fervour to that document etc’. In this respect one of my idol is a high profile commoner of the past, late ICS officer Qudratullah Shahab. For he- according to few- in terms of success has conquered both the world and hereafter, given his key postings in bureaucratic high offices and his humble and pro-poor policies as a manager. Howsoever, mystical promotions made by him and his acolyte Mumtaz Mufti in their repertoires have been in question ever since. In my contention there could be three possibilities  for these mystical disclosures;( 1) they intentionally gave their manuscripts taste of fiction for seeking fame, (2) they underwent some psychological quiver, (3) all that they reported was factually correct. On that account my point is: discarding their scrolls as just fiction and equating their pointers to “fifth axis” as mere ploy for popularity would be harsh. Especially when, when we keep in mind the conviction, integrity and truthfulness of the two. Since former as an officer and a down-to-earth person was highly regarded and is widely accepted (beyond scope of my discussion). The latter as writer is known to be nastily candid in his style and had gained fair turf in the writers’ union earlier than he started contemplating on mysticism in his writings. Specifically, if one analyse ‘Alipur ka Aealy’ .First part of his biography written when he was not mysticized. The book had gained reasonable success and was nominated for Adamjee Prize .In this book he spoke truth to that level of cruelty and libel for himself and people closely related to him and had not spared anyone. In this context it is somewhat hard for me to reduce it to plain trick of attractiveness and distortion of fact.

Notwithstanding that fact that I personally believe them to be actual. The questions remains: what the two underwent was the product of psychological resonation, hallucination as being termed by renowned officer, writer and US base columnist of Daily Times and Friday Times Mr. Khalid Hassan. Or, was it a stroke of mysticism. Opinion of the leading analyst cannot be just ignored and ought to be lent credence as he -along with many others- has his methodical arguments otherwise. So... its is for the purpose of attaining synthesis of all these theses and antitheses I am dwelling in to all those related readings and opinions. Essentially trying to reconcile with that phenomena scientifically. I don’t know to what extent I will succeed.

Civilization: Fountainhead of Divinity

Dr. Michael Murphy proposes “Civilizationism encompasses two distinct but interdependent strands of development : one technical and scientific, the other relating to different aspects of the human character or intellect. In scientific terms civilization refers to a society’s technological and organizational capacity to dominate its environment and thereby increase its security, power and prosperity. In its second sense it refers to something like the cultivation of those traits or characteristics which are uniquely human or definitive of human excellence.”

But, the point to ponder is whether a grown civilization permits its inhabitants to export & apply their personal mores extravagantly. answer is plain & simple NO as civilizational experience is one thing, civilizationism is another. Culture is one thing, culturism is another. Personal bias is one thing, objectivity is another. Uncalled for criticism is one thing, expression of genuine grievances is another. It’s astounding how some ill-informed non-resident/overseas brown  people with Pakistani origin, having little experience with the condition on ground, nominal relevance with the country, opine - read badmouth - fluently on the state and people of Pakistan.

Pejoratively tagging the residents as local-brands they presume that people here in Pakistan are semi-civilized and semi-literate half-wit nincompoops living in the Stone Age, until proven otherwise.Buck doesn't stops here, they want these locals to remain connected with their superior form of race fellows only to plead innocence for every action from national to family politics - before whom to plead innocence, the ones who presume them ignorant and uncultured morons. 

The same “highly educated”, out-of-bound non-Pakistanis persist – which their white counterparts abandoned some time ago- with the old  habit of seeing others through colonial prism. The ones who had long ago abandoned their roots and fatherland thanks to their forays of materialistic asylum abroad.

For they have the honour of living in civilized worlds, judges in their own cause, these prosecutors and juries have divine right of prosecution and judgement  Civilization is the source rather fountainhead of their divinity. When some free soul shows them this mirror, their cats come out of the bags.  They obligingly reply that not all but ‘few’ - read majority - of Pakistanis are illiterate, dimwit, uncivilized and uninformed.

The problem is this very mindset that believes that not all but some read majority of Pakistanis are semi-literate half-wit nincompoops of stone-age, rather they have to be in sync to the linking of their civilized brethren. In doing so they forget that same idiotic personifications could have been present on their side -actually not their but ‘white’s side’- as well. They are there in every culture and society. A fact which must not be overlooked.

Plus, to their apologetic outlook towards their fellow white-skins, they cannot bear those people who go there for the purpose of education and earning livelihoods for their families back, those who send remittances to their homeland, and those who remain concerned with their country.

People born with opportunity better express gratitude before almighty Allah rather criticizing these travailed segments. In spite of acknowledging and valuing these self-made individuals who generally have to start from the scratch - be it working in takeaways or let it be doing any odd job. They target them and censure these toiling and hardship-facing majority of overseas Pakistanis. As if it brings shame to their skin. Let’s hope if science and technological progress can help them in achieving this end. One could only wish if they could change the color of their skin!

"Most immigrants have this culture of hating their homeland cultures. Rushdi was its extreme example. Their hatred of Islam,  Pakistan and India is for some strong emotional reasons. But their love for West is fake as well as their hatred for east."

-       Naseer Ahmed Mirza

Follow @abuzar37

Sanity & Clarity

To its ‘go slow’ policy PML N is certainly moving cautiously over the matters pertaining to the over-stretched state architecture but for the clear headedness of its leader MNS over the right of ‘real governance’ and for his decision to watch over the foreign and defence policies by himself leading anchor Hamid Mir has rightly alarmed about gearing up of the country’s deep state against a government with a clear-cut mandate.

The fears that he has expressed largely relates to the possible creation of unrest in the country’s economic hub Karachi, fanning of spat among nationalist political parties and separatists of Balochistan,  stimulating  a media infight, channelling of black money through renowned mafias to disseminate filth in media and politics.The worries are further lent credence when they are read with: (1) the irresponsible threats of agitation by the political parties that hold power in a major province; (2) news of slander, abduction, torture and elimination of judges and lawyers pursuing high-profile cases; (3) Presidential speech before the parliament, with the particular reference to the essential restrains among the organs of state, emphasizing the need for unification of democratic forces in order to reduce space for  dictatorship and for discouraging anti-democratic clusters .

Albeit, with the vibrant and by and large positive media and assertive judiciary the point to remember is that neither PML N has an anti-national agenda nor the establishment is an adversary of Pakistan.  Only to look for are, firstly, certain elements which either for their whims and biases, personal prejudices and petty interest or for the sake of compliance with their offshore masters slog for the schemas of turbulence, secondly , those gullible and impulsive patriots in us who fell prey to their designs. Nationally, more sanity over and clarity in the actual and the perceived threats is needed, the pulverized and ossified nation can hardly afford such showdowns.

Follow @abuzar37

Follow @abuzar37

Follow @abuzar37

Follow @abuzar37

Gratitude to Dr. Barbara Daly Metcalf

Dear Dr. Sahiba,

Asalam-o-Alekum اسلام و علیکم .Your plentiful exposure of subcontinent and my previous correspondence with you helped in shaping my perception in way that I now presume that you are well acquainted with Urdu language. I want to quote an Urdu couplet in Roman script. It goes as:

کس قدر قحطِ وفا ہے تری دنیا میں ندیم

جو ذرا ہنس کے ملے اُس کو مسیحا سمجھوں

If at all you don’t understand the language, a crude elucidation of that couplet in English can be; ‘how much famine of virtue is here in my world Nadeem; consider her/him saviour (knight in shining armour) who meet you with a smile.’

Now, through an email-intrusion by a stranger from remote area of tarnished nation you have been put in a state of bother ever since my couple of enquiries. For nothing, you took pain of responding positively and subsequently providing the desired material, but virtue. This resulted, in the first place, as a depiction of exact figure of an educator whose spread of ilm علم  is not limited to any border and not prone to any restriction. The one we call as ustad  استادand is rightly termed as spiritual parent in our culture and religion that complements the character of a disciple(you also referred about a study of student-diciple relationship in subcontinent that describes it more as affectionate one). Secondly, it elevated me to the point of honour where a person of high intellectual repute and stature Dr. Barbara Metcalf by herself took pain of all that for nothing in return. If I empathize the similar situation for myself; let alone assisting, I would not have cared of even responding to the unknown.

Ma’am... I yearn to explicate the motive behind my fervour to that document etc’. As I mentioned earlier that I am an aspirant of central superior services exam. In this respect one of my idol is a high profile commoner of the past, late ICS officer Qudratullah Shahab. For he- according to few- in terms of success has conquered both the world and hereafter, given his key postings in bureaucratic high offices and his humble and pro-poor policies as a manager. Howsoever, mystical promotions made by him and his acolyte Mumtaz Mufti in their repertoires have been in question ever since. In my contention there could be three possibilities  for these mystical disclosure;( 1) they intentionally gave their manuscripts taste of fiction for seeking fame, (2) they underwent some psychological quiver, (3) all that they reported was factually correct. On that account my point is: discarding their scrolls as just fiction and equating their pointers to “fifth axis” as mere ploy for popularity would be harsh. Especially when, when we keep in mind the conviction, integrity and truthfulness of the two. Since former as an officer and a down-to-earth person was highly regarded and is widely accepted (beyond scope of my discussion). The latter as writer is known to be nastily candid in his style and had gained fair turf in the writers’ union earlier than he started contemplating on mysticism in his writings. Specifically, if one analyse ‘Alipur ka Aealy’  علی پور کا ایلی .First part of his biography written when he was not mysticized. The book had gained reasonable success and was nominated for Adamjee Prize .In this book he spoke truth to that level of cruelty and libel for himself and people closely related to him and had not spared anyone. In this context it is somewhat hard for me to reduce it to plain trick of attractiveness and distortion of fact.

Notwithstanding that fact that I personally believe them to be actual. The questions remains: what the two underwent was the product of psychological resonation, hallucination as being termed by renowned officer, writer and US base columnist of Daily Times and Friday Times Mr. Khalid Hassan. Or, was it a stroke of mysticism. Opinion of the leading analyst cannot be just ignored and ought to be lent credence as he along with many others has his methodical arguments otherwise. So... its is for the purpose of attaining synthesis of all these theses and antitheses I am dwelling in to all those related readings and opinions. Essentially trying to reconcile with that phenomena scientifically. I don’t know to what extent I will succeed. Nonetheless it would- yet again- be a laurel for me if I could have your take and piece of advice on this matter.

Albeit, I revere you as my Ustad استاد , since I learned a lot through your essay and it has opened new vistas of deliberation to my mind, and according to the saying of our fourth pious caliph Hazrat Ali: One who taught me a single word is my master. If in our society teachers were elevated to their deserved position we would be indifferent form what we are today. I wish to put across my profound gratitude for your help to a “alien” for nothing. I would reiterate that if anything whatsoever I could do in my capacity is of any meaning for you then please let me know any time. It would be a matter of great satisfaction for me.

Gratefully

Follow @abuzar37