By Sikander Salahuddin and
Haroon Rashid
Names of Mountstuart Elphinstone and Alexander Burnes rank topmost among the British adventurers who explored and opened up in the 19th century India’s North West frontier and Afghanistan. Mountstuart Elphinstone in 1808 ventured forth with native Indian troops and some white officers. Some accounts say that Sir Syed Ahmaed Khan was also part of his expedition. Whereas. Alexander Burnes embarked on his expedition on 21st January 1831 sailing up the Indus , ostensibly to take four stallions, the gifts sent by King Williams !V for Maharaja Runjeet Singh. From Lahore he went further on to Peshawar, and then Afghanistan proper. The actual aim of these expeditions was to get a thorough understanding of the political state of affairs in these regions and report these findings back to the British government.
The accounts of both these Scottish explorers show profound observations, penetrating analysis of the Pashtoon and deep insight into their psychology. It was the tribal Pathans frontier region where Elphinstone met a tribal leader who said to him something quite interesting. He said “We are content with discord, we are content with alarms, we are content with blood, but we will never be content with a master.” What the tribal chief communicated to British explorer represents and encapsulates the very mind, mental outlook and way of life of a tribal Pashtoon.
But Pathans living in plains were subdued first by the Sikhs and later by the British, more due to their conqueror’s organized armies and advanced weaponry than for they lacking in the necessary martial spirit. But in wild mountains of the North West live those Pashtoons whom no body could subdue, conquer or tame. Hence evolved their claim of invincibility and superiority, their disdain of all other kind of people whom they came into contact with . Living by a Spartan code of chivalry and honor, with fierce individualism and passion for liberty they become people like no others. The Sikhs are equally renowned for their warlike nature and fighting skills but they can be content with a master. After the fall of kingdom built by Runjeet Singh in 1849 they quietly flocked to the British fold and began serving their new masters.
But the Pashtoon of the mountains loath to serve masters, they are so much full of themselves. Their way of life is the touchstone with which they measure other kind of people and no body appears their equal, let alone a superior, so why should they serve a master? They are more prone to serve master of another kind, a non human master: a God whom they only like to worship and happily serve.
Pathans are profoundly religious people but why Pathans are more religious and take their religion more seriously than the other people? One theory is that being not sufficiently advanced and sophisticated, their absorption in religion is actually primitive man’s fascination for his religion. After all, it was the religion that determined and dominated the whole life of man during ancient history and subsequently as civilization advanced in complexity, the hold of religion over human minds receded considerably. This theory is partially vindicated by the fact that many of those Pathans who came under the spell of communist ideology, when Afghanistan fell to Soviet influence, showed marked departure from their traditional religion and its practices. The same was witnessed among their brethrens across the Durand line in Pakistan. ANP in old days was a leftist party and some of its ideologues had marked Marxist Leninist tendencies including atheism.
Another justification for a Pathan’s fascination for religion can be traced in his great qualities of passionate love and unflinching, unvarying loyalty to those whom he come to love and respect. Let alone friends and loved ones, a tribal Pashtoon provides shelter to a total stranger, in many cases at the risk of his own life. A Pathan fulfills customs and conventions of hate and love equally well. If the same bonds of steadfast love and loyalty are maintained in man to man relationship, then the same must reach their highest level in his relationship with God. It is for the same reason that loves of God, respect for religion, its customs, conventions and rituals form the most essential part of a Pashtoon’s life.
But this absorption and the highest respect for religion, a thing quite nice in itself, brings in its wake something quite unforeseen and unexpected. What if a Pathan falls into the trap set by some clever manipulator who knowing his sensitivity for religion touches and manipulates the strings and cords of his heart that link him to God? From a Pathan’s simple life, mind and simple interpretation of religion the manipulator will easily spin the material for taking control of his mind and energies. In this case scenario, a Pathan’s judgment will be blurred and he will accept a master, a human master. And let us not forget Pathans are people most warlike, vengeful, full of wrath and anger for their enemies and more so for the enemies of God if they believe so or if they are made to believe by their manipulators. Pathans will then in all sincerity unleash his potential and energies at some enemy dictated and chosen by some body else, fighting some body else’s war, shedding their precious blood for some body else’s cause. This is not a hypothetical proposition, but in reality this has happened and still happening.
The foul plot of making use of Pashtoon’s prowess and energies was hatched once the Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan in 1978. One can’t deny the fact that there was much local Pashtoon resentment when Soviet influence began to penetrate in Afghanistan. But the threat was exaggerated beyond limits by their Americans and Pakistanis “backers” and the Pathans were lured into fighting a “jihad “against godless Soviet Union, to ward off supposed threat to their Islamic way of life and centuries old customs. Their simple belief in Islam was systematically manipulated and exploited to make them the fodder of war in fight against “The Evil Empire”. It was stated in propaganda that soviet style system had no morality and all of man and women in Soviet Union had common husbands and common wives. The real fact was that it was USA not USSR where moral degeneration, promiscuity and laxity in sexual decay were rampant , though US claimed itself a country which believed in God and USSR put no belief in organized religion .
But nobody cared for these delicate differences at that time. The world was abuzz with Mujahedin’s valiant struggle and among the Pashtoon few thought seriously that Jihad in Afghanistan had some seamy side to it too. The Pashtoon’s fighting the jihad, on account of their lack of education in international politics and strategic studies couldn’t rise that much high to see the whole affair from a vantage point and appraise their actual role in the war. They had pretty much limited and narrow way of looking at things, being in total ignorance of the fact that they were merely puny figures or pawns at the great game for containing Soviet influence in the region. This fate was sealed and the same fate awaits all of those who without education, and advancement in science and technology live in modern times, loosing the very means to control their own destiny and directions in life
East West rivalry of the Cold war was played out on Afghan and Pakistani soil for ten long years, resulting in the deaths of near one million Afghans, countless others becoming crippled for life and 5 million became refugees in neighboring countries.
Other times quickly followed when Pashtoons were misled by the enemies from within, their own fellow Pathans who urged them to offer their blood again in other wars, against other foes. .As America attacked Afghanistan on October 2001, a massive sympathy wave swept across NWFP, and rest of Pakistan for Taliban and their cause. But it was NWFP where Taliban sympathizers especially JUI organized rallies for raising new recruits to fight American forces. Religious emotions took the better of common people who volunteered themselves for fighting the new invaders, others who couldn’t volunteer donated money. Women donated their gold jewelry and the Pathan recruits crossed the Pak Afghan boarder but proved no match for superior American air power, their dead bodies lying scattered over the mountains and plains of Afghanistan ,others who survived fell into the hands of Northern Alliance fighters who released them only after hostage money was paid by their Pakistani relatives.
But it was AL Qaeda, a sharp witted band of Arabs, with a global agenda and an apocalyptic vision which excelled even the CIA and ISI in exploiting Pathan’s gullibility, his warlike spirit and his simple belief in Islamic creed,. This organization has on its agenda the destruction and defeat of the remaining “infidel super power” and the overthrow of Muslim regimes friendly to the west. To achieve its goals and objectives it needed a territory and a people sympathizing with its cause. But no country in the world even a Muslim one wanted to buy Al Qaeda brand of Islam and its confrontational ideology. But AL Qaeda among the tribal Pashtoons of Pakistan has found both. It has misused and exploited their tribal rules of hospitality, had them indoctrinated and proselytized into there version of Islam and launched them into the war zone laced them with guns, bombs and suicide jackets.. The Pathans have again in the name of Islam become the unconscious agents and foot soldiers of some body else’s war. On the chess board of this new kind of ideological war driven by history, religion and international politics Pashtoons move now again as pawn. Ironically they claim the role of player, but who is the player, the entire world knows except them.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The institution of Begging
By Sikander Salahuddin and Haroon Rashid
The intuition of begging is very rich in complexity though the beggars are considered the most trivial objects in our world, unfit for serious thought. It is only upon reflection that we come to gradually unfold the superficial exterior of begging and reach its real inner core, which is intriguing, complex, interesting and multidimensional.
Often an approaching beggar is dismissed with a scorn; his beseeching hand simply puts us off. He doesn’t impress us at all. The manner he comes to us with the apparent aim of evoking our emotions of pity make him look nothing more than a cheat. A beggar doesn’t impress because he doesn’t look like a successful man, His failure and fault is his poverty. He lies at the end of our social ladder, he is the one who in our competitive driven world can’t compete or doesn’t want to. With his empty pocket and haggard looks he is totally unimportant. Lying at our mercy, a victim of our whim, he can instantly be rewarded or could` be dismissed with a harsh word.
This is the most common stereotype of a beggar. But there are more things to him too which make him interesting in his own right. In the first place, the beggar is a brilliant psychologist, he turns upside down the normal ideas and notions of the world, the way, the manner, we the normal human beings think of human physical deformities and infirmities. And then with brilliant stroke of logic he uses them to his or her advantage. We often take pity when see someone physically or mentally handicapped and disabled. The proud among us born with such handicaps try to overcome the physical defect or some hide them and present themselves as normal human beings. Beggar on the other hand makes his physical handicaps and deformities more prominent and the defining character of his personality. It is a common sight to see beggars lying on the roadside showing their handicapped parts to the passers by with the aim of evoking their pity. Why they do that? Simply for the reason that such things move humans to pity. Same is the case if we see small children orphaned at early age. Beggar use this human feeling of compassion and pity for his advantage too. Many of women take their small children around while on begging spree and present themselves being widowed with small children. In short, pity is what they want us to feel for them. This is his or her main instrument and weapon. And what stands correct for individual beggar becomes same for normal individuals or at bigger scale for the governments in certain cases. Countries in indeed of money resort to the same tactics to extract money from the donor agencies. I remember many foreign dignitaries visited Pakistan when a massive earthquake struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. Many of the earthquake affectees were brought to relief camps in Islamabad and housed in refugee camps. Among the afectees there were women widowed, children orphaned, and many people becoming handicapped for life. The rich foreign dignitaries were purposely shown around the human tragedy being unfolded in the wake of colossal tragedy wrought by earthquake. The aim, purpose and impulse were the same which drive a beggar. Though Pakistani authorizes would loath to even think of acting the role of a beggar, but this was the role they played.
Feeling compassion and pity for the people in real suffering is natural, but even the reservoirs of pity dry up when one is confronted on daily basis by professional beggars using various tricks to extract money out of other’s pockets. Many of such beggars could earn their living in a decent manner, provided they have a will and determination but they don’t and prefer the easy way. The efforts of the government, of the social reformers in many such cases prove futile. Doesn’t it mean that beggars are the product of a sort of the Darwinian natural selection, of the natural division of society, into the one who are powerful and who on account of their personal drive, initiative and ability carve out their own destiny and reach to the very top, and the beggars and their likes who merely live on the fringes of life and are reduced to crump and morsels which others throw at them.
For beggars it is all a way of life, he doesn’t have to swallow his pride because he as a matter of fact has no pride. Selfhood and personal pride have been wiped out in his personality, he no longer is moved by the conventions and modes of thought which propel normal human beings to become high achievers in life and attain a life of great status and wealth. Most of us try to present ourselves as highly respectable, hide our all faults and failings, and give a good account of ourselves even to the point of lying, simulation and hypocrisy. We do that because the society we live in doesn’t consider the weakness a mark of success. And so people trying to build up their great image in the hearts and minds of others tell others things, which in reality bear no resemblance to truth. This is because showing oneself in stark reality in front of others might be an unpleasant truth. We try to dress up nicely when we go in public only for the reason that our false self takes the better of us, though in our own home we are not bothered by such niceties. The great beggar stands at the very opposite end on the spectrum. On the question of selfhood, personal pride and honor he has no claims. Such claims are the reserve and domain of the mainstream life, driven by ambition, power, and struggle.
Times have changed, the empires have come and gone, the world saw the advent of the age of science, man climbed to the moon, but the institution of begging is still stayed with us, remaining unaffected by the fast changing world and showing great resilience in spite of our efforts .Perhaps begging is too deep rooted a trait of human personality to be uprooted with acts of legislature or the efforts of the society. And for the same reasons the beggars might stay with us in future as well.
The intuition of begging is very rich in complexity though the beggars are considered the most trivial objects in our world, unfit for serious thought. It is only upon reflection that we come to gradually unfold the superficial exterior of begging and reach its real inner core, which is intriguing, complex, interesting and multidimensional.
Often an approaching beggar is dismissed with a scorn; his beseeching hand simply puts us off. He doesn’t impress us at all. The manner he comes to us with the apparent aim of evoking our emotions of pity make him look nothing more than a cheat. A beggar doesn’t impress because he doesn’t look like a successful man, His failure and fault is his poverty. He lies at the end of our social ladder, he is the one who in our competitive driven world can’t compete or doesn’t want to. With his empty pocket and haggard looks he is totally unimportant. Lying at our mercy, a victim of our whim, he can instantly be rewarded or could` be dismissed with a harsh word.
This is the most common stereotype of a beggar. But there are more things to him too which make him interesting in his own right. In the first place, the beggar is a brilliant psychologist, he turns upside down the normal ideas and notions of the world, the way, the manner, we the normal human beings think of human physical deformities and infirmities. And then with brilliant stroke of logic he uses them to his or her advantage. We often take pity when see someone physically or mentally handicapped and disabled. The proud among us born with such handicaps try to overcome the physical defect or some hide them and present themselves as normal human beings. Beggar on the other hand makes his physical handicaps and deformities more prominent and the defining character of his personality. It is a common sight to see beggars lying on the roadside showing their handicapped parts to the passers by with the aim of evoking their pity. Why they do that? Simply for the reason that such things move humans to pity. Same is the case if we see small children orphaned at early age. Beggar use this human feeling of compassion and pity for his advantage too. Many of women take their small children around while on begging spree and present themselves being widowed with small children. In short, pity is what they want us to feel for them. This is his or her main instrument and weapon. And what stands correct for individual beggar becomes same for normal individuals or at bigger scale for the governments in certain cases. Countries in indeed of money resort to the same tactics to extract money from the donor agencies. I remember many foreign dignitaries visited Pakistan when a massive earthquake struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. Many of the earthquake affectees were brought to relief camps in Islamabad and housed in refugee camps. Among the afectees there were women widowed, children orphaned, and many people becoming handicapped for life. The rich foreign dignitaries were purposely shown around the human tragedy being unfolded in the wake of colossal tragedy wrought by earthquake. The aim, purpose and impulse were the same which drive a beggar. Though Pakistani authorizes would loath to even think of acting the role of a beggar, but this was the role they played.
Feeling compassion and pity for the people in real suffering is natural, but even the reservoirs of pity dry up when one is confronted on daily basis by professional beggars using various tricks to extract money out of other’s pockets. Many of such beggars could earn their living in a decent manner, provided they have a will and determination but they don’t and prefer the easy way. The efforts of the government, of the social reformers in many such cases prove futile. Doesn’t it mean that beggars are the product of a sort of the Darwinian natural selection, of the natural division of society, into the one who are powerful and who on account of their personal drive, initiative and ability carve out their own destiny and reach to the very top, and the beggars and their likes who merely live on the fringes of life and are reduced to crump and morsels which others throw at them.
For beggars it is all a way of life, he doesn’t have to swallow his pride because he as a matter of fact has no pride. Selfhood and personal pride have been wiped out in his personality, he no longer is moved by the conventions and modes of thought which propel normal human beings to become high achievers in life and attain a life of great status and wealth. Most of us try to present ourselves as highly respectable, hide our all faults and failings, and give a good account of ourselves even to the point of lying, simulation and hypocrisy. We do that because the society we live in doesn’t consider the weakness a mark of success. And so people trying to build up their great image in the hearts and minds of others tell others things, which in reality bear no resemblance to truth. This is because showing oneself in stark reality in front of others might be an unpleasant truth. We try to dress up nicely when we go in public only for the reason that our false self takes the better of us, though in our own home we are not bothered by such niceties. The great beggar stands at the very opposite end on the spectrum. On the question of selfhood, personal pride and honor he has no claims. Such claims are the reserve and domain of the mainstream life, driven by ambition, power, and struggle.
Times have changed, the empires have come and gone, the world saw the advent of the age of science, man climbed to the moon, but the institution of begging is still stayed with us, remaining unaffected by the fast changing world and showing great resilience in spite of our efforts .Perhaps begging is too deep rooted a trait of human personality to be uprooted with acts of legislature or the efforts of the society. And for the same reasons the beggars might stay with us in future as well.
The Great Wrong
By Sikander Salahuddin
Whenever in Pakistan some political leaders or political party comes forward with the suggestion to divide Punjab for the larger good of Pakistan, then the reaction seen among certain politicians, intellectuals and literary men of Punjab is of total hostility. The idea of the division of Punjab into two or three provinces in their opinion goes against the interests of Pakistan and its ideology. People demanding the division of Punjab are immediately branded as unpatriotic and the demand for the division is dismissed on various grounds. But is this determined and vociferous opposition to the division of Punjab warranted and justified?
An impartial view of the whole situation reveals that division of Punjab isn’t in any conceivable manner against Pakistan or its ideology. Division of Punjab is very much in the fitness of things and such administrative measure would strengthen the federation of Pakistan and would end once and for all the underlying reasons, which wrecked havoc with the idea of united, stable and prosperous Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t seem to loose anything if Punjab is divided. Rather with united Punjab ,Pakistan seems to loose all. For understanding this we need to look back at our past. It was unbridled power of the Punjabi burecracy and its overwhelming strength in the armed forces that gave rise to skepticism among small provinces and ethnic minorities and gave them ample cause to point their accusing finger at Punjab for being the leading cause of their backwardness and deprivation. Much ill will among the federating units has resulted from perpetuating the wrong of a untied Punjab being the dominant force in country’s affairs, even it cost the country its dismemberment in 1971, but still the influential people in Punjab oppose demands of its division tooth and tail and are not ready to give the matter a calm consideration.
There are various reasons why the idea of the division of Punjab is met with so much opposition and hostility in Punjab. One major reason is the emotional attachment of Punjabis to the very idea and name which the word Punjab evokes. The word Punjab resonates with deep symbolic, and legendry and historical attachments. Punjab thus assumes the character of a holy land, a land through which five rivers flow. The power and strength of Punjab is symptomatic of the strength of Pakistan and so on and so forth. Viewed in this context, the proposition and notion of dividing Punjab is nothing short of a conspiracy to dismember the very land Punjabis so much love and take pride at.
Secondly Punjabi establishment acts as a monolithic group, acting and thinking in unison. It keeps its vital interest at the top most and brooks no compromise. Punjabi establishment consider itself a successor to the British and like them maintains its rule over smaller ethic group whom again, like its British predecessor, it considers as half civilized. For example the common stereotype of Pathan is a driver or a chaukidar, who serves a Punjabi or an Urdu-speaking Sahib, who has now taken on the mantle of the departing British. So the colonial mentality persists even today, though colonialism in its classical sense has departed. And all this leads us to a nasty situation. And as the British weren’t so justified in their claim, then so are the Punjabis. The excesses they commit are the excesses of the colonial mentality, which they have inherited. This is exactly which makes them oblivious to the wrongs they commit. It should be kept in mind that the great wrong in Pakistan originates from Punjab being the dominant force in the country’s decision-making process. Any such measure, which seems to threaten the very interests of Punjab is vetoed down, no matter if it gives rise to the sense of grievance among smaller provinces and ultimately loosing of their belief in the very idea of Pakistan.
Bengalis parted their ways in 1971, after realizing that they got nothing form being part of a united Pakistan. Same feeling is filtering down into the psyche of nationalities like Sindhis, sarakiks and Balochs. All of them are parochial and insular in geographical sense; are not adventurous and lack the spirit of braving the hazards and dangers of the unforeseen. The sense of perceived wrong at the hands of Punjab makes them turn inwardly to the land which they inhabit and with which they feel strong emotional attachment. Opinion is crystallizing among some of them that they got nothing from joining the federation of Pakistan and consequently they flirt with dangerous ideas such as succession and separation. The domination of Punjab is a constant theme in the litany of their accusation. Canada faced problem of French speaking Quebec province. And Canadian English speaking majority amicably solved this problem by reaching out to the French to such an extent that referendum held many times to determine Quebec’s future didn’t give the secessionist enough votes for separation. Even if hearts of Canadian French want separation, their minds don’t. Being part of Canadian federation is too much financially rewarding to entertain the idea of succession. This is not happening in Pakistan so far as smaller nationalities are concerned; a day may come when neither their hearts, nor their minds would want to be part of Pakistan. What is daily fed into their minds is the idea of Islam as a uniting force, a recipe which doesn’t work any more.
The fact is that a state like Pakistan contains the seeds of its very destruction. The founding fathers of Pakistan laid the foundation of a state on an ideology without taking into account some other tangible factors. The overriding emphasis on Islam as a binding force, holding together diverse linguistic and ethnic group was an unwise policy without providing proper safeguards for the equal opportunities of all. Especially so when there lay inherent danger of one linguistic group maintaining its dominance over the rest. But these inherent dangers were not taken notice of, and then gradually all the divisive forces started gaining momentum in East Pakistan. Bengalis took refuge in their separate identity and at last parted ways in 1971. Even after the dismemberment of Pakistan the lessons weren’t learnt. Now it is Sindhis and Balochs who complain bitterly about the shabby treatment they receive at the hands of Punjab. Many of their grievances are not without substance. Extreme and lunatic fringe of disgruntled and dissatisfied Balochs and Sindhis see the final solution in cession from the federation of Pakistan, and they try to realize their dream by even siding with the very enemies of Pakistan. Help they receive from outside is not sufficient to make them turn the scales in their fight against what they call ‘ Punjabi army and establishment ’. Outside world in general, and big powers at the moment don’t want to encourage instability in Pakistan because such a case scenario is not in their interest. Just at the moment United States and Britain don’t want Balochistan to secede as some people during recent Bugti uprising claimed. But in changed global settings things would turn quite difficult for those trying to keep Pakistan united.
So in what way we can shape a stronger Pakistan, which is able to able to withstand the vagaries of time and the conspiracies of its enemies. In plain words such a Pakistan can emerge only if its biggest unit is divided into two or three parts. Such a measure would not be a conspiracy against Punjab or its people, rather it would be a step to end once and for all a great wrong write large throughout Pakistan’s history and which has been the cause of all grievances, perceived or real among the smaller provinces and linguistic groups.
We have to take a broader and longer view of things and see the evolution of states and their demise in the broader perspective of future and the past. We have to dispense with the idea that things stands still in Pakistan and that the voices clamoring for their rights are some trouble makers having no broad based representation. The fact is that things in Pakistan may spiral out of control and the theory that Pakistan is a failed state, our nightmare, may come true. We should no longer be lulled by the wishful thinking that tomorrow things may turn out for the good. To prove to the world that Pakistan has come for all times to stay and is not merely founded on the shifting sands, we have to take many steps. Division of Punjab is not the panacea, yet it is something that would bury the ghost of Punjabis dominance and would ensure a stronger Pakistan. The system, which is heavily loaded against small provinces, needs to readjusted. We have squandered so much of good will among the federating units and now it the time to do something about it. Unless we do it, the great wrong will remain and many unpleasant things will follow, if not today, then definitely on tomorrow.
Whenever in Pakistan some political leaders or political party comes forward with the suggestion to divide Punjab for the larger good of Pakistan, then the reaction seen among certain politicians, intellectuals and literary men of Punjab is of total hostility. The idea of the division of Punjab into two or three provinces in their opinion goes against the interests of Pakistan and its ideology. People demanding the division of Punjab are immediately branded as unpatriotic and the demand for the division is dismissed on various grounds. But is this determined and vociferous opposition to the division of Punjab warranted and justified?
An impartial view of the whole situation reveals that division of Punjab isn’t in any conceivable manner against Pakistan or its ideology. Division of Punjab is very much in the fitness of things and such administrative measure would strengthen the federation of Pakistan and would end once and for all the underlying reasons, which wrecked havoc with the idea of united, stable and prosperous Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t seem to loose anything if Punjab is divided. Rather with united Punjab ,Pakistan seems to loose all. For understanding this we need to look back at our past. It was unbridled power of the Punjabi burecracy and its overwhelming strength in the armed forces that gave rise to skepticism among small provinces and ethnic minorities and gave them ample cause to point their accusing finger at Punjab for being the leading cause of their backwardness and deprivation. Much ill will among the federating units has resulted from perpetuating the wrong of a untied Punjab being the dominant force in country’s affairs, even it cost the country its dismemberment in 1971, but still the influential people in Punjab oppose demands of its division tooth and tail and are not ready to give the matter a calm consideration.
There are various reasons why the idea of the division of Punjab is met with so much opposition and hostility in Punjab. One major reason is the emotional attachment of Punjabis to the very idea and name which the word Punjab evokes. The word Punjab resonates with deep symbolic, and legendry and historical attachments. Punjab thus assumes the character of a holy land, a land through which five rivers flow. The power and strength of Punjab is symptomatic of the strength of Pakistan and so on and so forth. Viewed in this context, the proposition and notion of dividing Punjab is nothing short of a conspiracy to dismember the very land Punjabis so much love and take pride at.
Secondly Punjabi establishment acts as a monolithic group, acting and thinking in unison. It keeps its vital interest at the top most and brooks no compromise. Punjabi establishment consider itself a successor to the British and like them maintains its rule over smaller ethic group whom again, like its British predecessor, it considers as half civilized. For example the common stereotype of Pathan is a driver or a chaukidar, who serves a Punjabi or an Urdu-speaking Sahib, who has now taken on the mantle of the departing British. So the colonial mentality persists even today, though colonialism in its classical sense has departed. And all this leads us to a nasty situation. And as the British weren’t so justified in their claim, then so are the Punjabis. The excesses they commit are the excesses of the colonial mentality, which they have inherited. This is exactly which makes them oblivious to the wrongs they commit. It should be kept in mind that the great wrong in Pakistan originates from Punjab being the dominant force in the country’s decision-making process. Any such measure, which seems to threaten the very interests of Punjab is vetoed down, no matter if it gives rise to the sense of grievance among smaller provinces and ultimately loosing of their belief in the very idea of Pakistan.
Bengalis parted their ways in 1971, after realizing that they got nothing form being part of a united Pakistan. Same feeling is filtering down into the psyche of nationalities like Sindhis, sarakiks and Balochs. All of them are parochial and insular in geographical sense; are not adventurous and lack the spirit of braving the hazards and dangers of the unforeseen. The sense of perceived wrong at the hands of Punjab makes them turn inwardly to the land which they inhabit and with which they feel strong emotional attachment. Opinion is crystallizing among some of them that they got nothing from joining the federation of Pakistan and consequently they flirt with dangerous ideas such as succession and separation. The domination of Punjab is a constant theme in the litany of their accusation. Canada faced problem of French speaking Quebec province. And Canadian English speaking majority amicably solved this problem by reaching out to the French to such an extent that referendum held many times to determine Quebec’s future didn’t give the secessionist enough votes for separation. Even if hearts of Canadian French want separation, their minds don’t. Being part of Canadian federation is too much financially rewarding to entertain the idea of succession. This is not happening in Pakistan so far as smaller nationalities are concerned; a day may come when neither their hearts, nor their minds would want to be part of Pakistan. What is daily fed into their minds is the idea of Islam as a uniting force, a recipe which doesn’t work any more.
The fact is that a state like Pakistan contains the seeds of its very destruction. The founding fathers of Pakistan laid the foundation of a state on an ideology without taking into account some other tangible factors. The overriding emphasis on Islam as a binding force, holding together diverse linguistic and ethnic group was an unwise policy without providing proper safeguards for the equal opportunities of all. Especially so when there lay inherent danger of one linguistic group maintaining its dominance over the rest. But these inherent dangers were not taken notice of, and then gradually all the divisive forces started gaining momentum in East Pakistan. Bengalis took refuge in their separate identity and at last parted ways in 1971. Even after the dismemberment of Pakistan the lessons weren’t learnt. Now it is Sindhis and Balochs who complain bitterly about the shabby treatment they receive at the hands of Punjab. Many of their grievances are not without substance. Extreme and lunatic fringe of disgruntled and dissatisfied Balochs and Sindhis see the final solution in cession from the federation of Pakistan, and they try to realize their dream by even siding with the very enemies of Pakistan. Help they receive from outside is not sufficient to make them turn the scales in their fight against what they call ‘ Punjabi army and establishment ’. Outside world in general, and big powers at the moment don’t want to encourage instability in Pakistan because such a case scenario is not in their interest. Just at the moment United States and Britain don’t want Balochistan to secede as some people during recent Bugti uprising claimed. But in changed global settings things would turn quite difficult for those trying to keep Pakistan united.
So in what way we can shape a stronger Pakistan, which is able to able to withstand the vagaries of time and the conspiracies of its enemies. In plain words such a Pakistan can emerge only if its biggest unit is divided into two or three parts. Such a measure would not be a conspiracy against Punjab or its people, rather it would be a step to end once and for all a great wrong write large throughout Pakistan’s history and which has been the cause of all grievances, perceived or real among the smaller provinces and linguistic groups.
We have to take a broader and longer view of things and see the evolution of states and their demise in the broader perspective of future and the past. We have to dispense with the idea that things stands still in Pakistan and that the voices clamoring for their rights are some trouble makers having no broad based representation. The fact is that things in Pakistan may spiral out of control and the theory that Pakistan is a failed state, our nightmare, may come true. We should no longer be lulled by the wishful thinking that tomorrow things may turn out for the good. To prove to the world that Pakistan has come for all times to stay and is not merely founded on the shifting sands, we have to take many steps. Division of Punjab is not the panacea, yet it is something that would bury the ghost of Punjabis dominance and would ensure a stronger Pakistan. The system, which is heavily loaded against small provinces, needs to readjusted. We have squandered so much of good will among the federating units and now it the time to do something about it. Unless we do it, the great wrong will remain and many unpleasant things will follow, if not today, then definitely on tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Ways of the Taliban By Malik Haroon Rashid and Sikander
It is strange to find majority of Pakistanis sympathizing with the Taliban and their strange ideology. In judging Taliban, their critical faculties always fail them. Let alone the illiterate countryside, the city dwellers too, who live far away from the theater of war, tend to take a romantic view of these militants and nourish views and opinions totally divorced from reality. For example: it is stated that Taliban are holy worriers of Islam and Pakistani government and its military is waging a proxy war against them at the behest of America; Pakistani government in the name of War on Terror is doing the dirty work of killing its own citizens; and that it should stop fighting Taliban and its army leave the war zone of Pakistan “Wild West” to the militants ; Suicide bombings and the horrific acts of beheadings of captives are no work of the Muslims and so Taliban cant do it. When it comes to Taliban targeting Pakistani security forces or their acts of sabotage and terrorism against government infrastructure, even the one’s for public utility like girl’s schools, bridges, electricity installations, the force of twisted logic again absolves the Taliban of these insane acts. Shadow of blame then falls on foreign secret agencies or on the government which itself orchestrates these acts to show it target of domestic terrorism to win foreign aid. Some political parties of Pakistan are known to retain a soft corner for the Taliban and talk of negotiating with them.
Most of Pakistanis unfortunately don’t see the real face of the Taliban and always come up with such bizarre conspiracy theories, a make believe world of fallacious ideas and arguments, to implicate the government in the wave of terrorism and suicide bombing. Now the time has finally arrived to disburden ourselves of these false notions. The fact must now be admitted that it is not foreign hostile powers but our own Pakistani Taliban who are destabilizing Pakistan and are very much behind today’s terrible mess of suicide bombings, terrorism, and internal displacement of people.
The Taliban own a perverted Ideology based on rural, tribal Pashtoon culture mixed with a version of Islam of their own choosing, running counter to present day modern world and its way of life. The Taliban don’t feel themselves handicapped by modern concepts of international boundaries, international relations and rules of diplomacy. Their concept of Pan Islamic fraternity militates against the concept of nation state. It is Pakistani Taliban who cross Pak Afghan border and launch raids on the Allied troops, putting Pakistan government in worst embarrassment which denies such cross border attacks from its soil or it comes with the excuse that the boarder is too porous to govern. Taliban’s rash acts of evicting foreign troops out of Afghanistan using Pakistan as base take the country to the brink of disaster and international isolation. Pakistan is then suspected for being in secret liaison with the Taliban or lacking the will to take on the militants. Pakistan’s position as a sovereign nation further stands undermined as American Predator drones violate Pakistani air space with impunity and Pakistan does nothing except registering a verbal protest. But still the Taliban don’t realize Pakistan predicament and the price it has to pay for their adventures.
For the Taliban lines of right and wrong have been clearly drawn, there is no ambiguity or confusion on any point. Crossing Durand and engaging foreign troops in combat is Jihad and so of greater consequence than Pakistan’s geo political problems. For Taliban, all their acts have their justification and sanction in Islam. A Talib, if argued with, by citing Quran and Hadis will justify, for example, the attempt of blowing up Kohat tunnel, Marriott hotel , beheading of army personals or of “ American spies”, the destruction of government or public infrastructure. People in the West might wonder why Taliban blow up the girls schools and not those for boys. But there is method in the madness. Girls’ school according to Taliban teach girls promiscuity, same goes for vaccinations of the infants, a conspiracy of West to inflict the Muslim children with deadly diseases. In the name of Taliban the forces of destruction and obscurantalism have been let loose all over the tribal areas and Pakistan proper. Even a Pathan’s traditional fascination for Islam has been worked up and exploited by the Taliban for the deadly purpose of raising up a cadre of deadlier suicide bombers who are every ready to blow them up at the commands. In the hands of Taliban human life has been rendered very cheap.
In their misplaced pursuit of bringing back the purity of Islam the Taliban are rolling back all progress man has achieved so far and taking us back to the Stone Ages. For the Taliban time has stood still. Thousands of years of human progress in science, technology and the great advances in the world of ideas haven’t affected them at all. There are a few signs of modern world around a Talib gaining his acceptance like telephone or loudspeaker of mosque but the rest of the world is for him a totally unintelligible, alien world whose working he cant understand.. He makes a rapid selection, few aspects of modern life are accepted and the rest is dubbed as un Islamic and hence fit to be obliterated and annihilated. Strange irony is this all goes on in the name of Islam, a religion which has the ability to adjust itself according to modern times. But the Taliban’s version of Islam makes no allowance for the forces of modernity and present Islam as incompatible with progress. Now the question is how we reclaim back our lands and Islam, both held in bondage by the Taliban and quell this insurgency laying waste our county?
Recently there is emerging a thinking in Britain and the US that Taliban cant be defeated militarily and there is need to have them engaged in dialogue for finding permanent peace. This line of reasoning in naïve and doesn’t take into account main reasons of Taliban insurgency and militancy. Pakistani government already tried with various fruitless peace accords with the Taliban. The Taliban used the accords only to regroup and launch cross boarder attacks on Afghan soil with renewed vigor. The vacuum created by the withdrawal of army was filled by the Taliban and gave them more strength to enforce their writ in the areas under their control. The authority of Pakistanis government was further eroded by these accords.
.No peace accord would convince the Taliban to lay down their weapons in Pakistan or in Afghanistan or stop them from continuing attacks on NATO troops. The presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan fuels the passions of Taliban and provides them main impetus and thrust. This is not an ordinary gorilla war for the Taliban but Jihad, an important article of faith and so non negotiable. Taliban Jihad will continue and so will America’s was on terror.
But Taliban movement may not keep the momentum over time, at least in Pakistan. They are loosing sympathies of the tribes on whom they relied mainly for support and sanctuaries. Bold efforts of Salarzai tribes in Bajaur in driving the Taliban out of their area have exploded the myth of Taliban’s invincibility , the elders from Bajaur Agency’s are now not in favour of dialogue with the Taliban. Tribes in Dara Adam Khel are up in arms against them. This pretty much sums up the mood in rest of NWFP. Realization is dawning now in worst hit areas that Taliban are basically trouble makers and their presence invites further trouble. In addition people are getting fed up with the Taliban’s tyrannical rule stifling human nature, forcing people to live unnatural lives.
The blood soaked Taliban movement, with its tradition of gory acts of public beheading, suicide bombings and acts of terrorism, abductions, intimidation and vandalism is rapidly unmasking the Taliban in NWFP and swinging public opinion against them . Rest of Pakistan must realize that it is one thing to sing praises of Taliban from a distance but quite another to taste them closer at hand.
Most of Pakistanis unfortunately don’t see the real face of the Taliban and always come up with such bizarre conspiracy theories, a make believe world of fallacious ideas and arguments, to implicate the government in the wave of terrorism and suicide bombing. Now the time has finally arrived to disburden ourselves of these false notions. The fact must now be admitted that it is not foreign hostile powers but our own Pakistani Taliban who are destabilizing Pakistan and are very much behind today’s terrible mess of suicide bombings, terrorism, and internal displacement of people.
The Taliban own a perverted Ideology based on rural, tribal Pashtoon culture mixed with a version of Islam of their own choosing, running counter to present day modern world and its way of life. The Taliban don’t feel themselves handicapped by modern concepts of international boundaries, international relations and rules of diplomacy. Their concept of Pan Islamic fraternity militates against the concept of nation state. It is Pakistani Taliban who cross Pak Afghan border and launch raids on the Allied troops, putting Pakistan government in worst embarrassment which denies such cross border attacks from its soil or it comes with the excuse that the boarder is too porous to govern. Taliban’s rash acts of evicting foreign troops out of Afghanistan using Pakistan as base take the country to the brink of disaster and international isolation. Pakistan is then suspected for being in secret liaison with the Taliban or lacking the will to take on the militants. Pakistan’s position as a sovereign nation further stands undermined as American Predator drones violate Pakistani air space with impunity and Pakistan does nothing except registering a verbal protest. But still the Taliban don’t realize Pakistan predicament and the price it has to pay for their adventures.
For the Taliban lines of right and wrong have been clearly drawn, there is no ambiguity or confusion on any point. Crossing Durand and engaging foreign troops in combat is Jihad and so of greater consequence than Pakistan’s geo political problems. For Taliban, all their acts have their justification and sanction in Islam. A Talib, if argued with, by citing Quran and Hadis will justify, for example, the attempt of blowing up Kohat tunnel, Marriott hotel , beheading of army personals or of “ American spies”, the destruction of government or public infrastructure. People in the West might wonder why Taliban blow up the girls schools and not those for boys. But there is method in the madness. Girls’ school according to Taliban teach girls promiscuity, same goes for vaccinations of the infants, a conspiracy of West to inflict the Muslim children with deadly diseases. In the name of Taliban the forces of destruction and obscurantalism have been let loose all over the tribal areas and Pakistan proper. Even a Pathan’s traditional fascination for Islam has been worked up and exploited by the Taliban for the deadly purpose of raising up a cadre of deadlier suicide bombers who are every ready to blow them up at the commands. In the hands of Taliban human life has been rendered very cheap.
In their misplaced pursuit of bringing back the purity of Islam the Taliban are rolling back all progress man has achieved so far and taking us back to the Stone Ages. For the Taliban time has stood still. Thousands of years of human progress in science, technology and the great advances in the world of ideas haven’t affected them at all. There are a few signs of modern world around a Talib gaining his acceptance like telephone or loudspeaker of mosque but the rest of the world is for him a totally unintelligible, alien world whose working he cant understand.. He makes a rapid selection, few aspects of modern life are accepted and the rest is dubbed as un Islamic and hence fit to be obliterated and annihilated. Strange irony is this all goes on in the name of Islam, a religion which has the ability to adjust itself according to modern times. But the Taliban’s version of Islam makes no allowance for the forces of modernity and present Islam as incompatible with progress. Now the question is how we reclaim back our lands and Islam, both held in bondage by the Taliban and quell this insurgency laying waste our county?
Recently there is emerging a thinking in Britain and the US that Taliban cant be defeated militarily and there is need to have them engaged in dialogue for finding permanent peace. This line of reasoning in naïve and doesn’t take into account main reasons of Taliban insurgency and militancy. Pakistani government already tried with various fruitless peace accords with the Taliban. The Taliban used the accords only to regroup and launch cross boarder attacks on Afghan soil with renewed vigor. The vacuum created by the withdrawal of army was filled by the Taliban and gave them more strength to enforce their writ in the areas under their control. The authority of Pakistanis government was further eroded by these accords.
.No peace accord would convince the Taliban to lay down their weapons in Pakistan or in Afghanistan or stop them from continuing attacks on NATO troops. The presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan fuels the passions of Taliban and provides them main impetus and thrust. This is not an ordinary gorilla war for the Taliban but Jihad, an important article of faith and so non negotiable. Taliban Jihad will continue and so will America’s was on terror.
But Taliban movement may not keep the momentum over time, at least in Pakistan. They are loosing sympathies of the tribes on whom they relied mainly for support and sanctuaries. Bold efforts of Salarzai tribes in Bajaur in driving the Taliban out of their area have exploded the myth of Taliban’s invincibility , the elders from Bajaur Agency’s are now not in favour of dialogue with the Taliban. Tribes in Dara Adam Khel are up in arms against them. This pretty much sums up the mood in rest of NWFP. Realization is dawning now in worst hit areas that Taliban are basically trouble makers and their presence invites further trouble. In addition people are getting fed up with the Taliban’s tyrannical rule stifling human nature, forcing people to live unnatural lives.
The blood soaked Taliban movement, with its tradition of gory acts of public beheading, suicide bombings and acts of terrorism, abductions, intimidation and vandalism is rapidly unmasking the Taliban in NWFP and swinging public opinion against them . Rest of Pakistan must realize that it is one thing to sing praises of Taliban from a distance but quite another to taste them closer at hand.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The lure of the Unknown By Sikander Salahuddin
Man has always, since his beginning, been haunted by the phenomenon of unknown. Then, there was much in his life that was mysterious, dark and strange, there were things which forced him to think and enquire .Time and again he had to grapple with the forces of unknown and to reduce them to an intelligible pattern. Most of the time his efforts were thwarted and foiled, but he didn’t deter. Unlike the rest of animals he had an irresistible curiosity and sense of speculation; and he continued with his crude efforts to decipher the nature of reality all way down from the prehistoric times till the history began
This was humanity’s dream time and element of mystery gave the world beauty. There was mystery in not knowing what lay across the mountains, the seas and vast oceans, mystery remained in the unexplained riddle of the sun, the moon and the cosmos and mystery surrounded man’s every day existence, in things happening around him in the natural world. He, in short, stood face to face with the vast region of unknown which he couldn’t probe and penetrate at this stage of his mental development. But here came imagination to assist man in his endeavors and it lent him help in conjuring up images of his own contraction, peopling the earth and the cosmos with mythological figures. In his own life he also saw things defying his thinking ability, he saw diseases and sickness and again he couldn’t solve the riddle of how diseases were caused and he came up with theories of demons and other supernatural agencies causing the diseases.
On physical level man’s experiences were restricted to his own surroundings or regions of closer proximity and he led mostly an isolated existence. And this remained true not only in ancient times but also in past not too distant when humanity saw the birth of civilizations. For pretty much longer period of time he didn’t know if the earth was round or flat. There were few who ventured on long journeys to distant places. And vast majority made a faint picture of these far off lands. The picture was made more romantic and given more mystiques owing to vast distances involved .Even the people shaping great civilizations in Asia and Europe didn’t travel much. For the Greeks the world ended beyond the Pillars of Hercules, modern day Straits of Gibraltar, and their traveling experiences led them to some parts of Asia and North Africa only. And the Romans of 2nd century too knew only Europe, the North African coastline, Arabia and the Indian Ocean.
But then came the Renaissance, a time when man began to make serious inroads into the vast inaccessible domain of the unknown. It was Renaissance that vastly increased the threshold of human knowledge and paved the way for clearing up man’s ideas and conceptions about things hitherto unknown and indefinite. And exploration of the physical world was one of the dominant concerns of Renaissance. In the 12th and 13th centuries in Europe there were many false travel stories about the fabled and exotic East. Account of many of these travels was fabulous and work of pure fiction, Like those of Sir John Mandeville published between 1357 -1371, highly fantastically and in accurate. Still these accounts showed a desire to explore the unknown, fulfilling a natural craving in human heart to make the unknown familiar. There was also Marco polo who gave an account of his journeys throughout Asia from 1271 to 1295 in which he described being a guest at the court of Kublai khan, the Mongol king of China.
During the Renaissance quests and expeditions were launched for discovering the world. In the process, Europeans met people and saw lands previously unknown to them. Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, the land virtually unknown to man till this time. The dark continent of Africa and its interior were explored till the late 19th century. Europeans launched themselves into the region of Asia pacific. Lieutenant James cook led and expedition in HM Endeavour and reached New Zealand and then reached the south eastern corner of Australia. The discovery of the world wasn’t yet complete, till the expeditions were launched to the South Pole and it was finally conquered and reached at the start of the 20th century.
A moment arrived in human history when the veils of mystery were finally uplifted and the physical world stood in naked reality, all explored, all discovered. At the speedy onrush of real exploration, myths and romance began to recede. The beauty of the unknown and unseen which excited human imagination to new heights, the sense which gave birth to the stories of Sindhbad and Gulliver, all begin to vanish and cease to exist.
And high on heels of exploration in physical world came newer and newer discoveries in the realm of science explaining the natural causes of things happening around. There was no longer any need of any intricate web of mythology to explain the working of natural phenomenon. Science replaced myths and gods and goddess went tumbling down. Man’s imaginative attempt at explaining the unknown, what he couldn’t understand in the natural world received a crushing blow at the hands of science. Unraveling mysteries, of making unknown familiar, science started its unchallenged march and shaped the world as we see it today.
Shorn of mystery and its deep romance and mystique, the world today doesn’t look as much beautiful as it did in the past. It is all because science and geographical exploration have landed us in the broad day light of naked reality, and left no scope for human imagination to work on. But all is not lost; there is still some consolation left.
Man’s voyages of discovery in the physical world, his splendid achievements in the field of science in unearthing the secrets of the heaven and earth are major milestone. But still even today there is much that remains unknown and undiscovered, and many mysteries that stand yet to be unraveled. These are the mysteries of life and death, the mystery of God and the mystery of the Cosmos.
At the tail end of the Milky Way we live on planet earth, in a universe so vast which human mind fails to encompass. We are only intelligent and self conscious specie sharing planet earth along with other millions of life forms. Humans haven’t yet found any other intelligence anywhere else in the universe. No scientist can give explanation of why we are here or make clear the purpose of life. Except devoutly religious no one can tell what happens after death or truly penetrate the phenomenon of death.
Looking more imaginatively and bit more poetically we find the mists of the forces of unknown enveloping man, his earth and his entire universe. Human mind has led man to achieve great wonders. From the dense jungles of ignorance and superstitions he came and erected the grand edifice of human civilization and intellect, but there is a limit to every thing and there is limit to the power of human intellect. And some mysteries will for ever remain mysteries, and there will be much there will remain unknown for all times and for ever.
This was humanity’s dream time and element of mystery gave the world beauty. There was mystery in not knowing what lay across the mountains, the seas and vast oceans, mystery remained in the unexplained riddle of the sun, the moon and the cosmos and mystery surrounded man’s every day existence, in things happening around him in the natural world. He, in short, stood face to face with the vast region of unknown which he couldn’t probe and penetrate at this stage of his mental development. But here came imagination to assist man in his endeavors and it lent him help in conjuring up images of his own contraction, peopling the earth and the cosmos with mythological figures. In his own life he also saw things defying his thinking ability, he saw diseases and sickness and again he couldn’t solve the riddle of how diseases were caused and he came up with theories of demons and other supernatural agencies causing the diseases.
On physical level man’s experiences were restricted to his own surroundings or regions of closer proximity and he led mostly an isolated existence. And this remained true not only in ancient times but also in past not too distant when humanity saw the birth of civilizations. For pretty much longer period of time he didn’t know if the earth was round or flat. There were few who ventured on long journeys to distant places. And vast majority made a faint picture of these far off lands. The picture was made more romantic and given more mystiques owing to vast distances involved .Even the people shaping great civilizations in Asia and Europe didn’t travel much. For the Greeks the world ended beyond the Pillars of Hercules, modern day Straits of Gibraltar, and their traveling experiences led them to some parts of Asia and North Africa only. And the Romans of 2nd century too knew only Europe, the North African coastline, Arabia and the Indian Ocean.
But then came the Renaissance, a time when man began to make serious inroads into the vast inaccessible domain of the unknown. It was Renaissance that vastly increased the threshold of human knowledge and paved the way for clearing up man’s ideas and conceptions about things hitherto unknown and indefinite. And exploration of the physical world was one of the dominant concerns of Renaissance. In the 12th and 13th centuries in Europe there were many false travel stories about the fabled and exotic East. Account of many of these travels was fabulous and work of pure fiction, Like those of Sir John Mandeville published between 1357 -1371, highly fantastically and in accurate. Still these accounts showed a desire to explore the unknown, fulfilling a natural craving in human heart to make the unknown familiar. There was also Marco polo who gave an account of his journeys throughout Asia from 1271 to 1295 in which he described being a guest at the court of Kublai khan, the Mongol king of China.
During the Renaissance quests and expeditions were launched for discovering the world. In the process, Europeans met people and saw lands previously unknown to them. Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, the land virtually unknown to man till this time. The dark continent of Africa and its interior were explored till the late 19th century. Europeans launched themselves into the region of Asia pacific. Lieutenant James cook led and expedition in HM Endeavour and reached New Zealand and then reached the south eastern corner of Australia. The discovery of the world wasn’t yet complete, till the expeditions were launched to the South Pole and it was finally conquered and reached at the start of the 20th century.
A moment arrived in human history when the veils of mystery were finally uplifted and the physical world stood in naked reality, all explored, all discovered. At the speedy onrush of real exploration, myths and romance began to recede. The beauty of the unknown and unseen which excited human imagination to new heights, the sense which gave birth to the stories of Sindhbad and Gulliver, all begin to vanish and cease to exist.
And high on heels of exploration in physical world came newer and newer discoveries in the realm of science explaining the natural causes of things happening around. There was no longer any need of any intricate web of mythology to explain the working of natural phenomenon. Science replaced myths and gods and goddess went tumbling down. Man’s imaginative attempt at explaining the unknown, what he couldn’t understand in the natural world received a crushing blow at the hands of science. Unraveling mysteries, of making unknown familiar, science started its unchallenged march and shaped the world as we see it today.
Shorn of mystery and its deep romance and mystique, the world today doesn’t look as much beautiful as it did in the past. It is all because science and geographical exploration have landed us in the broad day light of naked reality, and left no scope for human imagination to work on. But all is not lost; there is still some consolation left.
Man’s voyages of discovery in the physical world, his splendid achievements in the field of science in unearthing the secrets of the heaven and earth are major milestone. But still even today there is much that remains unknown and undiscovered, and many mysteries that stand yet to be unraveled. These are the mysteries of life and death, the mystery of God and the mystery of the Cosmos.
At the tail end of the Milky Way we live on planet earth, in a universe so vast which human mind fails to encompass. We are only intelligent and self conscious specie sharing planet earth along with other millions of life forms. Humans haven’t yet found any other intelligence anywhere else in the universe. No scientist can give explanation of why we are here or make clear the purpose of life. Except devoutly religious no one can tell what happens after death or truly penetrate the phenomenon of death.
Looking more imaginatively and bit more poetically we find the mists of the forces of unknown enveloping man, his earth and his entire universe. Human mind has led man to achieve great wonders. From the dense jungles of ignorance and superstitions he came and erected the grand edifice of human civilization and intellect, but there is a limit to every thing and there is limit to the power of human intellect. And some mysteries will for ever remain mysteries, and there will be much there will remain unknown for all times and for ever.
The Dangerous Ideologies by Sikander Salahuddin
Mind of man is a double-edged sword. If it, on the one hand, enabled man to live a civilized life, then it also led him to untold miseries and troubles. Animals live by instincts and though their lives in some cases are marked by violence but they live an even and smooth life since the beginning. Kinds of massive upheavals and murderous strife witnessed in human history are totally absent in their lives, and though animals don’t have spectacular achievement to their credit but then they also don’t show the darker streak seen only in man. The thing that creates this vital difference between animal kingdom and the world of man is thinking ability, only man’s prerogative and privilege.
The same thinking ability shapes the contours of human societies, and of larger units like states. At social level men live and act according to a definite code they mutually agree upon. This code of conduct, social ethos, and belief or ideology whether divinely inspired or man made becomes the binding force and identity of that community. All this leads to some positive ends but then some trouble also begins to brew up. People outside the system are considered wayward, errants and are denied full acceptance. The class leading the community become the self-righteous guardians and is always on the look out for possible signs of subversion threading the system. People following an ideology set themselves at a high pedestal, consider themselves better human beings and with a proselytizing zeal try to convert others outside the system.
If the states are founded on ideologies then the scope of potential danger coming out of it magnifies manifold because state is after all a far bigger an entity than a social unit. Such an ideological state gains an aura of infallibility and has an uneasy relationship with the differing views and ideologies. In past states were dynastic or some were formed on the basis of religion but in 17th century modern nation state system began to take shape. The Western countries by a slow growth came to believe in liberal democracy as the ultimate panacea for mankind and saw their form of government ultimately challenged at the start of the 20th century by other competing ideologies. The clashes between competing ideologies gave birth to conflicts, both external and eternal and could have led further to cataclysmic wars of global proportions. These dangerous ideologies from the west’s point of view were communism, Nazism and Fascism and since their emergence the resources energies and manpower of the Western world began to be consumed in annihilating these creeds and their supporting state systems.
Soviet Union embodying the idea of Marxist ideology was founded in 1917. But prior to that the Western powers tried unsuccessfully to subvert founding of the Soviet state by organizing resistance against the Communists. But the Communists defeating the White armies established the Communist state. There was no love lost between the Soviet government and the Western powers. Lenin stated, “We don’t need any parliamentary republic; we don’t need any bourgeois democracy. We don’t need any government except the Soviet of workers, soldiers and farmhand’s deputies”. Soviet state was a Dictatorship of the proletariat and hence incompatible with the Western democratic model and added to that Soviet state showed interest to spread communism through revolutions across the globe. Lenin anticipated socialist revolution overtaking Europe and destroying its capitalist system. In 1919 in preparation of world revolution the Comintern was created as an association of the Communist parties of all lands.
But then the real danger to the West for the time being didn’t come from Soviet Union but from other creeds and ideologies originating from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Both Nazism and Fascism with their totalitarianism and rejection of the Western liberal democracy, individualism etc repudiated Western way of life and its political ideology. Mussolini predicted” a Fascist Europe drawing inspiration for its institutions from the doctrine and practice of Fascism.” “Fascism is bund to become the standard type of civilization of our century for Europe—the forerunner of European Renaissance.” Similarly Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich, supposed to last for a thousand years, with its racism, anti Semitism and its dream of world domination posed serious threat to the Western powers and things at last came to such a pass that the war machinery of the entire the Western powers in a “strange alliance” with the Soviet Union were geared up to defeat the Fascist threat and Fascist ideology. World war 2nd was fought and the allied won and Axis powers lost.
Fascist powers lay defeated but the old foe Soviet Union was still there and in the wake of 2nd world war was rapidly bringing Eastern Europe in her sphere of influence. Sensing the Soviet threat Churchill sounded the warning at Fulton, Missouri on 3 March 1946 in words that have become immortal, “From Stetting on the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across continent.” Churchill wasn’t off the mark about the impending danger and soon the world saw the advent of the Cold war
The cold war was an era of ideological confrontation between the two Super Powers and both tried to outmaneuver each other in gaining worldwide influence and their rivalry and competitions took them even to space race. In this struggle for gaining world wide military and political dominance both the sides resorted to massive propaganda. Soviet Union was dubbed as evil empire. But at last cold war came to an end in late 1980’s and Soviet empire crumbled and curtain finally fell on East West conflict.
Now The West led by the United States enjoys worldwide military and political dominance but its obsession and fear of dangerous ideologies hasn’t faded. The West’s political ideal of liberal democracy is the final destination of mankind as Francis Fukuyama in his book "The End of History?" argues"What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold war or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of The Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."
However, rest of the world is lagging behind the Western model and hasn’t yet arrived at the liberal democracy as the final frontier and those parts of the world might be carrying some ideology in conflict with that of the West. But the threat to the West could also come from within .It is common in the West to see right wing political parties and politicians voicing extreme views but such elements always encounter serious opposition from the Western governments and media. In Australia Pauline Hanson who founded One Nation party was hushed up as she started gaining serious attention for her anti immigration and racist views. Jorg Haider, ,a right wing Austrian politician met similar fate at the hands of the Western media and governments when he praised Hitler’s employment policy. Haider died recently in a car accident
But the West has found a threat much larger than the one posed by the fringe of right wing within the Western society and an ideology far more dangerous than the dead ideologies of Fascism, Nazism and communism: It is the threat of militant and radical Islam fighting and challenging the Western dominance and hegemony. Various terrorist attacks on the Western military targets and tourist culminating in 9/11 convinced the West of the inevitability of the conflict. To counter the threat the battle lines were again drawn and West launched war on terror. The war isn’t against Islam as a religion because the West can co exists with Islam as a religion. Millions of Muslims live in the Western countries and practice their faith, even buy churches and convert them into mosques. Rather it is the militant radical Islam establishing its foothold in the Muslim word and targeting the Western troops and interests that worries the West. But again the West doesn’t want and allow Islamic parties wining elections and establishing governments in whole of the country or in some of its parts. The example of Algeria, a part of Malaysia governed by an Islamic party , Somalia, Nigeria and Palestinian territory of Gaza will prove this point quite well. Such type of popular democracy is an anathema to the West. Quite recently Hamas led Gaza strip was bombed by Israeli air force and later invaded by IDF though Hamas was popularly elected into power.
The West is waging this war on militant Islam with military means but to wean the larger Muslim populations from the message of radical Islam it is resorting to more subtle means. West always supports liberal and the Westernized sections of the Muslim populations. It is attempting to win the hearts and minds of Muslims. Just as during the cold war it had radio stations like Radio Free Europe targeting the Eastern Europe, now it has radio and other means of propaganda targeting Muslims, mostly young people of countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East. This is an attempt to inculcate in the young Muslims the taste for the Western culture and the Western values. Any young reared on such values will be definitely closer to the West and further away from radical Islam and perhaps from Islam too.
What will be the outcome of The West’s obsession with radical Islam and its ideology of radicalism and militancy? But it will be unlike the West’s earlier wars with other dangerous ideologies and their supporting systems. At that time the enemy was visible and the battle was mostly external. The hostile ideologies came to an end once their supporting system was annihilated. But this time the targets are not clearly defined. Enemy is invisible and illusive and the ideology standing up to the West has its root in God and religion. The next epic battle between the West and the hostile ideology of radical Islam will be fought on plains, hills and mountains but also its battlefront will be the mind of man.
The same thinking ability shapes the contours of human societies, and of larger units like states. At social level men live and act according to a definite code they mutually agree upon. This code of conduct, social ethos, and belief or ideology whether divinely inspired or man made becomes the binding force and identity of that community. All this leads to some positive ends but then some trouble also begins to brew up. People outside the system are considered wayward, errants and are denied full acceptance. The class leading the community become the self-righteous guardians and is always on the look out for possible signs of subversion threading the system. People following an ideology set themselves at a high pedestal, consider themselves better human beings and with a proselytizing zeal try to convert others outside the system.
If the states are founded on ideologies then the scope of potential danger coming out of it magnifies manifold because state is after all a far bigger an entity than a social unit. Such an ideological state gains an aura of infallibility and has an uneasy relationship with the differing views and ideologies. In past states were dynastic or some were formed on the basis of religion but in 17th century modern nation state system began to take shape. The Western countries by a slow growth came to believe in liberal democracy as the ultimate panacea for mankind and saw their form of government ultimately challenged at the start of the 20th century by other competing ideologies. The clashes between competing ideologies gave birth to conflicts, both external and eternal and could have led further to cataclysmic wars of global proportions. These dangerous ideologies from the west’s point of view were communism, Nazism and Fascism and since their emergence the resources energies and manpower of the Western world began to be consumed in annihilating these creeds and their supporting state systems.
Soviet Union embodying the idea of Marxist ideology was founded in 1917. But prior to that the Western powers tried unsuccessfully to subvert founding of the Soviet state by organizing resistance against the Communists. But the Communists defeating the White armies established the Communist state. There was no love lost between the Soviet government and the Western powers. Lenin stated, “We don’t need any parliamentary republic; we don’t need any bourgeois democracy. We don’t need any government except the Soviet of workers, soldiers and farmhand’s deputies”. Soviet state was a Dictatorship of the proletariat and hence incompatible with the Western democratic model and added to that Soviet state showed interest to spread communism through revolutions across the globe. Lenin anticipated socialist revolution overtaking Europe and destroying its capitalist system. In 1919 in preparation of world revolution the Comintern was created as an association of the Communist parties of all lands.
But then the real danger to the West for the time being didn’t come from Soviet Union but from other creeds and ideologies originating from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Both Nazism and Fascism with their totalitarianism and rejection of the Western liberal democracy, individualism etc repudiated Western way of life and its political ideology. Mussolini predicted” a Fascist Europe drawing inspiration for its institutions from the doctrine and practice of Fascism.” “Fascism is bund to become the standard type of civilization of our century for Europe—the forerunner of European Renaissance.” Similarly Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich, supposed to last for a thousand years, with its racism, anti Semitism and its dream of world domination posed serious threat to the Western powers and things at last came to such a pass that the war machinery of the entire the Western powers in a “strange alliance” with the Soviet Union were geared up to defeat the Fascist threat and Fascist ideology. World war 2nd was fought and the allied won and Axis powers lost.
Fascist powers lay defeated but the old foe Soviet Union was still there and in the wake of 2nd world war was rapidly bringing Eastern Europe in her sphere of influence. Sensing the Soviet threat Churchill sounded the warning at Fulton, Missouri on 3 March 1946 in words that have become immortal, “From Stetting on the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across continent.” Churchill wasn’t off the mark about the impending danger and soon the world saw the advent of the Cold war
The cold war was an era of ideological confrontation between the two Super Powers and both tried to outmaneuver each other in gaining worldwide influence and their rivalry and competitions took them even to space race. In this struggle for gaining world wide military and political dominance both the sides resorted to massive propaganda. Soviet Union was dubbed as evil empire. But at last cold war came to an end in late 1980’s and Soviet empire crumbled and curtain finally fell on East West conflict.
Now The West led by the United States enjoys worldwide military and political dominance but its obsession and fear of dangerous ideologies hasn’t faded. The West’s political ideal of liberal democracy is the final destination of mankind as Francis Fukuyama in his book "The End of History?" argues"What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold war or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of The Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."
However, rest of the world is lagging behind the Western model and hasn’t yet arrived at the liberal democracy as the final frontier and those parts of the world might be carrying some ideology in conflict with that of the West. But the threat to the West could also come from within .It is common in the West to see right wing political parties and politicians voicing extreme views but such elements always encounter serious opposition from the Western governments and media. In Australia Pauline Hanson who founded One Nation party was hushed up as she started gaining serious attention for her anti immigration and racist views. Jorg Haider, ,a right wing Austrian politician met similar fate at the hands of the Western media and governments when he praised Hitler’s employment policy. Haider died recently in a car accident
But the West has found a threat much larger than the one posed by the fringe of right wing within the Western society and an ideology far more dangerous than the dead ideologies of Fascism, Nazism and communism: It is the threat of militant and radical Islam fighting and challenging the Western dominance and hegemony. Various terrorist attacks on the Western military targets and tourist culminating in 9/11 convinced the West of the inevitability of the conflict. To counter the threat the battle lines were again drawn and West launched war on terror. The war isn’t against Islam as a religion because the West can co exists with Islam as a religion. Millions of Muslims live in the Western countries and practice their faith, even buy churches and convert them into mosques. Rather it is the militant radical Islam establishing its foothold in the Muslim word and targeting the Western troops and interests that worries the West. But again the West doesn’t want and allow Islamic parties wining elections and establishing governments in whole of the country or in some of its parts. The example of Algeria, a part of Malaysia governed by an Islamic party , Somalia, Nigeria and Palestinian territory of Gaza will prove this point quite well. Such type of popular democracy is an anathema to the West. Quite recently Hamas led Gaza strip was bombed by Israeli air force and later invaded by IDF though Hamas was popularly elected into power.
The West is waging this war on militant Islam with military means but to wean the larger Muslim populations from the message of radical Islam it is resorting to more subtle means. West always supports liberal and the Westernized sections of the Muslim populations. It is attempting to win the hearts and minds of Muslims. Just as during the cold war it had radio stations like Radio Free Europe targeting the Eastern Europe, now it has radio and other means of propaganda targeting Muslims, mostly young people of countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East. This is an attempt to inculcate in the young Muslims the taste for the Western culture and the Western values. Any young reared on such values will be definitely closer to the West and further away from radical Islam and perhaps from Islam too.
What will be the outcome of The West’s obsession with radical Islam and its ideology of radicalism and militancy? But it will be unlike the West’s earlier wars with other dangerous ideologies and their supporting systems. At that time the enemy was visible and the battle was mostly external. The hostile ideologies came to an end once their supporting system was annihilated. But this time the targets are not clearly defined. Enemy is invisible and illusive and the ideology standing up to the West has its root in God and religion. The next epic battle between the West and the hostile ideology of radical Islam will be fought on plains, hills and mountains but also its battlefront will be the mind of man.
Discovering Takht-i-Sulaiman By Sikander Salahuddin and Ivan Mannheim
Takht-i-Sulaiman, the highest peak of the Sulaiman range is shrouded in myth and mystery. Named after Solomon, the wise Jewish prophet, the peak, on account of its perceived association with the prophet, is believed to possess a strange healing quality.
People in Damaan also believe that Prophet Sulaiman, by exercising his miraculous power, had confined those mischievous Jinns inside it who had refused to obey his command. The evil-spirited Jinns are supposed to remain imprisoned almost all the year, and in Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar, they are allowed to go free for a while. During this month, after darkness falls over the region, mothers restrict their children within their homes as a precaution against the evil effects of these Jinns.
Takht-i-Sulaiman rises to a height of 3382 meters above sea level. A trip to the mountain is undertaken mostly in summer, and in winter heavy snowfall makes it difficult to approach it from late November until March. Animal sacrifice is an essential feature of a visit to Sulaiman. The locals believe that infertile women can be blessed with fertility when they visit Takht-i-Sulaiman.
Religious connotations apart, Takht-i-Sulaiman is an area of outstanding natural beauty, boasting spectacular mountains, which offer endless opportunities of trekking and climbing. It can be reached either through Balochistan or NWFP. It is advised, for convenience’s sake, to start the journey from D.I. Khan. Draban Kalan, a town 40 miles off to the west, offers a convenient approach to it. Public transport heading up the Ragha Sar, the base of Sulaiman is available here.
Last summer, a few of us with our friend Ivan Mannheim boarded the local bus and headed westwards. The bus crossed the wide stony plain, part of Damaan which stretches for about 120km between D.I. Khan and D.G. Khan, sandwiched between the Sulaiman mountains to the west and Indus River to the east. The road then cut through a ridge of low hill and took us to Drazinda, the Tehsil headquarter. After a brief stop here, the bus drove forward winding its way through the mountains. Then turning west from the main D.I. Khan-Zhob road, the track followed the right bank of a gorge and led to the village of Ragasar.
Ragasar is a village at the head of the gorge. Stone and mud huts show that the modern aspects of civilization have not reached this village. In is inhabited by the friendly and hospitable Sherani tribe. Hostility is reserved within the tribe only. Bloods feuds are common, confirmed by the sight of the guns hanging over the shoulders of many people. After on overnight stay here, the next morning our journey to Takht-i-Sulaiman began. We set out with the necessary provisions and the valuable guidance of Sultan Khan, our friend and host. Shortly afterwards, the track forked right to descent and a swift flowing, foamy white stream could be seen flowing down with a roaring sound.
The narrow track along the stream was pretty strenuous to travel on as there were many small boulders and pointed stones. Precipitous walls of the mountain were on either side. The track cutting its way through sheer rock mountain led us into an open area with the magnificent mountain all around. The four-hour track from Ragasar came to an abrupt end as we climbed up a nearby hill to undergo the next stage of another strenuous journey to reach the next village.
Perched on a hilltop is Tora Tisha, a cluster of four or five stone huts, surrounded by a spectacular mountain amphitheatre. After half a day’s journey on a demanding track from Ragasar, Tora Tisha mosque made an ideal place for relaxation, food and prayer. The path then headed up from the village and crossed a small bridge of tree planks and twigs, built over a narrow gorge. Deep down, water seemed gushing forth at tremendous speed. We proceeded further on and were asked to perform the formidable task of making an ascent up a sheer rock wall, the track on it zigzagging its way up to its top. But our apprehension melted down as the track was comfortably wide for us.
When the tack finally ended, the scenery before us was breathtaking as we could see for miles below us due to the elevation we were at. We could see the slopes of the mighty Thakt-i-Sulaiman, which were covered with green forests, making the sight appear spectacular. We were supposed to make our way through them before completing the first leg of our journey for that day. A smooth climb over a mountain nearby led us straight to those pine forests. We were immediately impressed by lush green landscape that looked enchanting. Chilgoza and Nashtar trees could be seen growing in abundance.
The track, now smooth and straight, was splashed with brilliant patches of beauty. It led us forth to Poonga, a small village. It was the end of our first day’s journey as we would be staying there overnight. Poonga spills down the mountainside. It offers a panoramic view of the landscape. Lush green mountains covered with tall trees and lots of flowers could also be seen growing in the wild. There was a distinctive silence that is peculiar to mountainous countryside.
The next morning we took up the tack to the north of the village. The track is a long, hard uphill slog, notwithstanding its share of picturesque scenery. Further ahead, however, the track turns smooth with an easy stroll that runs along the flank of the mountain, with a large rock overhang. Either side of the track is carpeted with wild flowers. The track then starts to turn and ascend, and at one point it crosses the mountain.
The view on the other side was simply breathtaking. The vast landscape was characterized by lush green pastures and dense Chalghoza forest. Impressed by the beauty of the valley, a decision was made in favour of making a detour from the main track and visiting the valley. It was an idyllic place with a dazzling array of wild flowers. The track passed a pine forest as well as a meadow, surrounded by trees all around. A visit to Takht-i-Sulaiman is not complete without a brief foray into this beautiful region.
We rejoined the main track and reached Kalkarai at dusk. After an overnight stay there, the next morning we took a path to the right, which led steeply to the peak. In sheer contrast to the landscape below, the region around the top has been a victim to intense logging. There is even a camel route for the transportation of timber to Zhobe. The top, which once had plenty of pine trees, now wears a somewhat desolate look.
On the top, we observed many things. A stone-built room came into view. Those who intend to have an overnight stay make use of it. Rainfall fills up a water pool to be used by visitors. Under a shady tree, there is a grave of unusually large size. Qaisa Abdul Rasheed is said to have been buried here. The locals believe him to be an ancestor of the Pakhtoons. A small clean place near the end of the mountain was used as a mosque, said to mark the point where Prophet Sulaiman would land. Towards its end were few stones firmly fixed in the ground. Holding them in hands we were to climb down for about 10 feet on the side of the mountain to the Takht. It is a small stone slab with barely enough space for a man to stand or sit. Two of its corners were fixed in the mountainside, the rest in open air. Holding the stones in hand, a pilgrim is supposed to descend down to Takht to offer his prayer.
From the top, we enjoyed a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Far away, the huge expanse of Damaan was also visible. To the north was Waziristan, and to the west was a chain of mountains that marked the region of Balochistan.
Takht-i-Sulaiman is a region of unimaginable beauty, but local loggers pose a serious environmental threat to its very existence. It is time that the concerned authorities take some serious actions to preserve its ecosystem. The government has so far been totally apathetic to this tragedy. It has imposed a ban on the export of the timber from Sulaiman Mountains, but there are more than one ways of smuggling it. Western slops of the range provide an easy access to loggers to Zhob, Balochistan. The government must also pay heed to the genuine problems of Sherani tribal area, and should take concrete measures to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and backwardness from the area.
People in Damaan also believe that Prophet Sulaiman, by exercising his miraculous power, had confined those mischievous Jinns inside it who had refused to obey his command. The evil-spirited Jinns are supposed to remain imprisoned almost all the year, and in Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar, they are allowed to go free for a while. During this month, after darkness falls over the region, mothers restrict their children within their homes as a precaution against the evil effects of these Jinns.
Takht-i-Sulaiman rises to a height of 3382 meters above sea level. A trip to the mountain is undertaken mostly in summer, and in winter heavy snowfall makes it difficult to approach it from late November until March. Animal sacrifice is an essential feature of a visit to Sulaiman. The locals believe that infertile women can be blessed with fertility when they visit Takht-i-Sulaiman.
Religious connotations apart, Takht-i-Sulaiman is an area of outstanding natural beauty, boasting spectacular mountains, which offer endless opportunities of trekking and climbing. It can be reached either through Balochistan or NWFP. It is advised, for convenience’s sake, to start the journey from D.I. Khan. Draban Kalan, a town 40 miles off to the west, offers a convenient approach to it. Public transport heading up the Ragha Sar, the base of Sulaiman is available here.
Last summer, a few of us with our friend Ivan Mannheim boarded the local bus and headed westwards. The bus crossed the wide stony plain, part of Damaan which stretches for about 120km between D.I. Khan and D.G. Khan, sandwiched between the Sulaiman mountains to the west and Indus River to the east. The road then cut through a ridge of low hill and took us to Drazinda, the Tehsil headquarter. After a brief stop here, the bus drove forward winding its way through the mountains. Then turning west from the main D.I. Khan-Zhob road, the track followed the right bank of a gorge and led to the village of Ragasar.
Ragasar is a village at the head of the gorge. Stone and mud huts show that the modern aspects of civilization have not reached this village. In is inhabited by the friendly and hospitable Sherani tribe. Hostility is reserved within the tribe only. Bloods feuds are common, confirmed by the sight of the guns hanging over the shoulders of many people. After on overnight stay here, the next morning our journey to Takht-i-Sulaiman began. We set out with the necessary provisions and the valuable guidance of Sultan Khan, our friend and host. Shortly afterwards, the track forked right to descent and a swift flowing, foamy white stream could be seen flowing down with a roaring sound.
The narrow track along the stream was pretty strenuous to travel on as there were many small boulders and pointed stones. Precipitous walls of the mountain were on either side. The track cutting its way through sheer rock mountain led us into an open area with the magnificent mountain all around. The four-hour track from Ragasar came to an abrupt end as we climbed up a nearby hill to undergo the next stage of another strenuous journey to reach the next village.
Perched on a hilltop is Tora Tisha, a cluster of four or five stone huts, surrounded by a spectacular mountain amphitheatre. After half a day’s journey on a demanding track from Ragasar, Tora Tisha mosque made an ideal place for relaxation, food and prayer. The path then headed up from the village and crossed a small bridge of tree planks and twigs, built over a narrow gorge. Deep down, water seemed gushing forth at tremendous speed. We proceeded further on and were asked to perform the formidable task of making an ascent up a sheer rock wall, the track on it zigzagging its way up to its top. But our apprehension melted down as the track was comfortably wide for us.
When the tack finally ended, the scenery before us was breathtaking as we could see for miles below us due to the elevation we were at. We could see the slopes of the mighty Thakt-i-Sulaiman, which were covered with green forests, making the sight appear spectacular. We were supposed to make our way through them before completing the first leg of our journey for that day. A smooth climb over a mountain nearby led us straight to those pine forests. We were immediately impressed by lush green landscape that looked enchanting. Chilgoza and Nashtar trees could be seen growing in abundance.
The track, now smooth and straight, was splashed with brilliant patches of beauty. It led us forth to Poonga, a small village. It was the end of our first day’s journey as we would be staying there overnight. Poonga spills down the mountainside. It offers a panoramic view of the landscape. Lush green mountains covered with tall trees and lots of flowers could also be seen growing in the wild. There was a distinctive silence that is peculiar to mountainous countryside.
The next morning we took up the tack to the north of the village. The track is a long, hard uphill slog, notwithstanding its share of picturesque scenery. Further ahead, however, the track turns smooth with an easy stroll that runs along the flank of the mountain, with a large rock overhang. Either side of the track is carpeted with wild flowers. The track then starts to turn and ascend, and at one point it crosses the mountain.
The view on the other side was simply breathtaking. The vast landscape was characterized by lush green pastures and dense Chalghoza forest. Impressed by the beauty of the valley, a decision was made in favour of making a detour from the main track and visiting the valley. It was an idyllic place with a dazzling array of wild flowers. The track passed a pine forest as well as a meadow, surrounded by trees all around. A visit to Takht-i-Sulaiman is not complete without a brief foray into this beautiful region.
We rejoined the main track and reached Kalkarai at dusk. After an overnight stay there, the next morning we took a path to the right, which led steeply to the peak. In sheer contrast to the landscape below, the region around the top has been a victim to intense logging. There is even a camel route for the transportation of timber to Zhobe. The top, which once had plenty of pine trees, now wears a somewhat desolate look.
On the top, we observed many things. A stone-built room came into view. Those who intend to have an overnight stay make use of it. Rainfall fills up a water pool to be used by visitors. Under a shady tree, there is a grave of unusually large size. Qaisa Abdul Rasheed is said to have been buried here. The locals believe him to be an ancestor of the Pakhtoons. A small clean place near the end of the mountain was used as a mosque, said to mark the point where Prophet Sulaiman would land. Towards its end were few stones firmly fixed in the ground. Holding them in hands we were to climb down for about 10 feet on the side of the mountain to the Takht. It is a small stone slab with barely enough space for a man to stand or sit. Two of its corners were fixed in the mountainside, the rest in open air. Holding the stones in hand, a pilgrim is supposed to descend down to Takht to offer his prayer.
From the top, we enjoyed a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Far away, the huge expanse of Damaan was also visible. To the north was Waziristan, and to the west was a chain of mountains that marked the region of Balochistan.
Takht-i-Sulaiman is a region of unimaginable beauty, but local loggers pose a serious environmental threat to its very existence. It is time that the concerned authorities take some serious actions to preserve its ecosystem. The government has so far been totally apathetic to this tragedy. It has imposed a ban on the export of the timber from Sulaiman Mountains, but there are more than one ways of smuggling it. Western slops of the range provide an easy access to loggers to Zhob, Balochistan. The government must also pay heed to the genuine problems of Sherani tribal area, and should take concrete measures to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and backwardness from the area.
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