Unfullfiled Civic Longing
Writing for The Friday Times, Pakistan
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After Mumbai, I have stopped watching television. I will not participate in the senseless jingoism of the Indo-Pak media industries … most Pakistanis do not want war with India |
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Since my return to Lahore, my social life has resumed its Lahori normalcy except that I have changed. Alas. I just cannot go to random places and meet the same people over and over again. Life is not just tribes, clans and cliques. This is why Rafay Alam has become a saviour of sorts. A younger muse, Rafay is an enthusiastic urban explorer. Though we have hardly kept our plans consistent let alone punctual, the tours within Lahore have been fantastic. From the Mughal to the Raj eras, I have managed to fathom a lot – the evident and not so apparent tide of change that has engulfed Lahore. The people’s architecture is simply astounding for its social and aesthetic statement. Away from the self-conscious red-brick homes of the elites, and far from the kitsch sold as comfort in the Defence Housing Authority; the Mughalpura and Ghoray Shah areas have some interesting buildings and colours that one would rarely find amid the growing menace of high-rises and hideous sign boards that are thankfully being removed fromthe scene.
It was therefore great to be at my dear friend SA’s birthday bash that was a smallish affair but had an interesting mix of Lahore’s younger intelligentsia. Except that I got into trouble while arguing with a friend over the ethnic riots in the commercial capital of Pakistan. The exchange was heated and more so following the Mumbai attacks and the theories that are floating around as to who actually perpetrated the attacks. I was a little too critical of the liberal chattering classes who are pretty much responsible for the mess to start with. Their prognoses and diagnoses are all off the mark. For instance, when someone said that post-Mumbai, quick attacks were an opportunity for Pakistan to carry out surgical strikes and weed out terror, I nearly banged my head against their woolly wall of delusion. Such distance from reality can only be found in the well heated drawing rooms of Lahore with an odd painting of a Pakistani master hanging above their spurious theorisations.
And, then it was a visit to Islamabad and Muzaffarabad that saddened me even more. The exciting part was that despite the insecurity, Islamabad-wallahs continue with life as usual except that the state is under siege. The city has lost its closeness to Nature, while Development or its Pakistani version has ruined the capital. A day’s visit to Muzaffarabad with a friend was also insightful. Whilst the friend remained a victim of motion-sickness, I meandered along the winding roads reading a new autobiographical novel – Basharat Peer’s “Curfewed Night” – and marveled at the empty mountain roads in the winter season.
In Muzaffarabad, it seemed that the earthquake had never happened. Life is back in full force and so is the pre-earthquake clutter: roads jammed with encroachments and ill-designed buildings. The place is now a little wonderland for international NGOs whose remarkable work has rebuilt the area, much faster than the government effort but has also unleashed an ethic whereby locals are now getting more and more dependent on external flows, jacked up rents and a ‘let them do it’ attitude. Hundreds of signboards tell you which organization is doing what and one wonders if all of this is development in the real sense.
But then Pakistan is the land of the surreal. No point in dwelling too much on unthinkables – this is how it works and, as many say, will continue to work for years to come. The litany of my woes continues as PIA’s new system of computerised booking is a mere extension of its mess in the information technology zone. You can never confirm a seat, as all the seats are parked somewhere for VIPs and if you get a confirmation you have to go and collect the ticket within a few hours otherwise you have no booking at all.
Thus my return journey to Lahore is usually taken care of by the Daewoo bus service that is not all that bad and reminds me of our penchant to create little corners of comfort and isolation amid the jungle of unfulfilled civic longings.
Getting back to smoggy, overcrowded and noisy Lahore is always a relief, at least for the first few hours. And, life goes on as usual after that.
After the horrific Mumbai events, I have stopped watching television. I will not participate in the senseless jingoism of the Indo-Pak media industries. This is why I may not go to Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University this month but will send my paper that will carry the message of peace shared by the vast majority of Pakistanis who do not war with India.
Raza Rumi blogs at http://razarumi.com and manages the Pak Tea House and Lahore Nama e-zines
More and more people are getting tired of the irresponsible role of both countries’ media.
Looking forward to read the paper here…
And btw.. if you feel that burn out, you must take a break (although I can imagine how close impossible would it be..)
First two lines are the true depiction of the life of our generaton no doubt/ i enjoyed this article.
If there was going to be war, it would’ve started by now, I think.
BTW, you seem to be getting to know your home-town all over again.
Raza You are scaring me.I feel burnt out here in Europe and want to go back to my beloved lahore to recharge my self after being away for nearly 9 yrs.
Paint me a rosey picture.As what I feel people have made their life difficult themselves.They should control their pace of life not the otherway around.Be simple and revert back to nature.
The more you enter the rat race the more rat you become.
Atleast thats what I believe,
Daniyal Nagi
You could substitute the word Lahore with Delhi(while depicting the lifestyles and attitudes of the chattering classes) and it would be an apt description of the life of the preivilged Diliwallahs.
A vast majority of Pakistanis do NOT want war with India. A vast majority of Indians too do NOT want war with Pakistan either, but there are vested interests that WANT war. Hate is a USD 20 Billion business annually [Indo-Pak context i.e.]. There are no leaders / visionaries in India and Pakistan. They are falling into a trap. Real issues always get side-lined. The Mullah and the RSS cannot be contained… that is a fact of life. Law is very weak when faced by “perceptions”., and burdens of history. The RSS and Mullah will put SE Asia to flames. War will strengthen Taliban and RSS, as SE Asia goes to dogs. Manmohan Singh may gave a lack-lustre speech, but his action is not lack-lustre. He knows that war will destroy Pakistan, but it will also push India 20 years back in the bargain !
Hatred extracts a price !
One has to focus on the TIMING of the Mumbai blasts – to get to the root of the matter. The blasts took place just 2-3 days before Assembly Elections for Rajasthan/Chattisgarh/Delhi/MP and Tripura ! Just 2 days before ! Please focus on the timing… to get to the real culprits/masterminds. Who stands to BENEFIT from this act ? That is the “core” question… that will lead one to logical conclusions.
Who stands to gain ? The Timing…. answers it all.
Godhra : 50 Innocent Hindus burnt alive… followed by a genocide of 500 Innocent Muslims… PRECEDING elections !
There is a history of barbaric acts BEFORE elections… Sway people’s EMOTIONS… divide society… and win elections !!!
Parliamentary elections in India are scheduled Apr 09. Just 4 months to go. There is pressure on the Govt. of India to do something…atleast symbolic (tactical attack/ limited war). The Media [Corporate interests tied to War Industry] has injected jingoism in society. Look at the vernacular newspapers in Gujarati and Marathi… watch Star TV., Zee TV., and hear the language full of hatred and war-mongering. Cheap jingoism at display. They are comparing India to America ! What a fantasy ride. This is India’s 9/11 they say ! The comparison is so unreal. Ground realities are so different. Yet… people re taken for a ride.
Public itself is “bad” and takes to “hate mongering” in a very natural way. THAT psyche has to be understood. India-Pakistan relations are unreal and extremely fragile.
Ideally war must be avoided at all costs. However, should there be a war., (God forbid)., then India must act in a statesmanly manner… it must conquer both Pakistan and Bangladesh.. and must show that it can manage a multi-ethnic state. That way it will add 360 million more muslims to the total… and that demography will definitely deter RSS from its joy-ride of hatred. Secular space can be created and it can GROW. Pakistanis have tried an Islamic State…What did the yget ? Halwa Puri ? RSS has tried Hindu-Raj (de-facto…and not de jure!)… and what has it given Hindus ? Halwa Puri ??? NO. So the 3 must unite. For 60 years., the parties have TRIED their hand at creating a laboratory. The experiments have proved to be disastrous. So destroy the 3 laboratories… and lets have one Secular.. Strong.. Educated.. INDIA..
Let Nehru’s vision win… the final war of “ideas”. For how long… How many generations more be wasted as “Hate-Fuel” . The best way to contain the Mullah and the RSS is to create / widen the secular space. As an “idea” it has the potential to combat the hate-factories of RSS and Mullah… individualy and/or even combined.
Arrey Dastagir yeh kya keh rahe ho……..we should conquer both Pakistan and Bangladesh?? Ab kyon un do sovereign nations ko ammo de rahe ho to start saying that ‘India wants to gobble us up’.Let them manage their countries as they see fit.
And attacks always happen before elections but this time no electoral gains atleast in assembly elections for BJP.Hopefully things should remain the same in the national elections.Fingers crossed.
Public itself is “bad” and takes to “hate mongering” in a very natural way. THAT psyche has to be understood. India-Pakistan relations are unreal and extremely fragile.
I think this is a fundamental misconception which is not supported by historical evidence. The mob is a destructive entity but its fury subsides quickly. But if you have more power centers, it prevents any one authority to sacrifice the interest of the majority for its own. I think that if there is democracy (even if its admittedly inferior kind as practiced in India but still far superior to any other form), we might find more cheap jingoism etc but might be less afraid of a war breaking out because there will be saner voices who can act statesmanlike. But if there is a concentration of power, that powerful force can either become blinded by its own power or for its own self-interest can start something like a war.
I searched for the article by Pitras Bukhari(Lahore ka jaghrafia: The Geography of Lahore)..i got lots of information about the person, thanks for introducing me to him, but couldnt get the article. Actually i got one but its in arabic i cant read. Can someone give me a link to english version or in english transcript…thanks rahega