Jahane Rumi In search of the unsearchable: O, my soul! where would you find your house?

14Apr/093

Civil society speaks

Zinda dilaan-e-Lahore say no to Talibanisation, reports Raza Rumi

Never before have we citizens been traumatised with an uncertain future and the knocks of destruction at our door as is the case in the year 2009. The celebrated twenty first century has, if nothing else, blown the contradictions of Pakistani society and state right into our faces. One hundred and eighty million people cannot be spectators to the imperial great games and a callous state that gropes in the dark trying to locate the ‘enemy’ outside, instead of looking into its own crevices and cracks.

Not that Lahore has been a haven of peace in recent years – the inequities, the crime levels have been on the rise. However, March 2009 witnessed two full-scale terror attacks in the city of gardens, shrines and a centuries-old tolerant culture. Media gurus were quick to involve India, RAW, the Americans, everyone under the sun except the enemy within. First the friends of Pakistan – the Sri Lankans and then the ill-equipped and vulnerable Police Academy at Manawan, were attacked by trained assassins who espouse a version of Islam that no sane Muslim can ever live with.The panic and fear generated by these two incidents had not ended when the brutal video of Chand Bibi getting lashed on the streets of Swat was released.

3Apr/092

Fighting terror

Today it is Chaand Bibi - the unfortunate victim in Swat and tomorrow it could be civilisation itself or whatever remains of it in the rest of the country.

The citizens of Lahore and the numerous groups will get together tomorrow to protest on the Mall Road. Similar rallies are being organised elsewhere most notably in Karachi by the People's Resistance group.

This is a chance for you to stand up and be counted against the forces of extremism and aggression who are hellbent on destroying our beloved city Lahore and the country. If we will not raise our voices then we are condemned to be victims of history.
Let us march on the Mall tomorrow, to counter darkness with peaceful protest with OUR STATE MUST FIGHT THE TERRORISTS

Date: Saturday, April 4, 2009
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: The High Court/GPO Chowk
Street: Mall Road
City/Town: Lahore, Pakistan