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