Pakistan, my fatherland, I weep for thee

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On the worst carnage in Pakistan’s history in which close to eight hundred innocent people were killed and maimed

By Anwaar Hussain

Today I weep for this blood-smeared mournful land that you have become, marooned in the blazing desert, torn and tormented, plundered and ravaged, disfigured by the scars of myriad wounds, tears dropping from your dolorous, longing eyes. Today I weep for thee.

mullah.jpg

Today I weep.

Today my grief is a sea—a fathomless, boundless sea. In this dark expanse drifts my soul…aimless, doleful and in mortal pain. Today I weep, unreservedly, unashamedly and in gushing torrents for Pakistan my fatherland. Today I weep for thee.

Today I weep with grief for Pakistan of flowering fields and blooming orchards, that wondrous land of jasmines and daffodils in freshest blossom, of tall snow capped mountains with rose fragrant valleys. I weep at your slow death at the hands of boisterous evil. I weep at your bloodied countenance and contorted face. Today I weep.

Today I weep for the demons of extremism that are stalking your splendid fields and farms. I weep for none can see that these monsters come clothed as messiahs bearing gifts steeped in poison. Nurtured on a diet of hate, these are now out of control. Rejuvenating in each bloodbath, they are consuming innocent humans at will. And while these demons have taken our nation on a guided tour of hell, the good men continue to wallow in their deafening silence. Today I weep.

Today I weep for the hapless victims. I weep for the unsung songs of the dead, for their unlived lives, for their untold stories. I weep for the loss of innocent souls whom no amount of crying or wailing can now bring back. I weep for scores of disabled whose limbs were torn asunder and will now hobble on ugly crutches through the rest of their miserable existences. Today I weep as I gaze upon your once promising past and then the present full of pain and then again upon the ominous unknown towards which you are headed. Today I weep as I find myself unable to soar above this dark abyss, weighted down with the mute silence of my good countrymen as I am. Today I weep.

Today I weep for this blood-smeared mournful land that you have become, marooned in the blazing desert, torn and tormented, plundered and ravaged, disfigured by the scars of myriad wounds, tears dropping from your dolorous, longing eyes. Today I weep.

Today I weep in the full knowledge that in vain are my bitter tears. In vain and useless because man the man-eating beast is on rampage in your bosom in the name of God while my good countrymen sit in meek acquiescence to the evil sermonizing from the pulpit. With their heads bowed, they listen to bigotry, intolerance and oppression spewed out in the name of God. Today I weep.

Today I weep for even as these lines are being written, somewhere at the fringes of humanity, in some dark recesses devoid of fresh air and sunlight, ominous creatures huddle together planning more massacre as the good men sway in trance to the bellowing from the pulpit. Today I weep.

Today I weep at the festering wounds in your body the gangrene in which is alive and spreading fast. Today I weep because your sons who could cure these boils with air and light now sit cowering in fear in their homes hoping that time somehow will pass healing all your injuries. I weep for they fail to realize that the time to break out of our collective apathy and lead the nation from its present state of gloom and despair is now or never. Today I weep.

Today I weep because my countrymen think that their religion is just about prayers and worship. I weep for they forget that a significant portion of their Book deals with purification of self, interaction with others, knowledge of the universe and what is contained therein. I weep because they do not see that while they are busy loathing the West, the West is busy conquering the same universe, solving its riddles, harnessing the nature for the benefit of mankind and finding that time is their only competitor. I weep because my countrymen counter the West by suicide bombing, beheading of innocent human beings, issuing Fatwas to that effect, continuing to pray for Divine intervention and by hating the whole West for the stupidity of just a few of their leaders. I weep because nobody seems to care that the only, repeat only, way to walk tall and strong in the comity of nations is to come at par with the West in education, technology and economy. Today I weep.

Today I weep for the once wonderful madarasah that was supposed to be a bastion of knowledge and a guiding light to the world where every order of learning from mathematics to science, from medicine to astronomy, from philosophy to jurisprudence were taught, where great Muslim luminaries such as Al-Beruni, Ibn-e-Sina and Ibn-e-Khuldoon produced timeless works is now being used to mislead innocent Muslims by promoting intolerance, hatred and violence. I weep because from its podium and the pulpit, the so called clerics are inciting adherents to kill innocent people, while singing sweet lullabies of their marvelous past. I weep because we are told to keep hugging past glories to our chests and remain prostate in prayers waiting for a Saladin to appear and restore us to our rightful destiny. Today I weep.

Today I weep for the horrendous indifference of the good people, for the hush, impotence and disappearance of moderate voices from across the national scene. Today I weep over the past three decades that have seen Pakistan navigating a course strewn with blood, bones, and bodies of innocent victims. I weep for I have witnessed firsthand -the whole nation slowly caging itself into an obscenity of horror, pushed by the hands of decent men who remain quiet when they should speak. Today I weep.

Today I weep, O country mine, for each new pain the beasts inflict upon you. My breast is torn again and again as you reel from the countless wounds inflicted by the savage hordes. I weep in the sure knowledge that neither God nor fate had destined you to become this vale of sorrow and anguish that you have now become. I weep for I cannot see any time soon that dawn will rise and put an end to your murk and gloom. Not unless we the silent ones arise from our slumber and pour sunshine into your stricken heart that you may burnish with new light, my Fatherland. And that I do not see. Today I weep.

Today I weep for I see nary an effort to get up and start carving tunnels of hope though the dark mountains of despondency and disillusionment that we have allowed coming up all around us by remaining a silent majority. I weep because the dark clouds and the deep fog of extremism now engulf our communities from all around. I weep for I cannot see any where on the horizons the radiant stars of happiness, harmony and prosperity that should have been shining by now over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. Today I weep.

Today I weep for the thousands that have paid for our apathy with their lives and the thousands more that surely will because we continue to remain silent. I weep for this harvest of hate season after season. I weep for our failure to face squarely the extremists who sell their dark dogmas as superior to enlightened reason. I weep for my countrymen who fail to see through the naked, twisted, mindless logic of the bigot. I weep at the silence of the good men who have brought this about. I weep at the impotent look in their dead eyes as they gaze on at the slowly erecting sorrowful tomb of Pakistani nation. I weep at their terror-stricken question that they ask each other in hushed tones….what happened to Pakistan?

YOU happened to Pakistan.

Pakistan, I weep for thee.

Copyrights : Anwaar Hussain

Note : Please comment here or email me at eagleeye@emirates.net.ae



Comments

20 Responses to “Pakistan, my fatherland, I weep for thee”

  1. Hanna on October 22nd, 2007 9:30 pm

    Anwaar - I don’t think, that I have ever read anything this beautiful and moving before in my life - it is poetry!

    May I distribute it to all the groups, I have access to? I am only asking, because it could pose a threat to you and your family’s safety.

    Hanna

  2. Anwaar on October 22nd, 2007 9:32 pm

    Please do Hanna, threat or no threat. Someone has to speak out.

    I write from the pain that I feel for Pakistan.

  3. the olive ream on October 22nd, 2007 9:44 pm

    This is unequivocally THE best article I’ve read so far on Pakistan’s current predicament. Bravo Mr. Hussain! This was an impeccable piece.

  4. Highlander on October 22nd, 2007 10:27 pm

    More than an hour after reading it, I am still high on the contents of this article. Beautiful, sonorous, musical yet so profoundly impacting.

    Pakistan need not worry when it has sons like you.

    Kudos!

  5. Tahir on October 22nd, 2007 10:46 pm

    This article, by all norms, should awaken a dead nation; goad them to take drastic measures needed to stop down slide of their humanity, civility and lawfulness. Would it succeed at doing any of this? It’s a question so dreadful I dont even want to think about. Today I weep in unison with the writer, on the misconceived religious, nationalist and ethnic values of our people. Today I cry and pray, like all of us, that may Allah rescue us from our predicament coz i dont see any effort being made by either our rulers or the subjects.

  6. Rowan on October 22nd, 2007 11:23 pm

    Dear Anwaar,

    Words are inadequate. I have shared your heartfelt lament at Uncommon Thought and CJO’s Avenger. Please check out at ;

    http://www.bestcyrano.org/avenger212/?p=117

    Uncommon Thought

    Peace - it is our hope,

    Rowan

  7. Hadi on October 23rd, 2007 1:02 am

    And I weep too; but you cannot see my tears themselves drowned in the blood of innocent, unsuspecting and often ignorantly zealous, misguided and thoughtlessly abhorent perpetrators of hienious crimes for which theyhave been brainwashed by the satanic preachers, who themselves sit pretty on their pulpits and sermonise the evil cloaked in religion. But I agree that no amount of weeping will change either the mindset of their pupils, nor the motive of their tutors. The around can only be effected by breaking this silence to usher in the love that any religion teaches. A love where sympathy is replaced by empathy and is put into action by the silent spectator; who surely is in the majority. Another ten Anwaar, and please keep it up.

  8. Tom Edgar on October 23rd, 2007 1:25 am

    That you can express my thoughts in a way I never could.
    That you can analyze a situation in a way those in charge never would.
    That you can only watch as others do what they never should.
    May your pen keep writing and prove to be mightier than the sword.

    Tom Edgar Australia. tomedgar@halenet.com.au

  9. Jonathan Stephenson on October 23rd, 2007 11:23 am

    I must always think when such a crime takes place, such as this massacre and the Bali Attack and the Spainish Train-station Attacks and the 9-11 attacks, who benefits from this crime the most. Which nations leaders have been bedeviling Pakistan to let it attack inside it’s borders, even saying to Pakistan that one day these “evil doers” would turn on the country they were living in, the government of this same nation using a terrorist attack to launch a war that has personally enriched them beyond our comprehension, a government that can seem to pull out terrorists every time it needs them, a government who is suspected of attacking it’s own people, by millions of it’s own citizens, a government that is without pity, remorse or humanity. I pray I am wrong, but this seems all too familiar to me, all too convienient. I shall say that when the investigating is done and it is said there is a connection to Iran, we without doubt will know who was truly behind this! My friend Anwaar this may not be as it seems, your pain is so real, and the supposed culprits seem so likely, I think things seldom happen like this, which so benefits one nations government, by accident, this smells of false flag to me. May God protect the Pakistani People from all evil, may He proctect the Worlds people, from the true “evil doers”.

  10. mahboob a. khawaja on October 23rd, 2007 12:43 pm

    Dear Anwar: Assalamo-Alaikum

    Thank you for sharing your inborn sentiments. The real issue is how to safeguard the interests of common Pakistanis who have been victimized by the continuous military rule in collaboration with corrupt politicians for more than half of a century. Bhutto’s and General Musharraf’s survival depends on how much more terrorism they could import into Pakistan and please the Master. Leaders create leaders. None of these people are leaders but exploiters and ignorant individuals. Thinking rationally, a navigational change articulated by educated Pakistanis, out of the scope of the current political landscape, could be instrumental to restore its survival, integrity and viable future.

    Thank you again for contributing your real concerns and hope, most educated Pakistanis would listen to voices of reason.

    Mahboob K.

  11. Malayalee on October 23rd, 2007 3:51 pm

    What lesson has Pakistan learnt from 60 years of independent rule? The very foundation on which the Pakistani state was built seems to be shaking.

    Faith is absolute and hence irrational. Politics cannot be irrational. Economic realities are not irrational.

    When a state spends 80% of its budget on defence, how much would be left for the poor population?

    Social justice…

  12. Michelle on October 23rd, 2007 6:05 pm

    Anwaar:

    Your obvious grief has been noted and I offer my condolences. The question now is: What’s next?

    Mahboob K.’s reply is one that deserves dialogue because it seems to me that the travesty of innocent people being blown apart is not directly related to the “demons of extremism” but rather, to a few corrupt power hungry individuals who will harness the spewing of religious claptrap to cover their tracks. Big fish in a little pond who are more than willing to sellout their people in order to hang on to power.

    The fact of the matter is that the opposing parties of Musharraf and Bhutto are locked in a deadly struggle for power with the Bush administration brokering deals between them. Washington has a decades-long history of sustaining military rule in Pakistan, in pursuit of US imperialism’s predatory ambitions in Central Asia and the Middle East. This and other matters of government are where yours and others efforts are needed.

    It is high time the people of our world, no matter where they live, get over discussing good and evil and begin to participate in the political climate of their countries. It seems as if people are cowering in fear instead of giving voice to their moderate or secular ideas, as the case may be. Also, many of your homeland’s population leave the country; when this happens, do they plan to return after further education, to bring enlightenment and new leadership to the their home, or do they continue to sit from a distance still shaking with fear unable to return and get in the muck of it.

    What’s your responsibility to your government? I’ll tell you: Physically, to know what’s happening. Don’t go into a closet and think that it’s going to take care of itself, because it won’t. It’s about choice! It continues to need the guidance of the group consciousness that founded it, and that is in the citizens. Don’t let the divine principles of free choice slip away. Your country is only as good as your guidance of it, and unless you participate in the process set up to guide it, you’ll receive the same energy as the other governments in history, which all self-destructed in time.

    Thanking you for your time and attention,

    Yours in the Light,

    Michelle

  13. Michelle on October 23rd, 2007 6:49 pm

    Sorry for the taking of extra space….forgot to add this to my reply:

    If and when I partner up with any religious leader, I look for those who offer truth, because as Susan B. Anthony said, “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”

    Here’s one example of a cleric/priest I’d sit up and pay attention to:
    “The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy, and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it.” — Edward Dowling, Editor and Priest, Chicago Daily News, 28jul, 1941

  14. M Shahid Khan on October 23rd, 2007 7:13 pm

    An excellent article. The efforts are highly appreciated. The point is that all moderate, educated people of Pakistan understand. Even it can be said the mijority in Pakistan understand all these facts and accept it. The problem is with a small group not ready to understand and creating disaster for Pakistan.

  15. liz burbank on October 23rd, 2007 11:03 pm

    Anwaar, as many readers commented, your passionate poetic testimony is profoundly moving.

    As others noted, beyond the emotions and awareness you share with us, is the question your gift poses implicitly: what is to be done?

    To seriously grapple with this question we must understand the forces behind the barbaric destruction wreaked on your country, and so much more of the world, to discover our allies and enemies, and to forge a path of liberation forward.

    Towards that,wouldn’t it help to take your testimony a qualitative leap further by naming the enemy, the u.s. and its ‘ME’ proxy israel since imperialist zionism is the major force behind the genocidal state terrorist war for world domination threatening the future of the world and humanity?

    This suggestion is offered so your poetic resistance may become the most powerful cultural-political weapon possible in the peoples’ struggle for justice and peace against the perpetrators of historically unprecedented crimes against humanity.

    Thank you for your truth, passion and courage anwaar,

    Liz

  16. Shahid Nisar on October 23rd, 2007 11:22 pm

    Anwaar,
    May I have your permission to have this article published in the newspapers, under your name? Plz, we need people of ur thought and calibre to make a difference!

  17. Anwaar on October 24th, 2007 5:33 am

    Better minds than mine have commented. I thank you all. Please continue to thrash the issue threadbare. This is the least we can contribute.

    To M Shahid Khan;

    Shahid, I guess the problem is the majority ALLOWING itself to becoming hostage of the minority. Won’t you agree?

    To Liz,

    Liz again, the real problem, in my opinion, is ALLOWING the minuscule, though all powerful, “Imperialists/Zionists” to take us all for a ride. Weakness invites control. And that is exactly what we have done.

    To Shahid Nisar;

    Please do go ahead and get it published as far and wide as possible. Let this be the beginning of our riposte. Use my name sir, but please be aware that I do not have copyrights to the picture that goes with the article.

    Anwaar

  18. awwab saleem on October 26th, 2007 4:01 pm

    BAAT TO SUCH HEY…MAGAR BAAT HEY RUSWAAI KI…
    (True is the talk…but it carries shame…)

    When I read such truth, my head inclines forward in shame and a sort of guilt. Being an able bodied Pakistani I see it getting destroyed and do nothing. Am I guilty?

    OR when you cannot do anything in the face of oppression, perhaps fleeing is still the better option than sitting in the midst with eyes closed OR thinking nothing is wrong OR WORSE, being a party to the looters and plunderers.

    I remember it was about 30 years ago, you, Anwaar gave me Ayn Rand’s book, “ATLAS SHRUGGED”. I could not comprehend it then but I do remember JHON GALT against the oppression, compelling “THE GOOD PEOPLE”..to leave..to flee..to ATLANTIS. Where is our Atlantis? None other than the dear land.

    Now you Anwaar, our Jhon Galt, are telling us TO SPEAK OUT. You are right. Speak out we should. Something would stir and then it may lead to action one day. They say that the flutter of the wings of a butterfly has an EFFECT. Speaking and writing would have a much bigger effect than that.

    May you remain bold, remain courageous and may we all wipe off our tears and decide to do something…AAMEEN

  19. Masroor ul Hassan on October 27th, 2007 11:36 am

    Maulana Azad once said while commenting on Pakistan’s independence,”India is a reality and Pakistan an experiment”. Yes, it was and I agree. But was independent Ireland not an experiment too? Why Ireland qualified to join EU before the “reality”, The Great Britain? Simply because there were no Iskandar Mirzas, Ayub Khans, Bhuttoes, Zias and Musharafs. Pakistan’s experiment was dealt a near fatal blow in 1971. The wing that survived is at the fringes of total collapse and complete failure as a state. WEEPING is NOT going provide sufficient water for preventing its ship from running aground. There has to be RAIN of mercy from Allah and Allah only helps those who get up and help themselves. I think Michelle’s remarks are very pertinent.

    Anwaar I love you for the commitment and courage and have decided to join hands with you in your struggle. Our nation has several weaknesses which are being tactfully exploited by those who mean no good to us. I shall write a few of them in my next post. We as a nation are displaying a frightening indifference which was characteristic of French nation before the mighty french revolution. Are the days of toddies of the west and tyrants like Mushraf and BB numbered numbered now? Is it time now to get up and move. Is it time now to change a shove into a push?

  20. Global Voices Online » Pakistan: Weeping for the Fatherland on October 29th, 2007 11:14 pm

    […] moving post at Truth Spring on the lives that are lost in Pakistan as violence strikes frequently. Share […]

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Anwaar’s articles appear simultaneously here at Truth Spring and at Soul Vibes in The Pakistan Tribune.


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