The Makh-Dooms of Pakistan

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By Anwaar Hussain

jaljal.jpgAccording to a little heard news, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani has reportedly decided to drop the family prefix of Makhdoom from his name saying he wants to serve people and not be served by them. Gillani said the honorific “Makhdoom”, which means “one who is served” is no longer appropriate as he believes in serving the people.

Though the apparent unconditional sincerity in the Prime Minister’s resolve to ‘serve’ the Pakistani people is heart warming, yet a leopard can not change his spots. The scribe begs to explain the Makh-Doom phenomenon to the gullible Pakistani masses first. By the end of this piece, the readers would know why the scribe spells Makhdoom as Makh-Doom.

A little review of history is in order first.

Jallianwala Bagh is a garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar. On April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted for about 10 minutes. Shots were fired at the rate of 33 rounds per soldier. Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources, however, there were over 1000 deaths, with more than 2000 wounded. Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there were over 1800 casualties.

Back in his headquarters, Dyer reported to his superiors that he had been “confronted by a revolutionary army,” and had been obliged “to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab.” In a telegram sent to Dyer, the then British Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, the author of the said massacre, Sir Michael O’Dwyer wrote: “Your action is correct. Lieutenant Governor approves.”

Nigel Collett, the writer of a new biography of Reginald Dyer, The Butcher of Amritsar said of Dyer: “As an Englishman, I cannot help but feel sorrow and shame at what he did…The massacre was the worst atrocity by a British officer ever recorded”.

Such was the sentiment of a British author about the gory crime carried out by the British soldiers. Given below is an old document to refresh the memories of the readers regarding the sentiments of the sons of the soil of Punjab, the Makh-Dooms. Taken from an Urdu column written by one Khalid Masood Khan, the referred document belongs to the beginning of the previous century.

The translation of this flowery text from Urdu language, marked by elaborate rhetoric and decorative details as it is, was a difficult task. The omissions and commissions, therefore, can safely be attributed to the scribe. More or less, though, this is how the text of the supplication goes;

A Prayer to His Highness Sir Michael Francis O’Dwyer CIE KCSI,

Lieutenant Governor Bahadur Punjab,

Your Excellency,

We the servants of the saints and clerics, along with the appropriate elites of our society of West Punjab, present to your esteemed self this humble entreaty. We are sure that your Highness, whose nature is replete with fairness and blessings for the common, will hear us out giving us cause to be proud of our lowly selves.

Before any thing else, we congratulate your Honor that the terrible World War that began in your tenure has reached its logical end in your term of office. This majestic kingdom [of the British Empire] upon which the sun never used to set even before, has now come out ever stronger and illuminant. It has won the war in as befitting a manner as the blessed tongue of our Emperor had promised it will. There is no doubt any more that the British sword went back into its scabbard only after truth became dominant and international freedom along with peace and welfare of smaller nations was ensured.

Your Highness’s era was a delicate one. Punjab was lucky to have for a ruler a strong man of your integrity and wisdom in those tumultuous times. Under your hallowed leadership, not only was peace maintained inside Punjab, but it also benefited in more sublime ways. Under your gifted guidance, Punjab proved its loyalty to the empire [by providing soldiers to the British Imperial Army] and was awarded the proud title of ‘The Sword of the Kingdom’. Lady O’Dwyer, your life long companion and a symbol of womanhood, helped us untiringly in the matters of Red Cross and Indian women’s education earning our undying appreciation in the process. Please convey our heartfelt gratitude to Lady O’Dwyer.

When we see the miracles of telegraph, the building of colleges and universities for Indians, we in fact see the incomparable British justice at work in a Raj where the lion and the lamb drink from the same pond. We see nothing but benevolence all around us.

We know that the recent Martial Law was the result of some mischief mongers from among us. We in fact want to thank your Majesty that despite the Martial Law, Muslim sensitivities were duly addressed and our religious festivals were catered for. We are also aware that the Shahi Mosque [Lahore’s central mosque] was being used for illegal political activities [by the freedom activists] and your Highness had to put a stop to that. We are forever grateful for that.

For us, the British Raj has proved to be a much awaited rain on a parched land. We are only being truthful when we say that even if we were to have endless lives, we would not be able to repay even a fraction of its favors and generosity. That is why, sir, we beseech you that when you go back to your country, please assure that great king of the British Empire that we his subjects, upon whom he has showered his untold blessings, will remain loyal to him until our deaths.

We are saddened that the inexperienced and young King of Afghanistan, Amir Amanullah Khan, has reneged on his treaties with the British Empire. This is in direct violation of the Quranic injunction “Fulfill your promises for you will be questioned about these in the hereafter”. It was indeed the British who strengthened the reign of Amir Amanullah Khan’ family over Afghanistan. He is being entirely ungrateful. We the people of Punjab cannot forget the massacre and plunder of our lands by the Afghan hordes. We assure your Lordship that we look upon the Afghan King’s misdeeds with unreserved hatred.

We also wholeheartedly condemn those among us due to whose conspiracies Punjab was plunged into recent chaos and earned a black mark on its hitherto unblemished reputation. Your Excellency’s overpowering of these miscreants was only in the fitness of things. We assure your Highness that we loath them as much as their mad transgressions. Our Quran not only teaches us, “Don’t create mischief on earth” but also that, “Allah loves not the miscreants”.

Your Excellency, though your departure sunders our hearts, we take solace from the fact that your successor is none other than Sir Edward McLean. Every soul in Punjab knows of his qualities of head and heart. He will, we are sure, be a suitable heir to your venerated office. We welcome him from the cores of our hearts and assure him that just like the past; we will continue to prove our undying loyalty to the Raj.

The Signatories

(A long list of Makhdooms and Pirs of the West Punjab)

Now if you are still not sickened enough at this brazen display of unashamed toadying of the Makh-Dooms to the author of Jallianwala Massacre, here is a current list of just some of these gentlemen sprinkled evenly across the two main political parties of Pakistan, thereby ensuring the continuous presence of a Makh-Doom in the ruling party.

# Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, the great grand son of one of the lead signatories. (Yousuf’s father was Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly)

# Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, President of PPP (Pakistan Peoples’ Party) Punjab and the current Foreign Minister of Pakistan, another great grand son of one of the lead signatories. (Mehmood’s father was once the Governor of Punjab)

# Makhdoom Syed Bashir Ahmed Shah Political leader affiliated with PPP, and former Food, Agriculture and Forests Minister of Pakistan during the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto regime.

# Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pakistani politician affiliated with PML-Q, and former Interior Minister of Pakistan.

# Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Pakistani politician affiliated with PPP, and former Finance Minister of Pakistan.

# Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi, Pakistani politician, and central leader of PML-N, a former Federal Minister for Health. (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Group)

# Makhdoom Syed Akhtar Husain Shah, Pakistani Politician in affiliation with PPP, former Member Provincial Assembly Sindh.

# Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim, Pakistani politician, and central leader of PPP (sweated hard to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan).

# Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mehmood, Pakistani politician.

And here is a brief discussion on genetics from Wikipedia;

“Genetics is the study of how living things receive common traits from previous generations. Genes are passed on from parent to child and are an important part of not only how the child will look and behave, but will also determine what traits a whole family (such as the grandfather, great grandfather, etc.), will have.”

The result; lurching from crisis to crisis, gripping for dear life to sporadic achievements here and there, Pakistan stumbles on among the fraternity of nations.

To be honest, the Makh-Dooms are not alone in this sad saga. There are other charlatans galore. Of them, some other day.

Now reach for your sick bags.

End Note: On 13 March 1940, almost 21 years after the Jallianwala Bagh killings, a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society was scheduled at Caxton Hall, London. Among the speakers was Michael O’Dwyer, the one time Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.

Also at the meeting was one Udham Singh, a freedom fighter who too was injured in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. At the end of the meeting Singh calmly got up and shot O’Dwyer twice, killing him on the spot.

During his trial, when the court asked about his name, he replied “Ram Mohammad Singh Azad”, taking three names from the three main religions of India, demonstrating the transcendence of his beliefs regarding race, caste, creed, and religion. On 31 July 1940, Ram Mohammed Singh Azad was hanged at Pentonville Prison.

He was buried later that afternoon within the prison grounds.

The Makh-Dooms live on.

Copyrights: Anwaar Hussain

Email: eagleeye@emirates.net.ae

TS Note : From now on, Anwaar’s articles will appear simultaneously here at Truth Spring and Soul Vibes in Pakistan Tribune.



Comments

22 Responses to “The Makh-Dooms of Pakistan”

  1. Jonathan Stephenson on May 10th, 2008 3:56 am

    Since the Imperial cities of Ancient Ur of the Chaldeese, through out Pharonic Egypt, Imperial Rome, the various Dynastic Thrones of China, The Persian Kings, through the dark ages of Europe, and the twin powers of Byzantium and the Ottoman Turks, down through the degenerating monarchies of England, France, Japan, and through the dynastic powers of the lesser sized and less well known, these type of toady sniveling cretins have reaked their stink over the lives of the billions of humanity who for reasons beyond my understanding have not just supported them, but in all to many cases, worshipped them. My hope is that some amazing wonderful day, enough people will get this, and say enough, and put a stop to this vile sin, enough will say why should I even tolerate the existence of these creatures, let alone let them mis-rule and abuse me. Do I expect this, no, for their tools of lies, distortions, racism, greed and purposeful incompetence seems to work in all cultures, in all ages, in every religion, throughout the world.

  2. Syed Ahsani on May 10th, 2008 4:50 am

    Perceptive and historic information worth being told to our new generation of subcontinental people.

  3. Ron C on May 10th, 2008 11:30 am

    Great article revealing the atrocities of one people over another and retribution. It’s like cliche, “the chickens coming home to roost”, what goes around comes around.

  4. Michelle on May 10th, 2008 11:57 am

    Anwaar:

    Congratulations on a timely and sorely needed article. I, and I would think that most of your country men/women, are appreciative of your increased exploration of Pakistan’s politics, For in truth, my country isn’t the only game in town when it comes to government in which power is in the hands of a few, operating under the sham title of a democracy, when in fact, it is an oligarchy. Most ‘democratic’ countries do not elect the wisest or best qualified. Political power in both our countries has been, for the most part, handed down through the family. Considering this, doesn’t the offices of prime minister, president and the like appear rather egotistical?

    What is the motivation to become prime minister/president, when family members jockey their offspring and descendants into positions of power? Is it because these descendants are great visionaries whose wisdom and knowledge would vastly improve the lives of his or her constituents? Hardly, since Junior couldn’t have proven himself a great and wise leader by the age of two, when families are already planning his illustrious career! Until we stop esteeming egotistical positions of power, we will not have a true democracy. It would be best if we established a “meritocracy,” whereby individuals would earn a position, rather than buy or inherit it.

    There is some merit, however, to Gillani’s statement when he said the “Makhdoom,” which means “one who is served” is no longer appropriate as he believes in serving the people. Humanity is going through a shift in consciousness where persons such as the Makhdoom, Reginald Dyer, Michael O’Dwyer, and others around the world are playing out their part in this shift, horrific as that might be. These people mirror, in an exaggerated way, why it is necessary to shift from an ego based consciousness to one where we are operating from the soul or higher self aspect of ourselves, all of us, not just the few in power. For to see those in power as ‘them,’ still serves to separate us, rather than viewing all humanity as one. This is a difficult concept to master, but it is a main key to enlightenment. I believe your friend, Donna and her angels, made a similar statement, in another of your articles, regarding the Bush administration.

    I know I may get some flack here from some for making this statement. Here, I would ask, again and again, “When has mankind ever changed except through great pain and discomfort?” and, “Do you understand what huge leverage is needed to nudge the human consciousness from a stance of ’service to self’ to ’service to others’?”

    Thank you for shedding Light on another part of our history. I look forward to more of the same from you.

    Yours in Service,

    Michelle

  5. Fawad on May 10th, 2008 12:49 pm

    Sir,

    Excellent article. It is an irony that our country is ruled by such thieves and criminals.

    Fawad

  6. Jeff KHAN on May 10th, 2008 10:17 pm

    Fawad bhai, you may be right but we can not always blame children for their forefathers sins. Give them a chanse to prove their case.
    It is also worth mentionsing nobody here sees the reason begind all this.
    Politics has become trade in sub-continent. That is why there so many failures in it. Does anybody, with little senes, believe that people who have invested crores of rupees will, do this just for fun or for the sake helping the common man? Of course not. They invest, necause they know they will earn least 3 times more. Unless we go away from person based to party based politics we will never succeed.
    Only then will big croks realise that there is no money in politics. And may be they will start investing all kind of busines? And create some extremrly much needed jobs?
    Until that happens Pakistan will be in kind of permanent turbulent.

  7. Irfan Mirza on May 11th, 2008 4:38 pm

    Well written and an eye opener for all Pakistanis.

  8. kadar khan on May 11th, 2008 9:28 pm

    You have done great job in creating awareness! Those dooms and pirs have messed up country!

  9. Pervaiz on May 11th, 2008 10:18 pm

    A thought provoking article. Sheds light on the darker side of human psyche. The legacy of Makh-Doom-ism lingers on while the common man suffers and yet dances to its tune.

    Tragic.

  10. TANVIR on May 11th, 2008 10:20 pm

    Thank you for writing this wonderful informative article on Makh-Dooms.

    It would be nice to meet with you whenever you visit Toronto, Canada.

    TANVIR

  11. Rain Man on May 12th, 2008 8:49 am

    Anwaar,

    Thank you for this great expose’ on the Dooms of Pakistan. There may be toadies all aver the world sucking up to the powers that be but our home grown variety beats them all.

    A request; could you please provide the list of the signatories, just for the record?

    Rain Man

  12. Anwaar on May 12th, 2008 8:50 am

    Thank you all for commenting. That the Pakistani variety of sycophants takes the act to some dizzying heights is a given. But what takes the cake is their nonstop sermonizing on ethics and morality in politics. That takes some twisted oomph.

    Rain Man, here is the long list of the signatories to our national shame;

    1. Makhdoom Saddurudin Shah of Multan (the great grand father of our current Prime Minster)
    2. Khan Bahadur Makhdoom Hassan Bakhsh of Multan (the great grand father of our current Foreign Minster)
    3. Makhdoom Hassan Bakhsh Qureshi
    4. Makhdoom Ghulam Qasim Sajjada Nasheen Khanqa
    5. Makhdoom Muhammad-Al-Masnad Ayan
    6. Nawab Hassan
    7. Makhdoom Syed Hassan Ali
    8. Syed Riazuddin Shah
    9. Pir Ghulam Abbas Shah
    10. Deewan Syed Muhammad Pak Patan
    11. Mian Noor Ahmad Sajjada Nasheen
    12. Pir Muhammad Rasheed
    13. Sheikh Shahabuddin
    14. Khan Bahadur Sheikh Ahmad
    15. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah of Sher Garh Zilla Montgomery
    16. Makhdoom Sheikh Muhammad Rajoo of Multan
    17. Deewan Muhammad Ghaus
    18. Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah of Jalalpur
    19. Pir Muhammad Khizr Hayat Shah
    20. Sahebzada Muhammad Saaudullah of Sial Shareef
    21. Syed Ghulam Muhayuddin Khalaf-ul-Rasheed
    22. Mehr Ali Shah of Golra Shareef
    23. Syed Qutb Ali Shah of Multan
    24. Pir Chiragh Ali of Multan
    25. Pir Nassiruddin Shah of Shahpur
    26. Syed Nawazish Hussain Shah of Sher Garh Zilla Montgomery
    27. Maulvee Ghulam Muhammad Khadim-e-Golra Shareef
    28. Syed Fida Hussain Zila Campbelpur
    29. Muhammad Akbar Shah of Shershah Multan
    30. Ghulam Qassim Shah of Shershah Multan
    31. Maulvee Syed Zainulabidin Shah of Multan
    32. Pir Chiragh Shah of Kot Sidhana Jhang
    33. Mehboob Alam Makhdoom Golra Shareef
    34. Munshi Hayat Muhammad Golra Shareef
    35. Burhannudin Khadim Golra Shareef

    Give me the Udham Singhs any day.

    Anwaar

    PS : Given below are some of the comments from Soul Vibes

  13. M.K. Malik - Soul Vibes on May 13th, 2008 11:36 am

    The Makh-Dooms of Pakistan - M.K. Malik, United Kingdom.

    What a piece of history you revealed Anwaar Hussain! I feel ashamed to read the Yuki text of it. Our ancestors were slaves made in heaven who offered their services in silver plates to please their masters at all costs. No wonder English called India as the “jewel in the crown” of the British Empire.

    I always look forward to reading your articles you post me through emails, it’s just that there is no time to write comments for which I apologize. I like to see you as an ambassador of Pakistan to USA and beyond one day. May God bring that day Inshallah! In my eyes you are doing more than an ambassador’s job already. God bless you!

    Warm regards.

    M.Kabir Malik

  14. Mwaqar - Soul Vibes on May 13th, 2008 11:37 am

    NICE ARTICLE - Mwaqar, United States of America.

    I am really impressed by your article,it shows the real face of ignorant selfish Pakistani politicians. The only way o save Pakistan is through a real revolution,shoot all this old generation of Pakistani politicians.

  15. bhuppi - Soul Vibes on May 13th, 2008 11:37 am

    makdummas - bhuppi, Pakistan.

    It is one of those rare and candid articles about these so called leaders in the subcontinent irrespective of the country whether it is india or pak. In fact we have been ruled by the so called leaders who have been nothing but stooges of British. Shame on us!

  16. Jeff KHAN on May 13th, 2008 9:50 pm

    The terriable tragedy of Pakistan is that almost everybody is poor in our country. THE POOREST ARE THOSE SEEMINGLY ARE RICH.
    ..Generals can not stand there andre see politican get rich, while they are left with their monthly wages. Thats why they er eger to take over.
    ..Our polticans do not need any introductins. They would have sold their mothers and sisters for some bucks. In fact they have done so when they have sold the future of our country. By not bee sinsere.
    ..Judges do not want waste any given oppurtunty, no matter principles and ethics. Why else woulde they have taken theit colege`s sits?
    ..Journalists can be bought for easy money. Why shall not they earn some money ehen everybody else is doing?
    And now Mr 10% is showing is real face. It is becoming better and better. The questions is: Who would die nesxt time for PPP? So it can get landslide votes?

  17. Johar on May 14th, 2008 1:03 am

    Dear Anwaar Hussain,

    I am a Pakistani Muslim living in Canada.

    I always enjoy your articles in PakTribune or Truthspring. The standard and quality and empathy in your articles is just tops.

    But what I miss in your articles is that you rarely address the hate and violence we address towards India. My Muslim friends from India have told me on several occasions of their good treatment at Hindus and Indian government hands. I wish and hope that you would write an article as heart-wrenching as “Stoning of the Songbirds”.

    I am sure that the creator of this universe does not want us to be violent like this. Hindus are also God’s people and many of them I know personally. And somehow I feel for sure that our hate towards India is lot more than vice versa.

    Thanks for listening.

    Johar

  18. Alee on May 14th, 2008 6:05 am

    It was a good article Anwaar but while the history witnessed shameful behavior by some, not only in Punjab, but at a much wider scale including what now constitutes the tribal areas of Pakistan; there were others, who would not bow to the Raj.

    Allah Yar Shah, a land owner from Jhang refused to send his sons in Service of the British Raj and faced retribution. His son, Mohammad Hussain Shah, refused to meet with Dyer. When asked why, he said, “Do you think I will go and shake hand with someone whose hands are soaked in blood of the martyrs of Jalian Wala Bagh.”

    We have to understand that the characters of nations are formed over centuries. There are the likes of Makhdooms and Udham Singh in every nation. The fate of a nation is however determined by the conduct of the majority.

    An appropriate example would be the Pashtuns in general and the tribal Pashtuns in particular. They have had their share of “Makh..Dooms” like the Saifullahs and Khattaks but by and large, they have retained their “honor,” or venerated it time and again.

    People like you need to do more than creating the kind of awareness you are creating.

  19. Anwaar on May 14th, 2008 7:51 am

    Agreed with most of what you have said Alee but what I fail to understand is why you exhort that the lone Hussain Shahs must be highlighted and a whole crop of the Makh-Dooms glossed over. Or perhaps that is not what you meant when you wrote that “you need to do more than creating the kind of awareness you are creating”?

    Please do bear in mind that the article was not about the Punjabi nation for Udham Singh too was a Punjabi. At the time there was no Pakistan and peoples were referred to as Baluchis, Punjabis, Sindhis etc. It was more about a particular clique of people in the Punjab, the so called saints, pirs and clerics claiming to be leaders of Punjab and inherited by our unfortunate country.

    Moreover, I could give you other horrendous examples of some Pathans’ selling out to the British than the ones you have enumerated (e.g. the valiant fight put up against a whole British Brigade in the Swat valley by a handful of Urdu speaking followers of the Shaheed of Balakot with the locals watching the massacre from the surrounding hill tops). But then as you say “the characters of nations are formed over centuries” and in Pakistan the four major ethnicities have indeed developed their reputation over centuries, the Saifullahs and Makh-Dooms not withstanding.

    The intent was to expose the true faces of the likes of Makh-dooms the saints, Zardari the gold keeper, Nawaz the Supreme Court attacker and the fat Mullahs of the Frontier province.

    Do we agree or agree to disagree Alee?

    Anwaar

  20. labeeb--Soul Vibes on May 14th, 2008 10:26 pm

    I haven’t read the whole text. I’m a makhdoom, though not related to the prime minister but just wanted to say that calling names isn’t a good thing. Although what you might’ve written could be against the corruption of past PMs in Pakistan, it doesn’t make all the makhdooms makh-dooms. I could call u AN-WAR but I won’t. Sorry if this was offensive

    Posted by labeeb, Pakistan

  21. H Singh--Soul Vibes on May 14th, 2008 10:27 pm

    An excellent piece of journalism by Anwaar Hussain.

    People who sacrificed themselves for our independence are lost in history. But the “Pithhus” are there to rule us after the British left. Not many people know, what has happened to the families of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Uddam Singh. But the species that did nothing for our independence is smartly at front to rule us.

    Very same is the situation in Indian Punjab too.

    Kind regards,

    H Singh

  22. Muhammad--Soul Vibes on May 15th, 2008 10:20 am

    What a set up of democratic government in Pakistan when the PM is from the sect who were the slaves and pets of British Raj in India, and would do anything to please them. Shooting all of them will not solve the core problem. The problem is that there is lack of education and masses are living in villages with not much information at their hands of all those who just took the top seats but are not the worthy of it. Writer of the article is a genius to bring out hidden secrets of the past and unmask the culprits. Media should be able to highlight all the past of individuals and keep on repeating it so that masses do know about their past. Such politicians are supported by masses in Pakistan and that is wrong. Why blame the military generals they done no harm as such but politicians are the one who got away with the funds of the nation. They are back and God forbids what they will do this time.

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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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