#Pakistani Hindu scholar

[rightnewshindi]

पाकिस्तानी हिंदू विद्वान ने कट्टरपंथी जाकिर नाइक को दिखाया आईना, जानें संस्कृत का श्लोक पढ़कर क्या बोला

Pakistan News: पाकिस्तान पहुंचे भगोड़े जाकिर नाइक को ठीक उसके सामने ही हिंदू धार्मिक विद्वान ने कट्टर इस्लाम को लेकर आईना दिखाया है। पाकिस्तानी हिंदू विद्वान ने जाकिर नाइक के सामने मंच पर ही संस्कृत श्लोक पढ़कर अपनी बात की शुरुआत की। इसके बाद भागवत गीता का जिक्र करते हुए इस्लामिक उपदेशक से कट्टरपंथ पर सवाल पूछ लिया। पाकिस्तानी हिंदू प्रोफेसर मनोज चौहान के सवाल के बाद जाकिर नाइक जब जवाब देने आया…

[dougielombax]

Today is the Memorial Day for the victims of the Bangladesh genocide.

Where 3 million innocent Bengali people (both Muslims and Hindus (as well as Buddhists and Christians) alike!) were killed by Pakistani troops and mobs during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.

A genocide which Pakistan still DENIES to this day. Openly!

A genocide which was spearheaded by the killing of intellectuals and university students as well.

Just as the ottoman Turks did to the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915.

Feel free to reblog this.

I’m including the links here for more information.

[vaguelyaperson]

Actually, no, I want to put this in words even if no one will read it - otherwise my head will explode.

I love USAmerica. So much. No matter how bad it gets, I’m determined to stay in this country. I was born and raised just outside Washington DC, and adore this area and all it represents of USAmerica as a whole. Crazier yet, maybe, I’m patriotic to the ‘American experiment’ that the founding fathers began.

This love is not born of ignorance. Oh, trust me, I know how that sausage gets made, and probably more intimately than the average citizen. 

I majored in Political Science, and minored in both Conflict Studies and Anthropology. My two undergrad theses’ were on American misconceptions of Islam and Sharia, and Trump’s infamous victory in the 2016 Republican primaries. I have a Masters in Legal Studies - that thesis was on the capitalist push for theft of indigenous land. I do admin work for a labor union - I know the exact bullshit the union protects its employees from.

I’m not at all the person you would expect to so fervently love this trash fire of a nation. But I do.

Because at the end of the day, America is just as deeply marked for its wealth as it is its poverty. Its hospitality as for its militancy. Its rabid religiosity as for its hedonism. Its diversity as for its racism. Its progressive democracy as for its inequality. This nation leads the world just as it threatens to destroy it.

Algonquin names cover my local maps. Half our diet is supplied by indigenous crops. Black culture furnished our music scene. AAVE influences our colloquial speech. Latinos immigrants are the backbone of our industries. Mexican culture feeds the southwest. Chinese immigrants built our western railroads. Eastern Asian media runs parallel to ours in popularity. Jewish Americans created some of our most beloved characters and foods. Muslim scholars from a thousand years ago and today are the basis of all our current medical and scientific discoveries. Hindu spiritualism inspires our new age beliefs. A queer British Pakistani man with AIDS sang some of America’s favorite classics.

I could go on and on.

This is the nation that failed to organize against Trump’s first presidential victory, and then the same nation that Democrats and [at least local and state level] Republicans came together to prevent Trump from literally stealing the second election. Because above all else, Americans believe in the democratic process - the very thing we fought for 250 years ago. This country can excuse transphobia, but it draws the line at calling a Georgian representative to “find” eleven thousand votes. 

There is something so unique and indescribable in the USAmerican spirit. Maybe I love the US for the same reason I love humans - the disastrous social creatures that we are. Humans aren’t perfect - who said that this “melting pot” would be either? But, gods, are we trying so hard to build something sustainable from such a bloody legacy.

And I want to stick around to see just how far we can go. Even if the US as a concept collapses, even if this experiment fails... the people will still be here, with the same foundations. We’ll be working off of a new hypothesis but in the same damn lab.

God bless the USA - we fucking need it.

USAmerica is so fucking bizarre. Not the greatest country by far but certainly the country ever.

[creepingsharia]

The Muslim Jihad Against Hinduism

Posted on June 2, 2013

Atlas Shrugs posted an excerpt of this piece yesterday,“The Muslim Jihad Against Hinduism” . The introduction to the article is worth posting and Americans should heed the warning as well.

In nutshell the articles says that what the Hindus of India are facing today is not terrorism. It is something much worse and sinister. It is a jihad proper, raw and gory in its medieval and macabre form, launched by Pakistan and other radical groups. The Hindu leadership must realize that today Jihad is the only fully globalized enterprise across the world with millions of shareholders and franchises in more than 60 countries, including India, who are working overtime to destroy all non-Muslim nations

Warning Hindus the article further says that in this holy war, terrorism will be used as a strategic tool. However, it has been kept under wraps by political leaders and mainstream English media to lull naïve and gullible Hindus into believing that everything is just fine.

The article runs into 12 pages. It requires a serious reading. Please save it and study it at your leisure.

HINDUISM FACES ECLIPSE

Future of A Besieged Civilization

“There was a siege going on; it had been going on for a long time, but the besieged were the last to take notice of it.”

The conquest of India by Islamic invaders is a long and dreadful narrative of multiple ferocious wars between the invaders and the valiant Hindu Rajas who ruled over different parts of India during medieval times. The barbaric invaders, including Muhammad Ghauri and Babur, took morbid delight in building towers of the skulls of slaughtered ‘kaffirs’ (read Hindus), a stark fact, proudly recorded by a number of Muslim historians in great detail. Most braveheart Hindu rulers zealously defended their motherland, their subjects and above all their honor at a terrible cost; unlike the Arab conquest of the Persian empire within a short span of two decades and similar fate of Byzantine empire and smaller kingdoms of central Asia. In sharp contrast, the Islamic invaders had to fight multiple tortuous, gut-wrenching battles for centuries to subjugate the Hindus. The resistance offered by the masses to invaders and freebooters was formidable indeed. Occasionally there were some traitors, too, like Raja Jaichand of Kannauj, whose name has become synonymous with treachery.

The hostility between two kingdoms, namely the Chauhans of Rajasthan and Gahadwala Rajputs of Kannauj was a major cause of the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192. Had the armies of two gutsy Hindu rulers stood united in the battle of Tarain, the invading armies could have been defeated.

The atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on Sikhs of Punjab and Marathas in south were horrendous. Jahangir had murdered the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev in a most diabolical manner. The epitome of courage Arjan Dev was made to sit on a hot plate and hot sand was poured on him to torture him to death. Later on Aurangzeb, the cruelest of all Muslim kings not only beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur, but also murdered four gallant sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Two elder sons, Sahibzade Ajit Singh and Junjhar Singh attained martyrdom in 1704 during the battle of Chamkaur Sahib, while the younger sons Fateh Singh and Zorawar Singh were bricked alive in 1705 at Sirhind by Faujdar Wazir Khan, under orders of Aurangzeb.

Starting with the invasion of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 A.D. the next 900 years witnessed a relentless onslaught by hordes of Muslim invaders pouring in through Khyber and Bolan passes. Among the barbaric murderers and freebooters were Mahmud Ghazanvi, Muhammad Ghauri, Babur, Ahmad Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah. In fact, Guru Nanak has given in the Babur Vani a vivid description of the atrocities committed by invaders on the hapless Hindus of Punjab and north-western India. According to the eminent historian, Will Durant, “the Mohammedan conquest of India is perhaps the bloodiest story of history”. He calls it a discouraging tale, for its only lesson was that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace could be overthrown at any time by barbarians invading from without and multiplying within.”[Source: Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Part I, p. 459].

A detailed narrative of the tyranny and atrocities committed by Muslim invaders was given by a well known Muslim author and thinker, Rizwan Salim, who wrote in The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, on December 28, 1997, an article titled, “What the invaders really did?” justifying the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Rizwan Salim highlighted that the wrecking of Hindu temples went on from the early years of the eighth century to well past 1700 A.D. a period of almost 1000 years. [Source : The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, December 28, 1997]. Every Muslim ruler of Delhi (or Governor of the Province) spent most of his time fighting the Hindu kings in the north and the south, the east and west. Rizwan continues emphasizing that “savages at a very low level of civilization and no culture worth the name began entering India from the early eighth century onwards. Islamic invaders demolished Hindu temples, destroyed unaccountable sculptures and idols, plundered innumerable palaces and forts of the Hindu kings, killed vast number of Hindu men and carried off Hindu women. This story, the educated – and lot of even the illiterate Indians – know very well. The history books recount it in a remarkable detail. [Source: Ibid].

Barely 66 years after independence, India’s Hindu identity and centuries old ethos are again in grave peril. Sharply growing attacks on innocent Hindu citizens, their temples and targeting of unarmed pilgrims going to Amarnath and Vaishnodevi and repetitive attacks on Hindu festivals are clear pointers to the rising crescendo of a virulent jihad being waged against Hindus of India. Soon after Al Qaeda’s attack on twin towers on September 11, 2001, a proclamation was made on Al Jazeera Television channel in October 2001 that in addition to the Christians and Jews, henceforth the so-called ‘Hindu India’ will also be the target of Islamic jihad. Within two months of that announcement a determined and indoctrinated group of Pakistan-trained Jihadis (including Afzal Guru and several others) attacked the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001. Thereafter thousands of terrorist attacks have been made across the country from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari. The avowed goal of jihadi warriors has been to destroy the faith of Hindu masses by terrorizing them in a bid to destroy their resolve to fight back – a strategy ordained in their scriptures and elaborately explained by a retired Pakistani Brigadier S.K. Malik in his book, The Quranic Concept of War. Unfortunately, the two most important facts that a regular jihad has been declared against Hindus of India, and that terrorism will be used as strategic tool in this holy war have been kept under wraps by political leadership and mainstream English media.

…

In her seminally researched tome, ‘The Politics of Communalism’, published in 1989, Zenab Banu, a Muslim scholar, had analyzed 74 cases of Hindu-Muslim riots which occurred between 1953 and 1977. She found that in 75 percent cases the rioting had been started by the Muslim community. To comprehend what causes communal violence, the National Advisory Council (NAC) and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson are advised to read Zenab Banu’s scholarly book.

Read it all via Narain Kataria: HINDUISM FACES ECLIPSE.

The riots have not yet started in the U.S. But like India and all across Europe, as the Muslim population grows they will get bolder and initiate their jihad.

[iamsiddharthanilnair]

What is the Islamic State of Khorasan Province?

As the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) losses ground in Syria and Iraq, its fighters have had to move to new arenas in the Middle East and North Africa. The disintegration of ISIL in Raqqa and Mosul, has also led to a dispersion of fighters to parts of South Asia and South East Asia. Indigenous groups that such as the Abu Sayyef Group in the Philippines or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh having initially claimed some form of affiliation to ISIL missions are now offering sanctuary to these fighters; in this way they have access to ISIL tactics, manpower and theological legitimacy. The other effect of this dispersion is the establishment of Asian ISIL “wilayats”, or provinces. One such province was established in Kashmir in 2018 as the Wilayat-e-Hind; and it was quickly engaged by the Indian Armed Forces, and the newly instituted Army Special Forces Operations Division (ASFOD) at the end of 2019. The other provincial ISIL outfit – that of Khorasan Province –  has morphed into its own individual entity, known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISK). 

ISK operates mainly in north eastern Afghanistan, and has logistical bases along the Durand Line, between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s namesake, Khorasan, is a historical region that spans eastern Iran, northern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, and is a cultural anchor for much of Persian history. According to some sources, the modern Persian language – Dari - finds its origins in its use by the people of Khorasan. 

ISK

Even though ISK did not have much of a promising start – the loss of 4 emirs, and a number of mid-high level lieutenants – owing to its hostilities towards all regional groups, Taliban and Al Qaeda included, its recent attack on a gurudwara in Kabul has brought it back into the spotlight. In the early days, ISK was highly dependent on ISIL, but the loss of Raqqa in 2017 and then Al-Baghdadi in 2019 left it isolated; free to operate on its own terms. These events similarly affected other ISIL wilayats in Central, South and South East Asia, but unlike the others, ISK is still a coherent, operational group and fields an estimated 2500-4500 fighters, recruited from local villages and groups such as Tareek-e-Taliban (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Janghvi Al-Aalami (LeJ-A). 

While the historical influence of Khorasan as a geopolitical entity is dominant in ISK’s thinking, the main reasons for its continued existence is the perceived occupation of Kashmir by India, and it’s recruitment cadre – educated youth and scholars from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh – is reflective of this perception. The other key perceived enemy is Russia, following its 2015 intervention in Syria. Even in the March, 2020 US-Russian Joint Statement  on Afghanistan ISK is regarded mutually, as an enemy to the future of Afghanistan. The defeat of the Wilayat-e-Hind in 2019, and the coordinated efforts of the US-led Coalition and the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Afghanistan signalled to the world that ISK would be soon, dead in the water. 

However, sustained terror attacks on checkpoints and outpost in Afghanistan – 6 in 2016, 18 in 2017, 24 in 2018 and at least 12 last year – and the disintegration of the ISIL caliphate in Syria and Iraq, has given more power to the legitimacy of the ISK, as more and more foreign fighters join its ranks. Other important events that solidified ISIL in Asia, were the 2017 battle for Marawi, in the Philippines and the 2019 Easter bomb-attack on a Sri Lankan church that killed 290. In 2017 a 5-month battle raged over the island of Mindanao, and was a result of ISIL affiliates, particularly the Abu Sayeef Group and Insilon Hapilon taking over the city. The terrorist attack on the Colombo church was carried out by National Tawheed Jama’at (NTJ) another well-known ISIL-affiliate. 

India and Pakistan

It would seem that ISK is not only a threat to India, but to Pakistan as well. While India was already involved in the fight against ISK in 2019, Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) had issued a warning that ISIL had begun planning attacks on political gatherings and party head-quarters in Pakistan’s major cities. But the establishment of the Wilayat-e-Pakistan in that same year, did not really garner a response from Pakistani authorities (in fact, the Wilayat was considered an afterthought, a face saving measure, to not seem only “anti-Indian”). 

More recently, the ongoing protests and riots over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) policy in India seems to have spurred further recruitment into ISK. The theological bent is so severe that the newsletter of the Kashmir-wing of the ISK –  “Sawt-ul-Hind” –has claimed that Indian Muslims are only different from their fellow Hindu or Christian citizens in name and nothing more.

Conclusion

South Asia is seeing a resurgence of insurgent/terror groups owing to the shifting tide in the Middle East. As ISIL loses ground in Syria-Iraq, its fighters have to move once more, just as they did from post-civil war Libya and Egypt in 2011. This time, these fighters are finding themselves in most South Asian countries and those in South East Asia, particularly Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. ISK may become the new stronghold, and it is imperative that American-led Coalition forces in Afghanistan begin coordinated strikes against ISK before they become a burden to the Asian community. 

Written by Siddharth Anil Nair. 

[qertyian]

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As a Parsi, he was considered a "pure member of the Persian sect" and therefore a "free white person". īhicaji Balsara became the first known Indian to gain naturalized U.S. Many Indian men, especially Punjabi men, married Hispanic women, and Punjabi-Mexican marriages became a norm in the West. However, it was legal for "brown" races to mix. In some states, anti-miscegenation laws made it illegal for Indian men to marry white women. born children legally own the land that they worked on. However, Asian immigrants got around the system by having Anglo friends or their own U.S. In 1913, the Alien Land Act of California prevented non-citizens from owning land. Throughout the 1910s, American nativist organizations campaigned to end immigration from India, culminating in the passage of the Barred Zone Act in 1917. In the early 20th century, a range of state and federal laws restricted Indian immigration and the rights of Indian immigrants in the U.S. Although labeled Hindu, the majority of Indians were Sikh. officials, who pushed for Western imperial expansion abroad, casting them as a "Hindu" menace. politics and culture in the early 20th century, Indians were also racialized for their anticolonialism, with U.S. While anti-Asian racism was embedded in U.S. for Indians and Sikhs, who were called " hindoos" by locals. The Bellingham riots in Bellingham, Washington on September 5, 1907, epitomized the low tolerance in the U.S. Some white Americans, resentful of economic competition and the arrival of people from different cultures, responded to Sikh immigration with racism and violent attacks. Sikh workers were later concentrated on the railroads and began migrating to California around 2,000 Indians were employed by the major rail lines such as Southern Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad between 19. states in the 1900s to work on the lumber mills of Bellingham and Everett, Washington. 20th century Įscaping racist attacks in Canada, Sikhs migrated to Pacific Coast U.S. Swami Vivekananda arriving in Chicago at the World's Fair led to the establishment of the Vedanta Society. also helped develop interest in Eastern religions in the US and would result in its influence on American philosophies such as Transcendentalism. At the same time, Canadian steamship companies, acting on behalf of Pacific coast employers, recruited Sikh farmers with economic opportunities in British Columbia. between 18.) Emigration from India was driven by difficulties facing Indian farmers, including the challenges posed by the colonial land tenure system for small landowners, and by drought and food shortages, which worsened in the 1890s. (At least one scholar has set the level lower, finding a total of 716 Indian immigrants to the U.S. His race is listed as white, suggesting he was of British descent.īy 1900, there were more than two thousand Indian Sikhs living in the United States, primarily in California. Johns County, Florida, listed a 40-year-old draftsman named John Dick whose birthplace was listed as " Hindostan", living in city of St. The first Sikh Gurudwara was established in 1912 by the early immigrant Sikh farmers in Stockton, California. Indian Americans are included in the census grouping of " South Asian Americans", which includes Bangladeshi Americans, Bhutanese Americans, Nepalese Americans, Pakistani Americans, and Sri Lankan Americans. While "East Indian" remains in use, the term "Indian" and " South Asian" is often chosen instead for academic and governmental purposes. Since the 1980s, Indian Americans have been categorized as "Asian Indian" (within the broader subgroup of Asian American) by the United States Census Bureau. government has since coined the term "Native American" in reference to the indigenous people of the United States, but terms such as "American Indian" remain among indigenous as well as non-indigenous populations. Qualifying terms such as " American Indian" and " East Indian" were and still are commonly used in order to avoid ambiguity. In the Americas, the term "Indian" had historically been used to describe indigenous people since European colonization in the 15th century. 7.6.1 Deepavali/Diwali, Eid/Ramadan as school holidays.states by the population of Asian Indians metropolitan areas with large Asian Indian populations

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[kainaatansari]

⊹ 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦 ⊹

               ⊹ 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙇 𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙀 ⊹  

               ➤ Kainaat Ansari

Her first name is of Farsi and Urdu origin and means “everything known” or “everything in the known universe”. It also directly translates to simply “universe.” It was Kai’s mother that gave her this name twenty minutes after her birth, because the name felt very elegant to her, fit for a little girl as beautiful as her newborn daughter.

’Ansari’ is a surname of Arabic origin. It means “friend” or “helpful one” or “supporter.” The name first became popularised in the region now known as Pakistan after the Arab invasion of the Indian subcontinent in the 7th century, when many Hindus were given the choice to convert to Islam in order to avoid extra taxes. The name has historically been associated with scholars and philosophers.

               ⊹ 𝙉𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙀(𝙎) ⊹

               ➤ kai, keenu, kani-mani

Kainaat’s name can be a little hard to properly pronounce for people who don’t speak in an Urdu dialect so she happily allows others to shorten her name to ‘Kai’. She thinks it’s a cute nickname because it rhymes with ‘sky’ so what’s not to love? 

The other two nicknames, ‘keenu’ and ‘kani-mani’ are both pet names given to her by loving older family members when she was little that have now stuck well into adulthood. ‘Keenu’ means orange in Urdu; Kai’s grandmother would call her this because she used to love eating oranges when she was a toddler, messing up her whole face with citrus juice because she couldn’t resist the sour taste. ‘Kani-mani’ on the other hand, is a cutesy nickname that doesn’t really mean anything— Pakistanis just love to rhyme.

               ⊹ 𝘽𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙃 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏𝙄𝙁𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙀 ⊹

               ➤ August 27 20XX, 2.28AM

               ➤ past residence: New Jersey, USA.

               ➤ current residence: Vienna, Austria. 

Kainaat’s birth story is pretty ordinary; her mother recalls the day fondly, saying that she was an easy child to bring into the world, unlike her brother. She says there was a World Cup Cricket T20 Match going on that day and all the streets were empty because almost the entire nation was at home, glued to their TV screens for the game. The upside was that Kai’s parents had no trouble navigating the uncharacteristically traffic-free roads of Lahore to get to their chosen hospital. 

Kai spent the early years of her life in Lahore. She grew up accustomed to the culture of a rapidly modernising city with American influence slowly seeping in through movies, music, and fashion. With a population of eleven million and a half, it feels as though the city never sleeps— Kai has always loved the hustle and bustle of city life. Though she doesn’t live in Lahore anymore, she’ll always think of the city as her home. She loves going back to visit her roots and reconnect with her culture. 

These days Kainaat lives in Europe, specifically in Vienna, Austria. She likes the cold here, and the mix between history and modernity. The best part about living in Austria is that the rest of Europe is right in her backyard; she doesn’t have to travel very long to be in a different country entirely. Kai couldn’t do that back in Jersey and thinks it’s pretty cool.

               ⊹ 𝙂𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 ⊹ 

               ➤ female

               ➤ she/her

She was born a female and has always identified as her assigned gender at birth. Kai is very feminine in everything she does, from the way she dresses, down to the way she sits, all thanks to her mother’s influence. Kai’s mother has always been a bit of a fashionista, transferring the same love for aesthetics and beauty to all her children. Although Kainaat is comfortable with her assigned gender and has never experienced gender dysmorphia, she wishes the society she grew up in didn’t encroach on women’s rights— clear double standards exist when it comes to the treatment of women compared to men. She hopes to change that mentality when she has kids of her own some day.

               ⊹ 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙉𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎 ⊹

               ➤ bicurious

               ➤ biromantic 

Kainaat is bicurious. Growing up in a restrictive anti-secular society means she never had the chance to experiment with her sexuality; in fact, attraction and sexuality in general is an extremely taboo topic in her country. In her teen years, Kai felt it was safer to repress whatever feelings she had and worry about dating later on in life— considering how her family reacted horribly to her brother’s “abnormal” sexuality, Kainaat wasn’t willing to take a chance and risk losing her support system’s love. Now that she’s moved away from that repressive environment, she’s allowing herself to take it slow and express her feelings as they come.

               ⊹ 𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙔 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙏 ⊹ 

                ➤ virgo

She used to /hate/ astrology when she was younger because her father cautioned her against believing that stars held one’s fate and the answers to all her problems— they were just balls of gas and fire in the blanket of the night sky, how could they determine her emotions? She still doesn’t fully believe in any of that ‘mercury in gatorade’ bullshit but she thinks it’s fun to read horoscopes. Another reason why she softened up to it is because her brother is obsessed with astrology and it’s endearing to see him talk about the zodiacs. Kai likes sharing things in common with him so she tries to be just as enthralled by stargazing as he is. 

               ⊹ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙉𝙎 ⊹ 

               ➤ Indo-Aryan, specifically Punjabi

               ➤ Pakistani 

The area currently occupied by Pakistan has long been a route of military conquest and an entrepôt for peoples and cultures. It is therefore a significant cultural and ethnic melting pot. Modern Pakistan’s population can be divided broadly into five major ethnic groups. The Punjabis, who constitute roughly half of the population, are the single largest group, and the one Kai’s family belongs to.

Kainaat’s maternal family are descended from Rajputs, an old family clan that were once fearsome Sikh and Muslim warriors. In the old caste system, Rajputs were considered the highest class, coming second only to the Mughals— the emperors. Kainaat doesn’t believe in caste, nor does her family— it’s all nonsense in their eyes, and it infuriates her when someone brings up a family’s clan/caste system as if social classification is something to be immensely proud of. 

               ⊹ 𝙇𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙐𝘼𝙂𝙀(𝙎) ⊹

               ➤ fluent in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi

               ➤ beginner at German  

Her primary language is Urdu, it’s what she thinks in and dreams in. Kainaat can speak fluent English, thanks to going to an expensive English private school in the city, where speaking Urdu during class time was penalised with detention. She picked up Punjabi from her grandparents, and from spending time in the city of Lahore, where Punjabi comes as naturally as Urdu. Kai learned Hindi from watching horrible soapy Indian dramas and Bollywood films. There are many linguistic similarities between Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi so it was easy for her to understand them all and become fluent in each. She now lives in Austria and is doing her best to learn German so she sounds less like a foreigner that doesn’t belong.

               ⊹ 𝙑𝙊𝙄𝘾𝙀 ⊹  

               ➤ gentle & wistful

               ➤ slight Pakistani accent

Kai speaks in a modulated voice, keeping her tone as polite as possible. She’s used to speaking softly and in a tone that is agreeable and polite thanks to her mother. Kai’s mother was very strict in her upbringing, insisting that her daughter speak a certain way, dress a certain way, and act a certain way that would always express her femininity. Whenever Kainaat would speak in a loud or rowdy manner, she would get lectured. [This|https://youtu.be/QN7eEWy-t-c] is what I imagine she sounds like. 

Speaking Urdu for most of her life has influenced her dialect to the point where she pronounces her "t" and "r" a bit hard, prompting friends to make lighthearted jokes about her accent. She laughs along and doesn't mind this, as long as she's close friends with these people.

               ⊹ 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙊𝙉  ⊹ 

               ➤ Islam

               ➤ mostly non-practicing

She grew up in a very anti-secular environment where religion is often misinterpreted to fit whatever agenda the government wants to force on its people. When she was younger, Kainaat used to be very in touch with her religion, praying five times a day and adhering to all laws outlined in the Holy Scriptures, but when she saw the way her god-fearing parents were treating her brother for his sexuality, and using Islam to justify their abuse, a part of her began to question what it meant to be a Muslim— after all, why would the God she had loved all her life hate His own creation for an aspect of themselves they had no control over? 

As she grew older, Kainaat came to the realisation that people manipulated religion to suit whatever aligned with their personal beliefs. She isn’t very religious now, but still considers herself a Muslim and firmly believes in the power of good and bad karma. She celebrates Eid, fasts during Ramadan, and even stays away from alcohol and pork, but now she doesn’t get that guilty feeling when she misses a prayer or two.

               ⊹ 𝙊𝘾𝘾𝙐𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉  ⊹ 

               ➤ previously: med school student

               ➤ now: makeup/beauty vlogger & event planner

If she had to pick out the turning point in her life, it would be the moment where she decided to drop out of medical school and pursue her true passions: connecting with others. Kai has always been very friendly and she’s appreciated beauty her entire life. This is what led her to drop out of college and start a YouTube channel that focused on makeup as well as self improvement. She felt way out of her depth in the start; up until that point in her life, Kainaat only knew the basics of her DSLR camera and video editing she’d picked up from random internet tutorials. It was difficult to come to terms with her decision. Kai often doubted herself. 

Despite the self-doubt and constant fear of failure, Kainaat was able to push through all the countless hurdles that were thrown her way. She was able to make Youtube her full-time career, branching out to Instagram and a delightful little Spotify podcast too. She even did a short course on event planning to further refine her skills, allowing her to pursue that career avenue as a side hustle. With millions of fans from around the world that love and support her, Kainaat is the happiest she has ever been. She tries her best to use the platform she has to speak up on issues that she thinks are important, shedding light on the struggles she herself has gone through.

⊹ 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 ⊹ 

               ⊹ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙑𝙄𝙎𝘼𝙂𝙀 ⊹

               ➤ bright dark brown eyes

               ➤ clear skin + beauty marks

Kai’s a spitting image of her mother. She has bright round dark brown eyes that resemble the colour of natural carnelian gemstones, accentuated by naturally long dark lashes. Kai likes putting a little bit of coconut oil on her lashes and her brows before bed as part of her skincare routine so they grow longer and stay healthy.

Kainaat is extremely particular about her skin care because of acne problems she had when she was younger. She used to suffer from eczema and had nasty flare ups every time she would spend prolonged periods of time outdoors, especially during spring. Her parents always thought it would go away with age; of course, every desi doctor’s recommendation being “drink more water” wasn’t very helpful either. It wasn’t until Kainaat began her teen years that she looked into artificial products that could help her reduce her skin issues that she discovered the Holy Grail— CeraVe Cream.

It was a total game changer and now she has flawless and healthy skin thanks to it. Kai also tries very hard to never miss her skincare routine, and to do everything in her power to keep her skin glowing the way it does now. This includes drinking a minimum of eight glasses of water a day, eating healthy oil-free foods as much as possible, and applying an expensive face mask at least twice during the week.

She used to hate her eye shade and skin colour and always wanted light coloured contacts so she could look more European, but as she grew up, Kai learned to love herself and is now fairly comfortable in her own skin.

              ⊹ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙃𝙔𝙎𝙄𝙌𝙐𝙀 ⊹

               ➤ 5’7 & 130lbs

She’s taller than the average South Asian woman, thanks to her father’s side of the family, who are all the same. She doesn’t mind her height on most days but wishes she was a little shorter on days where she wants to wear a long heel; for one thing, she struggles to find shoe sizes in cute styles at least in Pakistan, because the women are much more petite there. For another thing, every time she wears a heel longer than three inches, she starts to feel like a giant and that conflicts with her ideas of what it means to be ‘feminine.’ According to her mother’s lectures, women are supposed to be short and appear elegant, graceful. When Kai wears heels, she doesn’t feel elegant at all; she feels awkward and lanky, out of place.

Kai is very conscious about her weight because of bullying she endured during her childhood. The surprising thing is that this bullying was done by her own family members too, with her mother and older female cousins being the main perpetrators. It got so bad at one point that Kai started to starve herself, and even struggled with bulimia. It took Kainaat an awfully long time to come to terms with her weight. Her brother, having endured the same bullying from family members (for other reasons) was the one who inspired and encouraged her to be comfortable with herself and not care what anyone else thought. Kai is forever grateful for his loving support during the times when she needed it the most.

               ⊹ 𝙃𝘼𝙄𝙍 ⊹

               ➤ dark brown

               ➤ beach waves and curtain bangs

Kainaat has rich dark brown hair, medium-long in length. Her hair is a mix between her mother’s curls and her father’s waves. Though she doesn’t like excessively styling it (it takes too much time!!) she tends to use curlers for that flawless beach wave effect she's so fond of. Kai also has curtain bangs that frame her face, though she usually pins them away to the side while she's working because they can be distracting.

[CI]Like her rigorous skin care routine, Kainaat invests a lot of time and money into her hair to make sure it is being properly maintained. She washes it in medium warm water and tries not to use chemicals in her hair, prefering to use organic shampoo to keep her tresses from drying up. Her grandmother and mother both used to massage mustard oil into their hair on weekends to keep their strands healthy, a habit Kai has adopted too.

               ⊹ 𝙒𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙍𝙊𝘽𝙀 ⊹

        ➤ mix of modest South Asian

        ➤ modern Western & cottagecore

Kainaat is a big fan of cultural clothes; she tends to wear traditional Shalwar Kamiz typical of Pakistani fashion, but she does like mixing it up with Western style clothing too. Kai likes wearing long flowy dresses and will usually be seen in modest clothing. She doesn't feel comfortable showing off that much skin but she sure as hell won't bring down other women from wearing whatever they're comfortable in, nor will she assume any sort of moral high ground for doing so.

Kainaat usually wears all sorts of colours from dark crimson and burgundy to pastel pink and white. She likes clothing that is slightly tight fitted so that she doesn't look like a lump, but doesn't like wearing attire that exaggerates her breasts or her thighs.

               ⊹ 𝙈𝙊𝘿𝙄𝙁𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎 ⊹

               ➤ piercings + tattoos

Kainaat has many piercings but no tattoos. She has both her ear lobes, as well as both her helixes and both sides of her nose pierced. She wants to eventually get a septum piercing but her parents would kill her if they found out— they rained lecture after disappointed lecture down on her brother for getting his first tattoo— Kai has learned from his mistake and has decided not to get a tattoo anywhere visible to them, and definitely none until she moves out from home.

               ⊹ 𝘼𝙍𝙊𝙈𝘼 ⊹

               ➤ jasmines and black tea

There’s never a day in her life when she chooses not to have black tea. It’s her favourite beverage in the whole world, she used to have a bit of an addiction to it at one point, downing three cups a day just to get that nice and calm feeling wash over her. The faintest aroma of black tea follows her wherever she goes, though the more prominent scent she leaves behind is her jasmine perfume. She grew up with a jasmine bush near her window and every morning she’d wake up to the pleasant fragrance of those fresh flowers. She associates it with summer and good times in her life.

                       ⸻⚘⸻

¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸¸.•*¨*•.¸

[urdunovels786-blog]

Gooya by Jaun Alia

Jaun Elia (Urdu: جون ایلیا, December 14, 1931 - November 8, 2002) was a striking Pakistani Urdu writer, rationalist, biographer, and researcher. He was broadly commended for his remarkable style of composing. He was the sibling of prestigious writer and psychoanalyst Rais Amrohvi and writer and incredibly famous scholar Syed Muhammad Taqi, and spouse of well-known feature writer Zahida Hina. He was a man of letters, knowledgeable in Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit, and Hebrew.

Jaun was exceptionally delicate in his initial adolescent. His distractions in those days were his fanciful cherished character, Sophia, and his indignation at the English occupiers of India. He used to do sensational introductions of the early Muslim time frame, and consequently, his insight into Muslim history was perceived by many. As indicated by him, his initial verse mirrored the exchange idea of stage dramatization.

Amid his childhood, unified India was associated with a Muslim-Hindu quarrel, which prompted the parcel of the nation on religious lines once British guideline finished. Being a Communist, Elia was opposed to the thought, yet at last, acknowledged it as a bargain. Elia relocated to Pakistan in 1957 and made Karachi his home. A little while later, he ended up well known in the abstract circles of the city. His verse, which bears sufficient declaration to his far-reaching perusing propensities, won him recognition and support. Artist Pirzada Qasim stated: "Juan was exceptionally specific about dialect. While his style is established in the established custom, he addresses new subjects. He stayed in the journey of a perfect for his entire life. Unfit to locate the perfect in the long run, he ended up irate and disappointed. He felt, maybe with reason, that he had misused his ability." He was a productive author, yet couldn't be persuaded to distribute his work. His first verse gathering Shayad (an Urdu word which signifies "Possibly") was distributed in 1991 when he was 60. The verse displayed in this gathering included Jaun Elia's name in the Urdu artistic standard until the end of time. Jaun Elia's prelude in this accumulation given profound bits of knowledge into his works and the way of life inside which he was communicating his thoughts. The prelude can likewise be considered as one of the best precedents of current Urdu composition. It shrouded his scholarly development in various timeframes, and his rationality of verse, science, religion, and so forth. The second gathering of his verse Ya'ani was distributed after death in 2003. Afterwords Jaun's dependable sidekick Khalid Ansari has assembled and distributed his three sequential accumulations, "Gumaan" (an Urdu word which signifies "Fantasy") in 2004, "Lekin" 2006 and "Goya" 2008, one more gathering 'Kyon' is currently under handling.

Jaun Elia was an audacious open rebel and agnostic in for the most part a preservationist and religious society. His senior sibling, Rais Amrohvi, himself an artist and compelling scholarly, was mercilessly killed, and ever after his passing, Juan was cognizant about what he would state openly.

                                                 ******Read more******

[liesexposer]

🚫 Deobandi Isa Mansuri & Tablighi Jamat conspiracy of Fazail Amal Shirk 🚫 Subtitle Language: English Questioner: this is because, according to knowledge, from that view these things will be considered fraud, Sir! thus we are unable to answer this Isa Mansuri: actually the thing is, I will tell you any book, be it Muntakhab or any other it must be viewed whether it has weak narrations or not does it have any hadith, that is criticized, etc. all Hadith books should be viewed like that Why has this has been printed by Maulana Saad? its because although not all of them are from Maulana Yusuf, many Pakistani scholars have made additions (in hush tone) we have seen Fazail (e Amal) has many weak narrations and whenever any Arab, any Muhaddith or any Hadith checker picks it up he sees a heap of weak narrations and nowadays its going around a lot especially since Shaikh Nasiruddin Al-Albani or due to Salafis although it works in "our market", but its getting criticized these events and hadith written by "Hazrat Shaikh" these are all fine for India because "our Islam" has these leanings if you see the Arabs, those who are pure Arabs either they accept Quran or Sahih Hadith or the Sahaba they don't get down from there and at our place its all Magic, Miracles, this person did this and that {coughs} if we don't have this our people don't get satisfied our subcontinent has this mentality, which is like Hindu mentality that is why our mentality has also become like that but when our work went global, it went to Arab lands, then from every direction we were criticized even my own teacher, asked many questions on this on weak narrations and some events in it because if a person is kind of follower of truth, then that scholar will raise questions on it we used to say, that "Hazrat Shaikh" has written this, .... this book and some Muhaddith has taken it for virtues but not all Muhaddith have done it, neither is it accepted in all countries mentality according to our mentality it is fine, but when the work went global, to countries of the world then it got criticized then we tried that it gets acceptable to both like Hayatus Sahaba or Munkhatab e Hadith not necessarily written by Maulana Yusuf but on the condition that the hadith are authentic not weak, that are criticized we collected those ahadith so that whichever hadith book don't view it like which elder wrote it don't view it like that, but view it like does it have any weak narrations Questioner: yes Sir! but the problem is that whenever we talk about Quran and Hadith we cannot view personalities, who he is, etc. but we have to see the authenticity of the hadith same problem occurred, during the time of Maulana Yusuf when these jamaats (Tablighi Jamaat) started going to arab lands so they saw the delicate situation it was decided with advisory that over there teaching Fazail e Amal is utter impossible thus instead it was decided to teach Riyadh as Saleheen there we did not have those issues over here and over all these issues did not exist in non-Arab lands thus there we kept teaching Fazail e Amaal alhamdulillah

[pravasichhokro]

Experience of living in different cities

In my life of more than 7 decades, I have lived in some 8 cities starting from Ahmedabad, Pilani, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Yokohama( Japan), Muscat (Oman) and Bangalore, in that order. I will make an attempt to pen down the “trivial”, but not so common, features of my experience.

I was brought up in Ahmedabad from 1954 to 1967, which were mostly my student days. We lived on the outskirt of the city and our society of bungalows was surrounded by open fields where still farming was going on. Other than school and college, I was busy playing different games with my neighbors. I enjoyed Gujarati snacks and would take extra efforts to get them. Our neighbors were very kind and did not complain of our cricket or other games played anytime of the day. City had a very good bus service and it was our main transport. Our bungalow had a few tenants like us but it did have a problem of water and sewage. Water supply was short and erratic, and septic tank sometime spilt over. We loved the festival of Navratri ( Garba/Dandia) and kite flying on Makarsankrant. 

I shifted to BITS, Pilani hostel for five years from 1967. The change from day scholar to hostel life was huge. I could do what I wanted and when I wanted (freedom) except class attendance. Other than academic pursuit, I was able to indulge in sports/games. I learnt how to play basket ball, table tennis and contract bridge. I improved my ability to play carom, cricket and hockey. Being confined to the campus for a couple of months at a stretch, I enjoyed food in the mess and also outside at Nutan market/dhabas. I was introduced to black (udad) dal, lemon rice, mawa mutter, stuffed parathas and stuffed capsicum/tomato in the mess. Outside the campus got to taste Titar (partridge), reportedly a banned bird. I was bombarded by Hindi movies as every Saturday a movie was screened for students. I probably saw more than 125 movies in BITS in five years, compared to less than 20 movies seen earlier. Initially the old movies were screened in 16 mm in a quadrangle of the main building but later new movies in 35 mm in a huge auditorium. Once in a while, we escaped the campus life to see late night movie in a makeshift shed called Jayashree talkies.

After graduation in 1972, I lived in South Delhi till the late 70’s, initially as a bachelor and then a family man. Major problem of Delhi was public transport as I did not own a vehicle then. City bus (DTC), autorikshaw or yellow taxi were most unreliable and the operators ( drivers and conductors) most non-cooperative and rude. My wife, who joined me from Bombay, was most shocked as she compared this scene with BEST of Bombay. I did not face much problem as I used a contract bus to go to office. As a bachelor, I used to join others on most Saturday night’s for a party. The liquor law did not permit drinking in public so we sometime managed to cross into Haryana (Faridabad) and consumed beers and chicken. Returning after the fling was not a problem as “drive after drinks “was not an offence. In Delhi, we enjoyed different types of food –Punjabi and Chinese. Our favorite places were Lajpatnagar market, M block market in GKI, Narulas and Hongkong in GKI. Most tasty samosa was made by a small vendor in East of Kailash A block market. At residence, we faced water shortage and had to cook on kerosene stove.

We  shifted to Bombay in early 80’s and lived there for 8 years. Biggest difference was a moderate summer compared to Delhi and very efficient city transport whether bus, taxi or autorikshaw. We also enjoyed the sea and its beeches- Girgaon, Dadar, Juhu and Malad. We, however, had to face some water shortage. We once again were able to enjoy street food like batata vada, Frankie, bhel etc. We also loved Irani café menu of maska pav, kheema pav, baida( egg) roti etc. We started going to Marathi plays often and enjoyed the change from Hindi movies. I got to own a flat in 1982 and a Bajaj scooter in 1984. That made life easy.

We moved to Pune in the mid 80’s for a brief period and are staying there till date (more than 20 years) except our breaks to go to Japan, Oman and Bangalore. In first phase, we got to live in a bigger place, owned our own Premier Padmini car and telephone line at residence, all thanks to Thermax, my employer. The major sigh of relief was water availability and good round the year weather-moderate summer, monsoon and winter. These advantages remain even today. Pune offered the advantages of a village and city. Distances were short and day out picnic spots in the surrounding hills were approachable and affordable. I got introduced to music (performing arts) of all kinds –classical, light, gazal, filmy and non filmy. I was able to attend live performances of stars like Pt. Jasraj, Kaushiki Chakravarty, Shaunak Abhisheki, Hariharan, Raghunandan Panashikar, Jagjiy Singh, Alka Yagnik, Shankar Madhavan,Shaan, Sarod by Amjad Ali, dances by Hema Malini, Minakshi Sheshadri. Also new upcoming stars like Vibhavari Joshi Apte, Hrishikesh Ranade.Pune reintroduced us to Lord Ganesh and we love the ten day special festival of Ganpati. I was and am able to indulge in outdoor activities like walking, swimming and going to hills. We got introduced to YOGA-pranayam, Omkar, suryanamskar etc. We do it regularly even today. Our health received a boost as we got to know more about homeopathy medicines as my wife has seen lot of benefits to this alternative therapy. I was able to afford and enjoy different cuisines. My membership of a club once again enabled me to see a Hindi movie every week. Since it was free, one had the luxury to walk out of un-interesting movie without feeling guilty.

We moved to Yokohama, Japan during the 90’s. The change was huge-from “stone” age of Pune, India to space tech level in Yokohama,Japan. The weather was excellent and all the utilities-water, piped gas, electricity and land line were reliable and affordable. First time we used a Microwave oven and rice cooker with a timer. Only my daughter’s international school fee was a huge dent on my pocket but she had the best quality of education. We got initiated into Japanese food and loved visiting China Town for authentic Chinese cuisine. My daughter enjoyed the American fast food at McDonald’s and Pizzas at Shakey’s. Surprisingly there were more than fifty Indian restaurants in Tokyo area and we loved the Naan served there. The public transport (bus, train, taxi) was reliable, clean and convenient even for foreigners like us despite the language hurdle. We also enjoyed a ride on the famous bullet train (called Shinkansen) from Yokohama to Kyoto (400 kms). Like Japanese people, we also started visiting and appreciating the nature in the hills near Yokohama including hot springs and Mt. Fuji. We were surprised and shocked to find all public places-footpath, roads, stations, bus stops and toilets were spotlessly clean (clean like home). Another surprise was that weather forecast was very reliable and available in the lift lobby of the buildings. Being an island country, it would rain any time and this forecast helped. We also got introduced to huge superstores and malls.  Some malls were part of railway stations e.g. Yokohama. We also got to know the vending machine culture of Japan. Many daily required items (soft drinks, coffee, tea, snacks, milk, beer, cigarette etc) could be purchased from vending machines which were all over- on footpath, near stations, lift lobbies, parks etc.Even train tickets were on a vending machine. We also made our first visit to entertainment parks like Disneyland. We also got used to the deep tub (OFURO) bath that Japanese used to keep warm during winter. I got introduced to Sumo, the Japanese wrestling and professional baseball.

We moved to Muscat, Oman for two and a half years in the late 90’s. Other than the high temperatures (summer could be + 50 Deg C), the life was very enjoyable. Oman was an exception in the Middle East and it honored Indians and Hindus. The biggest hurdle to mobility was a driving license and I got it fast luckily. I was glad to drive around in a Camry, poor person’s Mercedes. We were regular visitors to 200 year old Shiva temple and newly built Krishna temple, both built and managed by kutchi community. We were able to buy Indian vegetables and fruits easily and reasonably priced. There was easy access to Indian restaurants and street food. We got introduced to Kerala paratha (laccha paratha) and some tandoori roti from Pakistani outlets. We got introduced to Lebanese cuisine and we loved it. We could go out for dinner, which also offered Indian music or Egyptian belly dance. We were privileged to see Hindi movies on Thursday night, a day before they were released in Mumbai. We were able to drive down to Dubai in 4 hours (400 Kms) and enjoy the shopping. Driving was a pleasure as all had to follow the traffic rules and they were followed. Muscat had lovely road side greenery and flowers, and they were maintained with great efforts. Muscat airport restaurant was open for non-muslims during Ramadan and that was a big relief.

After retiring from a Pune company in 2012, I took a short assignment in Bangalore. We were lucky to stay in huge residential complex in Whitefield. First time in our life, we stayed in high rise building on the 11th floor. We enjoyed the famous Bangalore weather but had to face mosquito menace. The complex had a zero water requirement as it treated and re-circulated most of the sewage. It, however, gave a bad smell in parking area (basement). We had to bear bad water quality. We used aqua guard treated water for cooking and bought Bisleri for drinking. The water quality also reflected in poor quality of green vegetables. Another problem we faced was traffic jams- it took almost 90 minutes from our residence to reach the airport. Most facilities in our area were catering to IT crowd and hence it was re-adjustment for us.

In conclusion, I can say that present day life style is a mixture of what we picked up from different cities. Ironically my wife always wanted and wants things from the cities we left behind. For example, she wants palak, green peas and fulgobi (vegetables) from Delhi, Fish from Mumbai, Farsan from Ahmedabad, Miso soup and Yakisoba from Japan, Mysore pak from Bangalore. These small things keep us connected to the cities we had lived in.

[queerkeitcoven]

7 LGBTQ Ancestors To Invite to Your Sukkah

On Sukkot, it is traditional to invite honoured ancestors ("ushpizin/ushpizata") to join your festive meals in the sukkah. As some of you know, I am currently compiling an anthology of primary sources for LGBTQ Jewish history for publication (more info on that coming soon — stay tuned!) and my friend gave me the brilliant idea to pick some LGBTQ ancestors to invite as ushpizin/ushpizata this year. There are so so many wonderful stories to honour, but if I had to pick seven — here are the ancestors that my boyfriend and  I are inviting in this year. Feel free to share, or add your own!

1. Rabbi Abbahu of Caesarea, a Palestinian amora [rabbinic scholar] ca. 300 CE. Rabbi Abbahu taught his students a midrash from his colleagues that Mordekhai nursed Esther himself; when his students heard him talking about a man nursing, they burst out laughing at him. What I would say to him: "Thank you for reminding us to amplify marginalized voices, even when they are ridiculed or dismissed. And thank you for your courage in imagining a diversity of bodies and gender expressions for our Biblical ancestors — that makes it possible to continue broadening our vision of Jewishness today. Welcome, Rabbi Abbahu of Caesarea, to our sukkah."

2. Ishaq Ibn Mar Sha'ul of Lucena, a Spanish poet and grammarian, ca. 975-1050. He was the first medieval Hebrew writer to compose homoerotic poetry, a genre which blossomed into such richness in the following centuries, comparing his beloved to figures like Joseph and David. What I would say to him: "Thank you for bringing such beauty to the expression of love, in words which resonate across the centuries. It doesn't matter whether your poems reflect your experience or not — what matters is that you brought them into the world, and in so doing gave a language for others to speak their feelings. Welcome, Ishaq Ibn Mar Sha'ul, to our sukkah."

3. Issach Mardofay [Isaac Mordekhai], a Catalan rabbi who was burnt at the stake for "sodomy" in Barcelona in 1365. What I would say to him: "Your death was a tragedy, a crime, and an unhealed wound in our historical memory. But you have not been forgotten — I draw my strength from you. Welcome, Issach Mardofay, to our sukkah."

4. Sarmad Kashani, a Persian Jewish poet, ca. 1590-1660, whose love for a Hindu youth inspired him to devote his life to the pursuit of spiritual unity, reciting mystical poetry and teaching across the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent, and who was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for heresy. What I would say to him: "Your life and work are an inspiration to all of us whose sexuality and gender do not push us farther away from our spiritual lives but rather draw us in. Thank you for refusing to live any other way but as your truest self. Welcome, Sarmad Kashani, to our sukkah."

5. Berel-Beyle, a young man from a small Ukrainian shtetl who was assigned female at birth, but always knew himself as a man. Born around 1870, he left his home for Odessa at the age of 23, where "a famous professor" helped him become the man he knew himself to be. When he returned to his shtetl, he was welcomed with open arms; he married his childhood sweetheart Rachel, joined the minyan, and was known by all as an upstanding Jew. What I would say to him: "Thank you for your courage to make your way in a world which barely had the words to acknowledge what you were. And thank you for returning home, allowing them to demonstrate that open-mindedness and communal hospitality to LGBTQ folks are part of our ancestral heritage too. Welcome, Berel-Beyle, to our sukkah."

6. "Agnes W.," the pseudonym for a Jewish lesbian who was interviewed by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin around 1910, at the age of 18. A music student, she admitted that she had struggled with social rejection and suicidal thoughts in the past, but declared that now "I consider myself innocent, totally healthy, and natural... I am satisfied with my natural sexual tendency and do not think any change is worthwhile or in my case even possible." What I would say to her: "Your strength of conviction in yourself was right — your love is innocent, healthy, and natural. We welcome and celebrate you for everything you are, and you have no need to hide anything anymore. Welcome, Agnes, to our sukkah."

7. Leo Skir (1932-2014), a gay Jewish activist, poet, and writer from New York, who was friends with beat poets like Allen Ginsberg and other activists like Frank Kameny. Skir published articles, theatre reviews, and even a novel, but after the 1970s was ignored and forgotten. He died in Minneapolis (where he had lived for decades), alone and unknown, the year before I moved here. What I would say to him: "We have forgotten our responsibilities to honour and respect our LGBTQ elders, even as we benefit from your legacy. We commit ourselves this year to doing better. If you are willing to forgive us, we would be honoured by your presence. Welcome, Leo Skir, to our sukkah."

Hag sameah to all!

[ashfaqqahmad]

Wahabism in Islam 1

Wahhabism is dangerous for other cultures

Though Islam has originated from Semitic, if you will go through the history, where it was a social reform movement in the early stage, it turned into a purely political movement after the demise of its founder Muhammad Sahab, where Muslim groups were fighting amongst themselves for power. All the battles that Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid or the Ottoman Empire fought and conquered princely states were aimed to achieve power and not to do the religious propaganda… But in spite of this, there were a large number of conversions and large populations got converted into Islamic structure.

But the point to understand here is that the definition of Islam that was created in the light of the Hadiths and Quran was appropriate for a certain geographical area but it was not suitable to integrate all the cultures outside of Arabia those embraced Islam but also maintained their own existences. You can understand this better by keeping your own country as a model rather than understanding this through any other region.

People in India were largely Hindus but were divided into castes/sub-castes and many of their customs were there since ages. They did adopt Islam, but still did not abandon those customs, traditions and brought them into Islam itself. You can find many traditions in Jat, Rajput Muslim societies that have no connection with Islam. Those who believed in the tradition of the gurus started following pirs… Those who had the habit of bowing before the idols started worshipping mausoleums.

This happened in almost all countries with their own cultural identity. They incorporated their cultural identity, their customs, traditions into Islam and it got a distinct identity as Sufi Islam. It was a series connecting human with human, which had a rapid impact from Turkey, Arab, Iran to India… The rituals associated with it were due to the integration of other cultures where people linked their ancestral traditions with Islam.

Whatever bloodshed by the Muslims in that period was done, was a result of power hunger but it had got nothing to do with that Islamic fundamentalism, perverted form of which we now see as extremism or terrorism. There was also an era when the Arabic language was dominated, Baghdad was called the centre of knowledge. The supremacy of the Arabic world over the knowledge was similar to that of the West today.

The tenth-century vizier Ibn Abbad had more than a lac books when there were not so many books in all libraries across Europe. Baghdad alone had thirty major research centres of scientific knowledge. In addition to Baghdad, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Damascus, Mosul, Tous and Nishapur were major centres of learning in the Arabic world and Islam was established in a different form.

In India, at that time the Quran was confined to the Arabic language, which people used to read from the perspective of sawab, and the Hadiths had absolutely nothing to do much with ordinary people. Few Hadiths with good messages were sometimes used to be recited in mosques on Fridays or on Shab e Qadr… or there used to be events like ijtema and Milad among women where they used to recite some good Hadiths.

That is, the issues like shirk, biddat, etc. were on a very small and almost negligible scale and the majority of the Muslim population was living unaware of these in their own way. Integrating different cultures and traditions, Muslims had many faiths like Shia, Hanafi, Maliki, Saifi, Jafari, Baqaria, Basharia, Khalafia, Hanbali, Zahiri, Ashri, Muntazili, Murzia, Matroodi, Ismaili, Bohra, Ahmadiyya, etc. keeping their own identity while Deobandis, who claim purity, were also accepting this cultural diversity despite living with the identity of that ideology.

Concept of pure Arabic Islam

This pure Arabic Islam was conceptualized by Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703–1792) who started destroying the beautiful and progressive traditions that were developing within Islam. All those rituals, customs, traditions first began to be recognized as shirk and biddat in the light of the Quran and Hadiths and Islam was given such a narrow form that there should be no scope for any kind of freedom, openness and communion.

Abd al Wahhab, taking the initiative to eliminate whatever is outside the purview of the Quran and Hadith, declared the killing of every mushrik and plundering their property as halal and for this, he prepared an army of 600 people and deployed them in the name of jihad everywhere. He started killing people of all types of Islamic beliefs. He only kept propagating his ideology and whosoever refused to accept him was killed and their property was robbed. He personally attacked the tomb of the famous Islamic thinker Zaid ibn al Khattab and demolished it himself.

He started attacking the Mazars and targeted Sufism. During this time he entered into an agreement with Muhammad bin Saud. Muhammad bin Saud was the ruler of Diriyyah and possessed both wealth and army. Together, both of them started using swords as well as modern weapons. The agreement of these two made it easy to reach out to remote areas to impose their ideology and destroy other faiths.

The burning of all books related to other faiths became a passion for Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. Along with this, he issued another disgusting order to demolish all the Sufi Mazars, mausoleums or tombs and make urinals there. Saudi Arabia, a nation based on the Wahhabi faith apparently, continued the tradition of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab and for that reason the burial cemetery with the nabi and his family there was also destroyed. Al-Mukarramah, a part of the Kaaba was also demolished for the same reason…

The distorted form of jihad that we see today is originated of this concept. And it was not only started forcibly but also started as a mass awareness campaign where those Quranic verses and the Hadiths were widely disseminated with meanings that could be used to separate all those things as shirk and biddat from Islam, that were not related to the original form of Islam. Gradually, this ideology began to engulf all Muslim countries that were leading happy lives with their mixed cultures.

You can see the changes under Erdogan’s leadership in Turkey. You can understand the changing form of Bangladesh living with a Hindu-Bengali culture from the writings of Taslima Nasrin. In Pakistan, Jinnah and Iqbal, who used to be considered as Pakistan’s builders and respectable figures, are being targeted by the new generation of Pakistanis because of things like Ahmadiyya, Khoja, pork, wine in the same way in which Gandhi is to new nationalists in India. To see this change in India look around, look at the Jat, Rajput Muslim societies of Western UP, Haryana, Rajasthan.

Wahhabism has been playing with the history of Islam, beliefs, mutual harmony and co-existence of identities. Hitler adopted the idea of racial purity as one identity, one type of people, one kind of thinking, one book from Wahhabism itself. Expelling firqas other than Wahhabism from Islam and their slaughter was justified. People of other religions were even declared wajib-ul-qatl (mandatory to kill) and the plunder of their property and the conversion of their women was justified. Pakistan and Bangladesh became their favourite playgrounds.

How this idea of ​​oneness is fatal to an inclusive and diverse society, you can understand it from the model of the Sangh, that wants to impose their ‘model of Hindutva’ equally on the whole of India with diverse cultures… Can tribals of Northeast, other tribal societies and Hindu societies of the south reconcile with the model in which ‘Rama’ is an ideal and superior God? Can the Ram Mandir movement of Hindi belt inspire the whole country? Can a cow be revered as the mother of all Indian people? If not, then is it reasonable to impose this on them…? Wahhabism also has the same track.

The Sangh has one or two countries with a Hindu population but the Wahhabis have a large number of countries as well as countries like Saudi promoting this ideology have huge money and scholars like Zakir Nayak as their brand ambassadors. The thinking of a new nationalist Indian about Gandhi and a newly nationalist Pakistani about Jinnah and Iqbal is the same, that they do not match their ‘model’.

Maulana Maududi and Jamaat-e-Islami

The interpretation of Islam that was made by Ibn Taymiyya in the fourteenth century was later turned into a comprehensive campaign in the eighteenth century by Abd al Wahhab and despite disagreements on some points, Maulana Maududi, the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami spread it in the Indian territory in his own way. There were mainly four firqas in Islam as Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki that were formed following the Imams, having many firqas within them but Sunni from all over India (pre-independence British India) belong to Hanafi firqa those got divided into Deobandi and Barelvi firqas in the nineteenth century following Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Ahmed Raza Khan.

The Arabs place themselves in the Hanbali firqa, while the people of the Middle East and Africa belong to the Shafi and Maliki firqas, but all of them are Sunnis (Shias are completely different from them) and have three ideologies as Salafi, Wahhabi and Ahl e Hadith prevalent among them… In terms of bigotry, you can place Ahl e Hadith, Wahhabi and Salafi from bottom to top. Salafi and Wahhabi don’t even consider other followers of Islam as Muslims.

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Maududi had spread this ideology in the Indian territory, and growing rapidly that has now reached the stage where you can see this change around you in the educated, modern-day Muslim (Deobandi) youths in the form of ankle-length pyjamas, beard, etc. Barelvi society is against all this.

There are two faces of this ideology… The one that has created a variety of organizations and has waged a war in the name of ‘jihad’ that will last until the whole world is coloured as they like and the other face that cleverly defends all those things with logic, on the basis of which these jihadi groups are flourishing.

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It is an art of changing oneself, defending one’s evils and flaws… The same way as the Sangh, that considers the concept of a Hindu nation as an ideal, has transformed itself into a cultural organization that makes the temple of Lord Rama in north India an issue to bring the BJP to the power, on the other hand, it teams up with the Periyar supporters in the south who curse Rama, at the same time it gets moulded to convince Lingayats who abuse the deity gods of north India.

It can also support mob lynching in the name of cow slaughter in north India and converts itself in some way to stand with the population eating it in the northeast or south. Flexibility is necessary for the spread of any ideology and they also know this. Therefore, to fit that which cannot be adjusted with the original idea, other ancillary organisations or armies are formed, that may look different from the outer side but have the same roots and from integrating the opposing idea to ‘shoot’ or ‘blast’, they do all the jobs well.

[trekkinginpakistan]

New Post has been published on Trekking in Pakistan

New Post has been published on https://trek.pk/pakpattan/

Pakpattan

Pakpattan (Punjabi, Urdu: پاکپتّن‎), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf ( پاکپتّن شریف; “Noble Pakpattan”), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according to the 2017 census. Pakpattan is the seat of Pakistan’s Chisti order of Sufism,[3], and is a major pilgrimage destination on account of the shrine of Fariduddin Ganjshakar, the renowned Punjabi poet and Sufi saint commonly referred to as Baba Farid. The annual urs fair in his honor draws an estimated 2 million visitors to the town.

History

Early

Pakpattan was founded as a village by the name of Ajodhan.[7] Ajodhan was the location of a ferry service across the Sutlej River that rendered it an important part of the ancient trade routes that connected Multan to Delhi.[5] Given its position on the flat plains of Punjab, Ajodhan was vulnerable to waves of invasions from Central Asia that began in the late 10th century.[5] It was captured by Sebüktegin in 977–78 CE and by Ibrahim Ghaznavi in 1079–80.[8]

Medieval

Turkish settlers also arrived in the region as a result of pressures from the expanding Mongol Empire,[5] and so Ajodhan already had a mosque and Muslim community by the time of the arrival of Baba Farid,[5] who migrated to the town from his native village of Kothewal near Multan around 1195. Despite his presence, Ajodhan remained a small town until after his death,[9] although it was prosperous given its position on trade routes.[10]

Baba Farid’s establishment of a Jama Khana, or convent, in the town where his devotees would gather for religious instruction is seen as a process of the region’s shift away from a Hindu orientation to a Muslim one.[5] Large masses of the town’s citizenry were noted to gather at the shrine daily in hopes of securing written blessings and amulets from the convent.[5]

Upon Baba Farid’s death in 1265, a shrine was constructed that eventually contained a mosque, langar, and several other related buildings.[5] The shrine was among the first Islamic holy sites in South Asia.[5] The shrine later served to elevate the town as a center of pilgrimage within the wider Islamic world.[11] In keeping with Sufi tradition in Punjab, the shrine maintains influence over smaller shrines throughout the region around Pakpattan that are dedicated to specific events in Baba Farid’s life.[12] These secondary shrines form a wilayat or a “spiritual territory” of the Pakpattan shrine.[12]

The Arab explorer Ibn Battuta visited the town in 1334 and paid obeisance at its shrine.[5] The town was besieged by Shaikha Khokhar, in 1394.[13] Tamerlane visited Pakpattan’s shrine in 1398 in order to pray for increased strength,[14] and spared the town’s inhabitants that had not fled his advance, out of respect for the shrine of the saint Baba Farid.[15][16] Khizr Khan defeated the armies of Firuz Shah Tughlaq of the Delhi Sultanate in battles outside of Pakpattan in 1401 and 1405.[17]

Mughal

The town continued to grow as the reputation and influence of the Baba Farid shrine spread but was also bolstered by its privileged position along the Multan to Delhi trade route.[18] The shrine’s importance began to outweigh that of Ajodhan itself, and the town was subsequently renamed “Pakpattan” in honor of a ferry service over the Sutlej River.[6] The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, visited the town in the early 1500s to collect compositions of Baba Farid’s poetry.[19]

The shrine was extended royal patronage from the Mughal court, while Emperor Shah Jahan in 1692 bestowed royal support for the shrine’s Diwan chief and descendants of Baba Farid, who eventually formed a class of landowners known as the Chistis. The shrine and Chistis were defended by an army of devotees drawn from local Jat clans.[5]

Pakpattan Chishti State

Following the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, the shrine’s Diwan was able to forge a politically independent state centered on Pakpattan.[5] In 1757, the territory of the Pakpattan state was extended across the Sutlej River after the shrine’s head raised an army against the Raja of Bikaner.[5] The shrine’s army was able to repel a 1776 attack by the Sikh Nakai Misl state, resulting in the death of the Nakai leader, Heera Singh Sandhu.[5]

Sikh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire seized the city in 1810, removing the political autonomy of the Baba Farid shrine’s chief.[5] He did, however, bestow the shrine with an annual nazrana allowance of 9,000 rupees, and granted tracts of land to his descendants.[20] By patronizing the shrine, Ranjit Singh increased his legitimacy of a non-Muslim ruler and helped spread his influence through the network of the smaller shrine through the Pakpattan shrine’s spiritual wilayat territory.[21]

British

Following the establishment of British rule in Punjab after defeating the Sikh Empire, Pakpattan in 1849 was made district headquarters, before it was shifted in 1852, and finally to Montgomery (now Sahiwal) in 1856.[22] The Pakpattan Municipal Council was established in 1868,[22] and the population in 1901 was 6,192. Income in the era chiefly derived from transit fees.[8]

Between the 1890s and 1920s, the British laid a vast network of canals in the region around Pakpattan, and throughout much of central and southern Punjab province,[23] leading to the establishment of dozens of new villages around Pakpattan. In 1910, the Lodhran–Khanewal Branch Line was laid, making Pakpattan an important stop before the railway was dismantled and shipped to Iraq.[22] In the 1940s, Pakpattan became a center for Muslim League politics, as the shrine granted the League privileges to address crows at the urs fair in 1945 – a favor not granted to pro-Unionist parties.[24] The shrine’s sajjada nasheen caretakers further refused to sign an anti-Partition manifesto brought to them by pro-Unionists.[24]

Modern

Pakpattan’s demography was radically altered by the Partition of British India, with the vast majority of its Sikh and Hindu residents migrating to India. Several Chisti scholars and notable families also settled in the city, having fled from regions that were allocated to India. Pakpattan thus increased in importance as a religious center and witnessed the development of pir-muridi shrine culture.[25] The influence of the shrine’s caretakers grew as Chistis and their devotees congregated in the city to such a degree that the shrine caretakers are regarded as “kingmakers” for local and regional politics.[25] Pakpattan’s shrine continued to grow in influence as Pakistani Muslims found it increasingly difficult to visit other Chisti shrines that now lay in India,[25] while Sikhs in India commemorate Baba Farid’s urs in absentia at Amritsar.[26] Pakpattan continues to be a major pilgrimage center, drawing up to 2 million annual visitors its large urs festival.[4]

Geography

Pakpattan is located about 205 km from Multan.[27] Pakpattan is located roughly 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the border with India, and 184 kilometres (114 mi) by road southwest of Lahore.[28] The district is bounded to the northwest by Sahiwal District, to the north by Okara District, to the southeast by the Sutlej River and Bahawalnagar District, and to the southwest by Vehari District.

Demographics

According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, the population of Pakpattan city was recorded as 109,033. As per 2017 Census of Pakistan, the population of city was recorded as 176,693 with an increase of 62.05% in just 19 years.

Language

Punjabi is the native spoken language but Urdu is also widely understood. Haryanvi also called Rangari is spoken among Ranghar, Rajput. Meo have their own language which is called Mewati.

Famous Food

Tosha is a special sweet which was produced first in Pakpattan.[30] It is also sold in India as a delicacy originally made in Pakpattan.

Shrine of Baba Farid

The Shrine of Baba Farid is one of Pakistan’s most revered shrines. Built in the town that was known in medieval times as Ajodhan, the old town’s importance was eclipsed by that of the shrine, as evidenced by its renaming to “Pakpattan,” meaning “Holy Ferry” – referencing a river crossing made by pilgrims to the shrine.[32] The shrine has since been a key factor shaping Pakpattan’s economy, and the city’s politics.

[aurora-borealis-love]

This is very interesting story about SindhbadFamous Pakistani scholar, novelist and documentary film-maker, Obaid Ullah Baig was convinced that ‘Sinbad the sailor’ was not entirely fictional. Instead he was a real person who lived east of Karachi, in a small Sindhi fishing village during the Abbasid era.The story of Sinbad the sailor comes from ‘Tales of the Arabian Nights’ which was composed during the era of Abbasid empire and the golden age of science in the Muslim world. Besides investing in science, Abbasids were equally interested in building trade routes with the Far-East. This was a time when borders of the Muslim world ended where Pakistan stands today and almost everything east of Pakistan would be either Hindu or Budhist territory. Abbasid shipping to these Eastern lands depended upon Sindhi communities of southern Pakistan because Sindhis were master shipbuilders and navigators. They ran contractual voyages for the Abbasid empire towards Burma and the the Andaman sea and would often bring back cultural artifacts to sell in Arab lands.Basra would become the major dumping ground and main marketplace for these foreign goods as it was the closest big-city to the Persian Gulf and Sindhi sea-captains were often seen selling foreign art, gems and artifacts there. The value of each artifact would depend upon the legend that surrounded it and almost every merchant would claim that he was a shipwrecked sailor who lost most of his treasure except for “this one artifact.” Thus, besides merchants and navigators, they were also great storytellers who would gather an audience in the bazars just on the stories of their voyages. The art of sale in the bazars of Basra depended on convincing a fairly scientific minded audience that mythical monsters such as sea-serpent and giant octopus really exist and there are islands that are essentially giant whales with trees growing on their back!The real name of Sinbad, as it is written in the Arabian Nights is “Sindh-Baad” which literally means “winds of Sindh.” Navigational references in the story are exactly what you would see if you were to sail out of Karachi port today. The fact that the original story of Sinbad begins in Basra also makes perfect sense because that is where a Sindhi sea-captain would end his voyage, as he would get the most for his goods.My last meeting with Obaid Ullah Baig happened in his Karachi apartment in the year 2006 in which he said, “I have no doubt in my mind that the real Sinbad lived not far from where we sit today. He was a contractual sea captain for the Abbasids, expert salesman and an absolute master at the art of bullshitting! He probably made enough that he married an Arab woman and settled in Basra but the Naval dockyard of Karachi is where his adventures really began.”

[wellesleyunderground]

Wellesley in Politics: Interview with Farahnaz Ispahani ‘85  (@fispahani)

Farahnaz Ispahani ‘85 has been a leading voice for women and religious minorities in Pakistan for over two decades, working as a journalist, member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, and most recently as a United States-based scholar. An advocate of Pakistan’s return to democracy during the military regime of Pervez Musharraf, she served as a spokesperson and international media coordinator for the Pakistan People’s Party, working alongside the late Benazir Bhutto. During her tenure in parliament (2008-2012), she was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Human Rights committees and the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. In 2013 and 2014 she was a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she completed “Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities” (2016), a book on the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan. In 2012 she was listed among Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, as well as Newsweek Pakistan’s Top 100 Women Who Matter.

What led you to Wellesley?

I arrived at Wellesley through family connections to the college. My grandfather, M.A.H Ispahani had spoken at Wellesley when he was Pakistan’s first Ambassador to the United States. My eldest sister attended Wellesley in the late 70s. I had never been to the United States before and I wanted to go to school in a warmer part of the country but I got in and the choice was made for me!

However, once I got to Wellesley I appreciated its unique and very special education and community and made it mine. Wellesley changed my life.

How did your childhood and family influence your work as an adult? Â Who was your biggest role model growing up?

Growing up in Pakistan in the 1970s I attended a convent school run by a teaching order of nuns from Ireland. My class was made up of girls from every religious and ethnic community of my city Karachi. We never knew who was a Christian or Shia or Sunni Muslim or a Hindu or a Parsi. The nuns ensured an atmosphere of inclusion. I started understanding that I belonged to a religious minority when my mother, siblings and I used to attend majlises or religious gatherings in the month of mourning which is called Muharram. We saw a city and country where we could commemorate this month in peace and our Sunni neighbors would acknowledge the solemnity and respect us to a point where our places of worship are surrounded by tanks and armed police or army men and we are frisked for metal objects and guns when we enter in case we are terrorist wanting to blow us up.

My career in journalism, politics and as a scholar was deeply influenced by what we as a family witnessed and experienced.

My greatest role model was my Iranian grandmother. She was an amazing woman who made Pakistan her home and founded and ran the first day care center in Karachi that enabled middle class and poor women to work and have their children in a safe environment where they were taught and fed. She also founded and ran an orphanage for unwanted children. Some were left outside in the dead of the night in a basket. In a society that rejects illegitimate children Kashana e Atfal and Naunehal took in and educated thousands of girls and still does. Some of the young women who were adopted from Kashana attended Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne.

Khanumjoon, as we called her lovingly, spoke 5 languages including Farsi, Urdu, French, German and Turkish. She also attended London University and got a social science degree during WW11.

Her affection, love, guidance and time were a constant for us throughout her life.

With Pakistan being Sunni run and about 77 percent Sunni, does that lead to distrust towards them from religious minorities? Based on the number of claims of blasphemy and harsh penalties for it, is it hard to people of different religions (and within Muslims for Shi’ites and Ahmadis) to trust each other?

The founder of Pakistan, M.A. Jinnah was a Shia Muslim and he was supported in the creation of Pakistan by the head of the Ahmadi Muslim community. Unfortunately, Mr. Jinnah died a year after the birth of Pakistan. The downward descent of what I call ‘communal majoritarianism’ kicked in immediately and anti-Shia and anti-Ahmadi movements gained strength. Today, we see sectarian terrorist groups that kill those of Muslim minority and Christian and Hindu minority faiths and blow up their places of worship. The leaders of these groups are known to the authorities but remain free to address open public rallies and travel. The Blasphemy Law in Pakistan is considered the toughest in the world and carries a death penalty if convicted. Once this law was passed it gave the general public of Pakistan a sort of license to judge and convict anyone they feel has blasphemed.

You said in a paper in 2013 for the Hudson Institute that Ahmadis make up only 0.22 percent of the population of Pakistan. How much of a change is that since the Partition? I saw an article recently in Dawn that another Ahmadi Muslim was killed. Do you think they’ll ever be safe in Pakistan?

Members of Ahmadi sect forbidden to call themselves Muslim. Ahmadis are some of the most common defendants in criminal charges of blasphemy, which in Pakistan can carry the death penalty. By law they cannot call their place of worship mosques or distribute religious literature, recite the Koran or use traditional Islamic greetings, measures that they say criminalize their daily lives.

The legal restrictions began in 1974, when the then-Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto passed a constitutional amendment declaring Ahmadis non-Muslim. A decade later military dictator General Zia ul Haq barred Ahmadis from identifying themselves as Muslim.

The exact percentage is hard to calculate as though many Ahmadis have fled the country and gained asylum in the US, Canada, UK and Australia the constant increase of the Pakistani population which is not easily attainable as many Ahmadis have to hide their faith to be able to work and ensure the safety of their families.

I do not think they will be safe in Pakistan in my lifetime. In the month of November alone, nuclear armed Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad has been taken hostage by thousands of religious extremists demanding further restrictions on the county’s Ahmadi Muslims & praising convicted criminals like Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of our former governor, Punjab province, Salmaan Taseer.

Also, The National Assembly (Parliament) has passed the new Elections (Amendment) Bill 2017 challenging the voter registration of anyone accused of being an Ahmadi.

The bill relates to the fresh delimitation of constituencies keeping in view the provisional results of the recently conducted census with respect to the upcoming general elections in 2018.

Speaking on the new law ‘Elections Amendment Bill 2017′ Senate Deputy Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who belongs to the Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F, said that the Ahmadis’ status is the same as it was back in the 1973 Constitution. Reinforcing the Ahmadis vulnerable position and demonstrating that the parliament and government consider them non-Muslims.

Can Pakistan ever be a place where all feel safe and welcome regardless of religion?

In my lifetime only former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf had the power during his ten year rule to change the laws and ensure prosecution of those who attacked minority groups. And, to disband sectarian terrorist organizations. But he did not. I am not hopeful in the rational sense but one has to keep hope alive to ensure change one day.

Can social media be freely used or is it regulated as part of the blasphemy laws?

It is regulated to some extent. People have been arrested for blasphemy because of blasphemy allegations of online comments and killed as university student Mashal Khan was. But, like others, his family has not received justice. Journalists and bloggers speaking freely on social media have disappeared, been tortured and fled the country.

Especially after writing Purifying the Land of the Pure can you safely return to Pakistan? If not what would have to change for that to be possible?

I have gone back on a handful of occasions - but in a very low key manner and with a full understanding of the risks. Anyone who has written and spoken as much about the issues I do can never be safe in Pakistan. Vigilante justice continues unimpeded.

Do you think it’s possible to have a country based on a religion that’s welcoming to those who don’t follow that religion?

No. There has to be a separation of church and state and all citizens must be considered equal under the constitution. Religion or ethnicity cannot be a part of any modern and civilized nation.

Your work has largely focused on bringing Pakistan back to democracy. How do you hold onto hope for a country with such a history of violence?

Hope does spring eternal. However, as Pakistan is a relatively young country one can only work for a better tomorrow. But, I know how ugly the lives of those of minority community faiths are. That spurs me on. The country belongs to every single Pakistani and they deserve that.

I can’t even imagine getting to work with Benazir Bhutto as you did both when she was in exile and when she returned to Pakistan in September 2007. What is your favorite story about her?

Benazir Bhutto, was human and had faults but what a great leader she was. I still miss her every day. She had political intelligence, knowledge of her country and the world and a deep compassion and empathy for women, the disadvantaged and the persecuted. She was hated by the religious right wing forces.

My favorite story about Bibi as any of us referred to her was the day after her arrival. Estimates say that 1 million supporters gathered to welcome her arrival. As her caravan slowly inched through Karachi terrorists set off two bombs to kill her. Many died but she managed to survive.

The following day Benazir Bhutto held a press conference in her small garden at her Karachi home. It was packed with PPP party officials and reporters. Benazir arrived in a old pair of glasses from her bedside drawer as the ones she had on were shattered in the blast. The audio didn't work. Bibi picked up a hand mike and without missing a stride spoke so clearly and with an unshaken sense of mission.

She answered every question although she was mourning those who had lost their lives and been up all night talking to her family and party people.

That was Benazir. Brilliant and unbowed. And, kind..Finding a bond with every woman she met. Rich or poor, educated or not. Privately her humor, and love of chocolate and ice cream, and escaping to a movie or a having a cozy chat for a brief respite from her lifetime of heavy responsibility. I always thought of her as the perfect Wellesley woman though she went to Radcliffe!

Farahnaz’s blog is https://farahnazispahani.com/ and her writings can also be found in various news outlets.

Photo by Elliott O’Donovan Photography

[araibalibaigsblog]

there is much that still remains to be done

“The discovery of Buddhist texts in Gilgit… indicates the presence of learned communities in Gilgit and Hunza. Nor do I exclude the possibility that some stupas may still be discovered in Baltistan containing other books,” stated the legendary Italian scholar of oriental cultures and religions, Professor Giuseppe Tucci, about the cultural and religious heritage of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Owing to its location on the intersection of the Silk Road, Gilgit-Baltistan has received cultural influences from across the region. It is the region’s cultural heritage and its centuries old cross-cultural contacts with China, Central Asia, Kashmir, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran and India that have made the region so attractive for research.

Explorations dating back to the later part of the 19th century have resulted in the discovery of ancient routes once active as arteries of the Silk Road; pre-historic sites; ancient Buddhist texts; rock carvings in more than 10 languages; graves and wooden structures all manifesting the antiquity and cultural diversity of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The well-known German scholar on early history of Gilgit-Baltistan, Professor Karl Jettmar confirms that by about 500 BC, the banks of “the Indus east and west of the present township of Chilas became a junction, a cross road in a system of Trans-Asiatic routes for migration and trade. The system remained important for more than one and half millennium”.

John Biddulph, Sir Aurel Stein, Ghulam Muhammad and Giuseppe Tucci were the predecessors of Jettmar whose publications drew the world’s attention to the cultural significance of Gligit-Baltistan. For instance, John Biddulph’s famous book Tribes of Hindoo Koosh published in 1880, announced the existence of primitive structures in and around Gilgit.

The well-known archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein’s famous Central Asian expeditions brought a clear focus on the need for future research on the region’s ancient roots. He travelled through parts of the present day Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral while on his expeditions to China and Central Asia. The reports of his First Expedition (1900-01), Third Expedition (1913-16), and Fourth Expedition (1930-31) record useful information about the monuments found in the area. His list includes the famous Kargah Buddha in Gilgit, a 20-feet high stupa near Thol in today’s Nagar, the ruined mounds in Hanzel near Gilgit, the Taj Moghul mound in Jutial and a chain of stupas in Naupur.

Sir Aurel Stein also discovered inscriptions, engravings and ancient jewellery while travelling through villages of the Yasin valley. Credit goes to him for announcing the discovery of the famous Buddhist manuscripts from Naupur in Gilgit in 1931.

Ghulam Muhammad’s account of the festivals and folklore of Gilgit is a pioneering work that provides insights into the region’s culture. The study was published in the Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in November 1905. Focusing on the folklore and old customs of Gilgit, he records the existence of pre-Islamic engravings and cultic stones in Gilgit, Chilas and Astore.

Like Biddulph and Aurel Stein, his account also contains a description of the Kargah Buddha. He describes how the people venerated and used the Blue Stone of Gilgit, the Shri Bai rock in Astore, and the five cultic boulders in Bagrote in local festivals and rituals. His foremost contribution is the identification of stones along the bank of the Indus river bearing figures and inscriptions.

Later, these stones captured Professors Ahmad Hasan Dani and Karl Jettmar’s attention. They conducted extensive research to explore and document these and other rock inscriptions in the upper Indus valley, which according to Professor Dani, “hold the key to the understanding of great cultural traditions of the world”.

When Aurel Stein was engaged in his explorations and compiling the enormous information collected from China, Professor Tucci had turned to his studies in Mahayana Buddhism. From Italy, he went to India in 1925 where he started teaching and researching at the Shantiniketan and Calcutta University. During his stay there, Professor Tucci developed a special interest in Tibetan studies, which continued till the very last years of his life. By 1931, he had already made three study trips to Ladakh, Rupshu, Lahul and Baltistan. During his Baltistan visit, he discovered and admired “huge boulders on which were engraved most beautiful bas-reliefs representing rows of Buddhas and portraits of donors”.

Professor Tucci also found other sculptures that were scattered on the rocks. Based on his research in Tibet and study of Buddhism, he concluded that Skardu was once a very important Buddhist centre and “even enjoyed a great prestige among Buddhist communities of Khotan”.

By 1931, Gilgit came to prominence as a famous archaeological site. It was due to the discovery of the world’s oldest Buddhist manuscripts from Naupur that brought Gilgit to the centre stage of research on Buddhism. The precious finding followed a systematic excavation of the Naupur site and discovery of another set of the Gilgit Manuscripts by M.K. Shastri in 1938. The manuscripts have received enormous attention globally and a growing number of scholars are working to this day to translate and interpret the historical context of these extraordinary religious texts.

The next important phase of research on Gilgit-Baltistan is the German Hindu Kush Expedition of 1955-56. Professor Adolf Friedrich (1914-1956), the then Director of Mainz Institute of Ethnology in Germany, led the expedition also known as DHE. By far, the greatest achievement of DHE was that it paved the way for further research. Despite the illness and tragic passing away of Professor Friedrich in the midst of the research mission, his highly motivated team comprising Karl Jettmar, Georg Buddruss, and Peter Snoy continued the DHE activities in Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral and parts of Afghanistan.

DHE was the only team to visit Darel and Tangir valleys and collect data on culture, history and remnants of pre-Islamic ideas. The research data collected by DHE still remains a major source of research on these valleys.

The opening of the Karakorum Highway in 1978 brought an excellent opportunity for scholars to carry forward research on Gilgit-Baltistan. Professor Jettmar, himself an active member of DHE, together with Professor Dani, a distinguished scholar on archaeology of Pakistan, founded the ‘Pak-German Study Group for Anthropological Research in Northern Pakistan’. Following its first expedition in 1979, and the documentation of scared rocks of Hunza, the Study Group documented and published a wealth of information on the language, culture, and history of Gilgit-Baltistan and the ancient Silk Road. This also includes the discovery of thousands of inscriptions in Kharoshti, Brahmi, Sogdian, Tibetan, and Chinese, and petroglyphs representing figural engravings along the upper Indus.

The Study Group has also documented Buddhist shrines, graves and wooden mosques in the region.

In 1982, Professor Jettmar initiated ‘Rock-Carvings and Inscriptions along the Karakoram Highway’, a project supported by the Heidelberg Academy. He and later Professor Harald Hauptmann have systematically documented and published information on thousands of rock-carvings found in what is called the world’s largest ‘rock art museum’ located where plans are final to build the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. A groundbreaking publication under the project is the three volumes of Antiquities of Northern Pakistan published in 1990-94.

Culture Area Karakorum (CAK) is another research project that has made valuable contribution to multidisciplinary research on Gilgit-Baltistan. The German Research Foundation funded the project from 1989-1998, which was jointly led by Professor Irmtraud Stellrecht from Germany and Professor Dani from Pakistan. Under CAK, scholars and researchers from Germany and Pakistan conducted extensive research on topics ranging from glaciology and environment to prehistory and linguistics. The project has published 12 volumes of CAK Scientific Studies in English and German to disseminate the results of the research project. Bibliography – Northern Pakistan, is an important CAK publication that contains over 4,000 entries.

The international collaboration has resulted in far-reaching research and collection of wealth of information contributing to a better understanding of the antiquity and cultural heritage of Gilgit-Baltistan. However, there is much that still remains to be done predominantly in the area of heritage research. Scholars in several countries are taking great interest in the archaeological findings of Gilgit-Baltistan. Many of them are engaged in analysing and interpreting the data already collected from the area. There is a greater need for the Pakistani scholars to undertake more comprehensive explorations to intensify heritage research in Gilgit-Baltistan. It has become even more urgent given the pace of development in the region that has gradually brought Gilgit-Baltistan’s cultural heritage to the verge of extinction. The Karakoram International University (KIU) under the new leadership is well positioned to lead this effort. The university needs a world-class research institute to study and document the rich cultural heritage of Gilgit-Baltistan before it is lost forever!

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