My dad's a Mahajir. His family migrated from Bhopal to Pakistan. My dadda was soon-after posted to Interior Sindh and it was in Nawabshah that my father grew up. An Urdu-speaking bloke, in a serious hard-core Sindhi environment. I am not going to go into the details of the kind of bigotry and racial discrimination he, and his family had to face, but to put it mildly it wasn't really very easy for them. The quota system, in the education as well as political situtions caused a great many hurdles in their educational/ professional development. Adding to the whole bit was the feudalistic political situation. The Sindhi wadera's who would get elected to public offices would hire their mazzaras straight off instead of basing the selection procedure on merit. So there were job opportunities taken away, promotions held and deserving scholarships taken away. I'm guessing this is not what my Daddi, daughter of a known lawyer, was expecting when she left behind a life of leasure, an aging father, who refused to leave his city, and her eldest son, so there was someone to look after her dad.
My father, his siblings etc grew up to be much-respected citizen's. Loved and admired, by all. The episodes of racial discrimination from Bhutto's time, acting as anecdotes which didn't do much, other than add a little flavor in their otherwise rather regular lives. There is no bitterness. No racial hatred. Nothing.
...but that's one family, who chose the jo-Allah-ki-marzi-Way. One boy, who chose to chuckle away the rejections and the hatred.
...while some got affected in worse off ways. Who were provoked to a point where they forgot the tehzeeb, the taleem, the terbiat, the entire cultural inheritance, passed on to them by there forefathers. They chose to not 'let-go'. For them it became a matter of pride, of honor, of self-respect.
Then some of them I guess chose to speak againt it. Some sharpened their pencils and took to writing. Some sat on the street corners and argued endlessly over cups of tea.
...then some chose to push a hand... or hold someone by their collar... or slap someone across the face.
Some boys thought of taking up politics. They saw themselves to be the next El Che's of the world. the inequality was too much for them to make peace with. I guess thats how APMSO was formed...
... But a bitter and cynical man can do a lot of harm. Want, for revenge can drive a sane one, insane. Haven't we all felt that?..
...then there is also the whole "power corrupts" phenomenon. The times changed. the oppressed became the oppressors...
I guess what happened after, we all know..
Tis sad, that this had to be ... but why do people not go and look for those who actually gave birth to this all...
Can nobody actually understand where this comes from? Is rage and anger and frustration such alien concepts, that no one can empathize?...
How do you hate the Man who stole only to feed his hungry child, at home?
How do you always chose the right path?
How do you not let rage make you go insane?
How do you put an end to this vicious circle?...
Will someone ever let history be our teacher?...
A quote of Hazrat Ali comes to my mind. I don't remember the exact wordings or the source but it went something like :
"..a society can exist infinitely if its based on kuffer, however a society based on oppression and injustice is bound to be doomed."
Disclaimer:
I do not support MQM, or any other political party for that matter.
I do not think taking up arms is a solution to anything.
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