| March 20, 2002 | Wednesday | Muharram 5, 1423 |
Continuing war a bad omen for Karzai govt
Anis: Karbala in Oudh’s setting
Cricket does not need unnecessary controversies
DURING his address to the elected representatives of the district government at the local Circuit House, Punjab governor Khalid Maqbool asked the audience whether they had trust in the leadership of Gen Musharraf. Then he said he would come in April and if the gathering was double of the present one, he would give a lot of grants and projects to Dera Ghazi Khan district.
IN January last when the leader of the interim government of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, apparently aware of the dangers posed by Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, appealed for more British forces, the government in London stopped short of offering more troops.
A cricket reporter or columnist is able to mix business with pleasure and on the face of it, appears to be a good life. But with cricket now being played round the clock, a certain cricket fatigue is bound to set in. Since the England-New Zealand Test series was being played at what is for us, ungodly hours, I chose to sleep through it. Yet some mysterious force woke me up and rather than toss and turn in bed to get back to sleep, I switched the television set on.
With the occurrence of a referendum-type event at the gathering, many political observers have started a debate on the possible holding of a referendum before October for the legalization of President Musharraf’s rule for the next five years.
However, it seems clear that a general election is connected with the legalization or acceptance of Gen Musharraf as president for the coming years as the guardian of the devolution system. The two major political parties, the PPP and the PML-N, are not ready to accept him as president for the next five years. So, there is only one way to consolidate the throne, which is a referendum.
However, sources told Dawn that the Election Commission office, Dera Ghazi Khan, received a fax message on the day of the governor’s visit regarding preparations. The purpose was not specified in the message.
Therefore, this correspondent contacted the local Election Commission office. The assistant election commission officer said they had completed more than 60 per cent homework regarding the election due in October next. He maintained that the office had not received any official letter or fax regarding the holding of a national referendum.
On condition of not being named, one of the officers of the Election Commission said there were signs and possibility of holding a referendum in the speech of the governor, which was delivered here on March 12.
On the eve of the governor’s visit, copies of one of the national dailies could not be distributed here. The reason was an appeal to the governor by opposition members of the district council against the Nazim and other authorities which was carried by the newspaper on its back page.
According to the news agent of the daily, a bundle of at least 1,500 copies of the newspaper was purchased by a functionary of the district government on behalf of the relevant authorities. It was done to silence the opposition’s voice, but it is very strange that being the main component of the district government, the Nazim and the district coordination officer could not think of a better way to deal with the opposition.
After the election of the Public Safety Commission in which opposition got two seats out of five, the gulf between the opposition and the treasury benches in the district council is widening. Three opposition groups — the PML-N, the PPP and Maqsood Leghari group — contested the election with mutual understanding. It is a common complaint by most of the district council members that funds and schemes are being distributed to bonafide members of the Millat Party or Haji Jamal Khan Leghari. Work on various projects could not be initiated and due to the ineptitude of the district government, various provincial funds will lapse.
LAST week, the oath-taking ceremony of office-bearers of the District Bar Association was held at the District Bar hall. Justice Nazir Saddiqui of the Lahore High Court, Multan bench, was the chief guest while Advocate Latif Khan Khosa, member of the Pakistan Bar Council, was the guest of honour.
Justice Nazir Saddiqui administered the oath. He stressed upon a balance relationship between the Bar and the bench. Latif Khosa spoke against what he called the discriminatory attitude in the selection of judges. He said there was a remarkable talent in southern Punjab but it was being neglected. He called for the division of Punjab province for equal distribution of resources and for a better and strong Pakistan. Justice Nazir Saddiqui, however, did not agree with him.
Bar president Iqbal Saqib, vice-president Yaseen Aliani, secretary-general Umer Farooq Khosa and joint secretary Fiyaz Gashkor took oath for one year.
THE people of Dera Ghazi Khan, including the elected representatives of the district government, seemed to be disappointed with the governor’s visit. Most people were not satisfied with the grants announced by him. They told Dawn that he had not given anything new to the Dera people.
However, they appreciated his announcement regarding the restoration of Manika canal, establishment of ICU and increase in beds at the DHQ Hospital and grant of autonomy to the local Degree College.
But the current fighting between the coalition forces and Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia has not only led to expansion of the international security force in Afghanistan but it might also delay an imminent US action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain.
The decision by Britain to send 1,700 troops, mainly to help US forces flush out Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, is clearly showing that the military operation in Afghanistan is far from over.
As one military action is already going on in Afghanistan, starting another one in the Middle East might not be at the top of the US agenda. The commitment of 1,700 troops for combat purposes in Afghanistan is the largest British war-fighting force to be sent overseas since the 1991 Gulf war and it is a great challenge for the Labour government which is already under pressure for over-stretching the UK forces in the world.
Gen Tommy Franks, head of America’s Central Command, accepts that the overall mission in Afghanistan is not over yet. Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary, has also admitted that the recent US operation, dubbed Operation Anaconda, “showed that these people are still in Afghanistan in large numbers and that they are heavily armed”, he told MPs on Monday.
Senior British defence officials have revealed that the Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan were well-disciplined and committed.
“They are armed with a variety of small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons”, the officials said. With arrival of the British troops to the battlefield the total number of the troops engaged in the recent fighting will reach 7,000.
The British force will be built around 45 commando, supported by seven battery of 29 commando artillery regiment, equipped with light, 105mm guns, as well as Royal Engineers and logistics troops. The British ministry of defence has already indicated that negotiations are still ongoing for Turkey to take over Britain’s primary role in ISAF.
It has also emerged that the strength of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces is not known yet, but senior Afghan military officials believe significant numbers of heavily armed Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are still moving freely through the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain may be happy to see the US busy in the Afghan operation so that he might not face a US-led military action, at least in the near future, but the continuing war in Afghanistan is indeed a bad omen for the interim Afghan government.
The continued presence of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan could create serious hurdles in the way of reconstruction of the nation and holding of the Loya Jirga, which is supposed to decide the future of the country.
RICH ASIANS: After the Sept 11 attacks, it was widely believed that most economies of the world would slow down. But economic affects of the Sept 11 incidents are not very serious on the mainstream British economy. One such example is the recent list of the British millionaires published last week. According to the list, top-earning British Asians, mostly of Indian and Pakistani origin, have increased their combined wealth by 500 million pounds in the last 12 months.
Such is the speed of their success that despite a slowdown in the British economy, the annual richlist of Britain has had to expand to accommodate a number of more names from the Asian community. These new names include 28-year-old Nasa Khan of north-west London who owns a company, which produces mobile phone accessories and has rocketed 102 places on the wealth league to number 76.
He is estimated to be worth 26.7 million pounds, and is one of only six under-30s on the list. Lakshmi Mittal, a well-known name among the British millionaires and whose donation to the Labour Party sparked the Mittalgate affair, is at top of the list.
The Hinduja family, which originates from India and which were involved in another Labour Party embarrassment — the cash-for-passports scandal — are number two for the second year running and their combined wealth has risen from 700 million pounds to 800 million pounds, which is more than one billion dollars.
A large number of successful Indians and Pakistanis have money tied up in property. All of them have seen the prices of their properties risen many times in the last two decades. About 70 per cent of newsagents, shops selling newspapers, magazines, drinks and other essentials are owned by Asian people.
And now there are signs that successful Asians have been increasing their impact in the world of manufacturing, and making inroads into financial institutions, which marks one of the final stages of development for any community.
Many are surprised over the extraordinary success of the British Indians and Pakistanis. It is widely believed that the success of many British Asians is due to a commitment to education and a willingness to save and a close family system. Members of the Indian and Pakistani middle class of Great Britain are big savers, putting away huge chunk of their income.
Most immigrants in the UK regardless of where they are from have a determination to succeed after leaving their relatives and countries in pursuit of a better life.
WITH the advent of Muharram our thoughts are involuntarily focused on the most tragic happening in Karbala in 61 A. H. which has attracted the attention of some of the great minds of the world. In this regard Urdu has left behind almost every other language of the Muslim world as far as elegiac poetry is concerned. It could also be said that Urdu poetry, in a way, began with marsia poetry.
Marsia and qasida differ with each other in their orientation. One eulogizes the martyrs and the other chooses the living for praise. The element of rhetoric is common to both forms. In the case of the former it has to embody historical authenticity to make it more of an expression of homage, while in the case of the latter even a symbolic king, like Bahadur Shah Zafar of Delhi, could be compared with mighty kings.
In Delhi and Lucknow, Mir Taqi Mir, Mir Zahak, Mir Khaliq and Mian
Dilgir had a great literary tradition to fall back upon — especially of the Deccan poets — but Mir Anis, born in 1802 in Faizabad, reached the pinnacle of the craft.
Anis was 43 or 44 years of age when he settled in Lucknow and it was here that he became witness to the tragic events of annexation of Oudh and dethronement of Wajid Ali Shah in 1856. This tragic year made Wajid Ali Shah compose Huzn-i-Akhtar, a masnavi narrating the sad events leading to his dethronement and it was followed by 1857 when the locality of the royal family was dismantled, rather it was dug up.
Anis also saw his haveli and the nearby Imambargah levelled to the ground. Many Urdu writers such as Rajab Ali Beg Suroor, Sahar Lucknawi, Amirullah Taslim, besides the king himself, have left behind records of a Lucknow which became a haunted city, with no semblance of its former self.
Anis wrote the following couplet: Ujar Gaya Na Faqat Lucknow Ka Ek Tabqa/ Anis Mulk-i-Sukhan Mein Bhi Inquilab Aaya: and some ghazals to record his feelings.
But it is his marsias of the post-1857 period which carry the images of the ruins and the sense of deprivation of a culture.
Intermingled with the images of Karbala, Anis masterfully excelled in combining the contemporary and transient with the eternal and longlasting feelings of pathos which no other poet or poetry could do.
Anis wrote some 200-250 marsias — and it is wrong to think that he has written more than 1,200 marsias. Anis makes his marsias a unique contribution to world literature, as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad has written in an article.
Long before any other poet, he proved that even the eternal and undying message can be greatly reinforced in its effectiveness if it draws its motifs and cultural idiom from the people who are its primary audience.
Anis, born in Faizabad, was a frequent traveller to the Ayodhya temples and ashrams, as Shad Azimabadi has mentioned in his book containing an article based on his frequent face-to-face dialogues with Anis during his Patna visits, was a great fan of Tulsi Das’s Ram Charit Manas and Malik Mohammed Jaisi’s Padmavat. He has freely used allusions to Ramayana and Mahabharat, besides employing Oudhi in his marsias, even though he was proud of being a Delhiwallah and followed the rules of the Delhi language. But the fact that he was born in Faizabad and used to frequent sadhus and rishis and exchange dohas, Bhakti poetry and some vignettes of mystic Persian poetry with them stands him in good stead. His marsias have been, for the same reason, popular in rural and urban Oudh.
Anis has perfected the form of musaddas for marsia. Maulana Hali also took this form from Anis’s and Dabir’s musaddas, but being an Anisean, Hali minces no words when it comes to being an Anisean. Marsia has nine stages of its progression: chehra, majra, sarapa, rukhsat, aamad, rajaz, jang, shahadat and bain.
Chehra comprises devotional verses and scenes of nature which help marsia take off; majra is the explanation of the theme; sarapa is the martyr’s detailed description; rajaz is the description of war and it also dwells upon the qualities of the martyr; rukhsat, as the meaning of the word suggests, is seeking permission from relations. This section excels in marsia’s local colour which has no semblance of the Semitic etiquettes of a Semitic family and makes Anis draw upon the Oudh culture as it had developed by then.
Aamad is the part which describes the martyr’s entry into the arena, followed by jang (war). Shahadat refers to the finale and then the weeping and wailing, known as bain, ensues.
The greatest quality of Anis is that his marsias, unlike those of some modern poets, never arouses sectarian feelings. He does not dwell upon contentious issues. His marsia is at its very best, and it may be said that Anis ranks with those very few poets who have converted marsias into Morality Epics which seek to make his readers better human beings.
Anis was a very unusual person. Wajid Ali Shah wanted him to write a Shahnamah-type of the account of the House of Oudh. He also offered him a room in his Mahal. Prime minister Ali Naqi Khan took him to the palace to select the quarter for his dwelling but he excused himself.
It was quite a different attitude from Ghalib’s who couldn’t say ‘no’ to Bahadur Shah Zafar on the assignment to write a history of the Mughals. He completed half of the account before the Mutiny and compared Zafar with the greatest of Persian emperors, knowing that he was a powerless pensioner of the East India Company. Anis didn’t oblige Wajid Ali Shah with either a shahnamah or a qasida.
For Anis, nothing was above his subject — Imam Husain — and no one was worth a shahnamah except the House of Muhammed (Peace be upon him).
Perhaps he didn’t know that he was leaving behind a contribution which no other poet could ever match with his own in elegiac literature. His is, therefore, the leading role model for the marsia poets even today.
Nathan Astle was batting and I stayed glued to the television set. I have seen Viv Richards at his best and have pitied the bowlers. All that was missing from Astle was the swagger of Richards and his ferocious chomping of chewing gum. Otherwise, Astle’s innings could have been Richards batting in the disguise of a fairer skin. He got to his double century off only 153 balls to break Adam Gilchrist’s record set only a week ago.
This was not slogging by any means. It was clean hitting and the shots he played were cricket shots. He hit Andrew Caddick for three consecutive sixes, the last of which was a straight hit, up, up and away went the ball clearing the boundary, the crowds seated in the stand and the high roof of the stands.
For all we know that cricket ball went into orbit. It was never found and had to be replaced. Set to make over 500 runs, New Zealand lost the match by 98 runs. I rubbed my sleepy eyes in disbelief.
But what and advertisement for Test cricket as has been the Durban Test match between Australia and South Africa. At close of play on the third day 34 wickets had fallen on a perfect batting wicket, fallen to both pace and spin and some stunning catches. This has been Test cricket at its best.
Of course, we have a special interest in New Zealand because Pakistan will be playing against them first, at Sharjah and then in Pakistan, the tour, after some false starts is now confirmed. There is question mark over Chris Cairns who has broken down once again. There are quite a few on the New Zealand injured list including their exciting new fast bowler Shane Bond who was such a revelation in Australia.
But New Zealand is a team that does not depend too heavily on its superstars. It has become one of the finest outfits in cricket and leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the players combine, treat cricket as a team game and play with great spirit and exuberance. I hope that when we see them in Pakistan, our own players will be inspired to emulate them.
Pakistan’s defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship still rankles with the cricket public and as was to be expected the team as well as the captain and coach have come in for a lot of flak. Even the PCB chairman has indicated that he is not amused. But every cloud has a silver lining.
The Test players who were inclined to give domestic cricket tournaments a miss are now playing in the one-day championship and none more enthusiastically than Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq. Perhaps, the message has reached home that no one can take his place in the team for granted. As is, by now, traditional a training camp has been set up and a list of probables announced for the Sharjah tournament.
I am not at all convinced about the utility of such training camps. The camp seems to be a glorified practice session. Much better that the team should be selected and they undergo some intense training with the accent on fielding. There should also be team discussions and videos of the opposing teams should be seen and discussed. I could be wrong but I have a feeling that there isn’t too much group discussion which could explain why there is the perception that Pakistan go into a match without a plan.
I am sorry to see the question about the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action has been re-opened. Apart from bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Murali has been cleared and has been bowling without having his bowling action questioned for quite a long time. Cricket has not yet recovered from the match-fixing scandal. We don’t want the game lumbered with another row. I think cricket doesn’t need unnecessary controversies.
The Sri Lankans have responded with outrage. I remember a conversation I had with Gary Sobers a long time ago and he rattled off a number of bowlers who he felt ‘chucked’. Charlie Griffith’s name was not on his list and I asked him why not and he said that Griffith did not ‘chuck’. A clear case of one man’s meat being another man’s poison. I think we should get just on with the game and should not rake up the past which has no relevance now.
I am surprised that there is no Pakistani on the list of ICC’s panel of umpires and some countries have more than one. Frankly I am surprised to see David Shepherd’s name included. He may have been a good umpire once, in the days when it was automatically assumed that English umpires were the best in the world but I think Shepherd is a bit past it now and time has caught up with him.
If, by some divine law, England had to have two umpires on the elite list, someone younger and more alert could have been picked. Incidentally, does this also mean that there will be no Pakistani umpire supervising the World Cup 2003 matches?
Finally, we will have to wait and see what the ICC propose to do about India which steadfastly refuses to play cricket against Pakistan. I find India’s attitude strange. It doesn’t see anything politically wrong in playing other games against Pakistan but it puts its foot down when it comes to cricket. May be the ice will be broken when Pakistan meet India in the final of the World Cup 2003! Unlikely but not impossible.