When Eid prayers were without fear

Focus on Eid 2004 and roll back the past, and you will realize some of the changes that have taken place in society. The citizen now walks to the mosque with insecurity in mind. Even on Eid day, in the midst of the zealous festivity, after the culmination of a month of prayers and worship, the fear of terrorism walks with him. That shadow of uncertainty exists.

The fact that officialdom is enhancing security measures too reflects the reality. Indeed, a worrying reality, we concede.

I can recall Eids in 50s and 60s or even until 80s in Karachi when the festival was celebrated without any fear. No anxiety and nothing maddening in the air. The leisurely mood of life then was reflected on Eid. I am referring to Eid without cable channels and the days when an Eid card was something exciting. Even then there were newspapers highlighting public enthusiasm for Eid shopping, as there is now. But, the emphatic assurance from the administration about maintenance of law and order, and the growing number of police complaint centres under shamianas that we see now are indicative of a threat perception.

Of course, there were beggars too in those days. But their number, the insulting manner in which they ask for money, and the militancy of their knock on the car window, remind one of the growing poverty in society. Poverty has become a social threat and a political slogan.

The shopping centres and Eid bazaars colourfully illuminated as they have been are more dotted with beggars and thieves in various forms. At some places, the shopkeepers have floated banners warning people to beware of those beggars operating as impostors of sorts.

This reminds one of the extortion that has been going on during Ramazan in the name of Eidee, the details of which have been published in Dawn some days ago. Extortion is not new to this society, but that is no justification for condoning it. This misuse of authority is also evident in cases where a traffic policeman stops a motorcyclist. Public perception describes the deal being struck as "Eidee". It is a familiar, almost weatherbeaten scenario, prevalent then, prevalent now.

The characters seem to be changing, while the script remains the same. As Eid nears, the Dawn report says that "Pakistan Qaumi Razakar, which are supposed to assist the regular police force in times of emergencies, are also indulging allegedly in extortion. They have joined the extortion spree with the regular police force in the name of Eidee". One mode is through snap checks and one place where this is being done is Gulshan-i-Iqbal and another near Noman Grand Square in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

Let me confess that I have been terrified at reading these details and the context within which the PQR men are working.

Their uniforms resemble those of the regular police force and it is difficult for common man to ascertain who is committing the crime. They mint money. That is the name of the Eid game that the shopkeepers play in Ramazan; and as Eidul Fitr comes near the pace of the game quickens. It starts with the price of food items relevant to Sehri and Iftar, and then spreads over to all spheres including clothes, shoes, bangles, even services all in the name of Eidee!!

Traffic jams have also become a routine, especially around Iftar. Ugly scenes, verbal abusive encounters and a willingness to beat up the weaker have been witnessed in these traffic muddles all through Ramazan. And the saner and cautious citizens avoid certain routes to retain their mental balance, said one Karachiite who became nostalgic as he looked back at the Eids of the past. No traffic congestion and it was a pleasure to go out during the Eid holidays, he said.

One change more visible on this Eid than ever before is the decline in the number of Eid card customers. People have switched to E-cards and SMS, which are both cheaper and quicker. Therefore, to read that the Pakistan Post Office is managing well this Eid is no real surprise. In fact, I didn't see the PPO announcing any last date for the mailing of Eid cards, as was the case in the past.

Indeed Eid time has always understandably been not only a time for new clothes and shoes and bangles and a new look if possible. It is a time for fashion, explains a young person, who has spent lavishly for Eid. It made me quiet, then sad, as he spoke, in a manner that reflected the nonchalance of the elitist crowd to the realities of this developing society.

Only a few days before Eid, there has taken place violence and bloodshed in Shah Faisal Colony, where five people died in three days of disturbances, whose details mirror a certain underlying bitterness and hostility that only enhance the stress of our lives.

Anyhow, one signs off with the hope that Eid will be peaceful and that the haves will be more than happily willing to share their bounties with their less fortunate brethren. To hope that the worship and the sanctity of Ramazan would have improved work ethics after the holiday mood is over, is asking for too much. Even in the sixties the desire to work better after Ramazan never came. Eid Mubarak, anyway.

'Sunehri' Mosque and fading myths

Of all the mosques inside the Walled City, there are two that stand out as outstanding in their artistic content and architectural value ... them being the Mosque of Wazir Khan and the Sunehri Mosque. The Badshahi Mosque is huge, very huge, but definitely not in the league of the first two in terms of beauty and finesse.

Of the two mentioned above, the Mosque of Wazir Khan is definitely in a class of its own. Its intricate brickwork and marble settings are unrivalled in the entire city of Lahore and the northern part of the sub-continent. But then it also goes without saying that the Sunehri Mosque is not only exceptionally beautiful, but is unique in its simplistic beauty. On a rainy moon-lit night, its golden-coated brass covered domes shine for miles around.

Its simple lines and golden domes stand out. If you happen to have lived inside the Walled City, it serves, from the roof tops, as the compass for the rest of the old city. But there is much more to this unique mosque, for the stories associated with it add to the myths that abound among the old folk inside the old Walled City.

Located in Chowk Kashmiri Bazaar, off Rang Mahal, the mosque was planned and built amidst controversy. Built by Nawab Mir Syed Bhakari Khan, the naib subedar of Lahore in the period when the subedar was Mir Moinul Mulk, also known as Mir Munnoo, in the reign of the Emperor Mohammad Shah. This was the year 1163 Hijra, almost 340 years ago. Syed Bhakari was a simple Sufi and religious-minded person interested in literature and the fine arts.

He requested Mir Munnoo that a piece of land in the middle of Kashmiri Bazaar be allotted to him to build a mosque. The problem was that the people of the area objected to the building of a mosque in the middle of the crossing as it would hinder the flow of traffic, slow as it was in those days. We must not forget that Lahore was the largest grain city in northern India, and the caravans passed through this crossing to the 'caravanserais' inside the old city.

The subedar was unable to oblige Syed Bhakari, and instead decided to seek a 'fatwa' from top religious scholars of the Walled City. A meeting was held by the 'religious leaders' at the site, and they informed the local population that "as all land belongs to Allah, no one had the right to stop the construction of a mosque". So they cleared the way to build the mosque.

But the old folk of the Walled City are certainly no meek creations of the Almighty. They informed the "religious leaders" that if all land belonged to Allah, it was also wrong to build two mosques in the same place. This they argued because at the crossing of Kashmiri Bazaar another mosque existed, and was functioning. The meeting ended in commotion, and the matter stood in abeyance.

One account in Maulvi Nur Ahmad Chishti's book "Yadgar-i-Chishti" describes the mood in Lahore over this issue as not divided, but that most people were against the building of yet another mosque in the busy crossing. A second description of this very incident in Kanhiya Lal's "Tareekh-i-Lahore" states that the matter went back to Mir Munnoo, who though weak as a ruler was not in a position to annoy Syed Bhakari.

So the seers of the court, just like the modern-day bureaucrats, set about trying to win the high moral ground to pave the way for the building of the mosque. The 'religious leaders' of Lahore then issued a fatwa stating that as the new planned mosque was not being built inside the old mosque, the land outside was also Allah's land, therefore, it was permissible to build the mosque, even if everyone was against it. So in these circumstances, the Sunehri Mosque's construction started.

It must go to the credit of Syed Bhakari that he tried to please the local population in every way, so much so that when people objected to the design, he made sure that the Kashmiri Bazaar crossing kept functioning, and that the shops under the mosque paid for the upkeep of the new building. He promised that the end result would be worth all the trouble.

He made an attempt to incorporate the old mosque in his new scheme of things. The local people resisted this move. The local mullahs issued a fatwa which made clear that the doorway of the new mosque could not open in front of the old mosque's doorway. The Nawab was most upset by this fatwa as he was himself a very learned religious scholar. His plan for a grand doorway had to be shelved, and he asked his planners to now plan two entrances both of which avoided the doorway of the old mosque.

The domes of the mosque were covered with gold-plated bronze, and they added to the beauty of the otherwise exceptionally beautiful mosque that emerged. The local population did accept that the effort of worth it, but they never let go of the fact that a much smaller, older mosque could be razed just to accommodate the wishes of a rich man. Such remains the ethos of the people of the old Walled City.

But it seems Allah did finally listen to the wishes of the pious Nawab Mir Syed Bhakari Khan, for after his death and with the coming of the British, Lahore came under the rule of the wise Captain Nisbet, who was the deputy commissioner of Lahore. The family of the Nawab described the story of the Sunehri Mosque to him, and he set about creating circumstances to get the wishes of the founder carried out.

Nisbet passed an order stating that as the old mosque no longer had any keeper or worshipper, it makes sense that it be knocked down, and not incorporated in the Sunehri Mosque. Also those two mosques were hindering the flow of traffic. "It makes sense that the small mosque, which is lying vacant, be knocked down and the main gateway of Sunehri Mosque be built as was originally planned. This will increase traffic flow and add to the beauty of the Golden Mosque."

Captain Nisbet got the gateway built in record time, and opened traffic to run around the mosque. It goes without saying that it proved to be a wise move. The area people still hold strong opinions about this exquisite mosque with golden domes. But then with time such opinions weaken and become myths ... or do they?

Iftar-dinners come in battalion

As the month of Ramazan draws to a close, there is a spate of invitations for iftar-dinners. It all depends how many one can accept, and actually attend. Well, I shall mention only two.

It is in the knowledge of everyone that the editor of the monthly Takhleeq and poet, Azhar Javed, agreed last year to have a collection of his poetry published. After all, he had been at it for almost forty years and his friends literally forced him to have it produced in book form. He had no option but to relent to their demand. That collection appeared under the title Gham-i-Ishq Gar Na Hota. It took the fancy of readers and all its copies were sold out in no time.

Consequently, its second edition hit the stands. This called for a celebration and there was a demand for it from all quarters. But that was not all. Many people who did not know that Azhar Javed also writes in Punjabi were taken by surprise when a book of his short stories in that language made its appearance in the market under the title Bari Deir Ho Gaee. Now the insistence for a celebration became two-fold. 'Poor Nihala' had, therefore, to concede defeat and went to invite a virtual crowd to an iftar-dinner in a local eatery. Listing all those present on the occasion would unduly occupy valuable newspaper space and, hence, I shall not indulge in the luxury.

Suffice it to say that Prof Dr Khwaja Zakariya was there who gave the invitees some more information about Azhar Javed. He said a girl student (Kiran, something) at the GCU had submitted a thesis for her M.A. (Urdu) on the literary achievements of Azhar Javed and that it had even been approved by the examiners. He further informed that a student of the Bahauddin Zakariya University had earlier submitted a thesis on the contribution of Azhar Javed's journal, Takhleeq, to contemporary literature while another student had prepared a bibliography of the Punjabi section of the magazine.

Now about the other iftar-dinner. In fact, it was a mushaira of devotional poetry followed by an iftar and the rest. It was the brainwave of M.R. Shahid, known for his two detailed books about the graveyards of Lahore, Islamabad and some other cities. It is a routine with him to arrange such a gathering every year during the month of Ramazan under the auspices of his Markaz-i-Ilm-o-Fun. It also goes to his credit that he manages to get the highly respected senior poet, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, to preside over it.

It was really great on his part to grace the occasion despite his indifferent health and stay on till the end.About two dozen poets participated in the mushaira most prominent among whom were Karamat Bukhari, Iqbal Rahi, Iqbal Divana, Raja Rasalu, Islam Shah, Shahnaz Muzammil, Tasnim Kausar, Mansoora Ahmad and Tainoosh.

* * * *

The literary organization, Adab Sera'ey, met as usual on the second Monday of the month and went through its usual programme - book reviews and a round of poetry. However, since the sitting happened to be close to the birth anniversary of Allama Iqbal, special attention was paid to the message of that great poet.

Speaking in this connection, literary organization's secretary Shahid Bukhari made an impassioned appeal for propagating the thoughts of the sage of the age as it would go to dissuade those who believed in creating dissensions among the believers and take resort to actions bordering on extremism. He said explanatory notes of Allama's verses compiled by eminent scholars should be made available in cheap editions so that people could benefit from the message contained in them.

The talk was followed by the usual round of poetic recitations. Because of the month of Ramazan, the stress was on devotional poetry.

* * * *

I like reading the creative work of unknown writers because they can spring a surprise and come up with something truly astounding. Now a poetic line is quoted so often but hardly anyone knows the name of the poet who composed it.

I am referring to: Is tarah to hota hey is tarah ke kamon mein.

I had heard Mohammad Zaheer at a sitting at the residence of Dr Agha Suhail which he had arranged as a welcome to Basir Kazmi, the talented son of that great poet, Nasir Kazmi, who was on a visit to Pakistan. He is in Manchester these days.

Quite a few poets were present on the occasion, Mohammad Zaheer being one of them. He had come accompanied by poet Shahid Wasti. Called upon to take part in the proceedings, he recited some of his verses. Being somewhat different from the routine, they immediately took my fancy. Now this gentleman has presented me with a collection of his ghazals under the title Khawab Lamhey.

Going through it I feel that while the poet has struck to the classical traditions, he has still managed to produce verses which are modern in content. Using the genre with telling effect, he makes one feel his own experiences more intensely. In other words, he portrays facts of life in a simple and straightforward manner. Who can find fault with such statements:

Bol nahin sakti hein aankhein

Deevarein voh deh jati hein

The cunning plan

Over the years, I have become aware of a vast elaborate, highly planned and coordinated international conspiracy directed against myself. As is well known, we Pakistanis love conspiracies and nearly everything that happens in this country is attributed to either the CIA, RAW or the ISI, so most people would be skeptical about my claim. However, let me just let the facts speak.

It all starts in the morning when I wake up. As soon as I enter the shower and soap myself, the water pressure suddenly tumbles to the point that the shower starts dribbling. Interestingly, the pressure recovers as soon as I give up. However, if I merely pretend to give up, it remains low. After much investigation, I have concluded that some kind of monitoring device in my bathroom is connected to the spillway on either the Mangla Dam or the Bagilar project that India is so keen to complete. As soon as I have soaped myself, someone opens the spillways causing a drop in pressure.

In winters, an even more elaborate element is added to the plan. Although the water pressure still drops, enough of it remains to tempt me into the shower. However, as soon as I have adjusted the temperature to a comfortable level, the washing machine immediately switches on. In a cruel twist, it sucks in only the cold water thus scalding me.

I have realized that the plan is actually to scald me when my eyes are covered with shampoo, however, this system has not been perfected. Nor does this stop here. After no doubt many years of experimentation, the masterminds of this plot have identified how long it takes a person with shampoo in their eyes to readjust the water temperature. And as soon as I have become comfortable again, the washing machine changes it's cycle, causing the water in my shower to suddenly reach freezing point.

Incidentally, over the years we have changed washing machines several times, going through German, Japanese and now Chinese models. But apparently, all these countries are in on the plot, and so I continue to suffer. I can only conclude that this is a UN directed effort. I must say however that I am particularly disappointed that our Chinese friends should have joined this conspiracy.

After my shower ordeal, other parts of the plan are brought into play. If I attempt to log on to check my e-mail, thousands of people immediately log on as well and start downloading large files, slowing the cable speed to a crawl. Again, I am stunned at the sheer expense and coordination of this effort to crush my sanity. Alternately, if I persist, or if I start doing some other work on the computer, a team of electrical engineers immediately interrupts the electricity at a critical point. I should mention by the way, that this team of saboteurs is highly mobile, because they manage this no matter which part of the city I happen to be in.

Speaking of moving about the city, my leaving the house is the signal for a large team of highly skilled stunt drivers to leap into action. I say a large team, because even though they employ the same tactics, the faces of the agents are constantly changing. Let me now identify some of these tactics. First, there is the motorcycle-car combo. In this, the cyclist's job is to weave his motorcycle through the stopped traffic till he is in front of my car. When the light changes, he pretends to get going, but stalls his bike inches from my car leaving me trapped. He then spends the rest of the green light pretending to kick start it.

In the meantime, the other member of his team honks non-stop behind me. In another version (and there are many more) two stunt drivers in Suzuki Fxs attempt unsuccessfully to overtake one another at 30km per hour, often with the stalled motorcycle stuntman in the third lane. And all the time, other members of the team keep me on edge by changing lanes or speeding and braking in a demented fashion. Until that is, I decide to escape home, at which point I am sure, Lahore's traffic flows smoothly and without incident. Needless to say, after all this I am in a nervous sweat and it's time to head to the shower again.