Highlights of the September 2008 issue

“We want a government in Iran that guarantees equal rights for every citizen”

 By Shahzada Zulfiqar

— Abdul Malik Reiki, chief of Iran’s Jundallah group

It was six years ago that Abdul Malik Reiki alias Mulla Malik, an Iranian Sunni Baloch, and 30 others joined hands and formed an organisation called Jundallah. Before declaring war against the Iranian state, he sent a delegation of tribal notables to the Iranian government demanding equal rights as enjoyed by the Shia majority of the country for the Sunnis and the Baloch. Once the government refused to consider these demands, the Jundallah members took to the mountains and declared war to secure rights of the Sunnis and the Baloch living in Iran. Reiki now tops the Iranian government’s most wanted list.

Reiki says hundreds are willing to join Jundallah, whose current membership stands at 600. But, he says, the organisation cannot admit them all because it is run on small donations from the Iranian people and, therefore, it is not economically viable for it to have too many members.

Reiki’s parents have also fled their home for fear of persecution and now live in the mountains along with other members of the militant leader’s extended family. Reiki lives on the Iranian border with Pakistan but he and his men constantly carry out attacks inside Iranian territory. These attacks involve raids on the posts of border-security forces, killing or injuring security personnel, looting their arms and ammunitions and holding the officers hostage.

 

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The Long Shadow of the North

By Maqbool Ahmed

Although on a limited scale, the migrant Mehsuds in Karachi’s two localities are attempting to enforce Taliban mores

 With the exit of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s decision to ensconce itself comfortably alongside the Pakistan Peoples Party, it seems as if the fears about the Talibanisation of Karachi have vanished. This is not surprising as it is difficult to imagine that the cosmopolitan and commercial centre could face a fate similar to that of the country’s tribal agencies. However, what seems to be escaping the attention of many is that some areas of the city are undergoing a transformation under the influence of migrants from the north.

Three years ago, few houses could be seen on both sides of Manghopir Road beyond the shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Hasan, roughly 18 kilometres west of downtown Saddar. Bungalows nestled in small hills dotting the landscape rendered it scenic. The only planned neighbourhoods were Sultanabad and Pakhtunabad.

However, these sleepy townships have undergone a drastic change since 2005 with the influx of migrants from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Waziristan, Swat, Bajaur and the settled districts of the North West Frontier Province once the conflict in the north intensified. Since many of their tribesmen were already settled in Sultanabad and Pakhtunabad, these new settlers naturally gravitated towards those localities. There was an additional reason as well. The marble-cutting factories located in Manghopir offered employment opportunities aplenty for the untrained men.

 

The Curtain Closes

By Massoud Ansari

What seemed unthinkable a few months ago is already behind us. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, who until recently saw himself as being indispensable to the country’s present and future, has become a part of its past. In a somewhat unguarded moment during his farewell speech Musharraf betrayed how essential he thought he was to the country. As he approached the end of the speech, he raised his hands as if in prayer and wistfully said: “Pakistan ka khuda hafiz.” That almost nothing has changed for good or bad in the country since his departure 

 
 

A Requiem For Children’s Urdu Literature

By Moosa Kaleem

An opiate for generations past, storybooks in Urdu no longer have a passionate following

Fifteen-year-old Marzia Raza started reading at the age of seven. “I let her read what she wanted,” says her father Wariz Raza who is a book lover himself and taught his daughter through example. Thanks to her father’s collection of books Marzia read authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov and Josh Malihabadi at an early age. “However, the genre which fascinates me most is fantasy,” she says, her eyes sparkling as she rattles off the names of her favourite books.

Urdu classics for children such as Dastan-e-Amir Hamza and Alf Laila top the list of her much-loved stories, ones that she never tires of thumbing through again and again. In fact, they are the main reasons the bookworm has not been infected by Pottermania: “Why should I read Harry Potter when Urdu offers far superior fantasies,” she argues.

Impeccable logic some would say — but only some. For a large number of young Pakistanis, Marzia may as well be speaking Greek as the Urdu classics she speaks of are little known to her peers. Indeed, if one were to hunt for a youth whose bedtime reading includes Dastan-e-Amir Hamza or Alf Laila, one may be in for a never-ending search. Perhaps it is an unfair quest to begin with: after all, only a voracious reader would pick up these tomes without trepidation. But even a youngster who yens for slimmer gems such as Ishtiaq Ahmed’s Inspector Kamran Mirza and Inspector Jamshed mysteries or Ibn-e-Safi’s Imran series may prove impossible to find. It would not be remiss to say that children’s Urdu literature no longer catches the fancy of the young.

 

“I’m a professional who likes professionals”

By Zohair Abbasi

Musician and sound engineer Mekaal Hasan has collaborated with fine Western musicians
– Pete Lockett, Michael Mondesir – in his quest to bring together various musical genres. His band, the Mekaal Hasan Band, is one of the most acclaimed live acts in the country. Here, the guitarist talks about the band’s anticipated second album Andholan, his state-of-the-art Digital Fidelity Studio and television hit,
Pakistan Sangeet Icon.