Muslims’ plight traceable to abandonment of rationality

MR Athar Rizvi, a writer from Toronto (Canada), was lately in the city to launch his book “Ubas Badnam Hua” at the Arts Council.

The person who introduced the author at the function said when he first met Mr Rizvi he misjudged the latter’s ethnicity. He mistook Mr Rizvi for an ‘English lord’ because of his plump and pinkish face.”Ubas Badnam Hua,” a back-bencher was heard saying.

Dr Manzoor Ahmad and Mahmood Sham were the main speakers of the evening, but the longest speech came from the author himself. Mr Rizvi spoke at length on the rise of terrorism and criticized those who held that the Muslims were responsible for bomb blasts and other acts of terror.

Islam, he said, was being unjustly maligned by the West, though as a religion which stands for peace and the brotherhood of man it had contributed richly to the development of civilization.

Of considerable interest to the audience was a little argument that developed between the author and Mr Mahmood Sham who commented that the range of the subjects and themes the book covered was much too wide for easy comprehension.

The author of course disagreed. In his speech he further broadened the scope of the discourse. He traced the present plight of the Muslims back to the time when they abandoned science and rational thought and came to embrace obscurantism, dogmatism and fatalism. It was thus that matters concerning the material world came to be the sole responsibility of Europe. Having abdicated all responsibility for matters temporal, the Muslims should not now blame others for their misfortunes.

Dr Manzoor Ahmad said that using the weapon of terrorism was wholly counter-productive and would not help Muslims overcome the problems they faced; Muslims needed mass education, scientific research, democratization of society and peaceful social and economic development.

Here Dr Manzoor Ahmad drew attention to a significant point. He referred to the Muslims’ “proud claim” that they had made glorious contribution to progress by translating Greek and Latin works into Arabic and they were instrumental in promoting the revival of learning in Europe which, in turn, led to the scientific and industrial revolution.

This, he felt, was true only to the extent that the Muslims were honest ‘transmitters’. Dr Manzoor Ahmad added that inventions were made by others. He also referred to the Central Asian States which made a great deal of progress in the areas of education, scientific studies, social sciences, industrial output and economic prosperity when they were under Russian rule.

The situation of the former Russian controller states of central Asia, he suggested, should be compared with that of the Muslim states in the vicinity where poverty and ignorance prevailed.

Now a few words about Mr Ather Rizvi. Settled for long in Toronto, he is a poet, founder of his Ghalib Academy and promoter of Mushairas and seminars. Apart from his passion for Urdu, he writes books on current affairs relating to the Muslims.

WAFA RASHDI: Dr Wafa Rashdi, a devoted researcher and writer, breathed his last on Nov 1 at the age of 77 in Karachi. The sad news of his passing away was carried in just a few lines by an Urdu paper on the day his Soyem was held. That the sad event simply went unnoticed is highly regrettable.

Born in Kolkata (in March 1926), Wafa Rashdi was a disciple of the famous poet Raza Ali Wahshat Calcuttavi. It was from the great master that Rashdi acquired higher learning of Urdu and Persian languages.

After doing his graduation from Kolkata in 1946, he came to Pakistan and settled in Sindh where he did most of his academic work. Some of his famous and invaluable books include Urdu ki Taraqqi Mein Aulia-i-Sindh ka Hissa (1994), Tazkera Ulema-i-Sindh (2000) and Mehran Naqsh (1986) based on the study of Sindh and its cultural and literary contribution to Urdu and Persian. Out of around 30 books that he wrote, only 19 have been published. Bengali Mein Urdu, Calcutta Ki Adbi Daastanain and his own autobiography, Daastan-i-Wafa, together provide a graphic account of the sub continents’ cultural and literary life spread over six or so decades. His studies in the history and culture of Sindh have been much appreciated by noted scholars like Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch and Dr Ghulam Ali Allana.

Dr Rashdi’s Urdu translations (in verse and also prose) from the poetry of Rabindra Nath Tagore and Qazi Nazrul Islam are fascinating. They are authentic as he was equally conversant with both Urdu and Bangla. He served Urdu, Sindhi and, to a certain extent, Bangla with devotion.

Pakistan going neither forward nor backward but sideways

When serious and respected newspapers write editorials about the simmering row between the chairman of the selection committee and the coach, then clearly a situation exists that is not just untenable but one that can impact on the performance of the team.

If the think-tank is at loggerheads, how is it expected that the players can function as a team? I don’t think that it is a matter of a communication breakdown as it is about personality clash.

Formally, the selection committee is an independent body and if one was to take a bureaucratic view, it is not required to consult even the captain leave alone the coach. But that’s not the way the world goes round. If airline pilots were to strictly fly by the book, no flight would ever leave on time.

Within the rules, there has to be some flexibility and it would seem prudent that there is some exchange of ideas even if it is at an informal level. The think-tank, after all, is supposed to be on the same side. The distance between the commentary-box and the Pakistan dressing-room is not a journey of a thousand miles and I see no reason why there should be a wall between.

Worst of all, it is unacceptable that private differences should emerge as public feuding and statements should be issued that serves only to confirm the fears of the cricket public that the Pakistan cricket team is a house divided.

With the Indian Cricket Board confirming the tour of Pakistan it becomes absolutely vital that personal egos are put on hold and we are on the same wave-length. Both Aamir Sohail and Javed Miandad appear to be prickly and both are protective of their ‘turf. Both must surely know that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

The PCB should make it known in no uncertain terms that it is not amused by this in-fighting.

The announcement of a squad of some 22 players for a training camp for the ODI’s against New Zealand appears to be an exercise in futility. There is a full-fledged Inter-departmental tournament in progress and to pull out key players for a training camp of doubtful utility seems extravagant.

Pakistan has played against Bangladesh and South Africa and by now we should have a pretty good idea of what the team for the ODI’s against New Zealand should be. If we don’t, then we haven’t done our homework.

What new talent are we likely to uncover at a training camp which is a glorified net-practice session? Be that as it may, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq and Younis Khan are not in the squad. Neither is Shahid Afrdidi and Azhar Mahmood or, for that matter, Mohammad Hafeez who was the wonder-boy against Bangladesh but failed against South Africa and he cannot even find a place in a squad of 22 but Salim Elahi can. We are neither going forward nor backward but sideways.

Those who were not able to watch the West Indies-Zimbabwe Test match at Harare missed one of the most exciting game in Test history and it ended in a draw! When the last West Indian batsman, Fidel Edwards came in, Zimbabwe had the Test match sewn up and the crowd had begun its celebrations.

The fading light was nothing compared to the gloom in the West Indies dressing-room. Yet the last pair held on for 11. 5 overs and Edwards faced 22 deliveries for his one run. Andy Blignautt was bowling at a pace of 150 kmph and Ray Price was turning the ball square and was getting bounce.

In the final overs, there were 10 fielders around the bat creating a traffic-jam. Not an interested party, I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat. This was Test cricket at its best. Zimbabwe deserved to win having outplayed the West Indies in every department of the game in every session of the Test barring the final 11. 5 overs. It was Ridley Jacobs who stood like a rock, not for the first time.

Zimbabwe cricket has moved from one crisis to another and many of its players have deserted the team and moved to other countries, to greener pastures including Andy Flower who having ensured his future with an English county and an Australian State team, was able to indulge in the luxury of making a political statement against Robert Mugabe and going into a voluntary exile.

Many people felt that Andy Flower’s departure would deal a death-blow to Zimbabwe cricket. Far from it. In Heath Streak, they have a captain who is an inspiration to his team and many young players have moved up. What is heartening is that among the young players are a number of blacks and in Tatenda Taibu they have a role-model.

Yesterday’s school-boy, this pocket-dynamo is vice-captain and a born leader. He plays his cricket with his heart on his sleeve. In those pulsating 11. 5 overs, Taibu’s voice came over, urging his bowlers, cheering his fielders.

Taibu’s commitment was total and his steps the heaviest when the team walked back unable to extract that final wicket which would have given his team a famous victory that was snatched from them through Edward’s tenacity.

Andy Flower or no Andy Flower, Zimbabwe’s cricket future is bright if they continue to believe that no player is bigger than the game. And if, other countries, notably Britain, don’t bring their political agenda into the cricket field.

If Bangladesh is looking for a model to follow, they couldn’t do worse than following the way that Zimbabwe goes about its cricket development. The crowd is mainly made up of school-boys, smartly dressed in their blazers and having the time of their lives. In that crowd is a future Taibu or a Mastikenyari or even a Heath Streak.