From: anajam@athena.mit.edu (ADIL NAJAM)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: Pakistan, Karachi aur XYZ..............
Date: 7 Apr 92 00:06:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology


In the continueing string, "Pakistan is the place to live, not xyz.." 
Ms. Imrana Zaheer writes:
|> 
|>  Any comments 
|>  Mr. Adil Najam? 
|>      ~~~  ~~~~~
....I must have done something terribly right to be so honoured :-)
For a compulsive commentator [:-)] like myself, such an invitation is
simply too good to be ignored ;-)  However, I wonder why only the first
three letters of my first name were underlined--maybe it has something to 
do with an earlier discussion I was having with Naveed Memon on the use of
"Adi" and "Ada" in rural Sindh......... :-)

However, the issue at hand, like most things pertaining to Pakistan, is
very near to my heart.  Like my guru, DS[Q]A, I sincerely appreciate Ms.
Zaheer's gesture in signing her name with:
|> >>
|> >>Pakistan is the place to live
|> >

Having said that, I must add that loving Pakistan does in no way demand 
that we love Karachi (or any other city/region) any less..........As the
deceased Pir from Sheikhupura might have told you, in this case you
can love both Ceaser and Rome equally.

|>  I believe that Karachi was called by ex-Sindh chief minister(1986) 
|>  I mean Ghaus Ali Shah as mini-Pak.

Naveed Memon has already done a good job of defining why Karachi **IS** 
in fact a mini-Pakistan.......this may have been one of the few occasions
when Shah Sahib (i.e Ghaus Ali Shah) was correct.  If any one city
represents all that is good (and bad) about the various cities/regions of
Pakistan; it is Karachi.........the only city where (if you look hard
enough) you can get Lahori style lassi, Peshawari style chapli kabab, 
Baluchi style sajji, in addition to Lakhnavi style nargassi koftay, Delhi
style Biryani, Paan that is better than anywhere else in South East
Asia........not to mention a whole array of cusine that is unique to
Karachi itself.......walking through its streets and mohallas you can
hear dialects, see dresses and be subjected to jokes (juggats) as well as
abuses [gaalia'N - if you so deserve :-)] representative of all the
people that make up our beloved country..........so, factually, the
answer to your question:

|>  But the question is whether Karachi is mini-Pakistan or not?
|> 
has to be in the affirmative.

However, the subject of this post is not Karachi.......it is PAKISTAN.
I presume that the same was true of Salman's original post.

Karachi is indeed a micro-organism of Pakistan......just as Lahore is, or
Peshawar is, or Quetta is, or Islamabad is, or Gilgit is, or Dera Ismail
Khan is, or Cheechawatni is, or Turbat is, or Hala is........or is any
single speck of the 88.5 million hectares of our blessed soil.......You
cannot love the whole without loving the parts.........Also, in loving
the parts, you do not defy your allegiance to the whole.......In fact, it
is only through loving the parts that you learn to love the whole......

I totally agree with Salman when he says:
|> >
|> >	   I hope I make my point without offending anyone, for the
|> >motivation is to promote unity, not initiate another dirty communal
|> >flame war. Once again, hats off to all those who condemn subtle hints
|> >at regionalism.

Indeed the scrouge of regionalism is the greatest challenge and greatest
threat that faces Pakistan today.

But the unity we seek is not the unity of "clones" devoid of all
diversity ........ it is a unity that must emanate from the diversity ....
for our strength lies as much in our unity as in our diversity ......in
fact our unity must be foundationed in that diversity......I, for one,
see no contradiction between the two......it is only through pride in
this diversity that we will learn to be proud of Pakistan......for what
is Pakistan if not the sum of this same diversity.

When I say in one breath that "Karachi is a mini-Pakistan", that "Lahore
Pakistan ka dill hai" and "Pakistan zindabad"....I see no contradiction
in the three statements.......or in the umpteen such statements that
could be made to incorporate all of Pakistan........Indeed, I go further
to say that the contradiction would come when we say one of these
statements......any single one......without believing inthe
others.....any single one!

Regionalism, to me [and I hope both you and Salman would agree], is not 
defined as loving your region or city.......it is defined as NOT loving
other regions and cities of the country.

Having lived and/or studied/worked, in every geopgraphic region of Pakistan (the
four provinces, the Federal Capital and Northern areas) except FATA I can
say that there are things to be loved and to be proud of in every
speck of beautiful Pakistan.........much of this beauty comes from the
diversity within regions and areas.......its is a diversity that needs to
be cherished and be proud of, not politicised.

[an ongoing string on sufi poetry demonstrates how we can all appreciate,
and learn to love, this diverse treasure, even where our regional ties,
or languages may differ]

The great Sindhi Sufi poet said it much better than I ever can:
	Saeen Sadaeen KareeN mathy Sindh Sukar-a
 	Dost Metha Dildar, Aalam Sub Aabad KarayeeN


Readers of SCP know well of my love from Lahore.....a love I have ever so
often expressed in punjabi poetry or statements like "Lahore, Lahore,
aye"........does this make me a regionalist.........I hope
not!........When sitting in the drab confines of Massachussetts I think
of Pakistan, I think not only of Lahore's Chaman ice-cream and Anarkali
Kulfi Falooda.......I think also of Hyderabad's rubbri, of Karachi's Bundu
Khan kay kabab, of Peshawar's kehwa and daisee paneer, of Quetta's sajji 
and mutton cooked in charbi, of Gujranwalla's Maachi, of Abbottabad's 
apples, of Sawt's dry fruit.....and of much, much more......

Pakistan is not just the area confined by some lines on a map....or just
a word on our passports....it is the sum of what each of us feels for
Pakistan.......it is perfectly natural for someone who has lived and been
raised in karachi to love Karachi........I would be more worried if that
person started loving (say) New York more than Karachi!

Love......unlike physical resources.....knows no finite resources....
.......like knowledge it grows on itself...........the more you love the
more you become capable of loving.....the more you love the part, the
more you learn to love the whole..............as long as your love for
your city, your region does not translate to a lack of respet for other
regions and areas, it will remain a desirable thing............if only
more of us love our roots more..........

 >Any comments 
 >Mr. Adil Najam? and no flames please.
 >    ~~~  ~~~~~

As MAD magazine [prescribed reading at MIT ;-)] sould say:
	WHAT.....Me Flame ?		:-)
I hope this did not sound like a flame.....it certainly was not meant to
be one.

 >Salman [Pakistani by birth, enlightened by the grace of God] Azhar
 >Imrana[brought up in Karachi, born in Pakistan]Zaheer

  ADIL [born in Pindi, raised in Peshawar, studied in Karachi,
	           loves Lahore........Proud to be a Pakistani] NAJAM
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  bass yehi pehchaan thei mairi harr pehchaan say pehlay bhi
  Pakistan ka shehri tha mei'N, Pakistan say pehlay bi

  mairi zameen maira aakhri hawaala hai
  soo meiN rahouN na rahouN, iss ko baarwarr kar thay
  --------------------------------------------------------------------