How Mirza Ghalib views the memogate scandal – by Shoaib Mir
From fanfare to fiasco
It started with a bang with a petition in the Supreme Court 1st Dec 2011. It almost fizzled out with a whimper after proceedings today, 30 Jan 2012!
Soon after this, I had a vision of arguably the greatest Urdu language poet, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869). As per his wishes, I am sharing a famous ghazal he wrote over 150 years ago – a befitting commentary on the memogate scandal. This is how he summed it up:
Nawaz Sharif:
کوئی ا مید بر نہیں آتی
کوئی صورت نظر نہیں آتی
Ko’ee umeed ber nahin aati
Ko’ee surat nazar nahin aati
Media:
موت کا ایک دن معین ہے
نیند کیوں رات بھر نہیں آتی
Maut ka aik din mo’ayyan hai
Neend kyoun raat bhar nahin aati
Hussain Haqqani:
آگے آتی تھی حال دل پہ ہنسی
اب کسی بات پر نہیں آتی
Aagay aati thi haal e dil pe hansi
Abb kisi baat per nahin aati
Maulana Fazlur Rehman:
جانتا ہوں ثواب طاعت و زہد
پر طبیعت ادھر نہیں آتی
Jaanta hoon sawab e ta’a’t o zuh’d
Per tabee’yat idhar nahin aati
Ijaz Mansoor:
ہے کچھ ایسی ہی بات جو چپ ہوں
ورنہ کیا بات کر نہیں آتی
Hai kuchh aisi hii baat jo chup hoon
Varna kya baat ker nahin aati
President Asif Zardari:
کیوں نہ چیخوں کہ یاد کرتے ہیں
میری آواز گر نہیں آتی
Kyoun na cheekhun ke yaad karte hain
Meri awaaz gar nahin aati
PM Yousaf Raza Gilani:
داغ دل گر نظر نہیں آتا
بو بھی اے چارہ گر نہیں آتی
Daagh e dil gar nazar nahin aata
Boo bhi aye charagar nahin aati
General Shuja Pasha:
ہم وہاں ہیں جہاں سے ہم کو بھی
کچھ ہماری خبر نہیں آتی
Hum wahan hain jahan se hum ko bhi
Kuchh hamari khabar nahin aati
General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani:
مرتے ہیں آرزو میں مرنے کی
موت آتی ہے پر نہیں آتی
Marte hain aarzoo main marnay ki
Maut aati hai per nahin aati
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry:
کعبے کس منہ سے جاؤ گے غالب
شرم تم کو مگر نہیں آتی
Kaa’bay kis mun’h se jaao gay Ghalib
Shar’m tum ko magar nahin aati
Haha.
Bohat bar mehel
Kia baat hy!!
really good– i appreciate your creativity!!!!!
Amazing. What an appropriate commentary on all the players. Maybe, the media could have been bundled with CJP!
Thank you Shoaib Mir Sahab
awesome use of Ghalib on our Hypocrites of highest echelons, A great satire….on tug of war among various champs of Pakistan’s dying in infancy democracy.
Thank you all for your kind words.
@ Ahmed Iqbalabadi: you have a keen eye; aap bhi theek keh rahay hain!
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry:
Kaa’bay kis mun’h se jaao gay Ghalib
Shar’m tum ko magar nahin aati
Spot-on
Sary Dunya Pay Ghalib Ha Ghalib !
sala DO(2) Number chief Justice of pakistan.
Excellent, Shoaib bhai!
From the dismissal of Feroz Khan Noon’s government by the Iskander Mirza-Ayub Khan duo, to Musharraf, every military conquest of Pakistan has been in the name of weeding out corruption. And yet the politicians bounced back because Pakistanis believe that with all its faults a democratic dispensation is good for them. The businessmen and a section of the chattering middle classes have always collaborated with the military governments because they flourish under such regimes. The cost of intellectual dishonesty, dangerous foreign and national security policies and corruption done during the military governments has always been condoned retroactively. To get the president declared a threat to national security, Husain Haqqani had to be trapped in a sting operation. Who could be the best bait for clever Haqqani to bite than Mansoor Ijaz — a person who had repeatedly written against the ISI? Allegations against Haqqani have to be proved first before he is made to put the blame on his ‘boss’ — President Zardari.