Tribute to Shahbaz Bhatti – by Naveed Ali

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LUBP Archive on Shahbaz Bhatti

It is a day which one wishes it never came. A wish that if time can go back and mistakes can be corrected, if bloodshed could be avoided and lives can be spared. Every passing day like this is increasing doubts on the future of our Pakistan, where this country will end up? It is not strange and there are examples that extreme totalitarian regimes can take over in situations and make a relatively large moderate and reasonable population a hostage.

With every passing day like this we will bear the loss of brave and honest, we will end up mourn our beloved and we will see ugly ghosts of hatred and fear taking us over. It is time for Pakistanis to ask themselves and decide, and decide for once what they actually want? They want this game of hatred and intolerance continued or they want it stopped? They want to keep on dividing, separating and isolating ourselves or they want to be united? They want peace or they want bloodshed and violence? They want their children to prosper and grow or they want them ditched in all ills, hunger and devastation? Choices to be made are to give up and take back, it is to give up false pride and deceitful beliefs and take back right to live and let live, It is to give up emotions and loathing and take back harmony and peace.

In short, it is a choice they have to make, a choice between life and death, yes, it is not just ‘another’ life which is lost in every such incident, it is ‘them’ the Pakistanis, who suffer, their own, their brothers and their sisters, their fathers and their mothers, their sons and their daughters, no one else but Pakistanis.

Right choices can be made, but right choices demand sacrifices, they demand self control and discipline, they demand respect and love. Pakistanis will have to ask themselves to stop; to stop every deed and action which brings disregard of humanity, which makes division on the basis of religion, cast, race or community. They will have to change the very basics of their society, they very life of their own, they will have to give up all signs of discrimination, from the very roots; they will have to change themselves, roots of hatred are nowhere else but inside them, they will have to see if their children can brought up respecting others as humans, they will have to understand that before being a Shia or Sunni or Barelvi or Deobandi or Hindu or Christian, everyone is a human, they will have to decide if they are ready to respect a place of worship and people’s right to carry on their believes, they will have to learn not to discriminate humans, they will have to decide if they want to have a religion column in their passports or not. They will have to say no to the menace of sectarianism and hatred, they will have to resist every presentation of this menace whether it is an arm carrying, short sighted, brain washed person or a falsely respected, sweet worded, scholarly attired confused, double standard and double minded, so called intellectual or leader, for those who teach us to hate each other, cannot be sincere to us.

And this is the message of every sacrifice made for us, us who are still alive. No matter who we are, and what we do, Shahbaz and every other victim, they gave their lives for us, we have to at least acknowledge it.

دعا

=====

آئیے ہاتھ اٹھائیں ہم بھی

ہم جنھیں رسم دعا یاد نہیں

ہم جنھیں سوز محبت کے سوا

کوئی بت کوئی خدا یاد نہیں

آئیے عرض گزاریں کہ نگار ہستی

زہر امروز میں شیرینی فردا بھر دے

وہ جنھیں تاب گراں باری ایام نہیں

ان کی پلکوں پہ شب و روز کو ہلکا کر دے

جن کی آنکھوں کو رخ صبح کا یارا بھی نہیں

ان کی راتوں میں کوئی شمع منّور کر دے

جن کے قدموں کو کسی رہ کا سہارا بھی نہیں

ان کی نظروں پہ کوئی راہ اجاگر کر دے

جن کا دیں پیروی کذب و ریا ہے ان کو

ہمّت کفر ملے، جرّات تحقیق ملے

جن کے سر منتظر تیغ جفا ہیں ان کو

دست قاتل کو جھٹک دینے کی توفیق ملے

عشق کا سر نہاں جان تپاں ہے جس سے

آج اقرار کریں اور تپش مٹ جائے

حرف حق دل میں کھٹکتا ہے جو کانٹوں کی طرح

آج اظھار کریں اور خلش مٹ جائے

——–فیض احمد فیض

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