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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Playback of
a golden voice

Remembering
Mohammed
Rafi (Dec 24,
1924- July 31,
1980)
By Siraj Khan

nkhon ko visa nahee lagta,


sapnon ki sarhad nahee hoti
Bund ankhon se roz
sarhad paar chala jata
hoon milne
Mein Mehdi Hasan se!
(The eyes need no
visas, dreams have no
borders
With closed eyes
every day, I cross the
borde
To meet Mehdi
Hasan!)
Indian poet
and writer Gulzar penned
his sentiments for the ghazal
maestro Mehdi Hasan in this
poignant verse. But do think
for a moment. Dont those
words apply to the millions of
Pakistanis who have been
doing likewise for Mohammed Rafi unknowingly every single day - even when
he was alive?
Few personalities have
enjoyed the level of popularity and appeal on both sides
of the border, as Rafi has. A
simple God-fearing man, he
brought his feelings and
sentiments naturally to all
his playback songs, whatever the mood and whoever may be on the screen.
The underlying message
throughout his professional
life was, that there was just
one language in which peace
and unity speak anywhere music.
Rafi was a devout Muslim
and yet some of the best bha-

jans in films have been


recorded in his voice. Man
tarpat hari darshan and that
Raag Darbari-based Bhagwan
- o duniye ke rakhwale. It was
no surprise then, when Rafi
got visibly upset when a
mosque refused to accept his
financial contribution as his
earnings were generated from
singing. "Who gave me this
voice, if not Allah?" he exclaimed to the imam, in one of
his rare moments of anger
In a recent interview, veteran actor Manoj Kumar remarked Like me, he too was
from Lahore, and when two
Lahoris sit together, everything from their language to
their perceptions on life,
match, binding them always
even in a crowd.
Rafi moved from Lahore
to Mumbai in 1944, getting his
first break early in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch. However, it was with Shaukat
Hussain Rizvi's Jugnu in 1947
that people sat up and realised that Rafi had arrived.
Yahan Badla Wafa ka, the famous duet with Noor Jahan,
composed by Feroz Nizami
remains immortal. A staggering 5000+ songs and 35 years
later, there must be hundreds
of songs, which even his
staunchest fans have yet to

discover.
Recently, Yasmin K. Rafi,
his daughter-in-law, released
her memoirs in Mohammad
Rafi: My Abba, which contains many interesting accounts of the life of the legendary singer. In a CNN-IBN
survey in 2013, he was voted
the greatest voice of the Indian screen ever.
They say whatever one
speaks or sings does not really disperse, but travels into
space, towards infinity. And
at some point of time we may
be able to pick up the air
waves and retrieve those
sounds. I hope that science
and technology can make it
happen, even if its not in our
lifetime. For now though, the
songs that Rafi has left behind as a musical legacy for
his millions of fans will always be cherished, while his
voice continues to echo
throughout the world.
Tum mujhe yun bhula na
pao ge
Jab kabhi bhi suno ge geet
mere
Sung sung tum hi gungunao ge
(You will never be able to
forget me
Whenever you hear my
songs
You will also hum along)

So much in common
By Shoaib Taimur

An issue I was aware of but did not


know much about was that of the Kashmiri Pandits. I knew only what I had seen
n September 2011, a group of us
in Onirs film I Am, which includes a story
travelled to Kabul for Pul-e-Jawan,
focused on Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits
an initiative to transform the conand had helped me understand that both
flict in South Asia by highlighting
have suffered in this conflict.
youth perspectives on common
One of the delegates in Kabul was a
challenges and aspirations in Afghanistan,
Kashmiri Pandit whose family had miPakistan and India.
grated to Delhi after the conflict. AmazWe stayed at the same hotel for a
ingly, he was not bitter. He just wanted to
week so that we could spend time with
understand the Pakistani point of view on
each other. There was this wonderful litthe Kashmir issue. He was quite opentle place on the rooftop where wed sit
minded and underand talk till the wee hours of the night.
standing throughout. I
Sometimes we would sit and talk in the
told him that the peogarden about everything under
ple of Kashmir should
the sun. Topics
decide who they
such as politics,
want to be with beBollywood, Kashcause at the end of
mir and social isthe day it is their
sues were touched
land.
upon. The great
We must never
thing was that it
give in to hatemonwas
all
very
gers who want to
civilised, and no one
highlight divisions.
got upset.
Being once one naWe were divided
tion, now divided,
into five teams condoes not mean
sisting of three memthat we cannot be
bers each, Indian,
friends. Why can
Pakistani and Afghan,
two neighbours
tasked with coming
not get along
up with a project rewith each other?
flecting the issues
One small step
faced by Afghanistan.
at a time helps
Each team had a fecreate
a
i,
ilj
sama Kh
male as the team
stronger bond.
ghanistan; U
Af
d,
ee
am
H
ker, India:
leader. I was teamed up
Building perht) Ufaque Pai
igar, India
with
Sharib
Ali Forging bonds: (Left to rig, Pakistan; and Shazia N
sonal relationships
(Kolkata, India) and Pakistan, Shoaib Taimur
are important because we know that if we
Zohra
(Kabul,
friends from across the
can get along, eventually our governAfghanistan). We spent a
border I know that not every Indian is
ments will also get along.
lot of time together, eating out, exploring
anti-Pakistani and vice versa.
the sights and sounds of Kabul, and just
It is easy striking up a friendship
hanging out together.
with the Indians because we have so
The writer is a consultant who
I have met many Indians, including
much in common. This was the case in
was one of the curators of the
in London and Singapore, and it has alKabul too. We discovered that we had
Social Media Mela, 2012. This piece
ways been a good experience, leaving
the same viewpoint about Indo-Pak
is part of a fortnightly series from
us feeling like we had been friends forfriendship (all pro and none against),
Friendships Across Borders:
ever even at first time meetings. This
our love for cinema and good food. We
Aao Dosti Karein, an initiative to
time, I got to have a more personalised
discussed the similarities and differpromote friendship between
experience as I lived and worked with
ences between our countries, and that
Pakistanis and Indians Indians for a week. Having so many
helped us develop mutual respect.
www.facebook.com/fabaaodostikarein

Rangers and BSF exchange


Eid greetings

s they do at every festive occasion, the border


guards of India and Pakistan greeted each other
and exchanged sweets at the border checkpost at
Attari-Wagah on the occasion of Eid recently. Officers
and troopers of Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force also embraced one another at the border
gates, a short drive from Lahore and Amritsar.

A Pakistan Rangers officer presents Eid sweets to his BSF


counterpart at Wagah Border last week. Photo: PTI.

Wanted: a new imagination


Indo-Pak peace cycle rally underway

minent veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar


flagged off the Delhi University Students for
Peace on their Indo-Pak peace cycle rally last
week, starting from Delhi University and ending at
Amritsar on Aug13.
En route, the bicyclists will stop at various places in
Haryana and Punjab and finally participate in a joint celebration of India and Pakistan Independence Days at
Wagah border on Aug 14-15. They are calling for the

Common concerns: (Left to right) Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Shivam Vij, Sumit Chakravarthy,
Javed Naqwi, Meena Menon, B. M. Kutty
Hafiz Saeed.
It is essential that people
on both sides speak to each
other, and to recognize the
public platforms, the journalists clubs, Trade Unions and
others that make dialogue possible, beyond the flag holding
politics of the governments
and its diplomatic communities, noted the Forum.
The House expressed its
disappointment and shock at
Pakistans refusal to extend
the visas of the two Indian
journalists posted there. The
journalists community has for
decades been one of the
strongest threads that has continued to enhance peace processes between the two countries.
No Pakistani journalists

have been posted in India


since the last few years.
PIPFPD demanded that both
governments immediately take
steps to facilitate the journalists reporting from each others
countries, and to provide them

THE FIRST STEP


LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Feedback, contributions, photos, letters:


Email: amankiasha@janggroup.com.pk
Fax: +92-21-3241-8343
Post: aman ki asha c/o The News,
I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

multiple entry and multiple


city visa.
The Forum urged the governments to not just talk of
peace but engage with the critical issues that the people in
both countries face. Journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, common people using
social media, writers, poets
are all voices of the people,
and must not be restricted.
The Forum highlighted incidents of violence on both
sides of the border and condemned attempts to muzzle
freedom of expression. With
new governments in both
countries, it is important that
democratic voices are allowed
to echo and strategic political
interventions be made, urges
the Forum.

This time, too, the weather has been supportive and so


have the people, said Bhupendra, one of the participants.
India and Pakistan spend huge amounts for defense
which could be used in the fight against poverty and
hunger. If all or even a portion of that amount was spent
on social welfare, would not the cause of development
be served better? We cannot after all substitute weapons
for food or medicines or education. All that we require is
a new imagination. The idea is simple: 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', 'Love thy neighbor', or just love.

ndia and Pakistan need to act in a mature manner and


move forward, transcending their prejudices and bitter history, urges Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani
Ambassador to the United States. Currently Director for
South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute in Washington DC and Professor of the Practice of International Relations at Boston University, he is in India delivering a series
of
well-attended lectures on India-Pakistan relations.
He believes it is
time to replace
the Diplomatic
Dance Approach
with the Great
Leap Forward approach. This necessitates setting
aside issues which
can't be resolved
immediately and
recognising that
both
countries
would
benefit
greatly from better
relations.
Many issues
Photo courtesy: Aditi Malhotra, between India and
ISSSP
Pakistan are psychological in nature and defy logic. India-Pakistan relations should be
based on reality and not influenced by ideology or psychological barriers, he said at a public lecture in Bangalore organised by the International Strategic and Security Studies Programme (ISSSP) of the National Institute
of Advanced Studies (NIAS). He also spoke at the Asia
Society in Mumbai on Aug 5.
It is time for both countries to move beyond the idea
of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and embrace
Mutual Reassurance, he says, Mutual deterrence will
only come about when sub-conventional warfare does
not exist. Terrorism is the problem, which undermines
the prospect of reassurance States need to cooperate
with each other to restrain non-state actors rather than
using them against each other, which is a recipe for disaster.
On the rise of religious extremism, he says that, an
individual can be pious, a society can be religious but a
state should be secular. Strategic thinking in Pakistan is
changing, although the pace is slow, he notes. For every
Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, there is a person with a saner
global view.
Prof. Haqqani concludes on a positive note. If Germany and France can get over their differences, our differences are not even half, he argues. Germany and
France acknowledge that their relationship is not a zero
sum game and thereby they have managed to get along.
For relations to improve, India and Pakistan have to do
the same.

Going beyond fear

s what is happening in
Pakistan and India because of the spread of
fear, or because of connivance this is a crucial question for the people of
Pakistan and India in the context of freedom of speech and
expression, agreed activists at
the Delhi Chapter of Pakistan
India Peoples' Forum for
Peace
and
Democracy
(PIPFPD) at its State Convention last month.
At the meeting, held on
July 19, 2014 in New Delhi, delegates planned various future
activities of the Forum and reviewed the Delhi Chapters
work since the last convention.
This was followed by a
Public Meeting on Realities of
Freedom and Expression - Imprints from Pakistan and India
chaired by Prof. Manoranjan
Mohanty (senior academician
and South Asia expert). B.M
Kutty (Founder Member,
PIPFPD) visiting from Pakistan addressed the meeting,
along with Meena Menon
(Deputy Editor, The Hindu),
Jawed Naqvi (Senior Journalist, The Dawn), Sumit
Chakravarty (Editor, Mainstream), Shivam Vij (Associate
Editor, Scroll), and Jatin Desai
(General Secretary, PIPFPD).
The House agreed on the
need for consistency and continuity in the track II and track
III dialogues between the two
countries. Participants noted
the systematic efforts to undermine these critical diplomatic efforts following Ved
Pratap Vaidiks meeting with

Time for mutual


reassurance not deterrence

Boston-based Siraj Khan lives a life without boundaries.


A connoisseur of film music, he is writing the
authorised biography of O.P. Nayyar.
Email: Khansaheb2@aol.com Website: www.opnayyar.org

A peace convention in Delhi recently highlights some critical


common issues between India and Pakistan

South Asian nations to come together in a South Asian


Union along the lines of European Union.
Delhi University Students for Peace (DUFSP) is an
initiative started by Delhi University students joined by
colleagues from other colleges and universities like
Jamia Milia and JNU. Kuldip Nayar has been leading
peace activists to light candles on the Independence days
of Pakistan and India (Aug 14/15) at the Attari-Wagah
border every year since 2000.
The DUSFPs first Indo-Pak Peace Cycle rally last
year started on June 1, 2013 in Kanyakumar and ended
3800 km later on August 15, 2013 at the Wagah border.
They received overwhelming support along the way.

A peace initiative whose time has come...

Destination Peace: A commitment by the Jang Group, Geo and The Times of India Group to
create an enabling environment that brings the people of Pakistan and India closer together,
contributing to genuine and durable peace with honour between our countries.

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