Professional Documents
Culture Documents
K
By Fazil Jamili
Remembering
a true
Indian-Pakistani
Khushwant Singh:
A lifelong love for Lahore
and Urdu poetry
B R I E F S
Celebrating Womens Day, together
ndians and Pakistanis came together to celebrate Women s
Day together last month in Artesia, a town near Los Angelos in southern California. The event, initiated by the International Sindhi Women Organisation, drew mainly Sindhis, Hindus and Muslims hailing from India and Pakistan,
reports Hiro Badlani in India Journal.
Sindhis originating from both sides of the border met perhaps for the first time in such
big numbers and celebrated
the occasion with gusto,
good music, fine speeches,
delicious food and warm hospitality.
The event included a
panel discussion with speakers including Sobhya Agha
talked about violence against
Organisers: Mohan and Kamla Dadlani women, based on her experience with criminology in
Karachi, Sara Sadhwani, a post graduate student at the University of Southern California, Dr Geet Chainani, an American of
Indian origin who has worked with flood survivors in Pakistan
and participated via video link, and attorney Kavita Teckchandani who talked about her work concerning the settlement of
Hindu refugees from Pakistan languishing in camps in India.
The event included a fundraiser for women-centred charities, one in India and one in Pakistan.
back a few days later. I spent my time driving around Islamabad and Rawalpindi to
see what the public reaction was. Then I
flew to Karachi. Mani Shankar Aiyar, who
was posted there, drove me around the city.
Bazaars were open. Boys played cricked.
There were no outward signs of mourning.
I returned to Delhi .
A few days later he was back in Islamabad staying in the same hotel. That afternoon he was taken to President s residence
in the cantonment area. There was a pile of
Khushwant Singh s books in the room
where he was asked to wait. He doubted
that Gen. Zia had read them, or meant to.
But they served the purpose. All the venom
drained out of Khushwant Singh, who had
had a list of loaded questions about Gen.
Zia s hanging Bhutto.
The General came in
dressed in silken salwarkameez, shook hands
warmly and said: Sardar
sahib, before you ask me
questions, please sign your
books for me .
Though much flattered, Khushwant asked
him: General sahib, you
could have shown mercy
and commuted Bhutto s
senctence .
A versatile writer
B
By Qaiser Shahzad
A young
Pakistani
summarises
his South Asian
Union Model
idea, for which
he was
recently
awarded the
Nepal
Friendship
Peace Award
a predominantly Hindu,
while Bhutan and Sri Lanka
are predominantly Buddhist.
A discussion at an ECF
Board Directors meeting
provided the clue I was looking for the notion that
Subcontinent was never Islamised, rather Islam was Indianised in this region. Culture is more powerful in our
region and provides a
stronger pull than religion.
The common ground in South
Asia is our rich joint heritage
and similar cultural and traditional practices that link us.
Recognising the common
ground was a part solution.
The challenge now was to
compile my findings into a
model for South Asian Union.
For this purpose I started
from the last pre-partition
generation, those who
opened their eyes in this
world at a time when postwar of independence hostili-
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.