A friend has sent me pictures of police brutality on the eve of PATs Martyrs Day in Lahore and has asked me if I have ever seen anything like this before. The answer is yes except for the massive use of huge shipping containers and the use of military industrial complex for essentially a policing task. Having spent a good part of my youth taking part in Habib Jalib led marches, I still have scars on my legs endured during numerous lathi charges on the Mall. Jalib was one of the most clear headed revolutionaries that ever lived in Pakistan. Yes, he would have marched against this Government as he did against all the previous administrations, but he would not have taken sides between Imran and Tahir Qadri. In fact, he reminded me of the Pakistani malaise just a few months before he passed away in 1993 because of acute diabetic complications. He wrote the attached inscription with his shaky hands on one of the books he sent me highlighting the contradiction of Pakistani nation, considering every Qatil as Chara Gar, a theme so prominent in all his major poems such as those shown in this Post. All I can tell you is that Jalibs marches did produce results but the outcomes were not always as predictable or desirable as we originally thought. Lahoris are much better informed and far more mature now than they were in my protesting era. I know they will do the right thing. DrMuhammad M Awan 8/9/14
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 03:46:20 +0000
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