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Mystic Notes: Honour killing of the other kind

January 8, 2006 By Amar Jaleel Preamble: Kindly read the following story in the backdrop of the notorious Thana culture in Pakistan. Sindh alone doesn’t exercise monopoly over the condemnable custom of honour killing. Punjab has a lion’s share in it. Pathans and Balochs do not lag behind. They too slaughter their daughters, sisters, and wives in the name of honour. After killing his own sister, daughter or wife, the murderer, in most cases, promptly reports at a nearby Police Station, called ‘Thana’ in the Pakistani languages. A Thana evolves its own awful culture. It is soul shattering and brutish. Upon entering a Thana, the perpetrator of crime is humiliated and beaten. Even a person apprehended on suspicion is not spared. He too goes through the mill. However, the things do not remain the same when the slaughterer of womenfolk in the name of honour killing presents himself at the Thana. He is looked at as a brave and a gheratmand. He is called mard ka bacha (son of a brave ...
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Who’s the sinner?

July 31, 2005 By Amar Jaleel It’s a very thin line that separates the sinners from the pious, but who really draws this line? The pious and the faithful acquired a piece of land in Purani Basti, a thickly populated and congested locality of the town for erecting a mosque. Although there were a number of mosques in the vicinity, the management thought it prudent to provide a mosque next-door to the believers for offering prayers. Incidentally, the land they obtained for noble purpose was adjacent to the clinic of Dr Bhagwandas. Dr Bhagwandas, a physician by profession, was born and brought up in the town. He had a dream that he never discussed with anyone, not even with his family. After earning his MBBS degree with distinction, he practised at Karachi for several years and establish his reputation as an excellent physician. He then moved back to his ancestral town and opened a clinic in Purani Basti, a godforsaken locality infested with filth and crimes. He charged exorbitan...
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Pathway to the past

July 24, 2005 By Amar Jaleel The old hangouts and restaurants in Saddar have disappeared, taking with them the non-violent, liberal and secular culture of Karachi Certain stories related to our personal past take us along a nostalgic journey into the days gone by. The weekly column, Karachi Notebook in Dawn often opens door for me to walk in and mingle with the unforgettable Karachi culture of yesteryear. While reading Karachian’s column on fast vanishing Irani restaurants in the metropolis, I unconsciously glided back into the days when Karachi was a nonviolent, liberal and a secular city. I feel like picking up the thread from Fredrick’s Cafeteria the Karachian has so fondly made mention of in one of his recent columns. We had a number of neat, clean and decent Irani restaurants in Saddar alone. On the first floor of the famous, now defunct, Fredrick’s Cafeteria was a bar under the same management. Entrance to the Cafeteria and to the bar was common. If you felt like goin...
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Faith betrayed

July 17, 2005 By Amar Jaleel Our society is neither conservative nor liberal. It’s a confused one FAITH is a multi-meaning word. It is not restricted to a person’s faith in religion alone. It is a diverse word employing more than one definition. It indicates a person’s faith in dispensation of justice in his own country. Clean judicial system assures him that he shall neither be wronged nor robbed of his legal rights. Financial institutions will not swindle him. He will not be deprived of his hard-earned property. His right to employment, food and shelter will not be denied to him. His right to cast his vote freely will be assured to him. He will not be hindered in the expression of his opinion on the functioning of the state. His right to differ will be honoured. All these beliefs and expectations of a person derive credibility from neat and clean judicial system, and fortify his faith in the country. Without answering whether people conserve faith in judiciary and executi...
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To stone Satan

July 10, 2005 By Amar Jaleel What is one to do when the enemy lies within us? BADRU Bhandari, the notorious ruffian of old Karachi began pondering whether he could mend his ways and lead a decent life like a gentleman! His friends and the foes wondered what prompted Badru Bhandari to think about changing his roguish lifestyle! Why would he like to be a decent man? Apparently, he did not appear threatened. He drank and dinned with the persons in power, politicians, and businessmen. The city police was his tributary. A dedicated gang of scoundrels operated under his command. His terror was so immense that the mothers dragged children indoors whenever he drove through the streets of old Karachi. What impelled Badru Bhandari to crave for a positive change in his life is an enigma to this day. It is generally believed that during one of the street battles with his adversaries in Kalakot, he narrowly missed killing the ring leader of the rivals. The bullets from his gun instead...
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Shades of exploitation

July 3, 2005 By Amar Jaleel In our society the general public can be exploited in several ways WOULD you believe we are exploited in different ways daily, without our knowing it? Why would you buy a pizza after midnight? Because they either sell it at half price or gift you an additional piece free. It is disguised exploitation that they call marketing strategy and sales promotion at your cost. Consult your doctor, and ask him to tell you what happens when you consume thick layers of cheese late in the night, and then go to bed. Haven’t you come across vendors selling Madina nihari, and Makka bund-kababs, and Harmain Sharifain Jewellers where wives of corrupt functionaries lavishly spent ill-gotten wealth. They exploit your religious feelings. Exploitation can be classified in two major categories. The two categories then root into several sub-divisions. We will not go into the detailed analysis of the fragmented subtleties of exploitation. For the time being let us restric...
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Pseudo homage

June 26, 2005 By Amar Jaleel In our country, a new outlook has been given to dictatorship THE most convenient way of paying homage to the sages, Sufis and saints is lip service. Do not feel embarrassed or sheepish if a person appears from nowhere, and tells you what you have been doing to express your reverence for the saints, Sufis, and scholars is nothing more than pseudo homage. Brush him aside as a senile, if not deranged, person. I assure you that such lunatics are almost extinct species in Pakistan. In the given times exploitation in the name of religion and politics is a permissive practice. Make the most of the two worlds, the world you have graced with your arrival, and the world hereafter you are preordained to return to. The Karachi City Administrators recently paid homage to Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani by naming a flyover on the Shahrah-i-Faisal near the Finance and Trade Centre after his revered name. The Multanis have named one of their universities after Bahaud...
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