Qasba Aligarh Massacre – A Forgotten Story Chishti Sahib,

Thank you for remembering the unfortunate and poor victims of this horrible massacre that took place almost 23 years ago. Your account of the events is accurate. Your descriptions of how cruelly Islamic slogans, like "Allaho Akbar," and labeling of victims as "infidels," were used to justify the slaughter are the very tactics being used against other victims by similar butchers in NWFP and elsewhere. What goes around comes around.

I was particularly dismayed by the tragic, but true, depiction of what happened:

"On December 15, 1986, a group of armed mostly Afghans with the backing of a Nationalist Political Party attacked the Aligarh, Orangi and Qasba colonies and adjacent areas of Karachi and killed innocent people, burnt shops and house] A total of 400 Mohajirs were killed in just two hours of this horrible massacre.

“They came inside our houses and asked for men”, “they killed indiscriminately with knives and guns chanting Allah’o’Akber as if we were infidels” said one of the survivors who lost her father and elder brother sobbing and she was correct. Astonishingly mosques were used to mobilize people to kill and there were speeches and sermons given against the people living in Qasba Aligarh by pseudo Mullah’s that day branding Mohajirs as “Infidels” and that “killing them would take one to heaven”.

Mohammad Ibrahim another survivor who lost his elder brother told us that “they came in and started burning our houses, kicking the babies, raping our women and killing anyone in front of them …”

More than 400 Mohajir Men and Women were brutally mutilated at Qasba Aligarh that day and nothing happened,.."

Chishti Sahib, I agree with you that the total disregard for human life, or the importance of justice, demonstrated by the dictatorial regime then, and by the subsequent so-called "democratic" governments since, is the reason for Pakistan's impending destruction. Is it any wonder that the Pakhtoons, who killed Mohajirs in 1986, are now killing others including other Pakhtoons, Shias, Punjabis, Pak soldiers, police, and sometimes themselves? When there is no fear of justice, retribution, and judgment, then criminal elements will hold sway, including the criminals in uniform.

Having said all this, I agree with Madani Sahib, that we should recognize the evil that was allowed to take place, put mechanisms in place that preclude such man-made disasters from occurring again, and prosecute the perpetrators in an open, unbiased, public, and righteous manner.

A nation that turns its military loose on its own citizens to loot, murder, rape, and slaughter is not going to be strong. A nation that prevents its own citizens from returning home after displaying unmatched loyalty does not deserve sovereignty. A nation that allows and promotes the discrimination and slaughter of its own citizens based on linguistic, provincial, sectarian, ethnic, or linguistic hatred is not going to survive. Good article, but let's start anew - for the sake of Pakistan, its people, and its future.

Thanks.

Salim Ahmed Chauhan

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope #217 Posted by KHYBER on August 16, 2009 8:00:29 pm
{"Re: # 213 Salim saab I think we Have No Liability Towards Biharis anymore, after more then 30 years, almost three more generations have come up and they are technically BANGLADESHI CITIZENS NOW,who don't have feelings for Pakistan as their parents or grand parents had.. "}

Khyber Sahib,
At least you chose the passage of time as an excuse rather than racial, linguistic, or ethnic grounds for keeping these unfortunate Pakistanis out of their own country. I understand your logic - deny justice long enough and eventually you can argue that the issue has become too old - circumstances have changes, and their has been a changing of the guard in the victims and the perpetrators - so problem has been solved. BTW, the Israelis were counting on this exact logic of yours to build, expand, annex Jewish settlements on the West Bank - especially Jerusalem. So, even the Arabs will have to agree that you just can't tear down all those permanenet settlements, and therefore, those areas should be attached to Israel - in exchange for some prime real estate in the Negev.

You may have solved the "Bihari" problem, but Pakistan is paying through the nose for its denial of justice and discounting the value and meaning of Pakistani citizenship. No wonder the Baluch and others are losing their longing and respect for this nation, that works so hard to keep its own citizens from coming home.

By the way, just as you are married to a Bangladeshi, let me point out that I am NOT a Bihari, have no friends or relatives stranded in Bangladesh, and am married to a Turkish woman who has never visited India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope #211 Posted by tahmed32 on August 16, 2009 7:16:16 pm

{"And it is time we stopped tolerating these lowlife and tried to have "discussions" with them. Pakistanis need to reclaim their religion, their country back from these lowlife"}

Tahmed Sahib,
We also need to reclaim our country back from those who would deny citizenship to hundreds of thousands of loyal Pakistanis. These demagogues insist on their cruel bias merely because the reparation of these lowly "Biharis" would somehow affect the ethnic, linguistic, or racial balance perceived to be more important than national principlea by the hypocritical bigots.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Here is my mini essay on the rewriting of history by right-wing Hindutvas. I posted this on UP, but for your convenience I share it with you here so that you can understand what drives them to be on the offensive - because there is much too much to defend.

The rewriting of history and selective moral pontifications of Hindutva proponents

Many liberal Pakistanis have tried to understand and refute the new trend, or rather nonsense, started by chauvinistic Hindutva goons. The orange brigade types are determined to rewrite history and justify their idiotic behavior and that of their BJP/RSS/VHP/BD/JS/SP/SS cohorts.

So, now, we are led to believe that the world, especially India, was perfect before early 8th century AD when Mohammad Bin Qasim appeared on the scene. Then things went into idle mode until the late tenth century and Mahmud Ghaznavi rediscovered India. We can keep listing the villains - Ghori, Babar, and skip over Akbar because he satisfied at least one native Indian, and come to the bête noir, Maharaja Aurangzeb.

So many right-wing Hindutva types, like the modern day dhoti-clad Toynbee Jis, pretend that there was no Aryan invasion of India circa 5000 BC. No mention is made about these carnivorous, pale-skinned, hairy warriors who, while not writing sacred scriptures on the banks of the Indus, were enslaving dark-skinned natives. These founding fathers of Hinduism were destroying civilizations, cities, infrastructure, slaughtering advanced and educated people, and abducting swarthy females at night to create multiple layers and shades of pigmentation and, therefore, caste - which itself means color.

No mention of scriptures that glorified the enslavement, cruel treatment, and ritual slaughter of dark-skinned "Indian" natives. No mention of the priestly class that exploited and sucked the life out of lower castes. No mention of temple prostitutes, incest, mass destruction, and gods taking sides while killing one group of humans to help another. There is no apology offered for human sacrifices, child marriages, forced immolation of widows, and royals getting rich off the hard work and sweat of the slave labor consisting primarily of "untouchables."

Dear Brahmins and other “high-born” Indians, don't tell me that the ancestors of the high-caste Hindus were traveling in outer staterooms on the triangular cruise ship, Bharat, that broke off Africa and slammed into the Himalayas. Did it ever occur to you that Central Asia may have had the misfortune of being the original abode of these bloodthirsty tyrants who founded the pyramid scheme known as Hinduism?

Independence Day #8 Posted by ahmedmadani on August 16, 2009 12:19:54 am

{"Re: # 7
Salim -Chauhan.... Thanks for your fine words you are very kind and appreciate. Recently some Indian said I am worth only for stpid things he may be more correct. We pakistani,s have reverence for old age and indians despise old age, too many movies watching make difference.
Kindly explain to what is FP and forgive for my mental infantile disorder. Tis word is thrown around few times here.
I was thinking of rewriting all but no point in reheating old stuff in microwave."}

Madani Sahib,
The microwave comment was genuinely funny. I laughed and laughed. Sir, FP stands for Front Page - the vernacular term for this stage, this upper house of Chowk, this abode of Patricians - far removed from the maggots who flourish in the septic tank we call Chowk UP.

Independence Day #8 Posted by ahmedmadani on August 16, 2009 12:19:54 am

{"Re: # 7
Salim -Chauhan.... Thanks for your fine words you are very kind and appreciate. Recently some Indian said I am worth only for stpid things he may be more correct. We pakistani,s have reverence for old age and indians despise old age, too many movies watching make difference.
Kindly explain to what is FP and forgive for my mental infantile disorder. Tis word is thrown around few times here.
I was thinking of rewriting all but no point in reheating old stuff in microwave."}

Madani Sahib,
The microwave comment was genuinely funny. I laughed and laughed. Sir, FP stands for Front Page - the vernacular term for this stage, this upper house of Chowk, this abode of Patricians - far removed from the maggots who flourish in the septic tank we call Chowk UP.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope #143 Posted by tahmed32 on August 15, 2009 9:48:00 pm
{"#138 looks like we have here the scum of chowk - the dirty arab-dog worshipping, "mirzai"-sputtering traitor urstruly, the half-brain masadi who couldnt write a non-abusive sentence if his life depended on it, and the man who gets his jollies by harassing women on chowk by calling them flatulent, fat, ugly etc. salim are all riled up at me.

I must be doing something right!!"}

Tahmed Sahib,
When three different people of varying perspectives can smell the same pile of crap and call it excrement, then it's called unanimity.

Independence Day {"I wrote 2 pages about your this work I was about submit and was worried about letter mismatch in words due delexcia. Then I decided to submit but man proposes and god disposes due breaking of electricity. All labor went to waste , felt i awanted to express my appreciiation and give encouragement."}

Madani Sahib,
Now I am sure that you are the reason most people visit FP. LOL

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sahib,
Sleep tight and don't let the ghosts of your victims torment you all night.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sahib,
You are a major disappointment in your childish and sophomoric expression of an otherwise tolerable perspective.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sahib,
I am against the Tally Ban. I detest Al Kaida. I blame the Pak Army for the mess our country finds itself in. I am against Mushy for being a lawbreaker, an opportunist, a dictator, and, worse of all, an incompetent buffoon who wasted a decade of Pakistan's short life. Despite all that, I am not going to voice my viewpoint in ethnic and racial slurs against Pathans, against Arabs, against Punjabis, or against Mohajirs. It is wrong to blame an entire group of people just because of your own personal problem with decency.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sahib,
Even if one was inclined to side with your viewpoint, you, unfortunately, corrode it with your senseless, useless, and asinine resort to ethnic, linguistic, and racial bigotry. It became very clear to me when, while pretending to be a Pak patriot, you were in the forefront of denying repatriation to thousands of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. Later, after reading your perspective on politics in Pakistan, it became obvious that you are a hypocritical demagogue and hate Mohajirs, Arabs, and God knows how many other groups of human beings. Shame on you, sir. You are a terrible disappointment and a disgrace to the fine people of Punjab. I now know that you, thankfully, do not represent Punjab.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sahib #129
The problem is that you weave your ethnic, linguistic, and racial prejudice with your sanctimonious positions regarding justice, democracy, truth, and freedom. Just like your hatred of Mushy, MQM, Altaf, and even the city of Karachi is based on your bigotry against Mohajirs, you betray your hatred of Arabs in your various ethnic slurs regarding bootlickers, gods, etc..
Please come to your senses. You are a very bad example for us younger people.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Tahmed Sir,
I find your hypocrisy very annoying. You seem to go out of your way to cause division and hatred among Pakistanis by pontificating your anti-Mohajir rhetoric at the most inappropriate moments. Please come to your senses, act your age, and curtail your bigotry. Thank you. Quoting a great "scholar," this is my last post on this subject. I will now go and enjoy my Sunday. Khuda Hafiz.

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope The only good thing about Zardari and the PPP is that they are NOT the opportunistic and more corrupt Nawaz Sharif and the ML(N)

A Freedom Of Pain And Hope Bring all murderers to trial - including the ones from Sobrab Goth in Karachi from 1986 - just don't be selective in your moral outrage. So, you are now going to bicker and barter over what should be an automatic implementation of jsutice - the return of thousands of Pakistani citizens to their homeland. Shame on you, sir.