“16th December! Did you hear any bell ringing?”
“Who? Me? What?!”
I tried really hard to answer the question but I really couldn’t recall anything. And I kept thinking…
“Suqoot-e-Dhaka!”
And I was dumbfounded! How could I forget? How can I not recall!? Everything went blurred… Am I so self obsessed and self absorbed and have turned into those critics who don’t look at themselves but criticize others? Am I turning into a hypocrit or am I already one? I guess someone has to show me the mirror to make me see where I stand? Am I standing on stable grounds or have I walked blindly into some quicksand and do not know it. I’m scared now! I can’t get over the fact that I didn’t know… I ACTUALLY COULDN’T RECALL!!!
Bangladesh appeared on the map of this world. People started questioning the grounds of the two nation theory on which Pakistan was created.Questions still remain: Where did we go wrong? How could we be so brutal to our own brothers? And the one which still haunts us to death is: Is there a language problem?! Is it a nationality problem? You being a Bengali and I a Punjabi or a Pathan? The question still remains unanswered…
I know I’m jumping too fast but I can’t help it. Just before Eid, we experienced an ethnic cleansing drive. The famous MQM cleaning the streets of Karachi from the “terrorist” Pathans and Afghanis. Again, a language problem?! And the horror struck me… What next?! Driving Punjabis away from Karachi as well? then Balochis? Is not Karachi a part of Pakistan? Then it struck me really hard.. a nail in my head between my eyes… my family has intermarried in every “community”, would that mean that the families will be torn apart??! my family would be torn apart?! Just imagine your kids being taken to someplace else, your wife sent somewhere and you are clueless… Won’t it be painful? or worse, you know where they are but you can’t see them, contact them, hear from them or… Where are we heading?
Now look back at 1971… families torn apart.. thousands still uncertain about their identity… neighboring enemy gaining from your losses and is happy that you split apart… Was there really a language problem or was it all a sham? What went wrong?
Coming back to what happened earlier today. I, myself, unaware of my own history. The realization came as a shock. But I was comforted with a voice in my head which belong to my mentor. He once said that realization is the most important part. Only after realization would you be able to recognize your mistakes and determine the path you would take next…
But… what about the whole nation… We are nowhere near realization… and I’m a part of it…
Reflections... 