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PM Imran Khan says wearing 'few clothes' in a society like Pakistan may lead to rape

PM Imran Khan says wearing ‘few clothes’ in a society like Pakistan may lead to rape

Imran Khan under hot waters, again!

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has drawn intense criticism after he stressed that a rise in sexual assault cases in the country is linked to how women dress.

Axios on HBO with Imran Khan

In an interview with “Axios on HBO,” Prime Minister said, “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots. It’s just common sense.”

The host Jonathan Swan adds in the question, “But is it really going to provoke acts of sexual violence?” Maintaining his stance, Khan elaborates, “It depends on which society you live in.” Furthermore, he added, “If in a society people haven’t seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact [on them]. If you grow up in a society like you, it won’t on you. This cultural imperialism… Whatever is in our culture must be acceptable to everyone else.”

Also Read: Malala Yousafzai divides Twitter for her Palestine Israel conflict tweet

Twitter is not happy!

His flawed and inappropriate statement has caused a stir on social media. Twitter is divided and the Prime Minister is facing immense backlash.

Columnist Nidhi Razdan wrote on Twitter, “Appalling comments by Pakistan’s Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI where he blames women for rape because of how they dress. Shame.”

Another user wrote, “If I rob a bank, it’s the bank’s fault for flaunting that it had money. Amirite? @ImranKhanPTI

Moreover, another user tweets,

Furthermore, TV Host and mimicker of Imran Khan Syed Shafaat tweets,

Meesha Shafi tweets, “To matlab bachay bhi aurton ke kapron kee wajah se rape ho rahay hain?”

Ammar Ali Jan tweets, “Only 3 days after a child was raped by a cleric, Imran Khan chooses to blame “few clothes” worn by women for rape culture.”

People are now comparing robots with men, as our PM said,

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ Sahir Lodhi

Whereas, some people defends the Prime Minister as,

Also Read: Firdous Ashiq Awan slaps MNA Qadir Mandokhel on TV show and Twitter is trending!

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below!

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Women Empower Wednesday: The Powerlifter Twinkle Sohail

Women Empower Wednesday: The Powerlifter Twinkle Sohail

Women have been lifting weights in many forms in our society. For instance, the weight of body shaming, the weight of casual sexism, the weight of harassment, and, the weight of violence and abuse. And all those weights there is a woman who wants to break these weights off from women’s shoulders and motivating them to carry the weights of iron. Today is all about the Powerlifter Twinkle Sohail.

Who is Twinkle Sohail?

Twinkle Sohail is a young 22-year-old girl powering her way through the barriers of the persecuted minority. She became the first Pakistani woman to represent her country in powerlifting category at Asian Championships. Sohail is also the first woman to bring back Gold for the country.

Twinkle Sohail sporting career and family

Twinkle started her professional sporting career with cycling and then shifted her focus to powerlifting. She is the daughter of Sohail Javed Khokhar. And as a matter of pride that all of her three sisters Maryam, Sybil, and Veronica are weightlifters. Throughout her career, she has been coached by Rashid Malik and Muhammad Zahid. Twinkle is currently pursuing a bachelor’s program focused in Sports Sciences from the University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Twinkle Sohail sisters

National and International championship for Twinkle Sohail

Twinkle represents Pakistan Railways in national competitions. In November 2019, she won gold in the 76kg category at the National Games held in Peshawar. For the International championship Twinkle participated in Oceania Pacific Powerlifting Championship held in Singapore brought a total of 12 gold medals along with her teammates Sybil Sohail and Saniha Ghafoor in 2017.

Moreover, she has also earned a gold medal in the 57th category at Bench Press Competition held in Muscat, Oman. This contest had 148 participants representing 14 different countries. She became the first woman to represent her country in the championship and the first to bring back gold. In December 2019, she along with her younger sister, Veronica, participated in the 13th South Asian Games held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ ADEEL AZHAR SHOW

A supportive father

Furthermore, it wasn’t easy for Twinkle and her sisters to pick out this difficult sport, her family especially her grandfather did not approve of it at first. But her father Sohail never gave up and stood his ground. Now everyone is proud of her. On one occasion Twinkle tickles a statement that “Mein to logon ko yeh kehti hoon‘Dangal’ bani hi hum pe hai!” (I always say to people that the movie Dangal is the real-life picturization of us sisters!)

In the end, other women who are stuck in different toxic situations can take massive inspiration from Twinkle Sohail. How magnificently she crossed every boundary and barrier without fearing the remarks of people.

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Shahnawaz Dahani: The rising star of Pakistan Cricket

Shahnawaz Dahani: The rising star of Pakistan Cricket

Cricket in Pakistan is a culture. People have loved it for decades and sometimes cricket turns into a full-fledged war. The more talented the cricketer is, the more fun the game is. Similarly, Pakistan is blessed with a few cricketers who came from small-town but garnered love and attention with their performance, one of them is Shahnawaz Dahani.

Shahnawaz Dahani Biography

Hailing from a small village in Larkana, Shanawaz Dahani is born on August 5th, 1998. Dhani is positioned as a Pakistani cricketer Right-hand batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler. He made his first-class debut on 25 November 2019, for Sindh, in the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He made his Twenty20 debut on 23 February 2021, for Multan Sultans in the 2021 Pakistan Super League.

Shahnawaz Dhani

A dreamer!

Growing up he loved to play cricket as any kid wished to. Since Larkana had fewer opportunities to play cricket in an organized way. He still gets to play Tape-ball cricket in his village. At the age of 10, he became more interested in cricket. Surprisingly, his late father was once against his desire to become a cricketer. He preferred him to make a career as a government officer. For that reason Dahani completed his educated, getting a BCom degree, before starting professional cricket. Unfortunately, Dahani’s father passed away a few years ago. His elder brother then pushed him to pursue his passion for cricket.

Achieving success in Hard-ball cricket

His move to hard-ball cricket was unique. The dream came true in 2016 when he was selected for under-19 for the Larkana region. His passion led him to prove himself. And he was picked to play for Larkana Region Under-19 in 2016/1. In that season he took 9 wickets in the 2-Day Regional Inter District Under-19 Tournament which was a good beginning for him and a very good introduction to the world of hard-ball cricket.

Shahnawaz Dhani

First-Class cricket

By 2019 he played enough crickets to step into First-Class cricket. And he was selected in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy Grade 2, where in 3 matches he took 9 wickets, with best figures of 4/70. Dhani was then picked as a white-ball specialist for Sindh and played in 2 matches in the National T20 cup, taking 3 wickets. And debuted for First XI for Sindh in 2019 and took one wicket against Southern Punjab.

Also Read: The emerging players for Pakistan super league 6

In March 2021, Dhani was named in Pakistan’s Test squad for their series against Zimbabwe. In June 2021, he was named in Pakistan’s Test squad for their series against West Indies.

Shahnawaz Dahani: The rising star of Pakistan Cricket

Shahnawaz Dahani and Pakistan Super League (PSL)

Shahnawaz Dahani had perhaps the most vital debut in Pakistan Super League (PSL) history as he ventured onto the field for Multan Sultans as a bowler in their match against Peshawar Zalmi. Dhani got two pivotal wickets of Sherfane Rutherford and Tom-Kohler Cadmore in the 17th over and gave Multan Sultans a promising sign before things went south due to COVID-19. Moreover, Dhani at that point conceded 25 runs in the 19th over as Peshawar chased down the target of 194, enrolling their first success and climbing the PSL points table.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ Imran Hassan

Furthermore, his performance in PSL 6 2021 is garnering a remarkable response. His performance as a bowler for Multan Sultan Franchise made him ‘Player of the Match’ on 13th June 2021.   

He also often quotes that it is an honor for him to be coming from a place where there are no such opportunities in terms of a sport. Dahani has played domestic to national cricket and proved his mettle. It’s a matter of pride for his mother and his family who supports him now. He says, “I am thankful to the Almighty for all that I have achieved so far.”

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Book Review: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Book Review: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

With sensuous exposition, an illusory style imbued with amazingly delightful pictures and sharp understanding of human instinct, the debut novel by Arundhati Roy outlines a new area in the class of mystical, kaleidoscopic writing.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Pratyusha Sen (@that_little_woman)

About the Author – Arundhati Roy

Born on 24th November 1961, Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things in 1997. Her novel won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.

Arundhati Roy

The book in review – The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The book starts with, Ammukutty Kochamma. A regarded entomologist and old-style violin player, who wanted education rather than an arranged marriage. Her family belongs to a touchable caste and acceptable to others. They wanted their girl wedded somebody from a family like theirs. Ammu met a Bengali and wedded for love. He ended up being a heavy drinker and they separated in two years. With fraternal twins Esthappen (Estha) a kid, and Rahel a girl. Ammu falls back with her children to the family bequest, destined to carry on with a hopeless life as an outcast.

Observations on social issues

The thirty-one-year-old Rahel returns to her childhood house in Ayemenem, to visit her brother Estha. She recalls the events that happened just before and after her cousin Sophie Mol’s arrival in India.

Moreover, the story has strong references to the communist movement in the region. Arundhati Roy makes a powerful observation on the issues of discrimination, gender inequality, caste issues, colonialism, politics, and religion.

Furthermore, the character in the story are just finding life purpose and standing in their community. The book also surfaces the forgotten region of India, which the characters once called home and now there’s poverty like a constant season.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ ADEEL AZHAR SHOW

The readers also truly get an overall image that the novel doesn’t focus on only one primary character. In that manner, we become more acquainted with the character of Chacko, the twins’ uncle. And his relationship with his ex Margaret. The tale of Baby Kochamma, the twins’ terrific auntie, and her initial love disenchantments, just as the narrative of Pappachi, the twins’ granddad.

 

In conclusion, the book defines how small things in life can change someone’s perspective. And how there is always a ray of hope for everyone by almighty. This book is a beautiful narration from a third-person perspective. It is eloquent, enticing, full of emotions, and amazingly written!  

Ratings: 3.9/5
3.9/5
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hasbulla magomedov

Who is this Hasbulla and why is he being called ‘Mini Khabib?’

You must be living under a rock if you don’t know Hasbulla. The kid who is all over TikTok and other social media applications. Well, if you don’t know him yet. Let us introduce little Hasbulla to you.

Who is Hasbullah Magomedov

TikTok and Instagram blogger Hasbulla Magomedov has garnered attention on Instagram and TikTok for his appearance. Hailing from Makhachkala, the capital of Russia’s the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. He is a blogger by profession.

Hasbulla Magomedov

What rare genetic disease Hasbulla has?

This ‘little kid’ who recently took the internet by storm may look like a five-year-old. He’s believed to have a genetic disorder similar to dwarfism. Moreover, a doctor has recently speculated that he has Growth Hormone Deficiency. He measures over three feet tall and has a higher pitch to his voice.

How old is Hasbullah?

Hasbullah is currently 18 years old.

He first got attention after the fight video with Abdu Rozik, a Tajik celebrity model with a similar medical condition as Hasbullah. The fight was hosted by the martial artist and boxer Khabib Nurmagomedov

The fight!

Well, we might not be able to understand the Russian, but we know at one point Hasbulla said, “Hold your emotions, little kid.” To which the actual physical fight happened. Both of them were constantly provoking and complaining to each other while Khabib tries to calm them down.

Furthermore, he first became an internet sensation in 2020 after his TikTok videos pretending to fight children went viral.

He made those videos just for fun. But eventually, after that, he actually started hanging out with adult fighting champions.

Why is Hasbullah called Mini Khabib?

Furthermore, he resembles the former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and now he is being called “Mini Khabib.”

Well, Hasbulla has the potential to steal hearts with his cuteness as one Twitter user also tweets,

Have you seen his videos, yet?

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Melancholic by Maanu

Thursday Tunes: Melancholic by Maanu is a “sad tale of affairs”

The cultural-defying music of Pakistan!

Music is one of the most culturally infused features in Pakistan. The last decade has become the era of ‘underground artists.’ Rehman Afshar, aka Maanu is one of those artists who flies solo under the radar with his funky beats and divergent lyrics. People in Lahore also know him by ‘Yain city or yain.’ The tribute song he released for Lahore last year.

Pakistan is particularly being blessed with progressive artists, either as a band or a solo being. Quality music is being produced and eventhough some of these tracks do not get a chance to come up to the hype they deserve, but still manage to catch the attention of those who appreciate good music and has RnB and EDM in their souls.

Melancholic by Maanu aka Rehman Afshar

A blend of Pop, R&B, and EDM in one song, Melancholic is one gorgeous track. It is a complete post-breakup track. And portrays what comes from the heart directly! The song communicates perfectly. Melancholic is written, composed by Maanu himself, and mastered by Adeel Tahir.

Lyrics – Melancholic by Maanu

Melancholic Sa hai ye sama mein kahoon kya
Gin and tonic
Pe hun mein ab kab se yun zinda
Haan jab se dekhein teri aankhein
Tab se hun mein teri raahon ka deewana
I don’t have words
But I do know ke yun haulay haulay
Aagay barh raha hai in dou dillon ka fasaana
Kyun dar jata hun jab hun tujh se door?
Even though I try to play it cool
Tu hi deti hai iss dil ko sakoon

The music video

Melancholic’s music video is a visual treat. Directed by Muhammad Shah and Abdul-Rehman Malik, the vintage 4:3 frame ratio features the artist (Maanu himself) sitting on a couch singing the lyrics with a numb single dazed face. The people around him seem to be partying and enjoying life as they could. But since the lyrics suggest a breakup and the melancholy attached to it proves it. This song becomes sadder. Everything stops for him as he has lost himself. The scenes shot on the Lahore Metro are simply gorgeous and gloomy.

When the chorus hits the song intensifies and depicts the feeling of hopelessness, anxiety and the electronic music sure hits the notes perfectly with a constant groove until it fades with percussion tabla-like beats.

Listen to the song here,

Currently, Maanu is venturing and collaborating with many artists like Hasan Raheem, Talal Qureshi, and Abdullah Qureshi. And making his own music and performing on many platforms including Lahore Music Meet.

Keep rocking Maanu!

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Women Empower Wednesday: The Iron wings of Muniba Mazari

Women Empower Wednesday: The Iron wings of Muniba Mazari

Some people dream to have wings to fly high. A dream to achieve greatness through their words and their courage, and sometimes those wings come with a price. Muniba Mazari is one of the most courageous women Pakistan has. Let’s celebrate her life and achievements more.

Muniba Mazari

Muniba Mazari Baloch also known as ‘The Iron Lady of Pakistan’ was born on March 3rd, 1987 in a small village in Balochistan. She is a Pakistani activist, painter, anchor, model, singer, and motivational speaker. She became the National Ambassador for UN Women Pakistan after being shortlisted in the 100 Inspirational Women of 2015 by BBC. Mazari also made it to the Forbes 30 under 30 lists for 2016.

With all these achievements Muniba Mazari is also the Pakistan’s first motivational speaker and activist who uses a wheelchair. At the age of 21, she survived a horrific accident that caused her major spinal injuries including broken ribs, ulna radius. Her lungs and liver were deeply injured that left her paralysed from waist down. The incident that took place in 2008 changed her life entirely. She was moved to Rahim Yar Khan Hospital, the place where the accident happened and then was moved to Karachi for her surgery.

Muniba Mazari’s career

After shifting to Rawalpindi from Karachi in 2011, Muniba adopted her son Nael. She adopted her son because she knew she won’t be able to give birth and walk again.

She kickstarted her career as a painter. While painting, she found a job working for Areeb Azhar to run his Facebook page for monthly wages. She also started work at her son’s school for a startup project called Dheeray Bolo (Speak Slowly), which involved teaching Urdu at various schools. Eventually, the managing director of Pakistan Television (PTV) at the time, Mohammad Malick, learned about her because of her TEDx talk of 2014 in Islamabad and asked her to work at PTV.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ ADEEL AZHAR SHOW

With time, she spoke on various platforms as a motivational speaker. Some of her notable contributions include VCon Dubai and Malaysia. Where Mazari spoke about her experiences and her courage. She was honored with the title of Iron Lady of Pakistan. She is also under the 100 most influential women of 2015 by BBC, moreover, she was a part of the 500 most influential Muslims of the world.

Also Read: Women Empower Wednesday: Fatima Bhutto

Representing UN Women

Furthermore, Muniba Mazari became the first Pakistani UN Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. On the occasion she said, “I am a strong supporter of UN Women and the role we have in ending gender-based discrimination, and working towards gender equality, making it a lived reality. We need to educate both men and women if we want to eliminate gender-based discrimination, and for this, we have to work together as one.”

Muniba believes, “if you trust yourself, if you have firm belief in yourself, the world recognizes you.”

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Book Review: Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

Book Review: Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

‘Beyond Good and Evil’ is a complete outline of the developed way of thinking and matured philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The book comprises 296 aphorisms, going long from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages. These maxims are gathered specifically into nine distinct chapters and are bookended by an introduction and a poem.

About the Author – Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, writer, and philologist. His work has exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history. Nietzsche began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24.

Nietzsche’s writing spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying likeliness for aphorism and irony. In his later work, he became preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health.

Nietzsche’s work

His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, religion, tragedy, culture, and science. Nietzsche resigned in 1879 due to health problems. At age 44, he suffered a collapse and died in 1900 from malignant brain tumors.

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche – Review

In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche blames past rationalists for lacking basic sense and indiscriminately tolerating dogmatic premises in their thought of profound quality or morality. In particular, he blames them for establishing fantastic supernatural frameworks upon confidence. He said, that the good man is something contrary to the evil man. Instead of simply an alternate articulation of the very essential driving forces. That forces discover a more straightforward expression of an evil man.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN | RJ Sulmeen Ansari

Furthermore, the work moves into the realm ” beyond good and evil” in the feeling of leaving behind the customary profound quality. Nietzsche subjects to a destructive critique for what he views as a methodology. The methodology bravely defies the perspectival idea of knowledge and the dangerous state of the modern individual.

The question of nationalities and race

Next, he also focuses on the question of nationalities. The kind of Lamarckism that looks into different nationalities of ‘races’ and their different characteristics. Nietzsche openly attacks anti-semitism too. He also criticizes the English and the concept of good European who climbs above the nationalist sentiment to find its original self.  

Read More: Book Review: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

The concept of nobility

The last part presents Nietzsche’s origination of “what is noble.” A lone, enduring soul, who has transcended the regular ruffle as to be unrecognizable and completely misconstrued by them. He shuts the book with a weak poem about a particularly respectable soul sitting on a mountain ridge wishing he had more companions.

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Women Empower Wednesday: Going to heights Zoya Aggarwal

Women Empower Wednesday: Going to heights Zoya Aggarwal

Dreams are unbroken wings. Every dream is special and every dream has its own boundless field. We always have dreams when we are kids. Some wants to be a doctor and some wants to be a pilot and those dreams sometimes gets faded in our school notebook’s essays. Now imagine the same dream with actual real wings and a young woman Zoya is amassing that dream being above altitudes and flying high. Today it is all about Zoya Aggarwal.

Zoya Aggarwal

A young girl from India, Zoya Aggarwal is an aviator. She serves Air India as a pilot. Zoya is the youngest woman pilot in India to fly a Boeing-777 in the year 2013. From an age of eight, Zoya wished to be a pilot. She would spend hours gazing at planes flying off her head. And dreamt about being the one who could fly it one day. Belonging to a middle-class family, she was hesitant to share her dream. Finally. she gathered the courage and told her parents. Despite all of the initial problems she used all her savings to enrol herself in the aviation course.

She proved herself and topped college. After that, she never looked back. His father took a hefty loan and paid for her course. Her first flight experience was to Dubai in 2004 and she became the first woman in the world to fly across opposite poles.

Saving lives

In 2015, Zoya was praised for her job in saving a traveler’s life. A New York-bound Air India Boeing turned around mid-air and arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Reportedly a male passenger grumbled breathing issues. Despite the fact that the plane with 327 travelers was airborne for 150 minutes. Flight administrator Zoya chose to turn around to Delhi after the traveler complained of shortness of breath and needed urgent clinical consideration. The ailing traveler was hurried to a close-by emergency clinic following the plane landed.

Zoya Aggarwal marks history with the longest direct commercial flight over the North Pole

Capt Zoya Aggarwal marks history as she landed the nearly 17-hour direct flight from San Francisco via the North Pole. The flight landed at the Bengaluru international airport on January 11. That whole experience was extremely tiring but the determination led Zoya and the responsibility to safely land hundreds of people is itself an achievement.

Read More: Women Empower Wednesday: Fatima Bhutto

Like Zoya Aggarwal, there are plenty of other women who want to make dreams happen and turn them into reality. It all comes down to never stop believing in yourself!

FAQ

In 2013, Agarwal became the world’s youngest woman to fly a Boeing 777. In 2021, she made history by being the first woman captain to fly over the North Pole with an all-female crew. That flight set a lot of records and put India on the map throughout the world.

She reluctantly consented to go to Mumbai and take her test at his request. She passed all of her exams and was hired as a First Officer by Air India. She took her maiden journey to Dubai in 2004, and for the first time, she was able to touch the stars! There was no turning back for the pilot after that.

According to the BLS, airline pilots make an average yearly income of $174,870, which is more than quadruple the national average of $53,490. The average yearly pay in the ten states with the highest airline pilot wages can be more than $200,000, however, these are unusual states.

Pilots, unlike several other occupations, do not have a set yearly pay. Instead, they are paid an hourly pay plus per diem for each flight hour flown. Most airlines guarantee a certain number of hours per month, ensuring that pilots earn at least a certain amount every month.

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Book Review: Dozakhnama by Rabisankar Bal

Book Review: Dozakhnama by Rabisankar Bal

Dozakhnama – Review

Dozakhnama by Rabisankar Bal is an extraordinary novel, a biography of Manto and Ghalib; chaotic life of artists, the trauma of partition, British supremacy, and a history of Indian culture rolled into one. The writer has skillfully knitted a plot of the story-conversation between Manto and Ghalib from hell presents a lucid image of surrealism- the term is artistically applied in the novel. The dialogues of the major characters give a complete sense of realistic pieces imbibed in a fictional way.

The conversation of Ghalib

Dozakhnama must have to play a vital role for researchers who can take it as a comparative study of Mir and Ghalib. The conversation of Ghalib begins with a poetic lines of Mir. Undoubtedly, Ghalib was highly inspired from Mir therefore, he articulated;

ریختہ کے تم ہی استاد نہیں ہو غالب

کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانے میں کوئی میر بھی تھا” 

Furthermore, Ghalib was an iconoclast, because he changed the dynamics of poetry. He was not like the previous century poets who seemed busy to chase beloved and composed poetry on moon or soulless creations for such poets Plato rightly said “Poets should be banished from ideal state.” Therefore, the writer said; 

“When the Momin’s and Zauq’s were either repeating themselves and nauseam about moon and flowers and birds and ladies, or composing encomiums to the emperor, Mirza Sahib arrived on the scene to breath new life into the dead ghazal.”

Additionally, the way Ghalib taunts and criticizes court poets motivates an artist to be a non-conformist. He said; 

“While you dance to the tune of the court, poetry is deserting you and you are not even aware of it.” Or “Politics and poetry belong to two different worlds. If you want victory in one of them, you have no choice but to face defeat in the other. I could not score a victory in the world of politics.”

The tragic life of Saddat Hassan Manto

Moreover, the tragic life of renowned short story writer Saddat Hassan Manto reminds that those who face multifarious challenges in their lives will be remembered till centuries. Manto’s Platonic love for Ismat makes story more interesting. Manto sadly narrates the trauma of partition as though the sky has fallen upon his happy family. He utters prophetic words; 

“This was not just the Partition of India, not just Hindustan ki taksim, this was also a partition of friendship.” 

Post colonial literature

In a way, Dozakhnama plays an important role in post-colonial literature; the last 10 chapters of the book must have to be included in the course of English literature. A number of sentences will develop the critical and analytical thinking of students. They can gauge from the fact that Whites did not only intend to colonize ordinary people while leaders have also become puppets in their hands. Manto said; 

“We had become puppets in the hands of the Nehru, and Jinnah and Patel. Such hatred, such distrust all around. These leaders were all leeches, my brothers, they deserved to be exterminated in boiling water. They had no other mission besides sucking our blood.”

A number of sentences reflect barbarity of Whites or British imperialism in the novel. For instance, Ghalib said to Manto 

“There is no limit to man’s cruelty, Manto bhai. For the first time, I realized that the English were just as barbaric. Who knows, maybe the history of civilization is nothing but the history of barbarity from another perspective.” 

Ghalib was an eye witness of the terrorizing attitude of Whites, he said; 

“The same British who had once seemed harbingers of a new civilization now revealed their teeth and claws to me.” 

The contrasts of colonialism, communism and imperialism

Besides, the writer has beautifully painted a picture of imperialism by saying 

“I met many people in Dilli, in Calcutta, who never read any of Hindustan’s own books. White men’s works were the last word for them.”

Not only colonialism seems under criticism but Communism is also ironically demonstrated; 

“Who gave you the responsibilty of making everyone equal? Only Sufi dedication can achieve that. This is the path of the fakir and the dervish, there’s no room here for communism.”

“Commitment to equality for all is not for those whose objective is to seize power.”

“The game of “them” and “us” is a very interesting one . The communists are experts at it.”

Read More: Book Review: The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

Conclusion

Amidst all, Dozakhnama is the finest example of mysticism as well. The folk tales Mirza Ghalib used to narrate to his disciple Kallu brought up a whirl of Rumi. So, the novelist’s ultimate purpose is to preserve cultures, rituals, and literature of the subcontinent by writing a story, not a history. Because he opined “History turns to dust, Manto Bhai, stories live on.”

(Book Reviewed By Meer Mansoor)


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Goodreads Ratings 4.1/5
4.1/5
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