United we stand, divided we fall

By Afzal Hussain Bokhari

On account of the Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal, the offices of the daily newspapers remained closed on Saturday. The broadsheets did not, therefore, appear on newsstands on Sunday and committed readers stood deprived of the opportunity to get intoxicated with the sanctity of the printed word, so to speak.

Though not perfect substitutes, television news channels try to fill the vacuum by giving company to newspaper-addicts and devotees of the printed word. For example, religious circles in City were busy finalising the modalities of the traditional Milad-un-Nabi procession when 24x7 channels broke the news that a similar procession in Dhakki Mor of Dera Ismail Khan had been marred by divergence of opinion.

Giving background to the incident, news channels said that a procession was proceeding along its route when the inmates of a nearby madrassah came out with objections and reportedly demanded that participants of the procession change the route.

As objections became vibrant and demands got louder, both the sides exchanged heated arguments. Fingers dancing impatiently on the levers finally pulled the triggers of the guns and the calm, suburban air of the violence-hit southern district resounded with deafening shots. Police rushed to the area and clamped curfew on the disturbed region. In order to bring the crowd into control, the security forces also had to resort to firing. With gunshots coming from various sides, one person lost his life in the chaos.

Under somewhat similar circumstances, a clearly avoidable conflict of interest and timing in Peshawar’s Mohalla Marviha led to an ugly situation in which two religious groups clashed with the result that Dr Saqlain Haider and Ali Abbas (advocate) fell to bullets coming from the rival faction.

Deaths of two prominent figures enraged members of Tehrik Nifaz Fiqah-i-Jafaria (TNFJ), who staged a protest demonstration by blocking traffic on Circular Road. Led by the central spokesman of TNFJ, Allam Syed Qamar Haider Zaidi, the protesters demanded an early arrest of the killers.

Apart from the TNFJ anger, the unbiased and independent religious circles in City also expressed concern at the fact that some anti-social elements which wanted to ruin sectarian harmony in the otherwise tolerant Frontier metropolis had suddenly become active. The issue of staggering the time of the two events was not probably as complicated a problem as to necessitate the deaths of a doctor and a lawyer.

Jamaat-i-Islami, for instance, called for the need to have more sectarian harmony. Holding a Seerat Conference in City on Sunday, the speakers, including Professor Ibraheem Khan, appealed to the ulema from all schools of thought to come forward and play their role. They said that those who spread anarchy and lawlessness could not be described as patriotic elements.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti spoke by phone to head of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and discussed with him the latest situation in DI Khan. Both of them agreed that the civil society as well as the religious parties needed to stand up and hold the hand of law-breakers. The present friction was not a good omen and it could not be allowed to continue indefinitely.

Violence and sectarian tension could not suppress cultural activities in the provincial capital. Area Study Centre of Peshawar University held a reference for the departed souls of Ajmal Khan Khattak and Sher Zaman Taizai. Glowing tributes were paid to the monumental contribution made to Pushto literature by Khattak and Taizai.

Apart from Vice-Chancellor Dr Azmat Hayat Khan and director of Area Study Centre, Dr Sarfaraz Khan, the others who spoke on the occasion included Aimal Khan and Riaz Shahid who were respectively the sons of Ajmal Khattak and Sherzaman Taizai.

By showing their talents for acting, the boys and girls of Peshawar University’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication staged two plays titled Haya and Swara. Considered to be of adequate quality and standard, the guests and local critics duly appreciated the production, relevance and significance of the plays especially with reference to the choice of subjects, which in the context of local culture were highly touchy and sensitive.

For the first time in the history of broadcasting, the plays were okayed and put on air both by the Campus Radio and Radio Pakistan. The Campus Radio is being looked after by an experienced broadcaster and retired station director of Radio Pakistan, Hameed Asghar. Similarly, known drama producer Sardar Ali recently took over as the station director of Peshawar Radio. One is not sure about PTVs self-imposed restrictions but with slight changes, the plays can probably be shown on the State-controlled television.

Like elsewhere in the country, sports lovers in City felt shocked at the disclosure that two players of the national cricket team Kamran Akmal and Abul Hassan had reportedly been involved in match fixing. Urdu service of Voice of America (VOA) posted on its web site on Saturday a scandalous story that the above cricketers might have re-introduced the element of gambling in the game and minted money in the process.

Commenting on the report, former player Sarfaraz Nawaz (who added to his fame in the past by becoming a provincial minister and marrying film actress Rani) told a private television channel that the accusations might well be true. He appealed to the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of the matter and summon the said players so that they should tell the court how and why Pakistani team showed such a poor game in Australia and Sri Lanka.

If there is any game in which there is no chance of any match fixing, it is without doubt cycling. Sixty-three contestants from four teams begin their marathon country-wide Tour de Cycle Race from Peshawar today. Head of the race, Idrees Haider Khwaja, said on Sunday that passing through Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Hyderabad and Moro, the race would terminate on March 13 at the mausoleum of the Qaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.