Bhatt, who is half-Muslim (his mother was a Muslim), resonated with what Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had once expressed. “Tagore once had a profound conversation with a Bedoin tribesman whom he met in an Iraq desert encampment. The Bedoin told him that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) described a true Muslim as someone whose words and deeds do not harm any person in any way, and here we have brother killing brother! Why is it that only a believer kills and not a non-believer? It’s very strange thing,” said Bhatt.
Worried about the future of Pakistan, he said: “Pakistan is a crumbling nation.” It’s a house falling apart, spiritually and emotionally. It’s been a long anguished struggle for survival for the nation. If you go to Pakistan you’d hear a wail in the air.”
The filmmaker feels that the Pakistani working-class has suffered immense losses. “They’ve paid a price, a very heavy price. Their war against terror has left them stunned and bewildered. The terror attacks that are playing out in Pakistan are unparalleled. I recently went to Pakistan on the occasion of Pakistan Day when a friend was honoured. I saw that most of those being honoured were policemen who died while fighting terror. Those receiving the awards were widows and children of these terror martyrs.”
Bhatt is appalled by the line of thought that suggests that the attack in Peshawar was expected. “That whole narrative of, ‘You guys had it coming,’ is appalling and brutal,” he said about one of the worst acts of human savagery ever perpetrated.
He compares the terror attack in Peshawar to the brutality of the Nazis. “Children have always been the most vulnerable. Any civilization that cannot take care of its women and children doesn’t deserve to be called a civilization. There is no denying that the state leader in Pakistan is powerless. If you go to Karachi you’ll see the man on the street is very confused as to who the enemy is. They’ve been brought up on the narrative that the man or woman across the border is the real enemy. Now they’re no longer sure of whom the enemy is. The enemy, they feel, is among us.”
He thinks it’s time for Pakistan to wake up to ground reality. “It’s time they stopped being in denial. They need to be gently nudged woken up. Militant Islam is never Islam. Look at Punjab where there has been glorious thought that a real Muslim never harms another. Muslims by being what they’ve become have done more damage to their religion than anyone else.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2014.
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Being a half muslim, I can understand why Mr Bhatt has strong feelings for Pakistanis. Horrendous though this attack was, it cannot be compared to brutal Nazi suppression of the jews resulting in a holocaust. One has to go back and look at the pictures (still preserved in the archives) and look at some of the footages of concentration camps at Dachau or Auschwitz to realize the fact that no human abuse could compare with the ones that occurred in those camps. They represent the epitome of human degradation and have no parallel.
This attack in Peshawar was dastardly but as Professor Hoodhbhoy has already argued in his column ("It wasn't the final atrocity" http://www.dawn.com/news/1151930/it-wasnt-the-final-atrocity) that similar atrocities have happened in the past. He lists the killings of 105 spectators of a volleyball match at Lakki Marwat by a suicide bomber in a pickup truck, killing of 96 Hazaras in a snooker club in a double suicide attack as well as the death of 127 in the All Saints Church bombing in Peshawar among the atrocities that are comparable to the one that happened recently in Peshawar. The reason why Peshawar killings has rattled the Army is because it targeted children of Army officers. If children of minorities, Ahmediyas or Shias were killed, there would not have been such an uproar and such a reaction.
Mr.mahesh first control GANG RAPES in slums, 60 crore live in gutters.... wake up mr.delusional indian. What a useless news.
A typical indian mentality of declaring Pakistan a failed state. Yes we have seen lows and this latest tragic event is the lowest of the lows. However, Pakistan still will survive and it has the ability to survive provided some sane leadership takes over.
I protest to tribune for publishing such demoralising narratives from across the border. Media should play a positive role in the current state of affiars. Instead of trying to fuel the decline of our morale using words like "crumbling nation", we need words of wisdom, encouragement which tribune i am sure will not difficult to promote. I may request tribune to learn lessons from media of other countries where every effort is made by them to unite the people and increase their morale as against the self defeatest attitude of our media.
defining a socalled particular society or socalled nation is easy with some clever change of words and some good grammer in brain by some Tagores,Osho and UG when some one is famous and and his comments becomes headlines.If I were UG alive today,I would definately hit Mahesh's head with a big hammer.Is this what you manage to understand after such a lot of time with Osho,JK and a great man who walked on this planet UG.If Tagores or Rumis still arise in your brain,you have wasted time with UG.Going back to Osho's Ashram is a good idea and restart with some Dynamic mediations.Nazism,Talibanism even so called civilized societies are no different,just brutality with 2 faces of same coins,nor do they exist across the border.Search where they exist