Benazir Bhutto Shaheed: The Visionary Woman of the Modern World

It was 27th December, that year, the gloomy twilight, shadowing havoc, too awful for words alarm, uncanny offshoot of the day and an eerie happening that we came across out of the blue. Birds were returning to their abodes, herds were moving towards their folds, laborers were treading wearily ways and moms were having children in their kind laps. There suddenly happened like some huntsman shoots an innocent  dove, sitting and chirping with kids. All the birds taking refuge on the trees flew in terror and scattered under the horrible sky.

Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto was taken to hospital but with the signs of agony and the same thing happened which was never welcomed in the country and abroad. She was removed from the scene physically and obviously but her legacy is lively and she is placed in the hearts of people more strappingly. This would continue to be so as long as there is breathing aspirant humanity, struggle for oppressed people, Socratic courage and faith in betterment.

    

Miss Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) opened her eye in such an atmosphere that was recent birth of a country when new born nation was finding her appropriate place in the world community. All the happenings of the greatest partition of the world were fresh and hurts were soaring to a score. In all that phenomena, she has closely seen the rising confidence of the people to put together the country with new ideologies and a faith and bloody incidents what they have experienced during all that process of crumbling at the same time. She, being a daughter of the great person who was closely sitting at such an air corridor from where every scene of millions of people could easily be seen wounding and bleeding from the horrible incident has witnessed all of that.

    

Thereafter, she came across the well known panic of her father’s trial under the tyranny of a military dictator. At that moment she was fully at her wits to judge and feel the situation. In all that prosecution she remained very close to her great father, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who had significant influence on her political career, and passed the ocean of suffering and distresses. She could not do except to accept the consequences and suppress herself. In all that she could accumulate to look to future and change the way of governance to save the people and country. Thus she knew the things practically what she had gotten from her teacher Mother Eugene. Her teacher, Benazir tells had greater influence after her father Shaheed Bhutto. She says, “My father gave me a love for books. He loved reading books and he’d make sure that I bought books and he’d buy me books. And then Mother Eugene made my imagination run wild through Shakespeare~Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar~and Keats and Browning and Byron”.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah: The Man of Resolution

Muhammad Ali Jinnah [1876-1948], well-known as Quaid-e-Azam, the great leader was, is and will be remembered in the pages of the world history. Though, he did not start his life as a politician yet he proved his competence in politics as well. It on the one hand was the thirst of a roving nation and the there was the birth of a new country on the map of the world on the other. There was a dire need of such a person who could accrue the buoyancy and conviction to a nation and provide itinerary to them. That was really a wakeup call. It was the dawning period to offer praying hands to the emerging country. Everywhere, there was a riot, confusion, bewilderment, panic, uncertainty and so on; and the things were really in a great mess; there was an immediate want of a healer to soothe all those hurts. In those crucial times, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with his firm fortification and resolution, came up to as the savior of the dusk-oriented conditions and became the morning star of the Muslim country, Pakistan. And the newly created country and the peripatetic nation sighed placidly that at last they found a person who deserved to be called the pioneer of the country, father of the nation, Baba e Qaum.

In the context of becoming founder and champion of the Muslim country, Pakistan, Jinnah can not be blamed as the leader of only of his own religious people. He was by and large a great statesman and always will be remembered positively in the world. This is not only believed by the Muslims and Pakistanis but was also affirmed by the Hindu author Jaswant Singh in his newly published book in India. If Jaswant Singh’s statement my be seen in the historical perspective that the history and the people of sub-continent may have the memory of Lukhnow pact and the joint session of Muslim League and the All India Congress in 1916. These were the days when he was titled as the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. From that, it can be construed that Jinnah had the qualities of leadership and statesmanship of not only Muslims but for larger country. He not only worked for united India to drive the British out of the sub-continent but also had the vision of the consequences of the split of the India. Same thing was seen during the time of partition which Jinnah did not want to experience. There was not only a country partitioning but millions of Muslims and the Muslim remnant of thousands of years of co-existence of the sub-continent was alienated. Muhammad Ali Jinnah worked for to strengthen the unity of Hindu-Muslims until there appeared the notorious Nehru Report in 1928, denigrating the potential existence and the rights of the Muslims.

Eastern and Western Mysticism

Body and Soul in the Poetry of Shah Latif and Walt Whitman

It is calculated that literature and philosophy are the foundation stones in any nation and country of the world. By this way, literature and philosophy shape the directions of thinking and mode of progress on those basis nations set their goals and move onward. In this context, if seen the Eastern and the Western poles of the world, the above dictum comes true. Today’s Eastern nations are mostly relying on the spiritual philosophy and the Western world especially America is enjoying the materialist progress. Every pole is developing to its own sides and directions. Islam Confucianism and Buddhism provided the basis for Eastern and Asian thinking and philosophy and several materialist thinkers laid the basis of American materialist development. What we see America and the East today is the result of those philosophies. Both the sides can be understood through its classical literature and philosophy. In this context the nineteenth century well-known American Poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) can be referred to know the actual context of American development and progress in materialism. Because Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy", a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of Walt Whitman, Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe, wrote: "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."

The literary critic, Harold Bloom wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass: “If you are American, then Walt Whitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if, like myself, you have never composed a line of verse.” These some examples prove the importance and influence of Whitman in American political, philosphical, and cultural development. Because three themes are prediminately are found overtly in his poetry: (1) American people and American democracy (“enmasse”) (2) sex and senses; and (3) death.

On the other hand our great mystic poet Shah Latif (1689-1752) is one of representative poet of Islamic and eastern philosphies. On the one hand, one will find the Hindu mortification philosphy in his poetry and on the hand Islamic faith and eternity abudently. Both the poet have different world view which is also seen in todays world as well. At the Western side as is seen today is much selfishness and self development in the materialist philosphy as Whaitman says:

Come, I will make the continet indissoluble…

I hear America singing, the varied carlos I hear;

Above both examples illustrate the selfishness and betterment of oneself which is essence of todays American and Western priority. Whereas Islamic and Eastern philosphy emphasize the eternal and universal well-being and welfare. Shah Latif prays from God:

O my lord, bestow prosperty on Sindh for ever,

O my sweet friend, shower blessings on all the world.

Shaikh Ayaz: The poet of Life and Human Awakening

The legendry poet of Sindhi language and one of the greatest scholars of twentieth century Shaikh Ayaz (1923-1997) whose original name is Shaikh Mubarak Ali using the pen-name as Shaikh Ayaz, is the author of 75 books, of them more than 50 has been published so far. He composed his fiery, mystic and humanistic poetry and wrote much prose only one of its kinds for almost half of the century depositing enormous constructive mark on Sindhi language and modern Sindhi literature. He composed his verses almost in all literary genres. He not only composed lofty and immortal poems but also wrote in prose so excellently. He brought into play conventional meters of the language in classical genres as well as in modern poetry and formulated new experiences in meters. With regard to theme, Shaikh Ayaz worked less or more almost on all subjects from universal to territorial, from humanism to patriotism; but the bulk of his poetry is composed under the theme of saving life on the earth and awakening humanity towards the welfare and wellbeing of life. He, in this poetic expression and feelings, chanted the slogan to save life of all the creatures created by the God, he brings forward the idea like in the following verse:

Taking no pity, you slung it

Like you, the little one!

The dove, too, has a mom

It is soundly observed that the poets are sensitive in their feelings and sentiments and their message is to feel pain of others akin to one’s own. At this juncture the metaphoric use of mother’s sensitive and subterranean love sensitizes the feelings of the boy. It is for the reason that the love, wistful eyes and compassionate care of mom are incomparable towards her progeny. On the other hand it is verily said that your survival lies in your fellow men’s survival; like the famous dictum ‘جيو اور جيني دو’ (Live and let live others). This is genuine memo of our religion of Islam as well as the message of humanity. No doubt, such kind of feelings and sensitiveness in one’s being if truth be told fetch suffering. It is because this world is full of sorrows and agonies as Goutam Buddha said ‘Surrom Dukham Dukhaum’ (Every thing is a pain), yet continuing committed towards that and enduring the pain of suffering of others for oneself is really the essence of human distinctiveness. Ayaz acknowledges this as;

Tearful tales my talent has given me

I have sung the sorrows of whole country