MODERN ARTISTS AND WRITERS INDULGE IN CHAOS AND ANARCHY
MODERN SO CALLED INTELLECTUALS FREAK OUT AND SPIN TALES

Traditionally wounds happen and then go through a process of healing, leading to scars and then even those go away, to show a clear skin and the episodes forgotten with time. But there are wounds that never heal, they fill up with pus and festering wounds, remain like cancer on the hearts and mind of feeble people. We have a saying that there is NOOR on the face of certain people and there is LANAT on others. We all know that.

It has become a habit with people to take jabs at Quaid e Azam and Dr Allama Iqbal, and both these towering personalities cannot stay in the hearts of those condemned with LANAT. It has become a year round thing but more specifically on the various anniversaries of our National Icons. You have to be a standard like these icons to even be able to understand the agony they went through to build up a nation. Without a miracle Nations cannot rise and both Quaid e Azam and Dr Allama Iqbal were miracles of our times. The Blessings of Allah be upon both them! They gave us Pakistan and it is for us to take care of Pakistan. Indeed a Rising Pakistan these days under the protection of Pak Army and our Supreme judiciary. Allah is merciful!

Read again: http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=179

PROSTRATING IN FRONT OF ALLAH AND SO CALLED ALIEN,
AN INEVITABLE CLASH OF IDEOLOGY IN VISION OF ARTISTS

In any culture freedom of expression is considered natural and no one has any objections against it. That is civilization. But different cultures have different perspectives. An expression by an artist on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum in New York depicts a person (?) prostrating in front of a giant Alien. No hand shakes or welcome signs. Just submission. The artist has given no explanation. None is required. The visuals are clear enough. The Aliens can be imagined in any way.

In our Islamic society we prostrate in front of no one else except ALLAH. Out of the 99 attributes we are given, we use the words, THE BENEFICENT, COMPASSIONATE, AND MERCIFUL all the time. Our greatest artists approach the might of Allah in different ways. M.A. Rahman Chughtai has also made some paintings relevant to the idea and we share them with our viewers. Politics and Aesthetics are inter-mixed by many these days, but what result? We cannot say. Decisions are made by people themselves. Who are we to impose? Enjoy whatever you can! Nothing enters the brain at gun point. Only fear!

FATAL JOURNEY OF PRINCESS SAHIB JAMAL FROM KABUL TO LAHORE
DEATH, BURIAL, MAUSOLEUM, AND THEN CENTURIES OF CONFUSION
IN THE BLISSFUL GARDEN OF “ANARAN” POMEGRANATES IN LAHORE

Research has gone outside the realm of our scholars. Research where there is no money is of no value to the modern researcher. There were dozens living in Lahore alone who were obsessed with unraveling the truth out of history. But legends as well as monuments are stuck with old time tales and no one is bothered in correcting same. We still insist on the Mausoleum of Zeb un nisa being in Lahore, the Gateway of Bagh Jahan Ara as the Garden of Zeb un nisa, the Mausoleum of Mumtaz Shikoh as being of Prince Pervaiz, and many many more. Foremost is the Mausoleum of Anarkalli in Lahore. Historians have provided proof that it is the burial place of Princess Sahib Jamal. but the story so concocted by the filthy mind of William Finch still reigns strong, due to films and dramas and our own Romeo and Juliet versions. And then persons like Mirza Hamid Baig still insists (in phone talk with me) on Anarkali story due to 32 years of research. Awaiting his volcanic revelations if any, with hope of fresh documentation. Centuries of research of Hindu story tellers still insist on the Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple and what not? Internet is full of the filthy declaration that the Holy Kaaba is also a Shiv temple, Allah forbid! Conspiratorial minds galore. Writer Mirza Hamid Baig went ahead further to insist (in phone with me) that even the drama of Anarkali by Imtiaz Ali Taj was not written by him. That is throwing mud on an iconic person who wrote it in 1922 and murdered in the 1950s. Long after his death the conspiracy goes on. Obsession to undo icons is here.

What is truth? Only one thing can be the truth. The rest versions. Unfortunately those who shout strongest are without documentations. But strong voices are heard not voices of paid lobbies. Many live on slander alone. We will write more about it!

THE SOLUTION TO WORLD PEACE LIES NOT IN EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY
POLITICIANS ALL OVER THE WORLD LACK COMPASSION FOR SUCH AN EVENT

Once upon a time our group of friends used to sit down on a cup of tea and discuss things. My friend Mirza Saleem Haider used to say we talk of education enlightening us and of democracy giving us stability but if we actually see even those nations which have both of them, we find their so called leaders beings literally SHIT-HEADS. Trying to amass wealth on both national as well as individual level, they care little for the welfare of humanity. The poverty prevailing in the world does not shame them in any way. Literally excess grain used to be thrown in the sea so as not to disturb the market value of same. It seems the guiding light of these terrible people is Marquis de Sade. Some years back there was a scandal in Ceylon, in which wanton rich people used to visit to have sexual fun with those poor orphan kids and literally ruin them for the rest of their lives. This was international news but no one bothered with compassion for same. Scandals abound every day, and the same are thrown in the dustbin. How cruel and callous can a man get? Recent wars in various countries have killed millions for no reason nor rhyme. Who cares? In fact think-tanks are preaching destruction of a major portion of the world to stabilize things? Others are planning to go tho Mars and never come back.

The same set of people cry their hearts out for any kind of animals in pain. But no one takes the anguish of the tortured and hungry people in pains. So shut this hypocrisy of education and democracy. Of course education enlightens us to reality but does not engender compassion in us. CIVILIZATION IS THE ULTIMATE FACTOR FOR CARING FOR OTHERS. All religions preach compassion for others. All great people thrived on their capacity for compassion. Allah is COMPASSION itself. It was Hazrat Umar (blessings of Allah) who simply said to us that Allah holds him responsible for even a hungry dog on the river side. And where do we learn his compassion? At our mother’s feet. It is in all ways full of meaning that Paradise lies under the feet of the mother. Study life of our political leaders and you will find that they were deprived of their mother’s love. Surely they grew up as bad boys! Who can correct that?

WELL KNOWN CRUCIFIXION IN LAHORE FORT IN BHUTTO’S PERIOD
JOURNALIST YUNUS PINNED TO A WOOD BOARD BY HALAKU KHAN

In the course of many decades we have seen bizarre visitors to our premises. We are told of the flogging of journalists in the times of General Zia ul Haque, but little is taken up of the atrocities in the period of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. A journalist who said he was thirty years old but looked to be sixty years old, walked in our premises, that is after 1977. Probably 1978 or 1979. He introduced himself and talked with us for hours. In fact he did not make one visit but called a few times and was reluctant to tell me his miseries in the start of our discussion. And then one day when he felt he had my confidence, he narrated a strange tale to me.

Roughly his story was like this. Muhammed Yunus used to write in the Urdu press and his expose was the Governmental regime. He openly wrote against the policies of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. This was resented in certain quarters and he was warned to desist from the same. He did not listen and one day he was picked up by the governmental people, that is civilian in power. He was taken to the Lahore Fort. The dungeons which were historically known to house political prisoners. It was famous that the same prison was governed by a police officer who was known as Halaku Khan for his cruelties. He had the knack of torturing people and enjoyed doing same. Yunus was tortured for days and the ultimate torture was that he was stripped naked and pinned on a wooden board with iron nails. Perhaps his awe and prayers were heard by the Al-Mighty, for the regime underwent a change and Yunus was saved from death by a miracle.

Yunus looked at me and said that you are looking at me with disbelief and I want to prove same to you. He raised the sleeves of the shirt as well as his shalwar. There were deep gaping holes in the arms as ell as the legs, and no surgery could have removed the torture signs on him. I could imagine the same wounds, full of blood and was literally vomiting at even the thoughts of same. People in power do strange things. Freedom of speech can bring disastrous results. But then the Quranic Law of Makufat has its own way of doing things. I am sure Yunus is out there somewhere and doing what is unknown today.

AN ART FESTIVAL IN LAHORE AND JOURNALIST BILAL QURESHI,
A BOLD STEP OF INQUIRY TO ENTER A PARALLEL WORLD OF ART.

It amuses us that there is a world out there who can thrust their norms and thoughts into Pakistan, all with use of media and financial resources. And making a hype of it. There is a thousand years of history of Art in Lahore, but in the 20th century, it was M.A. Rahman Chughtai who put Lahore on the Art map of the world. It compelled Lionel Heath, Principal Mayo School of Arts, to call Chughtai Art a new and modern school of Art from Punjab. The affinity of M.A. Rahman Chughtai with Islamic renaissance and Pakistan, made these mimics of Art highly upset. All that most of these people could do was to mimic Western art movements and trying to proclaim it as their own. They lacked pride in their traditions, and even had snobbish disdain for our beloved country Pakistan. You see tirades against Dr Allama Iqbal, Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Asad, and G.A. Pervez all the time. None had the HIMAT to speak against M.A. Rahman Chughtai, for his brother shoved their ill thoughts into proper places. The challenge in front of me was greater in newer times but as artist Shahida Rahman vouched for us, that we stood the test of time. These foolish people should have known that Chughtai Art was too great a revolution in itself to be stifled by Art gimmickry in Pakistan.

We commend Bilal Qureshi for his bold step to embark upon his mode of enquiry, and he called with speculations rife in his mind. Our world is Art and that world is a world of peace. He told me that in Pakistan there are Art lobbies, and he asked about us. I said no lobby here, except the lobby of Pakistan itself. Who needs a lobby anyway? We are our own lobby, freedom and pride of being Pakistanis with us. A deliberate attempt is made in Pakistan to even isolate references about us. A foolish trial of literally foolish people. When the MOON shines, everybody sees it! The warmth of the SUN cannot be excluded from life. The radiance of M.A. Rahman Chughtai is all over Pakistan. And it is all over the world too. When a gallery will be opened on the Planet MARS, Chughtai Art will be represented there too. So stop the nonsense. Wake up. Yes 43 years after his death, Chughtai Art lives all the more! And we serve Pakistan and we serve the world. We are proud of our heritage and the legacy lives on. Thank you, Bilal, for giving us an opportunity to show you the other world.

BATTLE OF IDEAS CONVERTED INTO QUEST FOR RESOURCES
GREED DESTROYING COMPASSION GLOBALLY FOR OTHERS

Once upon a time intellectuals fought over ideas. The quest was to make an egalitarian society bounce with vibrance of sharing issues of life. The Islamic dream was to make it a life of reward for effort, and the availability to share abundance with others. Communism gave us a view of life, but something which was to be thrusted upon people, not by their own compulsions of life. Today all countries are deeply involved in the capitalistic thrust of life. Not merely individuals greed but also nations. To bring to happiness to a few not to the society in general. Under the blanket of throbbing inhumanity, there is a volcano always ready to burst into oblivion for many. For Islam effort creates money, not money creates money. All the Mullahs, all the Secular on one page on this. Greed destroyed principles perhaps totally.

Most songs, both Eastern and Western sang the song that money cannot do all things. Muhammed Rafi could speak of “Chandi ke dewar no tori” while the Beatles raved about “Money cannot buy me love”. It was universal truth once, then the illusion was started that money could do all things. Then why the richest people in the world are so unhappy, unsatisfied and hunger for contentment which never comes to them, except through philanthropic works. The universal truth is that making somebody else smile brings smile into your life too. This is the Law of Reciprocity, and the Quran defines it as the Law of Mukufat amal.

The sad truth is that when Ideas battle actual warfare is not far away. When change does not come from acceptance, it brings in revolution, and many such revolutions are indeed bloody. Can we grow up in time before Greed destroys the world in total?

SPLASH ART IN PAKISTAN ON POLITICAL AGENDAS
THE ZENITH OF ART GIMMICKRY AND ART ANIMALS

The world is experimenting with paintings being done by animals. Amazing talents of the animals in playing riot with colours. Shows are held of animal painting and some sold for thousands of dollars in USA. Unfortunately our zoos are not doing same. Lahore Zoo should have woken up to this idea long ago. Perhaps the reason for that sleep is that instead of animals in zoo, outside world has Splash Art as an Art Gimmicky reached its height in forging political agenda of foreign lobbies. It is natural that the chaos and anarchy of the political world will eventually enter the world of Pakistani Art too. The public stands amused by this creativity taken very seriously by some. Obviously no one is even allowed to cry or laugh. It is bringing distraught to all serious painters in Pakistan.

EVEN THE EVERY DAY USE LOTA REFLECTS IN CLEAR TERMS
THE TWO NATION THEORY AND THAT IS INDEED AMAZING

Observation is clearly required for analysis. We were reading a very interesting comment by world renowned historian Dr Abdullah Chaghatai. He compares the Islamic lota (used for toilet purposes) with the Hindu Guddawi (used for Astan purposes). There is a well defined sprout in the Muslim lota and hardly any sprout in the Guddawi. Dr Chaghatai spells it in clear terms. The Muslims needed a long sprout to clean that particular section of the body, while the Hindu community had no such requirement. Plenty of water, versus a small Guddawi for sprinkling purposes. This is not imagination, this is clear cut fact that the Lota represents the two nation theory so well.

An Islamic Arts scholar came from London and we discussed the shape pf the sprout. He was defining the Lota in terms of centuries and I asked him, how on earth just by visual observation, he could date an utensil, and a lota. His reply was simple. He said it is the flow of the line. In a thousand years instead of advancing the aesthetics, you lost the basic aesthetic shape of the Lota. Amazing it was!

Look around. We can all live in peace, but we also have to acknowledge two different ways of life. Islamic way tells us SAFAI NISF IMAN, Islamic faith is fifty percent all about cleanliness. And a long sprout enables us to clean all parts of the body involved in toilet.

ALLAMA ASAD ON WHY PAKISTAN IN 1948
NO WONDER QUAID LOVED HIM GREATLY

We are lucky to have various issues of ARAFAT magazine in our archives. Reading the very first issue give you jitters and you feel like shouting out accolades for Allama Asad, who indeed was not merely a wonderful person, but centuries ahead in intellectual might.. For some time he lived in Model Town itself. Quaid e Azam gave him the task of being the Director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction. Let us share some of his sentences for welfare of Pakistan. The first statement made is:

“We cannot, even if we wanted, continue to live as we have hitherto lived- complacently, secure in the illusion that the pattern of life accepted as valid in past times must fore ever remain valid.”

And he adds:

“Islam does not content itself with influencing the life of the spirit alone but aims also at shaping all the physical aspects of our life in accordance with the Islamic world-view. IN THE GRAND SCHEME PROPOUNDED TO US IN THE QURAN AND IN THE LIFE EXAMPLE OF THE HOLY PROPHET, ALL THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE- MORAL
AND PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL, INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNAL- HAVE ALSO BEEN TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AS PARTS OF THE INDIVISIBLE WHOLE WHICH WE CALL ‘HUMAN LIFE’ .”

Pakistan was made by Quaid-e-Azam not as a religious dogma but as a DEEN, a complete way of life. The vision was of Dr Allama Iqbal, and Quaid e Azam selected G.A. Pervez and Allama Asad to devise a strategy for IJJTEHAD in life of the new country. Moronic leadership brought in the Mullah to reinforce their outdated rules of life. We continue our research!