{"id":5141,"date":"2015-06-15T17:26:34","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T12:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pakistanpressfoundation.org\/?p=80086"},"modified":"2015-06-15T17:26:34","modified_gmt":"2015-06-15T12:26:34","slug":"sabeen-remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/sabeen-remembered\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabeen remembered"},"content":{"rendered":" $\"Sabeen$

KARACHI: At \u2018Unsilence Pakistan: A Tribute to Sabeen Mahmud\u2019, the murdered activist was remembered first under the fading light and then the starless night sky at Arts Council\u2019s open-air auditorium. It was an event of tear-filled eyes, of choked throats, of reminiscent nods and of fond memories left behind. An event where Sabeen\u2019s legacy was carried on.<\/p>\n

It was fitting then that the opening speaker was mentor Zaheer Kidvai \u2013 the man who saw Sabeen become the woman she became.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever have I seen a woman more capable of doing whatever she set herself to do,\u201d said Kidvai. \u201cShe wanted to change the country, she wanted to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two speakers later came writer Muhammad Hanif, bringing with him all of the wit he is renowned for. \u201cWe journalists are told to add the word \u2018alleged\u2019 before any fact we are not sure of or when we want to protect someone\u2019s reputation,\u201d he started off. \u201cSo when the journalists in the audience publish this tomorrow, please add the word \u2018alleged\u2019 wherever you see fit in order to save me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that light humour and sharp wit was only building up what he was going to say next; a rhetorical question \u2013 half to himself, half to the audience \u2013 that lingered uncomfortably in the thoughts of all who heard it. \u201cSabeen\u2019s last show was \u2018Unsilence Balochistan\u2019 and this one is \u2018Unsilence Pakistan\u2019. I don\u2019t know whether this is a step forward and we are now trying to cover the entire country or whether it is a step backwards and we are afraid of highlighting Balochistan,\u201d he said, before perhaps answering his own question. \u201cI guess some part of us is scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like most of Hanif\u2019s monologues, this too included topics and individuals unpublishable \u2013 discussing the greed, corruption and fear mongering of media moguls, the army and religious leaders \u2013 but too often he struck close to home. \u201cBalochistan is a topic that we must avoid in order to survive in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd those who raise it outside the country are branded traitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wit of Hanif gave way to the passion of bonded labour activist Veeru Kohli and Baloch rights activist Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur. The latter was part of the talk at T2F after which Sabeen was gunned down on April 24. \u201cThat day we were the ones who talked about Balochistan, and she was the one who paid the ultimate price,\u201d he said, a voice filled with emotion and perhaps misdirected guilt. \u201cBut it is something that needs to be talked about. As they say, \u2018What you allow is what will continue\u2019. \u201cWo shaks hi kia jo der jaye halaat ki khuni gardish se. Us daur me jeena lazim hai jis daur mei jina mushkil ho.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talpur did, however, have a parting warning for \u2018those who are destroying Balochistan\u2019. \u201cThough the mills of God grind slowly. Yet they grind exceeding small.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy took the stage shortly after. \u201cI was introduced to Sabeen some 15 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I stand not alone in being hurt at her murder. I wanted to criticise certain organisations but they told me to instead focus on the National Action Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoodbhoy\u2019s words, direct and upfront as they were, may have earned him the ire of some. \u201cInterior minister Chaudhry Nisar said that 10% of all seminaries are promoting and instigating terrorism in the country. That is an alarming large number but it highlights the government\u2019s weakness that they backed down on their decision to take action against such institutes on Fazlur Rehman\u2019s demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan director IA Rehman was the last speaker on the night. \u201cI am happy to say that Sabeen\u2019s work continues,\u201d said the 85-year-old. \u201cThey took her life but they cannot take away her work and her ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Rehman bemoaned the streak of violence present in Pakistani society. \u201cOnce we used to hide our murderers, now we flaunt them with pride,\u201d he said, before taking a gander at the reason for this increase in bloodshed. \u201cNon-state violence is nothing more than the reflection of the state\u2019s violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the clock ticked towards the event\u2019s end and the last of the speaker had left the stage, it was clear that the echoes of Sabeen rang as loud, clear and proud as they ever had; but after hearing the speakers highlight the plethora of problems facing Pakistan, the echo seemed but hollow in this festival of chaos.<\/p>\n

\nExpress Tribune<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"