It is not necessary that we have to discuss Napoleons and Guderians here on military history forums.
We can discuss potential Napoleon also.
It was August or September 1984 when I met then Major Sikandar Ahmad , then serving in 1 FF. Sikandar was an exceptional man intellectually ! A rare find ! His sense of humour was also historic and most unorthodox ! When his brigade commander one Syed Tanvir Hussain Naqvi visited him in the combined military hospital Kharian camtonment Sikandar who had a foot in plaster (a basket ball injury) when asked by Naqvi " Oh you can walk " retorted , I can hop also !
It turned out that Major Sikandar Ahmad belonged to an extremely educated and outstanding family and younger brother of one Akbar.S.Ahmad a CSP who was then commissioner of Sibi .
Sikandar as all brilliant and outspken men was in clash with authority , having inspired jealousy of smaller men who had higher ranks ! But as they say it the habit of stray village dogs to bark at eminent men !
Although I was a history enthusiast Sikandar played a role in polishing it by his analysis of history from a high vantage point , seeing the larger picture and guiding me how to do it !
He taught me how to write redress of grievances against your military superiors as per instructions given in Army regulations 193 and 194 originally conceived by the British and one of their greatest contributions to the military law.
With Sikandars guidance I became an expert in writing redress of grievances and in military law and helped many juniour officers in fighting and sometimes playing hell with careers of their intellectually dishonest commanding officers !
It is sad that while the Indian Army gave their officers basic rights in pakistan the army has laws of stone age !
We met again in Multan in 1985-86.
In 1987 or 1988 Sikandar was miraculously promoted to be a colonel. Miraculously I say because men of his very high calibre have no place in armies which in reality are citadels of mediocrity !
Sikandar was a chronic bachelor but suddenly he got married in 1988 or so ! He was on his honey moon and stayed at my fathers annexe in cavalry ground Lahore.
Major General Hameed Gul who initially was not in favour of Sikandar realised that Sikandar was an exceptionally talented man and I believe Sikandar did extremely well in the ISI under Gul.
I managed to visit Sikandar many times in the desert in tamewali when he was commanding his parent 1 FF regiment.We sat next to fire lit in the open and chatted.
This was 1988 or so .
I last talked with him in 1993 or so when I was commanding an independent squadron at Okara and he commanding an infantry brigade at Pano Aqil.He had been selected for the war course but the lesser souls with lesser intellects again conspired against him ! Sikandar did not have that shameless obsequeousness which you find in most officers.
I last met him in 2000 when he had retired .I wanted to present him my book but a major general expressed immense interest in it and i gave it to him ! I thought that I would give Sikandar another copy ! But then we lost contact !
I dont know where he is now ! In retrospect I can say that more harm on the pakistani state and army has been inflicted by its third rate senior officials than any enemy could do !
It was with this background in mind that I thus wrote in my article published in the command and staff college Quettas Citadel Journal; " many military systems that this world saw were a conspiracy against originality and boldness" !
Daily Times, Sunday, January 29, 2012
VIEW: Akbar Ahmed: a poet of great vision —Ishtiaq Ahmed
Surely the God Akbar Ahmed believes in is the God all good human beings would need to repair this world. Even rationalists, agnostics and atheists would not mind inventing such a God
Professor Akbar Ahmed is widely recognised as a proud Muslim and Pakistani, always willing to take up cudgels on behalf of his faith and country. While such concerns have remained constant for him, he has intellectually travelled a great distance in the correct direction: towards the recognition of common humankind.
Since many years now he has been on a personal spiritual and intellectual journey. That journey has helped him blossom as a Muslim, a humanist, a distinguished scholar and a talented poet. His fascination for Suleh-e-Qul (peace for all) now informs his writing as well as his social and cultural activism. That is a great asset in this world torn and traumatised by intolerance, extremism and war. Poetry is arguably a far more liberating medium to express feelings and emotions.
The poet Akbar Ahmed has shown great intellectual honesty and integrity by not editing or self-censoring the poems he shares with us in his Suspended: Somewhere Between (Washington DC: Busboys and Poets Press, 2011). It includes verses that could appeal to militant Islamists as well as verses that are in the best Sufi tradition of tolerance and embrace of others. Suspended: Somewhere Between is organised into five themes: Pakistan, Love, Islam, Echoes of History and Pensées.
The poems on Pakistan bring forth the profound emotions and pride the author felt when his family made the journey to Pakistan. Son of a civil servant — UP origin father of Arab extraction and Pukhtun mother — Akbar Ahmed arrived in Pakistan in a train from Delhi that luckily escaped an armed raid during the partition riots. The experiences in Pakistan have been multifaceted; deeply moving visits to Sufi shrines as well as exposure to the stark reality of the policeman's baton — something that Allama Iqbal failed to appreciate in his famous celebration of the master and slave becoming equals when standing together during prayers. He pays tribute to his mother, to the caliphs Umar (RA) and Ali (RA), to his friend Major Sabir Kamal who was witness to the blood dance that took place in Dhaka in March 1971. The social and cultural code of the Pakhtuns, Pakhtunwali, and the Khyber Pass are portrayed with tender insight. His poem "They are taking them away" on the 1971 civil war in the former East Pakistan is an outpouring of grief for all those who suffered: Bengali, Bihari; East Pakistani, West Pakistani. The last verse captures his agony pithily:
"there is no shame like the shame of
taking them away to the slaughter houses."
The poems grouped under Love include exquisite imagery fired by passion as well as homage to his mother and love for his wife and children. This section can be of great help to poets looking for inspiration to capture love in different contexts.
The third section of verses deals with the poet's love for Islam. Intellectually, this is the most daring section as he battles with the narratives about an Islam whose glory rests on conquest and expansion and the period of celebrated caliph Umar bin Khattab (RA) as well as the grandeur of God expressed through architecture, poetry and high culture created by distinguished men such as Jalaluddin Rumi, Ibn Khaldun, Omar Khayyam, Ghalib and others. He is elated by a visit to a mosque in Paris frequented by the Berbers — a North African group who converted to Islam at a very early stage. For him it proves that Islam appeals to all ethnicities and nationalities. His affiliation to Sunni Islam does not prejudice him towards the followers of other religions or sects. This is how he understands the message of the Quran and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
In the Echoes of History, Akbar Ahmed provides us with glimpses of his understanding of civilisation. He raises a voice of protest against those intoxicated by the power and might at their disposal. While he condemns the 9/11 terrorist outrage, he pours out his heart-felt grievances over how the high and mighty in the US turned that into a war against Muslims. He cautions that all empires ultimately slip into oblivion. Some verses dwell on the Mughals who conquered and built a fabled empire. A poem deals with his father's legacy of serving the British while retaining a lively interest in Ghalib and Iqbal. All such influences have left an impression on him and impacted on his understanding of the world as a citizen of the world.
Pensées was a new term for me. I now know it means pithy 'thoughts' or aphorisms about what people understand as truth. Pensées was given posthumously as the title for a defence of the Christian religion by the 17th century French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal. Akbar Ahmed ascribes a wider and more interesting meaning to his Pensées. For him nature, the universe, God — are objects of wonderment and awe. They dazzle him, they make him ponder the ultimate existentialist question: what is life all about? I present the last poem entitled, "What is that I seek?" in his book:
"A force of such might
It sets me free
A light so bright
It blinds me
I heard it in the voice of the nightingale
I know it was in the hearts of the wise
I sensed it in the lover's tale
I saw it in your eyes
I saw it in Rumi's poetry
I know it was in Gandhi's gaze
I sensed it in Mandela's oratory
I saw it in Jesus' ways...
What is this riddle and what is its parts?
What is this enigma and mystery?
What can reveal the secrets of the heart?
What has the power to change me?
It is God's greatest gift
It raises us high above
It is the bridge over the rift
It is love, love, love
Give it in generous measure
Give it as if there's no tomorrow
Give to all you meet this treasure
Give it and banish sorrow."
Surely the God Akbar Ahmed believes in is the God all good human beings would need to repair this world. Even rationalists, agnostics and atheists would not mind inventing such a God. The problem is of course the God of history in whose name so much blood has been spilled down the ages. I hope one day he reflects on the dialectical movement in the history of God and proposes a way out of this dilemma.
The writer has a PhD from Stockholm University. He is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment