March 14, 2009
Rahmans Mazar Blown up
March 13, 2009
I haven’t been the Mazar since it was damaged, and I’m wondering what it looks like now.
Has anyone been there lately and describe the damage to me?
March 8, 2009
These are photos from Associated Press, taken the day after the bombing of the shrine.
March 8, 2009
Why blowing up of the shrine of the Pukhtun’s greatest poet does and doesn’t matter.
In the early hours of March 5th someone with an expert knowledge of demolition strapped high explosive charges to the main columns of the shrine of the poet Abdur Rahman Baba. Mercifully no one was injured when the bombs detonated in a shower of masonry and smoke.
But what does this explosion mean to Pukhtuns and to those watching with increasing angst as the NWFP becomes embroiled in sectarian conflict?
In one sense it matters a lot, in another sense it doesn’t matter much at all.
The concern is that the explosion highlights the rise of ruthless totalitarianism. It’s pretty gutsy to try and destroy the shrine of the Pukhtun’s greatest icon – a superstar Sufi poet. He died over 300 years ago, but his poetry is still on everyone’s lips.
Similar lurches toward intolerance were the hallmark of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia and a host of other countries in which the private lives of citizens became regulated by those who thought they knew best.
By some the bombing of Rahman’s tomb will be applauded as a genuine attempt to rid the NWFP of theological error. A strict interpretation of Islam does, after all, prohibit prayer through an intermediary saint; even if he is a great poet.
But an attempt to control the private beliefs and behaviour of others is a risky business.
The drive towards the instant certainty of a strict code of behaviour is at first sight an attractive option in an uncertain world. But eventually it may lead to what the Cambridge scholar T. J. White has called the ‘poverty of fanaticism’. The slippery slope begins with intolerance towards those with other beliefs and leads to the steady eradication of the cultural diversity so vital to the fabric of a healthy state. By the time Pol Pot’s regime ended in 1979 his firm vision of the way to improve society had resulted in the eradication of over 25% of the population, many of them tortured and killed by his ruthless henchmen.
On the other hand the bombing doesn’t matter much. There is a resiliency in the human spirit which resists the advance of totalitarian ways. Intimidation, violence and a disregard for the rights of others may have their day, but it will only be for a season. Eventually shooting sportsmen, depriving girls of education and preventing others from exercising their own religious freedom will be seen for the folly it is. The deeper values of culture and human independence will bubble up again from the base, like a spring of fresh water which cleanses itself.
But what values will do the job? By a twist of fate the highest values of tolerance in Pukhtun culture are expressed in the poems of the one whose shrine was blown up. It is these values which are now the vital antidote to militancy and which hold the greatest hope for the region. He was the one who said:
If another does you harm, return them good,
Or evil will devour you too.
The heart that is safe in the storm is the one which carries
Others’ burdens like a boat.
These are ideas which can’t be blown up.
March 5, 2009
Terrible news about the attempt to destroy the mazar.
Dawn 5 March 2009
PESHAWAR: Suspected militants blew up on Thursday the mausoleum of a 17th century poet revered in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, apparently because women visited the shrine.
The ethnic Pashtun poet, Abdul Rehman, is commonly known as Rehman Baba, and is loved by Pashtuns for his mystical verse.
People regularly go to his white, marble mausoleum on the outskirts of Peshawar to pay their respects but no one was hurt in the pre-dawn blast.
‘The structure of the shrine has been badly damaged but there were no casualties,’ said police officer Zar Noor. Militants had warned people to stop women visiting the shrine, a resident told DawnNews television. Militants have been stepping up attacks in Pakistan in recent years, especially in the Pashtun-dominated northwest. As well as battling the security forces, the militants in many areas have tried to stamp out what they see as inappropriate practices such as music and dancing. The Taliban also consider paying homage at graves to be heretical.
What do you think?
Have you been to the mazar and seen the damage for yourself? What is it like now? Give us your opinions and feelings.
March 4, 2009
Are there a few people in Pindi right now who would be interested in meeting together over chai and reading Rahman Baba in a group?
