Zalzalah
Kabira
By Sir Cam
Cambridge, England
The news is very, very depressing. It always
is, I'm afraid. But the news from Pakistan is
unbelievingly distressing. "What's the latest?"
asked someone. Some 23,000 confirmed dead from
the mighty earthquake that struck Pakistan on
Saturday.
And the death toll is rising. 40,000? We are talking
about people here, not mere figures.
We are talking about real individuals -- fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles etc -- who
have been killed and countless others who have
been injured and maimed, and made homeless. Coming
as it does so soon after the great natural disasters
of the Asian Tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina and Stan,
this latest tragedy is heartbreaking.
As Prof Iftikhar Malik has e-mailed, "Stoicism
may offer some relief in these sordid moments".
Sitting so far away, one ought to overcome the
feeling of helplessness by fundraising and donating
generously. This is too big a catastrophe to be
ignored. You can make a donation at http://www.dec.org.uk,
the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee or go to
charity organizations such as Islamic Relief,
http://www.islamicrelief.com .
THE ZALZALAH (EARTHQUAKE)
Qur'an, Surah 99: "When the Earth is shaken
with her (final)earthquake, and Earth yieldeth
up her burdens, and man saith: What aileth her?
That day she will relate her chronicles, because
thy Lord inspireth her. That day mankind will
issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their
deeds. And whoso doeth good an atom's weight,
will see it then. And whoso doeth ill an atom's
weight will see it then".
So it's never too late to do a teeny weeny (zarra)
of good (khair) before some kind of zalzalah brings
us down. Because when you're down, well, it'll
be too late, mate.
A GENERAL PROBLEM
Pakistan, 1947-2005. Of which about 35 years have
been military dictatorships of one form or another.
Field Marshall Ayub Khan (1958-69), General Zia-ul-Haq
(1977-88), and now General Pervez Musharraf (Oct
12, 1999-??).
Six years of Musharraf already! If we go by the
tenures of Ayub and Zia, then we are stuck with
Musharraf until about 2010. Or, until Uncle Sam
has a use for him.
JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE
Interesting website: http://www.j-n-v.org. Justice
Not Vengeance (JNV) opposes the US-UK 'war on
terrorism', and campaigns for a peaceful resolution
of international conflicts, based on justice and
equality.
SEMINAR
A seminar commemorating the centenary of the partition
of Bengal (1905) will be held at The Lloyd Room,
Christ's College, Cambridge on 16 October, 2005
from 2.00pm-5.00pm. All are cordially invited
to attend.
The (first) partition of Bengal was a watershed
event in the history of Indian politics. This
monumental event was a catalyst for the birth
of nationalism in the subcontinent, which eventually
led to the partition of 1947 and later to the
establishment of Bangladesh.
For further details contact Dr MAJ Beg (Cambridge
501062), FM Aziz (fmaziz@onetel.com) or Sir Cam
(camdiary@hotmail.com).
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