I rarely discuss politics with my Uncles (Chachas). Last night I was talking to my Chacha in California who was a Brigadier in the Pakistan Army, but left(1975-6) after being persecuted for being a non-muslim (Ahmadi). I wanted to know where my father was in 1965 war cause I was not born then (I knew where he was in 71). That took him down the memory lane and he started telling me all the mistakes made by both armies and one thing led to another and we reached the subject of Kashmir (now mind you these army officers are brainwashed on this subject regardless of their faith), he was very optimistic with the progress being made by Musharraf and linked the Kashmir with the fact that Indian economy would need gas and pipelines… and on and on and on he went. I was happy that he finally opened up to me after knowing him for about 35 years. He was excited as well because he finally saw that I was not a little kid playing with toy cars but had grown up and had asked him specific questions that made him think (becasue of my brutal questioning). Well the conversation ended with exchanging pleasantries and we hung up the phone.
Two minutes later my phone rang again and it was Brigadier Sahib again and he told me about (see link and excerpt in green below) the mandir. http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/may2005-daily/31-05-2005/metro/i21.htm
Basically the mandir is on our property that is managed by my Chacha backhome, he decided to renovate the mandir for the one or two hindus that are left, but more so for historical purposes, this renovation coincided with Mr Advani 's visit, and what a better way of building trust. By having the very person supposedly responsible for inciting the Barbari Masjid Burnig come and open/inaugarate the mandir. As you can see from the newspaper article Mr Advani came to our village and opened the mandir.
Draw your own conclusions, but my take was that instead of replying in kind by torching a mandir (tit for tat) or burning KFCs in retaliation for Koran Desecrations, if muslims would go hug a non-muslim and print a copy of a bible or two and send that to gitmo as a gift would send signals to the entire world and revive the tarnished image of Islam back to the days of Saladin and other Islamic Heroes that even their adversaries came to respect.
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
Verzi… please don’t brag about your property, non-Ahmadis will get jealous, and things are bad as it is. You are not helping much. I have never bragged about our 110 Murabbas in Sargodha.
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
If your uncle got all the way to Brigadier how the hell was he discriminated against?
I know a good deal of people who topped out at colonel and swear it was discrimination, but I've never heard of a brigadier making that claim
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
No matter how far we go to please a non-Muslim, he will continue to find you alien as long as you display a shred of holding onto a Muslim belief...
Since you talk about Salahuddin, then you must be aware of how many times Salahuddin tried to appease the crusaders and how many times they betrayed his trust, until the only way to get rid of them was to kill them...
Many Indians were very unhappy about Advani's remarks on Geo (I watched the interview) and protested about his returning...
It's like Mushy coming back after a succesful peace trip from India and the Pakis going ape over his efforts...
Then you'll open another cool and innocent thread in General with Madhu in tow...:D
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
Advani upset people because he lauded Jinnah as a secular leader, which isnt what most indians believe him to be. Not because pakistanis are muslim. you have a serious victim complex, lajo.
no one wants to be antagonistic with muslims per se, but many muslims do this whole superiority complex thing, and refuse to mix with non muslims in their own neighbourhood/workplace. if you want to be thought of as equal, behave like one.
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
you are getting all defensive now. guantanamo bay is not the norm on how muslims are treated by non muslims. quit pulling that card every time you dont have an argument.
if someone acts uppity, they are asking for isolation and mistrust. no more, no less.
Re: How to build bridges destroyed by hate and mistrust
When I was young I always thought they meant jam.
I think it’s a unit for measuring land, I’ve heard my parents discussing our murrabey in different parts of Punjab and which could do with selling etc. I wonder how big each murraba is.
