The first event was watching an internationally acclaimed film titled 'Khamosh Paani' that was screened in the NIC auditorium under the auspices of Pakistan-India Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and Action Aid. The public response to the movie was stupentendous as the auditorium was packed and surprisingly the movie started on time. Observing the keen interest shown by the residents of Islamabad, PIPFPD is planning to establish a film club on membership basis, which would screen the top most movies from all over the world.
Kishwar Naheed was the main person behind the screening of the movie. While this event was combined with collection of donations for tsunami disaster affectees. In the end Kishwar Naheed announced that Rs 15,000 had already been collected on the spot and a lady, requesting to remain anonymous promised to donate Rs 130, 000.
Khamosh Paani is a Pakistani-French German production. It gives a satirical view of 'Holier than Thou' attitude in Islam. It shows General Zia-ul- Haq's era of governance and the hypocrisy that was ingrained in the social fabric in the name of Islam. The film is intense and gives an honest depiction of a collection of true section.
It was shot entirely in Pakistan and was directed by Sabiha Sumar. An Indian actress Kiron Kher in the lead role along with Salman Shahid, Shilpa Shukla, Aamir Malik and Arshad Mahmud.
The story revolves around a Sikh girl - Veera - forced to stay in Pakistan after partition and later converts to Islam and is given the name Ayesha. The plotline of the film revolves around the social impact of following extremist Islam in Pakistan.
Ayesha is the middle-aged mother, performed by Kiron Kher, of a young man. She remains quiet about her past, but later due to the turn of events, has to disclose her background. While her son comes under the influence of religious leaders and is swept up in Islamic nationalism.
'Khamosh Pani' is a type of film that makes one think and question the influence of Islamic extremism, as preached by our religious leaders, on the social fabric of the society.
The story takes place in a fictitious hill town called Charkhi where Saleem, son of Ayesha, played by Aamir Malik, a Pakistani actor innocently involved with a town girl Zubaida, played by Shilpa Shukla from India.
Reflecting the cataclysmic times, the story shows that Saleem's extremism pulls him into a vortex of hatred and he breaks up from his love and has a confrontation with his mother whose disclosed past is seen as a hindrance for the son's Islamist ambitions.
It gives a candid portrayal of the pain and torture that is inflicted on women during conflict situations. Partition is one such time where agony and sufferings of women on both sides of the border is immense and that is amply reflected in the movie. The official statistics show that the number of abducted Muslim women is 50,000 in India and 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women in Pakistan. The actual figures can be much higher.
All accolades to Sabiha Sumar as she gives an honest analysis of history and makes one do some soul searching as the world is increasingly getting divided along religious lines.
Sumar has previously done a much-acclaimed documentary 'Who Will Cast the First Stone,' viewing the story through a woman's eyes. The success of 'Khamosh Pani' lies in the fact that it gives an unbiased projection of history; the story beautifully links the Sikh girl to the present day Taleban movement.
The film had an overwhelming response in India when it was released last year but unfortunately not so in Pakistan as it was not officially released here. If the government gives a better response to such films then Pakistani film industry could gain its lost image.
The second event involved the reading of a paper on 'Vedanta and its influences on other forms of mysticism' by Ahsan Wagha that was jointly organised by Islamabad Cultural Forum and Islamabad Social Sciences at the Trust of Voluntary Organizations. Dr Ahsan Wagha, a former broadcaster and presently working in Allama Iqbal Open University, comprehensively dealt with Vedanta and its relevance in Christian mysticism and Islamic Wahdat-ul-Wajood. Professor Ashfaq Saleem Mirza conducted the proceedings.
He said that Vedanta assimilates six systems of thought that evolved into branches of yoga and kabahkta - literal meaning is devotional love. Kabahbta is as ancient as yoga itself. All primitive thought including Vedanta is unstructured.
Vedanta is pluralistic in nature that accumulates its antithesis. Vedantic explanation of truth is triangular in form. It connects two opposites with the third an angle, which is a part of both, but it is not a contradictory part.
Vedanta is placed amongst the oldest well-formed disciplines before the emergence of Buddha. Buddha's period is from 483 to 563 BC and it is inclusive of yoga. Wahad-ul- Wajood is the popular humanist philosophy that is the basis of Christian mysticism and Tasawuff. Wahad-ul- Wajood is directly connected to Vedanta and borrows heavily from it.
Vedanta does not nominate God. Defining God as transcendent eminent and prevailing diluted the concept of God in the contemporary theories. This is the core philosophy of Vedanta and also of Wahah-ul-Wajood. God has one million facets and the problem lies with the perception that one is accustomed to viewing one in many forms. This is how the idea of multiplicity is explained.
The modern man blames the primitive man for his superstitious beliefs but he himself has become a direct believer. He said the modern man's mental reduction to understand things in contrast and/or binary or trinomial equations in a way have become a disadvantage.
He further explained that Vedanta had explanations and assertions but not faith in religious terms. Sin, Hell and World Hereafter are absent in Vedanta. Buddhism and Nirvana takes negative perception of life by getting out of life cycle whereas Moksha (doing away by completion) of Vedanta is strictly positive, related with the world and life.
Among Christians, Vedantic concepts are found only in St. Augustine who mystified the concept of God by explaining it in the context of Platonic descriptions. He said those Vedantic concepts are reflected in his description of God that's inclusive of objects of His universe. He said Indian traditions of knowledge included Nayaya or approach meaning account of the world, which our mind perceives as trustworthy.
Yoga is another tradition, which imposes strict mental discipline as precondition for acquisition of right knowledge. Vedanta is a system of knowledge that did not claim to be practical but its branch Yoga is very practical. It was later followed by an interesting and interactive question answer session. The scribe found the session very informative and interesting.
Pakistan Foreign Officers' Wives Association's annual bazaar got a good response from Islooiites and Pindiwalas. The embassies of mainly Asian and Arab countries participated in the fund raising event selling an assortment of home cooked delicacies, clothes, jewellery and handicrafts.
It provided the opportunity to interact with various cultures and shop for items from different countries of the world. Moreover, there was an auction of hampers donated by the British and US embassies and a local supermarket.
Tickets to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines were donated by the Turkish Embassy; one ticket was given by Aero Asia to Karachi; vouchers from restaurants and beauty parlours and few other items were also auctioned off to the highest bidders. A raffle draw was conducted and prize winners will be duly informed.
Khadija Soomro, wife of the Chairman of the Senate, inaugurated the bazaar and was escorted by the wife of the Foreign Secretary and President PFOWA, Shahnaz Khokar while visiting the various stalls. The PFOWA collects funds to help staff members in the lower grades in health, education and expenses accruable due to emergencies. Relief goods are given for emergencies attributable to natural disasters like floods, earthquake etc whether at home or abroad.
All in all it was an eventful and an engaging week. So long until next week folks.