Pakistan Ki Awaaz
Healing wounds away from home
Healing wounds away from home
| Debby Tewes is Asian Wisconzine's Contributing Writer in the Milwaukee area |
American national anthems, was followed by a skit that focused on the terrorism issue in Pakistan, and devoted the
rest of the time to the renowned ghazal singer Munni Begum, who has a large fan base all around the world, though
most popular in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.
The skit, titled “Six Rupee Bullet,” was written by a few of the PSA members themselves. They wanted to connect with
what is currently happening in Pakistan, as well as give the Pakistani perspective of the terrorism issue there. The first
scene took place at the market, with some bystanders and some customers at a shop, while there was one man who
was just roaming around, keeping quiet. All of a sudden, he yelled out, “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great” in
Arabic. His suicide bomb attack killed him and others present at the market place. The rest of the skit brought into the
limelight what the families of the victims and the suicide bombers go through afterwards, what the government’s role is
in this and what the general Pakistani public’s opinions are about the issue.
What I personally drew from the skit was that it is a two-sided story. There are extremists unjustly using Islam as a
weapon to counter against the government’s drone attacks on villages of innocent civilians in search of these terrorists.
“Currently, Pakistan has the highest number of inter-displaced victims due to the collateral damage from drones,”
stated Syed. "The skit intended to show what the families of the victims and suicide bombers are going through and
that there is a political motive as well with this problem."
As Allawala put it, “Both sides are convinced that they are right and are looking for justice. Both sides feel the brunt of
the situation, yet no one is getting any better.”
The insight into the life of the victim’s family after the suicide bombing impacted me the most. The suicide bomber was
a college student in a medical school, and after his father died, his mother was not able to find any sufficient means to
pay for his and his sister’s schooling. Because of the family’s already unstable financial status, he was forced to quit
medical school, and had to find a way to support himself and his mother and sister. This inevitably led him to a life
working in odd jobs to stay out of poverty, and he would most probably never be able to complete medical school and
become a doctor as he wanted and would have happened if his father were alive. This was only one story that was
portrayed through a short skit, but it made me realize how many thousands of people are going through this dilemma
in Pakistan because of these terrorists and the government, which is supposed to be responsible for the well-being of
its people.
Through media, we tend to see the negative portrayal of Pakistan as a country with a corrupt government and a shelter
for terrorists; however, we increasingly fail to see beyond that point, where not all, but many of the innocent civilians are
suffering from day to day because of the ongoing dispute between the government and the terrorists.
The skit was followed by the much anticipated performance by Munni Begum, which definitely lightened up the mood.
Her singing was accompanied by minimal instrumentals from two musicians and from herself playing the harmonium,
and later on, with the audience clapping to the beat. “Desis,” a word referring generally to Indians and Pakistanis, but
also to the whole of the population of the Indian subcontinent, have an inclination to start clapping with the beat at
concerts when they are enjoying the song.
Though in both India and Pakistan there are considerable numbers of people who still have anti-Pakistan or anti-India
sentiments, it is evident through this event that when in a foreign land they are more willing to overcome such feelings.
The words used in Urdu poetry, which composes ghazals, can only be understood by those who know the language
well, but music as a whole really has no borders. Therefore the audience, composed of all backgrounds from white
Americans to black Africans to Hispanics to Arabs to Malaysians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, Indians, and many more, grew
more excited after the first two songs and was clearly taking part in the performance without realizing it. With some of
her most popular ghazals, a group of Desi students got up and started dancing, adding to the lighthearted atmosphere.
Halfway through Munni's performance, the Consul General of Pakistan at Chicago, Zaheer Pervaiz Khan, was asked to
speak a few words. He came with his wife after the PSA had invited him when they attended a Pakistani Youth
Conference in late October in Chicago. He had intended to personally meet with the Madison community members at
the event, though he thought that like Desi Chicagoan events, this one will also start two hours later from the
scheduled time!
Afterwards, Munni continued to perform, and with her last piece, members from the audience and PSA took to the stage
dancing, and the event ended with them thanking the audience for coming; this was followed by a photo session of
anyone who wanted to take pictures with Munni Begum, who was very simple and friendly and gave a special thanks to
the PSA for planning the event and inviting her to perform.
The coming together of different Asian ethnicities, in addition to others, was quite apparent at this event, bringing up
once again the idea of a Pan-Asian community. As mentioned earlier, Indians and Pakistanis living in a foreign land
are more willing to forget hard feelings from the past, especially the younger generation. And by mentioning only
Indians and Pakistanis, I do not mean to exclude other members of the Indian subcontinent, but I’m focusing on them
mainly because of the strong, negative perspectives that have formed between people of these two nationalities
following the separation, and because of their higher numbers residing in Madison. Because there is not as big a Desi
community in Madison as there is in other American cities or obviously back home, Desis here do not express any
disapproval in mingling with each other, crossing borders. Though differences exist between them, many of them living
in America respect and uphold those differences in culture, tradition, and religion, while they also look over these
differences in order to overcome the hard feelings formed in the past among their forefathers.
Mahin Ahmed is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
rest of the time to the renowned ghazal singer Munni Begum, who has a large fan base all around the world, though
most popular in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.
The skit, titled “Six Rupee Bullet,” was written by a few of the PSA members themselves. They wanted to connect with
what is currently happening in Pakistan, as well as give the Pakistani perspective of the terrorism issue there. The first
scene took place at the market, with some bystanders and some customers at a shop, while there was one man who
was just roaming around, keeping quiet. All of a sudden, he yelled out, “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great” in
Arabic. His suicide bomb attack killed him and others present at the market place. The rest of the skit brought into the
limelight what the families of the victims and the suicide bombers go through afterwards, what the government’s role is
in this and what the general Pakistani public’s opinions are about the issue.
What I personally drew from the skit was that it is a two-sided story. There are extremists unjustly using Islam as a
weapon to counter against the government’s drone attacks on villages of innocent civilians in search of these terrorists.
“Currently, Pakistan has the highest number of inter-displaced victims due to the collateral damage from drones,”
stated Syed. "The skit intended to show what the families of the victims and suicide bombers are going through and
that there is a political motive as well with this problem."
As Allawala put it, “Both sides are convinced that they are right and are looking for justice. Both sides feel the brunt of
the situation, yet no one is getting any better.”
The insight into the life of the victim’s family after the suicide bombing impacted me the most. The suicide bomber was
a college student in a medical school, and after his father died, his mother was not able to find any sufficient means to
pay for his and his sister’s schooling. Because of the family’s already unstable financial status, he was forced to quit
medical school, and had to find a way to support himself and his mother and sister. This inevitably led him to a life
working in odd jobs to stay out of poverty, and he would most probably never be able to complete medical school and
become a doctor as he wanted and would have happened if his father were alive. This was only one story that was
portrayed through a short skit, but it made me realize how many thousands of people are going through this dilemma
in Pakistan because of these terrorists and the government, which is supposed to be responsible for the well-being of
its people.
Through media, we tend to see the negative portrayal of Pakistan as a country with a corrupt government and a shelter
for terrorists; however, we increasingly fail to see beyond that point, where not all, but many of the innocent civilians are
suffering from day to day because of the ongoing dispute between the government and the terrorists.
The skit was followed by the much anticipated performance by Munni Begum, which definitely lightened up the mood.
Her singing was accompanied by minimal instrumentals from two musicians and from herself playing the harmonium,
and later on, with the audience clapping to the beat. “Desis,” a word referring generally to Indians and Pakistanis, but
also to the whole of the population of the Indian subcontinent, have an inclination to start clapping with the beat at
concerts when they are enjoying the song.
Though in both India and Pakistan there are considerable numbers of people who still have anti-Pakistan or anti-India
sentiments, it is evident through this event that when in a foreign land they are more willing to overcome such feelings.
The words used in Urdu poetry, which composes ghazals, can only be understood by those who know the language
well, but music as a whole really has no borders. Therefore the audience, composed of all backgrounds from white
Americans to black Africans to Hispanics to Arabs to Malaysians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, Indians, and many more, grew
more excited after the first two songs and was clearly taking part in the performance without realizing it. With some of
her most popular ghazals, a group of Desi students got up and started dancing, adding to the lighthearted atmosphere.
Halfway through Munni's performance, the Consul General of Pakistan at Chicago, Zaheer Pervaiz Khan, was asked to
speak a few words. He came with his wife after the PSA had invited him when they attended a Pakistani Youth
Conference in late October in Chicago. He had intended to personally meet with the Madison community members at
the event, though he thought that like Desi Chicagoan events, this one will also start two hours later from the
scheduled time!
Afterwards, Munni continued to perform, and with her last piece, members from the audience and PSA took to the stage
dancing, and the event ended with them thanking the audience for coming; this was followed by a photo session of
anyone who wanted to take pictures with Munni Begum, who was very simple and friendly and gave a special thanks to
the PSA for planning the event and inviting her to perform.
The coming together of different Asian ethnicities, in addition to others, was quite apparent at this event, bringing up
once again the idea of a Pan-Asian community. As mentioned earlier, Indians and Pakistanis living in a foreign land
are more willing to forget hard feelings from the past, especially the younger generation. And by mentioning only
Indians and Pakistanis, I do not mean to exclude other members of the Indian subcontinent, but I’m focusing on them
mainly because of the strong, negative perspectives that have formed between people of these two nationalities
following the separation, and because of their higher numbers residing in Madison. Because there is not as big a Desi
community in Madison as there is in other American cities or obviously back home, Desis here do not express any
disapproval in mingling with each other, crossing borders. Though differences exist between them, many of them living
in America respect and uphold those differences in culture, tradition, and religion, while they also look over these
differences in order to overcome the hard feelings formed in the past among their forefathers.
Mahin Ahmed is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Author (back row, 2nd from left) poses with a group that attended
the event, Pakistan Ki Awaaz. The two Malaysian students on the
left are George Albert and Han Fang (front row, left). The lady in
the middle wearing the grey sari is the singer Munni Begum.
the event, Pakistan Ki Awaaz. The two Malaysian students on the
left are George Albert and Han Fang (front row, left). The lady in
the middle wearing the grey sari is the singer Munni Begum.
By Mahin Ahmed
On November 16, 2011, the Pakistani Students’
Association (PSA) of the University of Wisconsin-
Madison put up a cultural show, “Pakistan Ki
Awaaz” at the Play Circle Theatre in the Memorial
Union that they had been working on for about
six weeks. The current president, Bilal Idrees
Allawala, had wanted an event that was on a
“larger scale and more notable,” said Anoushka
Syed, the Events Coordinator for the PSA. His
goal was certainly achieved with a large turnout
of more than 200 people, doubling their
expectations. The audience’s appetite for
entertainment was evidently fulfilled, and they
greatly appreciated the PSA’s efforts for
managing to put up such a large scale and
successful event.
The show started off with both the Pakistani and
On November 16, 2011, the Pakistani Students’
Association (PSA) of the University of Wisconsin-
Madison put up a cultural show, “Pakistan Ki
Awaaz” at the Play Circle Theatre in the Memorial
Union that they had been working on for about
six weeks. The current president, Bilal Idrees
Allawala, had wanted an event that was on a
“larger scale and more notable,” said Anoushka
Syed, the Events Coordinator for the PSA. His
goal was certainly achieved with a large turnout
of more than 200 people, doubling their
expectations. The audience’s appetite for
entertainment was evidently fulfilled, and they
greatly appreciated the PSA’s efforts for
managing to put up such a large scale and
successful event.
The show started off with both the Pakistani and