Newspaper
“quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat”
COMMENT: Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat Posted on Tue 23 Aug 2011 by Admin (101 reads) By:
Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
The Pakistani state now indiscriminately employs the ‘kill and dump’ policy against the Baloch without
understanding that Baloch resistance increases and defeats the purpose of their terror tactics
Robert Fisk, in his piece ‘Syria agitation begins to look like Egypt-Tunisia revolt’, details how the revolt
began in Deraa. He writes, “Take the first uprising against Bashar al-Assad in Deraa — home to the old
steam train station, by the way, in which T E Lawrence was supposedly assaulted by an Ottoman officer
in the First World War — where no amount of sophisticated intelligence could have forewarned the
regime of what was to come. A place of historical rebellion, some youths had painted anti-Assad graffiti
on a wall. The Syrian security police followed their normal practice of dragging the young men to the cop
shop and beating and torturing them. But then their mothers arrived to demand their release — they
were verbally abused by the police.”
“Then — much more seriously — a group of tribal elders went to see the Deraa governor to demand an
explanation for the behaviour of the police. Each placed his turban on the governor’s desk, a traditional
gesture of negotiation; they would only replace their turbans when the matter had been resolved. But
the governor, a crusty old Baathist and regime loyalist, took the turban of the most prestigious sheikh,
threw it on the floor of his office and stamped on it.
“The people of Deraa came out in their thousands to protest, the shooting started and Bashar hastily
dismissed his governor and replaced him. Too late. The fire had been lit. In Tunisia, an unemployed
young man who set himself alight. In Syria, a turban.”
The more brutal the Bashar regime becomes the more widespread the Syrian people’s resistance
becomes. As the ‘terror security states’, i.e. states that ensure security through terror tactics, become
more brutal the more people resist, making their terror tactics counterproductive. The Pakistani state
now indiscriminately employs the ‘kill and dump’ policy against the Baloch without understanding that
Baloch resistance increases and defeats the purpose of their terror tactics.
Last week, Mr Humayun Marri’s farmhouse was raided — he is the paternal nephew of Sardar Khair
Bakhsh Marri and a former chief minister of Balochistan. Allegedly, 133 remote control devices, 100 12-
bore rifles, two LMGs, one SMG, three hand grenades and 4,000 rounds, supposedly from hidden secret
pockets, were found there. Jamil Bugti’s farmhouse was raided too.
Surprisingly, explosives were not found. The FC and the police excel at planting weapons; remember
when, after murdering the Kharotabad victims, a carload of explosives was produced to prove the
terrorist allegations? Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government conveniently recovered arms at the Iraqi military
attaché’s Islamabad residence in 1973 to justify the dismissal of Balochistan’s NAP government.
In utter disregard of all norms, Humayun Marri’s residence was raided but then this is not surprising for
the Pakistani state (hoping to intimidate ordinary Baloch) has never tired of attempts to belittle
respected Baloch personalities. On April 1, 1948, the Balochistan garrison commander was ordered to
arrest the Khan of Kalat to ensure Balochistan’s accession to Pakistan. Prince Abdul Karim resisted this
with arms. Then, again on October 6, 1958, Kalat was invaded on unfounded allegations that the Khan
was negotiating with Afghanistan to launch a full-scale rebellion; he was arrested, his ancestral valuables
commandeered, civilians who demonstrated were roughed up and his retainers arrested; 300 plus
Baloch political leaders were arrested in Balochistan.
Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai, the chief of Jhalawan, started an armed struggle and, after false amnesty
promises, seven of his relatives and followers were hanged in Hyderabad and Sukkur jails on July 15,
1960. The Pakistani state has always targeted Baloch symbols of defiance to break the spirit of the
Baloch people. The martial law authorities in 1958 demanded the surrender of arms from Baloch sardars
to belittle them. Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri had all his guns sawed and sent to them in a bundle.
Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Sher Mohammad Khan Marri,
Gul Khan Naseer and other leaders were regularly jailed or exiled from Balochistan to stop their defiance
from becoming contagious. The state has miserably failed in dampening the Baloch spirit with these
strong-arm tactics. During 1973 to 1977, in spite of massive military operations and brutality, the
insurgency flourished.
Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri’s arrest in January 2000 on trumped up charges of involvement in the murder
of Justice Mohammad Nawaz Marri initiated the present phase of the insurgency. Musharraf boasted
then that this was not the 1970s and the Baloch would not even know what hit them, but the tide of the
Baloch insurgency shows no signs of ebbing while he has become a non-entity.
In spite of the glaring failure of the policy of belittling Baloch defiance symbols and eliminating activists
through terror tactics, the establishment persists in its folly, perhaps because it has something to do
with the history and the attitudes nurtured by their social consciousness and ethos. When people of a
particular social environment come up against historically different people, they apply remedies that
they employ in dealing with their own kind and this explains the attitude and behaviour of the
establishment towards the Baloch since 1947.
At the Lahore Fort Museum, the stuffed mare of Ranjit Singh is proudly displayed, cherishing his rule
during which even the Badshahi Masjid was used as a stable. The Muslim population of Punjab docilely
acquiesced to Khalsa rule and many served in his army. It was Syed Ahmad Barelvi who tried to rid them
of the yoke of Sikh rule. The British rule in India was hardly resisted with the exceptions of Tipu Sultan
and some others.
In stark contrast, the Baloch made life difficult for the British; the Marris decimated British-led forces in
the battles of Sartaf and Nafusk in the 1840s, and when the British demanded recruits for WWI, the
Marris flatly refused and battles at Gumbaz and Harb resulted. The Marris, armed with flintlocks and
swords, suffered heavy casualties against the better armed British forces. At a subsequent darbar, the
agent for the governor general boastfully said: “Now the Marris will not battle the British”, to which
Sardar Khair Bakhsh, the grandfather of the present sardar, defiantly replied: “Neither will the British
ever ask the Marris for recruits.”
News reports on Friday, August 19, 2011 say that four bodies of Bangulzai tribe youths of BSO (Azad),
abducted some days back, were found in Mastung. In the last 11 months, nearly 200 bodies of missing
persons have been recovered. The establishment here, like those in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Syria,
hopes to intimidate the Baloch people through brute force, not realising that terror tactics create
conditions for self-destruction as it did or is doing for many Arab states. Ironically, were it not for this
folly, the people would be saddled with terror security states forever. The axiomatic saying, ‘quem deus
vult perdere, prius dementat’ (those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad), probably puts
this truth forward most lucidly and candidly.
The writer has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be
contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default. ... 1%5Cstory_21-8-2011_pg3_2
Talpur, Mir Mohammad Ali. "Articles - COMMENT: Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat -
BALOCHWARNA." Struggle till victory - BALOCHWARNA. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
.
Consumers digest
ghk
Newspaper 2
Part 82: Christian music in Fresno churches
Alina Gorna
, Fresno Christian Music Examiner
November 1, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.
Albeit Saint Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Fresno does not possess any traits of Roman
architecture, its interior used to be filled with the sound of the Latin tongue. The Latin hymns
"Anima Christi" and "O Salutaris Hostia" were chanted in the official language of the Roman
Catholic Church. The "Roman Credo" and "Pater Noster" permeated the small inner space of
Saint Agnes. The prayers "Confiteor," "Sanctus," and "Agnus Dei" were also sung in Latin. The
ancient Latin hymns and chants were revived in the church dedicated to the Roman saint and
martyr. All Marian hymns including the oldest hymn, "Ave Maria," were sung in the
Latin tongue of the mystical rose. The "Magnificat," the hymn of Virgo Maria, is the most
significant hymn of praise. The Latin verses of the hymn signify that Virgo Maria was already
venerated in Roman times and that she is the Mater of the Roman Catholic Church.
To be continued..