Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pashtun poet believes the pen is mightier than the sword

By Shaheen Buneri, Central Asia Online

“The Imam has nothing but to instill fear in my heart,

The words of my sweetheart have become shallow and have lost the warmth of her heart,

The leader of the nation has sold his conscience for monetary gains,

The flowers of hope are burnt in the flames of fire,

The river of Swat is stained with human blood,

I have broken both my head and my glass full of wine at the doors of the tavern,

Now I am a lonely being, like Adam from my paradise

I am thrown on the surface of a cruel world—but I don't know about my sin.”

Abdurrahman Roghani

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- “If there was a paradise on Earth, that was the beautiful valley of Swat. It had heritage, history and traditions based on love and peace”, said Abdurrahman Roghani.

Roghani 58, is an eminent Pashtun poet, writer and social activist who recently returned to his home in Swat valley of northwestern Pakistan, where the conflict between Taliban militants and Pakistan security forces has displaced millions of people since May 2009.

A resident of Matta town (Upper Swat), Roghani has experienced hard times. Roghani has a history of struggle against the forces of hatred, bigotry and extremism.

He is a poet with a rebellious soul and romantic imagination. During his 35-year literary career, he has always advocated that life can be beautified and made worth living by following the purity of nature.

“The world is a beautiful place; it has a beautiful arrangement to satisfy all aesthetic, emotional and psychological demands of a decent human existence. All religions are peace; this is personal greed and vested interests that fan war and violence in every part of the world”, he said. Roghani was the only powerful voice that rose against the Taliban for imposing their will on the people to promote their global jihadist agenda.

“You cannot subdue human souls by force. It is not possible to stop the ever-flowing stream of life forcefully. You can channelize it with craft and wisdom but you cannot stop it by erecting walls in its way”, he said, referring to the acts of militants who banned all artistic expression and bombed hundreds of music shops in the valley.

“(The) human heart can only be dominated by love and affection, not weapons and war”, he said.

The militants singled him out for his romantic verses, his progressive thoughts, and his role as the most popular social figure in the area. In July 2007, the Taliban established their headquarters in Matta and started torturing people who they considered opponents to their religious ideology.

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