Abdul Qadir Mula— Hum jo tareek raahon mein maare gaye !!
By Agha Iqrar Haroon
There is outcry in Pakistan over the hanging of Abdul Qadir Mullah who was a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party Bangladesh. There were protests in Dhaka also against his hanging.
He was a traitor as announced by the decision of Supreme Court of Bagladesh. He was a shaheed by Pakistani Parliament and by religious parties of Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan). Our heroes are traitors for Bangladesh. Their heroes are traitors for us.
Bangladesh fought its war for independence and Pakistan army through its irregular army of Al-Badr and Al-Shams (Qadir Mullah was part of these two wings of Jamaat-i-Islami youth fighting wing) fought its war for purging the mutiny and uprising in former East Pakistan. We lost this war due to blatant support of India for Bangladesh and Bangladesh won its independence. The difference between Bangladesh and Pakistan is visible. We had never hanged our traitors who were responsible for the fall of Dhaka rather we honoured them with medals (prime example is Gen Niazi).
I remember some lines from a novel of a former bureaucrat who also served as Interior Secretary of Pakistan Mr. Tariq Mahmood who was a student in Dhaka University when Dhaka was fallen away.
His novel “ALLAH MAIGH DE” is a classic piece of literature and I remember some lines of its cover. Crust of a dialogue between a Bangali boy and a boy from the then West Pakistan was as follow:
Boy from West Pakistan: “Oh you are from Bangal the land of Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq”
Bangali: “Yes I am. You know what is difference between you are us? We never forget our Mir Sadiqs and Mir Jaffars but you have countless Mir Jaffars and Mir Sadiqs around you but you never accept they are traitors”
We must respect and understand that Bangladesh was fighting for its independence (right or wrong this is a debatable issue) and our army and people like Qadir Mullah were fighting for their country and to save it from collapse. Both had their own positions and opinions. This is impossible to decide who was wrong and who was right as wrong and right are subjective terminologies. What is right for you can be wrong for me if we are standing at opposite sides. You are my enemy and I have right to fight and kill you and if you consider me enemy —same right you possess. Qadir Mullah was hero for those who were fighting for Pakistan. Qadir Mullah was a Bangali and for Bangalis he was a traitor because he was working for Pakistan and Bangalis were working for an independent state for Bangalis.
I remember some lines from memoirs of a POW of Dhaka fall. He wrote: “ I did not want to kill him. He was as young as my son. When I stabbed him with my dagger, I saw his eyes—full of agonies and full of dead dreams and pain of death. I really did not want to kill him but I had no option— we were so close that if I miss a chance he could have killed me. Death is written when you are in war—War never brings life —–It brings nothing but it left agonies and people who live with these agonies”
There were many Qadir Mullahs who were killed and forgotten by the history.
Qatl-gaahon se chun kar humara alam
Aur nikleinge ushaaq ke qaafle
Jin ke raah-e-talab se humare qadam
Mukhtasar kar chale dard ke faasle
Kar chale jin ki khaatir jahan geer hum
Jaan gunwa kar teri dilbari ka bharam
Hum jo tareek raahon mein maare gaye !!
