Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Pakistan - The Intense Hatred Toward the Ahmadi Religious Community
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Members of the Ahmadi community hold the names of victims as they stand over their graves. PHOTO: REUTERS
Tribune Pakistan : During the Eid holidays, I came across a piece of news
which shocked and disgusted me to the core.
I found out that three
individuals in Faisalabad belonging to the Ahmadi community were
arrested for performing the Islamic ritual of animal sacrifice in their
homes during Eidul Azha. According to the FIR, their actions “hurt
Muslim sentiments”, and therefore the “culprits” were arrested and
charged under Section 298-C (which prohibits any person of the Ahmadi
sect from calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his
faith) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
According to the FIR, the complainants had heard from some sources that Ahmadis were doing qurbani (animal
sacrifice), and to verify this “breach” of law, they climbed up the
roofs of the nearby house and from there were able to ascertain that
some Ahmadis were sacrificing goats in their houses. What truly baffled
me was that these individuals were arrested even though they were doing
the qurbani within the confines of their homes. So now it appears that Ahmadis are not even safe within their own homes.
While the laws against Ahmadis are already draconian and inhuman,
forbidding them to do anything in public which even resembles Islamic
rituals, this time they were arrested and charged for doing something
within their homes. From policing their behaviour in public, we have now
started to breach the privacy of their homes and in doing so are
forcefully stripping them of their human dignity and respect completely.
When it comes to Ahmadis, it seems we have lost our collective sanity
and have become blinded by petty hatred. We actually try to outdo each
other in expressing hate against a community which numbers only four
million.
This hatred is so intense that we won’t shed a tear even if they are killed in large numbers. I still remember when two Ahmadi mosques
were attacked by extremists in Lahore in 2010. In the evening, as I was
leaving my office when I overheard the following remark: “Although
terrorism is bad, they (Ahmadis) deserved it”.
