For whom the bell tolls

Worth reading article on Abdus Salam, Nobel Prize winner. Mirza Ashraf referred to this article in one of his e-mails. ( F. Sheikh)

Some excerpts;

Other than Sultan and Chander Bhan, Jhang has references which the national history has chosen to forget. One such reference is Dr Abdus Salam, who is intentionally being erased from public memory, unfortunately, on accounts of religion. Official historians stumble upon his reference much similarly as they deal with the chapter of genetics in advanced biology textbooks; staple it and think it forgotten.

Born in the small dwellings of Santok Das, Abdus Salam spent most of his childhood in Jhang. His grandfather was a religious scholar and his father was an employee in the education department and so, it was the mainstay in Abdus Salam’s household. There are rumours that his parents saw a dream forewarning them about his illustrious career and then there are stories about him being taken to school for admission in the first grade but qualifying for the fourth grade instead. Regardless of these anecdotes, his academic life was indeed, a matter of honor. When anyone inquired about his young age and distinction in examinations, he simply raised his finger and pointed towards the sky, attributing it towards Allah. Those were the times of the Raj and religion was a private affair, rather than now when it is determined by parliamentary committees under the influence of protests.

Despite his love for literature, Salam took up sciences when he joined college. He opted for this route for qualifying for ICS, a job much envied by his family but after being turned down on medical grounds; he decided to pursue further education. Cambridge University, those days, offered scholarships for which Abdus Salam applied, despite his frail economic conditions. Between the benevolence of Sir Choto Ram, a minister in the Punjab Government and Abdus Salam’s luck, a candidate dropped off from the final list. The much desired Cambridge scholarship, for which people applied for months in advance and prayed for days, now belonged to him. That year, when people across the world arrived at Cambridge with their expensive effects, a young man from Jhang with his sole steel trunk was also amongst them.

Click link to read full article;

http://dawn.com/news/1022040/the-jhang-of-abdus-salam/?commentPage=1&storyPage=1

( Posted by F. Sheikh)

Caution; The pictures are gruesome.

On our way to Vietnam War Museum in Saigon, I asked our guide about his opinion about Vietnam War. He suddenly got quiet, then few moments later said “see the Vietnam Museum and then I will let you know”.

Brief Background on Start of Vietnam War & pictures from Museum;

Vietnam was a French colony since 1854 but lost it to Japan during WWII. Japan allowed Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh to occupy government buildings, weapons and on September 2^nd, 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared independence before a crowd of 500,000 in Hanoi.^.

After the surrender of Japan in WWII, the Vietnam was again handed over to France by USA, Britain and Russia. Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minch started again a guerrilla war for independence and defeated France in 1954.In Geneva Peace Conference independence was granted to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but Vietnam was divided temporarily into North and South Vietnam, and elections throughout the country were to be held by July 1956 to establish a unified government. Soviet backed Viet Minh controlled the North Vietnam, and American backed Emperor, Bao Dai, was installed in the South. His Prime Minister was Mr.Ngo Diem, a devout catholic, and later became President. USA and  Mr. Diem has refused to sign the Peace Accord because they were afraid that the planned elections will bring the entire Vietnam under the control of communism and Ho Chi Minh. In the North, Russian backed, Ho Chi Minh solidified his power and in the South American back Mr. Diem, solidified his power. President Eisenhower’s administration believed in Domino Theory and John F. Kennedy, a Senator at that time, said in a speech” “Burma, Thailand, India, Japan, the Philippines and obviously Laos and Cambodia are among those whose security would be threatened if the Red Tide of Communism overflowed into Vietnam.”   America started sending Military advisers to South Vietnam and then sank deeper into the conflict. Guerrilla warfare started in South Vietnam both by local and insurgents from North Vietnam for the control of the entire country, and Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces on April 30th 1974, after a heavy price paid by both Vietnamese and USA.

Vietnam War Museum in Saigon tells the story in pictures and narrative, from the Vietnamese perspective. Although some of the pictures has been published before, but  it was still an emotionally overwhelming and draining experience.( Caution;Some Pictures very graphic. Picture placed randomly).

A war Poster

Reality of War-Mother nursing a child with severed limbs

A soldier and Vietnamese family

Soldier holding a child with missing body parts

Bodies being dragged by a tank

Bodies of one whole family

A gruesome narrative about Senator Bob Kerry’ s involvement in massacre of two elderly men, 15 civilian including two pregnant women in 1969 in Thang Phong village. As per narrative,.Senator Bob Kerry acknowledged it in April 2001

Senator Bob Kerry

Missing Journalist during Vietnam War

“The Purple People Eater” A sign on Chemical Tank

Children with Deformities after exposure to Agent Orange

Victims of Agent Orange

A child in Chemical defoliated wilderness

Devastation after spray of Chemicals

Picture of Restored Area After Chemical Weapon Destruction

During the War one whole city was living underground in tunnels with schools, hospitals and other facilities

US soldiers- a haunting picture

A soldier resuscitating his buddy

War Room in Palace in Saigon

Front Lawn of Palace in Saigon

Palace in Saigon

An other view of Military Watch post in Da Nang

Residence of Ho Chi Minh as President

Ngo-Dinh-Diem was initially Prime Minister and later became President in a rigged elections in 1956

Chart on Number of troops-1969 – 549,900

Somehow I did not see the iconic picture below in the Museum. Someone remarked by looking at the picture; ” If I was God, I would have stopped the War at that moment”.

( Photo AP- Nick) Phan Thị Kim Phúc running down a road near Trảng Bàng, Vietnam, after a napalm bomb was dropped on the village of Trảng Bàng. She migrated to Canada, became citizen, and has her own Charity Organization for War Victims(Wikepedia)

.Victims of Protests in USA. Kent State Shootings.The 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller who was shot by the Ohio National Guard during the Kent State shootings( Wikipedia)

After we visited the Museum our Guide said, ” Although we have suffered a lot, but as a nation we have decided to move forward. There is no point in dwelling on bitterness, and we are developing a good relations with Americans”.

In every war, human atrocities are attributed to “few bad apples” who do not represent the Morals of the Armed Forces, but unfortunately these “bad apples” are in every war, and they nourish and grow right in front of the watchful eyes.

Fayyaz Sheikh