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Post by saeed on Jul 23, 2008 3:52:43 GMT 5
Aajki update- Chicago, US
Kufar toota khuda khuda kar kay
Dear Friends Finally The government of Pakistan has started moving .Remember the protest in my column # 29 about the silence of Government about Faraz Sahib.Lots of newspaper and tv shows picked that protest up and talked about it. I got a call from Dr. Aman Rashid,Consul General of Pakistan in Chicago, a fine gentleman, to go to hospital with him. He was taking a bouquet of flowers representing Prime Minister of Pakistan.Senator Asif Zardari and Ambassador of Pakistan Hussain Haqqani. We were greeted by Dr. Tahir Rohail, Shibli Faraz,Nazr naqvi, Mansoor Shah and Dr Murtaza Arain. After initial conversation we went to Faraz sahib room. He was in sedation. One of the visiters prayed for his health. Then we went in Dr murtaza Arain office and talked about the expenses of Faraz Sahib stay in the hospital. Tr Aman Rashid will pass this information on to the Government of Pakistan. Faraz Sahib health is the same. Lets hope for the best.
"At the end we dont remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." Dr. Martin Luther King
Aapka
Ifti Nasim
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Post by Atif Mirza on Jul 23, 2008 11:24:11 GMT 5
Razi Bhai aur saeed bhai update denay ka bahut shukriya. Aik goona itmenaan huwa, paRh kar.
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Post by ramishjaan on Jul 23, 2008 14:25:37 GMT 5
AOA saeed bhai aur Razi jee Faraz sahib ke silsle me ba khabar rakhne ke liye bohat shukriya Saeed Bhai Ap ki kawish ke bare me jaan kar bohat acha laga ALLHA talla jald az jald Faraz sahib ko sehate kamla o ajla Atta farmye ameen suma ameen
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Post by Sukhanwar on Jul 24, 2008 23:50:45 GMT 5
Aajki update- Chicago, USKufar toota khuda khuda kar kay Dear Friends Finally The government of Pakistan has started moving .Remember the protest in my column # 29 about the silence of Government about Faraz Sahib.Lots of newspaper and tv shows picked that protest up and talked about it. I got a call from Dr. Aman Rashid,Consul General of Pakistan in Chicago, a fine gentleman, to go to hospital with him. He was taking a bouquet of flowers representing Prime Minister of Pakistan.Senator Asif Zardari and Ambassador of Pakistan Hussain Haqqani. We were greeted by Dr. Tahir Rohail, Shibli Faraz,Nazr naqvi, Mansoor Shah and Dr Murtaza Arain. After initial conversation we went to Faraz sahib room. He was in sedation. One of the visiters prayed for his health. Then we went in Dr murtaza Arain office and talked about the expenses of Faraz Sahib stay in the hospital. Tr Aman Rashid will pass this information on to the Government of Pakistan. Faraz Sahib health is the same. Lets hope for the best. "At the end we dont remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." Dr. Martin Luther King Aapka Ifti Nasim mujhy khushi to is baat ki hy k iftikhar nasim sahab ki koshish ain rang laain aur afsos yeh hy ahmad faraz jaysay azeem shair ki alaalat par hakoomat ki tawajah markooz karanay k liay bhi koshish ain karna pareen
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Post by Sukhanwar on Jul 26, 2008 23:06:53 GMT 5
Dear Friends, As you know Faraz Sahib is in a dire need of going to Pakistan. Shibli wants that very badily also. Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gilani is coming in his private jet. Lets suggest that he should take Faraz sahib in his private plane. It is not only a great service to a great poet but also very good for Pakistan's image. Thats the least our government can do for him. If you know anyone in Washington call, e mail or sms for this suggestion. Otherwise Faraz sahib has to go through Canada because PIA goes to Islamabad directly from there.He has to get a visa. and it is very tiresome too. Also let me know about the progress. I am also calling few people. I hope we get a good news pretty soon. Keep up the good work. Dont forget we all need each others . Aapka Ifti Nasim
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Post by saeed on Jul 27, 2008 8:15:45 GMT 5
Dear all, Faced with a growing international campaign, the Pakistan government has decided to take responsibility for Ahmad Faraz’s hospitalisation and travel. See news below. Excellent News!!! Credit goes to all who raised their concern in media and online, as well as Pakistani diplomats in the US made this happen. Thanks to all who signed the sukhanwar/online petition. www.ipetitions.com/petition/ahmadfaraz/index.html Let’s hope and pray for Faraz’s health. Regards, Saed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pakistan to pay for Faraz’s treatment www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\07\27\story_27-7-2008_pg7_34 (By Khalid Hasan, Daily Times- 27 July 2008) WASHINGTON: The Pakistan government has decided to take responsibility for Ahmed Faraz’s hospitalisation as well as expenses incurred on his return to Pakistan, which could come as early as next week. This was confirmed to Daily Times by Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, who made personal efforts to get the decision approved at the highest levels of government. However, several uncertainties remain, Faraz’s delicate condition being the principal one. While his son Shibli Faraz, who flew in from Pakistan a fortnight ago, and the rest of the family would like to take him home as soon as his doctors permit, it is difficult to say when that might be. Next week looks like a possibility, but there is no certainty to that either. Ideally, Faraz’s family would want him to be on the non-stop Toronto-Islamabad PIA flight, but that would require Canadian visas for both father and son, something they do not have. However, the Canadian embassy ought to be willing to do the necessary on humanitarian grounds. There is no Canadian consulate in Chicago, so the application will either have to be made in New York or Washington. The fate of the application Faraz made for a Canadian visa in Washington is not known. One idea thrown up by some that Faraz should be taken home in Prime Minister Gilani’s special PIA plane, is not doable for a number of reasons. Gilani flies back on the afternoon of July 30 from Washington, not to Islamabad but Colombo. Even if he agrees to have Faraz on board, the poet will have to be disembarked at Manchester. In the end, it all depends on Faraz’s condition, which shows no sign of improvement.
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Post by Sukhanwar on Jul 30, 2008 10:30:44 GMT 5
Dear Friends ,I did not write much about Faraz Sahib lately. Sorry about that. Here is the latest. Faraz sahib is still in intensive care. I talked to Dr Azra Raza who is not her doctor. But she told me Faraz sahib will be fine with therapy. Major issue is his kidneys and that can be taken care of. So Shibli is getting visa for Faraz sahib to go to Toronto and from there he will take a direct flight of PIA to Islamabad. Hopefully Faraz Sahib will be in Islamabad with in this week sometimes. Thanks for all his fans and friends for being so caring about him. He still needs your prayers. Faraz sahib is opening up his eyes and acknowledging people. All the best Aapka,
Ifti Nasim
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Post by suhailabbaskhan on Jul 31, 2008 18:28:42 GMT 5
ifti ka nia message: Dear friends Finally things are becoming very clear. On this coming Sunday Faraz sahib will be taken by private air bus along with Shibli and a male nurse to Toronto. From there he will embark to Islamabad vie PIA non stop flight. Male nurse will assist Faraz Sahib with his medical equipements. Kudos to Khalid Hasan who helped him get Canadian visa and other arrangements, Salim Siddiqi puting news on online news, Hasan Mujtaba BBC and all the media persons which i shall name after Faraz Sahib leave for Pakistan. These few i have to mention for personal reasons. I shall also send the list of the people who were constanly calling or emailing me for Faraz Sahib. Pray and peace. Aapka Ifti Nasim Editor and Radio Talk Show Host Pakistan News Host Sargam Radio WSBC1240AM-WCJF 1470AM Every Sunday 9PM-11PM Live 6033 North Sheridan Road Suite 40-J Chicago Illlinois 60660 Ph: 773-271-6400 Fax: 773-271-4024 Cell: 773-407-3330 www.newspakistan.orgwww.sargamradio.us
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Post by Atif Mirza on Jul 31, 2008 18:45:12 GMT 5
Razi Bhai, Saeed Bhai aur Dr Suhail Saheb! Aap sub ka bahtu shukriya keh Faraz Sb kay baaray maiN hamaiN aagaah rakha huwa hai.
(My 1500th post)
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Post by suhailabbaskhan on Jul 31, 2008 22:51:00 GMT 5
mirza sahib sukriya kahay ka yeh tu humara ferz hay.wasay bhi main tu iss forum ko kum he waqt day pata hoon.
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Post by Sukhanwar on Jul 31, 2008 23:23:18 GMT 5
ifti ka nia message: Dear friends Finally things are becoming very clear. On this coming Sunday Faraz sahib will be taken by private air bus along with Shibli and a male nurse to Toronto. From there he will embark to Islamabad vie PIA non stop flight. Male nurse will assist Faraz Sahib with his medical equipements. Kudos to Khalid Hasan who helped him get Canadian visa and other arrangements, Salim Siddiqi puting news on online news, Hasan Mujtaba BBC and all the media persons which i shall name after Faraz Sahib leave for Pakistan. These few i have to mention for personal reasons. I shall also send the list of the people who were constanly calling or emailing me for Faraz Sahib. Pray and peace. Aapka Ifti Nasim Editor and Radio Talk Show Host Pakistan News Host Sargam Radio WSBC1240AM-WCJF 1470AM Every Sunday 9PM-11PM Live 6033 North Sheridan Road Suite 40-J Chicago Illlinois 60660 Ph: 773-271-6400 Fax: 773-271-4024 Cell: 773-407-3330 www.newspakistan.orgwww.sargamradio.ussuhail bhaai aaj hi ifti bhai ki yeh mail mujhy bhi mosool hui aap ny acha kia un ka khat yahan post kar dia faraz sahab ki sehat k baaray main maloomat ka wahid zaria yehi hy hum un k liay dua go hain thanx razi
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Post by shahkaar on Aug 2, 2008 23:30:57 GMT 5
Aap sab logoon ka shukria keh Faraza saheb ka baray mein aap nay hamain up to date rakha..
nawazish
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Post by saeed on Aug 3, 2008 5:50:31 GMT 5
Latest from Chicago today Thanks to ifti Naseem! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends, I had lunch with Shibli who is son of Faraz sahib , a very fine gentleman, talked about Faraz sahib itinerary. Faraz Sahib will be leaving tomorrow (Sunday)10 AM by a private plane to Toronto Canada. From there he will take PIA non stop to Islamabad. His son Shibli will be accompaning him along with a male nurse. Even in this situation , hopital did not trust Faraz sahib with a female nurse(just kidding). Thanks to Pakistani government to take care of Faraz sahib. Special thanks to Asad to take care of Shible more than i could. Dr. Murtaza Arain is a man of his words and community's true leader. Dr. Aman Rashid Consul General of Pakistan and Hussain Haqqani Ambassador of Pakistan realy realy stood up for Faraz sahib. Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani Came up with every thing he could. Thanks a lot. I shall send you final e mail about Faraz sahib tomorrow after he leaves for Pakistan. Take care of yourself. Aapka, Ifti Nasim Radio Talk Show Host WSBC 1240 AM-WCJF 1470 AM Sunday 9PM- 11PM www.sargamradio.us6033 North Sheridan Road Suite 40-J Chicago Illlinois 60660 Ph: 773-271-6400 Fax: 773-271-4024 Cell: 773-407-3330
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Post by saeed on Aug 3, 2008 6:01:08 GMT 5
Khalid Hasan US Correspondent Daily Times, Lahore
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 7:40 PM Subject: Faraz
Faraz being flown home on Sunday
* Poet's condition remains 'stable but delicate'
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: Ahmed Faraz is being flown to Pakistan on Sunday, August 3, by a PIA flight from Toronto to Islamabad, according to Ambassador Husain Haqqani, who has provided from embassy funds $28,000 to defray the expense involved. Faraz, accompanied by his son Shibli Faraz and a male nurse, will be flown to Toronto from Chicago by air ambulance, from where he will be put on board PIA. His nurse will accompany him all the way to Islamabad. Haqqani told Daily Times that he had informed Dr Murtaza Arain and Dr Tahir Rohail, principal physician of the ailing poet, that the bill for Faraz's long hospitalisation, which is expected to run into $250,000, should be sent to the embassy. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who met Dr Arain in Washington, inquired after Faraz's health and there is every indication that the government will defray the entire expense. Dr Arain told Daily Times that he would do his best to get the bill discounted to the extent that he can. Faraz was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Chicago hospital on July 7 and he has remained there since. Stable but delicate: Daily Times learnt on Thursday night that Faraz's condition remains stable but delicate. He has shown some improvement in the last few days but because of the massive stroke that he suffered, his right side continues to exhibit profound weakness. He needs physical assistance if he is to be moved into a chair. He remains on dialysis three times a week. He is fed through a tube and while it is hoped that he may eventually be able to eat and swallow unassisted, the time-frame is uncertain. He cannot speak but it is possible that he may recover some or perhaps most of that function. It is not clear if he recognises people. However, he has given the distinct impression off and on that he may. His blood pressure is normal and his heart is in good condition. The next few months are crucial. People have been known to make dramatic recoveries from strokes and even regained their ability to speak and move. However, when that might happen in Faraz's case, no one can say, but everyone, including his doctors and his family, is hoping for the best.
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Post by saeed on Aug 3, 2008 8:23:56 GMT 5
Faraz and our mindset www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=127787 Sunday, August 03, 2008 Masood Hasan, the Daily NEWS In another time and another place, perhaps the sudden illness of a country's leading poet would have made headline news or at least made it to the front page, but not here. The disturbing news that Ahmad Faraz was critically ill in hospital in the US first broke ground in one of Lahore's English-language newspapers, and that too because its US correspondent was able to share that piece of bad news with readers back home. Other newspapers, unless I missed it all, barely had time or space to mention this grave development. Instead, we were, as usual, treated to more details of the national farce that passes for governance these days, and more inanities uttered by nobodies on every subject under the sun. Talks between the JUI-F jirga rival groups were suspended, cheery news that another jirga not engaged in more time-wasting "talks" would be deciding the fate of 29 abducted soldiers hit the nation's front pages. A suicide bomber who struck a Shia gathering in Dera Ismail Khan (it's always open season on Shias and Ahmedis, with the regular lynching and burning of Christian churches thrown in for variety) and blew himself apart. Militants had a change of heart and returned the bodies of 17 nameless men of the Frontier Constabulary killed in action, ambushed in Hangu – which to me reads more and more like "Hang You." And the PM discussed the expansion of the federal capital with allies – not in Islamabad, stupid, but Lahore, where the circus was performing on great public demand after a sell-out show in Dubai. Yet another drone violated Pakistani airspace – and Mr Gilani thundered that Pakistan won't allow anyone to interfere in its affairs. Reality, we all know, fled from this country, as did decency. That was the print media. As for the over-saturated and low-grade pulp that characterises the electronic media, the less said the better. Their great contribution to the cause of Ahmad Faraz was to announce that he was dead, which was slightly inaccurate since he was and remains alive, fighting for his life. Subsequently there was some stirring and show of a little concern about a man whose poetry has never thrilled the power-holders, who in Pakistan seem to discover humanity and the fine arts after they have safely retired, pocketed their gratuity funds and salted away their sizeable ill-gotten wealth. Then the muse is upon them as they churn out poetry, write fine essays and appreciate the arts of this largely barren land. But while this may not be applicable to all who serve the government – there have always been good men and women in a growing minority – by and large, starting with official neglect down to individual indifference, we have, one and all, treated our great, talented sons and daughters with contempt, never openly embraced them or their craft and left most of them to fend for themselves in an environment that now enters yet another hostile era. Once these artists have safely died, out come the flowery adjectives, the full-throated praise and adulation that would make a stone blush. Why have we behaved so abominably with our artists? Why have we hounded them so shamelessly? Our history of 60-odd troubled years is full of heartbreaking stories. Over and over again, when support was badly needed, all it generated was royal indifference. Look at the coarse way Ahmad Faraz's ordeal is being handled. After great persuasion, it is said, our new US ambassador had some flowers delivered to the ICU – someone quite conveniently forgetting that flowers are not allowed in American ICUs unlike here, where both flowers and bodies can be inside any ICU on any given day in any city. There has been a mouse-like squeak that suggests the government has agreed to take care of the medical bills for Faraz's treatment. Has it made larger headlines? I must have missed that too. May Faraz win this battle too and may the gods smile on him, but surely he is not the establishment's favourite son, having lamthingyed them and our hobnailed friends who have had a glorious time living off the fat of the land for decades. What is more, he returned some medal or the other that was given to him because the regime's attitude upset him. Who returns medals in Pakistan and still have friends in the corridors of power? Not a big list, that one. Roshan Ara Begum melted away into the shadows long ago, taking with her that glorious voice and that gift only gods can bestow on mortals – talent. During her lifetime she was at the receiving end of petty babus, and PTV, bless its dark heart, gave her scant time to sing her great works of classical music. Eventually she just stopped trying. I have yet to see her works produced as an anthology, yet to see a street named after her or seminars and gatherings to formally acknowledge her contribution to music. Do any of the channels ever think of doing in-depth programmes on artists like her, instead of the drivel that they mindlessly churn out 24 hours a day? There is some archival material still and there are people who can talk about her, but who is going to do that? Has anyone ever thought of opening the few classical conferences that we hold and pay formal tribute to Pakistan's great heritage of singers and musicians? Have we ever thought of a festival where we showcase their work interpreted through other artists? Has someone written a biography of the great diva? Perhaps, but forgive many of us for not having even seen its shadow. I cite Roshan Ara Begum's story just to illustrate the terrible neglect that each one of us has practised through indifference and disinterest. The list of those who have on the one hand been denied their proper place and role in this country and persecuted for their art, is a sad list and even more sad, a long one. The great Faiz fled and lived in self-imposed exile after being framed in a conspiracy case – yet others who actually sold and continue to sell state secrets were conferred this nation's highest accolades – even Faraz left the country. Manto was hounded in courts by men who did not deserve to be called human beings – his relentless expose of human failings could not be stomached by a country where hypocrites and liars abound. Even today, he remains an outcast, loved and supported by those who know and appreciate his art. The work done on him is largely outside Pakistan and if the literary world knows Manto, it is because of this. The sanitised Pakistani government wouldn't be seen dead supporting him or acknowledging his greatness. A plaque placed on the house where he lived and wrote was entirely done by a band of people – ordinary citizens. The list of those who have bled at the hands of our collective indifference is long. Amongst musicians, Amanat Ali Khan died penniless, Nur Jehan survived and prospered because she could take on the establishment, Nusrat Fateh Ali sang all his life in the back streets of Pakistan till he became famous in the West, Pathanay Khan died for lack of proper medical care, Ahmed Pervaiz, the painter, suffered needlessly, Naheed lost her golden years unable to dance on Pakistani stages, even Zia's poetry recitals were cloak-and-dagger affairs – these are the famous ones. Others, not so famous, have died in silence. Even today, electronic channels play the music of artists, earn huge profits but don't pay them even a single paisa. It's a sad commentary on what we are and how we have lost our way. Those who treat their finest sons and daughters so atrociously never amount to much, but then who cares? The writer is a Lahore-based columnist. Email: masoodhasan66@gmail.com
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