Thoughts from a tired, but joyous activist

Folks I need to get some sleep. I have installed Picasa and will get more functional on the Wiki and lists and so on tomorrow. Promise.

Shab Bakhair, as the traditional greeting goes; a good night to all--and may the Subha, the morning, be even brighter. I am not kidding when I say that my pride and joy in all the activism and engagement we are seeing today far, far outweighs my pessimism over where our country and our communities (South Asian, Progressive, Muslim, ...) find themselves today. At least for this one moment in time, it is good to be part of something.

I haven't yet gone to a gathering where I can open up and just scream some naa'ray, but that might change this weekend. I leave you with something that's a work in progress and an attempt to update the chant of the late 70s when the people borrowed Bhutto's "Jamhuriyath kay theen nishaan; Talba, Mazdhoor aur Kisan" [Democracy (has its) three symbols; The Students, The Workers and The Peasant] and chanted:

Talba bhee maangain Azadi
Mazdhoor bhee maangay Azaadi
Kissan bhee maangay Azaadi
Is Martial Laa say Azaadi
Is General Zia say Azaadi
Azaadi, Azaadi, Azaadi....

The Students demand Freedom!
The Workers demand Freedom!
The Peasants demand Freedom!
From this Martial Law; Freedom!
From this General Zia; Freedom!
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! ...

Like I said, we need an update, please help me finish this by finding something to rhyme with "Mazdoor" and complete the picture on who's involved:

Talba bhee maangain azaadi
Wukla bhee maangain azaadi

Mazdhoor bhee maangain azaadi
Akhbaar bhee maangain azaadi

Kissan bhee maangain azaadi
Jawaan bhee maangain azaadi
Imran bhee maangay azaadi

Is Martial Laa say Azaadi
Is General Sia say Azaadi
Azaadi, Azaadi, Azaadi....

The Students demand Freedom!
The Lawyers demand Freedom!

The Workers demand Freedom!
Newspapers demand Freedom!

The Peasants demand Freedom!
The Soldiers demand Freedom!
Imran demands Freedom!

From this Martial Law; Freedom!
From this Black General; Freedom!
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! ...

Good night, and good luck.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: CrisisPK - Pakistan - Emergency - Slogans