About Yussouf

Shaheen

Yussouf Shaheen – highest civilian Award winner in Pakistan – Pride of Performance Award and Sitarae Imtiaz Award (Star of Excellence) in literature, Life Achievement Award from SANA, USA; former Senator of Pakistan; essentially a research scholar, author of over 16 Books in English, Urdu and Sindhi. His area of research encompasses history, religions, mythologies and languages of the world. The below mentioned six books written by him have been published in the United States, India and Pakistan:

GALLERY

HEADING TEXT

Trial of Yussouf Shaheen by Military Court during the Martial Law regime of General Ziaul Haq for writing against Stoning to Death and Amputation of hand and foot in Pakistan. Yussouf Shaheen was the first journalist and writer of Pakistan who was arrested on July 19, 1977 just two weeks after the military take over in Pakistan on July 5, 1977 headed by the Chief of Army Staff General Ziaul Haq, who imposed Martial Law and him self became Martial Law Administrator. Yussouf Shaheen was tried by the Military Court for his writing against stoning to death for adultery and amputation of the hand and foot for robbery. To legitimize his take over, General Zia on July 13, 1977 moved further to terrorize the whole Pakistani nation by imposing punishments of amputation and whipping was arrested on July 19, 1977 who had demanded that the hand of General Zia should be amputated firstly as he had stolen people’s power from the first elected prime minister of Pakistan Zulifikar Ali Bhutto. These were the days, when thousands of arrests were made throughout Pakistan on grounds of sedition and high treason. Public flogging of political prisoners was carried out by brutal wrestlers; even women were flogged. As a result, there was a general chaos, fear and frustration all over Pakistan; doctors refused to cut hand or foot of the victims. Many leading politicians, journalists and lawyers vehemently condemned the laws of amputation, whipping, and stoning to death. In the meantime, preparation were made to punish Yussouf Shaheen by way of lashes - a severe punishment. Before flogging, medical check up of Yussouf Shaheen was carried. When it was known to his mother, she abruptly fainted and remained in coma for many hours. Surprisingly it was on the same day, when General Zia suddenly withdrew punishment of Amputation and stoning to death; subsequently Yussouf Shaheen was released after a great mental torture; he was kept in C Class jail. As a result, no case of amputation or stoning to death was reported in Pakistan.

About the author

by Ali Iqbal

Yussouf Shaheen is perhaps the most eminent Sindhi poet and journalist living today. He has also served as a senator. Not only this, he also happens to be the only writer at least in Pakistan, who has written more then six full-length books featuring the main hurdles that have obstructed the creation of a violence-free world in which humanity would live in peace. He wrote the first book in the series under the title of “Muslimcracy” in Urdu in 1957 when he was only 18 years old. His next book, “Khuda, Insan Aur Janvar” was written in Sindhi. In 1970, he wrote “An’al Haq” in Urdu the launching ceremony of which was attended among others by Syed Mohammad Taqi, Raees Amrohvi, Pir Hismuddin Rashdi and Shamsherul Hydri, none of whom is alive today. Later came, his other book “Haq Maujud” (Truth Untold) which was in Sindhi and Urdu both. In 1986, he wrote “World Confederation of the Peoples” to be followed by, “The World of Conquerors”, Greek Mythology (in Sindhi), “William the Bastard and His Descendants”, Rise and Fall of gods – In Historical Perspective, Rise and Fall of Sanskrit and “Fall of Native Languages of the Americas.” Most of these books have been published outside Pakistan. The central idea and the common thread that runs through all these books, including the present one is the story about ‘man’s inhumanity towards man’ in the form of kingships and mercenary armies that have played havoc in the world since time immemorial. As the world history shows, by now more than 5,000 wars have been fought during the same number of years in which millions and millions of people have been massacred. It is perhaps for this reason that Gibbon has called history, ‘a chronicle of crimes.’ Shaheen in all of his books, not only searches out these crimes but he also points an accusing finger at the perpetrators of these crimes, mentioning their names, their misdeeds, and even their genealogical trees. He firmly refutes the well-known maxim, ‘If a man kills another man he is killer; but if a man kills a million people, he becomes a hero.’ He says without munching words that these so-called conquerors, who setup great empires with the help of their hired armed men, remain killers and murderers and should never be considered as “heroes” as there is noting “great” about them. What he says tantamount to say that these conquerors were, in fact, terrorists, most of whom now enjoy their eternal sleep under great mausoleums, especially built for them. A historical adage says that woman, wealth and land have remained the main causes for which men have killed men. However, most of the bloody wars were fought by kings and generals because of their hunger of land and wealth. The writer of the books under discussion has been burning midnight oil for almost fifty years studying these ferocious wars and at the end of his journey has come to certain conclusions. He firmly believes that all the wars fought in the past were waged only for acquisition of land and wealth and as such these wars created serious problems for mankind. These problems included the existing borders between various states, religions and languages that were imposed on defeated nations. Every new conquest created new borders and forced upon the vanquished and hence “artificial”. Under the circumstances, how any war can be described as a “just” war? Rather no greater injustice could ever be imagined keeping in view the sufferings of the defeated nations. Even todays’ so called ‘modern’ and ‘democratic’ world full of mini dictators’ presents a strong spectacle. The entire humanity still remains divided because of artificial borders imposed by various conquerors long ago. Out of nearly 10,000 existing languages, only seven keep on flourishing because they happen to be the languages of various conquerors. These seven languages are English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu) and Chinese. On the religious side, Muslims all over the world believes in One God; Christians have faith in their Trinity, Hindus believe in innumerable gods. Buddhists have their own Supreme Being who forms the major portion of world population today. Although the world has witnessed thousands of wars but now a nuclear war could prove to be the most dangerous as there is every possibility that the entire mankind can be annihilated as a result of such an unprecedented war. United States has already used atom bombs against Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Moreover, there are strong grounds to believe that an atomic war could be triggered at any time due to a misunderstanding. So the writer in one of his books says: “The present day world consists of roughly 198 countries and these countries have come into being as a result of disintegrating empires and powerful dynasties of the past. Thus almost all the present frontiers stand questionable. It is the call of hour that the people should be allowed to exercise their right to self determination in congenial atmosphere in order to accomplish an independent revision of the decisions imposed in the past.” - (The World of Conquerors). Essentially, Shaheen’s books are sort of Utopias wherein he paints a world without kings and armies and without its thorny problems which plague mankind. Utopias have been written in the past also. Some of the most famous include: ‘The Republic’ (Plato); Thomas Spence’s ‘Spenconia’; Edward Bellamy’s ‘Bostan in the year 2000’; H.G. Well’s, ‘A Modern Utopia,’ Aldous Huxley’s ‘The Brave New World’; James Hilton’s ‘Shangrilla’; B.F. Skinners’ ‘Walden Two’ and Ernest Callenbach’s ‘Ecotopia’. However, the major problem with these utopias is that they are invariably anti- reality and hardly realizable. It is quite interesting to know that even Plato could not put into practice his Utopia when offered a chance. Let Will Durant tell us what happened: “In the years 387 BC Plato received an invitation from Dionysius, ruler of the then flourishing and powerful Syracuse, capital city of Sicily, to come and turn his kingdom into Utopia, and the philosopher, thinking like Turgot that if it was easier to educate one man, even though a king - than a whole people consented. But when Dionysius found that the plan required either that he should become a philosopher or cease to be a king, he balked; the upshot was a bitter quarrel. Story has it that Plato was sold into slavery, to be rescued by his friend and pupil Anniceris.” - (Story of Philosophy, page 39). As, the above story demonstrate, putting a utopia in practice is something totally different from visualizing it on paper, because its implementation involves grave and intricate issues of war, violence, territory, language and even religion. Take for instance the problems of territory. The writer we are discussing does not believe at all in the sanctity of territories and even consider them as “artificial’ as the same were imposed by conquerors. On the other hand, territory has been defined politically as ‘a portion of the earth and its atmosphere which is such that it may fall in the jurisdiction of a sovereign state.” War has been defined as a “forcible connection between states with the purpose of overpowering each other by armed forces’, and has been recognized as “the oldest institution’ in the world. Hegel defined war as ‘eternal and moral’. However, Shaheen altogether refuses to acknowledge war as an institution. But then it does not mean that he is the only one who is against war and armies. Carl von Ossietzky who was awarded Nobel Prize in 1935 had established a “No War Society’ and planned a new holiday to be called, “Anti-War Day’. He has said: All soldiers were murderers and there is nothing ‘heroic’ about war. Similarly, the British writer, Dr Martin Bax (1966) said that ‘we need to stop treating soldiers and ex- soldiers as heroes. Medals should be given for cowardice in the field, not valor.’ This discussion about war may remind the reader about the famous letter Albert Einstein wrote to Freud, seeking a way of delivering mankind from the menace of war. However, Freud’s reply was almost curt, to say the least. Freud said that the letter had taken him by surprise by posing such a question and he posed a counter- question to Einstein: ‘how long shall we have to wait before the rest of mankind become pacifists too? “The gist of letter was that war is something endemic to human nature.” Perhaps this is the reason that while so much has been written about various wars that were fought throughout ages, there are only few writings to be found on the topic of abolition of war itself. It is indeed quite a modern topic and of interest only to a small intellectual minority. However, Bertrand Russell seems to be the only major thinker who has written extensively, apart from two full-length books on the topic. They are, ‘Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare’ and “Has Man a Future? However, let us not be pessimistic as all this does not mean that pacifists/peace lovers have lost their case. Their teachings continue to inspire and influence mankind. Buddha and the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton were the earliest pacifists. But who can ever forget the sweet Jesus who did not believe in violence, even for a noble cause and said: “Put up thy Sword. For they that live by the sword shall die by the sword.” - (The New Testament). Leo Tolstoy, the Russian aristocratic landlord who wrote world-famous novel, War and Peace’ also happens to be a great pacifist. Briefly said, Shaheen has adopted quite a new approach towards understanding the historical crimes under the garb of ‘conquests’ by keeping his writings very simple and straight. He is pacifist to the core and has a great regard for Buddha. For half of his life, he was a vegetarian. Moreover, fantasizing about living in a peaceful world is an innocent activity and millions and millions of followers of various religions have nourished such ideas for the past over two thousand years. They still wait for a Messiah who will descend from the Above and establish a Kingdom of God on the Earth. Shaheen also seems to have his own ideas about creating a borderless world. Let us all wish him god speed in achieving his utopian expectations.

Area of research

BORDERS Throughout the ages, millions of men, women and children are killed and massacred in the name of ‘disputed borders’ created artificially time and again by the conquerors. To save the humanity and stop the massacres over the shifting borders, Yussouf Shaheen is the first author who has debated thoroughly on the subject entitled: Artificial Borders of the World. CONQUEST Conquest, throughout the ages is considered as the most ‘sacred job’ for the rulers, kings, emperors, invaders known as conquerors. We find most history books with lengthy chapters written in golden words in praise of such aggressors. During the process of such conquests, millions of people were massacred, cities and towns were destroyed and house wives and young girls were abused and raped. Subsequently great ‘empires’ were built where the defeated nations were kept in chains and their wealth and resources were looted for centuries together. Most of the books of Yussouf Shaheen revolve around such historic tragedies. FALL OF LANGUAGES Today, roughly 6,909 languages are spoken all over the globe, out of them only seven (7) languages which were imposed by the conquerors enjoy the opportunities and space to flourish, such as the Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian and Portuguese. If we revert back to the ancient world, we find the same number - roughly 7,000 spoken by the entire world. Out of these again only seven (7) languages of the conquero rs had emerged as the leading and the most dominating languages in the ancient world, such as: Sumerian, Akkadian, Phoenician, Aramaic, Sanskrit, Greek and Latin. Recently the UNESCO has predicted that half of the world's present languages - more than 3,000 would disappear by the end of this century. Yussouf Shaheen in his two books (Rise and Fall of Sanskrit and Fall of Native Languages of the Americas) debates, “until and unless the dirty game of ‘conquest’ is not brought to an end, the entire world will continue to suffer the decimation of languages on much larger scale. Yussouf Shaheen, in his book ‘Rise and Fall of gods’ has discussed all the gods and goddesses worshiped by our forefathers. He has also debated massacres of millions of people carried during the ‘conversion process’ from one faith to another. He justifies Mythologies as integral part of history as our forefathers virtually worshiped different gods and goddesses. APPREHENSIONS OF THE THIRD WORLD WAR Today, around 50,000 Nuclear weapons are looming over the heads of the entire humanity. Until this day, major parts of the world are still under the control of the conquerors. To defend such forcibly occupied territories, the conquerors have deployed weapons of mass destruction and can kill the entire humanity. Further more, those newly liberated states which emerged during the recent past, inherited extra large territories from the falling empires. That had again accelerated border disputes all over the world. This perilous border situation has forced the rulers for the large scale preparations aiming at the Third World War. The people of the world have already suffered enormously due to the two World Wars fought during the twentieth century. We lost over 100 million lives and a similar number was severely wounded and disabled; hundreds of thousands of women and young girls were kidnapped and raped. Innumerable women committed suicides. Before we are annihilated by the weapons of mass destruction, they must be disbanded. Let us stop culture of hate on religious differences; let us declare conquests and invasions as major offences and heinous crimes. And the conquerors should be compelled to liberate the enslaved nations without further delay; let us stop killings and massacres on forced conversion of faiths and stop the fall of the mother tongues. This is to inform your kind self that the undersigned has officially been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by the government of Pakistan; also endorsed by around 20 Buddhist professors in India and many others around the world. Your co- operation and assistance would be highly appreciated and helpful in the matter. We submit here under the nomination mail that can be filled in and mailed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee by the professors of your esteemed association. Sorry, we are short of time as the last date for nomination is 31st January 2017.