Azam Gill's Blog, page 2

Love, Hope and Heartbreak: A 1960-Journey Through History—Part I,

by Azam Gill

In 1960, the Indo-Pakistani conflict impacted Azam’s family reunion, highlighting the enduring bonds of family across borders and the human cost of political strife. An exclusive

WHEN my mother, sister and I went to India, it was still five years short of the ill-thought out and unnecessary 1965 war which ensured that cousins reeling from the fratricidal madness of the 1947 massacres, topped by the 1948 Kashmir War, would remain mired in deadly squabbles over self-identification, self-image and real estate. And ‘sir jee,’ the now ubiquitous cross-border, visa-free form of address linking vernacular Urdu and vernacular Hindi speakers in a sycophantic doublet had not even been conceived.

In 1959, General Ayub Khan, the President of Pakistan, had promoted himself to Field Marshal, not because of any laurels in battle field generalship, but only because he could. There was nobody to oppose him and, if there had been, he was sure that the result of the impending 1965 war predicted by his ‘son’ Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, progeny of a ‘Sir,’ brought up by an English nanny and, groomed by good old Berkley and Oxford, would take care of it.

We all know how that went down!

Read More here https://www.differenttruths.com/love-hope-and-heartbreak-a-1960-journey-through-history-i/

Raksha Bandhan’s Legacy of Protection and Love

by Azam Gill in DIFFERENT TRUTHS

Raksha Bandhan is an allegory of love, trust, protection, the spoken word, human frailty and honour. An annual ritual between biological and non-biological brothers and sisters renews trust through the inviolability of a promise, strengthening social cohesion.
“Rakhsha Bandhan ensured that in a patriarchal society, brothers would take the responsibility of their sisters’ safety and well-being.
“It created a bond between siblings and enhanced their natural love and affection.
“Tying a rakhee to a non biological brother also binds him to only brotherly feelings.
“Rakhi brother is a common term.”
Professor Roopali Sircar Gauhar, PhD …. to read the full article https://www.differenttruths.com/raksha-bandhans-legacy-of-protection-and-love/

TWINNING IN Saeed Ibrahim’s “TWIN TALES from KUTCCH”

Vitalizing twinning in this period saga, Saeed Ibrahim deftly overlaps characters, places, and situations within the novel’s hall of tactically placed mirrors in perfect sync. TWIN TALES is a microcosmic, counterfactual gem of the period preceding the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan — a ray of sanity, overriding divisions and separation, to rebuke the macrocosmic killing fields and trains of death the British left as their legacy. Not to speak of 88% illiteracy, 32 years life expectancy and no health service or public education worth the name, except for fee-paying, lucrative schools for the elite to ensure unequal opportunity.
TWIN TALES OF THE KUTCCH brings love, family and humanity to the fore in subliminal criticism of the brutal independence of India.

Coming soon: full review in https://www.differenttruths.com/

ANGST Asian Christians Asian Christians in the United Kingdom Asian Football UK Asian wealth creators Australia Ayah Sophia Beaujolais Nouveau Book Review : Professor Alfred A. Schlorholtz Book Review: Something to Share Charlie Hebdo Attack Chris Bauer Christian Magistrate Pakistan christian president india Christian-Muslim divide Christmas digestion Christmas menu CIA’s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques CLIMATE CHANGE COP 28 Cultural Integration Cultural trends Culture Culture: Dying Cultures Da Vinci Code Dacoit's honour Deep State Doléance Doléance Président de la République Donald Trump EBOLA Education EITs EU EU Commission President EU Elections European Union European Union female president india Fiction: Christmas Fiction:Pakistani Christians Fiction:Punjab Fiction:Punjabi Christians Football Forman Christian College University France Geopolitics & Geostrategy Geopolitics & Geostrategy: Berlin Wall Fallout Geopolitics & Geostrategy: Who Killed Bin Laden? Geopolitics and Geostrategy Geopolitics and Geostrategy: East Europe Geopolitics and Geostrategy: Strategic Intelligence Model Geopolitics and Geostrategy: Terrorism Hagia Sophia Himalayas Hostage Rescue Humor India India-Pakistan tensions Indian Army Indian cuisine Indo European Studies: South Asia Indo European Studies: the Kalash Indo European Studies: threatened minorities Indo-European Studies: Aryan Invasion Theory Indo-European Studies: Indo-European origins Indo-European Studies: Sanskrit Indo-European Studies: the Caste System Indo-Pakistani Caste System Intercommunal dialogue Interfaith dialogue Islam and the West Jaat Jesus Jesus in Kashmir Joseph Colony Kashmir Kashmir Line of Control Kohinoor controversy Law Leonardo da Vinci LOC Lost kingdoms Magistrate Mary Magdalene and Jesus Military music Military Police Minorities Nalanda University Nastiness in US Presidential Elections News and current events Nuri Nutt Maula Jat Pakistan Pakistan Army Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan schoolchildren massacre Pakistani Christian diaspora Pakistani Christians Pakistani Cuisine Pathankot airbase attack Persecution Persecution of Christians Persecution of Christians US State Department Persecution of Pakistani Christians Peshawar school massacre PMA Populism in Europe Rape Recipes Reconciliation Refugees Religious Minorities in Theocracies Report Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Rohingya Santa in Pakistan Secularism Sexual Abuse UN Peacekeepers Sexually repressed Situation discriminatoire South Asia South Asia Cultural trends South Asia: belches South Asia: Digestion South Asian cooking South Asian Warriors 1 South Asian Warriors 2 South Asian Warriors 3 Statelessness Stiff Upper Lip Subhash Kak Teddyism Terrorism Terrorism in Pakistan The Caste System The Invisibles Turkey's Secularism under Threat UN Peacekeepers Uncategorized United Nations United States Immigration Policy United States of America US / UK Civilization : Impact of Lady Di’s Death 2 US / UK Civilization: Curry Houses US / UK Civilization: Fear for Britian US / UK Civilization: immigration US / UK Civilization: Lady Di's Death US / UK Civilization: UK Lady Di US Presidential election Wine women’s empowerment Pakistan Yoga Young army officers

Afghanistan Alexander’s descendants BBC Asian Network Blasphemy Blasphemy Pakistan British Asians British Raj Caste Cattle rustling Developing World DJ Nihal Donald Trump Express Tribune France French Foreign Legion India Kalash Karakorams Lahore LOC Kashmir militant Islamic fundamentalists Nepal news Pakistan Pakistani Christians Pakistani Christmas Payas Persecution of Christian minorities Persecution of Pakistani Christians power grabs Punjabi village Christians Punjab Regiment Punjab smugglers rat people Rustling Samuel Colt South Asia South Asian Warriors Stiff Upper Lip Terrorism Tony Blair USA US Presidential election World War I Victoria Cross Yakki Gate

Family, India, Saga, Twinning

TWIN TALES FROM KUTCCH: a microcosmic, counterfactual gem of the period preceding the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan — a ray of sanity…

Azam Gill reviews COBALT, Chris Bauer’s latest thriller.

The plotting of Rick Bauer’s COBALT is an intricate spider’s web of meticulous cunning, bringing in, controlling and coordinating disparate and conflicting elements. COBALT throbs with suspense, crime, politics, big business, government, foreign intrigue, geopolitics, and conspiracy disrupting the lives of good, honest folk.
Full Review Here: https://www.differenttruths.com/reviews/book-review/thriller-cobalt-explores-morality-in-a-high-stakes-race/

Mike Broemmel

Playwright, Novelist, Speaker

“Mike Broemmel is the 21st century’s answer to John Steinbeck at his most nitty-gritty.”- Neil Marr, Monaco, Publisher & Editor

Biography of Mike Broemmel

Mike Broemmel is a prolific playwright, with nearly two-dozen of his plays produced in the past decade. A number of his award-winning plays have been in continuous production since their initial premieres. 

Mike’s plays are produced across the United States and internationally. In 2019, his play  Stand Still & Look Stupid was a featured production at Féile an Phobail, the largest arts festival in Northern Ireland. In 2023, his play I’m Harvey Milk ran Off-Broadway. In 2024, a series of six of Mike’s plays is running at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Two of his plays are being staged at the 2024 Imagine Belfast Festival in Northern Ireland. 

Mike’s career began in the White House Office of Media Relations ….. https://mikebroemmel.com/bio

Mike Broemmel Homepage https://mikebroemmel.com/

Mike Broemmel’s Books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mike+broemmel&i=stripbooks&crid=20HVZ677FI757&sprefix=mike+broemmel%2Cstripbooks%2C197&ref=nb_sb_noss

WORLD JATT / JAAT DAY

“Multi sourced information and Extensively researched,” Dr. V. Gill, USA

Saga Indicus traces the origins of the Indian Jatts. Agriculturists, warriors, and now represented in all the professions, they are mainly found in Punjab, Sindh, Rajputana and the western portion of the Gangetic Doab. The origins of Jatts cannot be traced without exploring ancient Indian history which takes the lion’s share of Indo-European studies. The origin of the Jatt people is traceable through the meaning of the word itself, referred to in Panini’s Ashtadyayi, and further back in The Mahabharta itself. The trail of overlapping meanings leads back in time from Panini (450BC)’s Ashtadyayi to The Mahabharta, and forward in time to the present-day Jatts and their constituent Gill clan. Saga Indicus undertakes this study through: The Panini Fulcrum: 400 BC. The Vikramaditya Fulcrum: 375-415 BC. The Prithipal Fulcrum: AD 9. The Bhatinda Fort fulcrum: AD 783. The Gilpal Fulcrum: AD 1113. Saga Indicus is crucial to the understanding of Indo-European cultures.

Pakistan’s Education System Under Scrutiny After …

by Dr. Azam Gill

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She cowered under a table, trembling.
The timeless aroma of spices was retreating to the fetid stench of fear. Kaka Johnson’s eyes narrowed to slits. His brain overcame instinct and with great presence of mind he pulled down the grilled steel shutters of his fast-food joint.
Intoxicated by self-righteousness, the crowd in the street bayed for a ritual sacrifice on a rap beat, desperate to mitigate its own misery. The death chant rose in slow intensity, drowning Kaka Johnson’s desperate pleas and leaving his mouth open in a silent, Munchean scream.
The first spark of decency.
Two neighbouring shopkeepers begged for sanity — their pleas swallowed up by the death chant.
They were the second spark of self-respect.
Although the Imam from a nearby mosque made the mistake of not reading the calligraphy on the robe, he courageously arrived to face the crowd and argued unheard against insanity.
He was the third spark of courage.
Then tires skidded on gravel, and tight-faced police officers spilled out of their jeeps, index fingers on trigger guards, throats dry, eyes darting to approaches, exits and hostiles.

Read More: https://www.differenttruths.com/governance/law-order/focus-pakistans-education-system-under-scrutiny-after-mobs-near-lynching/

Blood Money

Like the novel of the same name by Azam Gill, the poem, BLOOD MONEY, carried by Different Truths, hits hard at the nexus of banks and leaders binding climate funding.

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Cop28 Under Fire: A Look at the Sinister Nexus

Blood Money

$400 million bowled in Blood Money
After decades of bleeding the needy
Not enough to lick the spit
Damn, they don’t have the grit

To really walk the walk
But throw a fistful and talk
Headlines yell poor countries are winners
Nah, not them, the winners are the sinners

Yet, the grand-standing end-users
Are the leaders with grubby paws
Of the recipient countries howling and drowning
With offshore accounts fattening and growling

And the dodgy banks off shore
Real owners of grants galore
With blow-dried hair, high-tech pimps
On filling their coffers, they do not skimp

The spidery network of a money bed
Semantic altruism on its head
They process grants and own the companies
Which get development contracts for their cronies

Bribe the crooks running their countries
Who pocket smoothly all these monies
Which find their way back off-shore
Lying in wait for their overthrow

Lean, hungry and villainous
Casius’ eyes are so jealous
Yet somewhere, sometime a hand-pump awaits
For the end user trickle of Blood Money’s fate

My essay, ‘Disinherited Internal Exiles, is seated in dis...

My essay, ‘Disinherited Internal Exiles, is seated in distinguished literary company.  Thrilled to share  my co-authorship in “”Angst of Belonging and Not Belonging,” edited by Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur & Anita Joseph, and carried by TDW Publishing. 
You might wish to order a copy:
www.amazon.com/Angst-Belonging-Not-Anita-Joseph/dp/9391828345
https://www.amazon.in/Angst-Belonging-Not-ANITA-JOSEPH/dp/9391828337

Flipkart: Flipkart.com <https://www.flipkart.com/angst-belonging-not/p/itm90456096befb6?pid=9789391828332&lid=LSTBOK9789391828332XYW2N1&marketplace=FLIPKART&cmpid=content_book_8965229628_gmc >

Angst: Of Belonging and Not Belonging, (Editors: Roopali Sircar Gaur and Anita Joseph), is an international anthology of poetry.73 well-known poets from across the world.

In the vast realm of human existence, few emotions resonate as deeply as the complex tapestry of belonging and not belonging. These sentiments, intertwined with the yearning for connection and understanding, or ANGST, have inspired countless works of art throughout history. ANGST is an overwhelmingly complex and haunting presence. It speaks to a profound sense of unease, restlessness, and disquiet that permeates the human experience. Within the pages of this international poetry anthology titled “ANGST: Of Belonging and Not Belonging,” we embark on a captivating journey through the landscape of angst, delving into its intricate manifestations and exploring its impact on our collective psyche.
Each poem within “ANGST: Of Belonging and Not Belonging” serves as a luminous thread, weaving together a vibrant drapery of emotions and insights. The poets’ words unite us in a shared exploration of identity, connection and the search for a place to call home. Through lyrical expressions, they illuminate the joy of finding solace in the embrace of community or the deep sense of being rooted in a particular time and space. Conversely, they lay bare the ache of displacement, the searing loneliness of feeling adrift, or the longing for acceptance and understanding in an estranged world.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu: Did India Miss its Opportunity?

By Dr. Azam Gill, published in DIFFERENT TRUTHS https://www.differenttruths.com/

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/how-good-a-president-will-droupadi-murmu-turn-out-to-be

On 25 July 2022, Ms. Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as India’s second female and first Tribal President. “My election is evidence that the poor in India cannot just dream but also fulfil those dreams,” said President Murmu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed the ceremony a “watershed moment for India, especially for the poor, marginalised and downtrodden.”
Although the ground reality of these lofty semantics will now come under critical scrutiny, India must be appreciated for electing yet another president from one of its diverse minorities. After all, by accepting secularism at Independence, Hindu-majority India bound itself to manage its diversity within a democratic framework, and has, overall, done …
…. But then these aren’t the only minority groups in India…..
To Read the full article
https://www.differenttruths.com/governance/politics/droupadi-murmu-did-india-miss-its-opportunity/

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