‘Comrade’ Ali Azmat

Guest Blog by Red Kazim

On the Instep pages of The News (Nov 4) there was a photograph of rock star Ali Azmat, who was in a T-shirt with the imprint of hammer-and-sickle. I wonder what a pop singer like Ali Azmat has to do with communism. In the 60s and the 70s, one is told that there were singers like John Lennon who had a conscience, who were abreast of world politics and knew their responsibilities as a global citizen. They opposed wars, called for economic equality and resisted racism.

Unfortunately, our pop icons have always preferred to hide their political leanings, maybe because they have none at all. One of my seniors at the workplace says that our singers are totally apolitical, unlike many of their western counterparts, because the first generation of pop singers in Pakistan was trained and nurtured by PTV. He cites the example of Junaid Jamshed, a protégé of Shoaib Mansoor. Small wonder Junaid Jamshed has ended up joining the tablighi jamaat which preaches total indifference to politics (they even discourage their members to read newspaper which is, according to them, tantamount to wasting one’s time).

Mr Mansoor is undoubtedly a creative and talented person but only recently he has done something that can be termed political. All his life he directed army serials to promote petty nationalism, made patriotic compositions and produced corporate-sponsored love songs. His film, In the Name of God, condemns fundamentalism. That’s OK as far as one is consistent about it. But where was Mr Mansoor when the seeds of fundamentalism were being sown in society during the 80s and the 90s – working for PTV and directing ISPR-financed TV serials?

Coming back to Ali Azmat and his T-shirt, I remember that he recently said in a Dawn TV programme that he supported Pervez Musharraf (read the MQM) because there was peace in his government. I doubt if any person, who has read even a single pamphlet on communism, would utter such nonsense. Where was he on May 12, 2007, when 52 people were killed in broad daylight just because they had come out on streets to welcome the chief justice? Where was he on April 9, 2008, when 11 lawyers were first locked and then burnt alive in Tahir Chambers on M A Jinnah Road because they were opposed to the fascist MQM? Does all this mean ‘peace’ in our pop icon’s dictionary?

In another programme on Aag TV, as the host of the show, Ali Azmat had remarked that socialism was now forgotten past and that after the collapse of Soviet Union there were little chances of a socialist resurgence. His comment was refuted by his guest, Taj Haider of the PPP, who said that the socialist movement was gaining strength in every part of the world as there were not only numerous socialist groups actively opposing the prevailing neo-liberal order but also a number of governments in Latin America and Asia were predominantly socialist. I think a person calling the socialist movement dead would be quite ill-informed politically. Even US president-elect Barack Obama is being called a socialist for saying that if a CEO makes more money in 10 minutes than the average American worker makes in a whole year then there must be something wrong with the system.

If the western singers (who Ali Azmat is probably trying to copy by presenting a leftist outlook of himself) earned respect as men of conscience in the 20th century, it was because they had got courage to stand up to the powers that be. Did Ali Azmat utter a single word ever in appreciation (or opposition) of the lawyers’ movement? What kind of a social activist a person can be if he remained totally dumb during the most momentous and heterogeneous struggle for the rule of law our country has ever seen? Wearing a T-shirt with a symbol of communism on it doesn’t make one a politically active person.


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16 responses to “‘Comrade’ Ali Azmat”

  1. Rafay Kashmiri Avatar
    Rafay Kashmiri

    @ there are thousands of “Ali Azmets ” who never believed
    in communism/Secularism /libralism and never had
    Quranic ayats written on their t-Shirts, and they
    vanished, disappeared, abducted, massacred killed
    maimed, are still been killed or made killed by the
    allies daily basis, where are those disappeared in
    hundreds and thousands ???

    Comradism is typical of those who only love and
    protect and protest their ones, this is called
    partisanism !! and political maneouvering !!

    The same old music about Mansoor and his achievements
    against targetted Islamic “elements”.

  2. Abdullah Avatar
    Abdullah

    Maybe he just liked the tshirt?

  3. Nadcracker Avatar
    Nadcracker

    All that from a T-Shirt?

    I better stop wearing my jockey underwear in case ppl start thinking I’m a quack, or a cheat of some kind. Or maybe even a professional race jockey.

  4. Adeel Avatar
    Adeel

    “Did Ali Azmat utter a single word ever in appreciation (or opposition) of the lawyers’ movement? What kind of a social activist a person can be if he remained totally dumb during the most momentous and heterogeneous struggle for the rule of law our country has ever seen?”

    Ali talks about it on Marina khan show on lawyers movement in detail, watch the last two parts of the show.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXqTwdv7-_Y

    hope this helps

  5. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    he did talk about the lawyers’ movement (opposition)….check out his interview of Marina Mornings on youtube!

  6. Mutazalzaluzzaman Tarar Avatar
    Mutazalzaluzzaman Tarar

    Ali Azmat is a mimbo. the man is a retard. he might be a good gawayya but he ain’t no artist.

    he did talk about the lawyers’ movement – he opposed it. he proudly said that he voted for the fascist terrorists of MQM. he also seemed to be in love with the dictator dog who recently left the president house. the guy doesn’t have a spine. it’s utterly laughable that clowns like Azmat and his ilk think of themselves as some sort of rebels when they are nothing more than marasis.

    the guy is a joke. after watching his mindless drivel on Marina’s show, I decided to boycott all his albums. I used to buy his albums ’cause I grew up listening to him and he is one of the few musicians still performing that me and my gen grew up listening to. but no more! I will not support a man who supports military dictatorship, votes for fascists and terrorists like MQM and opposes rule of law.

  7. Rafay Kashmiri Avatar
    Rafay Kashmiri

    @ the total abuse of tax-payer’s media, the showbis of
    Pakistan is systematically abused and exploited for
    utterance of anti-Pakistan BAKWAS, on such a marginal
    nonsensical level, It is true that the Pak media and
    showbis behaves like real K A N J A R S.

    Boycott them entirley, close all doors to them,
    they are Indian Haramis and soldouts.

    As if Music, drama, literature, Poetry nothing existed
    in Pakistan ?
    Langoor di rocked-n-rolled aulaad, guttay da Romainian
    icon ne howay te.

    If a showbis Gumashtah, can insult us, we have the
    right to insult his “aslah”.

  8. Barrister Ali K.Chishti Avatar
    Barrister Ali K.Chishti

    LOL

  9. Rafay Kashmiri Avatar
    Rafay Kashmiri

    @ Zalzalah Tarar,

    Sir, you call him or them ” good Gawayya ”
    I bet he can not even sing simple “Sargam ”
    If their ” singing is called ” music, my goodness,
    let them first correct Akars of their voice !!
    then they can start dooing anything in music.

    Even donkey’s is far better rythemic.

  10. noha Avatar
    noha

    hey you guys, leave the guy alone…all this fuss over a silly T-shirt…duh

  11. HBR Avatar
    HBR

    I wonder what this bitter, cynical and overly critical author has against Ali Azmat or Shoaib Mansoor for that matter. This is what I find so confusing and unsettling about these self-professed promoters of social justice and freedom. The ideals of civil rights and social justice are based on acceptance, tolerance and appreciation and not on over-judged, ill-perceived character defamation. And very respectfully I would like to inform the writer that the gaining political ideology around the world isn’t pure socialism – it is social capitalism. Social capitalism encourages market competition and entrepreneurial spirit but also allows the people of the republic (through their elected representatives) to monitor and regulate the market. And the fact that Obama was being called a socialist during the campaign was actually an over-exaggerated image portrayal by the neoconservative media (especially Fox News) to win the support of the independent voters by playing on the fear of ‘wealth-distributing’ socialist ideas among the American people. Obama believes in market liberalization with diligent oversight of the government, the emerging ideology that is being accepted as a better alternative to competition-discouraging socialism and free-market capitalism.
    While I don’t mean to doubt the writer’s genuine faith in social justice and civil rights, all I wish to say is that let’s promote the culture of acceptance and tolerance – a pre-requisite for a strong democracy.

  12. Barrister Ali K.Chishti Avatar
    Barrister Ali K.Chishti

    Ali Azmat, I know is a rebel – he knows his worth prorably that’s what led to Junoon’s breakup because the other two were milking him. Junoon was prorably the band of 90’s – how could we forget, “Jazba Junoon”, “Sayoni” and numerous other hits.

    Ali bhai is a rebel – I am his fan ….. btw, his last concert rocked KHI ..

  13. Rafay Kashmiri Avatar
    Rafay Kashmiri

    @ Gunjay ko mil gaya hay ganja aik aur,

    Ke bahana sar khujanay ka mil jaey kahein

    RK

  14. karachikhatmal Avatar

    @ Rafay Kashmiri

    you are a shameless bigot – i fail to see how you can criticize others when you think that adding “indian” as a prefix to harami strengthens your supposed insult. seriously man, get a life.

    @ the author

    if you have been in a time capsule since the 60s, allow me to enlighten you. t-shirts of che guevara are worn by millions across the world, with absolute no knowledge of who the man was or what he stood for. socialism has been reduced to its sexy symbols, little else. also going after ali azmat is remarkably stupid. clearly you have too much time on your hands if you are going after a singer who prides himself on bucking conventions and little else. i don’t chastise ali azmat, cuz after 20 years we can predict how he’s going to be. but i don’t get how you, with your ‘red’ affilitaions can be unaware of that. perhaps its because you really have been in a time capsule, and thus have just been introduced to ali azmat, and are still unaware of the collapse of the USSR.

  15. Rafay Kashmiri Avatar
    Rafay Kashmiri

    @ karachikhatmal,

    Khatmal Bhai, you really missed the allegory.

  16. xill-e-ilahi Avatar

    what does wearing a teeshirt have to do with his political outlook? what, for that matter, does his political outlook have to do with anything?

    i swear, you guys are either so short of agendas that you have to attach everything to a cause or you’re just plain nuts. and i’m suspecting its the latter.