The dilemma of having ‘Sami Khan’ in your name during Indo-Pak conflict

By
Momina Mindeel
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sami khan Indi-pak conflict

We all remember Adnan Sami Khan for his acclaimed songs like Zara Dholki Bajao Goriyo and Lift Karadey.  That’s probably how we will always remember him, or at least that’s what it looks like for the time being. 

While it is true that us desis have a hard time moving on from things, it is also time to acknowledge that people make choices for themselves that we don’t necessarily agree with and that there is nothing we can do about them.

Adnan Sami Khan moved to India in 2001, some 18 years back. Throughout these years, he made it rather clear that his loyalty lies with India and as we said, it’s a choice that he made, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Since Adnan’s choice involved giving up his Pakistani nationality for Indian citizenship instead of a British or Canadian, Pandora’s box surrounding his decision has been opened and closed numerous times. This time, however, it has been taken a notch up amidst all the chaos surrounding war and political turmoil both the countries find themselves in.

The Desh-Bhakt Adnan

On Feb 26, after the Indian Airforce had violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and was forced to go back minutes later by Pakistan Airforce, Adnan Sami Khan tweeted the following:

This is not the first time he has exhibited his loyalty towards India. Pakistanis, however, take it personally every time. Keeping up with their tradition, Pakistani trolls called him out on his apparent ‘beyghariti.’

While others made some rather good jokes about the whole situation.

Some brilliant memes were also shared in the process.

Adnan Sami Khan turned around and called out the trolls which led to yet another Twitter debate and the vicious cycle continued (you get the idea, right?)

https://twitter.com/AdnanSamiLive/status/1100467158340026368

The Muhib-e-Watan Azaan

Meanwhile, Adnan’s son, Azaan Sami Khan; after Pakistani strikes in India yesterday and shooting down two Indian fighter jets and resultantly capturing an enemy pilot, shared a rather sensible post on his Instagram, subtly calling people out for wanting to have a war:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZZfxlhXgZ/

The caption of his Instagram post of Pakistani flag read the following: “In this time of uncertainty and turmoil, it is heartening to see the maturity and strength with which our troops and PM are striving for peace and protecting our sovereignty. I pray that we are all guided to a peaceful settlement. Pakistan Zindabad.”

The comments under his post mostly praised his mature approach towards the issue, but there were some that asked him to teach something to his father too. There were also comments that brought Azaan’s mother, Zeba Bakhtiar, into the entire matter too.

Now, was it fair to say all of those things to him? No. Is he responsible for how his adult father chooses to act? Also no. Is it, however, the high time that we realize that despite being related, the two aren’t responsible for each other’s actions? Absolutely Yes!

What needs to be realised is that Adnan is an Indian now and is simply being an Indian, while Azaan is a Pakistani and is simply being a Pakistani in a time of conflict like this. If being a Pakistani you disagree with Adnan, sure, go ahead and criticise, but without calling him a traitor or bringing Azaan or Zeba Bakhtiar into it.

As of now, the surname ‘Sami Khan’ is like the Manto’s Toba Tek Singh, and we end this piece on the last line of the same story, “On one side, behind barbed wire, stood together the lunatics of India and on the other side, behind more barbed wire, stood the lunatics of Pakistan. In between, on a bit of earth which had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh.”

What do you think of the whole situation? Let us know in the comments.

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