This is our war

I was considering sharing this song on My Pakistani Ancestry for some time but never got round to it. Now, after reading a blog post by Bushra Hassan on The Citizen's Trust, it made me think about the war in Pakistan and the effects of that on ordinary lives. Go read her post "This is my war" and listen to the following song:



Artists: Haroon, Ali Haider, Ali Zafar, Shafqat, Strings, Shuja Haider and Hadiqa Kiyani

For those who need a translation of the lyrics:

Ye Hum Nahin
This is not us

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
This story that is being spread in our names is a lie

Ye mohrein maut ki maathe pe ghairon ki nishani hai
These stamps of death on our forehead are the signs of others

Humain jis naam se tum jaante ho.. woh hum nahin
The name by which you know us - we are not that

Humain jis aankh se tum dehkte ho.. woh hum nahin
The eyes with which you look at us - we are not that

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

Jese shaam aate hi koyi rasta bhula bethe
As with the coming of night one loses one's way

Andheron se darhein itna ke hum ghar hi jala bethe
We are scared of the dark so much that we are burning our own home

Ye kya chaaron taraf urti hui rigani hai
What is this rising all around us...

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
The stories that are being spread in our names are lies

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

Ghira bethe hain raste main sabak hum saath rehne ka
We have lost on the way the lesson of living together

Humain ek doosre se isiliye bhi lag raha hai darh
We are now even scared of each other

Woh koyi aur hain jin ke tere haath main chehre hain
They are others whose faces are on your hands

Tumhara dukh samandar hai, humare zakham gehre hain
Your sadness is a deep sea - our wounds are deep

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
The stories that are being spread in our names are lies

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

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This is the message we would like to protray to the world. That the bombings, the bloodshed, the killings are not what we are about. It's not what we condone or endorse.

Ye hum nahi
This is not us..