In the bizarre ways of social media, Adnan Sami, default target of Pakistani trolls at the best of times, found a new response post his support for the IAF: Now, he was “Major Adnan Sami” of the ISI. Unruffled by the “creative trolling”, and not in the least defensive, he has a few words for those reminding him of his ex-PAF officer father’s ‘legacy’
Anshul Chaturvedi (BOMBAY TIMES; March 5, 2019)

Not too long after putting out a tweet in support of the IAF, Adnan Sami discovered a surreal if amusing pattern on Twitter, in addition to the usual trolling from across the border that he is subject to: This time, he was being ‘thanked’ for having done a great job as an undercover ISI agent! While “Major Adnan Sami” understands the sharpness and the mixed nature of responses, given that his father was a Squadron Leader in the PAF, he says he learnt the idea of absolute loyalty to where he is from his father himself and doesn’t owe an explanation to anyone.

So when did you first see or hear the recent online references describing you as an ‘ISI Major’?
On Twitter, people start notifying you. And when I suddenly started seeing, ‘Well done, Major Adnan Sami’, ‘Please don’t let the secret out that you are our agent’, ‘You are our hero, thanks so much for the MiG21 information’, I started laughing. Then I realised, achha, yeh angle hai. As it went on, it became more and more creative with audiovisual and all that, and I said, yaar, these guys are putting on such a great show, they’ve put in such an effort. As an artiste, I appreciate art, and this is art, creativity of another level. I have to appreciate and applaud it.

At any other time, across-the-border trolling about you is default, but given the circumstances and the mood of the people in both countries, at this point, does it come across as funny or as hurtful or as something which you see as malicious?
Actually, the people who are orchestrating it, behind it all, I know them too well. And it actually doesn’t come across to me as malicious or derogatory. It shows their desperation. Because what they’re trying to desperately do is create a narrative which they feel has been shaken by the events that have taken place recently. Behind the jokes there’s a serious problem, which is leading to this kind of desperate measure of somehow trying to create this diversion. Does it make sense, what I’m trying to say?

Basically, that the son of an ex-PAF officer has gone on record about the IAF to praise it, is something which can’t be left unattended. So something has to be done to bring it down a peg, to make it look silly or spoofy. Is that how you see it?
Because you see, the point is, all said and done, I might be finding it funny, which I genuinely do. But behind it is a serious effort being made by certain powers, which is not exactly rocket science to figure out who. Because obviously they find it very, like you said, the son of a person who used to be in the PAF, openly praising the IAF, is an attack on their ego.

So is it better strategy to ignore it than to engage with it, even in humour?
I would say that I’m ignoring 99 per cent of it, and rightly so, it’s all ignore-worthy. But the point is that it is also funny... I belong to a father who would put his head into a lion’s mouth and start finding humour in that. So I’m always up for a good laugh, regardless of whether it is at my cost or not. I’ll laugh at anything. In fact, I ignore it when it’s malicious, but when it’s in humour, then I’ll probably add two cents to it. When it comes to humour, I’m always up for it and I find humour in everything, whether it was my obesity or anything else. I will always appreciate a good sense of humour even if it’s at my cost. So it doesn’t bother me.

You see, the last thing I would want them to think is that I’m staying silent because I’m offended. Because I’m not. The point is, the kind of mentality they have is that they gave back our Wing Commander because they had to give him back because of the Geneva Convention and the pressure that was on them. But while giving him back they had to turn around and say, ‘Oh humne daya kha li’. Ya phir humne favour kar diya aap par. Excuse me, you did no favour, you were supposed to do it. So if I’d stayed quiet, with that kind of mentality that exists, they would have said, arre he’s been rattled or he’s been scared. So I know that mentality also na — ‘woh issliye nahi bol raha hai kyunki usski phat gayi hai’. I know the bully mentality. So I need to put it across ki, excuse me, that’s funny.

Any of your older friends or associates in Pakistan whom you were on good terms with, do you get sermons from them ki you shouldn’t have said this, your father wouldn’t have liked it? Kabhi unke doston se? Are there dilemmas, conflicting sentiments?
No. First of all, my old friends, or family, they know who I am. They respect the fact that the decisions of my life, regardless of what those decisions may be, are my decisions, and I’ve got the right to take them. And they respect my freedom of choice and they respect the fact that it’s my life and it’s up to me how I wish to lead it. And they judge me by how I conduct myself with them, how my relationship with them is, one to one. So it doesn’t affect my relationship with anybody. Because we, as individuals, know our boundaries, I will not question their choices in life and they will not question my choices in life. As long as we’re good to each other, love and respect each other, that’s what matters.

They don’t ever have the audacity of being so presumptuous of thinking what my father would or would not react to. They know that my father and I were each other’s other self, if you know what I mean. My father knew me better than I knew myself. So they know that the last thing they can ever do is presume what my father would think vis-a-vis me. They know that my father gave me his blessings and the matter finishes there. And they also know that I would never do anything without my father’s blessings, or anything which would make my father cringe. I know one thing for a fact — my father was an Afghan (his roots were Afghan). But because of the fact that Peshawar was where they had to leave, we are basically from Herat, and my great-grandfather was the governor of Herat, so when the Revolution took place, the family had to flee to Peshawar, and Peshawar was, at that point in time, part of Afghanistan. And then the British took over a part of Peshawar and it became a part of British India. Even though my father was originally Afghan, but because of the fact that he became part of Pakistan by default because of the Partition, his blood or DNA said that I will have to now show my allegiance to this country. Because that’s the Pathan way — this is the country that I’m in now, I will show my allegiance to this country. So therefore today, I have my oath to India to honour. This is a very important thing in our blood that we honour our zabaan, our oath. If I have sworn allegiance to you, by God, I’ll give my life to you. For a Pathan, his zabaan is a very important thing, ghairat is a very important thing. Aapne agar allegiance show kar di hai... he would have said to me that you better be true to the oath that you’ve taken. He was very clear about those things. And so today, if I am patriotic or nationalistic or whatever you want to call it, it is because of the upbringing that I have from my father, and the fact that he placed so much emphasis on loyalty, allegiance and honour...

So you are carrying forward the same value system, not ‘insulting his memory’, right?
Absolutely not! And you know, his brother lives in Canada, he said to me, you are doing absolutely the right thing, your baba would have been proud of you for holding on to the values of honour. So I’m very much following his legacy of allegiance.

Your grandfather is Afghan, father Pakistani and you’re Indian.
(Laughs!) Yes. So the point is that I’ve got a bit of everybody in me. But my value system is very much like a typical Pathan. Humare liye yeh kaagaz ke koi maayne nahi hote, humare liye zabaan sab kuch hoti hai. Ek dafa zabaan de di, toh bas de di.

So your general message to trolls — be they crass or refined — would be, ‘not going to change any reflex in the future either’?
No. Not at all. In fact, I would just urge them to be a little more creative. Because I’m enjoying their creativity and sense of humour! In today’s language, it’s like, ‘is that all you got for me, bro?!’
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WHY ADNAN’S PRAISE OF THE IAF PARTICULARLY RATTLES IN PAKISTAN
Adnan’s father Arshad Sami Khan was in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and a decorated war hero. He fought in the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and was Aide-de-Camp to three presidents — Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He retired from the PAF and joined the Foreign Office, served as ambassador to 14 countries, Chief of Protocol for seven prime ministers and presidents, Foreign Secretary and Cultural Secretary.

His bestselling book, Three Presidents And An Aide, was published in India and released by former PM IK Gujral after failing to find a publisher in Pakistan.


A SUBCONTINENT IN A FAMILY

Adnan’s great-grandfather and grandfather belonged to the Afghan aristocracy. The family had to flee to Peshawar, a part of British India and later, Pakistan. By virtue of the boundaries drawn after Partition, Adnan’s father became a Pakistani. Adnan, born a Pakistani, became an Indian citizen in 2016. “So the point is that I’ve got a bit of everybody in me,” says Adnan, “Although my father was Afghan, the fact that he became part of Pakistan by default because of the Partition, his DNA said, ‘This is the country that I’m in now, I will show my allegiance to this country’. Because that’s the Pathan way. Today, I have my oath to India,my zabaan, to honour.”

THE TIMES OF INDIA (November 30, 2018)

Islamabad: The Pakistan government has decided to convert Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor’s ancestral home in the Qissa Khwani Bazar in Peshawar into a museum soon, honouring a request by the actor.

Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Pakistan government will turn the actor’s house into a museum. “There was a call from Rishi Kapoor. He requested that his family’s home in Peshawar should be made into a museum or some sort of institution. We have accepted his request,” he told a group of visiting Indian journalists.

Pakistan’s interior minister Shehryar Khan Afridi said Kapoor telephoned him to preserve his family’s house in Peshawar and “we are responding positively to his request.”

“He had called me and talked about making his ancestral home into a museum. Now the federal and provincial governments are working on this and will transform the house into a museum soon,” Afridi said.

The Kapoor Haveli in Qissa Khwani Bazar was built by Basheswarnath Kapoor, father of Bollywood icon Prithviraj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor, the son of Prithviraj Kapoor, was born in Peshawar on December 14, 1924. The actor-director is best known for a string of hit films he made in the 1950s and 1960s. The Kapoor family left Peshawar after the Partition in 1947.

The veteran actress reacts to news of Dilip Kumar's ancestral home in Peshawar collapsing...
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; June 18, 2017)

MUMBAI MIRROR (June 16, 2017)

The century-old ancestral house of Dilip Kumar, situated in Peshawar’s Mohalla Khudadad, near the Qissa Khwani bazaar, which was already in a dilapidated condition, has collapsed. Authorities say a replica will come up soon under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Antiquities Act 2016. Currently only the front portion and the gate are intact, according to Shakeel Waheedullah, General Secretary, Cultural Heritage Council, Pakistan.

Prominent members of the city have criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government for neglecting the iconic structure even though it was declared a national heritage in 2014 by the archaeology department. Waheedullah informed that he had submitted six applications to the KP government but no action was taken. “Saira Banu was dejected after she learnt about the collapse,” he informed.

Director of Archaeology and Museums, Abdul Samad, however, said the damage was a “blessing in disguise” as it will give them a chance to reconstruct the house. He pointed out that the structure was in shambles and according to engineers couldn’t not be conserved. They were also road-blocked by litigation. However, the new law allows the archaeology department to carry on conservation or reconstruction work at any ancient site without ownership. Some of the biggest Bollywood stars, including Dilip Kumar, Prithiviraj Kapoor and his family, Shah Rukh Khan and the late Vinod Khanna came from Peshawar and their ancestral houses still exist in the city.

“We have launched a project to document all historic and ancient places within the Walled City of Peshawar and under the project, the replica of Dilip Kumar’s house will be reconstructed soon,” Samad assured.

Sameer Arshad (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 24, 2016)

The filmmaker feels Pakistan’s morale has hit an all-time low with the savage killing of children in Peshawar on Tuesday
Subhash K Jha (DNA; December 18, 2014)

Mahesh Bhatt is a very troubled man. Half-Muslim (his mother was a Muslim) Bhatt feels what Rabindranath Tagore had once expressed. “Tagore once had a profound conversation with a Bedoin tribesman whom he met in an Iraq desert encampment. The Bedoin told him that the Holy Prophet described a true Muslim as someone whose words and deeds do not harm any person in any way, and here we have brother killing brother! Why is it that only a believer kills and not a non-believer? It’s very strange thing.”

The filmmaker is appalled by the line of thought that suggests that the attack in Peshawar was expected. Comparing the terror attack in Peshawar to the brutality of the Nazis, he says, “Children have always been most vulnerable. Any civilisation that cannot take care of its women and children doesn’t deserve to be called a civilisation. There is no denying that the State leader in Pakistan is powerless. If you go to Karachi you’ll see the man on the street is very confused as to who the enemy is. They’ve been brought up thinking that the man or woman across the border is the real enemy. Now they’re no longer sure of who the enemy is. The enemy, they feel, is among us.” He adds that it’s time Pakistan woke up to ground reality.