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Adnan Sami on being a proud Indian: If I have sworn allegiance to you, by God, I’ll give my life to you. I’m a Pathan! | Hindi Movie News
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’.
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 audio-visual 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 it 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% 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 my 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 of life and they will not question my choices of life. As long as we’re good to each other and love each other 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.
THROWBACK: Adnan Sami with father Arshad Sami Khan
Your grandfather is Afghan, father Pakistani and you’re Indian.
(Laughs) Yeah. 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?!’
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...e-to-you-im-a-pathan/articleshow/68256556.cms
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’.
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 audio-visual 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 it 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% 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 my 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 of life and they will not question my choices of life. As long as we’re good to each other and love each other 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.
THROWBACK: Adnan Sami with father Arshad Sami Khan
Your grandfather is Afghan, father Pakistani and you’re Indian.
(Laughs) Yeah. 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?!’
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...e-to-you-im-a-pathan/articleshow/68256556.cms
