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'Why are we fighting in Siachen and what for?' asks Anwar Maqsood in new play Siachen

'Why are we fighting in Siachen and what for?' asks Anwar Maqsood in new play Siachen

Will the play end up being too morbid or will it manage to scale new heights in entertainment? We'll find out tonight.
31 Oct, 2015

Siachen; an icy, rigged battlefield mired with decades of bloodshed and frustration. It is a terrain that has long blotted the history of the subcontinent with the deaths of thousands; killed more by weather extremities than by actual warfare.

On this sordid, unfortunate land, a troop of Indian soldiers endeavor to cross a mountain in order to attack the ‘enemy’.

They play a song that may be Pakistani but defines their plight; Strings’ 'Sar Kiye Ye Pahar'. The Pakistani army then plays a song in retaliation.

And so it goes on. Trust Anwar Maqsood to seek out the ridiculous within macabre war-torn realms. Trust him to delve into laugh-out-loud satire while never deviating from the tragedy that blemishes the Siachen glacier. Trust him to make you laugh and then cry, again and again.

Anwar Maqsood
Anwar Maqsood

Set to begin staging in Islamabad on October 28, Siachen, the latest venture by Kopykats Productions and Anwar Maqsood, promises to deliver laughter and poignance along the same lines as its predecessors, most prominently the Pawnay and Sawa 14 August series. In Anwer Maqsood’s quintessential style, it seeks to provoke thought and ask questions.

“Why are we fighting in Siachen and what for?” asks the playwright as he launches into a story that begins with a mother bidding goodbye to her son, a sister seeing off her brother and a son saying farewell to his father, all heading off for war in Siachen.

“The son asks the mother why she is sending him off when two of her sons have already gone off to fight. She tells him, ‘Mein teri maa hoon toh yeh watan bhi teri maa hai’ (If I am your mother, then this country is also like a mother to you). Once her son leaves she bursts into tears and asks Allah why she had borne three sons that she had to send off to war, rather than a daughter.”

War is always a sensitive topic and under Anwar Maqsood’s pen it is bound to become heartrending. “I specifically requested Anwar sahib to focus on Siachen and this is the first army-centric script that he has written,” says the play’s director Dawar Mehmood.

Dawar Mehmood
Dawar Mehmood

“As a child, I was always fascinated by life in the armed forces. I remember watching the drama Alpha Bravo Charlie and wishing that I knew more about the army. This drama attempts to depict life through the eyes of an officer. He’s a desi, country hick-turned-army officer, mind you. Therein lies the humour, as well as the hard-hitting truths.”

In an effort to stay true to the script, the play’s cast spent 15 days in Siachen with the Pakistan Army jawans. “I wanted them to endure the pain that these men go through on a daily basis,” explains Mehmood. “The casualties occur more often from frostbite and avalanches than by enemy bullets. They are fighting, more than anything else, a psychological war and I wanted the actors to experience it.”

The ensemble cast of amateur first-time actors was further made to go through a rigorous course in method acting. For 120 days, they were forced to live together, cut off from the outside world with no access to phones or the Internet, missing out on Eids and family funerals as they trained to emulate soldiers at war. Mornings would begin with extensive physical training while play rehearsals took up evenings.

One cast member snapped while spending time with the troops at Siachen
One cast member snapped while spending time with the troops at Siachen

“I chose new actors because I wanted to work on raw talent and bring fresh energy to the stage,” explains Mehmood, whose Kopykats Productions has earlier served as a prodigious launch-pad for actors like Yasir Hussain and Gohar Rasheed. “It was hard work and many of them were often frustrated. While under house arrest, quite a few of them wanted to quit working in the play. It has all paid off now, though. They look like true soldiers with muscular, well-toned bodies. And when they say ‘Maa, teri yaad aa rahi hai’, you can’t help but shed a tear.”


With a title that piques curiosity and a well-loved scriptwriter and accomplished production team at its helm, Siachen is bound to draw in crowds. But will its frigid veneer end up being too morbid or will it manage to scale new heights in entertainment? We’ll find out soon enough.


They can quip pretty well, too, says Maqsood. “At one point in the play, the men are talking amongst each other and one of them says that half the army is employed at Zarb-i-Azb, half is at the border and most of the remainder is at Siachen. If Martial Law was declared, he was afraid that the navy would take over.”

“The script is packed with punch lines,” enthuses Mehmood. “We talk about Ayub Khan and General Zia and current-day politics. The story spans six months and it culminates with a Pakistan and India peace match taking place in Dubai. We contrast it with what is happening in Siachen.”

In an effort to be more realistic, special effects and two separate stage settings have been planned out — hitherto, Kopykats’ plays had always functioned with a single set. “I do want to set the bar higher with this play,” admits Mehmood. “We are even going to install chillers in every auditorium, maintaining temperatures at around six degrees Celsius. The tickets are going to instruct people to wear warm clothes when they come to watch the play. And just in case they don’t, we have a ready stock of shawls and overcoats for them.”

Notwithstanding technical tweaks, taking center stage in any play by Anwar Maqsood is the script itself, peppered with poker-faced, inimitable satire — and Dawar has demonstrated a talent for wielding it into riveting theatre. With a title that piques curiosity and a well-loved scriptwriter and accomplished production team at its helm, Siachen is bound to draw in crowds. Written for the Pakistani audience, it will also be traveling all over Pakistan and beyond over the next six months, traversing through Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi, Dubai, London and Lahore.

The cast and crew of Kopykats Productions
The cast and crew of Kopykats Productions

But will its frigid veneer end up being too morbid or will it manage to scale new heights in entertainment? We'll find out tonight.

Siachen opens in Islamabad today.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 25th, 2015

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Comments

vin Oct 31, 2015 09:30am
i have found pakistanis the most kind and lovable people for indians where ever in london or dubai or USA. But whenever the issues and espeicially the K word comes in ,,,all the conspiracy theories come in and logic gets freezed in 1947. Please understand the majority of India and the sub-continent has moved forward. Take a leaf out of Indo - Bangla land swap, and also Indo- China tranquility at border. We must move forward with positive attitude. I am glad this play has highlighted the need to do so.....
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AXH Oct 31, 2015 09:39am
Sounds like an interesting play. It is true that there have been much more casualties due to harsh weather and other weather related incidents on both sides. Siachin has always been considered important from a strategic stand point and that alone is the reason for the armies from both sides to station there for decades.
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Jalaluddin S. Hussain Oct 31, 2015 10:10am
The cast and crew of Kopykats Productions deserve pats on their backs. Peace, however, between the two countries - India and Pakistan - can be negotiated in Karachi and Delhi only.
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Salwal Oct 31, 2015 11:50am
Can they make it in a movie or a tv play later?
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Khwarezmi Oct 31, 2015 01:04pm
...because India attacked and occupied this part of Baltistan in 1984 and Pakistan is forced to defend her territory.
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Akil Akhtar Oct 31, 2015 06:36pm
@vin Moved forward to what....more suppression of Kashmiris or muslims in India....
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Ali Oct 31, 2015 09:31pm
@VIN I do not know where is the place you living in world. Just go and read any social media and forum Indians still not have gotten forward from 1947. Probably you have not talked with 'real' mediocre educated indians.
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Ali Oct 31, 2015 09:32pm
Anwar Maqsood sir we are fighting for something what people call dignity. Thats how things roll.
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Hero Oct 31, 2015 10:07pm
I wonder you are not Coming to India to perform this play. Atleast Please record it and post on you video sharing site Daily-motion. And yes Indians have not moved forward , they are still stuck in 1947 but that is because they feel the pain of there country being divided not because they have hatred towards anyone. We should understand that we are one and the same people.
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Haider Nov 01, 2015 06:01am
@vin it takes two to tango, you can't lay the entire blame on Pakistan. India for its part has not made thing easier and seems to be obsessed with Pakistan. Indians must realize once and for all, Pakistan is here to stay no matter what happens. Second please learn something from China, who are far bigger than India in all grounds but are always showing flexibility.
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Sunil Nov 01, 2015 06:32am
I would love to see this play. No idea why we are fighting ? What are we ultimately going to gain.? I remember reading --when Alexander was dying he had requested to keep his palm out of his burial so that people could see that he cannot take anything with him with my death .
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Valar Morgulis Nov 01, 2015 09:47am
@vin I lived in US and unfortunately I cannot say the same about Indians as you can about Pakistanis. I find Indians narrowminded and unaware of ground realities as far as South Asia is concerned. The way you are trivializing the issue by calling it a mere K word in itself an insult and show the non-seriousness Indians have towards the resolve of issue. Kashmir is not a real estate, 'Real' people lives there whose lives your army has made a constant torture cell. For starters, India should forget about bullying Pakistan like it has done with Nepal, BD and Myanmar. It has never worked and will never work, and only one who continue to suffer will be Kashmiris.
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X pakistani Nov 01, 2015 07:46pm
A word for Indians - Where is Pakistan at fault. Please walk the streets of Srinagar or even the remote villages in Indian held Kashmir. Please ask the common folks, the Sabzi Wallahs the auto rick shaw drivers the old women what they want. The Indian military machine has mercilessly crushed them for the last 68 years. Do you think it is right to call people who do not want to live with you terrorists and forcibly call their land yours.
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Khan Saab Nov 01, 2015 08:49pm
@Sunil Good post. But Alexander died en route to Macedonia by sea, interestingly was put on a ship from the (now) port of Karachi. He was never buried, he died on his way home and his body was ceremoniously tossed into the sea
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Pacifist Nov 01, 2015 10:15pm
War is a game of fools. No war has ever solved any problems. India is the largest importer of arms and pakistan spends 90% of budget on army directly or indirectly. People of both countries have lot in common and also relatives on either sides. What is the bottom line? To whom does it all benefit ? Just think and the answer is there. Name a dog and stone it . It only takes trival warlike situation and border tensions to justify spending on arms while people starve and suffer in misery with no water , no electricity , no clean toilets, no roads, no safety,no proper healthcare, and no free access to education in both countries.
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Bharat Nov 02, 2015 07:23pm
If there can be peace between India and Pakistan, this region or J & K has lots of opportunity of tourism which would really change the life of locals..
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Zak Nov 03, 2015 05:09pm
Siachen conflict was started by Indra Ghandi for no reason in 1984. She left a legacy of tragedy for her own country people. India is still paying the heaviest price for it. Indians lose upto 2000 soldiers yearly to death, amputations, blindness, madness and it costs them $ 1 billion yearly to maintain troops there. For Pakistan it is 10% of Indian figures on both counts.
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Zak Nov 03, 2015 05:10pm
India still needs to resolve kashmir. End of story.
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