First they came..., Abdullah ABdullah, Geocities, Swat

Martin Niemölle was a German pastor and theologian in 20th-century Germany. Arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis before the war, his most famous work was a poem he wrote criticising the inactivity and apathy of German intellectuals and society to the growing menace of Nazism. The poem reads as follows:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak out for me.

For all the apologists and ostriches in the country – yes, I am talking to you, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan -- here's an updated, localised version of the poem. [He is kind to other politicians - I would add Zardari, Hussain, Khan, Gilani and all the rest ensconced in the Assemblies ~~~t]

First they came for the Indians, and I did not speak out -- because I was not an Indian;
Then they came for the Ahmadis and Shias, and I did not speak out -- because I was not an Ahmadi or a Shia;
Then they came for the cricketers, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a cricketer;
Then they came for the soldiers and police, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a soldier or policeman;
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak out for me. Zafar
Khalid Farooq

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