Pakistan – My Bit for Change

Can We Let Jinnah Speak for Himself?

For over 70 years, the vision of the founding father Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah has been a matter of intellectual debate, where points and counterpoints are made by writers in order to prove validity of their own personal views and vision of Pakistan. Dialogue, discussion and even debate always helps in at least understanding the positive and negative dimensions of an issue. It is highly unfair and unethical to make a generalisation based on an individual understanding of a single incidence, that too considered out of its context. This onslaught has been going on for a long time specifically with reference to the August 11, 1947, speech of the Quaid as the first President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. This presidential speech is mentioned again and again as perhaps his legal will. No one has the courage to stand up and say that even if a particular interpretation of this speech is allowed, his more than 100 statements contradict this interpretation made by some scholars.

Setting emotions aside’ no one can doubt the honesty, boldness, integrity and clarity of ideas of the Quaid. He was a man of strong principles, integrity and resolution. He never played with words nor with the emotions of people. If we read his post-1940 public policy statements, messages and speeches, he is consistent, coherent and uniform in his views. He never used doublespeak. Let us first understand the context of his address as President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
The Quaid first touched on three social evils that he called “curses” inherited from the colonial past, namely bribery and corruption, black marketing, and nepotism and jobbery. He declared jihad against all these and stated his zero tolerance towards them.

Then he mentioned the mixed feelings among Hindu and some Muslim segments about the division of India into two sovereign states. Respecting their difference of opinion, he advised them to be realistic and accept the ground reality as a unique event in the modern history of mankind. This is because Pakistan is the only country founded on an ideology of two nations based on their faith and not on ethnicity, color, race or geographic territory like the European nation states.

He referred to another national problem of looking at the Hindu or Sikh minority in the context of the communal riots, brutal murders, rape, hate and violence during partition. He said: “As you know, history shows that in England conditions some time ago were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some states in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. The people of England in the course of time had to face the realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country and they went through that fire step by step. Today you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen, of Great Britain and they are all members of the nation.”

In the same context the Quaid said:

“Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”

The context of this statement makes it very clear that he is not talking about relation between “religion” and state which has been haunting the minds of most of the so-called liberal intellectuals globally. The context is Hindu-Muslim riots and violent clashes during partition. He is saying once Pakistan is created, this bitter past need to be buried and like England there shall be no more hate and clash between Hindus and Muslims. They will be just citizens. Why he talks about religious freedom of going to temples and mosques again has to be understood in its proper context. Even before independence that much religious freedom was enjoyed by all religious communities in India. Then why does he mention it?

Dr Javed Iqbal, a known jurist, intellectual and former chief justice and for sure not a ‘fundamentalist’, puts this matter in its proper perspective: “Islamic theology recognises Continue reading “Can We Let Jinnah Speak for Himself?”

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Final Thoughts on Junaid Jamshed

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,

When he beats his bars and would be free;

It is not a carol of joy or glee,

But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings –

I know why the caged bird sings

Sympathy, Paul-Laurence Dunbar

I was a year younger than my son when I first got to know him. “Why can’t he come over to our house?” was the unreasonable question. Four year olds are, after all, unreasonable. And sometimes inconsolable. I was both. Still am, thirty years later. It’s good to keep that child stubbornly alive in you. It’s good to keep something pure and simple in you. And a lot of that comes with memory. The past never lets you rest in peace. And that was Junaid Jamshed’s tragic flaw. As a nation, we mourn the loss of an icon that represented an entire generation. But most of us have unfortunately not forgiven him. Some for the past he chose to walk away from; some for making that choice; some for the alternative he chose. There was something fireworkish about his life. And now that he’s gone, he has left behind a strange silence, the kind of emptiness that gets more pronounced when fireworks that are gasping for breath, are still engulfed by darkness. From Dil, Dil Pakistan to Dil Badal De – what a complete and calculated life. And to those of us who subscribe to the choice he unabashedly embraced – what a complete and calculated death.

Out of the four Vital Signs, he always shone as the brightest. The looks, the voice, the charisma. His songs cannot be forgotten. And he was always a figure who aroused attention. I had seen him perform only once. Not as Vital Signs, but as Junaid Jamshed the solo artist. And then slowly and strategically, he delved deeper into his choice of being alone. His journey as an individual is incredible. Why are we all upset? Because he was a heartthrob. He was a celebrity who was celebrated by all for his music, and by some who could feel the difference. He deliberately chose to be different. The good looking, tall guy who befittingly sang poignant ballads and national songs somehow grew that long, dark beard. Then the cap followed. Then the long robes followed. And the songs changed. The Beloved now was different. For him it was an active choice, a shift from the ridiculous to the sublime, from the profane to the sacred. But somehow – apart from a very tiny minority that enjoys its fair share of hostility in this divided nation – he was never embraced for it. He was always a troublesome figure. He would always blurt out something inappropriate. He would always be questioned. Why was his business a success? Ufff he’s such a misogynist. God, these mullahs are hypocrites. He’s just a commercial sell-out. He has three wives. He’s such a party animal…..And the verbal bashing for some religiously fervent even resulted in literal bashing.

We as a nation are deeply dissatisfied. We are increasingly becoming a nation of nitpickers. We are deeply unkind to each other. Life is another matter, we are ruthlessly unforgiving in death. It’s not a matter of a caustic comment. It’s not a matter of a crass dismissal. It’s not a matter of cynicism and wit that we laud as good journalism or regurgitate as drawing-talk. It shows how deeply divisive our biases are. And yet we profess to be rational, logical, intellectual, and – I daresay – liberal. It’s grim irony to see how those who preach tolerance are the most intolerant of us all. A singer turned televangelist who has a beard: obviously he’s a woman-hater, and so has three wives whom he subjugates in his home and so makes clothes for women as a commercial business. What a loss. What a loser. Why oh why did he go to that super brainwasher of a man who sits in the no-man’s land of Raiwind who (oh em gee) doesn’t sport a cap but a turban! Why doesn’t he go back to music? And so he dared not to. And we have not forgiven him. The most common observation I came across was how almost everyone was lamenting over how Junaid Jamshed was an integral part of their childhood. Some even went so far as to say that they would never forget who he was “before”, and would never forgive who he became “after.” As a public figure who was constantly under the litmus of limelight, this was obviously part of the package. Such is the curse of being famous. But if we see a little more closely, it unveils this troubling truth: either, how we whitewash all religious figures (and may the Lord help them if they are religious icons) as demonic and dangerous misogynists using miswaks, or how we elevate all religious figures to the divine status of being infallible, and therefore Prophet-like, completely free of all possible human weakness. What a tug of war. And perhaps no public figure could feel this friction more than Junaid Jamshed. His death has unearthed this friction. As a friend noted, the secular celebrate his songs, the religious celebrate his naats, and both continue to hate each other.

I have a major regret that I missed an opportunity to hear this man speak (rather than sing), twice. I too was unsure of his faithfulness, perhaps. I too believed that he’s just a sham who’s taking advantage of his fortunate fame. I too was divided. But only until I rediscovered the singer just like he rediscovered himself. I listen to his naats on repeat while driving. I sing his new songs to my son who knows both Dil, Dil Pakistan and Dil Badal De. I had always taken him and his presence for granted. Even when I was told about the deadly crash, my initial reaction was dismissal: of course he’ll survive. But he didn’t. And it’s haunting to hear someone’s voice talking to you, and you suddenly realize that they’re gone. They’re gone away. And only a meteor shower of memories remain. There was a time when his songs would make me sway. There is a time when his songs still make me sway, but to a different tune. I remember his songs. I remember his nasheeds. I sing them both. I’m sure he did too.

And that’s why I am inconsolable about this loss: because in Junaid Jamshed I see my own struggles. I witness the outward and inward tug of war. The choice to change. The attendant backlash. The dismissals. The sticks, the stones, and the words that ever hurt. And then there’s the slippery slope of spiritual strife. The anger. The envy. The arrogance. The ingratitude. The lack of forbearance. The entire catalogue of spiritual ailments that make you a “bad” person when you look like a “good” one. He left a lot behind when he made his choice to rethink his life. And he would stumble. And so, to me, he humanized this lofty claim to be an invincible Muslim. His friends and followers remember him for the goodness he had in him, which was aplenty. His haters and skeptics remember only the bad, or the good that once was and that is why he must be moaned. But a life cannot be celebrated in parts. Life is an uneasy mix. I for one will remember him for selfish reasons alone: how we are fallible and faltering individuals, fumbling on a path of becoming something that we feel to be better. And therefore, right. And judgment is no-one’s business, save One.

Chalo ishq ka kaha maan kar,

Apna Sanam pehchaan kar,

Kisi aisay Rang rang jaayein

Sab se juda nazar aayein…

Hum kyun chaleyn uss rah par

Jis rah par sab hee chaleyn;

Kyun na chuneyn Woh Raasta

Jis par nahin koi gaya…

Love Conquers The World

Love Conquers The World

(محبت فاتح عالم)

I thought of contemporary love as a feeling of deception that you have for somebody, enslaving you to inferior desires. It was not until I read عشق کے پانچ درجے¹ by Khurram Ali Shafique and discovered Iqbal through his Marghdeen². This change introduced me to that powerful love through which beloved says بتا تیری رضا کیا ہے (What is your wish?)³.

My original thought was a reflection of the society, a society having boys and girls eager to talk to each other, spending sleepless nights on phone and offering useless gossip about girls/boys in gatherings. It is an ignorant world view to which youth is forced to believe in; this world view of lust, promulgated by media. It is nothing but a means of profiteering from the masses.

Love is much more powerful than all this, it is that curiosity for an infant to take the first steps; it is in those sleepless nights of mother taking care of her child; it is in those scholars who persevere to preach goodness; it is in those martyrs who stand for their countrymen. It is this love in the universe that holds it all together.

Love is quite a real phenomenon. It exists physically. It is tangible and can be felt and sensed. It can be experienced and then held. It is supreme power of love is that constitutes ‘humanity’ today. It is the foundation of human existence: ‘He placed between you affection and mercy’⁴.

Iqbal wanted to revive this love, this ‘nigah-e-shoq’ to reach for the ultimate love for the Creator, The Sustainer. We often talk about wrath of Allah Almighty, obscuring His forgiveness, His love and mercy. This introduces to people a God-King who would punish them for wrong doings and reward them for obedience. However, the basic element in this is missing; love. Quran’s message is not the rulings of a King, but a code to search and see in Him the muse ‘So remember Me; I will remember you’.⁵

This conception is a shared reality with Christianity that ended in a complete denial of the basis of religion. Karen Armstrong writes:

“When I was about eight years old, I had to memorize this catechism answer to the question, ‘What is God?’: ‘God is the Supreme Spirit, Who alone exists of Himself and is infinite in all perfections.’ Not surprisingly, it meant little to me and I am bound to say that it still leaves me cold. It has always seemed a singularly arid, pompous and arrogant definition. Since writing this book, however, I have come to believe that it is also incorrect. . . . As I grew up, I realized that there was more to religion than fear.”⁶

Islam’s concept is based not on fear; rather it regards fearlessness as the supreme attribute of a Musalman. This love is what inspires freedom from all that restrains the true goodness in humanity. The greatest obstacle Iqbal say ‘that restrains man’s ethical progress is fear’.⁷

“. . . and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.”⁸

Due to centuries of decline negativity has been embedded in the genes of Musalmans of today. We do not let any incident go without criticizing it, blaming someone or something, and a widely heard line would be:

“Everything happening is because of a third evil power”

It is a loveless life we are living. It was the primary objective of Iqbal to set mankind free of dogmatic following, to think freely and to reach out for goals far reaching the capability of humans fulfilling the prophecy of God:

کنتم خیرامت اخربت للناس تامرون بالمعروف و تنھون عن المنکر

“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.”¹³

Our society tends to seek reality in those ‘out of the box’ opinions and theories (end of times, illuminati, etc.). Instead of focusing on love for the society, and love for the Creator, our conversations are confined in brackets with a negative outside. Popular belief defines a society, popular actions defines their goal and it is these goals and beliefs in which Iqbal wanted to see growth of a collective ego. Pakistan was founded on the basis of this collective ego and it is still forming our society.

There is also an argument that suggests Iqbal ‘said’ many things but he didn’t materialize them in his own life or:

افکار تازہ سے جہان تازہ کی نمود نہی ہوئ

Iqbal became the President of Muslim League, Pakistan was his conception and it was his goal (that he envisioned through collective will). How can we point fingers on his actions when we are ourselves in deep pessimism? Iqbal believed in a melioristic attitude towards life. He believed man has an innate quality of expressing and developing. He saw in man the infinite possibilities to expand his consciousness and will, to completely change what they believe in, to pursue and dream new worlds, worlds that have new possibilities.

اس ذرہ کو رہتی ہے وسعت کی ہوس ہر دم

یہ ذرا نہی، شاید سمٹا ہوا صحرا ہے

This speck remains incessantly ambitious of expansion

Not a speck but perhaps the constricted wilderness he is

چاہے تو بدل ڈالے ہئیت چمنستاں کی

یہ ہستی دانا ہے، بینا ہے، توانا ہے

If he wills he can change the face of the garden

This entity wise, clear‐sighted and powerful is.⁹

Another argument that is widely spoken in our society when compelled to do something instead of criticizing, they would say:

آپ سہی کہتے ہیں، ہمارے ٹھیک ہونے سے کیا ہوتا ہے جب تک اوپر سے لوگ ٹھیک نہ ہوں، ہم کیا کریں؟

You are right but nothing would change unless the rulers change, what can we do?

This attitude aggravates the inactivity. It is that state which Iqbal said about Musalmans of that time:

“Truly economic dependence is the prolific mother of all the various forms of vice. Even the vices of the Indian Muhammadan indicate the weakness of life-force in him. Physically too he has undergone dreadful deterioration. If one sees the pale, faded faces of Muhammadan boys in schools and colleges, one will find the painful verification of my statement. Power, energy, force, strength, yes physical strength, is the law of life. A strong man may rob others when he has got nothing in his own pocket; but a feeble person, he must die the death of a mean thing in the world’s awful scene of continual warfare.”¹⁰

He points out the degraded state of Musalmans of that time as ‘a mean thing in the world’s awful scene’. Unfortunately we still have to conceive a powerful Musalman in our society whose character is the key to happiness of a freeman/freewoman. Freedom that allows the sterling character to grow in a person, making him fearless of everything that enslaves him. Instead of giving in to such notions we have to think hard what we can give to this society.

The character of a Musalman seems to be incomplete without this integration of love for Allah. And this love is not instinctive; rather, it is intellectual and conscious in nature, attained through knowledge of His existence. This knowledge must have unadulterated ‘nigah e shoq’ (Fervent Glance) in order to reach for the buried pearls deep down. If this ocean is murky with ‘complexes’ of any sort it would be difficult to witness the shimmering light of the reality of those pearls.

نگاہ شوق میسر نہیں اگرتجھ کو

تیرا وجود ہے قلب و نظر کی رسوائ

If fervent glance and vision keen You have not met or ever seen;

Your being is a source of shame on heart, and sight can bring a blame.¹¹

So, instead of rendering every activity of our society null by disclaiming its effectiveness, complete transformation of thinking is needed to be that Musalman. The natural melioristic attitude, however, can only be achieved if we unlearn what we have learned. It is one of those hardest things we are capable of doing. Let us revive this spirit to adopt a positive, collective goal, by treading the road of shared love for humanity.

ضمیر لالہ میں روشن چراغ آرزو کر دے

چمن کے ذرےذرے کو شہید جستجو کر دے

Make the lamp of desire bright in the heart of the tulip!

Make every particle of the garden a martyr to search!¹²

References:

1. http://panipatnow.com/archives/314

2. Marghdeen Learning Center (www.marghdeenlearningcenter.com)

3. Iqbal: Khirad Mandon Se Kya Poochun Ke Meri Ibtada Kya Hai, Baal-e-Jibril [Translation from: http://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bal-e-jibril-053-kirad-mandon-se-kya.html]

4. Quran: 30:21^*

5. Quran: 2:152^*

6. Karen Armstrong: A history of God

7. Iqbal: Islam a moral and Political Ideal, 1909

8. Quran: 2:62^*

9. Iqbal: Insan, Bang-e-Dra [Translation from http://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bang-e-dra-113-insan.html)]

10. Iqbal: Islam a moral and Political Ideal, 1909

11. Iqbal: Nigah e Shouq, Zarb-e-Kalim. [Translation from http://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/zarb-e-kaleem-119-nigah-e-shauq.html]

12. Iqbal: Tulu-e-Islam, Bang-e-Dra [Translation from: http://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bang-e-dra-163-tulu-e-islam.html]

13. Quran: 3:110^*

^*The translations are taken from www.quran.com of Sahih International.

Our Shackled Patriotism

So, August arrives again. Like every year, channel logos change to green. Youth begins placing flags on their roof tops, buying badges and flags only to find them on the floor beneath our feet the next day. More deceitful promises and more lies by dearly loved leaders; more national songs and a load of new revolutions.

No one really understands the importance and the privilege of being free. We all jump on the bandwagon because everyone else is, everyone else is because the entire world is hence joining the trend. We are all consumed by a false sense of freedom and independence. We are all living in oblivion celebrating a few days in a year convincing ourselves that we’re “Independent” and we’re “free” but our minds and hearts are chained and we’re probably the most naïve nation there could possibly exist. What exactly are we celebrating? – False sense of freedom? Our deceptive “brotherhood” where no one is willing to help none but himself? As someone who has lived abroad all her life, something that pinched me the most when I shifted to Pakistan for education is the reluctance to help others. What exactly are you celebrating and what exactly are you wishing and praying for with all that calling out to Allah on your religious transmissions and morning shows if you’re unaware of the basic courtesies that make up a stable society? Let alone a stable society we’re not even a society yet. A society that is hell bent on discrimination between different cultures and different religions, a society that thinks its own interpretation of religion from a sea of misunderstood interpretations bewilderingly mixed up with culture is above the genuine religion this country’s creation was based upon? What are we celebrating? Sure every country has its flaws but societies work towards making them right which unfortunately is a mere fantasy in our case. Ours, sadly, is a society of miserable fools looking for a reason to celebrate and it could be anything. Don’t blame my fellow countrymen since Pakistan is one of those countries that have seen the worse of worst yet the people try to remain buoyant but is it really strength or is it just being numb and immune? It won’t be wrong to say that the general public has run out of energy to outrage. So numb that we’re not even bothered about the rulers who rule us in the name of democracy. No, not anti-democratic but certainly not pro-make-a-fool-out-of-me-again. Remember the phrase “Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me” we’ve been shamed so many times, probably lost count.

Don’t mistake this for cynicism. I used to be insanely Patriotic but I didn’t actually understand what patriotism truly was. Patriotism isn’t chanting slogans it’s not hollow rhetoric and meaningless emotions you exhibit on the social networking sites. Patriotism is much more than that; it’s about owning what you have. People who change their profile pictures and statues are the same people who are likely to abandon their homeland for a foreign land and an overseas passport. One wonders where all this patriotism vanishes then? Your patriotism is not living in oblivion about the state of your country. It’s not ignoring the wrong doings of your people. I’m sorry but I cannot call myself a “proud” Pakistani right now. I do call myself and Pakistani, always had and always will but not a proud one. I choose to be conscious rather than living in denial.

Chanting slogans doesn’t help. Singing national songs is nothing but pretense if you’re a greedy leech oppressing the ones below you, seizing someone’s right, misusing your authority you’re nothing but a hypocrite lying to yourself. It’ll be clichéd to write a long list of things we all ought to do as we all know our role, so I won’t go there. I’ll just hope and pray, because that’s what I can do. I hope that one day, hopefully one day we’ll have a country that Jinnah would be proud of. Not a society where people merely live, or rather survive, because they have to but because they want to, thankfully. Not a society that survives on the basis of corruption, wealth and power but a society that accommodates all the caste religions and statuses peacefully. And I hope that someday, soon hopefully, someone like me does not sit down and think about their independence in the manner I have.

A Model of Sacrifice in a Despair Stricken Society – Nasrullah Shajee

In a society stricken by war, insecurity and poverty, where everyone seeks a safe and prosperous life for themselves and their families, and people live lives day to day, we have somehow become self-centered feeling relieved if our families are safe, no matter what disasters are befalling in the other parts of the country. The examples of chivalry, selflessness and sacrifice have become few. Having said that, such examples, no matter how few, light a ray of hope in a bleak and barren landscape of despair.

Nasrullah Shaji, ex-MP Sindh Assembly, just fourty four years of age, a young father of three little children, none of whom has touched even the teenage, dived in the river Kunhaar at Balakot, when his student fell into the river. The year tenth student Sufyan slipped into the one of the angriest known rivers of Pakistan, river Kunhar at Balakot while taking pictures on a school trip. The principal of the school and his teacher, Nasrullah Shaji who was few feet away immediately dived in the river to rescue him. It was a courageous decision indeed. Remembering the speed and flow of river Kunhar, I still feel shivers down my spine as it requires utmost courage to jump into that water for saving the life of a student. Not even for a second, he thought of his three, six and ten year old children back home. A fatherly gesture, a responsibility and courage to fight the furious waves to bring a child back was his way of practicing what he preached all his life.

What made him risk his life for the sake of someone else totally unrelated to him? Indeed the verse of Quran was in his mind that saving one human life is just like saving entire humanity. He is a true hero and a role model as a teacher. He was one of the strongest man I knew, both physically and mentally, always happy to help and guide, a mentor for youth, a friend for the needy and a big brother whatever time of the day you need him. He was a preacher of the Quran, a striver for an Islamic revival, a strong and clean character, a chest filled with knowledge of religion, and eyes set on the goal of seeking Allah’s pleasure, living and dying for the cause of Allah. He practiced what he preached and got what he always wanted, martyrdom. It is a big loss for Jamaat Islami in particular, his political party but also for the society as a whole. But such personalities never die. They set examples for a despair filled society. Such heroes should be celebrated beyond political affiliations as they restore faith in humanity and are rare to find in this selfish world.

It requires fearlessness and nerve, when you see a drowning kid and risk your life for saving his. Such examples are rare in our rotten society. Taking lives in this society is easier and examples of sacrifice are few. Headlines mean bad news, news of murders, bomb blasts and intolerance. The incidences of heroes of our society need to be given more and more airtime and attention, as they are the role models to follow and celebrate. People who live for others and die for others are the pride of Pakistan.

There are some lessons to learn in this tragic story. Life is so temporary and unpredictable. One minute it’s a picnic and fun, and the other minute it is over. We all make big plans for life but we all have to die. There is no age for death. We go when we have to go.

The worldly life is nothing but a game and fun, and the last abode is surely much better for those who fear Allah. Would you still not understand? [6:32]

Nasrullah Shajee survived live bullets, police beatings, difficult times and terrains throughout his life but he left us in a way destined for him by the Divine. Fearing death is just useless and cowardly. We are all moving towards our Lord, everyday. Wisdom lies in investing in the hereafter, living and dying for the pleasure Allah and leave footsteps that become guidelines for the rest of the world to follow.

O man, you are moving on towards your Lord, willy nilly, and are about to meet Him [84:6]

In the Times of Futile Debates

We gloat over carrion; we gather to pick up the pieces. We discriminate between dead bodies under labels of ‘halak’ (merely killed) and ‘shaheed’ (martyred). As we do so, we don God’s hat, partaking of what is exclusively His right with a self-righteous audacity. Our opinions on the dead may not be worth a shred but they signify the sides we take in this melee over corpses. And it all reeks of the deep sickness that gnaws into our body politic, the gulley-wide split that gapes like an open-mouthed hydra threatening to swallow us piecemeal- the tectonic gash that runs across us splintering us into opposed camps, eye to eye.

Pakistan today is a dangerously divided society with intense polarization around ideological affiliation. Reconciliation grows impossible with the unchecked and unabashed media stoking the flames of hate by bringing the sides on head-on collision course with malevolent deliberation. The commercial news media feeds itself on sensationalism, as is clear from the manner in which the Jamaat e Islami leadership has been thrown the bait and drawn into the centre-stage of the melee. The result has been an angry storm of ‘with us or against’ us rhetoric. Either one endorses the official version of the narrative or he is with the Taliban- with this rabid logic, JI and PTI’s political opponents have grabbed the opportunity to accuse the two parties of being cohorts and allies of the Taliban. Strictly speaking, these claims are inaccurate, far-fetched and malicious, as both groups explicitly renounce the use of violence for religious and political purposes and while calling for dialogue, have consistently rejected the wayward ways of the TTP. The fecklessness with which Munawar Hasan faced the situation and the recklessness of his impertinent statements have discredited the JI’s decades-long largely non violent political struggle.

The fact that the drone strike killing Hakimullah Mehsud came at the time when the conversation on counter terrorism was being steered away from the blood and iron that had eluded peace exposes the U.S’s unilateralist pursuit of narrow national interest in the strategic region.

The ‘most allied ally’ only gets a few crumbs thrown its way from the bloody deal that has proven so costly for Pakistan. The enemy laughs at our wounds with sadistic glee; laughs our desperate overtures for peacemaking to scorn. The raw anger this generates drowns all sanity so that sentimental, reckless statements like ‘even a dog killed by the U.S is a martyr’ are made, making Islamic jurisprudence look puerile and inane.

Yet we choose to fight over juristic complexities about life in the unseen world from our entrenched positions. The media directs all attention towards this needlessly long drawn argument even though the conversation should be about strategies to effectively check the Global Bully on the loose. The conversation should be about the utter illegality and unacceptability of US drone strikes in Pakistan. To articulate such a response the nation needs to stand together in solidarity and speak out with a single emphatic, resounding voice. Yet at this critical juncture we seek to intensify divides in order to pep up the news bulletin on commercial television- all at a terrible cost.

The ideological polarization in our society reflected in the media has created an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion bringing social groups into confrontation and clash. The conversation about ‘halakat’ (killing) versus ‘shahadat’ (martyrdom) is not only in vain but calculated to provoke, divide and aggravate. It is not only unwise but ill-intentioned, seeking to disunite and pit some against others on vital national issues at a time when we need standing together. Sometimes our opinion is just not the point, at all. Sometimes it is more important to just understand. We need to understand that the dead we fight over and then forget as the next newsworthy story turns up, are not forgotten by their heirs. And the persistent victim becomes the blinded, insensate perpetrator. That ideas and ideologies are not fought with guns, but understood in order to be deconstructed, exposed and jettisoned. We need to understand that evil begets evil; that hurt transforms into hate and festers, and breaks down all boundaries of reason and logic. We need to understand that dividing ourselves into embattled camps around fixed ideological associations pertaining to faith or the lack thereof is disastrous. We need to understand that our weakness lends strength to the ones who will trample us underfoot in their relentless pursuit of global hegemony. It is in cultivating the ability to understand rather than shout out our worthless featherweight opinions at each other that we can begin a healing.

Feminism – Are We Doing It Wrong?

Feminism (Oxford definition) – the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

EQUALITY! Not supremacy. Feminism is all about advocating women’s rights not advocating their supremacy above any other human being and certainly not about loathing men like some sort of filth. Then why exactly do some self proclaimed “feminists” tend to mistake this equality as being treated in a special way? As strange as this article may seem, considering a girl herself is questioning feminism, I really want to say I feel for all those men who have fallen prey to this sort of unfair and manipulative ‘feminism’ or I’d rather call it feminazism. The kinds of feminists I have come across are nothing but a bunch of loud, crude and irrational women. Seldom do I see rational and smart feminists. Most of them are just, downright irrational, confused and silly. Here are a few types of feminists who I have actually come across myself.

– Those who have had bad relationship experiences and perceive all men as evil little despicable creatures just cause their partner turned out to be err not so loyal. Hence pledging themselves that they will not let any man live guilt-free for being a man.

– The confused ones. A very famous Bengali writer also a feminist (will not mention her name) tweeted once saying why don’t men wear women’s attire? That seriously came as a shock to me and made me question the present concept of feminism. What I fail to understand is that why exactly don’t such women understand that when they say this, they’re going against the law of nature. That’s like saying why can’t the Sun revolve around the Earth why does it always have to be us. Yes, that’s how stupid it sounds.

– Then there’s this other kind, the kind that goes nude for no apparent reasons at all. These ones will go nude for the most trivial things. I bet even for a protest against this very article. Almost everything that offends them. What this lot needs to understand that at the end of the day, they are entertaining the same men they’re standing against. They’re merely objectifying their bodies, which is not really helping, come to think of it.

Many of you may not agree and if you’re one of the types mentioned above you might be angry by now but I genuinely believe that the concept of feminism is being badly misunderstood by today’s women. What’s disappointing is that most of the women who luckily are born into societies which grant women their due rights don’t take feminism seriously the reason maybe their lack of understanding the matter as they themselves haven’t really been subjected to double standards and gender bias. I personally feel if educated and rational women take up feminism, it can change the state of the women around the globe. The main reason feminism is not taken seriously anymore is that most of the women chanting slogans about equality aren’t really talking about equality themselves. They’re mostly unreasonable and apologetic.

All in all, I’m all for feminism. I believe women are no less of a gender than men but I also believe exaggerating and ranting about almost everything that is unchangeable, that we clearly know is natural and cannot be changed whatsoever, is plain stupidity. You want to compete? Compete on a mental level not on a physical one. Women surely do have the capability to outdo men mentally and the rising numbers of girls topping in different exams in our country is a proof of it. So ladies, know that you’re no less and that feminism is all about embracing yourself and your femininity, acknowledging the fact that you’re a woman and definitely not weak. You have the power to change the world and shape the future generations. You go girls!

From Christopher Columbus to Malala Yousafzai‎

Parallax errors of selective historical and contemporary view points

A simple definition of Parallax would be “an apparent change in the position of an object resulting from a change in position of the observer”. By some accounts on October 12 Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas ^[1]. 521 years later a girl, Malala Yusufzai, from Swat, Pakistan met President Obama. President Obama stated “Across the globe there are girls who will one day lead nations, if only we afford them the chance to choose their own destinies.” Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have had women Prime Ministers. A lady has never been elected to the President’s office in the US.

In 2007 30% of Iraqi elementary school children attended school ^[2]as opposed to 75% previously. Between the 1990 and 2005 the increase in infant mortality in Iraq of 150% was the highest in the world, a period that saw inhumane sanctions and a war based on greed ^{[3] ,}an IMR had by contrast declined from 120 per 1000 in 1960 to 45 per 1000 in the late 1980’s. Some charge Muslims with trying to take over the West, forgetting conveniently that Iraq alone has lived the nightmare of foreign takeover multiple times. A 1920 “uprising” was crushed by Churchill through the RAF with Winston itching to use chemical weapons ^[4] and authorizing a brutal bombardment ^[5]of the “enemy” who happened to be the native of the land being occupied. The exact death and destruction from Iraq from first gulf war is still an obscurity in the media, so there is no surprise that the mortality and morbidity from the latest fiasco is manufactured in to a question mark. The Lancet study^[6] concluding 650,000 excess deaths and by some counts well over a million are disputed by the same media that John Kerry uses to drum up support for yet another war, this time in Syria shoulder to shoulder with Al-Qaida ^[7], backed by “numbers” pouring in thick and fast. Fortunately, the sanity of American people prevailed over a proxy war between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, USA against Iran and Russia presented as yet another divine call to protect the weak by the media.

Stringing it together – “Rediscovering” Columbus:

In school curriculum by our colonial masters, we found the names Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan. One of the first things to relearn about Columbus is that he was by no means the only one who believed that the earth was not flat. Second and more importantly, he conducted a shameless genocide of the indigenous population. In the schoolbook version in Pakistan and the US^[8], he was an intrepid explorer, inspired by his faith as much as curiosity and “discovered” the “New World” because the Ottomans had blocked off the land route to India, the latter an assertion challenged by some as it was a money making venture for the Ottomans. In this day and age of connectivity it is hard to keep old myths alive let alone build new ones. One finds that Columbus was welcomed by an indigenous population only to return with arms and annihilate them. The “New World” was already home to an indigenous population, 90 to 95% of who would be wiped out in a single generation. The cause of this remains controversial and although disease from the “old world” did play a role, genocidal violence had very clear role as well, the people of the old world having the advantage of newer weapons unknown to the indigenous. In American Holocaust, David E. Stannard writes that in 21 years after Columbus came to the Caribbean, it went from a population of 8000,000 to be being desolate. The numbers and causes seem to get more obscure the more inconvenient they are to the myth of a linear unblemished history. The war on the natives was not despite faith but done in its very name as “the Requirement” would be read out to natives, imploring them to recognize the Church and Pope or be ready to face war declaring explicitly that women and children will be taken as slaves. Only a fool would use this as a reference to approach Christianity in general yet a similar bias is used for Islam daily in the media.

The current Palestinian-Israeli conflict becomes just another chapter, overlooking the fact that at the time Columbus sailed from Spain under Isabella Ferdinand, one of the most luminous chapters of coexistence ^[9] were coming to an end, that is the Spain under Moorish rule which was not perfect, but would still make us question the world that we are shaping since 9/11. In Spain Christians, Jews and Muslims had come together to make advances in art and science that Europe would owe its emergence from the dark ages to. Under Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain came the Spanish Inquisition, Jews and Muslims were expelled, even co-religionists were persecuted on suspicion of being fifth columnists. By contrast Jews and Christians had freedom of religion under the Moors ^{[10] [11]} and in fact many Jews were forced to flee to Ottoman lands.

Lessons from the Columbian myth:

One has to be careful of the lessons learned from Columbus, just like one must not reduce Malala’s wonderful story to a conspiracy theory despite the undoubted exploitation by some. In a time of unprecedented propaganda we can fall to the temptation of our own parallax error – of creating our own “other.” However, we have to advocate that West and Islam question sincerely our biases, from a distorted history of the Crusades to the temptation of a religious transference. The historical place of women in Islam and their roles are very different from what the exploitation of Malala would suggest. It is overlooking that just like early Christians, early Muslims were persecuted and the first martyr of Islam was Sumayah (May Allah Be Pleased with her) was a lady, killed when a spear was thrust through her private parts. It was the background of such victimization that Quranic verses of retaliating were revealed.

Most importantly, Columbus was a myth built over 500 years but took a few days of research in this day and age of the technology to dismantle. Those trying to reduce the violence of the last dozen years, both by a lunatic and fringe that has killed more Muslims than anyone else as well as by elected governments taking their people to wars based on lies, to the face of a young girl need to learn that the world does not lend itself to such a convenience any more. Muslims also need to learn that increasingly our struggles are intellectual. As a Muslim living in the West one can have many fears about disagreeing with the media narrative, being labelled a Taliban apologist, a closet extremist, a person mired in 1400 years of hateful history that never was, but perhaps the single most insincere thing that one can do to the society that we now live in is not share our perspective.

What Malala is not:

It is interesting how passionate a debate Malala has generated. Perhaps the most laughable was Bilawal and Bahtawar Bhutto (Last name Zardari?) saying they want her as their Prime-minister. This after unprecedented corruption by the Bhuttos as well as the Sharifs followed by Asif Zardari, a man known internationally for his money laundering and corruption, being installed as the President of Pakistan by the powers that be in and out of Pakistan, A fact Condoleezza Rice narrates in her book ironically named “No higher honour.” It is this manipulation of the fates of millions that breeds resentment against the US that leaves others robbed of their dignity and yes, also leaves the US a scape goat for one’s own failures.

One has to wonder about the stunning figures of mortality among children from US policies in just the last 2 decades, not to mention the malnutrition, internal displacement, destruction of families and lost opportunities for education, the thousands of innocents killed in drone attacks and the contrast of parading Malala. She was a face of the children of Pakistan but has been projected as a mask for the atrocities of the West. Even a partial list of children killed in drone strikes speaks of another reality ^[12]. The media uses her to obscure that Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) is one of the most prolific narrator of prophetic traditions (Ahadith), that the colonialism has exploited women as much as imperialism does now, that bigots like Lord Cromer in the early 1900’s in Egypt criticizing Islam were opposing women’s right at home in England ^[13]) and that a French General had concluded“If you convert 100, 000 young indigenous girls to our civilization …. these young girls, who would naturally become the privileged wives of the most important men of their class will, forever guarantee the subjugation of the country and be the guarantee of its future assimilation.^[14]” Malala is a daughter of Pakistan, a young girl among many who suffer in a country plagued by feudalism, lawlessness, corruption and economic mismanagement, all factors that have helped the US government manipulate Pakistan to its interest while the media keeps people misinformed by creating out of one life what it has denied to millions.

Why Malala is a real princess:

Some months ago my daughter had asked about Princess Diana when she watched a video of Diana visiting the Shaukat Khanam Cancer Hospital in Pakistan, one of the biggest philanthropic ventures in Pakistan that serves all Pakistanis regardless of race, religion or color. I told her she was “real princess.” I will teach her the same about Malala for her courage is truly phenomenal and makes me question what I have done to build a better world. I think the biggest lesson this young girl taught me is that if you believe in something then you should be willing to stand up for it. There have been many satirical blogs and articles about how Pakistanis see a conspiracy behind her including by a minority of Pakistanis whose parallax is the convenience of picking a (often profitable) side in a black and world narrative, conveniently overlooking that in the last 10 years Pakistan has seen unprecedented violence, the influx of Black water mercenaries, the interests of its own people sold by the corrupt elite and the likes of Raymond Davis literally getting away with murder. That Humanity in the midst of the never ending war on terror has decided to handle collective affairs on anything other than on power is bound to draw skepticism.

Pakistan air force now has women pilots and women have served in the police for years and that many teachers in Pakistan are ladies. I celebrate Malala, like my grandmother, a physician who went on to participate in the Pakistan movement, My mother a physician who practiced in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, my sisters who went on to successful medical careers and my wife, yet another physician in the family. Today more than ever it is easier to retrace history. To celebrate Fatima Al-Fihri, a Muslim woman who established the first University in the world and perhaps even dare suggest that Columbus Day be renamed Bartolome De La Casas Day who unlike Columbus had the courage to see the humanity of the “other” and said:

“What we committed in the Indies stands out amongst the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind and this trade [in American Indian alaves] as the most unjust, evil and cruel among them”.

References:

1. Columbus day: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day

2-3. The War Machine and Global Health, A Critical Medical Anthropological Examination of the Human Costs of Armed Conflict and the International Violence industry

4. Winston Churchill’s Secret Poison Gas Memo: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article999.htm

5. Iraq, 1917: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6337.htm

6. Lancet surveys of Iraq War casualties: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_surveys_of_Iraq_War_casualties

7. Does Obama know he is fighting on Al Qaida’s side: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/does-obama-know-hes-fighting-on-alqaidas-side-8786680.html

8, 10. Lies my Teacher told me, James W. Loewen

9. Ornament of the World, Maria Rosa Menocal

11. State, Society, and Law in Islam: Ottoman Law in Comparative Perspective, Haim Gerber

12. A List Of Children Killed By Drone Strikes In Pakistan and Yemen http://www.policymic.com/articles/24164/a-list-of-children-killed-by-drone-strikes-in-pakistan-and-yemen

13, 14,The Miseducation of the West, How schools and media distort our understanding of the Islamic world, Joe Kincheloe

The Political Economy of Hatred

Hatred is a scam. Just like a lot of stuff Capitalism and its globalizing effects want to sell us. This is what they do right? They come at our doors and they sell stuff. We buy stuff. But we also buy into stuff. Into the ideology of stuff.

The ideology of stuff isn’t your next door neighbour- wait, maybe it is. Nevertheless, it’s an outrageous liar, a manipulative predator, a tormented bully, a murderous blasphemous mother figure, a haunting daunting cyborg, a pretentious cold hearted drone, and an official doctrine- a doctrine of hate, and of lustful appetites; a doctrine of obedience, and of going wild.

To keep us at bay, Capitalism invents enemies and detractors. Focus on them it says. Business takes place as usual. But behind curtains; in the form of official mantras, and national songs. And of all sorts of patriotic jibberjabber- that weird old feeling you get when you are told to be proud of those latest mechanical contraptions made to murder other human subjects; subjects of the God of Modernity, also known as the ‘Nation–state’- a global God, a God of boundaries, a God everyone worships, both ‘us’ and ‘them’.

And here stand two neighbours. India and Pakistan. Enslaved by the passions of their new found religions- nationalism and nationalism respectively. Always bickering and swearing about and to each other. Both could benefit from a little give and take, a little mutual cooperation, a little mutual trust, which would in turn lead to some trimming off military spending here and some added social welfare spending there. But both fail to realize what’s good for them- and by them, I mean their people. Instead, both impose doctrines of hate on their people. People are told to hate people. A nation is told to hate a nation. And vice versa.

Recent developments are quite interesting. War hysteria had taken over India. But what really happened. Did people suddenly decide that Pakistan was the source of their misery. The fact that the average Indian person lives in abject poverty while the country is producing some of the wealthiest Billionaires on the planet seems too sophisticated a scheme for the diabolical foe across the border to concoct. What’s really happening here? And why is it happening when elections are at the corner and a billion people will be given the power- formally speaking- to change their destiny? Why are they told that the problems inside their borders are less important than the problems outside their border? Why are they told the miseries of the people are less important than the egos of the ruling elite? And why now?

On the other side, Pakistan just experienced elections. And what we are seeing is a pronouncedly pro-dialogue and pro-friendship government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The PM has already stated that both countries should work on cutting military spending and on boosting people spending. This is a positive sign, despite some skirmishes on the border. One can hope that some sort of dialogue and sanity is restored in the future.

But then we are reminded of a very real fear. A genocidal fascist is making his way to the throne in Delhi. In the heart of the world’s largest democracy, a mass slaughterer, Narendra Modi, is not only the strongest candidate for the PM’s office but is also the blue-eyed boy of the corporate world. He offers a lot of promise. To the corporate world that is. Under his watch, the world tolerated a systematic pogrom against the Muslim community of Gujrat. Rape, torture and slaughter were orchestrated openly in the streets while Modi justified it in an terrifying action-reaction logic.

It’s only high time to do away with logics of actions and reactions, and of ‘us’ and ‘them’. For someone like Modi to become PM only tells how nationalist-conservative rhetorics are so intertwined with capitalism and globalization. The way they get away with all this is through sowing the seeds of hatred. One may think otherwise but haters are part of the same process; the same ritual; and the same religion—the religion of nationalism.

Who is Behind the Bloodbath?

The catalogue of bloodbath in the Muslim world is harrowing and sickening. I want to know who is responsible for it all. It has been a bloody week – the Westgate shopping centre massacre in Nairobi that left 67 people dead, the killing spree of students in North Eastern Nigeria has left 50 students dead, the bomb blast has left 40 people dead in Peshawar in Pakistan and another bomb in Baghdad has taken the lives of 47 people. I want to know who is behind it all.

While the media and pundits brandish “Islamist terrorists” as the key culprits the more serious questions does not even get discussed. They get buried under the hysteria of the Islamist threat. I would like to know who these people are. What is their true identity? Who is funding them? Where are they getting their weaponry and technical support? Why are they hell bent on doing it in the name of Islam and not Christianity, Judaism or other faiths?

We all know that no true Muslim would ever carry out such atrocious and heinous massacres. Yet they are promoted as the true representatives of Islam and the Muslims by the media; their actions are labelled as Islamic and terroristic at the same time. I want to challenge those who are making a living out of pretending to be an Islamic terrorism expert by posing a few simple questions:

1. They are well aware of the fact that terrorism can never be Islamic but knowingly they make the association. This remains registered in the conscious and sub-conscious minds of people. When they think of Islam they think of bombs, killings and terror. Why do these experts deliberately conceal the truth and make these false associations?

2. By making Islam synonymous with terrorism what do they intend to achieve apart from fanning the fuel of Muslim hatred and discord? They know Islam could end terror and tyranny instantly if the Muslim world was truly free.

3. Why call terrorism, Islamic?

The Muslim world is sick and tired of more and more frontiers being thrust on their faces. They have the internal dictators and despots to fight in their respective homes. They have to struggle against imperialism and neo-colonialism. They are now facing a new menace; unknown people and groups are popping up everywhere and carrying out indiscriminate attacks and massacres using crude bombs with devastating consequences. Whose agenda are these murderous mischief-makers serving?

We all know that according to Islam killing one innocent person is tantamount to killing the entire humanity. In Islam life, intellect, property, family and faith of people are the most basic rights that must always be preserved. Yet, there are people who are randomly picking shopping centres, targeting markets, selecting schools and even choosing mosques to kill Muslims. There are those who are attacking the non-Muslims and their places of worship. A true Muslim would never do anything like that! A genuine Muslim would naturally be deterred by God consciousness, the inevitable consequence of the Hereafter and their scared commitment to fairness and justice.

The truth of who is pulling the strings and who are the real masterminds behind these attacks needs to be uncovered. Who are the paymasters of these bloodthirsty monsters need to be unveiled? Who are the real terrorists?

Anyone who believes in the God, most Merciful and most Kind and the last day would never attack innocent people or kill. These are the works of some dreadful people whose only motive is to demonize Islam and destabilize the Muslim world. A free and modernized Muslim world, embedded in Islam would pose a huge challenge to the interest of these ghastly people. I eagerly wait for that day when the Muslim world would be truly free and Islamic.

My all-time favourite chapter of the Quran summarizes the true character of Muslims in the following timeless words:

“CONSIDER the flight of time!
Verily, humanity is bound to lose
Except those who attain to faith, and do good works, and enjoin upon one another the keeping to truth, and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity.” (Chapter – The Time)

Murder, mayhem and terror has no place in Islam and please do not attribute it to Islam either.