Pakistan – Page 16 – My Bit for Change

Bewildered!

“Roti, kapra makan and sex! Yes sex!

..These are the basic human needs of today to motivate a person to do something. Our politicians have failed to promise people of this basic human need which is one of the greatest motivational factor just like hunger, food and shelter. Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs ignores the sex aspect’’ .. and the debate goes on in the classroom.

Bewildered — Roti, Kapra, Makaan and Sex!

“Now we will be watching some interactive videos that will depict human behaviour”, the teacher continues.
Next I see some obscene ads being watched and laughed at. This is followed by a useless discussion on how these ads have been successful as marketing tools. One such ad shown was of a body spray and the conclusion drawn was that if you use this particular brand of body spray you will not only save yourself from embarrassment ‘at the required time’ but also not miss out any chance of sleeping with a stranger.

You must be thinking as to what the hell I am talking about?? Let me give you the details. It’s a sunny afternoon, thirty minutes past twelve. Winters are nearly over yet our college fails to acknowledge this and we are made to sit in hot and suffocating classrooms. Welcome to Pakistan…no matter it is a private or public institute things are the same everywhere. I’m sitting in a marketing elective course known as the “Consumer Behaviour” but sex is all I’m hearing since the past half an hour. As I look around I see students of both genders, of my age comfortably and casually taking part in such a discussion leaving me bewildered and confused.

“Am I the only one feeling ashamed to be part of such a group? Have we lost all our values and morals?”
Well I guess I’m talking about the so called elite class of students for whom such topics reflect confidence and boldness.
What a pity if we call ourselves educated! Have we lost our HAYA which beautifies our lives, adds respects to relationships and differentiates us from animals?

Anas (RA) narrated: Allah’s Messenger (saw) said, “Every Deen has a distinctive quality, and the distinctive quality of Islam is Modesty.” (Ibn e Majah)

Sadly we have forgotten what Islam stands for. Islam is our Deen which is a complete code of life and all our actions and words should reflect this. In this very course, my teacher on the first class clearly told us that we are not allowed to discuss two things…can u guess what they might be? Yes, Religion and Politics. And believe me it’s not with this particular course only. All teachers feel Islam is a personal matter and should not be brought to classroom discussions. What does this mean? Is Islam just a badge that we can choose when to wear and when to throw it in the bin? We treat Islam as rituals selected carefully with a painful ‘pick and choose’ process by us.
This leaves me to a dismal state as I realize what education has given us. MBA and BBA degrees we all have achieved at the cost of our Deen. Are we spending so much money so that we can debate whether gay marriages should be made legal or not (sadly another very interesting discussion in class)

This is the state of education in my own so called Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has made us irreligious and though we excel in speaking and writing English better than an ordinary Englishman it has taken us away from Islam sadly.
Suddenly my thoughts are disrupted by the sound of the bell. I slowly get up, collect my books and leave the classroom with a question haunting me: “Who am I? Am I Muslim or just become part of the secular class for whom concepts like Haya are dead.

I recall a saying of the Prophet (SAW)

“Islam began as something strange and shall return to being something strange. So give glad tidings to the stranger” (Muslim)

It is sad to see how we have deviated far away from our deen and have lost our identity as Muslims. In today’s world people who act upon the true teachings of Islam have really become strangers and are only a minority. But there are glad tidings from God, to these few strangers.

(This was the third session of my course when I wrote this article but never got the chance to publish it at that time but believe me this was just the beginning of the most unimaginable torture and humiliation journey through which I discovered the sad reality : that we truly have left our identity far behind. What came next on this journey cannot even be disclosed and I’m sure it will leave you thinking that what could have been worse than mentioned above!! Wake up time!! Welcome to the world of modernization and liberation where human and animals all are the same!)

“If you do not feel shame, then do as you like.” (Bukhari)

Amreen Rehman is an MBA Executive student at a leading private institution in Karachi.

Happy Father’s Day, Everyday!

Happy father’s day to everyone!!!!!!

“This is the day to express your love for your father, make him feel special on this Sunday. Father’s Day is a day honouring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.’’

These clips are not adverts from BBC, SKY or some other western channels, I saw them on a local
Pakistani channels here in the UK and I am sure this is true for all the other various channels that broadcast to millions of Pakistanis back home.

I just asked myself for a logical explanation as to what’s the point? Why is there only one Father’s day and only one Mother’s day celebrated in the Western society? So, in order to find an answer and justify the significance, I let my observation go wild and tried to encompass things which I have learnt being a very close observant of this society.

There is an absolute need to celebrate dedicated days for parents in a society where the bond between parent and child is very delicate and might be non-existent after a certain age and stage; A society where 3 in 5 women aged 75+ live alone. (attached is a graph which shows the percantage of men and women in UK living alone at different ages); where an old parent is a hindrance to fun filled life and where the slogan is ‘Be nice to your children as they are the ones who would decide which old house you’d end up in’ (reads a ‘humorous’ car sticker); where living with your parents is ridiculed by your mates, where an old parent falls on the floor of a lonely haunting house and there is no one to give him a hand to stand up again, until the milk delivery man comes next morning only to find no answer at the door and calls the police and ambulance. A society where mothers abuse and kill their children, youngsters abuse and beat the vulnerable elderly, fathers leave their partners to survive as ‘lone mothers’ who may be as young as mid-teens such dedicated days are indeed reminders of those vague bonds that exist by chance and not by choice.

The economic system here requires both parents to work to survive, which inevitably makes it difficult for them to spend quality time with their children. Such celebrations are required where children spend most of their time not in the company of their parents but child-minders, friends, mobile phones and internet. It’s a reflection of the society in which one-parent families on the rise. In the same society, morality dips down to the fact that they debate in the parliament on the very ‘need for a father’ to make a family and encourage lesbians to have children using IVF.

Rather than blindly copying (only the) useless traits of the West, let’s celebrate our values. Celebrate each day as mother’s day, a person whose cries at the time of childbirth can never be paid off and she keeps on bearing pains bringing us up and helping us keeping our head up high and reaching our goals; serving whom is more weighty than going to war in the way of Allah, if she is old and dependant. Celebrate everyday as father’s day in whose pleasure lies the pleasure of God and in whose displeasure lies the displeasure of God (according to a Tirmidhi Hadith).

And yes! Let’s be proud of a family system of respect which thankfully has been made an obligation by God upon us; which keeps us close and beautifully tied in the bonds of eternal trust and a package of ‘give and take’ throughout our lives. It is our family system and respect to our elders, religiously engraved on our minds which makes us proud and keeps us going in all the difficult times and has so far prevented us from a nervous breakdown. And it is this quality which non-Muslim parents feel as an obvious positive change in their ‘new converts to Islam’ children.

Does that make your head high enough to celebrate a trait which should be a trend-setter for other nations and not vice versa?

Come on! Let’s celebrate. Make our parents happy every day; the easiest way to please God every day.

“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour” [al-Isra’ 17:23]

Please take me to hospital, my friend

“Haspataal puhancha day yar, mujhay haspataal to puhancha day’’

“Take me to hospital, my friend, please take me to hospital” were my last words.

And why would they take me to hospital when they shot me like an animal. Had they considered me a human being, they wouldn’t have treated me like this. I would have been given the opportunity of proving myself innocent.

I am a 17 year old, youngest of five brothers, a matric student. I go out to a nearby park as it was unbearably hot at home without any power for the fans to work. I get involved in a scuffle at the park and one of the men pulls my hair and takes me to some uniformed men. I’m labelled as a dacoit. Six giants corner me and I plead for mercy and beg them to listen to my part of the story. I have hope that they would listen to me, probably arrest me and put me behind the bars but not in my wildest dream I have thought that they can take my life.

They are mighty and armed and I’m weak and helpless. They do not let me speak and their metallic hearts do not mould. They remember no law, no jails, no courts and of course no mercy. They find no other way to handle the situation and they shoot at me.

But why? Was I a threat? Was I armed like they were? Or did I look like them, mighty and fearless? Did I have a suicide jacket on? None of these, but yes, they were inhuman and they had weapons in their hands and I was a target to prove their bravery and chivalry.

I fall on the floor. My hope begins to fade but there is something in me that keeps me going and I beseech for help

“Please take me to the hospital”

They keep wandering around me telling someone on the phone they have caught a ‘man’ while I exsanguinate to death. I’m helpless and slowly passing to the next world right under the nose of my own so-called ‘brothers in faith’. I am not in in Palestine, I am not in Kashmir. I am a Pakistani, a ‘La-Waris’ Pakistani, and I belong to a state whose rulers lick the boots of their western masters, whose armed forces watch their men die in drone attacks and whose law enforcement agencies strictly follow ‘jungle ka qanoon’. Yes! That’s how I define myself, ‘an orphan, lonely Pakistani’ and I close my eyes.

I die and a story comes to an end, but many stories erupt after I pass away to my Lord.

The world mourns after me. Eyes get tearful and there are screams in my house which I left a few hours ago and my dead body now lies in the lounge. The hands that rocked my cradle are up for supplication, asking for Lord’s mercy and justice. My father suffers from a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. The people who asked the police for help in the park and told them that I am a dacoit, have disappeared and are now untraceable. An FIR is registered at the police, which tells the world that I was a robber and I was killed in a Police crossfire the ever famous“Police Muqabla”. Then this video appears on TV channels made by an independent cameraman covering an event in the park. So another FIR is registered with some amendments. They now say I had a 30 bore pistol with me. This cameraman receives threats and is now running for his life. My family remains unable to register an FIR for hours after I have left you all, which is nothing but normal in my country.

Should I tell you the moral of my story?

Make sure you have someone in your friends or family who can yell and tell the people that you were killed in cold blood for no reason when your life could be saved very easily. Probably my merciless killers did not know that my brother is a reporter at a local news channel.

And, also when you move around, ask someone to keep their mobile cameras ready in case you are shot at. Because unless proven otherwise, you are a terrorist and a ‘potential suicide bomber’ like Kharotabad incident victims or dacoits like Sialkot lynch mob preys.

May Allah have mercy on you all and this land where I leave you today amongst barbarians and butchers.

Fee Aman Allah.

Kinda Like Chicken!!

We, the Pakistanis! Do we look like chicken?

No really, is that how we look like?

I believe we do look like chicken to you. The reality is that you Americans have always seen the world the same way you view chickens. You don’t have to see the slaughter and suffering of the chicken, do you? You have factories for that kind of stuff. And even in those factories you don’t have to do the killing yourselves, do you? You have machines for that. But could you stand seeing as to what a chicken actually goes through?

I was watching Jim Carrey’s “Yes Man” the other day. I happened to go through a scene where the main character faints in a chicken slaughtering factory when he learns about the techniques adopted. Then it occurred to me that this was not the first time I was seeing an American movie in which Americans have problems seeing chicken, or any other consumed dairy animal for the matter, being slaughtered. The fact is that they are never usually exposed to such a scene. But ironic as it is; they love eating chicken.

But the question neither starts nor ends with the chicken. It’s much more than that. It’s about being concerned of only the end product.

Multi-national corporations exploit people all over the world. Because they are unwilling to hire expensive labour at home, they simply go to places where they know labour is extremely cheap, and take complete advantage. Such corporations make billions of dollars. Labour is exploited by being made to work in extremely inhumane conditions. They are deprived of all basic facilities, including proper food and sanitation. They have zero job security, and have to work on daily wages. When they have an emergency, they have to choose between that emergency and feeding their children. This does not however end here; there are many more facets to this exploitation, which includes environmental damage and market monopoly.

But then again; do the employers have to see all this? They only have the final product in their mind and they’re happy. Little do they know, or care, that in the production of that certain product was there a huge exploitation of human beings.

Then they have their government; a government they voted for, a government which is usually at war, a war to make the world a better, and more peaceful, place. They have their “brave” American men and women who fly overboard to fight for this just cause. Obviously, the lives of Americans are precious you know. All being done to keep the American people safe at home. But then again, who are they exactly at war with?

The United States of America is the Big Show, or the Undertaker, of the Global arena. In fact it’s much more than that. Never has a power accumulated such military and technological might as has the United States, or so it is said. This being the case, one may presume that such a power, if at war, will be at war with an entity that is, at least, possessive of strength worthy of any comparison. But where is it that American bombs fall? Is it, say, China? The European Union? Forget the EU; is it even a European country like France and Germany? The once almighty, United Kingdom? Or, even, India? Hell no! Of course it’s not any of these. It’s always some weak Vietnam or Afghanistan or Iraq. Its always “terrorist” countries. Countries where people need to be liberated, even if they have to be killed for it. (liberated from the circle of life)

My question to Americans; have you ever thought over the chances of your dying in a terrorist attack? Today there is a much larger probability of you being abducted, raped and, then, murdered by a friendly neighbour than to be blown up in a Muslim suicide attack. I’m sorry that you lost three thousand people in one such attack ten years ago. But if you are going to repeatedly justify the same for the implied killing of the hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, then you shouldn’t expect the slightest sympathy. Let me remind you that you voted, and hence you’re no less responsible for the happenings.

What about the case of Pakistan? According to US, we are double-dealers. Today we have betrayed the “Global” (or Western) Community by not handing over Osama Bin Ladin, presumably, the “greatest threat” to the world. We are just a bunch of fanatics who support terror, and cannot reconcile with modern times. Simply put, we are belonging to a terrorist state; a state that exports terror.

You see the big beards of terrorists. You see how uncivilized they are. All on your large TV screens. But have you ever seen a drone? Have you ever seen a little girl die from a drone attack? Have you ever seen the loss of a whole family from one drone attack? Is it in your knowledge that your brave men regularly bomb schools (madrassas)? I think I may have used a politically incorrect word, i.e.madrassas, because you have, unfortunately, dehumanized “mullahs” to such a level that you believe that just eradicating the world from their very existence would make the world a better place. But do you know that in many of the madrassas bombed, the students, or “mullahs” as you may call them, were within the age span of 10 to 18. We here, who live in the real world, see them no different than elementary school students in the U.S. It cannot be denied in any case that the large majority of people who die of your drone attacks are civilians. But wait, what do you see?

The only thing you see is the same thing you see in Palestine. You don’t see the murder of little girls in Israeli bombing raids, do you? You see little lads throwing pebbles on Israeli Tankers bulldozing their homes, as terrorists. However, you don’t see Israeli soldiers throwing bombs at the helpless Palestinians in Gaza, do you?

But yes, you do protest. How silly of me to miss that out. Many of you protest against the war. Many of you are against the war. The reason, however, mostly being that you have to stop the increasing deaths of your soldiers. “Brave” soldiers, aren’t they. They are homesick, and the only thing they fear is death, and other small things, such as the battle field. But then again you are only disturbed when the effects enter your comfort zone. What about us? Us over here! Do you see us? Can you see us? What about our lives? Do our lives carry the slightest of value?

We then come again to the point we started with. What are the workers in sweat shops to Americans? They are merely a transaction in a balance sheet under the heading of “expense”. Not a very expensive expense though. What are we to Americans? We are hurdles to a better world. When we go through the process of humiliation and death; we end up as merely “collateral damage”. What’s collateral damage? Well, it’s kinda like chicken.

Saad Lakhani is a motivated young writer, a student of Social Sciences from Karachi