Pakistan – Page 7 – My Bit for Change

A Method in The Madness?

Attacking a girl who expressed her will to educate herself and others like her is a crime most heinous is something every right-minded human being would assent to. There is, quite unsurprisingly therefore, an absolute consensus among Pakistanis and the rest of the world about the reprehensibility of the act_ and that certainly tells us our hearts are still in the right place. It is also a given that whoever is behind this attack is evil.

Thinking thus is not leftist or rightist, or liberal or conservative or religious or secular. It is just common decency. But I must risk being controversial beyond the facile narrative of this episode. There are vital questions that need to be asked. For one, who would do this, and why really? I am told it is the thing called Taliban. But I must be cautious against unproven assumptions. Not because I am a Taliban sympathizer, but because I do not know enough to make that conclusion other than the fact that one Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed it was the Taliban. He also tells me he wants her killed because she ‘promoted secularism’ and had the shamelessness to quote to me the Quran and the Sunnah to justify the most despicable act. Indeed, the devil can cite scriptures for his purpose.

I would really like to know and condemn whoever is behind this in the strongest possible terms. But I cannot but put my finger on a murky, dubious and elusive entity that is called Taliban. I do not know what that is, except that it is an umbrella-term for something far more nuanced and complex than the term implies; used more liberally, loosely and expediently than it should- by both those who call themselves the Taliban as well as those who use it for others. Because while it originally described a popular defensive struggle against warlordism and civil strife in Afghanistan and thereafter against the US occupation of the same, it is now adopted by a band of sorts, consisting of mercenaries, petty criminals, hired assassins, agency funded terrorists, double agents, spies and pathological fanatics. Their link with the original Pashtun resistance by this name in Afghanistan remains unclear and questionable, and often denied by mainstream Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.

The skewed up mindset I read in the letter by Ehsanullah Ehsan is sickeningly diabolical. I stop and think what kind of a mind would call for the killing of a mere child using a completely irrelevant, ill-fitting and utterly out-of-context sacred text to justify the point-blank targeting of a female child who had come to mean so much for so many. Even if one cannot expect moral scrupulousness from the Taliban, this sounds like a masterstroke of grandiose stupidity in terms of political consequences as well as psychological repercussions. It is an absolutely suicidal move on the part of the Taliban, given the fact that the very natural and very expected sympathy for the innocent victim will bring utter condemnation and ruination to their cause. It is only natural that a pretty little girl wanting to educate herself and getting shot in the head by misogynistic terrorists for it will deflect any sympathy there may have been for what the Taliban fight for and will provoke the ire of all feeling hearts.

But perhaps there is method in this madness? For one, the episode came to light right after Imran Khan’s peace march against drone strikes had managed to draw attention to this issue that ails the heart of many Pakistanis, and just when there was talk of creating grounds for an operation in North Waziristan. A news report in ‘The Express Tribune’ on September 17, 2012 entitled ‘North Waziristan Operation to Stay Under Wraps’ quotes a Pakistan government official saying that Pakistani authorities plan to create a ‘necessary environment’ for the Waziristan operation. Moreover, soon after the attack given the overwhelming public sympathy there is conspicuous effort to swing opinion in favour of the necessity to use drones to hit targets in the region and the necessity to begin a military operation in North Waziristan agency. This had been a demand from the White House since some time. I must be allowed to wonder who really is the beneficiary of it all? The pattern I detect is a familiar one. Before the Swat operation some years ago, opinion had been swung in support of it after the screening of a video that showed the Taliban lashing a yelping woman. Months later, a small news strip revealed the video had been a fake one. It did not matter then, for the deftness of the forgery had come in handy to justify the operation and to give an inept regime reasons for self-congratulation over something the Former Dictator had failed to do: rally public opinion before a military move into the restive, bleeding north.

Last month’s joint report by Stanford and NYU on the impact of the drone strikes in Pakistan calls them ‘damaging and counterproductive’ as opposed to the false US narrative of these being ‘surgically precise effective tools’ to hit specified targets with minimal collateral damage. The report documents 2562 to 3325 casualties by drone strikes since 2004, out of which 474-881 are civilians including 176 children. The number of injured is roughly between 1226 to 1362 individuals. The report includes harrowing narratives of survivors and victim communities in a region where the ‘free media’ of the country cannot dare to tread.

I may be dubbed a hopelessly ‘illiberal’ fanatic for linking up the Malala incident to the drones when I say that the sympathy generated for Malala must also be for all victims of terror, drone strikes, sectarian and ethnic killings, indiscriminately. We cannot discriminate between dead bodies just because it may not be ‘politically correct’ to question and condemn the cause of the deaths of some, depending on who the killer is. However, the necessary link between Malala and the drone strikes is best drawn by an anonymous lady holding up a most unforgettable placard that confounds the senses: ‘Drones kill so Malala can live.’ I commend her scathing honesty. Few can put so succinctly the political agenda behind the state-sponsored media campaign for Malala and the vital link that does exist between the two. It is, in fact, quite ordinarily a strategy of psychological warfare to generate favourable opinion and support for a planned military offensive which may otherwise be opposed and questioned on moral grounds. In American military terminology, this vital strategy is called PSYOPS (Psychological Operations). Wikipedia explains:

“Psychological operations are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.The purpose of the United States psychological operations (PSYOP) is to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to US objectives. They are an important part of the range of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic activities available to the US. Strategic PSYOPS include informational activities conducted by the US government agencies outside of the military arena.”

So now again I hear talk of military operations with renewed vigour while public outrage is toned down and muted. Hawks who cannot see beyond a military solution to the complex, deep-rooted phenomena on the rampage in the tribal north must be patting themselves on the back for yet another tawdry, meaningless triumph. I shudder to think of the possibilities being contemplated.

And I wonder if this really is all about girls education as it is being made out to be? How effective will this be to further the cause of education for the girlchild in this country? Or will it blow to smithereens more lives, generate more terror wreaking havoc on human lives and keeping little girls away from school? And I think of those other victims it is not good manners to make mention of: those battered anonymous and unsung lives connected to so many other lives; of children whose dreams of brighter futures die away and recede into the falling debris; and of my religion audaciously sinned against and made a malleable ploy to the whims and unholy ambitions of evil self-appointed guardians of it.

But if we wish to reach solutions we must be ready to understand, ask questions and wonder why, really? If it is really an ideology that motivates the Taliban’s diabolical moves, I wonder why the ideology never drove these misogynistic Pashtuns into paroxysms of fury and frenzy when Swat hosted tourists and many young honeymooning couples a decade ago? A friend born and raised in Swat speaks of the cheerful, chivalrous, hospitable people with well-knit and warm community lives. My mother who went to school in Nowshehra and Peshawar reminisces of ruddy chivalrous Pathan youths escorting groups of girls to school and of bright-eyed Pathan girls following their dreams into high school and college, many of whom graduated as professionals. So where exactly has it all turned awry? Ideologies do not take birth instantaneously; but vengeance does.
And, if it really is an ideology that motivates the madness, can the use of wholesale, blind brute-force that does not discriminate, defeat it? The answer is a most basic lesson of history it would serve us well to learn.

And somewhere, this simplistic narrative I must believe, just does not cohere.

The pointer here is that maybe this uncontrollable hydra of insane extremism and terrorism is the work of our own fumbling, bloodsoaked, sinning hands? Maybe it is the inevitable result of the dirty deals we brokered and the unholy alliance we forged in indecent haste and sinister hush? And maybe the monster will not be tamed and cut down to size unless we dare to understand that violence begets violence, and the victim does not forget or forgive; that drones don’t see the faces in the dust nor hear the moans in the darkness, but that the faces are people and lives and stories forever knitted into several other stories with the silken ties of love. And by being complicit in this unholy mission, we make these sad stories ugly, grotesque, haunting, terrifying, vengeful. And our own story of ignominy and annihilation is writ indelibly by the Moving Finger.

Malala and The Justified War of Terror – II

I got in to the car and in the hour long drive back I reflected on the hopeless failure for dialogue. There has been endless condemnation of 9/11 from the “Muslim world” but the propaganda of the last decade drowns it out. Somewhere along shouting out support for such sacred morals as “freedom of speech” the west drowned out its own conscience as conveniently as it blocked out the “Muslim world” asking it, “what about the right to be heard?” I pause and reflect at the flow of my own thoughts. I realize how I have succumbed to “generalizations” while claiming to raise my voice against this very evil. Perhaps the propaganda of our times is best reflected by the quote noted below, and attributed to Confucius with some variations:

“If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music will not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot.”

While the domestic narrative in the US is one of their military being out to do wonderful things, reinforced over and over again by blacking out the body bags coming back from the war zones but soldiers returning to propose on camera, giving parents a surprise, helping disabled teens cross finish lines are etched in the minds. I wonder if the lady I had met just moments ago could name even one of the Iraqi or Afghani children that died in the 90’s or a million Iraqis that died as a result of war based on lies. She will likely not remember the names of the Iranians who will be killed by the sanctions in the coming years and in all likelihood yet more that will be killed as a war that “breaks out” in the coming years. I wonder if she ever switches off her television and reflects on the disconnection with Iraq’s experience. Churchill was threatening to “gas” them in not so remote history, followed by the deliberate destruction of infrastructure like water purification plants, during the first Gulf war, followed by crippling sanctions, followed by a full scale invasion that has killed at least a million more and displaced millions internally and externally. I wonder if she could name a single civilian killed in Pakistan during the drone strikes or if she knew the names of the victims of Raymond Davis, who shot people in broad daylight.The US government subsequently, in the mother of all ironies, flew him out of the country based on loopholes created by their cronies in Islamabad on the very Sharia they demonize. The only legal consequences he received were due to a brawl he got in to after returning to the US.

I wonder if she knew the 16 year old Tariq Aziz, a boy from the tribal areas of Pakistan who had volunteered to learn photography to begin documenting drone strikes near his home. He had come to Islamabad to protest. A few days later he was murdered – in yet another drone strike. I wonder if she could name a single Pakistani soldier or civilian killed by these terrorists – over 40,000 dead. Above all I wondered if she realized that for Pakistanis and Muslims it is a two way struggle of responding to American imperialism and the lunatic fringe. Of course, in Pakistan we have to do this in the absence of any governance since our saviours in Washington are probably already working on an exit plan for their current servants in Islamabad. I wonder if this lady had even an inkling of understanding of the how much better people outside the US understand America’s own history. It is therefore, no surprise that George Bush could stand in Philippines in 2003 and talk about his plans for the Middle East and no one in America questioned the almost comical historical contrast. No one in America cares about history especially if it doesn’t fit right in to American exceptionalism. Naturally, there is no need to think about USS Maine.

My mind shifts back to Malala. A few days before the attack on Malala, thousands of people from all corners of Pakistan had invested their own money and time and risked their lives in a show of solidarity with their brethren in the Tribal areas. They raised their voices for innocent lives being wiped out by drones in a grotesque video game like new war tool that is even more dehumanizing than the chilling brutality humanity has displayed in the most recently concluded bloodiest century to date. It was fascinating to see how this story would be replaced by the likes of stories such as Justin Bieber’s throwing up on stage on “CNN USA”, the “CNN international” website being slightly more generous in the number of hours this seemed to be on any notable corner of the main page.

Efforts like the peace march to the tribal areas could be turning points in ending this seemingly endless cycle of violence, especially given that many Americans who joined this peace march . In the few days that these wonderful human beings spent in Pakistan, they won the “hearts and minds” of not just Pakistanis but Muslims around the world and created a stark contrast in results produced by arrogant euphemisms about wars to win hearts and minds. It called the bluff of western governments and its media of labelling every casualty in this endless war as a “terrorist” and where the over one million Iraqis, unknown thousands of Afghanis, drone wars killing in Pakistan, Yemen and an ever growing list of “sovereign” countries is not even a consideration in the discourse that is delivered by crisply dressed men and women with a plastic smile.

Among the people who came to Pakistan was the British convert to Islam, Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British Prime minister. The schizophrenic self-talk emanating from the TV screen in the west chooses to ignore her as much as it chooses to ignore the ever growing number of western converts to Islam unless of course it is about fear-mongering about the Islamic takeover of Europe with impossible numbers projected from birth rates amongst Muslims. The war on terror is simultaneously a war of civilizing the savage as the latest Islamophobic ads In New York subways explicitly state; it is not just about saving a people from their God, Muslim women from Muslim men but it is also about objecting to Muslims having children. A recent study determined that the majority of converts to Islam are British women with an average age of 27 and many have adopted traditional Muslim attire and wear a head scarf. The very symbol of oppression to the west is a choice for many but the media in the west has the luxury to talk right past these contradictions.

It gets dark and I pull in to a gas station and pray Maghrib in my car after trying to align myself the best I can to the Kaaba. I imagine millions more if not well over a billion are engaged in this very same act for the five daily prayers. I miss my daughter who lately has developed a fondness of climbing all over me while I pray. I marvel at the connection of Muslims to the Prophet Mohammed, Peace be upon him, who would prolong his prostration in prayers if his grandchildren climbed on his back. 1400 years later my child playing with me during prayers becomes a Sunnah. The sun has almost disappeared and I am saddened by how much we have failed to represent the teachings of the most magnificent man to walk the earth; a man who was sent as a mercy to the entire universe.

In the stream of propaganda we have become fathers that kill our daughters for honour. I run my hands over my face and feel my beard. The war on terror has come as close as my facial hair. If it had been better times I would have laughed at how ridiculous this thought was. Daughters and men with beards burying them … we learn no different than Pavlov’s dogs but if we use the intellect that we are gifted with we will see the Quran talking about avenging the girl child that was buried alive. The closest association Muslims finds in their heritage of how bearded men feel towards their daughters is the Prophet Mohammed, Peace be upon him, crying to the point that his beard was drenched when a man confessed to having buried his daughter alive before the advent of Islam. I put the car in drive and after a long time I seem to know what my journey is.

Link to Part I

Malala and The Justified War of Terror – I

I glance down at the empty plastic cup, circled in two small hands; a pair of gleaming eyes looked on intently as she pretended to take a sip and teased “It’s only for girls.” I make a rather exaggerated attempt to snatch it. In an instant she has turned and disappeared in to her room. I catch a glimpse of her curly locks as she intercepts the sunlight crashing through the living room window. My smile disappears instantly as I focus on the picture of a girl, some years senior to the child who filled my universe just minutes ago. I am filled with sadness for Malala, for her family, for us as humanity in general and for us as Muslims in particular. A familiar anguish registers forcefully yet again and I watch, like the majority of Muslims globally, as we fail to undo, the curse of a black and white world that George W. Bush initiated but since has been furthered relentlessly by his successor. An endless war rooted in grandiosity, condescendence and greed as much as it is supposedly about an endless stream of terror that masquerades as forces of absolute evil against forces of darkness. The narrative that unfolds and as it is retold endlessly, around the clock, with slight variations in flavour but absolute unanimity in incriminating the religion of the “other”, is shouted from the television screens and Radios across the west. Who is the West? Is it the by and large wonderful people I have had the pleasure to meet in the US, my teachers, colleagues and friends? Or is it the people who sanctioned two wars, one supposedly over but with great dividends of control of energy resources and somewhere along the way re-elected a President who started these war on lies, while simultaneously asking Muslims to chant in unison, their denunciation of the acts of people who they, like the west, sees as obscure figures on television when they come out with reported videos threatening to kill everyone and everything that breathes?

Just prior to the weekend, in a small town of 3000, an elderly lady in rural America approached me and asked about “surviving Pakistan.” I braced for a familiar conversation about how it is a country of a 180 million and not really just about the constant bad news you see on the media. Of course I can never explain in two minutes of sympathy coming my way the role of her own country in the mess in Afghanistan, the devastation of the economy that comes in the aftermath of US policies, the current corrupt lot that Washington has installed through unprecedented black laws such as the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that resulted in a puppet dictator exiting the country to find refuge abroad and ushered in well-known corrupt figures whose corruption of billions of dollars was forgiven by the outgoing dictator. I wanted to tell her that these are not crazy conspiracy theories but the very deception that alienates good people like herself and her fellow citizens from the “Muslim world.” I wanted to tell her diplomacy in the Muslim world to the US is the mockery of democracy. That what I was saying to her was not a secret but documented by numerous western writers including the very officials in the midst of these ugly hijacking of the will of millions such as the former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice writing about her role in this wonderful piece of diplomacy in her book, believe it or not, titled “No higher honour.” Within the borders of the US she is celebrated as the first Afro-American secretary of state, a testament to how America is overcoming its prejudices and simultaneously doing ‘good’ around the world. I wondered what she would think if I told her what this “other” from a distant land of murderers believes.

I wondered if she, her curiosity and genuine kindness would seem less condescending to me if she had the information she needed to judge me. Beyond the caricatures of me and many like me that she saw on TV, this woman knew nothing of my history or faith. I thought of Hazrat Bilal who had been a black Ethiopian slave in Makkah prior to the advent of Islam and who came to adore Mohammed (Peace be upon him) and was one of his closest companions and who was tortured for accepting Islam as he was made to lay naked in the desert sand, burnt and crushed under the weight of stones on his chest as he continued to chant “Ahad … Ahad”, a proclamation of his faith in the Oneness of God. I suspect that she would have at best either stared back blankly or at worst called the authorities for “she saw something, therefore she must say something.”

Perhaps she would have been angered by my response, although staring at her bright blue eyes, repeated compliments on how well I speak English and the gentleness that she exuded it seemed quite unlikely. She may have challenged me stating that Islam does not sanction slavery and I would have invited her to sit down and have a discussion of what my faith represents. I would have loved to tell her the wisdom behind gradual phasing out of slavery that Islam represented. As I contemplated this elaborate conversation all in my mind I found eagerness to share how Islam had shaped for us an classless society based on justice. The very interests of the US leave it in need for feudals and dictators and works against the justice in society that Muslims long for. I would have loved to speak for myself instead of the convenience of her hearing a convenient truth about a complex world through the TV. I would have loved to share the following Hadith Narrated by Al-Ma’rur:

At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for it. He replied, “I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names.” The Prophet said to me, ‘O Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names You still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.’

I could see that the pleasantness of our interaction as human beings had perhaps surprised her. I wanted to tell her that if she saw any goodness in me it was not despite the Quran that is my guide to life, but solely because of it. That this very book teaches me:

“It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat ), and gives the Zakat, and who fulfil their covenant when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun (the pious)”

I would have loved to reference for her western authors documenting Islam’s creation of a just and equal society. I would have loved to have a debate on the universality of human understanding of what is right and just, how America under Lincoln struggled with the same dilemma that to me Allah and his Messenger, Mohammed, Peace be upon him, showed us the wisdom to handle. In 1854 Lincoln stated in a speech:
“My first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia,—to their own native land. But a moment’s reflection would convince me that whatever of high hope (as I think there is) there may be in this, in the long run, its sudden execution is impossible”

In 1862 Lincoln established a colony in Haiti where 500 freed slaves were sent. Many of them died of starvation and an outbreak of smallpox. In my mind thoughts raced of how to pick words to share the experience of watching the poorest amongst us lead us in prayers, pray side by side or in the front rows while many more affluent would stand way in the back of the mosque. I wanted to tell her that a 7 year old child praying next to me can ask me to align my feet with the rest right before the prayer commences with “Allahu Akbar” which to us means that our Creator is greater than anything and everything, be it the most comforts I can acquire in this world or the biggest calamity that can befall me. It liberates me from fear and sorrow. It is my understanding of freedom from greed, envy and hatred.

I worried she may have read the recent series on CNN about Slavery in Mauritania that seemingly popped up randomly and in the typical convenience of the western narrative on Islam equated slavery in Mauritania to Islam. It was convenient because a couple of days earlier one (or many?) US soldiers had murdered 16 Afghans. Lest any humanity of the other seep through the mirage created by the media a diversion is created to “contain” opinion. I was surprised at the extensive and random thoughts running through my head and was looking for a polite way to end our interaction when her next comment caught me off guard.

“It’s terrible isn’t it? The Taliban shooting this school girl …..”

In an instant she had assigned a face of convenience to the war on terror; The Muslim girls that the West is out to save. I felt sad for her ignorance and anguished at the state of Muslims worldwide. I wanted to tell her that the same puppets that her country has mounted as rulers, and who move around in security convoys of 100’s of cars while citizens give birth and die on their way to the hospital in resultant traffic jams, had failed to give any security to this girl against a fringe element of criminals. The unprecedented looting and plundering of the country that has left people in abject poverty, without access to healthcare and education is not just seen as “collateral damage” of US policies but the very goals. I wanted to tell her that if China had drones killing people on the east coast with the US government not just failing to protect its citizens but being complicit in the murder of its civilians, surely there will be a segment of society that will take up arms against the government. I wished to have the wisdom to express that for every Malala that America has the delusion of being out to save; there are a million Iraqi children that die due to sanctions that did not target the dictators of yesteryears but the very people of the countries that you are out to save. A loss that Muslims around the world hear justified by Madeleine Albright as “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it. “ I wanted to tell her that if Americans could at least begin to understand the dichotomy of what the US represents within its borders and without, even if is a statement like “Saddam was a bastard but he was our bastard”, that Phil Donahue had the courage to express, the world would be a much less angry place.

I nodded with my eyes lowered and as we began to walk away I heard myself say, “Things are very different from what you see on TV.” She smiled and walked away.

..Continue to Part II

Malala – A Victim of Evil Desires

A journalist tweeted yesterday “Why Malala and why NOW?”

And it speaks volumes. The innocent girl became a victim of some people’s evil desires; desire to rule the world, a desire to dictate one’s own terms and conditions and a desire to create chaos. The horrific incident of shooting Malala and other two girls is barbaric to the core.

A million dollar question certainly is that who is Ahsanullah Ahsan and why on earth his calls are never tracked. Why does he take blame on himself (i.e. TTP) whatever the incident is and always manages to call international media but no one bothers to trace out who is he in reality.

But before that we need to focus on ‘Why Malala’ question? The innocent brave girl was made an icon against Taliban by all those who sit in their drawing rooms commenting on social media and TV channels while remaining within their comfort zones. Her stories were recorded by BBC Urdu and published as a diary. She was purposely brought to limelight to make her a symbol. The role of media in bringing Malala to limelight and promoting her out of proportion was surprising. Poor girl was used for media ratings. To serve the vested interests, they put the life of innocent girl at risk. She became a target for the terrorists. Even now, media is surely serving someone else’s purpose by giving the issue a lot of twists and turns.

‘Why Now’? The timing is also very crucial. Exactly when the entire world was getting breaking news about drone attacks and questioning the legitimacy of such attacks, suddenly Malala was attacked, she was identified first and then targeted and all of a sudden all the pro US policies, pseudoliberals started talking about Waziristan operation and legitimising illegal drone strikes.

An important thing to note is that the leader of Swat Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah reportedly hides in Afghanistan and operates with the cooperation of US/Afghan forces; so if Taliban of Swat are responsible for this attack, they are operating from Afghanistan and not Waziristan. Why there is never a drone strike across the border, not that I am demanding it, but it’s logical that US definitely has a dubious agenda in the region.

The case looks quite simple; another event in Swat to make grounds for another military operation. Previously it was a fake video, and now the ‘tool’ was an innocent 14 year old girl. The quick and strong condemnation from USA (by President Obama and Hillary Clinton) gives a message in itself. Drone attacks would be portrayed as essential, by citing that government of Pakistan is unable to protect its own citizens from terrorist activities.

The role of government is deplorable. Governments are supposed to protect their citizens, in which our government has terribly failed. Blaming terrorists and arranging air ambulance is not the solution. Government should take complete responsibility of protecting its citizens.

Malala is an asset for the nation. Whether its Malala, Aafia Siddiqui, missing persons, drone attacks , suicide bombs, target killings in Karachi and elsewhere, Pakistanis are at the suffering end.

Dr Shahid Masood quite reasonably asked the people who pick and choose cases for condemnation, if those who are killed in drone attacks are not plastic toys. We are being killed for no reason. The only way out is to get out of this American war. We must not put more and more lives at risk.

Peace March, Political Stunt and Killer Drones

You don’t have to be a PTI worker to see what Imran Khan’s peace march to Waziristan has achieved. Nor can you be so blind, unable to read and recognise the hypocrisy written all over Fazl-ur-Rehman’s and Abdul Ghafoor Haidri’s statements calling Imran Khan an agent of the ‘Jews’ and by personally attacking his ex-wife and children. And guess what! Fazl-ur-Rehman, self-proclaimed Pakistani pseudoliberals and US were all on one side, either due to being Anti-Peace-March or pro-drone or both. Not surprising actually!

Any independent unbiased activist, anti-war and anti-drone humanist would wholeheartedly appreciate this big step that was taken by Imran Khan. I was appalled to hear and read some lame arguments from some ‘senior journalist’ who once shouted Why-Islamabad-and-Why-Not-Waziristan. Now the objection changed to Why-South-and-Why-not-North-Waziristan. Some of them asked why invite Americans to protest in Waziristan and rather not go to USA and protest in front of the White House (which CodePink activists did before coming to Pakistan). A few days before the march, the pseudo-liberal lot claimed TTP and Imran are friends and so they will provide him security which was later denied by the Taliban. Then, the march was stopped near Tank and was denied access to the area. It sounded amusing to some. The critics somehow overlooked that the mission was to highlight the issue with the help of the international activists which was symbolic as well as revealing. Do the noise makers suggest it should have been turned into a violent protest, to get to the area by hook or by crook? Hilarious indeed!

The international media covered the issue for two consecutive days. This same media is used to brainwash people about the effectiveness of War on Terror and ‘accuracy’ of American drone strikes killing ‘militants’ alone. By raising the issue in an extra ordinary way this march has shown the people of these countries, the other side of the story.

Clive Stafford Smith (who came from UK to attend this rally) writes in his article,

“During the day I shook the hand of a 16-year-old kid from Waziristan named Tariq Aziz. One of his cousins had died in a missile strike, and he wanted to know what he could do to bring the truth to the west. At the Reprieve charity, we have a transparency project: importing cameras to the region to try to export the truth back out. Tariq wanted to take part, but I thought him too young.

Then, three days later, the CIA announced that it had eliminated “four militants”. In truth there were only two victims: Tariq had been driving his 12-year-old cousin to their aunt’s house when the Hellfire missile killed them both.”

According to a major study released by Stanford University and New York University named ‘Living Under Drones’ only 2 out of every hundred killed may be militants and the fear is immeasurable.

“Drones hover twenty-four hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning. Their presence terrorizes men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves.”

Drones are a familiar phenomenon for Pakistanis, Yemenis and Afghans but not so for the rest of the world. It was effectively highlighted; no sane person can deny the fact. And how many Pakistanis know where they operate from, how illegal they are according to international law and even US constitution and how they CANNOT operate without our government’s permission. ‘We condemn; you carry on’ policy of the Pakistani civil and military authorities is utterly disgusting. And now the whole world knows our leaders have made us a US colony where they are only puppets displayed to deceive us.

Some leaders labelled the march as a ‘political stunt’ risking the lives of people and activists from the world to gain votes? Not so surprisingly, this does happen in Pakistan by the parties who have ruled us again and again so they painted their formula to label the march as a political drama. The silliest argument that really surprised me was ‘Would this march stop the drones?’ If that’s the point then beware: All marches are political stunts, all processions are pointless and all protests are useless as they don’t change anything most of the time.

Let’s leave the intentions to God and not undermine the cause by such unjustified and childish squabble. The issue is national. There is a war imposed on us without declaration and one faction of intellectuals is bent upon legalising what the world holds illegitimate i.e. drones. The biggest ally is the major sufferer with innocent women and children being killed in double tap attacks (targeting the rescuers) or left amputated with post-traumatic stress disorder; Attacks that are carried out on the basis of ‘local intelligence’ gathered by awarding a few thousand dollars and using locals to tag the target with a GPS device, make someone’s fortune and ruin someone’s home and family. The march has brought attention to the forgotten people of Waziristan living under the killer buzzes in fear, avoiding meeting with each other with confidence and trust due to suspicion and terror created by the US.

Support whatever is good and let not your personal, political and/or egoistic ‘self’ weaken the cause and make the world laugh at us. We have a problem, we raise voice, the good people from the world come out to help us but we doubt each other’s intentions. Woah! Don’t let the voice go weak. Strengthen it for the sake of the country and humanity. Play your part, positively. You’re answerable for your bit and every word that you contribute for or against the truth.

The real match we lost against India

Not long ago, I heard a scholar in a University’s masjid that one day he saw one of his acquaintances sulking. He and some other friends noticed that despite being in company of other people this otherwise chatty, socially amicable person didn’t utter a single word that day. They were all grown men with children. The scholar thinking something must have been troubling him at home asked, ‘What’s wrong with him’. He remained still, his head on the table and replied in cracking voice “Javed Miandad ko Opener Bhaijne ki kia zarurat thi”
(Why did they sent Javed Miandad as opener in the field?)

I think This scenario pictures beautifully the state of mind of a very large (probably majority) number of people of Pakistan after losing a cricket match with India. The whole nation is heartbroken. I cannot and will not object on this state of mind (although some reactions can be /should be discussed by some population psychologists) because the very idea that made cricket fans of my country crazy-enthusiastic in watching India defeated, stems from a strong reaction to the cruel, barbaric postures and atrocities that Indian state has been adopting against the Indian Muslims and Kashmiris in the far and near past.

The objection lies in a small bulb that suddenly got lit in my brain of mine which was subconsciously searching for reasons as to why Russian President Putin postponed his long-awaited, 1st-ever trip to Pakistan. The same trip that was of an immense & probably utmost importance to Pakistan as well as Russia not only due to the changing dynamics of the region (Af-Pak) but also the potential market and investment opportunities for both. In plain words, it would have helped Pak made some not just DOD (Dept of Defence) MoUs but also helped our economy better. Next day Pakistan lost the cricket match to India.

Turns out, India understandably does not want Russians to help Pakistan and Russians do not want to lose India, one of their largest arms-market with trades over 9 Billion dollars per year.
This made me wonder what I (an educated Pakistani) should should be sulking more about. The fact that we lost a match to India or that our economy is being incapacitated and industry is being shutdown permanently by crippling power-outages due to a lack of Hydro energy source (Kala-Bagh Dam being on top), the sponsorship of whose opposition is evidently executed by India
and due to the lack of foreign investment in SuperMega Project of Gawadar caused by chaos in Baluchistan, the perpetration of which are also clearly identifiable in Indian consulates across Durand line, an accusation repeated by IG Baluchistan as well as Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan.

So I wonder in times like this which match was more important, the match of real-time and real -life survival against an oppressing power or a cricket match between two nations?

Agreed diplomacy has always been a difficult battleground for Pakistan against India for a long time. But never have we encountered such insulting defeats like today. Agreed, the stupidity of a dictator made all the nations of the world turn on us & despite being a front-line ally, we’re the biggest victim of US policies. But did my Sindhi brethren ever thought whose agenda they are serving by blindly following politicians opposing the Kalabagh Dam. Did a thought like this ever crossed an educated Balochi’s mind who studies in Lahore and without ever being a victim of a racist encounter in his entire life, believes in it and practices it?

We all support the same cricket team yet reflect a bigoted state of mind when it comes to supporting a cause the outcomes of which are far more greater than a cricket match. There is not a scarcity of reports today picturing what will a Pakistan of 2025 will look like. Barren lands, drought, famines , devalued currency, powerless cities, immense fuel shortages can probably be enough of lightning sparks for us today to read in dark the situation of tomorrow.

We should not have doubt any in our minds concerning the fact whose fault this is. We, with our own selection of this democratic government, are all responsible for whatever is going on and what will happen in this land a few years later. No one else, but we, can change tomorrow for us and our generations to come. I sincerely hope my fellow countrymen realize that in time and choose their leaders with the same zeal and enthusiasm they have for our cricket team.

May Allah bless my nation with wisdom to differentiate good from evil, make good choices, and identify real significant matches from insignificant ones!

By the way, I don’t know what’s more ironic, I writing a full article to vent my grief of the cricket match or Failure of full state machinery in convincing Russian president to come here despite COAS visits to Russia to court him.

Just Another Day

By this time most papers have stated the obvious about what went wrong on Friday (Youm-e-Ishq-e-rasool Day declared by Government against the blasphemous film) along with the perceived causes. Subjects dealt with included freedom of speech vs. hate speech, Terry Jones and background of filmmaker Nakoula Bassey Nakoula, provocation and our response, and to top it all off, shock and disgust at the violent nature of protests.

The analysis of what went down and why, at least in most of the English media, confirmed my long standing suspicion. I live in a different Pakistan.
In the Pakistan that I inhabit, violent protests erupted just a few months ago due to load-shedding and people actively hunted for MNAs. It resulted in many deaths along with damage to property. In recent memory mobs have burned people for blasphemy, while earlier the fate of two brothers in Sialkot was even harsher.

Needless to say, if the people catch you while committing a crime, real or perceived, you will be lucky to make it to the cops. What about the learned people? Those who are above the masses, the ones not only setting standards but also enforcing them? Our police, one of the most brutal and vicious in the world, kill the odd chap via torture in custody, and are generally very macho. Our lawyers beat down anyone they can get their hands on. Our politicians torture kids. Hell, even our doctors don’t mind a scuffle!

That’s the lighter side of my Pakistan. Wasn’t it pleasant?

The rough side is actually a little disturbing. Insurgencies plague Balochistan and KPK-FATA, terrorism at large, sectarian killings in Gilgit and Quetta. Our right wing political parties are the bad guys, while the three supposedly liberal parties slaughter over a thousand people every year.

My Pakistan is one where violence isn’t widespread; it’s a part of daily life, with or without religion.

Now, can you imagine what would happen if these Pakistanis were invited en masse onto the streets by say, the government of the time? Given a full day off to vent their frustration? And what if the government and the many leaders who invited these guys to protest didn’t show up themselves? Piling angry young people onto the streets without anyone to lead them, without any direction, without any indication whatsoever of what exactly are they supposed to do. What would that lead to?

Enough of my Pakistan though.

Let us come back to the media’s and elite’s Pakistan. I have to say I am as appalled as you are over what happened on Friday. How dare those happy, peaceful and content people come out, uninvited, on the streets like headless chicken and cause such unheard of mayhem. Not to mention the harm done to our good reputation in front of the whole world.
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Viewing these events in isolation from the daily life in Pakistan is intellectually dishonest at worst and lazy at best.

Viewing the reaction of the Muslim world to that video as a whole is just wrong. It was violent in some countries, peaceful in others. How they reacted had to do with the makeup of those particular societies and the guidance received from political and religious leaders and of course, media coverage.

In our society violence has pretty much been institutionalized, it is the rule here and not the exception. It is what we do, it is who we are. The less said about the political and religious leaders the better, and the media feeds off sensationalism and Bahria Town adverts.

Therefore, I could find anything shocking about Friday. An angry people, with a nasty bout of anti-Americanism and deadly disdain for blasphemy, let loose on the streets. How many ways could that have turned out? Also, the fact that PPP are an incompetent shameless lot of opportunists who find new ways to hurt the country is the least surprising of all things imaginable. This was not an anomaly. It wasn’t an ugly episode in our otherwise peaceful national life. It was just another day, albeit made worse by a chaotic, utterly useless government.

So the elite should stop reacting with such marvellous shock. And please, please stop mocking the mob. If you are privileged enough to have a voice, use it to address the larger disease, not selective symptoms. The ones responsible for law and order and the ones who claim to be our leaders, they are responsible for not just the violence on Friday, but the daily horrors Pakistanis outside the Red Zone have to deal with.

Ishq e Rasool – Let’s talk about it

That a thirteen-minute long tawdry inanity from a dubious manic character could trigger off an uproar both from the emotionally and psychologically volatile fundamentalist groups as well as from states and governments is something that needs talking about. Complex social trends are taking over, quite beyond taming- a plethora of forces, factors, ideas and ideologies that collide and crack and clash and rebound.

For one, the disproportionately huge impact of something that deserves no more than a contemptuous side-glance points towards the enormous sway of the mass media in determining what ought to garner attention, how much and for how long. It also raises critical questions about the ‘freedom of expression’ that defines the cyber world- a blind and amoral freedom with no parameters and no ethic, that knows neither good nor evil, truth nor falsehood. Before the communication, revolution becomes a hydra on the loose making fools and gasping helpless spectators of us all, we need to engage in a rethink of the entire concept of freedom and liberty as it relates to expression. Where does one draw the line between free expression and hate speech? And who draws those lines? Do we want to live in a world where everyone has complete and unlimited access to misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, pornography, falsehood, hate and prejudice indiscriminately disseminated all in the name of freedom of expression?

Still more interesting is the predictability of the action-reaction, provocation- backlash sequence that plays itself out every now and then. Whoever posted the filth onto Youtube seems to have done it with calculated deliberation- in his own words, it was a ‘political act’ in order to push the button driving Muslims into a feverish frenzy sending them to a spree of smashing and burning and ripping. It is like a bored passing urchin looking for some fun, who decides to throw a rock at a rival group so that he can stand back to watch the ensuing entertainment for a cheap thrill. A sick-minded desperado throws the bait and it is eagerly picked up by emotionally charged extremists. The theatrical episode gives Islamophobes and extremists from both sides, much to shout out from the rooftops, much to reinforce their simplistic us-and-them narrative of binaries. It is too familiar and too regular a pattern.

And deeply distressing too, one can compare the sudden surge of religious passion over a despicable piece of filth a random maniac posted on Youtube to the lull in the Muslim world, over the state-sponsored carnage in Syria. One can also read into these pathological religious hysterics a tragic disconnect with the spirit and essence of the personage in whose blessed name it is claimed to be.

Umm Jameel bint Harb, the wife of Abu Lahab, made up some verses of poetry to defame the Prophet by changing his name to a word that meant ‘the insulted one’ as opposed to “Muhammad” (i.e. the praised one). This enraged Muslims, especially in the early days of Islam when they were weak. The Prophet (SAW), however, responded thus: “Allah is protecting me from the Quraish’s insults as they are cursing and swearing at “The Insulted One”, whereas I am “Muhammad”, the Praised One! (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

In an Islamic Studies class while explaining Surah Al Kausar I could not help but draw the obvious and vital connection between the ‘Abundance’ (Kausar) granted to Muhammad (SAW) and the contemporary context. Kausar, the Abundance of God’s blessing, of virtue, of God’s Mercy and Love, of felicity, peace, spiritual richness, radiance and beatitude through which any obscenity spewed out by odious villains, matters nothing. Kausar is also interpreted as abundance of following- but a following not as the froth on the beach…

Thauban (R.A) reported that the messenger of Allah said: “It is near that the nations will call one another against you just as the eaters call one another to their dishes.” Somebody asked: “Is this because we will be few in numbers that day?” He said: “Nay, but that day you shall be numerous, but you will be like the foam of the sea, and Allah will take the fear of you away from your enemies and will place weakness into your hearts.” Somebody asked: “What is this weakness?” He said: “The love of the world and the dislike of death.” (Abu Daud)

An important narrative in the Islamic tradition is of the man who refused to make puerile effort to guard and defend the Sacred House in Makkah against an attacking army, realizing the futility of such an attempt, and relying instead, wholly on the help of Allah Himself while displaying great courage and strength of character. Divinely armed hordes of midget birds crushed the army in an awe-inspiring miracle that manifested the Glory of Allah and His transcendence above and beyond human machination. Realizing that the honour of the Prophet of Allah (SAW) does not stand in need of violent protest marches, nor does such expression accentuate his spiritual stature is a fundamental lesson in faith.

In my part of the world the angry mobs in the name of the Prophet (SAW)’s honour betray the spirit of what they seek to defend. It exposes the superficiality of our understanding of the message of Muhammad (SAW). The audacity of the corrupt and inept regime’s decision to celebrate the ‘Youm e Ishq e Rasool’ (Day of the Love of the Prophet SAW) is revolting, and uncontrollable street mobs on the rampage smashing public property make a grotesque mockery of the grandiose motive. Such street sentiment actually expresses the pent up feelings of frustration and grievance, helplessness and anger over drones and poverty and Gitmo and joblessness and the great atrocity of the War on Terror, seeking cathartic relief in burning and boot-kicking effigies of freakish blaspheming idiots which personify the invisible statue of that one hostile monolithic entity called ‘The West.’

I long for a ‘Youm e Ishq e Rasool’ wherein I can relive the message of Muhammad (SAW) in acts of kindness and compassion and spread around me some of the goodness he exuded in abundance. I long for a ‘Youm e Ishq e Rasool’ when I work with greater honesty and integrity, and smile at my colleagues at work more spiritedly than usual, and lend a helping hand more enthusiastically than usual; refuse to throw that plastic wrapper in the street and dispose off the ones I see lying around; send blessings to the Prophet (SAW) and read about the Prophet (SAW) to derive lessons relevant to my personal life and realize my responsibility towards the community I am part of. That would be a ‘Youm e Ishq’ I would love to celebrate. Not one with aggressively externalized displays of religious passion that turn ugly and then dissipate and fade away like froth on the sea, swept away by the incoming tides just as easily as it came.

We have a remarkable capability to transform into celebrities and global figures of great importance petty deranged slime-balls with our mislaid enthusiasm and fervour. Terry Jones and Nakoula Basseley ought not to matter, as they do not.

What matters, uplifts and heartens is that glow on the horizons still young and rosy but promising- of a rising, rejuvenating contemporary Islam personified by a new generation of young Muslims in the West and also emerging in the Muslim world who have risen to the occasion and responded with composure and wisdom, creativity and intelligence. Lesley Hazelton describes these Muslims as ‘writers, filmmakers, political activists, comedians, academics who wear their Muslim and hyphenated Muslim identity with a casual confidence, are activists but not of a defensive nature, armed with wry humour and a sharp sense of irony. They laugh at simplistic slogans like ‘Islam versus the West’ and the infamous ‘Clash of Civilizations’ as they represent the blending of civilizations. These are the polar opposites of Islamist extremism and confound the stereotypes and the more visible they become, the less the smallest and most extreme minority can claim that it represents the whole.’

During a particularly long day at work and longing for a respite, my senior batch of students walked in, telling me they wanted to work on a documentary film on the personality and legacy of the Prophet (SAW). It was heartening, a breath of fresh air to see the enthusiasm, positivity and activism of these young girls. They wanted to record my views on the film by Nakoula. “That doesn’t matter,” I answered. “Like froth on the sea. But this work matters. It is not the froth on the sea, but the glow in the eastern sky. And that is something to talk about.”

Lifeline for Muslims

(O Prophet), We have surely bestowed upon you good in abundance.So offer Prayer and sacrifice to your Lord alone.Verily your enemy alone has been cut off from the roots. (Sura Al-Kosar: ch:108, v-1-3)

Love of Prophet is indeed a matter of life and death for Muslims. Love of Prophet is something for which each and every Muslim is very emotional. Pseudo-liberals can never understand this because it’s about love of Prophet. Not something to be measured with intellect but something to be felt with heart.

Many will not read beyond this line and will tag it as another piece preaching love of Prophet. I feel pity for those who are silent to keep their liberal attire intact, or are asking other Muslims not to show their sentiments. They have not only lost their own identity, they are pretty much confused about their very purpose of existence in this world. I don’t want to generalize but certainly those who have taken oath for defense of United States and other western countries will definitely have an inclination to keep their nationalities secured and hence keeping mum over the blasphemy.

Hazrat Omar Bin Khattab once said to the Prophet SAWW, O Prophet of Allah, I love you more than anything except my life, and the Prophet SAWW said, No one can be a true believer unless he loves me more than his life.

True, we should propagate love because our Prophet was Rahmatul lil alameen. It is also correct that we need to be peaceful in our reactions. But we need to ponder upon this question that why does this so called ‘freedom of speech’ always target Prophet Muhammad SAWW. The fact is that there are laws for statements against Jews, racism etc but when it comes to Prophet, every Tom, dick or Harry has freedom of speech. This is what is irritating Muslims.

The movie in question is not worth watching. It may be an utter failure in technical filmmaking terms. But I simply cannot buy the idea that the movie was made because of ‘lack of knowledge’ of the filmmaker. No, it was a planned effort to check whether Muslims will react or not. A cheap tactic to gain popularity may be, but a litmus test to check the commitment of Muslims.

For those who say that Prophet forgave a lot of blasphemers; I would like to quote the incident of Ka’ab Bin Ashraf, a Jew who was a blasphemous poet. He used to ridicule the Prophet of peace SAWW in his poetry and Prophet ordered his murder. This is reported in Sahi Bukhari by Hazrat Jabir Bin Abdullah (RA).

Prophet SAWW asked that who will tackle Ka’ab bin Ashraf? He is desecrating Allah and Prophet, so Muhammad Bin Muslimah (RA) stood up and asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah, May I kill him if you like’ and Prophet SAWW said, ‘Yes’… (Bukhari)

So it is evident that blasphemer shouldn’t be roaming around freely. All Muslims should unite to protect the sanctity of Prophet SAWW. In current scenario, the issue is USA is protecting the blasphemer as a state by calling his action as ‘freedom of speech’. This is a very grave situation. That’s why all the protests are logical and legitimate. Ambassadors and diplomats have immunity all around the world, but protesting in front of the diplomatic missions to record protest against a country is a democratic right. The solution is only one. Proper legislation against blasphemy of all Prophets. Thats how mobs and people can be contained. In the absence of laws and without their proper implementation, people will take laws into their hands; this is mob-mentality. We need to act sensibly to come out of this situation.

I am not in favour of burning public and private properties in protests, but I am certainly in favour of peaceful protests and proper legislation for blasphemy. These protests should be aimed to show our love for Prophet and not to destroy the property of innocent people. It is also a great chance for us to tell the world about teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAWW).

Much can be written on this topic. Iqbal summarized it beautifully in his poem ‘Ibless ki Majlis-e-Shoora’ in which Satan tells his executive council

وہ فاقہ کش کے موت سےڈرتا نہیں زرا

روح محمدؐ اس کے بدن سے نکال دو

The target of satanic forces is very clear. They know that it’s the love of Prophet Muhammad, which has kept Muslims bonded till now. If this bond is broken, Muslims will be no more different than others. Therefore, they attack this bond clearly. This is a lifeline for Muslims. It is a driving force which is keeping all of us in one direction. That’s why when anyone challenges this bond, entire Muslim community rise for the defense of this lifeline. And this is very evident in current protests. But the liberals and American slaves cannot understand.

And last but not least, true love of Prophet (SAWW) will be evident only when we follow his Sunnah in true letter and spirit in every walk of life. Allah says in Quran,

‘’Say, [O Muhammad], “If you love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [Al-Qur’an 3:31]

The Worthless Human Life and Our Role

It was my first day at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge as a trainee doctor, ‘the Induction day. Being a medical graduate from Pakistan, it was a very important day for me to get acquainted with the system. As expected I went through Basic Life Support training, precautions before transfusing a patient, infection control, hand washing techniques and basics of prescribing. All was well until we came to the last training module of fire training. Fire training, for a doctor? Why oh why? Let us go home now, my stomach was rumbling with hunger and my head was aching. But I had to sit for this mandatory module as I wouldn’t be allowed to work unless all boxes were checked and this would be repeated every year.

My Asian colleagues and I were in agreement “these ‘goras’ are too sensitive to trivial things”. We laughed. “No one cares about those petty infections and issues in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh which they fuss about” we chuckled. “We are strong, immune and hardy to most of the infections and why this fire training? We are not training to be firemen.” … Only a few years of living here proved it was nothing to be proud of.

The module began. The fireman training us, taught about 6 types of fire, their chemistry and physics including how fire spreads (i.e. Conduction, Convection and Radiation), different kinds of fire fighting equipment, fire exits (not to lock them or obstruct them or park in front of them), assembly points, weekly fire test alarms, electromagnetic fire doors which would close automatically in case of fire alarm going off (to contain the fire) etc. Too much, too boring, we all agreed and yawned as “passionate doctors”.

The Karachi fire tragedy has taken the peace away. More than 300 precious human lives lost including women and children, 300 families mourning their loved ones, charred bodies, the worst fire tragedy in history of Pakistan, what a horrible day it was! Lack of implementation of basic laws, low cost of human lives, selfish money-making employers, lack of governance and professionalism on their part and lack of training and awareness of basic rights on employee’s part; my mind is all entangled, trying to find the root cause.

It’s true that the government is non-functional, the laws and legislature are left to dust in libraries and offices, and the nation is running most of the things on its own without any support from the leaders. But it’s a fact as well, that, we as a nation are too casual and complacent in our daily routines. You wear a seat belt – you are too sensitive a kid, or you are a showing-off-elite child. Wearing a helmet while biking makes you less of a ‘hero’. Overtaking a car by revving your engine is a ‘wow’ factor and sticking to the rules and observing laws make you a timid teddy or less manly. And when someone asks you to be cautious and stick to the rules, they are just a nervous ‘newbie London-palat’. The casual attitude of complacence must change.

The Karachi factory had all exit doors locked except one, and people kept pleading for the keys. The only working ‘fire exits’ were some windows through which some workers managed to fling themselves to save their lives. Yes! I am talking about humans locked in an ‘inferno’ and killed because no one saw it coming. This horrible incident could repeat itself if we don’t stand up.

But what can we do?

Every one of us can pressurize our employers, self-train and then train others, run a movement not only in factories, but all places even homes. Imagine the horrific consequences in schools, colleges, offices and hospitals.

There’s a lot to learn from the developed world but unfortunately our society only takes copying their accent and outfit as ‘development’ and for our leaders, knowing the West only means luxurious holidays and wagging tails on their commands. All the leaders who have ruled us so far know how things work in developed countries but what they don’t know is that their prime responsibility is learn from them, change and implement laws and protect the citizens. That’s what these leaders are answerable for, in the court of God.

Casualties from plane crashes, overloaded vans falling from heights, fire tragedies are all preventable with just little precaution. I wouldn’t stop blaming government for anything tragic we encounter, but that’s not it! Think what we can do as responsible people. Our responsibility increases due to them being dysfunctional. Impress upon annual vehicle checks, start from your car, team up with other parents and refuse to send your children in a van that has no check, team up with colleagues and pressurise your employer for fire training. Arrange fire trainings in hospitals, schools and colleges. Play your role wherever you are. This is the least we can do when we know we are forgotten and abandoned by the lot we call government. Let the change begin.