Pakistan – Page 8 – My Bit for Change

Tolerating Intolerance

Pakistan is witnessing an unprecedented rise in everyday intolerance. Every now and then we hear stories of torture and killings in the most brutal ways by ordinary public, ranging from strangers on the road to one’s own family members.

If one doesn’t comply with your commands, we burn; we rape; we plunder. Have you found a thief? Beat him to death. Is someone involved in an illicit relationship? Parade them naked on the streets. And don’t forget to catch their videos on your cell phones. Found people who belong to a minority sect? Make them stand in a line and open fire. Did you hear about a 15 year old illiterate girl with mental disabilities, who burnt a noraniqaida? What are you waiting for? We all know what to do with her.

“But hey, don’t generalize us man. All Pakistanis aren’t like that. Don’t spread negativity. Here, have a gum”, is what I usually get to hear when I try to raise such concerns, in (ahem) ‘my’ circle.

Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, i don’t know and i don’t care – Jimmy Buffet

So, what about us? The so-called ‘educated’ lot of Pakistan.How nice and tolerant are we? Why do our minds not explode and our hearts not sink when we see or hearof such horrific acts of violence?

Let me tell you why: we are too tolerant! It is as if when God created us, he poured the remaining 80% of tolerance on our ‘elite’, after giving a drop to each country. We are very patient, our hearts are made of Tungsten, as they don’t even heat up (let alone melt) when we watch ‘real’ humans being butchered like goats. To sum up: We have tolerance for intolerance.

And the irony doesn’t end here. Because when it comes to questioning our beliefs, (and by beliefs I don’t mean religious; there is hardly any of the religion left in us) we become wolf packs, who aggressively defend their territories from all non-pack members (in our case, anyone who dares to oppose our views on anything and everything). And then we give lectures of tolerance to those who cannot tolerate our intolerance! ha-ha! And the most common targets of our ‘lectures’ are, well, people like me! Who are constantly reminded of how they “think too much”, and they should “give us a break” and that they seriously need a vacation.

Sorry for bursting the bubble of those who like to be called (pseudo) liberals. They are anything but liberal. While fancy English language phrases such as ‘social justice’, ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘individuality’ are embedded in their dictionaries, you will not find them advocating these principles when there is truly a need to do so. And how can they possibly take out time for all of this from their exhausting routines. After all, they have a ‘life’ you know? A life that revolves around ‘status’ updating and attempts at becoming the western definition of ‘modern’. Why should anyone pay a heed to whether the nation deteriorates or loses even the little bit of integrity left of it.

So where does it take this nation? I was told by a ‘well-wisher’ not to waste my energy on something that is not going to happen: change. But for once i have decided that I am not going to give up. I am not going to turn my back on those who have turned their backs on the rest of the nation. Because I believe they are the ones who need my help the most at the moment. I am going to fight (and no not the physical one, please. There is plenty of it that if we could export it we’d be debt-free). I am going to raise my voice, against the tolerance of intolerance. Because I also believe that if we are able to revive the conscience of this not-so-common class of Pakistan, it will eventually lead to an outcry for tolerance by them. A much needed outcry that will remind the masses of peace and love, for the sake of the long forgotten humanity.

I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate – it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn.

-Leo Buscaglia

Why is My Hijab, Your Problem?

I am a woman, not a sexualized commodity; I am a human being just like you are.

I am a Hijabi and Hijab is my identity and my ideology.

I wasn’t a Hijabi by birth, nor did it come from an oppressing ‘Mullah’ father or brother. Oh no! No one can force me to do something which I do not want to do. It only came when I came to explore the message of God which I had been reading since childhood in Arabic and never knew what it meant as it’s not my first language. It started to make sense when I decoded it into a language which I could understand; Thanks to those scholars who made it a mission of their lives to transliterate the word of God for our convenience.

The importance of observing hijab for me gradually became connected to my belief in God and the question I asked myself often.

“I believe in God and His word, I love the Prophet (SAW) and for me the characters and dress code of Aisha and Fatima (Peace be upon them) are role models, then how come whenever I see a Hijabi, I relate it to backwardness.”

All these claims don’t fit into one frame and there began the war of ideas in me:

“You tell me Hijab is backward and you still are a proud non-apologetic Muslim, it can’t be true!”

It’s a part of my personality just like a Jewish kippah and Christian and jewish ‘hijabs’, my message of peace that I wear with pride. It’s about letting the world know, not to mess around with me as I (try to) keep my chastity and obey my Lord.

I am no slave of the corporate capitalistic industry which is bent upon publishing a naked woman to sell everything from a cigarette to a racing car.

It gives me liberation; freedom from being judged on a scale of inches, skin colour and figure details. I am free from the shackles of man, eyes of the evil world who evaluate women according to the length of her skirt and depth of her neckline; intelligence and character being secondary. (Ask a competent man who was rejected by a multimedia company in an interview and his beautiful and sexy but dumb competitor got the job).

With this piece of cloth on my head, I feel empowered as a woman. But a section of our society seems to have a problem with it. Some self-proclaimed Pakistani liberals labelled Hijab as a “dinner table napkin “or “solution of a bad hair day”.What is the world scared of, I wonder?

Think!

If you think my hijab tapered my IQ and threw me into the desert of Arabia some 1400 years behind, I seriously doubt yours. Remember how the prehistoric man lived?

What was the killer of Marwah Al Sherbini scared of? Was this 32-year old, three month pregnant pharmacist, a loving wife and a mother of a two year old, a threat to the world? Oh, mind you she was called a whore, a terrorist and stabbed 18 times in the German court and killed.

Was Shaima Alawadi a hazard? The loving mother killed and turned into a pool of blood in her house in America with a note next to her saying: “Go back to your country, you terrorist.”, was she a terrorist? No; her killers were! Racists and myopic terrorists scared of a defenceless woman with a piece of cloth on her head.

Are Hijabis the biggest threat in the French and other European societies that are banning hijab? Think!

Oh you thought I don’t have a choice? No! I have one and hijab is my choice just as obeying Allah and disobeying Him in rebellion is my birth right due to being a human being and I choose the former.

And in case you didn’t notice, some very successful women in the West are turning to Islam and opting for covering their bodies with modesty and have found peace.

I quote Yvonne Ridley, a journalist who reverted to Islam after she explored the Quran as a promise she made to Taliban, her captors in Afghanistan.

‘My dress tells you that I am a Muslim and that I expect to be treated respectfully, much as a Wall Street banker would say that a business suit defines him as an executive to be taken seriously. And, especially among converts to the faith like me, the attention of men who confront women with inappropriate, leering behaviour is not tolerable.’

Think rationally and decide! Why is my Hijab, a problem for the world?

With Friends Like These

Is safeguarding the life and rights of religious minorities a responsibility of the government? In the context of Pakistan, present or past, it appears not to be the case.

So is the targeted killing and persecution of religious minorities actually a credit to the government?

If you follow a certain Mr. Faisal Raza Abidi, it would seem so. For wherever Faisal Raza goes these days, he wears the badge of minority rights with great pride and greater pompousness. It’s quite mesmerizing actually.

For instance, I was dumbfounded when I saw him invoking the names of Shia leaders, at the top of his voice, to batter an anchor into submission. The fact that these leaders had been killed on the watch of a PPP government that seemed not in the least bit interested, or bothered, about their life or death, was lost on Abidi.

We have seen a lot in the last four years or so, granted. But vying for political mileage over dead bodies? That too of people you were sworn to and failed to, or didn’t want to, protect. I really cannot come up with an analogy.

You may ask what allows Abidi and company to get away this. How can they stand by and watch as their citizens are butchered and then shout about it on TV? Well, it’s the media, or a certain section of the media.

This is the section that lays claim to be the champions of free speech, of tolerance and are great friends of the minorities in Pakistan. They are also great friends of the PPP, but don’t say that out loud. Irony, isn’t it?

It’s peculiar how these mild mannered folk, who believe in tolerance and abhor abusive trolls, love the slightly less mild mannered Mr. Abidi. It’s also peculiar how they oversee, every day, what the PPP has done to minorities in Pakistan.

How? The “Deep State” (Establishment)! It remains the refuge of the PPP apologist. They hide behind it, pleading that their liberal party is helpless. They say the party’s hands are tied.

Yet there is much they don’t say.

They don’t say how there is more sectarian strife in the country today than when the military was directly in power, under Musharraf. They don’t say how the siege of Shia-Hazaras in Balochistan intensified under the current regime or how the PPP Chief Minister can’t even feign pity for them. Let alone the President.

They don’t say how this government has failed to control growth of sectarian outfits throughout the country, from Sindh to Gilgit to Balochistan. They don’t say that the PPP has failed to introduce stricter anti-terrorism legislation either. Apparently, the ‘Deep State’ wanted to do away with the third time prime minister clause instead? It also demanded public office holders be granted immunity from contempt proceedings.

It’s not that these people don’t have a voice. They speak ferociously enough, just not when the “secular” parties are involved. Just imagine, if “Sheeda Tully” was involved in forceful conversion of Hindu girls. But it was a PPP MNA, so he’s safe. Similarly, imagine if a ‘Right-Wing’ government were to incarcerate an eleven year old Christian girl on blasphemy charges. Now imagine the state of the self-proclaimed liberal anchors, writers, bloggers and activists! Exactly!

The fact is, an ulema council has actually come out to support the girl. In the meantime, former Prime Minister, upholder of the constitution and champion of the masses, Yousaf Raza Gillani has claimed credit for Bhutto’s Ahmadi achievement.

None of these champions of minority rights will ask the PPP why they have been this inhuman, this unmoved and this complicit in the atrocities committed. They will instead write one harrowing tale after the other, each ending before the victims can lodge a complaint against their government. A government that not only abandoned them, it persecuted them as well.

It is, however, a PPP government, so that must not make it to the papers. It doesn’t need to, man. You wrote a vague story from a distant land, such bravery would put a lion to shame. You outdid yourself sire. Your best article ever, for the third time this week! And it goes on..

Young “jiyalas” don’t grow up to be unbiased commentators. A Radio only broadcasts its feed. Institutes don’t fund themselves.

There is so much this county has given to minorities, isn’t there. And prominent among our many gifts – are friends like these.

Pakistan Ka Matlab Kia

I am not really sure if I can be blindly patriotic. My love for Pakistan is not unconditional. I have always believed that Pakistan came into being for one purpose, narrated by

“Pakistan ka Matlab kya?, La illaha Il Lal Lallah”

And I love Pakistan only because of its ideological foundations.

Lately a lot of speculation have been generated on the media about the ideology of Pakistan. The reasons for demanding a separate homeland are questioned and it is asked that whether Pakistan’s ideology is essentially Islamic or secular. The point to ponder is that whether all those people who gave their lives for Pakistan were idiots who sacrificed everything without a significant goal in mind.

Another very common fact used as evidence against the logic of Pakistan is the lack of support of Ulema and scholars of that time for the cause of Pakistan, which in fact is not completely true. A lot of scholars were in favour of the Pakistan movement. Those who opposed, had some logical questions to ask which were not entirely baseless, but we should see that people who supported the Idea of Pakistan, did so because it was promised to be an Islamic state.

Yes, the reality is that the Muslim back then wasn’t much better than the average Pakistani Muslim now. Practical Islam was as scarce as it is now. The common Muslim was as heedless of the basics of Islam as he is now. Exceptions are always there but exceptions do not make up the majority. For a people who were fighting for a homeland to practice Islam freely and not fulfilling the most basic obligations like performing the five times Salah at the same time is an indication of the trouble to come. What happened was inevitable and logical but not at all useless as what most of these media pundits are portraying. We were longing for something very right but without the basic groundwork.

Quaid-e-Azam was chosen by God for a reason. He was the best choice at that time as a leader and NO! He was not secular and neither was he a religious extremist. He was a Muslim whose realization and understanding of Islam increased after his involvement in the mission undertaken by him. He was unfortunately surrounded by the very element that denies the logic of Pakistan movement now. He himself knew it. On one hand were the aristocratic elite and on the other were the religious elite. Between these two, Quaid-e-Azam was the best available balance.

Allah (SWT)’s will was to create Pakistan, so it was came into being. A lot may disagree with my understanding of our identity crisis and present day confusions but the fact is that the very aristocratic elite (a lot of whom are portrayed as heroes in our national syllabus) involved in the Pakistan movement due to their own interests became the reason for this present day confusion about Pakistan’s ideology. Everything about the struggle may not have been all so excellently religious or pure but it was not secular either! It’s hard to state everything as black and white because a lot goes on above in the heavens when men struggle , a lot is forgiven and a lot is tested before freedom is achieved. One thing is for sure though. Even if La illaha il lal Lallah wasn’t established in our land as our ancestors wanted. We still have time to learn from their sacrifices, efforts as well as shortcomings. Pakistan will be what we are. If we belief and practice La Illaha Il Lal Lallah with all its implications only then can we achieve what they all strove for. Pakistan is whatever we make of it. We can do better and so can Pakistan.

Of the Kamra Reaction

Here we are, ready for another wave of bloodshed. There was always the pressure, now there’s a provocation.

What actually matters to us? Blood? Lives? Huh. That’s cute. As Kamra was unfolding, so was the psyche of a segment of the Pakistani population, on social media and on TV. The war, and the blood, seems to have made them irritable, angry, and ready for the fight.

It only seems a modern man or modern society, is incapable of independent thought. They eat up what is fed to them, and a certain narrative has been in great supply for quite some time now.

It’s not the killing that will serve as catalyst for what’s to come next. There’s plenty of killing everywhere in Pakistan. Is it the barbarity? Severed heads are used for football practice somewhere else. It is only the spotlight, the high profile and the politics. The politics is what drives us. Without the politics mutilated bodies don’t warrant discussion and without the high profile a bloody Ramadan night isn’t worth comment.

So spare me the emotion, and yes! There WAS emotion!! Abuse, not just towards the Taliban, but towards plenty of their “sympathizers” – mixed with grandiose declarations of war. We have a mess on our hands yes, but it’s a war that’s been declared before.

It’s been how many years since we grew tired of this war? If memory serves there was a yearning for peace and there were peace agreements. Then there was Swat, and we have been tugging along since. How long before we reach that point again?

Let’s be honest in our assessment of what’s going to happen. The long desired operation in North Waziristan, best case scenario, quashes the TTP presence there. They disperse into neighbouring agencies, but many go into Afghanistan, as was the case in Swat.

There they regroup, and attack us from time to time, as is the case with Swat. “Safe Havens” exist on both sides of the Durand Line.

The TTP is but one faction, albeit the most notorious one, while the Taliban are a different, more daunting proposition.

The most powerful nation in the world, with around 40 allied countries, sits across the border unable to conquer the Afghan version. In fact, the US has stopped trying to conquer, and is now more focused on containing. And if the strategy of containment is the best US and NATO and whoever else is there can hope for, what exactly is on our mind?

Since I am being honest let me state another fact, however ill-timed it maybe. This was Musharraf’s war, a dictator’s war; the military’s war! Critiques of the army never criticize it for this. Amazing, isn’t it?

But now it’s getting personal. There is an ever more vocal outrage, there is finger pointing and there is plenty of animosity. Attitudes are changing, thanks to years of dying and killing, and emotional rallying cries to boot.

So here we are; ready to fight a war that is “our own”. Here to prolong our dying and killing for a few more years. Rallying cries galore.

Just a little about that. The war won’t be fought by me or you, and it never mattered if it was ours or not. It was always going to be fought, and in case you haven’t noticed, it’s been going on for years.

Kamra wasn’t an isolated incidence and an act of wanton, unexpected, aggression by the TTP. There is trouble in Orakzai, in Kurram, in Khyber. North Waziristan isn’t exactly the last refuge of the TTP. However, it is an opportunity, an opportunity we look determined to squander already. As momentum gathers for the push against TTP, there is also confusion and infighting.

There are those who want to broaden the fight and take on all Taliban factions – because the more militants out to kill us, the better. As stated earlier, they believe that we are bound to succeed where the rest of the world including the super powers have failed.

Others mock the very soldiers they eagerly want to “do more” because everything American, even a slogan, has to be our own. One group wants to eradicate the evil of militancy but they are not prepared to pay the cost. Apparently it’s shocking that the TTP would dare an attack, and that in itself is a failure of security forces.

Hate to break it to you, but it’s a bloody war! What do you expect? Your enemy will roll over and die because you are annoyed? War is ugly business, and this particular enemy now has a presence “Khyber se Karachi tak”. So this will continue. More attacks will take place, more finger pointing, more anger, more emotion; more death.

Meanwhile, for some, talking about peace is sympathizing with the terrorists. So buckle up, “our war” isn’t going to get any prettier.

Sectarian killings – who benefits?

I knew big Satan was chained during this holy month but I forgot that there are many amongst us, wolves disguised as sheep. Everyday Pakistan has depressing news to face. While most of us are preparing for Eid, some of the homes are preparing for funerals of their loved ones, crying and screaming. While most are repenting in this holy month, some have willingly opted hellfire for themselves.

Sectarian killings are on the rise. Anyone can see they are programmed and planned. Gilgit incident and then Karachi blast on a rally, and a lot more in the recent past. Why? Is someone taking responsibility? Is a religious scholar encouraging it? Does a common Sunni have a problem with a Shia classmate, neighbour or a colleague?

NO!

-Then, who are these militants? Where have they come from? Who are they working for? What agenda they are after?

-Who benefits from a weak Pakistan? Who benefits out of a broken, disunited nation?

-Who is inciting hatred between us and what do they get out of it?

-Who is labelling us as Shia, Sunni, and Minority?

Killing of an innocent human being is actually the killing of humanity. I would say it is worse than being an animal. No animals kill their kind.

It’s impossible to rule out conspiracy theories completely as they have always existed and become all the more stronger underlying factor when you have made many enemies by becoming an ally of a power that is only a friend of her own and is revered nowhere in the world.

Of course, the killers are from us. And when one says they can’t be Muslims, it doesn’t mean they are Non- Muslims or outsiders, but it’s a statement to make it loud and clear that Islam has nothing to do with it. It clearly sends the message to the barbaric hyenas that whatever your names, faiths or outfits are; killings and chaos are not taking you to paradise.

In an unsafe Pakistan, with attacks on shrines & funeral prayers, drone attacks, bomb blasts, labelled casualties and just-a-number collateral damage, a helpless nation, with no government to look up to for help, can only pray in despair :

May the wrath of God fall upon the killers of the innocent and the conspirators against our nation.

Kashmir – The Forgotten Struggle

People say children get so many things from their parents, I agree. I think I got the love for Kashmir from my mother. I remember when I was little and news about Kashmir used to be aired on PTV daily. Every time with the news of killings and disappearing of Kashmiris, my mother would raise her hands and start praying for Kashmir. And as she prayed, tears would start flowing from her eyes. She would close her eyes and stay silent for some time. At that time I used to stare at her, without knowing the realities of life, without knowing the pain of losing the loved ones, without knowing how cruel this world is. But love for Kashmir was in my blood and as I grew up this love grew too. At times, I would imagine myself sitting on some mountain top in Kashmir with Kashmiris, being a part of their struggle. But even not being able to actually join them didn’t affect my love for them.

Kashmir is a forgotten conflict. The general misconception about Kashmir is that the sufferings of Kashmiris started after 1947. If you are one of them you should read about July 13, 1931. Britain’s Channel 4’s latest documentary on Kashmir; Kashmir’s Torture Trial is a brilliant effort to highlight the torture faced by Kashmiris. But Kashmiris will tell you that what’s happening in Kashmir is many times more than what this documentary shows. The worst is yet to be disclosed.

Despite all the love I have for Kashmiris, I think they have the right to be disappointed with Pakistan and Pakistanis, because we have not helped them how we should have. Giving India ‘Most Favourite Nation’ status made me feel guilty if I see through the eyes of a Kashmiri. We did nothing for them on the government level. Although people of Pakistan often talk about UN resolutions and that India should act upon those resolutions but we hardly hear such statements from our foreign office or any other representative of government. And recently Social Media Mela held in Karachi 2012 tried to made fun of Kashmiris by showing a ‘meme’ of Shakeel Ahmed Bhatt, distorting Shakeel’s story and giving it an ugly caption further humiliating the Kashmir cause. This not only hurt the emotions of Kashmiris, but it also made other Pakistanis guilty and embarrassed. We all love Kashmir conveyed this message to Kashmiris by trending #WeLoveKashmir on twitter. A common Pakistanis loves Kashmir, just like he loves Pakistan.

All Kashmir want from the world is to recognize their struggle for independence, their right of self determination, support them and see the ugly face of the so called ‘proud democracy’ of Asia. I’d leave you with the question, a Kashmiri asked at the end of Kashmir’s Torture Trial (Channel 4 Documentary),

“If the human being is one and the same, you have two eyes, I have two eyes, you have one nose, I have one nose, you have two ears, I have two ears, why is there discrimination of peace? You have peace, why don’t I have peace?”

Partition, Pakistan and Purpose

On 14 of August 1947 and 27th Ramadan the holiest month in Islamic calendar in Indian-Subcontinent a new country came into being on the map of the world; Pakistan; founded on the basis of ‘Two-Nation Theory’ that Muslims and Hindus of India are two separate nations. The Idea of a separate Muslim country in North-West of Indian-Subcontinent was presented by Allama Iqbal, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the Pakistan movement through the platform of Muslim League, a political party which was representative of Muslims in India. It would be absolutely illogical not to believe that partition of India was based on religion and the foundation of a new country Pakistan was based on Islam as there would have been be no reason for partition and no need for sacrificing thousands of lives and migration of millions of Muslims to the new state.

Pakistan was not founded on secular concepts such as language, ethnicity or regional nationalism. In fact, it negated all those concepts. The idea of Pakistan’s creation was that Muslims are separate nation because of their religion and they need a separate homeland in Muslim majority states of India for creation of an Islamic state where they can practice Islam in private and public sphere.

Vast majority of Muslims in Indian-Subcontinent supported the Pakistan movement and in 1946 elections, 76% Muslims voted for Muslim League and the Muslim league got more Muslim votes from the states where Muslims were a small minority, now part of India. Muslims living in Bombay, Madras, UP, CP and other States knew that they will never be able become citizens of Pakistan and they would not enjoy the independence but they voted for Muslim League and supported the creation of Pakistan despite the fact that they will also have to suffer the wrath of Hindus and Indian Congress. They made this great sacrifice for Islam hoping that Pakistan will become an Islamic State and thus lead the revival of Ummah of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

After 65 years of its creation, let alone making Pakistan a Modern Islamic State we are still debating or a secular elite fringe has drawn us to debate whether the country was made to be a secular state or an Islamic State. Looking at purpose and basis of Pakistan’s creation this may sound like debating at night, whether earlier in the morning the sun rose from the east or west. The country which had clear vision, real purpose, sacred mission behind its creation, blood and sacrifices of millions of Muslims for Islam sadly has been forced into stagnation with confusion, denial, hypocrisy and betrayal.

65 years on our judicial system is still Anglo-Saxon penal code, policing system is also the same which has miserably failed to provide justice and maintain law & order in the country. The economic system is utterly fraudulent, corrupt and oppressive capitalism which is based on interest/usury. The rulers are cruel and corrupt who do not believe in the very purpose this country was created for they are guardians of the status quo and don’t even fill the Islamic criteria to be the candidates for positions which they are holding. The constitution is full of contradictions on one side its says no legislation can be made repugnant to Quran and Sunnah on the other side gives immunity to (the corruption of) the President which is against the Quran. Laws which were against Quran & Sunnah had not only been presented, but also passed by the Parliament. At social level our society is full of contradictions, media is misusing its freedom by making mockery of Islam and even insulting Islam in one way or another, it is spreading a wannabe attitude by promoting Western and Indian culture, whereas the land of the pure was found to rid Muslims of unIslamic customs and trends of Hindu culture. This betrayal with Allah who blessed us with this beautiful and resourceful homeland and ignorant denial of Islamic Purpose of Pakistan’s creation has ruined Pakistan a lot in last 65 years.

In 1971, East Pakistan broke away as Bangladesh on the basis of secular linguistic Bangali nationalism and 1/3 of the people in existing Pakistan want to leave the country because of their plight. The country is rotten with corruption, lawlessness, bad-governance, terrorism, energy crisis, Imperial slavery etc. Beside other reasons the biggest reason for separation of East-Pakistan was that the ideology on the basis of which east Bengal joined Pakistan was negated. There was no common bond and affiliation apart from Islam amongst the people of East and West Pakistan to keep them united as one nation. Two different regions, different languages, different race, different culture but one faith Islam which made them one nation in 1947 but Islam was practically subjugated into Mosques by the ruling elite in West Pakistan, consequently now East Pakistan is Bangladesh, and in existing Pakistan which is multi-lingual, multi-racial, there is no common bond or affiliation to keep the people from Karachi to Khyber, Quetta to Lahore united as one nation except La Ilaha Muhammad ar RasulAllah, but ethnic, provincial, linguistic divide is prevalent in Pakistani Politics and there are some separatist movements led by secular nationalists getting stronger in Baluchistan based on secular nationalism.

What was the purpose of partition if Pakistan was planned to be a secular state, when there are more Muslims living in India than Pakistan, they pray, fast and go for Hajj every year on special flights. The secularists say ‘‘economic rights of Muslims were the reason Pakistan was created for it was not made to be a Islamic State”. Before coming up with this lie to associate their fraudulent and corrupt ideology with Pakistan’s creation they forget that we had left half of the Muslims in India, and they knew there so called economic rights will not be protected but still they supported and even voted for creation of Pakistan and those who left everything in India were quite well-off but they migrated to Pakistan knowing the fact that they might be killed on the way. They sacrificed everything for nothing else but Islam.

If we are to save Pakistan we have to come back to the purpose of its creation wholeheartedly and build Pakistan accordingly. It is not just a national obligation but an Islamic obligation to follow Allah’s Deen which we claim to believe in otherwise the future would be even worse than the present in every sense.

May Allah protect Pakistan and Pakistanis. Ameen.

Because the Ugly Combination Sells

So Ladies and Gentlemen, contrary to all expectations and despite the ever strong social media activism, Veena Malik is back in full swing to help people get over their sins -and hers- and plead and beg to the Almighty Lord to forgive them -and her- for their sins -and hers- for the moment so they can get back to what they were doing as soon as they change the channel.

For some, the whole controversy was a rather new one. The media has crossed all limits. Vulgarity and obscenity is one thing, as it goes, but associating people related with obscenity with issues that we hold sacred, like Ramadan, was just wrong, and out of the blue. It’s just not nice.

While this represents the popular sentiment regarding the issue, I tend to see the whole drama in a rather broader sense. While the whole Veena Malik episode, a populist stunt of sorts, was definitely the last straw, and off limits as it was, fails still to be the problem itself. The problem in my opinion is the Capitalist nature of the media whereas everything that can be sold is sold, and customized to suit the commercial agenda.

This one-dimensional, or profit-dimensional, Capitalist mindset, that sees not the ethics, responsibility, values, and morals, that come in its way, has but one problem; it’s not human. In fact, it’s satanic. Greed is its ultimate value, where all things through which humans derive meaning and purpose are utilized and customized for ends that make mockery of human existence.

So what sells? Ratings!!

Oh, and who knows what gets ratings better than the media itself. Apparently, the screen is not a big fan of serious real-life engagement with the audience. Such an enterprise would first need pretty cutting and editing to get some real applause from the audience. After all, the people don’t want to see things as they actually are, but rather in ways that suit their deepest imaginations and fantasies; that shine and dazzle, and look good to the eye. And what they want to see is on-screen; so what happens off it is none of their business.

Nonetheless, religious broadcasting in our country, especially in times of Ramadan like these, is quite a money making enterprise. One mustn’t forget, however, that religion is, in fact, serious business; we look at religion for things like social and moral guidance, spiritual emancipation and intellectual enlightenment. More simply, religion is not a consumer product.

But what we see on our television screens is just outright deplorable. Actors and televangelists are busy reading from pre-determined scripts to people expecting a ‘religious transmission’. We know for a fact that some of these performers are completely different people off screen. In fact, when the masks are taken off, no humility is spared. Leaked videos then lead, not only to controversy, but also to a deep sense of shame on our miserable state. “Online Aalims” with huge followings display how low they can really go; but it doesn’t stop there. They make returns, ever afresh; blaming their previous employers and other conspirators with all the credibility that comes from consecutive calls from Mecca and Madina.

My actual concern is on how Islam is trimmed and framed into a collage for the masses that is highly superficial, populist, symbolic, theatrical and even, hypocritical. The media knows well how to manipulate popular imagination. Just put the “Aalim” in the grave and make him cry to a live audience; what a show, what a show indeed! But even more, Islam is in the process stripped from its essentially profound nature. On the other hand, cultural aspects associated with religion, like the ‘Kurta Shalwar’, are made essential. Programs devoid of any moral and spiritual nature may easily be Islamized by symbolic gestures alone.

So to be honest, the media crossed the line ages ago when it decided to treat religion only to ends that met its commercial agenda. Today, the media has become a power house. But power necessitates responsibility. While we may criticize the government and the politicians, the bureaucracy, and the military, and not to forget the judiciary and all other stake holders of power for being involved in projects based on personal greed, we must also make the media accountable for its actions. The media isn’t just a bunch of corporations seeking to get a share of the market; the media is a pillar of society that exercises a significant amount of influence on people’s lives. The satanic obsession it may have with money should not result in the mockery of our values and faith. It’s high time to bring it to order and make it realize its boundaries.

Is it Urdu?

A couple of days back I was walking back to home from my workplace when I overheard two students talking to each other…“Itni Tension horahi hai, kal assignment submit kerna hai aur test b hai.” Being a linguist, I was compelled to observe the switching of language by the students and therefore it made me observe the fact that the utilization of the vocabulary of English in Urdu discourse is the norm these days. Every now and then such formation of sentences can be heard or if we take notice of our own speech we will realize that we ourselves are engaged in such kind of discourse. These days we hardly hear or speak a sentence that can be said to be entirely of Urdu words. Either we watch a talk show, an interview, a drama, tune it to our favourite fm channel or pick any local Urdu daily; we will find scores of English words and phrases and sometimes even complete sentences.

There are many reasons behind this emerging trend of the usage of English in Urdu diction in such a way. Scientific technology, sports jargon, names of organizations and designations have not yet found their Urdu replacements and people find it easy to borrow these words and make them part of our own language and with frequent exposure, these words are learnt by everyone including those who don’t even know English. In this manner such words become part of the lexicon of our language, gain entries in the dictionaries and with continuous usage we don’t even feel the foreign sense attached to them.

Another important reason for their usage is for the clarity or exactness of the concept associated with a particular word. Consider for e.g., the word ‘stadium’, if we use the word ‘maidaan’ as its Urdu replacement then it will strike another mental image in our mind. Hence for such reasons it is necessary to select a word that best suits the need, topic and context. But what is of significance to note is that sometimes we find people using words from this foreign language even though we have substitutes or synonyms readily available in Urdu. Also sometimes such usage of language is mainly to impress upon people that you know the language very well. This happens when the culture or language is a dominant one and is considered superior and English, as we all know is considered in this part of the world, a mark of highly educated and belonging to the elite class.

It is high time we realize that this present trend of using English lexical items in our national language is responsible for its rapid change of vocabulary, although it might not sometimes be a conscious process or a deliberate phenomenon, but still it is contributing largely in the deteriorating standards of the language and in its distortion and the need is to desist from using English words in Urdu discourse as much as possible so that we are able to maintain our language and what we pass on to our coming generations is in a standardised form.

Also the need is to coin more words as replacements of the currently borrowed words of English language and to raise awareness among people about it. Media (both print and electronic) need also to play a positive part in elevating the standards of the language instead of being part of the deterioration process and we as individuals can start owning our language and try to stop ourselves from unnecessary insertion of English words. It is high time we realize and act wisely before it’s too late.