Social – Page 5 – My Bit for Change

Repeating Mistakes

The news of Bhoja Air crash shook the entire country all at once. Every local news channel was covering the accident insensitively, showing dead bodies and wreckage of the plane. Each anchorperson was pointing fingers and raising questions about the accident. 127 people lost their precious lives but it was merely an exclusive news event for many channels. Thanks to the free media, the news reached everywhere immediately, but no one was considering the ethics related to such reporting. News Channels were trying to achieve the mileage and earn more viewer ratings. This event will be in the headlines for few days, but eventually the media will forget this event and will get busy in some more exclusive issue like that of the ‘wedding of a sania mirza’.

One thing which was brought again to the limelight due to this crash was the forgotten Airblue plane crash at Margalla hills. Airblue plane crashed and resulted in a similar hue and cry all over the country. Promises were made for a thorough investigation, but nothing substantial happened. The families of the victims still don’t know the real reasons. Bhoja Air accident happened near same airport and under same weather conditions again because lessons were not learnt from the first one. No one was held accountable, which led to conspiracy theories related to the air crash.

Few weeks before the Bhoja Air crash, Dawn news reported about Airblue plane crash that and said: ‘ It is regrettable that the causes of the crash, compensation to the families of the deceased and preventive measures are yet to be fully resolved even after about 21 months’. It further says ‘Worse still, this will also show that Pakistan does not have even a handful of persons of competence to handle its domestic air crash’.

As it is said in a famous urdu verse :

حالات پرورش کرتے ھیں برسوں

حادثہ ایک دم نہیں ھوتا

Neglecting mistakes over the years lead to accidents. And once again the similar accident occurred. Had we properly enquired the previous air crash, this one could have been avoided. The sense of accountability and responsibility towards human lives is totally missing in this scenario.

Islam doesn’t forbid us to take safety measures. Being a biomedical engineer, I have witnessed a lot of such events in hospitals, where ‘technical’ mistakes of medics and paramedics lead to the death of a patient, but the family members are told that ‘its will of Allah’. Indeed its will of Allah, but HE has made us accountable for what we do. This is a ‘trick of the trade’ in all the professions in Pakistan that when some human calamity occurs, blame Almighty for it and avoid lawsuits which may follow in any civilized country.

There is a commercial aspect to the whole story. The plane of Bhoja air was apparently old and unfit for flying, yet it was allowed to fly ‘this one time’. The pilot was probably under pressure for not diverting the plane to any other destination because of the fuel consumption. Still the circumstances are not unveiled that what made the pilot to decide for landing in such weather conditions. The known thing is only that 127 people lost their lives. Saving a human life, is like saving entire humanity. But here, we don’t care about the safety of hundreds of lives.

While i was typing these lines, news were coming in about a plane of Shaheen air, whose landing gear broke while landing. Thankfully the aircraft narrowly escaped the disaster which could have been terrible. This clearly indicates that rules regarding technical aspects and safety of aircrafts need to be forcefully implemented.

Its pity that we don’t plan for emergency situations. Alot of incidents of fire eruption occur, but we rarely find that something has been learnt from these mistakes. Precious lives are continuously at stake. I wonder when will be ‘grown enough’ to realize our social responsibilities as citizens of this country. Human life is the cheapest thing available in Pakistan.

The media is more focused on increasing its TRPs. The entire coverage is based on sensations. Media did the same in air blue crash and then never took up the matter in upcoming months. Airtime was then reserved for the the likes of veenas and meeras and no one pointed out the mistakes that led to the air crash. This will happen again, people will forget it, and the government will get busy in protecting its corruption.

Some lessons need to be learnt from this air crash. Better we learn them sooner and avoid repeating mistakes.

Ethical Marketing …..

Today while driving from my home to office in Karachi, I managed to take the route of NIPA to Hassan Square. On that track, there was a billboard to which my sight came across. I stopped my car on the side of the road and stood still in front of the billboard & kept looking at it for 5 minutes. The only thing my brain anticipated during these 5 minutes was “A BIT FOR CHANGE . . . “.

That billboard was delivering a very important message relating to a forgotten lesson which the religion Islam taught to the “MUSLIM” nation of the “ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN”, a lesson relating to the respect of women. That billboard was saying “Stop Promoting Nudity for Selling Your Fabric”. Then I managed to take a picture of that billboard.

As the summer season has just arrived, the female lawn designers have placed the advertisement on the billboards promoting their products through female and that too without considering the Islamic limits of ethics. The question arises that why does the marketing is portraying a woman as an object? Is there no other way of promoting the fabric without a female model? Will their sales revenue decrease if they only promote the designs without a woman on the billboards?

Most of the people would appreciate this piece of work but some will be labeling it with the conservative mindset. It seems that we have not only snatched the HIJAB of the Muslim female of our society but has also placed them on the enormous billboards. I would like to mention the Quran versus, in which the Almighty Allah, the Creator of mankind and the universe says in Surah Al-Ahzaab, Verse #59:

‘O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (“Jalabib”) veils all over their bodies (screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested: and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.”:

It is the time that we must do the assessment of our society that are we following the orders Allah Almighty. This is the time to examine that are we in the limits of the ethics assigned to us by Allah Almighty or we have crossed them all. Islam is the only religion which talks about the female respect and honor They are like the clove of the unopened flowers as they are not pricked by anyone unless they blossom there hidden beauty our of them. In Abu Dawood, Book 32, Hadith # 4091 Ummul Muminin Hazrat Ayesha (Radhiallaahu Anhu) narrated

“May Allah have mercy on the early immigrant women. When the verse “That they should draw their veils over their bosoms” was revealed, they tore their thick outer garments and made veils from them.

The time has arrived that we should move towards a complete Islam rather then following the only versus which are favorable to us. We have to stop this evil or else may be our own next coming generation will be on these billboards. According to the book “Kenz Al-Omal, v. 13, p. 91 & 93” The Prophet (s) said,

“A caller will call out on the Day of Judgment, ‘lower your gaze until Fatima (Radhiallaahu Anhu) has passed.”

Keeping in mind the Islamic teaching & taking the Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaih Wasalam, his Ahl e Bayt & Sahabah Ikraam Rizwaanullahe Ajmaeen, we have to explore marketing techniques free from unethical means. Let us secure our Muslim society so that our females may breath again free from embarrassments. The time has come to represent the true image of Muslim not only by words but by conduct. Let us all join our hands to promote this Nobel cause and take another step to free our society from evil.

The Album of Life

There was once a world without you. Someone was celebrating your expected and awaited arrival and someone bore hardships and pains to bring you into this world. With the first click you land into this place which is a beautiful masterpiece of the creator. You are an adorable baby, a joy to your parents who bear those sleepless nights and support your helplessness with unconditional smiles on their faces. Just with a few more flicks, you are a daring toddler of your proud parents who cherish the first steps of your independence and confident walk. Your mind tells you that you can do it but your body disagrees. This still developing co-ordination between your brain and body makes you stumble. But there is always a pair of gentle hands to pick you and tell you, ‘You can do it’. Those hands and reassuring hugs make you fearless and failures do not scare you. Falls and bumps don’t stop you from experimenting new challenges.

You talk silly and they kiss you. You do not make sense and they hug you. You trip and they lift you high. You scribble lines and they appreciate you with raised eyebrows and dropped jaws. You do most silly things to catch their attention and make your presence felt. You go cross if ignored and they try to please you with hugs and kisses, hide and seek, ‘horse-rides’ on their backs etc. You can’t share them with any other child as you are too possessive about them.

With a few more flicks you are a confident school going child. Exams are the most difficult days in one’s life, you think. But, they support you and celebrate when you get down the stage after a performance or winning a race. Their world revolves round you. Their sleeps, social life, work and holidays; you are one factor that affects all of these.

Life is changing for you. You feel you are big and smart enough to know everything; a teenager filled with energy. Something in you tells you that you can conquer the world. Your ideals begin to change. ‘No’ is the word you don’t like to listen but would use often. You see colours in your life and with a few more flicks you have another beautiful person to fit in frame with you and soon the cycle repeats. You have a little one of your own and you are overjoyed with this little cry and chuckle in the house.

This album of life is strange; an overlapping connected series of circles where we all are in different stages of the track.

The lovely hands which cuddled you are now wrinkly and those bright faces are now sagging. The legs, which ran with you on the shoulders, are now weak. They trip and topple. Despite their physical weakness, their support makes your life and career successful. They are entering into the last phase of their lives. They have started talking silly. They sometimes make no sense at all. Laugh, cry or shout for no logical reason. Sometimes their ‘childish’ and attention seeking behaviour disturbs you. They need someone to talk to, sit with them and hold their disjointed wrinkly hands without even asking for a word, or sometimes just a word of love and a gentle smile exactly like you did when were young and silly but adorable to them, remember?

‘And whomsoever We bring to an old age, We reverse him in creation (making him go back to weakness after strength); so do they not understand?’ [Al-Qur’an 36:68]

Life goes on and a day comes when they reach their finish line in the circular track of life. (The circle doesn’t stop for anyone). The beautiful hands, the shady trees under which you felt safe, the warm hugs that gave you confidence are no more.

If you had any sleepless nights because of them, and you got a chance to feed and clean them like they did when you were young, consider yourself as an extremely lucky person, although no one can return the debts of parents’ love and hardship; not even a single scream of the mother when she cried and tried to bring you to this world and smiled immediately after you came in her arms.

Another flick! You’re a weak elderly with your children running for a ‘successful’ life and you are sitting in an armchair, reading newspaper with those glasses on and a walking stick by your side. Your mind is still young and keeps reminding you the highly energetic life you spent which involved struggle, joy, grief, and celebration, disappointment and hopes. But your body doesn’t agree. You know everything that the world holds, with people around you who think you know nothing, but they don’t realise they are just a few steps behind in the big circle of life.

The circle of life never stops. We don’t have a special eye to look at the future but our parents are a mirror of where life could take us. Our boasting energetic bodies and minds do not allow us to see that we’ll be in exactly the same state of feebleness, frailty and dependence if we live up to that age. Life is too fast and unpredictable and we are all running after ‘God-Knows-What’ with too little time to love each other. It’s the love and the loved ones who make life worth living. Let’s give our parents their rights, our love and respect. We can try to return at least 1% of what they’ve given us; sit with them, listen to them, obey them in Allah’s limits, smile at them, hug them often and feel the contentment and blessings of Allah that come our way. If we have this treasure and guaranteed entry to paradise and God’s pleasure, we shouldn’t waste our chance.

‘And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: “My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.” (Al- Qur’an 17:22-24)

Aafia Revisited

The issue of Aafia Siddiqui is very delicate and complex. We all have questions but very few of us manage to get reasonable answers. Some questions are not questions; they are merely hallucinations of our limited “unlimited” grey matter. And some of them are not ours, rather are shoved into our grey matter following sophisticated brainwashing techniques and therefore ‘our’ quest doesn’t bring any good results whereas others deal with petty issues, again induced within us using the same techniques, so that we ignore the bigger picture.

We all have critics either because we did something extraordinarily good or we did something extraordinarily bad. But, Aafia’s critics don’t fall into either although the questions raised against her fall into all three categories that I mentioned above as well as many others. The complexity of the questions raised truly reflects the complexity of her case. I’d like to reiterate few important facts in her story beginning from her abduction and eventually her judicial rape.

18/03/03 | FBI issues an alert regarding Aafia’s potentiality being a terrorist
29/03/03 | Aafia declared an al Qaeda ‘fixer’*
30/03/03 | Aafia disappears while on her way to Rawalpindi (from Karachi); and according to my research, she was abducted from Karachi by our LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies) following post-9/11 pressure coming from US end
04/04/03 | FBI denies any hand in her disappearance
26/05/03 | FBI officially declares her an al Qaeda operative
28/05/04 | Pakistan’s Interior Ministry accepts they handed Aafia
??/??/05 | Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHR&GJ, New York University School of Law) published a report titled: “Fate and Whereabouts Unknown: Detainees in the “War on Terror.” It presented “factual summaries of (28) individuals who may be in secret (US) detention sites” and included known information about Aafia at the time
??/??/06 | Amnesty International declares Aafia one of the ‘disappeared’ persons in the ‘war on terror’
28/02/07 | Ghost Prisoner by Human Rights Watch says Aafia “may have once been held” in secret CIA detention
??/02/08 | Aafia was brought back to Karachi and tortured, according to Asian Human Rights commission
11/07/08 | No women held in Bagram, according to a US Army Colonel
31/07/08 | Aafia’s brother is informed by FBI that she’s in US custody
04/08/08 | A press release shows that Aafia has been arrested in Ghazni (Afghanistan)
06/08/08 | A US magistrate rules to hold her without bail
12/08/08 | Pakistani Embassy in Washington issues a repatriation request
13/08/08 | Never held Aafia, US military (in Afghanistan)

Now let’s pause here and connect the dots. Aafia disappeared in March of one year and our Interior Ministry’s acknowledgment (which came after FBI declaring her an al Qaeda operative) is coming in May of the next year and coupled with FBI’s denial of any hand in abduction leads us to the conclusion that b/w March of 2003 and May/April of 2005 she was either in the custody of our LEAs or the CIA. Also, have you ever asked yourself what ‘alerted’ FBI, what was she up to? More importantly, what kind of lifestyle she was living that alerted the FBI? By the way, she wasn’t alone when she was abducted, she had three kids with her at that time, why we always ignore them while pointing fingers at her? What took Amnesty International so long to acknowledge her disappearance? Who is responsible for that slack, the free media of Pakistan or its dead-soul inhabitants? Were any legal procedures followed while handing her to FBI? Why was she brought back and more importantly why was she tortured? If no women was ever held in Bagram then who was the female detainee that her co detainees always relate to? More importantly, why the US simply not tell who she was if she wasn’t Aafia? If Pakistan handed her over to US and if she wasn’t been held in Bagram then where was she in all those years; in the US? OK, let’s assume she was in the US but then why US let her go back to Pakistan and how she managed to end up in Afghanistan? And in all this mayhem, where were her kids?! Most importantly, why we always skip this question? If she went into US custody in 2008 then whose custody was she in during all those years? Let’s move on!

02/10/2008 | Aafia sent to a Federal Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation
06/10/2008 | Pakistani senators meet her, she tells them how she was “abducted in 2003, given an injection, found herself in a cell, and was forced to sign papers and confess to things she didn’t do; her children’s lives were threatened and she was abused grievously”
17/11/2008 | Aafia declared “not competent to proceed as a result of her mental disease, which renders her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her;” by Judge Richard Berman
09/03/2009 | The tentative date for Aafia’s trial to begin

Few more points straight from my end:

What caused her to end in such a destructive psychological state?
One of her kids is back but what about the other two? Probably, her youngest kid has died, yes, it’s unofficial but true. · Above all why she was abducted from Pakistan for a crime committed in Afghanistan to be tried in the US?
What Aafia had to go through during illegal detention in Bagram is in grave breach of US War Crimes Act (1996) as well as Geneva Conventions (1949).
The very act of her enforced disappearance is a clear breach of UN’s Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Let us assume Aafia did shoot at US military personnel and FBI agents but why DOJ (Dept. of Justice) while indicting her ignored more than 5 years of torture altogether? Why they ignored the common sense element altogether that how on earth can a woman so thin and pain stricken cause damage to army personnel so well trained.
As her attorney put it: “Picture this woman who is very tiny (and extremely frail and weakened from her ordeal), and ask yourself how she engaged in armed conflict….with six (armed and well-trained) military men, how did this happen? And how did she get shot? I think you can answer that, can’t you (and question the absurdity of DOJ’s charges against her)?
What happened to FBI’s alert, by the way, and their declaration as well, not to mention none of them showed up in the court proceedings? All seven counts had to do with her staged clash at Ghazni where she fired at armed military personnel with bullets that left no marks on the walls, didn’t injure anybody (although it was close range encounter) and the only injured party was none other than herself.
The rape and victimisation that she had to go through isn’t an unexpected one. If an army, who’s on a mission of moral policing of the world, belonging to world’s most civilised country, can rape and mutilate men then it can definitely rape and victimise women but what she went through inside the US (not in a secret detention) is utterly disgusting! In Bagram, she only had to face unofficial degradation (rape) but in the US she had to face official degradation (strip-search) as well.
86 years imprisonment for firing a gun that she couldn’t hold, for firing bullets that left no trace, for firing from a close range causing nil injury or for getting injured herself?

So, next time some miserable apologists try to confuse you regarding Aafia being innocent or not, please remind them:

She stayed in illegal detention for more than five years for no good reason. The charges that were levied against her by FBI had no factual stand whatsoever and that’s the only reason they never made it to court proceedings but HEY she lost her kids, she lost her chastity (she was raped in Bagram as well as in the US), she lost her psychological balance, she lost her honour, she lost her dignity, she lost everything, for what? For the stupid reasons made by a force known to the world for their crimes, lies and atrocities? And yes, her 86 years imprisonment is based on no forensic evidence whatsoever.

Oh, really sorry, even I forgot to mention about the real Aafia. She was a neuro-scientist, the only one in the world to have an honorary degree from Harvard University; she was Hafiz-e-Quran and had 144 honorary degrees & certificates. She went to MIT and Brandeis, raised money for charities, did voluntary social work, hosted play groups in her apartment, loved her religion, and distributed Qur’ans to inmates in area prisons. She was living a normal American life until the FBI called her a terrorist, a high-profile Al Qaeda operative. Aafia was indeed a woman guilty only of being Muslim at the wrong time in America. (Boston Magazine’s Katherine Oxment asked: Who’s afraid of Aafia Siddiqui?)

Did you say ‘Secular Extremism’?

The phrase-“Give unto God what was God’s and to Caesar what were Caesar’s”- is such a charming phrase, full of all that is naïve, and based on wishful thinking.

Let me elaborate on secular grounds, using reason alone against the dogmatic principles associated with revelation, that there exists a very obvious contradiction in the statement, which is to say ‘what if God and Caesar disagree? Who to ‘give unto’ then?’

But let’s not concern the logical fallacies, or rather, intellectual dishonesties, secularists entail in their arguments. For now, we’ll bring to discussion the attitude they adopt in their desperate attempts to pin down all-things-religious.

And here comes the dilemma of our ‘pseudo-liberals’. You’ll never find them taking part in any real intellectual argument. They’ll never take your words as a basis of your argument but would rather first declare you “Mullahs”, “Ignorant”, “Religious Extremists” and so on. Then, they will simply take the stereotypes based on these words and try to throw false accusations on you.

It’s the easiest job to put your opponent in any given debate in his weakest position i.e. extremist and put words in the mouth of your opponent, based on awkward stereotypes and flawed assumptions. And by taking such childish measures they are in fact running away from any fruitful dialogue based on sound principles such as reason, empathy, honesty and maturity. Without these principles you are a child who, inattentive of what other people in the room are saying, is too busy talking to his imaginary friend. When told that there are secular extremists too, they simply deny any such thing. They simply say that only religious extremism exists as extremism belongs to the narrow minded which of course seculars can never be.

But I tend to differ.

After all, what would such liberals have to say on the secular fascism taking place on the streets of Karachi? All three political parties accused of violence in Karachi, namely the PPP, MQM, and ANP are secular parties working on purely secular motives. Alternative accounts would say that ethnic rivalries are the motives behind the everyday killings of ordinary citizens that we all have become accustomed to. But aren’t ethnic rivalries essentially secular in nature. So can we really back away now from admitting that ‘Secular Fascism and Terrorism’ does exist in our very metropolitan?

Secular fascism doesn’t only exist; it’s all over the place. It’s the rule, not the exception. For instance, look at the word fascism itself. Its roots are in a purely secular ideology that has nothing to do with religion. Those who upheld this ideology believed themselves superior to other nations on purely secular grounds. Certainly the killing of six million Jews had no religious motivation whatsoever.

Social Darwinism is another ideology that took refuge in what it considered “positive science”. It preoccupied the mind-set of the European colonizers and gave them moral justification for all their vicious acts. Of course, since they could “scientifically” say that they are a more advanced and evolved race, it was their duty to propagate their own race throughout the globe while colonizing, and in the process, plundering, looting, raping, subjugating and exterminating, whole civilizations. After all it was “a survival of the fittest” as Herbert Spencer would like it to be. But all was justified, secularly, as the “White Man’s Burden”, which made it so easy to forget the genocide of whole civilizations in America and Australia, and enslavement of millions of Africans.

But religion is always brought to the limelight on the accusation that so many bad acts are carried in the “name of religion”. But what about the horrifying acts carried out on the basis on secular things, like ‘democracy’, ‘liberation’, ‘civilisation’ and ‘justice’.

What about the most devastating wars the world has ever seen, the world wars? Were they not fought in the name of secularism? What about the cold war that frightened humanity with the unprecedented accumulation of weapons of mass destruction, scientific espionage, false polarization, and organized violence, even wars, in the third world.

What about the making of the nuclear bomb. Would any religion sanctify of the making of a weapon that could kill millions in an instant and ruin generations to come. And what about the bombarding of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; did they have religious motives, or secular ones?

The world is full of secular people and regimes involved in horrendous crimes against humanity.Unfortunately, in our own country we see an emerging secular “liberal” class that has some very strange tendencies.

For first, it excludes anyone with a different lifestyle and view-point, from being part of that class. If you do not detest and dislike everything associated with religion, if you do not think everything wrong with our country is because of religion; and most importantly if you do not make fun of religion and religious people then no matter how open-minded you are, you sir, cannot be a ‘liberal’.

Second, it’s the greatest supporter of US imperialism. If it’s the Raymond Davis issue, they’ll say ‘Well, he has ‘diplomatic immunity (whatever that is)’; if it’s Aafia Siddiqui, they’ll say ‘she is a terrorist and deserves every piece of brutality thrown at her’. If it is a drone attack on innocent civilians, they’ll say ‘we do not have the technology so we have no other option because, after all, our lifestyle is ‘threatened’.

And third, it side-lines all human right calls when it comes to religious people; the state murder of the female students of Jamia Hafsa was justified, with no room for sympathy whatsoever, because they were used as a ‘human shield’. (So the next time a person uses your daughter as a human shield to save him from the gun in your hand, you should kill both).

Such liberals are not liberals at all. They’re extremists. Full stop!!

I’m A Liberal Fun-damentalist!

Extremism in any shape or form is wrong, be it religious or secular. Unfortunately, most of the critics tend to focus only on the extreme part of Islam and the people exploiting it for their own interest. They either do not know or deliberately hide the fact that Islam as a liberating religion; something that it actually is! Islam doesn’t stop us from living or enjoying ourselves. It only stresses on acknowledging the fact that I’ve been created by the one and only God-Allah and I am only His slave and answerable to Him only and should try my best to avoid His disobedience. People have rights over me and serving humanity should always be my first priority. Is that too much to ask for?

Our beloved Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is a great example who made smiling a Sunnah! It’s a virtue in itself. He has asked us to gather as much knowledge as possible. What could be more beautiful than that? I’m thankful to Allah that I was born a Muslim and follow a religion that gave women their rights 1400 years ago and made me a princess where a man is responsible to earn for me. Yes, I am free to work too and wow, my man has no right over my money. Doesn’t that sound great?

Yes, I’m free to be educated, free to choose my own groom and no, I cannot be forced to marry someone I dislike. No, my religion does not oppress me. I like hanging out with my friends, dining outside, attending family events/weddings and love sports and gym. I like following latest trends and like every other girl I love cosmetics! And someday I would love to go scuba diving too! Did I mention swimming? I love adventures, hiking and travelling! My all time dream is to travel the entire world before dying!

I’m liberal but thankfully not like the ones you see these days who believe in mocking others religion and beliefs. No, I don’t believe in bigotry and I don’t abuse people or call them “fundo” when they don’t agree with me. No, I don’t make cartoons of other’s religion’s holy personalities and call it “freedom of expression”. There’s something so wicked about freedom of expression, it’s barely used where it should be and actually used and abused, where it’s not really required. If you ask me, it’s a way of creating rifts between people. And no, I don’t blast out whatever comes into my mind without thinking about its repercussions and cover it up with my “right to speak up”. I believe if I’ve got the power to express myself I would rather do it in a more educated manner and when someone tries to defend their opinion, I don’t call them intolerant or fanatic.

I’m liberal but it doesn’t mean I look at everything as a rebel. What is wrong remains wrong and I have no authority to change the rules of the Creator. I’ve seen Pakistan’s English press lately trying to promote things forbidden in Islam by somehow turning it all into legal and permitted. Oh no, don’t mistake me as a liberal who prays five times a day but believes that homosexuality should be legalized. Nor do I stop praying when a brainless person does something dumb in the name of religion. Yes you’ll find 200 blogs for gay and lesbian rights but when it comes to burning the Quran they would rather call it “freedom of expression”. They are willing to write a thousand blogs on Veena Malik’s “boldness” and praise her guts for standing up to a mullah but will not speak a word when it comes to Aafia Siddqui. They are for women rights but Aafia siddiqui deserves no rights. Let her be raped every day, let her be sexually harassed and it is none of our concerns. Sadly, you would be considered a hate monger or a bigot if your opinions are different from theirs and more towards religion. Funnily, you’re likely to be called a modern version of Taliban if you say you’re liberal but want Islam at the same time.

Why isn’t it possible? Why is the world bent upon portraying that we can’t afford to take religion and this world together? Religion is not how some people have defined it to be, it’s actually a way of living. I am not a scholar, but what I have learnt till today is that Islam is the most beautiful change you can bring into your lives if you decide to follow it properly. I’ll try my best to stick to my religion and call a spade a spade and ready to be called a fun-damentalist!

Zofia and Władysław Turowicz – Pakistanis By Choice

I, the author of this memorial, am a 31 years old urban female who lives in a big developed capital city of the 18^th wealthiest economy in the world and every single day I am fed with stories of blasts and bombings and picture of hostile Muslim world, especially Pakistan.

However I am an orientalist focused on East Asia and a traveller. So my mind embraces the core of the matter and not just the media image. Yet I humbly admit that I was always reluctant and afraid to go to Karachi or Islamabad having impression that I will be either abducted or killed in an ambush as a foreigner.

My surprise however was big when today on the radio I heard about the death and burial of Zofia Turowicz. Both she and her husband left Poland in 1939 to join the battlefield of the Second World War. The political changes on the map of Europe never allowed them to go back because Stalinist regime hunted down intellectuals and officers of pre-war independent Poland. Mrs Turowicz or Turowiczowa how her last name is gendered in old-style Polish, was one of the first ever Pakistani gliding teachers who created gliding training programme, the basis for later military pilots, as early as in 1950. She stopped military career in 1957 and later worked at the American School and the University of Karachi where she taught applied mathematics and other core subjects.

Her husband Władysław Turowicz died in 1980 after long term career in Pakistani military aviation industry and forces. He came to Pakistan in 1948 and his wife joined soon after for the three-year contract with Pakistan Air Force which aimed to transform Pakistan Air Force into permanent and effective Air Force of the region. Turowicz set up technical institutes in Karachi. He taught and revitalized Pakistan Air Force Academy as its chief scientist. He initially led the technical training in the airbase and a part of the Polish specialists in the technical section in Karachi. However, they were transferred and accommodated in Peshawar.

In 1952, Turowicz, along with several Polish fighters, were promoted to the rank of Wing Commander. He was also promoted to the rank Lieutenant Commander when he became an Air Force Commander of Pakistan Air Force’s Chaklala Airbase. Promoted several times again along with other Polish Air Force general, became an Air Commodore and a Deputy Chief of Air Staff, in charge of Pakistan Air Force Training Department.

Turowicz was involved in building the face of what is called modern Pakistan. His service added to the pride of the new nation and likely added Polish sense of being statesman to the military and scientific personnel he trained over the years.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Turowicz along with other Polish pilots rose to prominence and fame as they helped in successfully defending Lahore and Pakistan. Turowicz, Squadron Leader Anotnii Zbigniew Jedryszek, and other Polish pilots were awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan. Honorary Pakistani citizenship was also bestowed upon Turowicz, as well as, some other Polish pilots by the President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan.

Turowicz was actively and heavily involved in Pakistan’s space program. According to his close sources, Turowicz was passionate and fascinated with the Russian and American space program. In 1966, the Government of Pakistan transferred him to SUPARCO, Pakistan’s national space agency, where he worked as a chief scientist and an aeronautical engineer. Together with noted Pakistani theoretical physicist, Dr. Abdus Salam, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 convinced president Khan to launch space program for peaceful purposes. He was sure that Pakistan will develop rocket technology and launch its first satelite due course of time. He insisted on sufficient funds for research and development of this sector. His prediction came true, when 10 years after the death of Air. Mar. Gen. Władysław Turowicz, Pakistan launched its first indigenously developed experimental digital communication satellite from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China aboard a Long March 2E. His vision did come true but unfortunately, he wasn’t there to see it.

He successfully convinced the United States Government to invest and train Pakistan’s scientists in the field of rocket technology. He is widely credited with setting up the rocket fuel factories and rocket technology laboratories and research institutes in Pakistan. He was one of the chief designers of Sonmiani Satellite Launch Centre.

He did not stop with Space Programme though. Turowicz initiated himself Nuclear weapons programme in 1970 and laid foundation of research and production that led to Pakistani independent source of Nuclear military potential.

His entire family lived in Pakistan ever since they have entered the country in 1948. His three daughters live in Pakistan and two of them married Pakistanis.

Zofia and Władysław Turowicz were partners both on the ground and in the air where she often joined him as a navigator during his flights. They both had independent military aviation careers before arrival to Pakistan and had been multiawarded and internationally recognised gliders and para shooters.

They are both buried at the catholic cemetery in Karachi in Pakistan and both had been awarded Pakistani citizenship.

Their story reminded me to watch the world with my own eyes and be even more curious and even more brave and less cuffed in the ready stereotypes I am being fed everyday by media and society.

The greatness of purpose, Malcolm X

Some men are great, some are remembered and some go on to live forever in the minds of millions.

Alexander was great but what did he do but conquer lands? Einstein was a genius but what did he do but lead humanity to its worst nightmare, i.e. the nuclear bomb? Many philosophers are believed to be great but what did they do but solve some abstract riddles? A man in love with wisdom was Socrates. His death which was otherwise so meaningless and ordinary, was never truly his death and he lived on in the hearts and minds of people to this day.

What is greater is the immensity of purpose. I believe in categorical moral reasoning, and so I do not care what influence that man has had on society. What he did and why he did it is supreme for me rather than how successful that certain person ever was. Power, influence and acknowledgment mean nothing in the minds of the crazy ones.

Isn’t it madness that describes change in its complete form? How can we talk of change without talking of madness? Change is not the property of the same, or sane. It’s the belonging of those who resist, who can’t stand sameness, or sanity, or the status quo, or the world order as we know it.

When there is something unjust in the world it is these mad men that find it in themselves the power, the Khudi (In Iqbalian terms), to say it in the face of injustice without any sign of weakness, and without compromise or any sugarcoating of reality.

‎And here are the words of a madman

“… you’re living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there’s got to be a change. People in power have misused it and now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built and the only way it’s going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone, I don’t care what color you are, as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.”

When he championed extremism I believe he intended to describe the position of truthfulness met by extreme and extra-ordinary opposition.

This is Malcolm X, great in a many ways but what I value most is his greatness in purpose and will. He had given his life a purpose which was to fight a war against injustice.

Born to a poor black family in a racially charged American society, he can be assumed to be quite accustomed to the realities of discrimination. But as obvious as this sentence may seem, it is not.

In relation to his own people, he had always been very bright skinned. This had added to his social status and he always saw it as benefit and a good thing. But after some time he did realize that this was nothing to be proud of. To be brighter, to be nearer to white was not anything that he had accomplished. He realized that this belief was imposed on his people by the white man who enslaved his people ages ago. This white man taught his people that they are inferior and it is the white man that is superior. With time, an inferiority complex was ingrained in the minds of the blacks, which he believed was not only misleading and false, but also disastrous in its implication for the community.

The realization that his big lips, curly hair, black complexion and all that follow to be part of his African being are not to be ashamed of, didn’t come that easy. It came as a lightning bolt saying “the White Man is the Devil”. He started to hate white people from then on.

Not only did he witness the outright hypocrisy of this certain ‘white race’ that played lip service to democracy, freedom for all, equality and the likes, while indulging in the worst crimes of humanity, he also read how in history this race has taken with itself a ‘white man’s burden’ and a ‘civilization mission’ under the banner of which whole nations have been whipped out, mistreated as animals, colonized, raped and plundered.

When asked why he hated ‘the white man’, he bluntly replied “For the White man to ask the black man if he hates him is just like rapist asking the raped, or the wolf asking the sheep ‘do you hate me?’. The White Man is in no moral position to accuse anyone else of hate”

In any case, he understood that the decolonization of the Afro-American mind was the greatest need of the hour. He would say “A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.”

He joined the ‘Nation of Islam’ a distorted movement initiated by Elijah Muhammad, who claimed to be a prophet of the black people. This movement taught him ‘the white man’s the devil’ doctrine. Interestingly all of his education took place in the jail’s library for which he would famously say that

“My Alma mater was books, a good library. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.’’

Being a self-learned and self-skilled person as he was, Malcolm X remained always critical and open to new thoughts and considerations. After taking part in a formal Muslim pilgrimage, he converted to mainstream Islam. Religion was not the only thing that changed, it was his whole world view. Upon seeing the sight of Hajj where people of all races, nationalities, colors and complexions where walking together in harmony and love for the Almighty and His creations, all in the same cloth regardless of socio-economic backgrounds, he was simply amazed and astonished. It was here that he realized that some of his previous convictions were wrong. It’s not the white man who is to be condemned; it is the deeds he has carried out.

His letter following the pilgrimage says that

“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered ‘white’–but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.”

This great man was martyred. According to the autopsy report, Malcolm X’s body had 21 gunshot wounds. He lived and died a brave and proud man.

I see him as a person who truly liberated himself. The greatest freedom is the freedom of the mind. This he accomplished by first decolonizing his mind from all the silly beliefs of inferiority imposed by the European race. He later freed his mind from the prejudices he had established regarding the white man.

In these tough and rough times, the need of the nation today is to have its very own Malik El-Hajj Al-Shahbaz, A.K.A Malcolm X

Are there any rules for a social media debate ?

Do we follow any common rules whenever we debate over social media? The stories of bashing and abusive languages are very common when anyone tries to share personal opinion, in favour of or against any issue. Those who portray themselves as tolerant and liberal also lose their patience when they run out of arguments. The debates become heated discussions and usually no conclusions are derived in the end and no opinions are changed.

Debates on social media remind me of my college days when I actively participated in study circles and group discussions. Those forums were used to share our thoughts on a pre-decided social or religious topics and everyone would have to come prepared with their research and opinions. The rules were strictly defined, i.e.; no personal attacks and no point scoring techniques. It wasn’t about winning or losing an argument, rather the whole idea was to develop a better understanding on issues. ‘Sacrifice of opinion’ was categorically taught and was instrumental in reaching consensus over the issues. The moderator used to have a very crucial role to play to keep the things calm.

Social media has given everyone an opportunity to express their opinions. Whenever you say something, you have to listen to the other side too, in order to keep a balance. It’s an utter failure if we are not ready to listen. Our society is going towards two different extremes and one easily gets tagged with one or other extreme even if you have nothing to do with either of them. You are put into camps and tagged with the payrolls without any logic. The point that you are in ‘opponent’ camp if you aren’t uttering my words, is taking us nowhere. Many a times, emphasis is given to pressurize others to speak the words which they don’t necessarily believe in, and this surely comes under fascism. Also we have different rules for ourselves and for others. One thing might be commendable if our hero is doing it and something similar might be a nuisance and condemnable, if it comes from the opponent camp.

We have a serious problem with ‘active reading’ as well. In our schools, we are taught the skills of ‘active listening’, but very little focus is done on active reading. Probably that is the reason that on social media we only seldom read what the other person is writing. Usually the twists and turns of the words and out of context statements and misquoting are done for point scoring, negating any logic and negative propaganda based on lies. The haste of commenting and replying just adds to the problem and very soon the debates turn into an online fight.

A much deep-rooted problem is the confusion of ideology. Uttering two opposite things in one sigh is such a common phenomenon that it amuses me. A lot of times, people don’t understand what they are talking about. Information from internet is randomly copied and pasted without even understanding the basic idea. Also, new questions are put forward in reply of previous questions while the originals remain unanswered. Sometimes the answers aren’t read or understood and a new question is raised. More and more confusion is raised for no reason which is resulting in division in the society.

Blogging world also witnesses many blogs just conveying one side of the story and promoting hate speech. Criticism for the sake of criticism is in fashion on one hand and lack of tolerance reigns. Harsh comments and retaliatory responses reduce the influence of actual message.

A lot of people also have their own connotations of the words. Some even find the word ‘female students’ as abusive to women and if argued, they just retaliate without any logic. The approach of ‘holier than thou’ and concepts of ‘learned than thou’ are embedded in the mind-sets of many.

Most of the bashing is done in the name of religion (for/against) and politics. Even if you tell something specific about someone which is positive today, immediately a rebuttal will come for something negative done decades ago by them. Can we appreciate something positive without ifs n buts? A difficult question, I guess.

Due to these reasons, more humble and literate people avoid online social media debates. And the result is that sensible voices are reducing in the social media world. If the trend continues, I am afraid social media will be left to abusers only. The life on social media is not in isolation. It definitely has an impact on our daily life routine. The discussions on social media leave a bad taste in mouth at times and spoil the mood. So these debates are creating a negative impact on our daily life as well. The language we use in social media, very much becomes the part of our daily life.

There is a simple rule of debate, mentioned in Quran (chap 25, v 63 and v 72)

‘The (faithful) slaves of the Beneficent are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish ones address them answer: Peace; (63).

And those who will not witness vanity, but when they pass near senseless play, pass by with dignity. (72)

Peaceful debates and dialogues are healthy and needed to develop better understanding of the situation and working towards solutions. The strife for winning an argument or point scoring will not help us. Competition is a good thing but when we compete in terms of leg-pulling, it becomes destructive. Constructive debates are only those, where we share the knowledge and experience to develop a better understanding.

‘Domesticated’ scholars

During our undergraduate years, we often used to ask our foreign qualified professors in Pakistan about life away from the country. Most of the time, we heard the stories of their cooking ventures. One of our teachers was well known in this regard, and whenever we asked him about his experience during his Masters, we ended up listening to something like recipe of ‘making biryani using a rice-cooker’. It was a source of fun and humour for us, while being in Pakistan. Things got changed and I realized the importance of cooking when I landed in Korea to pursue my Masters.

Korean food was shockingly ‘different’ in taste. I had no experience of cooking whatsoever and had to live on biscuits, chocolates, bread and milk for a couple of weeks before I met few Pakistani fellows to learn the cooking skills. For the first time I ate tuna-palak (Tuna and Spinach) and the ‘chef’ told me that there was no special recipe he followed. He literally ‘threw’ into the cooking pan whatever he got in his kitchen cupboard. It was his way of consoling me as to not to worry too much about the recipes. His quotable quote for me was, ‘Don’t be afraid of experimenting’.

I watched my friends cooking chicken-aalu, chicken palak, tuna kebabs and a lot of other ‘emergency’ dishes. A friend told me that I need to be domesticated and if don’t start cooking, I won’t survive. The idea of cooking once in a week and eating the same dish for rest of the week was terrifying. Also, cleaning and dishwashing after cooking was even tougher. It was an immensely time consuming activity definitely had an impact on the studies too. A friend, who happened to be a ‘pakora expert’ once said out of frustration, ‘banda ya tu bawarchi ban sakta hey ya phir parhai kar sakta hey’ (A person can either cook or study). I experimented with daal for the first time, and honestly, I ruined it.

It wasn’t a gender related issue. A lot of female students, who go for higher studies, face a lot of problems in cooking. A fellow Pakistani girl student was telling me about her ventures with dough and chapaati. It is very difficult for females even to start cooking if they have no experience beforehand.

The problems aren’t limited to cooking and dishwashing either. Laundry is another issue. Typically, the laundry of socks is a highly technical matter and ‘scholars’ have sometimes been seen wearing different socks, but who cares as long as they aren’t visible. Keeping wardrobes tidy and cleaning the rooms are also gigantic tasks. They consume time and time is money.

As the time goes on, these Pakistani scholars get domesticated; mastering the art of cooking, cleaning, laundry and other chores. Those who are living outside dormitory in private accommodations especially get trained in all domestic affairs. When asked whether these eminent scholars will continue doing house chores after returning home or getting married, the response is mixed.

A ’roti-expert’ friend who has returned to homeland told me that he does not help his wife even with simple cooking because he is tired of kitchen jobs. One commented that he can now criticise his wife in the kitchen, while another one was happy that his wife cannot threaten him with ‘no dinner would be served tonight’. Very few were willing to actually help their better-halves in the house chores.

Life teaches us a lot. All we have to do is to implement it at the right time and place. Why do we associate social taboos with men doing house chores? Does our religion stop us? Or is it our culture, which is different from our religious teachings? We have learnt in our schools that Prophet Muhammad (SAWW) and his companions used to help their wives in the domestic stuff, but we are not ready to implement it in our society. And, why do our mums tell the potential in-laws with pride, ‘hamari beti ney tu kabhi kitchen mein qadam hi nahi rakha’ and your son would have to arrange a cook or a maid. We have learnt very well that Hazrat Fatima (RA) did all the household chores herself.

Through my experience abroad, I have loved and missed my mother more every day. Women should be respected and loved for the marvellous full-time jobs they do which we only come to know when they are not around. Our men should be thankful and more helpful to them following the ways of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWW).