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.

Is an Average Pakistani a Super Human?

Scorching heat of summers in Pakistan, along comes Ramadan. The heat makes me crave cold water. I sit right in front of the fan and don’t bother moving an inch. Just when I start to relax.. BOOM! The power goes off. Leaving me appalled wondering whatever happened to all the promises that were made to the naïve nation about very little load shedding in Ramadan? Profanity, frustration, anger comes naturally in these sorts of situations. What happens after the power goes off can’t really be described in words. I’m sure 90% of Pakistanis would agree with me on that. Cursing the Government, WAPDA, KESC, etc. While the world progresses we’re going back, back to the Stone Age. While the world discovers new ways to generate electricity, we on the other hand are still struggling to get the oldest form of it.

I’m a Non-residential Pakistani and spending a few days in Pakistan makes me wonder how do Pakistani citizens cope with these kinds of situations? Usually Electricity doesn’t seem so important and vital, but in Pakistan, It could be used as a synonym of blessing. The day when there’s very little or no load shedding is considered lucky. People joke about how good the day was because there was no load shedding. Such is the situation in my land of pure where certain people are bent on turning it onto the complete opposite of pure, where people are deprived of their basic rights. The rich here keeps on getting richer and the poor, poorer by day.

According to Pakistan’s Planning Commission, poverty rate has jumped from 23.9 to 37.5 percent in the last three years. Thanks to leaders chanting slogans like “Roti Kapra aur Makan” the same old slogan has now become ‘zaher, kaffan aur Qabar’, literally, the suicide rate due to the poverty has risen tremendously. “Two-thirds of the country’s population is reportedly suffering from depression, and a trend of suicide among the people has seen a sharp increase in the first quarter of this year.
Lack of financial resources, insecurity and identity problems have pushed the suicide rate up by 24 percent as compared to last year” – Daily times

A recent incident in which a 12 year old burnt himself to death because he could not afford books shook me as I thought to myself how awfully unfortunate we are to have people who want to educate themselves, something which is everyone’s basic birthright regardless of his social status, but is forced it give it up.

It doesn’t end here. While he struggles to make the ends meet, he’s being bombarded with enormous issues like unemployment, terrorism, corruption. Unemployed due to illiteracy, if literate, yes you guessed it right, he need a “Sifaarish” because just a degree, doesn’t work. Hence, most of the competent and talented people leave the country as they are offered much better job opportunities abroad and the incompetent corrupt leeches are left sucking our blood and cycle goes on.  It hurts me to say this, but if you are poor, life in Pakistan is terrible. While our leaders are busy in their usual dirty politics and mudslinging, each claiming he’s “Ghareeb awam ki awaaz” the poor die every day sometimes of hunger, sometimes of target killing, drones, suicide bombs and the list goes on. USA has attacked its targets in the northwest of Pakistan since 2004 in the name of “War on terror” in which scores of innocent bystanders have lost their lives along with some suspected militants. Most of them were commoners like you and me. Makes me wonder, what exactly is our definition of “war on terror”? War against terror has become terror itself. It’s hard for me to distinguish between “friend” and the enemy. And if a drone or a target killer hasn’t killed you, worry not, we have suicide attacks and other forms of terrorist attacks, where again it’s a poor Pakistani who suffers. From the summer of 2007 until late 2009, more than 1,500 people were killed in suicide and other attacks on civilians.

Why is he being punished for something he has not done? Be it drones, target killings or suicide attacks.. It’s the common Pakistani who suffer not the elite, not the politicians, not the bureaucrats. A poor man’s fault is his poverty and death is his punishment. This simple innocuous man does not know who his President is. He’s unaware of his Prime Minister. He’s unaware of the ghastly politics. He’s unaware of his Chief justice. Moreover, he’s unaware of his own rights. His main concern is shelter and bread for his children then why is he being punished for something he knows nothing about? Why is life so terrible for him and every day the same?

“When the rich become a slave to their desires, the poor are exposed to all kinds of exploitations”

It’s he who deserves awards like tamgha-e-imtiaz for bearing so much yet remaining hopeful, not someone who lives in mansions, owns Ferraris and Lamborghinis, flats and villas abroad and will be the first one to flee if, God forbid, something goes wrong.

Let’s put ourselves in his shoes. We whine like kids for the slightest displeasures in life yet he still manages to smile. Despite all the hardships and torture he goes through, he’s still hopeful for Pakistan and prays that someday he will live in a country Jinnah dreamt of where everyone will be treated equally and no one will sleep hungry.  Let’s hope and pray to the Almighty that He bestows upon us a responsible and God fearing leader who feels the pain of the poor, who knows there are millions of people out there who would sleep hungry and millions who don’t have a roof on their heads and who is aware that he is answerable to Someone, Some Day, for the people’s plight living under his rule.

 

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.

Cyber World and its Perils

Cyber world has become a perpetual world where we all live in and yet we don’t. This is the next big frontier which the western masters have innovated and trying to conquer. Cyber space might be the perfect place for mind warfare. Victory here means conquest of whole mind kind. This idea must sound absurd and ridiculous. I agree this is as much an alien thought as I can imagine in my wildest imagination. I am neither a technologist nor a tech freak. Coming from finance and accounting background, let me ask a few questions which mark arrows towards the point I have raised.

Let us first try to unwrap this argument. How secure is our information on services like Gmail, Hotmail or on Yahoo mail? How secure are our videos and pictures on Facebook or Orkut? What do they do with my tweets? I used to believe that since I have control of my privacy settings, so it’s all very safe, people only get to know what I am willing to tell.

Friends just have a second thought about it. Your mails, information, pictures & documents may be safe from those who you don’t want to share with, but are they really safe? They are always available, just a click away, those guys who are storing it for me, am I sure that they aren’t using it? Am I sure that they are not sniffing through my information? They claim that they don’t use it but they also say that we might use it anonymously to help improve our ‘product’. This should be enough to ring alarm bells.

If still not, then let me give you view from another side. To run any business successfully, you need to have inputs, then you do some value add to these inputs to convert them into a sell-able product. This conversion costs you money. Once the product is ready, you need to find buyers to whom you can sell the product. And as a thumb rule, the price at which you are selling the product has to be higher than the cost you are incurring to produce it. Your selling price minus your cost is your profit. All commercial organizations exist only to make profits. And mind you all these organization are highly profitable.

For these services which I mentioned, let’s try to find the input, the value add and then the sell-able product. For convenience let me take the example of twitter. To support millions & millions of users, they need to have big server farms, which cost tens of millions of dollars, to run these farms they need to pay bills and salaries to staff. To develop & maintain the service that they are offering, again they need to run offices, pay bills and salaries to staff. Their end product is an application which people are able to use, express their thoughts and viewpoints. Bingo it’s all free. We don’t pay a single penny to twitter.

Isn’t that enough to raise some suspicion? If not then let me give you another hint. You must have seen suggestions while using twitter, which suggests you, people whom you might be interested to follow or people who are similar to ones you are following. Another value add and that too free of cost.

Ever thought how a service provider which is offering free services to all across the globe is able to make millions of dollars in profits?

This should be enough to mark arrows that someone is doing user profiling at a mega level. Our click on suggested people only confirms the profiling they have done.

Now the question is with all this profiling who is the buyer of this information or product. I will leave this question open to readers for them to think and make their own analysis.

Last but not the least, what I worry most is that my generation was born in an era when TV was a novelty. We got easily influenced by what we saw on it. Comparing us to people of Radio generation & generation even before that, we very easily bought new idea & thought appearing on TV. With these free services which intrude into the privacy of individuals, doing their profiling, what will happen to our new generation? The Cyber warfare is on and we are all part of it. I shall also leave this question open for everyone to think.

 

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.

 

American White ‘Taliban’?

A day after the tragic shooting incident at a gurdwara, a mosque in the US was burned to the ground for the second time in little more than a month in an arson attack. It is an alarming situation in the US that within two days, two communities had been attacked by “unknown” terrorists. It is worrisome to see how the radicalism penetrated into the American society has started expressing itself. Those who have witnessed emergence of variety of Taliban around the world for instance, ‘Afghan Taliban’, ‘Pakistani Taliban’, ‘Punjabi Taliban’ and so on, can sniff existence of ‘American white Taliban’ evidently.

Taliban psychology is represented by violent intolerance in the western media. When the reason of killing and violence is racism and intolerance for other races and religions, it is tagged as ‘stone-aged’ and ‘militant’ ‘Taliban’ psychology. Now, this is what has been ominously witnessed in US as well. It is the need of the hour to dig out and control this home-grown militancy being nurtured, flourished and aided within the US.

US government would need to plan something much more vicious than what it plans for rest of the world to control these factors, as it would be very much embarrassing for the US to kill militants and terrorists oceans away for the safety of Americans when it cannot assure safety of Americans from militancy within America. I am sure, Obama would opt to go for using drones to deal with this inhuman uproar as drones remain the most accurate, flawless and safest weapon being extensively used in America’s terrifying war on terror.

As a face-saving attempt, US might hurry to declare that the reasons behind these attacks had been nothing more than innocent psychological ailments as attackers are not “colour-skinned”. Just as Robert Bales, US marine, who killed 16 civilians and set fire to their dead bodies in an Afghan village in March 2012, was declared to have “some psychological issues”. Again, as US marine, Frank Wuterich, convicted over 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in Iraq attended jail for only three months. He said in his official statement: “I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive”. This would be a very good explanation for what home-grown American terrorists did recently. But I still wonder, how this “potential threat” would explain marines urinating on dead bodies of Afghans.

However, US government should take these reputation stabilizing attempts much before American Taliban group proudly stands up and takes the responsibility of these attacks on what they perceived to be “potential threats”.

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.