Freedom

Freedom? What is freedom? What is freedom of expression? Are these terms relative? Do they have different meaning for some people, and different for others? How do you define terms that men have made soo complicated just so that they can get whatever they want? Which definition would you want to adapt yourself to? The classic version? The modern or the Post modern version? Soo many versions of just a simple question or is it just a simple question?

Anyway, so what is obscenity? The definition again would come under heavy discussion as to what really is obscenity. The trouble with our media and our so-called liberals is that they have become so much delusional and are suffering from such critical identity crisis that they have forgotten that we do not have to exhaust ourselves into the debate of what is allowed and what is not.

Whatever that is happening today around the world and in Pakistan, it just breaks my heart. We see people around us who would talk about how we shouldn’t have law of blasphemy in Pakistan and how it is cruel and everything and it is sad that the very people would not open their lips about the cartoonists and the movie makers who think they have every right to do whatever they are doing. Such hypocrisy. Do these people think that we should remove this very law and put those blasphemous cartoons and movies on a show for the people of Pakistan( in the name of freedom of expression, of course). Instead we should have a law to put people on trial who say a word against the Holocaust, Europe has it, why not us.

It is ironic that though we live in the Post modern world, the boundaries have become more distinct when we put people into categories, specially Muslims. The fundamentalists, or the liberals and the middle section that was there some decades back, has become extinct. Whatever that is happening around us, either good or bad or in that grey area, is what is shaping us inside out. If we feel for Muslims around us,or if we don’t care what’s happening, every moment, every day, every event, everything is effecting us in so many different ways that we are either ending up becoming “the liberals” or the “fundamentalists”.

It’s been 11 years since 9/11 and since then thousands of innocent civilians, women and children have lost their lives in the name of the freedom that the US deludes itself in practicing. What kind of freedom have they provided to the people of Afghanistan, or Iraq? Freedom from this world perhaps.

 

Dead?

Something happened that made me wonder; we live in our own little bubbles. We, in this age of global village , live lives as if we are all islands, disconnected, not effected and certainly not moved by whatever that is happening outside the boundaries of our little homes. We talk about change, and “tsunamis” and “revolution” yet we are not willing to sacrifice even our time to the very cause we think we believe in. Or are we?

I’m saying all this because this is exactly what is happening in our society. Whatever that is happening in Waziristan right now, or districts of Lyari in Karachi, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, or Palestine, how does it effect us? Do we think about them for more than two seconds? Do we even care about them more than posting a picture of it, or updating our status about it on facebook? Does it effect our lives in anyway? I don’t think so. We keep on living our lives the way we are living them, full of distractions and entertainment and we think we can bring a revolution without sacrificing our lives, careers, luxurious lifestyles just by clicking and wasting away in front of our laptop screens. We are not willing to do more than that and we believe we are doing sooo much.

Revolution, change and every word related to it looks nice and everything but the reality is much more brutal. The situation in our homeland and in the Muslim world is almost out of control. We have people who would sacrifice their lives for their leaders, but they will not unite under the one banner of Pakistan, let alone Islam. We should be ashamed of ourselves for not even feeling a pang in our hearts for those who are dying in streets everyday by stray bullets, target killers or by drones. How can we feel for the Muslims of other countries when we don’t care about the people who live around the corner from our own houses.

Do we feel for the kids that die in Waziristan by drones? Or the families that are lost in that beautiful valley of Swat? Or those who are a target in Karachi? Or any other part of Pakistan? If not how are we supposed to call ourselves alive when we are no better than the dead.

Awam tu pagal hai

Last night my father was telling us what he heard in one of the dars-e-quran that morning. The story of Hazrat Yousuf (a.s). He had been in jail for the crime he did not commit so when he was called by the King of Egypt, he first demanded that investigate the crime for which I was sent in jail. Ask the women who cut their hands if I was a “khaa-in“. The Quran says that Hazrat Yousuf said that everyone should know that I was not the one who would commit “khayana“. And the Quran said he was called a “Siddique” by the people around him. “Saadiq” and “Ameen” were the names given to Prophet Muhammad by the people of Makkah because of his truthfulness and honesty. These were the characteristics that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala wanted in His Prophets to rule over the Muslim Ummah.

Today, we see a different scenario altogether. The people who are sitting in the parliament and on Presidential seat are actually not an inch closer to the standards which were set long time ago for us. I know Prophets are the best of men amongst us and we cannot come near them but Allah sent those Prophets down as examples for us to follow. The game of politics that we have seen and that we see everyday makes us realise how hypocritical these politicians are and how far they would go to work for their own interest and put the people of Pakistan in jeopardy! It seems as if the national interests have gone in background and their own interests are served best!

The new Afghan trade transit, the fake degrees, Hillary Clinton’s visit and etc. etc. just make us wonder if these people know what they are doing? Or do they think that we are actually animals who cannot think or understand?

The ideology has been put at risk by the leaders and other elements working against us! The economy being destroyed by the leaders! The society is being pushed into anarchy!

I know I’m talking in fractions… I can’t help it!

Democracy! my foot! Afghan transit trade being signed without the stupid parliament being even informed and this is what you call is democracy!?!? ha ha!

bus awam hi pagal hai!

Height of Insensitivity

It was the time of the second Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Umar Radiallahu anhu, when the Muslims ruled over a vast region. And that region was way bigger than Pakistan. Hazrat Umar Radiallahu anhu at that time said that even if a dog dies out of hunger near the river Euphrates, I will be accountable for it. Allah will question me about it. This was the height of sense of responsibility that he practiced and not just talked about! And once his wife made a sweet dish for him and he asked her how did you managed it, she said I have been saving little over the months, and from that savings was I able to make it. He said that means that I am getting more than I need from the Bait-ul-maal and cut short his salary because he didn’t want to wrongfully use the money of Bait-ul-maal.

Families today are committing suicides around the country because they are not able to meet ends meet! And the leaders of this country cannot even show any sensitivity towards those people. Qamar Zaman Kaira actually is advising poor people to give away their children to Bait-ul-maal! The President, Prime Minister and other ministers are not willing to give up their own fuzul se expenses and are not even ashamed of illegally gobbling away the poor people’s tax money. They call “corruption” their right! President and Prime ministers have wealth of their own, why don’t they live in their houses, why don’t they pay their own bills, why don’t they face power outages and why the hell do they get all those body guards and million dollars worth bulletproof cars out of our tax money?!  And all they could say to the poor people that give away their kids to Bait-ul-maal?! Not only this but PML-Q’s member was even recorded to have been saying that the cases of committing suicides is Allah’s will as life and death are Allah’s will and we cannot meddle with that! If that’s the case, why do these ministers have body guards and why do they travel in bullet proof cars? Why take such measures when they have soo much faith in Allah that death is haqq and if they are to die because a bullet hit their head, these bullet proof cars will not be able to save them. Why waste our money? If they cannot meddle with the matters of life and death, why even wage a war against terrorism, they shouldn’t bomb and kill people in their own country because Allah will take care of that Himself. Why meddle with it?! This is the height of insensitivity!

And I am wondering why have I referred to Hazrat Umar’s life and his way of running the state affairs when ministers can easily say that during his time, Quran was supreme but now constitution is! Astaghfirullah! And yes maybe we misunderstood her! My foot! Why is it that the CMs of this country are getting 50% more money this year for their own expenses?

This is not just the height of insensitivity, this is crossing the limit!

Can You Guess The Name?

A certain hospital in Karachi comes under the City District Government Authority. The Hospital had been having some problems since the current political party got hold of it several years ago.

Recently, there have been major incidents in the hospital which have not been reported on any television, as that would mean a bad name to the mayor and his political party. One of the incidents that I would like to mention here happened pretty recently.

There had been an accident. The person injured when brought to the hospital was in a very critical condition. The doctors in the trauma ward attended to him, tried their best but were not able to save him. The person was a political activist. As he had died while doctors were working on him, they came under fire. The moment the person was announced dead, the political activists, who had brought him to the hospital, called their fellow workers, and all of them attacked the doctors there claiming that they didn’t do their best. They asked about the head of the trauma center or the person incharge then. They brought down the door of his office, broke everything there. The Unit office was called and the hospital asked them to please control the situation. The Unit office sent two policemen against 60 anarchists! Of course they never came out of the car to meet the mob head on.

Anyway, this is not the only incident that has happened there. There have been alot of incidents of the same sort happening in that hospital. In Karachi you know who those politically active activists are who are always there to create havoc, chaos and distruction around the city.

Can you guess the name?

The News

So you switch on the television and you stare at the screen, you frown and you listen to the same people everyday, telling you the same thing every day on every channel. Everyday. The same talkshows, talking about the same NRO, Kerry Lugar Bill and the same debate whether BlackWater is in Pakistan or not. The same story over and over again. The same leaders denying everything, the same party people saying that we are not involved in corruption and the same anchorpersons asking the same question. It’s like a de ja vu. The debates start, the commercials interrupt and finally it’s time to say good-bye without any result or any solid answer. The general public is frustrated, tired and disheartened. These people have driven us to our limits!

At times I wonder if media is actually spreading awareness or is it making people insensitive to all these issues.  Because to be very honest, no matter how pressing these matters are, and I know how sensitive these issues are, and I know the future of Pakistan depend upon them, I don’t want to listen to all these people talking about it.  Do you?

 

The Fort

I have been busy with other things lately and didn’t get a chance to either dwell into the politics of Pakistan for some time. But something happened last night which has forced me to write something down here. And the very image burns in my mind and has an unsettling effect on me. The future seems… BLEAK!

A lot has been written about it I am sure but surely I would want to add my contribution to it or rather have a catharsis over it here and now. Last night, we planned to go for a drive. So, landing on the other side of the Lyari Expressway, then towards Boat Basin, we came across The Fort. Well lit area, well built fort, luxury apartments, high walls… you know what I’m talking about… The New US Embassy in Karachi! There’s something really disturbing about it the very presence of this city within a city. It is not just a land grabbed by the US, it’s more than that. The high walls, the fort, the security measures, everything about it is a question that the government fails to answer. The ordinary people, do they even know what is going to happen when they actually start operating on a full scale?! Why is there a need to build a fort when they have an embassy in Islamabad and in Karachi too (near Frere Hall). Maybe the bombing near it was a sham so that they can get a better, much bigger place. Are they planning something on a bigger scale, I mean blackwater’s head office in Peshawar, right? Then an embassy in Islamabad (I’m sure they have a network of balckwater there too.) Then MQM’s own police in Karachi working with the blackwater network in Karachi. The target killings of Professors in Baluchistan. Universities being closed down. School children having ID cards which are to be checked at entrance. Suicide bombings one after another killing hundreds of people. Media and the Government has put on a perfect show of embedding in the minds of people that Taliban are terrorists. And a more perfect job at disillusioning the whole idea of Jihad. People have doubts about it now. Astaghfirullah!

Though my reading is very limited and my understanding way too limited… but everything that is happening around, nothing seems to be going in the right direction. Last Sunday or a Sunday before that, a person wrote in favour of Kerry Lugar Bill. And the points that he raised were soo childish, I doubted his mental condition. Here is the link to that letter to the editor. The person is a former Ambassador. I doubt his critical thinking ability. I even doubt his qualifications. I mean how can you even think these to be solid pointers to actually endorse it! OH! GOD! This country is in the hands of people who have such slavish mentality and thinking that they cannot even think for themselves, they not only use the language of the “colonials”, they even say what they feed to them. Are we back to the times when subcontinent was being colonized by the English?

How can one be so blind to all this. Or maybe the general public is soo engrossed in the day to day earning of bread and butter, but the representatives of these people seem to be so slavish that they fail to realise their responsibilities towards their nation, their people, to their own very soul. Those high officials themselves have sold themselves to the benefits of the West that they turn a blind eye to their own very soil and let it slowly bleed to death. It’s high time that we should wake up and not put our trust in those leaders who have not failed us just once but everytime they came to power. This is the limit. We cannot just let them drag us to hell, the limbo of being governed by the US. And I highly doubt that there’s any difference between Hitler and Obama or any other leader or a person who supports US policies.

 

A Joke…

Let me quote a joke here that was quite famous when we were kids. So here it goes…

There’s this very beautiful African deer and then it gets lost. So the policeforce of every country is called out to help. So the every police force brings forward a deer and the authorities say that it’s not the one. Then Pakistani police force brings with them a badly beaten elephant and as soon as he sees the authroities, he cries out, “mein hi woh hiran hoon.. mein hi woh hiran hoon.” (I’m that deer.. I’m that deer)

Anyway, today when I watched news on TV, it reminded me of this joke. Suddenly out of nowhere this new group emerged, a person without a face appeared with a kind of speech which appeared to be.. ahem.. I don’t know forced down his throat maybe. I don’t know, I never trusted media… nor my police force and now when agents are all over, should I be trusting a paki pakai khichri?! I don’t know.. there’s so much out there. Should I ever trust those numbers of militants and the military officers being killed that are being released by the ISPR? Give me one good reason why I should… Do they think I would believe that they are actually killing militants and not innocent people? Hell.. No!

To them our lives have become a joke. Lives of Muslims and ordinary human beings have become a joke. For them the lives of people in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Pakistan is nothing more than litter. They are not human anymore. But the problem in  Pakistan is that they have pulled a few strings and it’s our army against our people. Media has made a crucial role since Musharraf has given them lisence and they have, since then, played a more destructive role than a constructive one. They have twisted alot of things, just use some of the words with some of the people and hey… there you go.. one stereotype is created! So, now we have thousands of them. So… now we have moderate and extremists and liberals and whatnot. So if I wear a veil, I must be liberated! Oh for God’s Sake! wake up! what are you thinking? I’m some mastermind created because of Zia’s era?! Give me a break!

But food for thought: The person stood before camera’s today having his face covered, didn’t he seem a bit too well versed in whatever he said?!

Wataniyyat

I don’t think I have to say anything. Reminds me of my teacher saying, “Husn bazaat-e-khud daleel hai.” It speaks for itself.

Wataniyyat
(yani watan bahesiyyat eik siyasi tasawwur k)

Is daur mein mae aur hai, jaam aur hai jum aur
Saaqi nay bina ki rawish-e-lutf wa sitam aur
Muslim ne bhi tabeer kiya apna haram aur
tehzeeb kay aazar ne tarashwaye sanam aur
In taza khudaaon mein bara sab say watan hai
Jo pairhan is ka hai, woh mazhab ka kafan hai
Ye but keh tarasheeda-e-tehzeeb-e-nawi hai
gharat gar ka shaana-e-nabawi hai
bazu tera tauheed ki quwwat se qawwi hai
Islam tera des hai, tu mustafawi hai
Nazzara-e-daireena zamanay ko dikha de
Ay Mustafawi khaak mein is but(idol) ko mila de
Ho qaid-e-maqaami tu nateeja hai tabahi
reh bahar mein aazaad-e-watan surat-e-mahi
Hai tark-e-watan Sunnat-e-Mehboob-e-Ilahi
De tu bhi nabuwwat ki sadaqat pe gawahi
Guftaar-e-siyasat mein watan aur hi kuch hai
Irshad-e-nabuwwat mein watan aur hi kuch hai
Aqwaam-e-jahan mein hai raqabat tu isi say
Taskheer hai maqsood-e-tijarat tu isi say
Khali hai sadaqat se siyasat tu isi say
Kamzor ka ghar hota hai ghaarat tu isi say
Aqwam mein makhlooq-e-Khuda bat-ti hai isi say
Qaumiyyat-e-Islam ki jarr kat-ti hai isi say

-Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Where do I stand?

“16th December! Did you hear any bell ringing?”

“Who? Me? What?!”

I tried really hard to answer the question but I really couldn’t recall anything. And I kept thinking…

“Suqoot-e-Dhaka!”

And I was dumbfounded! How could I forget? How can I not recall!? Everything went blurred… Am I so self obsessed and self absorbed and have turned into those critics who don’t look at themselves but criticize others? Am I turning into a hypocrit or am I already one?  I guess someone has to show me the mirror to make me see where I stand? Am I standing on stable grounds or have I walked blindly into some quicksand and do not know it. I’m scared now! I can’t get over the fact that I didn’t know… I ACTUALLY COULDN’T RECALL!!!

Bangladesh appeared on the map of this world. People started questioning the grounds of the two nation theory on which Pakistan was created.Questions still remain: Where did we go wrong? How could we be so brutal to our own brothers? And the one which still haunts us to death is: Is there a language problem?! Is it a nationality problem? You being a Bengali and I a Punjabi or a Pathan? The question still remains unanswered…

I know I’m jumping too fast but I can’t help it. Just before Eid, we experienced an ethnic cleansing drive. The famous MQM cleaning the streets of Karachi from the “terrorist” Pathans and Afghanis. Again, a language problem?! And the horror struck me… What next?! Driving Punjabis away from Karachi as well? then Balochis? Is not Karachi a part of Pakistan? Then it struck me really hard.. a nail in my head between my eyes… my family has intermarried in every “community”, would that mean that the families will be torn apart??! my family would be torn apart?! Just imagine your kids being taken to someplace else, your wife sent somewhere and you are clueless… Won’t it be painful? or worse, you know where they are but you can’t see them, contact them, hear from them or… Where are we heading?

Now look back at 1971… families torn apart.. thousands still uncertain about their identity… neighboring enemy gaining from your losses and is happy that you split apart… Was there really a language problem or was it all a sham? What went wrong?

Coming back to what happened earlier today. I, myself, unaware of my own history. The realization came as a shock. But I was comforted with a voice in my head which belong to my mentor. He once said that realization is the most important part. Only after realization would you be able to recognize your mistakes and determine the path you would take next…

But… what about the whole nation… We are nowhere near realization… and I’m a part of it…