Change is the only Reality

I am part of different groups and circles and for me most difficult aspect of keeping good relationship is increased extremism and decreased tolerance; people no more capable to accept other beliefs. And it does not matter if they are secular or religious in political thought, if they are leftists or rightists, liberal or conservative, looks like we live in age of extreme. And worst is the 'short span' of media attention we are getting used to in this information age and our complete reliance on media to know what should we concentrate on , here everyday has a new hot story, we tend to forget what was important yesterday, I do not believe in conspiracy theories otherwise people blame this to 'illuminati' kind of groups and planned conspiracies to control masses around the globe. May be it is not totally wrong, but this does not answer to the real problem, why more people tend to extremes unlike in past.
As I came abroad, it was very disappointing to see people living in their created ghettos as they can not mix in the host society, they take their prejudices with them and do not understand the fact that there are humans which live here and they have their own centuries old customs and way of life and they have progressed based on these ethos. They fail to understand that mutual respect is the key for success for everyone, and when you enter into a system (in scientific sense as well) you have to adopt to the new environment and it is not that you can destroy that system but you can act as a catalyst to give more strength to that system, and that strength is diversity and tolerance for mutual progress.
Similar is the situation in country, our extremism or lack of knowledge has made us extremists, we do not strive for learning and but we submit to our egos and become for violent and aggressive towards opposition (whoever is not like me is my opponent).
Dialectical theory says that it is continuous process of change, thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis which works in human societies, that is why we see hard resistance to change but change is inevitable and can not be avoided, we can see through history and our own life experiences that societies progressed, nothing around us is what it was when we were born, stories my grand mother used to tell me had bull cart as the only mean of travelling for ladies of a noble family, is it true any more? Lanterns from Goodman were the best to keep light in my father's youth, my son can not even understand what does it mean by 'Goodman the Lalten'. I do not think if believes are not impacted by these changes, how many religious TV channels we have? Modern mosques have complete automatic control systems installed to provide services to devotees. But these 'norms' we do not even consider, these changes too were opposed; Sir Syed was condemned to death by Ulemas when he suggested use of modern inventions for Muslims and claimed it will not harm religion or religious beliefs. We witness same response until now because process of change is continuous and until there is complete synthesis, conflict will continue, no matter how hard it is for us who are in middle of it, change will continue. So these are these 'agents' in this process of history which take different shapes, political, behavioural, religious or revolutionary; there are agents of progress and there are agents of preservation. It is all part of one big grinding machine, which is churning what is old and rusted and recycling it for future.

Pakistan Today- Asia Bibi and Women Cricket team

Two headlines in Dawn’s web site yesterday, two news, two events, one brings hope while other despair. One is about Amnesty International asking for release of Asia Bibi, sentenced to death on blasphemy charges (Amnesty urges release of Pakistani Christian woman, 2010). Other is victory of Pakistan women cricket team in Asian games (Pakistan women beat Bangladesh; win first Asiad gold, 2010).

One can wonder how the Pandits, our scholars and analysts will treat these news? They are about human development, human rights, minorities, and less privileged elements in society. But they are contrasting and show the dilemma of today's Pakistan, a fight between progressive and conservative forces.
There are those who want to take advantage of laws created on religious basis to target those elements in society which are weak, vulnerable and cannot protect themselves against aggressive allegations and become easy target. Asia Bibi was forced not to fetch water as she was a non muslim, that is where it all started, then reportedly she was asked to convert to Islam and during the debate she emphasized on what she believes in. Ironically the report was filed after few days of the what happened between the women, one of them was wife of the Imam of local mosque and it is the Imam who has filed the case against her. One can wonder why the court did not consider the motives behind the allegations, what the lawyers were doing, how the case was defended? We should ask why the judge ruled out any possibility that Asia was falsely implicated (Amnesty Int’l urges release of Pakistani Christian woman, 2010), was she provoked? What were the circumstances she was forced into? How many were the aggressive women abusing her at the time of incident? Why she was deprived of water? What will be the response of a enraged, helpless, angry person against a group insulting him or her and forcing to accept something against will? How would be an average person feeling and reacting in such situation? Does honourable judge considered the circumstances while reaching decision? Now the world is aware of what is happening and it is coming together to rescue Asia, Pope has called Pakistan government to release her and pressure will increase. Surely Asia should not face the sentence, and hopefully she will be spared as the appeal will be heard in higher courts and she might will be released as well. What will happen afterwards? Probably her family will apply for asylum as they have become target of hardliners and they will leave country. Hopefully this is where it should end, and Asia will live happily with her husband, two sons and three daughters. This is what we Pakistanis should demand from the state.
Now referring to the win of Pakistan’s women cricket team; surely an event of jubilation for the nation, specially as their counterparts are not doing well and continuously in crisis with corruption and fixing charges on team members and an inefficient management. Women team has done great and brought us jubilation. They have again shown that women can keep honour of the nation and contribute to their best as much as any Pakistani man can. Well surely any hard line mullah will not be happy on this news, for instance what will be the reaction of the cleric who filed case against Asia? Shall we have any difficulty understanding it? No, clearly he will shout that women are not allowed to go outside of home, for him that photo of Nida Rashid celebrating her team’s victory (Pakistan women beat Bangladesh; win first Asiad gold, 2010) will be sinful. He will overlook what benefits these players have brought for their country, these players have presented their country in Asian games, won a gold medal, and ensure Pakistan’s name will be there as champions in history of the games, they have given their nation a chance to celebrate, a reason to delight, gratification to their fellow Pakistani women and a message to us all that they are the best. Women are as good a resource as men, and they should be given equal chances in every walk of life.
What we learn today is that we have choices to make. One is the way forward, open up your mind, embrace the change, develop and utilise your resources and carry on, while other is to move backward, resist change, keep on indulging into petty issues, preach hatred, promote irrational beliefs so that status quo cannot be changed.
Pakistanis have to decide which way they want to go, still not late but every passing day without being decisive will make it hard to move forward.


References:-
Amnesty urges release of Pakistani Christian woman, 2010, http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/19/amnesty-urges-release-of-pakistani-christian-woman.html, last viewed 19/11/2010
Pakistan women beat Bangladesh; win first Asiad gold, 2010, http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/19/pakistan-beat-bangladesh-in-womens-cricket-for-first-asian-games-gold.html, last viewed 19/11/2010
Amnesty Int’l urges release of Pakistani Christian woman, 2010,
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101120-304230/Amnesty-Intl-urges-release-of-Pakistani-Christian-woman, last viewed 20/11/2010

Pakistan Today: Asia Bibi and Women Cricket Team

Saw these two headlines in today's Dawn, two news, two events, one brings hope and other despair.
One is about Amnesty International asking for release of Asia Bibi, sentenced to death on blasphemy charges (http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/19/amnesty-urges-release-of-pakistani-christian-woman.html). Other is victory of Pakistan women cricket team in Asian games (http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/19/pakistan-beat-bangladesh-in-womens-cricket-for-first-asian-games-gold.html).
I am wondering how the Pandits, our scholars and analysts will treat these news side by side. They are about human development, about human rights, about minorities, about less privileged elements in society. But they are contrasting and shows the dilemma of today's Pakistan, a fight between progressive and conservative force. One is the way forward, open up your mind, embrace the change, develop and utilise your resources and carry on, while other is to move backward, resist the change, keep on indulging into petty issues and pulling each other's legs, promote irrational beliefs so that status quo can not be changed.
Pakistanis have to decide which way they want to go, still not late but yes every passing day without being decisive will make it hard to move forward.

Thoughts on Iqbal Day

Many rather most have a problem discussing Iqbal, his image is shrouded in respect to the extent of religious belief and people feel a moral obligation against criticizing Iqbal. Problem will be resolved, if you set your expectation level; instead of as a saint, accept him as a human, do not call him hakeemulummat or rehmat ulla eleh, and do not give him responsibility of creation of Pakistan, much of confusion will be gone. Read what his son has wrote about him, look at him without green glasses of respect where he becomes a saint and a mulla. He was not a mulla at all, remember Atiya Faizi if you have trouble accepting Iqbal as a human. There is a very conscious movement to portray Iqbal as a saint, an Islamic die hard rigid philosopher which he was not. He was educated in Europe and had a good understanding of contemporary philosophical thought, he was knighted by British (I think on Israr-e-Khudi) and carry on that title. Wasn't he influenced by Nietzsche? Check Nietzsche's übermenschlich and 'will to power'.
A human specially a poet is very sensitive to his/her surroundings and poetry depends on poet's mood and circumstances that is why poetry can not be regarded as much as a piece of philosophic writing. We made numerous mistakes in understanding Iqbal, for instances I read a remark yesterday that why he is called just Iqbal? he should be called Allama Iqbal. With that much respect you are ought to make a Khanqah of Iqbal and start qawwalis there, not much left for you to understand him as he was.
Problem is that most of us do not really have a sound knowledge of the days and time when he or his contemporaries lived, because that age was so much full of changes and so many ideologies and believes have so much on stack on those days, and so many conflicting views are found that it becomes hard for a mere student of history to understand what really is the truth.
That is prime reason of all confusions not only around Iqbal but around all of his contemporaries, whether it is Jinnah or Gandhi or Nehru or Bose or Sardar or Azad or any one else. And we have conflicting views on events as well. For instance Pakistan's official view on Gandhi is really pathetic so as that of India's on Jinnah. Can we call both of them as our leaders? try it, and you will learn the lessons of your life.

A Burden for Generations

It was a mild winter day, as it should be in Karachi, I was standing in line to enter to the University, we were almost daily ordered to enter only from a particular gate from four or five at the front side facing University Road, it was done in the name of security, but it was more like a psychological trick to teach who is in control, and that was Pakistan Rangers. We were not allowed to use any gate to enter our Alma Meter but the one chosen by authorities each day, it could have been the same gate as of yesterday or different, it was more like going to a labour camp. And it was a sight to see people running from one gate to another, as sometimes order was coming late and one gate was closed and another one opened for entry.
So there I was in the line, my turn came, Rangers’ Jawan (Soldier) checked my university ID card (not sure if he knew how to read it, he could have hold it upside down if there was not my photo on it), looked at it, then looked at me and asked “Hindustani ho?” (You are an Indian?). Well, for few seconds, blood stopped in my veins, I felt a cold running through my body and I looked at him with so much anger that he took two or three steps back. I did not say a word and he handed me my card back, I took few steps forward and then came back to him, “I am a Pakistani” he smiled nervously and looked at his senior for help who was standing few steps away, but he preferred to look away as well, that was a mistake which could cost them heavily and best way for them was to ignore as nothing happened. Students any way were challenging and unexpected for these human machines trained to obey and follow.
This was not first neither the last time I was called a Hindustani, Muhajir (migrant) was the usual identity I had to carry since I started to go out into society, in school, in hospitals, in bank or to any social event and gathering, I was and I still am a Muhajir, though I was born in Pakistan, though I have never been to India, but strange how many generations have to carry the burden of this decision.
Strange that decision to divide India was not taken by any of them, but millions had to carry that burden as well, I am sure a majority in those millions who were affected did not even understand the meaning of partition and so as their leaders and those who actually took the decision or agreed to it. And that is the tragedy of that partition, it was a decision taken on assumptions and fabricated realities, and its after effects were not even considered, no one was able to see how generations to come will pay the price of this decision, how whole region will be compromised, and billions of its inhabitants will be forced to adopt a psychology of hate and war and will be asked to sacrifice on their progress, health and education to defend this partition.
There is this story of Ghulam Ali in a book by Zamindar (The Long Partition by Vazira Zamindar, 2007 OUP, Karachi) ; a soldier in British Army who chose to join Indian Army at the time of partition, but he was not stationed in Chaklala which was to be Pakistan, for one or another reason he was not able to go back to India till the time his service was terminated by Pakistan Army on the grounds that he opted for Indian Army, they sent him back but by that time Permit or Passport had been devised and Indians refused to accept him as he was not an Indian ID holder, back in Pakistan he was imprisoned as an Indian without authorised papers to be in Pakistan. Then he was thrown on both sides few times till he ended up in Hindu camp in Lahore. I am not sure how his life was ended, no detail of it in the book and may be nowhere else, in no papers or documents.
I want to step in his shoes for a moment and understand how must be his feelings till the last of his breath, but I cannot, it is perhaps impossible for me and anyone else as we have long passed that historical drama, but is it the reality? If that episode of partition is over, why people are still haunted by it? Somewhere deep in sub conscious of every Indian and every Pakistani, there is this ambiguity, a psychological issue, a challenge of identity which expresses itself in our behaviour towards each other.
If it is thought that statement given in above lines are an exaggeration, kindly look at the treatment we give each other, browse through newspapers, check the headlines, listen to the politicians, check what scholars say, go to the cricket field to watch a match between Pakistan and India, do a research on the literature written on both sides which is mostly based on hatred and bias and a conscious attempt to justify what happened (and it is here problem lies, why we want to justify? why fabrication is required?). For instance take the syllabus taught in Pakistan; by calling Hindus and Sikhs murderers and impostors and omitting the crimes made by Muslims, what is really the objective? Why truth is a problem? Surely because truth comes as a challenge and raises questions which cannot be answered easily. This partition is used by extremists and religious bigots on both sides as an excuse and a reason to convince people on militancy and violence. Indians and Pakistanis do not realise that the demons of religious extremism in this region are fed and brought up by this partition dilemma, and as such the debacle of partition is not over. It is not over, not for our generation neither for the generations to come, unless we understand what mistakes were made and agree to resolve them.

Once again...................

Now it is dargah of Baba Fareed, he is called ganj-e-shakar. Who has thought that we will see people dying on the shrine of one devoted to love and peace.

فکر کیجئے نہ ذرا ، بات ہے معمول کی

وہ دھماکہ اور تھا، یہ دھماکہ اور ہے

یہ پڑا اس گال پے، وہ پڑا اس گال پے

وہ طمانچہ اور تھا ، یہ طمانچہ اور ہے

Tanboor

اور طنبور ساز ہے ان لوگوں کا جو سنگلاخ پہاڑوں کی گود میں رہتے ہیں جہاں پر شور چشمے بہتے ہیں، بپھرتا دہاڈتا پانی چٹانوں سے سر ٹکراتا ہوا بہتا چلا جاتا ہے، یہ پتھر اس کی قدر نہیں جانتے، ایک بوند بھی جذب نہیں کر سکتے اور پانی بر انگیختہ ہو کر... اور جوش میں آ جاتا ہے، آگے اور آگےان میدانوں کی تلاش میں جہاں پیاسی مٹی رہتی ہے ، سیراب ہونے کی آس میں بیتاب ،مٹی جس سے زندگی آغاز ہوتی ہے ، کونپلیں پھوٹتی ہیں. تو صاحب کچھ لوگ بھی ان پتھروں کی طرح ہوتے ہیں اور کچھ مٹی جیسے ، کچھ جو کنویں میں رہ کر پیاسے چلے جاتے ہیں اور کچھ جو دور صحرا میں رہتے ہوے بھی بارش کی ایک بوند سے سنور جاتے ہیں . یہ طنبور اتنا برا بھی ساز نہیں ہے , دیکھو کہاں کہاں خیال کھینچتا چلا جاتا ہے اس طنبور کی تان کے ساتھ ، سنگلاخ، بے مہر، بے فیض چٹانوں سے کھلتی کونپلوں تک
------------------------------------

Again!!!

Once Mushtaq Yusufi wrote that "worst about bad rumours coming from Pakistan is that they turned out to be true", things never improved but further deteriorated, now it is not just rumours but almost every other news which comes from the country, it hurts.
Blasts at Mazar of Abdulla Shah Ghazi Karachi, after incident on Data Darbar in Lahore; Ah, one after another, all symbols of tolerance and peace for the masses are targeted. The message they want to give us is clear, we are to be driven towards extremism, the land of Sufis has to give way to hard core narrow minded intolerance. People specially masses from lower classes are still aloof from sectarian and religious hatred and most of extremist groups have their roots in middle class which has comparatively higher education rate and competition for economic resources and power, hence a good recruiting ground for hate mongers.
Moreover, these shrines, they are easy targets because it is hard to carry out security measures, most of the visitors are from lower classes and hard to be disciplined and controlled.
It is very sad to be a witness to this situation, too much to be lost within a life time, I can not believe this is the same land and same people where I was born and grew up.

On Chanakya

There were comments on a blog of mine which need some more arguments, I am writing it as a separate blog because it had nothing to do with the topic of Ayodhiya verdict of yesterday.

It is about Chanakya, and to share my opinion on him as I find it very often that people abuse that name and interpret him and his thoughts to be evil, and worst they call it a mentality and then try to impose it on Hindus as a nation or sect which is evil or cunning.

I think both approaches are wrong and mischievous and used as a tool by hate mongers who try to distort history by false claims and follow likes of Hitler and Goebbels (speak lie so regularly and with so patience and force that you yourself start to believe them) and people follow them without understanding and mostly without bothering to know more about that personality, his age and thoughts.

Chanakya was a worldly scholar, someone who was in a position of political command and manoeuvring and who did not told his thoughts from lips of a deity (as Hammurabi did), instead he presented them as of his own as teachings for those who are involved in worldly politics and power broking.

He was not the first, neither the last man to do so, Machiavelli is an example, Nizam ul Mulk Tusi wrote his Siyasatnama on same lines, Zia ud Din Barani has written Fatwa-i-Jahandari on same lines. So can we call all of them followers of Chanakya? were they all presenting a mean, cruel and cunning nation? And what about politicians and power brokers of today? do they all present their nations as a whole? is everyone in those people's nations is alike? Was every Muslim of Seljuk period was a Nizam ul Mulk? are those who live in that area can still be called Nizam ul Mulk? or all politicians of that part of world are Nizamis, following Nizamism? were all Sultans of India during time of Zia Ud Din were Ziai?

There had been Mir jafar and Mir Sadiq in Muslims, is every Muslim of India like them? if so, who was Tipu Sultan then? who was Bakht Khan? who was Sher Shah Suri?

I find it a very idiot argument to interpret whole nation or whole people on thoughts or actions of one personality. Most of the decisions made are based on the circumstances and interests of decision makers. of course decisions can be wrong and disastrous but we must not try to interpret everything as a conspiracy and preach hate and sectarianism.

Law and Justice

I was told by a judge "law not necessarily provides justice, it is not the function of law", I have been thinking over it since then, yes; law is to protect interests, factions, and people in society, and it has to keep the balance so that harmonics in society are not impacted, and we all can survive. Justice on the other hand is achieved by collective will of the people in a society or state, when people say nay to a practice, it has to be abolished by state and introduced as law to keep the balance.

I can not see collective will of people of Pakistan to produce what they think is just and right into laws effectively. Problem is that when you demand justice to be done, it has to be done blindly to all; then no Shia no Sunni, no Hindu, No Muslim;all must be equal in eyes of law, and it looks like that we are not going in that direction.

Until we realise, what is justice and how to make effective laws; what we see happening around us will continue.... I do not want to point to any specific event, as all events, every single one in which a life is lost, in which an innocent is brutalised, in which power is abused, they are all related, one and same........they show our inability to rightly demand and provide justice, we all are responsible for this...........if it continues the way it is going...if we won't learn, everything will be destroyed.

Message to those who think Pakistan is doomed

Ashamed or not, fact remains that you are Pakistani (please do not use the word Paki). Now that everyone is condemning the incident, how much time will we take to go back to normal? I need to say what are the real actions taken? what is ana...lysis, why such incidents occur in our society? what are actions required to curb such incidents?
let me know:
What is education rate in Pakistan? more specifically in the rural areas?
What health facilities are provided en mass by state or private sector and at what cost comparing average income of a Pakistani?
What is situation of democracy? what say people have in the direction of their government? let me know how many of us know what is democracy?
What recreational facilities people are provided? what statistics say about such facilities per capita? What is status of our media and entertainment industry?
What are we teaching people? what are our primary and secondary education syllabus? has any one tried to compare them with other countries?
Last but not least, few of us are modest, tolerate and educative? how much time are we willing to invest to serve our people? can we talk about a mass contact movement to start dialogue with common Pakistanis which do not enjoy such facilities as electricity, telephone or internet. If we can talk, how many will be willing to get involved?
How many of us go to vote? how many of us dare to challenge the establishment? how many of dare to challenge our leaders? how many of us dare to challenge our civil servants? how many of us say no to bribes and corruption? how many of us stand with those who dare to say no?
when an accident occurs? have you ever tried to come forward to help injured?
You people are the power, realize that and come forward, get united, do not complain. There are many subjective arguments and conflicts, they can get resolved. Do not complain about system and people, complaint about yourself first, its our inabilities which become inability of the system, it is us whose mirror are our leaders, do not be ashamed of yourself, that is what you are.
I am very optimistic that if we really start to think what role we can play, and start playing it as soon as possible, we can change the situation.

Paid for Resignation

CEO which causes shame and harm to reputation of company will be paid so that he can go, along with losses in the market. Who will pay? Employees and Shareholders. This industry practice needs to be reviewed immediately.

"Hewlett-Packard fell $4.31 to $41.99 in extended trading. The shares, down 10 percent this year, dropped 5 cents to $46.30 earlier today on the New York Stock Exchange."

"Hurd will get a severance payment of $12.2 million, plus other benefits that include a prorated vesting settlement of 330,177 restricted HP shares. He received $30.3 million in compensation in 2009 and $42.4 million the year before."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-s-mark-hurd-resigns-after-sexual-harassment-probe.html

My Poetry

May not fit on the standard of poetry, but this is a try, not sure how well I have done.

ہاے کیا گل کھلایا جا رہا ہے
ہمیں الو بنایا جا رہا ہے

کبھی شرفا کو ملتی ہے حکومت

...کبھی زردار لایا جا رہا ہے

میری قسمت میں گننے چوپنا ہے

انھیں حلوہ کھلایا جا رہا ہے

ابھی سرکار اٹھے تھے یہاں سے

اٹھا کر پھر بٹھایا جا رہا ہے

درختوں سے اتر کے آے تھے نا

وہیں پے پھر چڑھایا جا رہا ہے

اسی پانی پے جھگڑا تھا ہمارا

اسی میں اب سمایا جا رہا ہے

عقل کے ناخنوں سے تھی عداوت

انہی سے سر کھجایا جا رہا ہے

Tribute

She never wanted to come back from Quetta, and she was never happy in Karachi. But both her sons were working in Karachi and most of relatives moved from Quetta as well after city started to become hostile for settlers (a term in use for people residing in Quetta which are not Pushtoons or Balochs. May be useful to mention this city was chosen by British as the garrison head quarters for the troops responsible to secure borders with Afghanistan and Iran, it was a strategic location and suited for British interest.  It was due to British interest and the garrison that the city prospers and attracted people from across India to start or extend their businesses to fulfil the growing demands and keep up with the supplies required. This was the origin of a large non native population of Quetta, and contributed with skilled man power necessary to maintain an urban centre.  A good example is famous Marker family of Quetta. These people (settlers) brought education and prosperity with them; they supported the local population and contributed in emergence of an educated middle class in Balochistan, most importantly they made Balochistan their home and never looked back.  This contribution is now largely ignored by the nationalists for whatever reasons they have; history here is a victim) and continues abuse and killings made people migrate from this dear city of theirs. It is sad to see people migrating twice or thrice in a life time, there is a huge human cost in all the events in history, which is always paid by those who are never mentioned any where and forgotten.

So she was forced to move from Quetta after she retired on the reason that there was nothing left for her there. What was forgotten was that the city was not separated from her; it was where she grew up and which gave her refuge and support always whenever she needed. They were inseparable, and it was apparent from her condition when she stayed in Karachi for a while. She was as independent and self sufficient as her city was; she did not need and knew no bounds. It was natural for her to be sad while away from where she belonged. It happens when people spent all their life in one place, when the place, its weather, its atmosphere, its places, its people, its markets, its roads are the only familiarity they have, when they come into peace with the place and become one self, inseparable. It is like you can not grow a cactus in a rainy forest, mushrooms only grow where there is rain.

So was natural for her to be happy when she got a chance to go back to the city, to her independence, to herself. She was really very happy, and this time she was going there for the last time, looks like she knew that for she met every one she knew since her childhood, all her friends and well wishers, all acquaintances and everyone to whom she had to ask for forgiveness. She arranged that the mosque in her neighbourhood in carpeted, she managed her bank accounts and moved the balance in to a single one.  She visited every place in Quetta and breathed to the fullest.

Quetta was once held by Khans of Kalat, and Kalat is considered gateway to Queta and a road is constructed which joins Karachi to Quetta via Lasbela, Khuzdar, Kalat and Mastung. It is near Kalat where the accident occurred and she breathed her last. She was fast asleep when a truck overtaking hit the vehicle on her side. It is not strange that no other passenger amongst the five (including the driver  of the Toyota 2D )was hurt; she was the only one amongst the five.  She was the only one who did not want to go away from Queta.

 What is a tragedy for some, can be fun for others; some people stolen the valuables while those with whom she was travelling were busy in managing the incident, taking care of the dead body and moving her to a safe place. But what she was taking for her loved ones was safe, cloths she sewed for her grand children, shopping she did for her family, documents she collected for her daughter; everything was safe, not touched by the greedy, may be they were not able to find it.

I will remember her for her simplicity, sincerity and dedication. Life for her was not a bed of roses, not at all, but what she managed to do for others despite all the hardships and difficulties is amazing. For her, unification of family was the biggest objective, and she went out of ordinary to do everything for her family, her children, her siblings, her nephews and nieces, their children and other relatives and friends. Most valuable asset of her personality was forgiveness, which demands a person who has vision and understanding beyond ordinary, who can understand the threads in society and social implications of decisions which destroy the very fabric of relations. Patience was her virtue, which enabled her to stand against all the odds. An extra ordinary life of a very ordinary person, and that is the reason why I am writing these lines, to bring forward some good virtues of her in light.

I feel sorry that she did not give me time. And I am left without serving her, but I have with me what is the dearest and best part of her, her daughter and grand children and I endeavour to take good care of them and preserve and transfer the good deeds and habits of their grand mother to my children; God Willing!

Accidents happen but Mistakes are not to be repeated

Accidents do happen, and we can not predict when and where, what will happen, but we do try to take preventive measures to avoid disasters.
May be right time to remind Pakistanis what they need to know is if all precautions were taken, if all standards were met, if right procedures were followed at all stages before sending that unfortunate plane to air------ till connection was broken.....
Can we ask for independent experts to investigate the case? To know what really happened, and to know what should be done to minimise possibilities so it will not happen again.

how history is taught

I was reading a book on NSW extension history course by Ken Webb. Amazing the youngsters here read Herodotus, Gibbon, Macualay, Hill, Marxist histiography, Annalists, Postmodernism, Relativism, and Deconstructionism. Most important first thing they are thought is analytics, what is history? analyse historian before history; lucky people these fellows must be.....


forgot to mention, it is an HSC course. More details here:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/history-extension.htm l

I wish in developing countries, we can review our education standards. May be very few people here in Australia take interest to study courses such as history extension, but point is how young brains are prepared to understand the world. In contrast to this what we are taught is miserable. Also worth noting is the fact that it is government approved syllabus which is followed. One can check the list of recommended text here:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/history_ext_r eadings.pdf

Noticeable will be the names from across different schools of thought recommended without any prejudice as it is felt that without them any study of history is meaningless and it will not help develop the right scholarship attitude and mind which can explore, asses and continue the process of research and learning to help develop the society. In contrast all we see is rhetoric, negative attitude, denial, abuse, and annihilation of facts on our side of world.

Clearly objectives of both systems are different, one is progressive, democratic and respectful which needs leadership, scholarship, vision and virtue to continue progress of its citizens and society; while the other is on defensive, ruled by powerful few who want to secure their interests, totalitarian and weak.

Habib Jalib Baloch, Obituary

Not sure why, but it was a sad moment when I read about demise of Habib Jalib Baloch. I am sad but I feel it is useless, utterly useless to express my feelings, for no one cares, and it does not matter anymore in Pakistan where people targeted and killed are numbered daily  in two digits. It is like a jungle, and who cares in a jungle about the prey; those who are hunting or those who are getting hunt, all they need is to care about themselves. That is what I am doing, and that is what all remaining Habib Jalibs should do as well, who knows who is next. So this is what I was thinking, what if I am sad? nothing.

His dismissal however will be felt one day, because he was a modest and moderate, urban middle class person. He was someone with whom you can indulge in dialog, someone who was respected from people across different interests and his absence is in favor of both separatists and the establishment. That is why he fall prey, it was required to bring close the decline, because sanity is not a virtue in reign of barbarians.  

Football

Our school van driver (it was a private business) was a busy person, he had taken responsibility of more people than he could manage in one go, hence he used to make two or three rounds when picking up and dropping children, and as his confidents we were the last to be picked up and last to be dropped, it was a friendship agreement, our parents never got to know that. Well, so we had to wait for more than half an hour daily after school, and our favourite pass time was play as usually it should be, and one of the games we played was football, at least that is what we called it. Ground was a “chabootra” (closely like a footpath, but it is built by the house owner as it suits one, and not mandatory) around 12 feet long and six or seven feet wide, goal posts were marked by stones and remarkably the ‘ball’ usually has to be a stone as well as we never felt it necessary to have a ball, nevertheless the balls we tried were the ping pong ball, tennis ball and those small bouncy rubber balls which are mostly lost quickly. Most of time it was a stone as continuous availability of a ball was not possible, and we never felt it was necessary. But now, as I imagine myself playing with a stone along with a bunch of boys on a foot path, it feels crazy, but that is the beauty of that game as I discovered it later (anyone anyway, all you need is something which can be hit and move afterwards). That was my introduction to football, and of course we never cared about rules, it was only when I started to play with my classmates in a proper football field, I came to know about rules. And this is another great quality of the game; for sure you do not need to worry about ’offside’ very much and who hits his comrades by will? It was only accidental if somebody was hurt. So we were all set to enjoy and play, and that is what we did.

It was not only footpath; I have played football in the garage, in courtyard, on the road, in the garden, in the playground (not a football ground) and in proper football field as well. I should mention that I never was a good player, but who cares and no one cared, it was for fun we played, so as people do. And in a community where hatred and division was on rise (race, ethnicity, religion, you name it and we had it, yes those were the days when Afghan war was in full swing, Zia was in his prime, MQM was becoming powerful in Urban Sindh and we had started to witness the rise of trends now we debate daily ) it was a blessing for me, as I find something in common with Sindhis, and Punjabis, and Pathans, and Hindus and Christians, something where no one cared about being a Shia or a Sunni (not only football, but cricket and hockey as well which I enjoyed playing with my mates across all communities and classes). I am saying it was a blessing as I learned very early that end of the day we are humans despite all our differences (something which many grownups fail to realize till their end) and despite differences we can always find something common, I also learned that we all feel and react same way, or joys and sorrows, our physical and mental limitations, how we get motivated, how we get hurt, how we get injured, how we go into conflicts, why we need mediation, another person to provide us with the justice. Yes to the core of it, we are all one and same. I am thankful to football, it thought me a very important lesson in my life.

And that is what thousands of others across the globe do, they play and enjoy with whatever means they can have, this is a game for everyone, this is a game for anywhere. And that is the beauty of this game, the reason why it is so much popular across the globe, this game provides opportunities to everyone.

(I am reding on the history of the game, how it developed and became popular, social and other factor behind the game, it is interesting)

Introduction to Dr. Billa (prelude to interview on philosophy of 'langar banto langar') - Part 2

As I said Dr. Billa is a profound historian, one of his great achievements is discovery of ‘Ghazis’ from across the history’, Dr. Billa has created a tower of heroes, and he is sitting on top of this tower looking tall and mighty and people like me can only admire those wuthering heights which he has achieved in this moral life , the proof of the depth of his scholarship is that he has only testified the epics in which a hero is fighting against infidels, he says all else is mere crap, and no one can object because he is such a profound scholar, no one can deny him.

He wants every youth of his nation to be a ghazi, only problem is availability of that many infidels to fight with, but Dr. Billa and his associates are working hard to increase the number of infidels, that is why we hear ‘he is kaafir (infidel)’, ‘she is kaafir’ every now and then. This is yet another proof how much depth and demand Dr. Billa’s philosophy has. Hakeem Izafi, one of admirers of Dr. Billa took responsibility of the supply of ghazis from the youth of the nation, his is a immense success story, his ghazis have shown great courage and bravery (we can say brevity as well) on platforms like drawing rooms, clubs, talk shows, and internet forums, Hakeem Izafi has created a facility for them, where they learn to fight with infidels in their dreams. By continuous dreaming, these ghazis have become so much sleepy and lousy that no one turned around when Hakeem Izafi tried to call their first annual public meeting.

There is no doubt that these theories of Dr. Billa are highly appreciated and regarded in scholastic circles. It is said that every great thinker is voice of his age as he answers to the needs and demands of that age. Theories of Dr. Billa portray in which age we are living and what kind of needs and demands are highly in demand. I am thinking to invite Eric Hobsbawm to write a detailed contemporary account of this age, and title should be ‘age of Langar’. Many a people will think that I am exaggerating, but we do not understand that Dr. Billa is voicing a phenomenon which is greatly shaping the societies of many countries in the region. Concept of ‘langar banto langar’ is highly appreciated by rich and powerful across this region, this helps them keep high moral to do everything they can do in accumulating from people to serve people.

Most important characteristic of Dr. Billa’s character is his humbleness; he raises his voice on every important issue and conflict, and goes into deep details and research and writes into daily Bhang on it, same time he demands that no one should start arguing with him, if by chance he is surrounded, he get out of it by saying he is a mere student not a professional politician or historian. To be on safe side he has created a list of traitors with proper categorization, some of them are agents of the powers conspiring against us, some are those whose children are studying in neighboring country, some are the thankless who have got everything from this country but they do not want to return anything, he believes only thankless can be so mean to criticize their leaders which are natural born innocents.


(Next will be the interview with this infamous personality)

Note:-
--What is written above is fictitious; any resemblance with real life characters, organizations or events will be coincidental

Introduction to Dr. Billa (prelude to interview on philosophy of 'langar banto langar')

I have been very curious to interview some of my country’s intellectual especially from the journalist class who write in newspapers, as they are a very impressive lot, looks like they have solution to all our problems but no one listens to them, though some of the newspapers in which they write are circulated in millions daily. But sadly I was not able to get hold of them, reason is that I live thousands of miles away and I can only write to these eminent personalities and of course they receive posts in thousands daily, admiring their thoughts and efforts they do to solve problems of this nation, most of them spend time meeting ministers, generals, lords and businessmen; attending official dinners and events, hence it is surely difficult for them to check their mails and reply specially answering those which stops them from doing what they do the best and ask them to think (a habit which they have lost in process of evolution). Even if I would be at home, it will be difficult for a common person like me to reach the drawing rooms of these eminent personalities, surely if they spend their time meeting jerks like me then who will be working and writing on solving our problems?

Fortunately my dear friend Majeed introduced me to Dr. Billa, a very prominent scholar living overseas and working hard in the struggle to solve the problems of his fellow countrymen. He writes regularly in daily Bhang, which is widely circulated newspaper of my country, long before 3-idiots was released or even its story was conceived, our daily Bhang was reciting ‘all is well’ and it has a big contribution in keeping our masses silent, as silence brings peace and peace is the pathway for prosperity ( if you don’t ask whose prosperity it is? Then ‘all is well’). Nevertheless he is very much respected across all walks of life especially by politicians, land lords, army generals, bureaucrats and religious scholars.

Why Dr. Billa is called Dr. Billa? it is a very interesting story as well. During his student years when he was doing his Masters and eventually PHD( in sociology and history related subjects like Islamiat, Pakistan Studies, and Urdu literature), he was famous for his laziness, he was sleeping all the time everywhere. He was only waking up when nature calls, i.e. when someone was offering him food, or when it was required to get attention of opposite sex, or if someone was stepping on his tail (offending him) or you know when it can’t be helped waking up and going to respond call of nature. Only then he was waking up and acting accordingly. Hence his friends started calling him Billa (cat), he continues to carry this name and associated characteristics.

Majeed my friend is considered mentally retarded and so no one takes any notice of what he says or does, for same reason he is considered harmless and hence he succeeds in reaching where I cannot, otherwise I am sure I was not able to conduct this highly important interview in which Dr. Billa explained his philosophy of ‘Langar banto Langar’ necessary to keep masses happy where they are, and other beliefs important for stability of the country like ‘don’t ask question you traitor’ ---- you are a traitor if you question any established and accepted narrative surrounding inception of the motherland or events happened afterwards, because it will destabilize the masses and harm the peaceful situation where ‘all is well’, or calling every passed away leader of ours ‘Rehmat –Ulla-Alleh’ ----so that they will become saints and we spent all our lives reciting qawwalis on their shrines, and hang those who say anything not worthy of those personalities.

(To be Continued)

Note:-

--What is written above is fictitious; any resemblance with real life characters, organizations or events will be coincidental

--'Langar banto langar' means give alms and alms and alms.

Dr. Safdar Mehmood's column

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jun2010-daily/20-06-2010/col2.htm

what is really worrying is the reach these 'scholars' have through newspapers such as Jung which is most widely read in Pakistan. What historical sense people will gain? His opinion that Muslim League was a democratic party(we need to know how Muslim League council functioned?); that Musalmans of India voted for Pakistan (75% ?????, in NWFP there ... See Morewas boycott by majority); the massacres during partition were planned by Sikhs(who was killing Hindus and Sikhs in NWFP, Punjab and even in Sindh?); all these points are questionable and need scrutiny.
First book I came to access; published on Muslim League is "The Muslim League: its history, activities & achievements" by Lal Bahadur published by Agra Book Store in 1954, AHAM.
"The All India Muslim League, 1906-47" by Nadeem Shafiq Malik, Published by National Book Foundation in 1997??? Is it the first official written history of the founding party of the country? in 1997? ok after finishing 50 years in being, someone thought that it is a good idea.

"The History Of The Indian National Congress" by Pattabhi Sita Ramaiah was published in 1935 by working committee of INC. I have this book, may be not very scholarly but it shows the sense of direction of the people and workers and their leaders. Muslim League sadly has no such record.

And then he is calling 'thankless' those who want to know, how much healthy is such behavior for a progressive nation? what he wants people to do? just accept whatever thought to them without saying nay, without asking its credibility, without trying to understand the motive.
Pitty we have such people followed and acknowledged!

Abrar and Jawwad

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/images/abrar-and-jawad-draw-daggers-360 (viewed 19 June 2010)

Its a shame for both of them, and yet another display of growing intolerance in our society and immaturity of people of reputation in Pakistan. When institutions (like education, civics, law and order, journalism) are delined, effects go deep down into psychology of people and no one seems to be safe from it :( maturity and patience comes from knowledge

Here it is mentioned that the salary of Abrar's brother is more than what he stated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrar-ul-Haq (viewed 19 June 2010)

On BoyCott of facebook

I was perhaps amongst the first who reported that 'page' as abusive, that was my first action, and it was indeed very unpleasent to see that page alive. I decided to be here as things are not that much in black and white as we want them to be, by leaving space for others and going on back foot will push us towards the wall, I think it is not a good... See More idea, not for us, neither for our next generation.
Let’s not boycott (though it is the easiest thing to do) but face it peacefully (this is also Sunnah, or say an aspect of Sunnah), so that we can present a sober and effective outlook of Muslims and Islam. Let’s try to be strong in knowledge, and economy, and then we can really make a difference, let’s do good for the people and put our energies to fight corruption and social evils in our society (I wish my people would have come out against corruption and injustice with equal zeal and emotion) and that LHC and the society has taken notice of the maltreatment Ummah of Muhammad (PBUH) received from its oppressors, I think real blasphemy is seeing corruption and abuse going on and not to raise voice against it, who we are afraid of? God or Police(or people with power)? check the level of your ‘Iman’ and resist giving bribes, safe the women from abuse, save your children from hardships, give them education, create a safe future for them, go and vote in elections, select the right people. How many of us can dare to do so in real life? Please look at the real issues, don’t just satisfy yourself; raise your voice where it is really required to be raised, say ‘No’ where it puts you in difficulty, and check if you are a real believer or not.

MQM, TTP, Feudals and Pakistan

It is not just MQM or TTP but almost all other mainstream and nationalist parties in Pakistan which are actually supported or infiltrated by the Feudal class of Pakistan. May I suggest that we should not forget the role of the Pakistani Feudal class and that we should really revisit and research on the role of Feudal, their motives and objectives behind supporting all anti progressive forces in Pakistan.
MQM specially deserves more rational and unbiased analysis, as they enjoy a mass support in Urban areas of Sindh, it is not totally true that they win because of force and violence or rigging elections, they in fact enjoy a wide stream support from the people who once were in the forefront of democratic movements of Pakistan (please do not overlook the demographic facts e.g. education rate in Karachi is far higher than any other part of Sindh, and hence people living here are more politically aware and learned irrespective of their ethnic background) , whether it was in favor of Fatima Jinnah, in favor and than against Bhutto, or against Zia. Those people (called Muhajirs or Urdu-Speaking, both terms look stupid and naive after 50 years of inception of Pakistan and 4th Generation of Pakistanis in their youth and in a city like Karachi which is rightly called mini Pakistan) were perhaps the biggest threat to the Feudal class in Pakistan. Now they have been forced to be curbed and confined within the Metropolitan Sindh. It is a pity to see major nationalist parties in Sindh adopting a biased and anti democratic behavior against Muhajirs and as a result they are supporting MQM by proving it right. During 1980s a virtual wall was build between urban and rural population of Sindh, people were forced to migrate from both sides and violence, killing, looting, rapes all brutal means were adopted to support the divide (It is a pity no one has written anything for those who were affected, those stories still waiting for our attention). It was naivety of nationalists in Sindh and Pakistani Progressives in general that they did not raise their voice against it, they failed to realize the real motive and that motive was Feudal interest and preservation of Feudal status, which we can see is defended very well. If you have any doubt please revisit Sindh, and you will feel that divide in all walks of life. So those who were supposed to be aligned on basis of class struggle are now divided on the basis of race. Nationalists have been played with, and it is apparent from the famous term 'Sindh Card' we usually heard about PPP playing in elections.
TTP or Taliban should also be analyzed in same manner, those who were supposed to get united as a class are now divided on the basis of religion, they have been kept away from their basic rights of education and health while they are wasting their energies in Jihad. Now you can clearly realize why leaders are supporting them or supported them in past.

Hazardous!!!!!!!!!!!

I wrote this on a friend's wall in facebook :

"Believe in what you think is true and don't become an egoist so that you can accept when you realize you were wrong or when you do not know; we are not complete, and we learn and so we progress. I think if you keep your focus simple then you can not get deviated because of ridicule around you; and truth is a very simple thing :) problem is that we are always afraid of accepting it because of ridicule around us; survival always takes precedence."
This was to reply her concern that it is becoming difficult for her to grasp what is right and what is wrong, what is a truth and what is a lie; surely this world has become complex day by day, or shall i say we humans and our world has become complex, both of us are not what we were thousand years, or hundred years, or few years or an year ago. Complexity is a sign of evolution, every evolving system is more complex than what it was in past and lesser complex than what it will evolve into; though the the final stage will be the simplest.

But it is not only complexity which is a problem but the deception induced in to the sources of knowledge and understanding; that deception of course is necessary and part of the process of evolution because everything tends to be what it is so as the evolving system. The system tries hard to resist a change and , this tendency to resist a change is a survival instinct; it is that same survival instinct however which becomes a tool in the hands of forces of change and a cause of evolution.

I usually do not take problems which I can not solve :) because what I can not understand is what I can not solve and what I can not understand is not worthy of my time, rather I should concentrate on what I can understand to be able to understand more of what I can not understand. That is why I always become confused when people started to talk of everything like everything is very simple; when they talk of Plato, Spinoza, Hegel, Kant and Marx or any other great philosopher and they refer to their work as it is something like a comic. Very honestly I have not even opened books I have collected on Hegel as I do not find myself able to understand him, whenever I start Freud I sleep, I am trying to read Schopenhauer these days and I had to read every paragraph twice or thrice to understand his world as will, dialectics took some time before I grasps it, and Marx is still difficult, when I take a book on Islamic political thought, I got mesmerized by the the depth of efforts people have put in to create that system, so as I feel about any other theological system of thought. I do not find myself able to reject it all let alone accepting it; for acceptance is a more difficult process than rejection.

Do not think that I am a dumb idiot who can not understand simple things; for I am not what I was yesterday and I will not be what I am today :) there are many who think I am still that dumb which I used to be ten years back, ah I am not and I can promise; if I survive till tomorrow I will not be that dumb as I am today. So what did I write about a system? Don't you think characteristically I am like that system to which I belong?

Maulana Azad on Partition of India

This is a historic speech from a well known scholar and a National leader of India. If we listen to it calmly and with an open mind, we can understand most of what he perceived earlier was right, whatever be the reason division can only bring more division. That is why I adore Abraham Lincoln and his fellow leaders of America that they never accepted division of United States, though it was an easy option. I wish our leaders (weather from Muslim League or Indian National Congress)could have that far sightedness, broad vision, tolerance and lesser egos and of course a lesser appetite for power.

Those who put forward state of current Indian affairs as an argument in favor of communalism which include emergence to power of Far right political parties like BJP or RSSS, and the communal violence against minorities; they tend to forget to look on the other side of picture which includes the secular parties and a past (more than a thousands year now) and present in which Hindus and Muslims still live peacefully together, shall I put forward examples of Kerala and Soorat? There is no violence against Muslims or any other Minority in many states of India. Communal problem has many aspects which need research and a policy of tolerance before one can embark on commenting or forming an opinion. If you start from 'Nay' you are not expected to reach any where, as Naysayers always do in all walks of life.

In Pakistan, major problem is how history is written and 'preached' to the younger generations, they have never been thought tolerance, our history as well as literature is full of wars and ultimate success. We are not told that war has a price, which we all have to pay, we have not been told about the masses who suffered during wars (holy or not), the people who were massacred, the women who were raped or enslaved, the man who were killed, their families who suffered from hunger and devastation, they are all out of our history, even if they were our own.

So as the communal problem in India, if Hindus were that bad how come our ancestors managed to live with them for more than thousand years, how came most of us are off springs of Hindus who embarrassed Islam, why not they were killed by their relations and how was this tolerated by the society? India was ruled in a decentralized way by Muslim Sultans and then Mughals, their administrative framework was geared to keep the treasury full, they never bothered to alter the Indian society hence their influence on common people was negligible and most of people in their armies and administrative work force were Hindus. Islam spread amongst masses not by force but due to other more peaceful reasons, by force it was not possible convert India to Islam and hence it was not tried otherwise what was better than that? The first Arab Governer in India Muhammed Bin Qasim never tried a mass conversion of Indian masses to Islam, as he was not ordered to do so and that was not the policy of Arabs. All Muslim rulers who came in to India after him, followed same policies. SO how was it possible that we lived and prosper for more than thousand years in Hindu majority India and all changed within hundred years of British arrival? If we see India at the time of arrival of western powers, it was by no means a Muslim ruled country, as Mughals were declined and most of India was ruled by independent rulers (both Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs), there was a communal identity but not a division.

History has been thought to Pakistanis from a communal point of view so that they can not look at the big picture which serves the interest of our ruling elite.

And forget about the Muslims of India, we do not have to do anything with them now, just like we do not have to do anything with the Bangladesh and its people. Consequences of this mentality are appearing brightly as we now have nationalist movements inside Pakistan. No matter how hard we try to blame others, it is our deed and we have to resolve or we will have to face the consequences.