A random free-write on current affairs...

Death for blasphemy, and a delay of justice... I must say what a combination. A law and frankly the set of its ilk remain in my opinion one of the most out-dated, discriminatory and all other derogatory terms which can be applied to it. Yes, I refer to the Hudood Ordinances, yes the very same.

But let me not mention this specifically, but rather talk about the issue in general. The mastermind of militaristic dictator, who himself had no understanding of the repercussions and consequences that would follow. Furthermore, adding to all this madness we have a nation full of people eligible for the crown for the “king for fools”; and that being the least of the associated problems.  Before the Women’s Protection Bill was passed, A woman who could not provide four male witnesses to an after filling for prosecution against a rapist was then in danger of being convicted or “tried” for “zina” (Extra Marital sex). Naturally women could not successfully prove many a Rape case and then they themselves found their liberty or whatever was remnant of it, gone, just because they sought Justice. Even after the bill has been passed it is still a sham.

Now onto blasphemy; I would like to point most of you to a wonderful article by Sami Shah http://tribune.com.pk/story/81268/horror-of-the-week/

Some very very valid points were made. If you wish to apply something as law then do so fully.

We live to our own accords, that is a very open fact. But that should not admonish our ability to come to terms with one another... sure we may have grudges and so forth but is it really that hard for us to put our ego aside once in a while and try to be human with others. “live and let live” I wonder whatever happened to that. We are not cannibals, though our system teaches us to be. We are humans, gifted with intellectual capacity and free will to make our own REASONED choices.

       

Our own D-class Reality....

So here we are now, Floods, Cricket Scandal, Blasts in Lahore, Firing in Karachi and what not....... The outcome of all this, NOTHING!. A bit of drama much needed.....

It doesn't take an Einstein to realize something must be done. But then this a nation of Individuals who need to realize this collectively in order to achieve something. If we keep living like this, wonder how long will it take to get burnt. Also what is so amazing is that everyone is on a power trip, I mean from the lowest strata to the highest of society, everyone thinks that they can never be wrong and who says otherwise is too stupid to understand, hmmm.... I think a much needed personal introspection is needed. Here is a nation who's favorite game is the Blame Game, Favorite Sport outdoor brawls, and the list just goes on.

The question now and has always been (in my opinion) Where are we going?? A nation full of contradictions which are integrated with it's culture, and the Sin is that we have also merged our faith with culture and have failed to realize so.. God Help us   

A Thing to Ponder

After a talk with a dear friend, it occurred to me that many have forgotten the way in which life should be epic. I mean although I cannot have orchestras playing the background music to my life, theres no harm in assuming they are, or when I find that special soul on whose presence my knees begin to shake and jitter and just talking becomes the toughest of challenges, that flowers blow with the wind. How have we as a race forgotten who we really are; individuals who in reality can be anything. Has society really become that detrimental towards the development of our ambitions no matter how extravagant they maybe or simply does society not want us to think that life can be EPIC. I do realize that these may seem like immature themes to tackle and resemble an after school special. But I digress it is something to wonder; Why don't we aspire to be BIG? at least anymore that is...

A Battle Embodied

Oh the face I have yet to see,
hiding behind scars,
leaving trails within dreams,
the duo that fails to agree,
yet embody the same,
for what are we?
one provides assuredness,
the other thrives anarchy,
one depicts a peaceful saint,
one challenges the behemoth,
 the question still remains,
within the throes of the mind,
do I find thee,
restless, screaming and sophisticated,
I did not seek,
but how have you been found then,
through my own denial?
that is of your existence,
you bring forth my grave!,
and yet make me smile,
you tell me all the same,
one who embodies the same,
and as us we must remain.......

Killing our own Targets

The recent target killings in Karachi caused a spur and a big one at that too. What was surprising once more was that only a day after the wave everything was back to normal people acted as though it never happened. I mean lets look at scenario, Universities were closed down in respective areas, also markets and jobs, quite allot of activity was stopped due to this madness of sorts. Yet people resumed life as though its something normal.

Now you can look at this in two lights; one Karachi as a city has become extremely resilient and is sending a message to extremists groups that "screw you!! you are not going to bring us down" and if thats the case then hats off to the city and its denizens for being who they are and showing the world whats what. But like I said earlier there are two ways of looking at this, the other being that we have become desensitized to such acts of violence that we remain indifferent and brush the "dirt" of our shoulders. If that is the case then I sincerely think that we have literally lost the fight. 

Think about it; people die, and the only reaction that can be mustered is a casual "oh it happened, really?, oh well". It was not long ago that as a younger lot we use to feel a tinge of sadness at even the passing of a complete stranger thinking how hard it must be for the family of the said individual, even if it was an expected death by natural causes. 

Now let me put that very same reasoning onto the recent wave of target killings; last I checked 20 or so people were killed, that means 20 families including wives and children have lost a special individual in their lives. My condolences go out to them. 

Yet also I hear this utterly obscene excuse of an argument for self-justification of said desensitization "well they probably deserved it". My Reply "WHO died and made you judge". Seriously the courts exist for a reason and no matter how many acts (sinful or otherwise) the person may have committed, his life is not in your hands or anyone else's. Now some might argue that our courts are unreliable hence such violent forms of political killings can be justified. Well if you don't like the local legal system their are bodies who deal with this sort of stuff on an international level. Now people will say all sorts of things to provide an excuse as to why not go to said bodies but at the end of the day they are "excuses".

In Conclusion (I am still wondering how offtrack I just went), our society does not lack capability to act against such crimes but rather does not want to anymore (quite sad really) citing that it has done all it can quite a defeatist argument if you ask me. In reality we have killed our own targets, those targets being are ambitions, goals and aspirations. Nowadays everyone settles down into the usual routine work, home, tv, sleep and back to work with the occasional night out for dinner and feign some form of contentment towards it. And whats worst of all if anyone dares to make the "SINFUL" mistake of actually trying to be someone and making a difference, society tries with all its might to bring that person "back" into a supposed state of normalcy. 

I think what we as individuals should focus on is breaking these taboos and actually dare to dream, to try and be better than what we expect from ourselves. Always breaking barriers and constantly improving, for at the end of it all, we always will have allot to learn.

Something to mull over

“The greatest blasphemy of all is a child going hungry, a child condemned to the slow death of starvation. The miscarriage of justice is blasphemy. Misgovernment is blasphemy. An unconscionable gap between rich and poor is blasphemy. Denial of treatment to the sick, denial of education to the child, are alike examples of blasphemy.” – Mr Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan (Muhammad Mahboob vs The State (PLD 2002 Lahore 587))


I hope this rings some bells for Pakistanis..... 

Facebook : The Reminder

It recently struck a chord, the Facebook dilemma that is. It seems not so long ago that I was double minded on the entire issue arguing Religious sentimentality over economic and social logic and vice versa. Then I saw news of further pages such as the one that got Facebook banned in first place popping up, all claiming that "we do this to show Islamic extremists we are not scared" and "we honor the spirit of the first amendment" - such as the case for Americans - This, and here I emphasis the expression, changed my views altogether. Though I consider myself a more modern Pakistani and mind you let us not associate the term modern with overly secular values, I pray and I fast and devoutly believe in Islam and its message to be peaceful and to show compassion for people, even though they might be riding on your last nerve. But my message to anyone, honestly enough is enough (and this I say to both sides east and west), I mean sure most westerners have adopted this very nice vision of Muslims as a negative force in society (though I still sincerely believe that most still think better of us as a community), and also believe in the right of freedom of speech and/or expression either way you look at it, but that does not provide an excuse for charging the sentimentality and feeling of a community who have no association with extremist militancy. Let us look at this from the cartoonists perspective they might think and happily assume they are acting for a greater cause considering the environment of the world today; honestly I can't blame them, we have to look at our own failings as a people of the world. Most of us even the so called "modern elite" have never countered the west with proper dialog leaving it mostly to the illiterate masses to sort the issue out by the only way they know how. Which would be a show of force; violent rallies and the ilk. This behavior is broad casted in the media so aggressively it resembles a hypodermic syringe being used on the world and the syringe contains a supposed "representation" of us as we are. We as a society live in parallel dimensions so to say mostly resembling a Marxist's rant regarding economic and social disparity between two extremes of social classes this is according to media messages. Yet the western world has truly yet to see the middle class of all this, the Muslims who go out and earn a living, inculcate positive values into their offspring, practice tolerance and wouldn't mind in fact enjoy sharing a intellectual conversation with people of other faiths. The world in which we exist today has become a social war zone where people are being targeted because of their faith, and it comes as no surprise that we are an easy target for our reactions tend to only make matters worse. It was only a recently a Friend said that "Facebook was the best place for such a thing to happen" I was intrigued and asked how and his reply "Facebook is an international forum on which we the educated lot of Muslims exert dominance, it is through that forum we can argue and show who we really are on an extremely large scale, it would provide the perfect medium through which we can make a difference". That reply showed me perfectly the two sides of the whole controversy. The Facebook ban can be justified and I still agree to certain facts but then let us see the other end of the spectrum is it not about time we forgo emotionally charged sentimentality and think logically we cannot keep having bedroom discussions and think we are doing are part or burning tires for some, we have to start looking at situations in a new light and show the world how are Way of Life not religion really is. The solution I pose is a simple one let us change our way of thinking, our motto should be "Feel, Think and Act" not "Feel and go for the kill". 

Amended to no Avail

"Even though we can't afford , the Sky is Over" - Serj Tankian

Apparently that seems to be applying a lot lately to the current situation. The Economic crisis, political dysfunction, unorganized activism leading to nothing but discord. Our beloved politicians claim that the current political scenario is one that will benefit Pakistan in the long run. that brings me to the much appraised 18th amendment so enthusiastically passed; though the text is hard to find (Coincidence, I think not) here are few of the clear salient points:

Reportedly the draft of what is to become the 18th Amendment itself includes 95 amendments to the 1973 Constitution. These 95 amendments will effect 70 Articles of the existing Constitutions. There are three “schedules” and one “Annexure” in the draft package.

In particular, the 18th Amendment will undo the impacts of the 8th Amendment (enacted by Gen. Zia ul Haq) which had altered over 90 Articles of the Constitution, and the 17th Amendment (enacted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf) which had altered 26 Articles of the Constitution.

The famed article 58 (2) (b), which had first been inserted into the Constitution by Gen. Zia ul Haq and allows the President to dissolve Parliament, and which was re-enacted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been removed from the Constitution in the draft.

The new name of the NWFP is to be Khyber-Pakhtunkwa. The PML-N which had long held out on this issue has reportedly agreed to this name change, although PML-Q has maintained some reservations to it as has PPP-Sherpao.

On the other controversial issue of the composition of the Judicial Commission, the PML-N proposal of adding a seventh member who is a retired Supreme Court Judge has been accepted.

The draft proposes removal of many past amendments added by military rulers, including the 17th Amendment.

The draft abolishes the “concurrent list” and gives much more provincial autonomy than is now available to the provinces. The Council of Common Interest has been given additional powers and the provinces have been given more say on national matters by enhancing their representation in the council.

Reportedly the draft “purges” the name of gen. Zia-ul-Haq as President from the Constitution (it is not yet clear what this means in practice).

- "thank you Adil Najam for the points"

Hmmmm...... is it just me or is this always the case that real issues are never addressed for some very odd reason. Poverty, Education, ELECTRICITY!!! etc etc. Here are the heroes who pride themselves on bringing democracy and enforcing the will of the people, though i cannot speak for those who are less privileged but I am pretty darn sure that they would rather see laws being passed which could in turn guarantee them a decent wage, 3 meals a day and housing without the fear of LOAD-SHEDDING, instead of laws that are renaming provinces and erasing names of former presidents "as presidents" just for the sake of political ego. Though it will not be fair to not note that two clauses (Judicial and Article 52 (B)) could in turn provide some form political stability but this does not make up for the fact that the citizens of Pakistan are still not benefiting.

Elected Politicians purely serve the purpose of the people who elected them but in this nation where illiteracy and poverty are rampant within the masses gathering votes is not a tough deal and these politicians serve their own means by using the economic and social advantage to thier own end.

More to come.....