The Malala Episode

Alot has been said about the brave but unfortunate girl. No doubt that what she strives for and gained so much fame for, is unprecedented. The valor and vivid committment she displayed in her age is remarkable.

Although she is the voice of many girls in Pakistan and girl-education promoter, the recent wicked incident has placed her into worlds attention and i can't keep myself from asking - why?

Questions pop up in my mind - was she the only girl that fights for girl-education? Did it have to be the Talibans whom she had to get involved with? How does she differ from girls who fight their families and social circle to be able to go to schools? I've never seen so much international attention into girl-education like this girl and the incident has created.

All these questions force me to belive that there were other motives in play. I don't actually blame those who might have intelligently orcestrated this but rather the majority of Pakistani media and the liberal creed that has followed suite. So, either they are that much naive or complicit in this episode.

Complicit? Well, everyone has its own interests to cater for.

Hopeless hopes, our future - our choices

With the advent of the memogate scandal the whole nation was pretty sure that we will at last get rid of this corrupt leadership - our president and his dwarfs. Despite all resistence from the govt. the opposition and the media achieved in getting the case put up in the court.

We held our breath, prayed and hoped.

The military establishment said it is a reality. The whole nation and the media wanted the truth to come to light. At last, the court decided that it should be probed and invited the central figure Mansoor Ijaz to come to Pakistan and present his version of the story. Now, everyone started waiting for his arrival. The schoolchildren asked their mother before going to school: "Who is Mansoor Ijaz?". The college boy speculated: "Na, he won't come". The barber said to his customer:"Bao Ji, Hun mazza ae ga".

We held our breath, prayed and hoped.

But there were the govt. representatives who had their own opinion. Starting by accusing him of being an anti-pakistan and a threat to pakistan to threatening him with putting him on the ECL and starting old cases against him. Rehman Malik, the one being the foremost in threatening him openly. But, Mansoor Ijaz, as brave he is swore he would come and release the nation from the tyranny of this govt. So, we all were sure that he would come. He has to.

We held our breath, prayed and hoped.

Now, Mansoor Ijaz, the central figure in this whole episode has decided not to come. Not once, not twice but repeatedly. Allegedly, he is being pressured by the US as well. Who knows. But, what we are sure is that our dreams and hopes in getting this govt. pack up are tarnished.

We are lost.

Yesterday, it was a national security issue, today there is talk of having settled the issue internally and a DEAL. Is this our destiny? The whole nation is being held hostage to a climax situation and suddenly it all fades away - history repeating itself?. It is a fact that our nation and our youth has become politically aware and want to be kept informed of the happenings in the political arena. But is it any good for their health, education and career. All the time and energy spent for this political awareness and hopes of change can't they be spent somewhere worthwhile?

Imran Khan is the new hope for the youth of pakistan. What he will do differently - only time will tell. But i guess the majority of Pakistan have tried all the other parties, why not try one more. A new one. 'The new kid on the block'.

What choices do we have left? There are some who believe 'All is well' - the PPP for the whole country and the PMLN for punjab. There are others who believe the govt. should pack up because each day the country is being robbed in all possible ways.

As i see it, the country's sole existence is because of a certain 'Establishment' - the army. Everytime a democratically elected govt. comes to power they just don't perform and somehow or the other give way for the Establishment to throw them out. The very same politicians blame the army for not having let them complete their tenure so that the democratic system takes shape. But, i say, each time the military took over, weren't the people happy that they have gotten rid of these corrupt leaders? At least in 1999. If these leaders were that much honest, wouldn't we see the slightest of progress in a span of just two years? Instead we get hold of these so called democratically elected folks for almost three years and its then we cry out and realize that although not democratic the Establishment was better.

But the reality is, even if the Establishment is behind everything they weren't able to provide Pakistan the one true leader who could do something for the country. Its a flip flop from army to democracy and again army. Maybe the army should just stay forever so that we don't have to look for a possible democratic change each time. If we are really intimidated by the US and just can't handle the pressure and the conspiracies we should just hand over the country to the US. Its sad but the fact is because of our poor performance and some external forces we are just not safe anymore. External or internal, the poor man just doesn't get justice. If we can't be self sufficient and are living a miserable life why just not succumb to US for example. Even if they are not islamic and economically well off the people are safe and live a happy life. Is that a choice we should make? Maybe.

As Hassan Nisar has wonderfully narrated his opinion that for him there is no more surprise left except to hear that the country's land registry has been made to someone else. Imran Khan i guess is truely the last hope. Not because he is so fantastic but just because he is someone new and if we have tried all others why not try someone different - a very last time before anyone decides to go abroad. Because then our hopeless hopes will be gone forever.

Pakistan: Democracy, Army and the rest of us

I don't understand what is going on with the people of pakistan. We are moving to a situation like the US where there is no 'thinking-of-its-own'. Where is all the common sense gone?

Let's get history straight: Pakistan came into being. Army was responsible to defend the borders and the political setup was responsible for running the Govt. The Govt failed repeatedly bringing the country to the brink of disaster. Someone had to intervene to rescue - even if unconstitutionally and temporarilly - it was the army (with all their managerial skills). Who would you have liked to intervene for the last rescue of Pakistan - The Nanny from the US??? This Topy drama went on quite a few times.

What i am saying is that at least for me what matters the most is what kind of satisfaction the people of Pakistan get at the end of the day. The fact is the so-called democratic govts. failed each time they came into power and delivered nothing- NOTHING at all. Why would the Army topple a govt. that is performing well, achieving recognition in all fields and is seen as a thriving new economy world over??? Could the democratic system be healed if any of the military takeovers hadn't happend - we will never know but the chances are slim.

Musharraf although didn't do any good when he came into power but he delivered. Fact check: Back then the sole objection and outcry came from politicians who wanted democracy or their Kursi back. Now, when there is democracy politicians and every person on the street has objections and is crying.

The constitution is a piece of paper that can only be deemed sacred if the implementation of it can be assured. With dishonest govts the implementation can not be delivered. For an ordinary citizen democracy does not play a vital role, the only thing that he cares for is with what satisfaction he goes to sleep at the end of the day. Democracy is a word well heard in countries like sweden and norway where people actually care for one another and are honest. Unfortunately our leaders don't have these traits so we shouldn't be complaining if we give the army room to take over. Army is like a sweeper - someone has to clean up the mess.

Pakistan's religious double game - part 2

Pakistan is right now at a crucial crossroad to decide what it stands for and for what purpose Mohammad Ali Jinnah achieved this land. Killing in the name of religion is nothing new in Pakistan but the killing of a prominent figure, Governor Salman Taseer, got widespread attention and media coverage. Every political representative disapproved the act and was against this specific killing but almost nobody was even bold enough to speak out about Mumtaz Qadri's logic behind it.

In times where our society is psychologically manipulated by religious factions, are politicians who run this country for us independent to make their decisions? It's not just the political landscape, the ordinary citizen is in a desperate situation, either they speak out the truth and face social alienation and torture or just go with the flow and support the clerics. The norm till now was going with the last option even if it was the wrong choice to make. What wonders me, is the sheer double standard that every Pakistani is displaying.

If you take the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, it is the most persecuted religious organization in Pakistan. Its members are mistreated, tortured and deprived of any social and economic stature. It would require a separate discussion about the atrocities on Ahmadies, but what really is astonishing is the way that people of Pakistan in general treat Ahmadies in different situations. Living abroad, me as a proud Ahmadi, when i meet Pakistani friends, who are not Ahmadies, they refrain from talking about the Ahmadiyya Jamaat issue and say to me:

"Leave it, we are not in Pakistan - just live your life here as you wish"

These same people when going to Pakistan, would be obligated to declare Ahmadies as Infidels as not to be socially distanced. Do these people have a conscience? To suit ones beliefs according to situation and own interest for the most is the norm in the western countries.

Killing of Ahmadies in Pakistan is propagated by the Khatm e Nabuwwat organization by means of public gatherings and flyers. The majority of clerics in Pakistan approve of this organization and second their opinion. No investigation or the mere interest is taken by the government. According to this organization, killing someone who is against the blasphemy law is an act that would ensure a place in heaven, which is deemed to be obligatory for every true Muslim. But what if they would be abroad here, what would they do, would they still be inciting this act knowing the law would imprison them by the sheer intent of killing someone? The true face of a believer comes in sight when he faces hurdles and still keeps loyal to his beliefs. So every Pakistani who lives abroad has to be asked, why don't they take up arms and start the killing of Ahmadies? Its an act declared to be holy by the clerics. Every political leader has to be asked why don't they openly support this stance. They should openly proclaim that this is the true religion. May be every person in Pakistan is following a double standard life. Why are clerics not successful in achieving the support of the rich who can propagate this message across every media channel of Pakistan? Why don't TV channels show these clerics preaching this message on TV.

Every political figure should openly declare whether they are for or against the killing of Ahmadies.

Summary: To see the true face of these so called Muslim Pakistanis and political leaders in specific, the only way is that they come out in a western country and openly declare whether they are for or against the killing of Ahmadies. I'm sure they would refrain from it because material gain is much more deer to them then the religion they adhere to.

Pakistan's religious double game

Although living in the 'Islamic' Republic of Pakistan are we really Muslims? A question that would definitely be answered with a 'sure' or even by todays standards would be frowned upon. But still i ask - are we really muslims? There are alot of anomolies that one could go into but one that is never been debated or even talked about is the womans veil in our society according to islamic teachings - because we apparantly prescribe to it. I'm not putting forth the radicalized version of the 'womans veil' but living in times of 'Enlighted Moderation' we still are muslims. Alot has been said about the subject of woman and the veil and in the society we live in we see all sorts of women with their own interpretation of the veil - good or not good i'll leave it to them. But what is interesting is the fact that the mainstream clerics who are a spiritual guidance for us are playing a double game here. On one side they want women to wear the full hijab (the one that goes from head to toe) and on the other side there is no objection to the elite women who is not even having on a 'Dupatta'. Entertainment shows, News Talk Shows every one watches them, i'm sure these maulanas watch them too everyday. Women on TV Talk Shows wearing tight dresses, wearing no dupatta or hijab - its becoming the norm. Apparently, there is no difference anymore from the indian news broadcast and the pakistani one.

I never heard of any maulana with an objection in this matter. But they are really hardlined with other issues like blasphemy law these days. Approving the killing of a governor in the name of god is deemed to be more worthy then raising an objection to the changing norms of our generation. Why are maulanas silent in this regard? Why don't they put fatwas on these channels? Are there personal gains involved?

Its not just the clerics, the majority of the people are involved in it. Nobody talks about it - whats wrong. We like to watch Award Shows full of glamour and all the beauty of the participants - its not less then the one held in indian culture. But maulana sahib doesn't say a thing. Why don't they disapprove of it?

Ok, if you as an orator or spiritual guide do not object to it then i guess its nothing wrong with it. Then there is no wrong in not wearing a veil or a hijab. But why is it that this is only seen in pakistan's posh areas. Lahore Defence, Islamabad Jinnah Market etc. you'll see pakistani-muslim girls wearing t-shirts and jeans. Slowly as you move towards the suburbs and then to the more rural area - the veil or hijab gets more acceptance and usage. I'm sure the elite and posh community has a mosque or two in their secotrs or areas. I'm also sure these mosques have a maulana or a maulvi sahib in there. Isn't it the duty of these people to guide the lost souls. Its youngsters who are prone to the western culture, its the bitter fruit they want to try out themselve to come to a conclusion - but its the duty of parents and evenmore the task of our spiritual leaders to guide us. But why don't they say a thing about this matter?

Is it may be because they wouldn't want to distance themselve from the rich and powerfull who are their prime source of income? I'll leave the issue of the relationship of rich and maulvi sahib for you to ponder on.

In summary, ask yourself these questions:

1. Why are the posh girls or girls/woman on TV allowed to be that free in not caring for their veil and no religiuos/spiritual leader talks about it?

2. Why are girls or women in rural areas bound to wear a veil or even mistreated if they don't wear hijab? Isn't it that the best hijab according to maulvi sahibs in rural areas is the one that goes from head to toe?

Disclaimer: I'm not for a radicalized version of Islam neither to judge the norm a woman prescribes to. Its a decision that every person has to make for himself what is good and what not. Whether one respects his true religious teaching or not is a decision one has to make on his own. Equally i don't regard every Maulvi sahib the same but the majority is like this - this is the fact.

Religion, Nation, Politics and Repression

Some sixty years ago, after much struggle and sacrifices, a new country had been carved on the world map. That country, named Pakistan, was solely created on the basis that Muslims of the subcontinent constituted a nation of their own and would be better off having their own homeland. So that they could live their lives according to the teachings of islam.

But what does really disturb me is the fact that although prescribing to the foundational norms of this country, we are at a crossroad where everybody is looking for answers that we all know already. Since the creation of Pakistan, there hasn't been one government that delivered. It was either corrupt or taken over by military regime. What happend? Why couldn't they deliver? Government means politics, politics means strategy and critic. Is it that simple?

Of course not, a lot of other factors are involved in it but one factor that is overlooked all the time is the person self. When a normal citizen does something opposing to the religion or the cultural norms, he is certainly made to feel the consequences. But when a pilitician does so, it gets pushed under the carpet without a mention. Why is that so? The plight of our Politics was and is that a vast majority of politicians are either mighty feudals or big industrialists who employ citizens of this country in vast numbers. Even if these citizens would want to vote for somebody else, they wouldn't dare. What is left, is that the normal citizen whatever aspiration he might have is left to the mercy of the one mighty person. Left to the conscience of the few.

Pursuit Of A Conscience

Conscience - something that is thought to be present in everybodies mind. Which is there with a person at any moment and with every action he does. Its there to judge whether something said or done is right or wrong. Which compells you to do the right thing - the right thing? What is the right thing to do? How can one know what the right thing is? Something that is quite fine with one may not be acceptable for the other. Fortunately, we have people around us with their specific humane faith beliefs. The beliefs and teachings the majority share and respect become the acceptable 'right thing' to do. Having these rightful teachings, one can compare them with his gut feeling- the inner conscience of man that is by nature peace loving.

As a Pakistani or more importantly as a Muslim we aspire to the beautiful teachings of the Holy Quran and The Holy Prophet PBUH. The majority of people follow these teachings - even if they do these in there own way. But there are moments when faith and belief get sidelined just because of a certain minority faction of the same society from which they belong want to impose their belief on the majority. These people, even knowing at heart that something said is wrong would admit it to be right just because they would not want to be harassed by this faction. Extremism, they call it.

Now, one could argue that 'how would you know that this faction of the society is doing something wrong - when there are thousands of people who belive in in the same thing'.

As said before, we are extremely fortunate to have this vast treasure of the teachings of the holy quran. But, it is extremely heart grieving to know that not everybody does understand the holy book- far from even reading it. We normally say that if you want to succeed in your studies, want to be successfull in your exams - craming the whole material is not the right way. Understanding what is written is the way to success. Now with respect to the holy quran which is written in arabic, how many people are there who understand the arabic language? Ultimately we are left with the explanation of the holy quran from our local clerics. Which in itself is not bad, but with so many factions - all with their own explanation of the holy book, who makes the right explanation?

With this in mind, isnt there the need for those who seek the truth to explore themselve the holy quran, the various versions of the explanations and decide themselve what is right and what is wrong. Why is it that from childhood to becoming an adult we just take the teachings of clerics as the defacto truth? Why are we ready to do violent acts by the clerics order- without even thinking why we are doing it. Are we really deprived of a conscience of our own? Is there any harm to explore the holy book and the sayings of theHoly Prophet PBUH at our own?

As an example, if you slap your child - even for the sake of teaching him something and compelling him to do something the right way, you are innert prone to your conscience telling you that you did the wrong thing. This feeling will haunt you till you havent expressed your sorrow to the child and taken him to your arms.

What if you were to murder someome in the name of god- because the cleric said it to be the right thing to do to attain eternal heaven. Even if you did it, what does your conscience tell you thereafter? "That was the right thing"? If it was this - there is really something wrong - either your holy book is wrong which says "killing one person is like killing the whole humankind", or your conscience is really manupilated.

Think about it.