ATIF ABDUL RAHMAN (Shaikh Chronicles)

Shameful Flight - Redux

2009-05-11T23:54:00.003+02:00

"Only in the desperate days and weeks after those celebrations of mid-August did the horrors of Partition's impact begin to emerge. No viceregal time had been wasted in planning for the feeding and housing and medical needs of ten million refugees. No British officers or troops remained to keep the peace in shattered Punjab, or in Bengal, nor in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, left in deadly limbo to become the source of increasingly violent conflicts between India and Pakistan, the cause of three wars to be waged between them over the next fifty-five years." - Stanley Wolpert, Shameful Flight.

There are many similarities in the events of yesteryear and today. The difference is that the British had an escape route, we dont!

The images of displacement of a million people this week horrifies me to think of its repercussions. While the government's rhetoric is of a united counter insurgency attack which requires support of all stakeholders (political parties, public and foreign countries) involved, I fail to see any real strategy laid out by those in charge. Again, today's speech by the PM in the National Assembly was demoralizing to say the least, apparently, the PM has no backup plan if things go wrong. The point that strenghtening the armed forces and utilizing foreign aid on the military offensive will bring success is a narrowly viewed idea.

First of all, the enemy is not clearly defined for both tactical and operational levels. The Talibans are like a conglomerate of multiple factions with similar tactics but not necessarility the same set of motives and sponsors. They comprise of the Afghan Talibans, the Pakistani Talibans, the Mohammad Sufi's men, the Mullah Umar's Talibans and the like. Defining a single attack as a strategy will most definitely lead to highly construed results.

Secondly, there is no declared plan to track and trace the talibans appearing as refugees. This would allow them to disperse into the heartlands of Pakistan and regroup as a unit anytime in the near future. Without a clearly defined enemy, the Army is risking a high casualty rate which will put the Army to be indirectly accountable for it the future in the form of 'revengeful' insurgency. A displaced boy who loses his father by Army attacks will have the greatest propensity to become the next generation insurgent.

Without a well defined and practiced rehabilitation program for the refugees, it is impossible to curb Talibanization in all its manifestations. This seems like a Utopian idea at the moment considering the fact that there hasnt been any proactive preparation of refugee camps and as of now, no strategy for refugee integration has been laid out by the government.

While the President is in the US, begging for foreign aid which has never seen the light of day at the end of the tunnel, the social aspects of integration of the refugees in provinces like Sindh and Baluchistan are catastrophic. The separatist plots in Baluchistan and the ethnic tension between the Pashtuns and Muhajir masses will force the Army to contain the refugees within NWFP.

Only depending on the military strategy within NWFP beyond the current Swat operation, the stationing, servicing and rehab of refugees can be planned out. With only NGO's tackling these issues on public donations for the time being, it becomes further complicated to mobilize the volunteer workforces, allowing them greater access to areas, especially under moving curfew locations. Access to resources and lack of infrastructure including roads makes it a highly challenging obstacle bound to failure.

It becomes highly difficult to budget for funding these operations especially when there is no set time frame for succeeding in the operation. According to the President's statement in the US, the strategy is to kill as many Taliban as possible while letting the rest flee the country. To where exactly? It is highly unlikely that Afghanistan and the US will allow a safe route to the Taliban who ultimately have to be confronted in a heavy casualty battle with the Pakistan Army.
The amount of civilians caught in the crossfire is another major concern on the tables. The success of the operation and the war at large thus, remains an open mystery.

The government has to take immediate drastic measures to establish policies to cater to each individual issue and to execute strategies for social, political, provincial and economical and not just the military perspectives of the war.

Be Strong Today!

2009-03-13T15:40:00.000+01:00

Every moment we r faced with decisions, at every moment we r changing our futures, our futures can't be forecasted to be linear extensions of our present coz we are making decisions at every step in our lives.

So y be disdained or ordained by our current lifestyles, they won't remain the same, ever!

But more importantly are the emotions accompanying us, determining our decisions, a bit of a slip in focus, a slight distraction of motivation and our decisions change and we take on another path in life, but only for a short while as once again another decision will await us and we will be challenged again, nevertheless, changing our future...

So dont think abt the uncertainties of the future, think of your emotional strength, because that determines your future, not your current lifestyle!

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Review

2009-01-02T18:15:00.002+01:00

“Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America“ - The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid

Enter the post 9/11 world where chaos has curtailed us for long and only recently a re-look over past decisions and emotions have led to some reconciliation from all sides of the divide. For long, Americans, more notably Republicans led by George Bush had us believe his version of the truth and even for us urban Pakistanis, a lot of ground realities of our own regions have been forcefully mislead through our own governments which was puppetted along with the greater emotional American sentiment. Until recently, the Americans had befooled themselves for not differentiating between AlQaeda and the Taliban, our own government was busy creating an unrealistic divide of moderates and extremists depending on mere political inclinations. The actions of such rhetoric led to greater increase in rebellion and that too in a pretty bloody brainwashed way. However, in general, the masses, even the educated ones have a strong resilience to American 'adventures' as one political analyst says, in the region, the international media has still been kept in the dark.

For the outside world, the gray scale of reality is but a sharp noir of alqaeda vs US rhethoric. It veils all parallel truths propelling the mischief of terrorism (or accused terrorism). It also motivates the case for writers such as Mohsin Hamid for portraying that unlucky character who stands between fanaticism and confused enlightenment of extreme nature.

Here lies the beauty of a novel as compact as a couplet but vast in its implications and thought provocation that leads one to really ask the fundamental questions of liberty, justice and equality. It is not about "Either you are with us or against us", it is not about, "war against terrorism", it is not about exporting scape goats and whistle blowers, it is not about detaining 'suspects' who generally aren't good at pleasing big brother. Its about perceptions and motives.

Thumbs up to Mohsin Hamid for not just putting this point forward but to open up a subject with a truly subjective understanding for the reader. What happens in the end of the novel is what you may want to believe or already are fastened to believe. The case rests that yes, there are other explanations of the post 9/11 world than what we can perceive in our small shells.

Awaiting Freedom

2009-01-02T13:55:00.007+01:00

Caption: A Pakistani passenger in transit lounge of King Khaled International Airport, Riyadh anxiously waiting for this flight back home via PIA.

The frequency of travel between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has increased over the recent years. There are many people who dream of visiting the land due to their religious desires to visit the Holy cities. There are those who seek employment in a not-so distant land and find their way to Saudia. The recent political turmoil in Pakistan, especially in the NWFP has forced many Pakistani citizens mostly laborers to seek a livelihood here. One can find many taxi drivers who were once recruited as either freedom fighters, the Pakistani Army and without any doubt as Taliban. Most flee to this land.

However, with the nearly suffocating work conditions for mostly the labor class, pre-Islamic expatriate laws and a general rude attitude towards Pakistanis, many see the wait at the KKI airport lounge as a way to the other world, a world where they might die of hunger or hatred but a world where they can raise their head and feel free.

A short relief to energize one's life, meet with friends and family before coming back to Arabia...

A case of exploding mangoes - review

2009-01-01T07:33:00.002+01:00

A case of exploding mangoes, a case of an Indian crow, a case of Generals and Ambassadors, a case of bashing of dictatorial eras. Timing is perfect. A recent military (and country) ruler is ousted albeit not in quite a fashion as the one whose case is presented. A novel with the shortcomings of real characters. A satire with geniune creativity. A case of riding the bandwagon, of new age Pakistani writers trying to establish a market. Fashion prevails and the novel on the outset picks up that characteristic of being too westy, the usual mullah bashing but no doubt, one of the most hilarious ones. The novel portrays ZIa's character, in his usualy percieved self, a hypocritic character with many a inconsistency.

Although the novel provides several vantage points but presents the whole episode using one of the suspects as the protagonist. This works, as it glues one to read the fuzzy feelings the protagonist feels and his encounters with the General Secretary of the Mango Farmer's Union. COming to know that the novel was long listed for the Booker Prize was more than a motivation but the novel did dissappoint after the first 70 odd pages where characters started to become predictable and monotonous. Nevertheless, a novel one should read, but without any pretentions of political accuracy. All in all, a good enough case to read.

Getting a Driving License in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2008-09-14T23:01:00.003+02:00

Yes, you have just stepped into the Kingdom and one of the first thing you have already realized or will soon is life in the Kingdom is pretty stagnant without one's own private conveyence. This also holds to the Holy cities as well to an extent provided you are a local resident. Getting a car is not as difficult as getting a driving license. The traffic has increased in the recent years and a lot more cars are added on the roads thanks to a very poor public transport system in major cities like Riyadh. Getting a license has also become difficult due to the presense of many nutcases on the roads which will make you think of the term 'defying gravity' in a totally new way. For special considerations of this, do take time to see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXpv_5yolTU

Anyways, to get a private license called Rukhsa Khaasa (for private cars etc) as compared to a public license called Rukhsa Aaamma, you must be a MALE to start off with. Once you possess the required gender, you can go to one of the four driving schools/offices to get a license. The two major ones are Dallah Driving School at Takhasussi Road and Sulayee Driving School. I was myself recommended to goto Dallah and it didnt disappoint me much, so ill reinforce the recommendation to goto Dallah for reasons like RELATIVELY better administration, RELATIVELY leneant examiners, and RELATIVELY closer to the city center.
If you are not aware of Arabic and the general route to getting information in Saudi Arabia, getting a license can be a bit frustrating. But here is a simple guide, hopefully to make your life easier, atleast in getting a license (welcome to the roads then, MUwahaha).

Get a taxi and tell them togot Dallah Driving License office. Once you get out of the taxi, a small mob will surround you asking you to do an atm transaction. Before you feel bemused with such personal assistance, keep in mind the following documents required:

1. Valid Saudi Iqama (for special types like business visas etc, sorry chap, i dont know much...)

2. Blood Report (Ask any medical center to get you a driving license blood report, they will need your iqama verification).

3. Filled Form. (form is in arabic and is available just outside the entrance).

4. Four passport size photographs with white background. (If you are not sure of their acceptance, dont worry, there is a photographer just outside the entrance).

5. A letter from your company allowing you to get a driving license. Huh? And this letter should be attested from the chamber of commerce called "Gurfah Tijaariyah" for around 25 Saudi Riyals

6. Finally a payment slip of SAR75 in the name of the Traffic department called "Maroor". This is easily done at any Riyadh Bank or Rajhi Bank ATM with an ATM card of the same bank. If you dont have an ATM card of these two banks, you dont need to worry much.

7. Valid driving license of another country. (optional)

OK, now you are out on the road again, facing the mob, you already know that you dont have a Riyadh or Rajhi ATM card with you, so you accompany with one of the Saudis from the mob to the nearest ATM and let him do your transaction using your Iqama. Make sure he doesnot take your iqama and fleeeeee. He will though charge you on a bargain of 15-20 Riyals for his service.

After the payment, goto the Translator office, right outside the entrance and ask him for the form. He will fill it up for you as well for SAR 5. He will also translate your driving license of your originating country and prepare a file for you. He will also make sure your docs are in place. He will take something around SAR20 for all these horrid services.

Ok, you finally have the file ready, make your grand entrance inside the Dallah License Office cum Driving School and as you enter, goto building 2 on the left of the entrance. Once you enter, there will be a counter on your left, a booth on your left, two counters on your right and an exit on your front.

Goto the counter on the left for an eye test, the officer sitting will simply see whether you have eyes or not using his own eyes and will stamp your file papers.

Then goto the counters on the right. Out of these two counters now, first goto the counter on the right, he will simply put a stamp without doing anything. After that, go out of the exit (not the one you came in from) . you will find yourself in the middle of a driving test area where newbies and license aspirants are demonstrating their skills to an examiner. There will be seating arrangement afront, just go there and wait till the examiner brings the car infront of you, hand him your file and wait for him to call you for a spin.

This is test number 1:

You simply have to start moving the car and make a turn on the right, then stop, then reverse back into an L shaped lane. Simple. If he puts a tick on top of your form in the file, you may proceed, if not, taxis are a way of life.Once you get the very special TICK, go back to building 2, and goto the second counter you visited, where he will again put a stamp on your file. Now goto the counter next to this one, that is the left of these of the two counters. He will take your file and SAR100 and give you a reciept called Fatoora. Take this and come out from building 2 from the entrance you came in the first place. On your left will be building 5, called something like Immediate Training or crash course. Before the entrance to building 5, there is an open entrance inside the building where there are some seating arrangements, you can wait there if building 5 is closed. An instructor will then invite you into building 5 where he will hand you a chart of traffic signals and signs in your desired language. Some of the langauges they have include English, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Philiphino and Arabic. You will be confined in the training room for an hour or so. Take this time as na opportunity to learn all the signs, especially the ones the instructor specifically mentions because they always appear in the test.

This is test number 2:

There will be 20 multiple choice questions, in 2 sections of 10 questions each. You have to correctly answer ALL questions from the first section, yes 10/10 to proceed. In the second section, out of ten, as soon as you correctly answer 5 of them, you are cleared. This takes place at a touch screen terminal. The intrsuctor will guide you to the place where you can find these terminals. Once you enter the building, just wait for your call as they already have your file with them. You will immediately know the result of your test. If you fail, you have to reappear after a week and the license office might subject you to attend a one week course on driving, so make sure you utilize your one hour with the instructor well.

Once you clear this, just go outside this small office and wait at the fan booth for a police officer to call you.

This is test number 3:

Get in his car, ideally on the right back seat. Each ride will test four applicants, if you want to tbe last one (so taht you can see the feedback of the examiner on others), get yourself seated on the right back.

After that your test will be finished and you have to come again into the small office you gave your traffic signals test. There will be two counters there, one of them will call your name and will hand you your file back with a report sheet on the front. This is the lifeline of your license. If they tell you to proceed, you are cleared, if not, they will ask you to reappear next week or whenever they deem necessary and it might include some training classes to be attended with an additinonf SAR430. Make sure you learn some basic arabic, especially directions like Yameen (right) and Yasaar (left), Qaff (stop), Yalla (hurry up) etc. as this examiner might not speak anything but Arabic. Whatever you do, dont be INTIMIDATED by his personality. Afterall, he is a cop....

Hopefully you'll get the green lights in your report, head out of the entrance of the license office and right opposite the entrace is building 1. As soon as you enter, goto the first left booth, i think it is number 15, but cant be sure. He will write a number on your file. Once you get the number, goto a desk on the right of the entrance and make sure all your papers are punched inside the file, especacially the recent test result sheet. Then goto your designated counter and wait for your turn.

Hand in all the documents, photographs and payslip of SAR75 to the officer on desk. If things go well, he will ask you to wait, and thats about it. You wait till someone calls your name to hand you your Saudi driving license!

Make sure you dont consider this as an official guide and this is just my personal experience. By the time you apply, the requirements and procedures might have changed.
best of luck!

Long Walk to Justice

2008-06-09T22:20:00.001+02:00

Comes the hour after a long silence of a nation, a silence not so easy ot maintain amidst social and economic starvation of the masses, amidst contradictions and paradoxes prevailing since the February elections. At that juncture, there was hope and a refreshing vibe of change, symbolized by the denial of a judge who found his awakening a year ago. Justice was done when the elections wiped the culprits off the government. The new coalition government has a lot of support and people under all the stress it withstood, granted patience to let the new coalition stand on solid footings. Three months passed by and now several revelations of disappointment is obviously apparent to every sane soul especially the masses.

The good news is that in this mob of politics and politicians, milk is separated from water, and now the confusing mists are over. A clear picture is ahead, one man, in one political party, has taken hostage this entire country. The significant coalition partner although not the most impressive in terms of actions, have done the rightful in their limited capacities and it is time to break the silence.

There was an apartheid which brought a revolution in South Africa, although we lack the Mandela in our leadership but likely figures do exists and a formidable civil society block along with the lawyers man force and now a newly mobilizing ex-servicemen community join the APDM members on 10th June to force the politicians to respect their mandate.

This long awaited march has far greater repercussions for PPP as even though the march claims apolity, will still bring PPP with a sour taste for much worse things to come. A formal motion against the PPP mismanagement and lack of spine will be launched with this, a true opposition in action will take place which won't be good for PPP to sustain five years of mere talk. Add to that around a hundred PPP workers desiring to participate in the walk indicates the lack of confidence in any top level PPP policy.

The old general has also spoken, on a very pinching time during the PPP' leadership's visit to the Kingdom. With a public gesture to openly challenge AZ to impeach him using the instrument of the parliament is a final pre-walk charge that will make this walk much anticipate and very effective. Already AZ has started to give public gestures of impeachment, if even it remains mere talks, they too took some spanking before coming.

These are all positive signs for those who believe that the country's revival is dependent on its justice system and policing to actually work. Where the definition of right and wrong as per our constitution is applied to the rich and not just the poor, the first step is to bring the judges back who stood against continuing fraud.

Let them know we are coming, MARCH FOR JUSTICE!

Parallel Universes of Human Diet

2008-06-08T11:12:00.008+02:00

I have been so much intrigued by this photo essay by TIME magazine, I couldnt help but repost it...

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide - 2 adults, 2 teenagers
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina - 2 adults, 2 teenagers
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98

Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City - 2 adults, 2 teenagers

Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily - 2 adults, 3 kids
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis

Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15

Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City
Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca - 2 adults, 3 kids
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

United States: The Caven family of California
Food expenditure for one week: $159.18

China: The Dong family of Beijing
Food expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna - 4 adults, 1 teenager
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo - 7 adults, 5 kids
Food expendit ure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Mongolia: The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar
Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo - 4 adults, 5 teenagers
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village - 7 adults, 6 kids
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp - 3 adults, 3 kids
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

The Book Bank

2008-04-26T21:02:00.005+02:00

I love books! Not because they are hard covered or paperbacks but because the quality of discourse these bounded prints provide which include opinionated, context-oriented or summarized collections serve my hunger for an unexplainable desire. I have always made an inert distinction among people who read books and who don't and it isn't much difficult to split the two. However, there are many people who have the desire to venture over the territory of ideas but can't either because of a lack of public libraries, or lack of money or lack of an environment where book readers are cherished. From the afsaanas of ibn-e-safi to the passionate semi-historical accounts of ibn-e-insha, to the philosophical discourse of bano qudsia-ishfaq ahmed couple, to the romanticized religious self-discoveries by umera ahmed, to the political insight like those of the politicians, the faujis, the x-faujis, the analysts etc, the religious books which made this quote real that the Quran was revealed to the Arabs, recited by the Egyptians and understood by us Pakistanis and Indians, a vast amount of readership is unaware of even their existence.

Inspired recently by an article in the news and a followup blog by Dr. Adil Najam, I am proposing my little idea to solve some of the challenges mentioned to some extent. take it or throw it, but i'd love it if you grow it. lets have this combined brainstorming on how to setup a public library by people's funding, a rather book bank based on accounts where investments is not just in terms of money but also in terms of books lent to the bank. The more books you lent (probably out of your private libraries) to the central pool, the more privileges you can get, like for instance the ability to borrow more books at time, or maybe even home delivery.

The funds can be managed by advertising on the back of the front covers of each book. Imagine mehran masaala advertisement in a book Cooking for Dummies, or an advertisement of Askari Bank behind In the Line of Fire, for instance. Or Techlogix behind Data Warehousing, or Arif Habib Investments behind a book on Portfolio Management.

Books can be increased by merging many university libraries. I have seen most private university libraries in Karachi and they are mostly substandard, exceptions are there. Having a combined library where each university buys a corporate account membership for its students can help the universities in getting rid of maintaining their library and its staff while providing students a much wider array of books. Ofcourse, such a library can be distributed in which case universities can borrow books from one another.

Many companies would also be interested in forming such a joint library for its employees as most companies in Pakistan are in the need of libraries especially in the technology sector but can't afford to have one.

Ironically all this fuzz and I am assuming there will be a huge crowd rush to join in the bandwagon but it probably won't be so. So for crowd pulling, special incentives for schools...

Allowing space for book readers clubs to meet and socialize.....

more to come but first lets hear your say....

Achieving your childhood dreams

2008-03-13T13:39:00.003+01:00

Today I received an email from a friend reminding me of a t-shirt I had which said "Failure is a postponed victory!". Many elders ridiculed me and my shirt during college days back but over the years the motto seemed true-er than ever. The email my friend posted goes:

"To succeed in business or life we must continually take remedial actions. Putting yourself on the line day after day can be extremely draining, especially when things do not work out as desired. Hence, each time a disappointing event happens, I like to get reminded of these famous failures:

Bill Gates founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.

Abraham Lincoln received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America.

Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.

Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired – and in many cases intimidated – composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music – a deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!

Thomas Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.

The Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original five-and-ten- cent stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth and soon grew to become one of the largest retail chains in the world in the 20th century. Before starting his own business, Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employer would not let him serve any customer because he concluded that Frank "didn't have enough common sense to serve the customers".

By acclamation, Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was he was removed from the high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".

Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney Company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.

Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.

Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards and ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything!"

In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and could not act. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually she was recognized by the public as the 20th century's most famous movie star, sex symbol and pop icon.

John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.

Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.

Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbours starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.

Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony generates US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company."

Sadly, it doesnot cover Steve Jobs or Abdus Sattar Edhi, both of whom started with improbable circumstances to survive, Jobs a dropout, Edhi a poor man's lad. But they have moved the worlds they represent by persisting. Check out this famous graduation speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford a few years ago:

Abdus Sattar Edhi , on the other hand, doesnot create technology but porvides the largest private ambulance service in the world, and astrong contender of the Noble Peace prize atleast. His NGO has served millions numerous times. And if one would have forecasted his career when he was selling toothpicks as a street hawker as a kid to earn his own bread, no one wuold have come close.

I have been recently moved by a dying person, dying from this world but not from life. Professor Randy Pausch at the Carnegie Mellon University, inventor of the Alice Project and many more interesting projects all which he says have been a realisation of his dream. A computer scientist who wanted to become and astronaut fufilled his wish by working on NASA projects albeit as a computer scientist. A researcher who wanted to becmoe an artist, finally made it to Disney World creating Virtual worlds for them. According to him, life is about living your dreams even when they dont appear to be achievable.

This video has been famed as the the Last Lecture of Randy Pausch, but one that has a long lasting effect:

FYI - Siege of Makkah - Final Part (10)

2008-03-06T22:03:00.003+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. So whatever you read, first of all dont judge a book by its cover. Here is part 10, the last part:

Siege of Makkah - Part X

Many parts of the Masjid were completely destroyed by the end of the siege. The militants were paraded in front of the TV cameras and reporters were invited to the Sacred Masjid to show the world that, at last, the Masjid was free. Though the official death tolls were much lower, eye witnesses and other unofficial sources claim that nearly a thousand lost their lives, many of them innocent pilgrims. Of those who were captured alive, 67 men were put to death by beheading, including Juhayman. Those condemned to death were sent to all major cities of the Kingdom to send a message to the citizens that such insurgency will not be tolerated. The heads of the dead were displayed outside the Masajid in every major city for days to come. Others, those under 16, were imprisoned for ten to twenty years. One, Mahrous bin Laden, was spared his life and is a member of the board of directors of the Bin Laden family business today. Another, an African American Muslim, was quietly sent back to the U.S. in a shroud of secrecy because the U.S. was worried about the perception of U.S. involvement in the affair. (Imam Siraj Wahaj, a student in Makkah at the time and one of those present in the Masjid at the time of the siege, has been occasionally mentioned as the person in question, though these are nothing more than rumours and the Imam recently denied any involvement in an interview with Trofimov.)

Juhayman remained unrepentant of what he had done till the very end, though in talking to one of the scholars of Makkah, he did say that he wouldn't have done what he did had he known it would end the way it ended. He did claim a moral victory, for much of what he demanded was done soon after his death. The scholars had asked for many reforms in return for the fatwa and the government hastily put them in place. A nationwide ban was put on employing women in private offices (with the exception of health care and primary education), a ban that remained for the next two decades. Post-secondary education became more difficult for women. Women were specifically prohibited from driving. Saudi women were removed from TV (though curiously, Egyptian and Syrian women were left). Every newspaper and magazine was required to be censored to hide hair, legs or arm of women in any pictures. Most importantly, the infamous Mutawwas were introduced to the streets of Saudi Arabia to promote virtue and forbid vice.

I will not go into whether these reforms were good or bad since that is not my call to make. However, it is interesting to note that many of these reforms were slowly phased out over the next 25 years and others are being phased out now. It is perhaps no surprise then that the grievences of Bin Laden against the Saudi government, much before Bin Laden became a household name in the West, were not different from what Juhayman gave his life for. Osama bin Laden was then 20-years old and his future interviews indicate he was deeply influenced by Juhayman's sacrifice and his cause. He was also greatly disturbed by how the Saudi government handled the whole affair. Zawahiri too was greatly influenced by Juhayman. A student himself, he had personally distributed many copies of Juhayman's Seven Letters and was enraged at the worldwide condemnation of Juhayman's cause. Two decades later, Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri would come together to form a partnership that we are all too familiar with today.

The timing of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan couldn't have helped the Saudis more. Coming at time when Juhayman had widespread sympathy in the kingdom, many of his followers left Saudi Arabia to fight the godless communists instead. The root cause, the hard line understanding of Islam, was not tackled and continued to spread unchecked. And while the Muslim Ummah could have learnt many lessons from the debacle, it largely failed to do so. A bit of introspection would have helped us greatly, but Saudi played the incident down as a minor domestic incident and the rest of the Ummah accepted that all is well and moved on to more immediate problems. Prince Turki Al-Faisal and others from the royal family openly wondered after 9/11 if the government was too kind to the scholars at the time and is indirectly responsible for the spread of extreme ideas.

The result?

Muslims are still blaming Israel and the U.S. for all their problems.

Muslims are still unable to accept that something within us might need changing.

Muslims are still prone to finding themselves between extremism and laxity.

With a serious lack of qualified scholarship in the Ummah, the stage has been left wide open for orators to pose as scholars and sway the minds of the Muslim youth. The youth are looking for quick fixes and have forgotten that Islam is the balance between extremism and laxity, as said by Hasan Al-Basri. Many have picked up one aspect of Islam and try to run with it, leading to extremism, even when Allah has commanded that we enter into Islam completely. Many do not seem to realize that the wholesome approach to Islam means simultaneous pursuit of many things, a coordinated effort to advance at many fronts. Very few today realize that Islam includes da'wah, pursuit of knowledge, call towards the Sunnah, purification of the self, political activism, physical training, promotion of art and culture, promotion of commerce and establishment of social welfare initiatives. This comprehensive Islam is what we find in the life of Muhammad SAW, not the piecemeal approach that many have taken up today.

To enter into Islam completely is to not ignore any of the aspects of Islam as a community. To enter into Islam completely is to strike a balance between all these aspects and to prioritize them based on our circumstances. And to strike that balance, we need people who understand the objectives of Shariah and the Quran and Sunnah in its whole as scholars of the Ummah. Because to follow the sources literally without understanding the objectives leads to extremism. And to follow the objectives without a wholesome understanding of the sources leads to laxity. And both are not from Islam.

May Allah SWT lead us to the way that He is pleased with, and save us from the way of those who He punished. May Allah SWT make us from the people of the right hand side, and make us of those who will be under His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade but His. Ameen.

I have tried my best to relate the events as I know them; however, mistakes were undoubtedly made for which I seek your pardon. And verily, Allah is best of those who know.

Siege of Makkah Part 9

2008-02-29T19:40:00.003+01:00

Siege of Makkah - Part 8

2008-02-26T13:47:00.001+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. So whatever you read, first of all dont judge a book by its cover. Here is part 8:

The Saudis brought in APCs--Armoured Personnel Carriers--to take out the militants as soon as the fatwa from the scholars was obtained. The ensued is detailed in Trofimov's book. I would limit myself to pointing out only a couple interesting details.

The minarets were secured through anti-tank missiles that were used to take out the militant nests on top. The sturdy structures remained otherwise undamaged. Without the militants firing from the minarets, the Saudi army enter the Masjid from Bab Salam with a few soldiers hiding behind each APC. Shielded from the militant fire, the Saudi army was able to inflict what were perhaps the first few casualties on Juhayman's band. Among the militants were some African Americans who had joined Juhayman. They were mostly former Black Panthers with an above average knowledge of violence and makeshift weapons. It was on their suggestion that some of the militants went and emptied out gasoline from vehicles parked in the basement of the Masjid. (These were the vehicles used by Juhayman and his followers to smuggle in food supplies and some of the weapons.) They then filled water bottles taken from pilgrims with gasoline, stuffed the bottle-top with a piece of cloth, showed it fire and threw them at the advancing Saudis from across the Safa-Marwa gallery. The 'grenades' worked well enough, and Saudis started running away. The 'grenades' weren't enough, however, to deter the advancing APCs.

Someone suggested that to stop the APCs, the 'grenade' would have to be dropped in the APC from the cupola. The task was near impossible though with APCs and remaining Saudis firing at anything that moved. This was when something extraordinary happened--something that only worked to strengthen the belief of Juhayman's band in their mission.

Muhammad al-Qahtani, who was in the Safa-Marwa gallery, stood up and said he will do the impossible. He was the Mahdi after all, and the Mahdi cannot die in these initial stages. He has to live to fight dajjal alongside Isa AS. With that, Muhammad al-Qahtani took two bottles of gasoline in hand, and ran across the Safa-Marwa gallery. Zig-zagging while being fired upon by many machine guns, he reached the first APC safely, climbed on it, killed the soldiers hiding behind the APC, opened the cupola, dropped in his grenade and ran to the next APC. The insides of both APCs exploded, with the occupants burning to their deaths. Muhammad al-Qahtani came back safely and other APCs started retreating, running over the poor soldiers that were hiding behind them. There was no room left for doubting the Mahdiship of Muhammad al-Qahtani among his followers.

The Saudis came back with vengeance and better planning the next day, though the carbonized APCs in the door way meant other APCs couldn't go in. Soon, Muhammad al-Qahtani and his few remaining companions were cornered, shielded by the rocks of Safa. After a while, the Saudis advanced further and decided on a different strategy.

They threw in grenades towards the militants. Muhammad al-Qahtani, once again believing in his immortality, did what is considered impossible. A 25-year old youth in good physical shape, he jumped, picked up the grenade, and threw it back at the Saudis. He proceeded to do that at least a dozen time in the next few minutes. But his luck finally ran out. As he reached another grenade to throw it back at the Saudis, it exploded, and along with it vanished the legs and the right arm of Muhammad al-Qahtani. When the Saudis identified the body four days later, a pathologist report indicated that he had only died a day ago. Some claimed seeing the unfortunate man crawling with the help of his remaining elbow and screaming for help.

It was reported in the local newspapers at the time that the mother of Muhammad al-Qahtani was arrested and brought to King Khalid in the early days of the siege. The monarch asked her if there was any way that Muhammad al-Qahtani can be stopped from what he is doing. The old lady calmly replied, if he is al-Mahdi, he will kill you no matter what you do to stop him. And if he is not al-Mahdi, you will kill him and for that you don't need me.

Seeing the Mahdi blowing up like that shook the belief of a few followers who saw what happened. However, they did not have any options left. The fatwa clearly said that anyone who surrenders will be spared and it was announced by the Saudis before the assault began. But a few who tried to surrender in the darkness of Safa-Marwa valley, where both sides let their machine guns loose on anything that moved, were killed within seconds of getting out of their hiding spots.

Only one militant was able to escape from that hiding spot in the Safa-Marwa gallery. Faisal Muhammad Faisal was always a hesitant follower, and now he had no doubt left that this mission was wrong. He found a way to Juhayman, who was busy securing the Qaboo--the basement area of the Sacred Masjid. Faisal Muhammad Faisal went straight Juhayman and informed him of the Mahdi's death. Juhayman knew that his game was over, that he was wrong in doing everything he had done. But he couldn't give up after coming this far. So he hid the news of al-Qahtani's death, and ordered a retreat to the basement, where hundreds of pilgrims were kept hostage. Faisal Muhammad Faisal turned in his gun and went in one of rooms where the pilgrims were kept hostage. He spent his remaining days crying over what he had done, asking for Allah's forgiveness. It was he who disclosed to the world many of the details of Juhayman's plan and the battle in the Safa-Marwa gallery. Faisal Muhammad Faisal was beheaded for his role in the affair--may Allah accept his repentance.

With the top floor of the Masjid secure, the Saudis started assessing the damage. The Safa-Marwa gallery was full of blood and body parts. The wall between the gallery and the Masjid was no longer there. Beyond that, there were pockets of resistance that were easily dealt with. The longest battle was put up by two young Egyptians who had hid behind the Hateem. They survived from as long as they did because of the Saudi's reluctance in shooting towards the Ka'baa.

The Saudis announced victory, though there were over a hundred and fifty militants still hiding in the basement, with King Khaled posing next to Hijr al-Aswad in a picture distributed to the media. With the militants coming out of the basement every so often to fire on the Saudi army before retreating back, the Masjid was not safe for the worshippers. With the massive damage and evidence of hundreds of deaths, the Masjid was not suitable for the media yet. After all, the Saudis still maintained that the incident was minor. The battle was to go on for many more days and the Saudis struggled to find a way into the vast Qaboo.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Love under Occupation - An Arab Woman's Blues

2008-02-24T21:39:00.003+01:00

An Arab Woman Blues is a blog worth following if you like to see the life in Iraq from this individual's eyes which pretty much resmebles the directorial touch portrayed in the War of the Worlds which focused on the protagonist when the world is attacked by aliens. She has published a very influential post at her blog here.

I am merely reposting it here:

I heard Mahmoud Darwish is in town. M.Darwish, one of the best contemporary Arab poets. A Palestinian who has been in exile for so long...surely he knows all about aesthetics -- the sublime, the ugly, the comic and the beautiful...surely he knows all about occupation, misery, loss, longings and tragedies...

I cancelled whatever appointments I had this evening and rushed to hear him recite his latest. By the time I arrived to the old hall, it was so packed they would not let anyone in, anymore. Over 500 people were already in there...

I tried squeezing in, and felt my dissapointment rising as I realized it was impossible for me to see or hear M.Darwish in person.

I looked at the crowd, mainly young adults, in their late 20's, and a few from the older generation...That gave me a slight surge of hope. If Arabs can still appreciate poetic words streaming from one occupation, then maybe all is not lost.

Or, maybe words are the only thing left...

Words to compose poetry, words to convey the tragedies, words to subtitle the pain...

Unsure of the crowd's intent, I just bought his latest prose and walked out.

I did not get to hear M.Darwish. He wrote hundreds of poems. But since when do poets change realities ?

They are just transmitters of truths, ordinary truths that ordinary people can't express in aesthetic forms. So they read or listen to poetry instead. Giving themselves a temporary feeling of "we're in it together" -- finally united by words.

I was sort of relieved to be out in the fresh air. The staleness of waiting for a possible seat, place, grew denser - mingled with the odor of expectant bodies, thirsty for words. All this was making me dizzy...

A trap, I felt to myself. Another trap of raising hopes and be let down, once more...

As I breathed in the crisp cold air, I felt a presence a few steps behind me.

"It's a pity we were not given a chance to hear his sublime poetry"

"Yes it was" I replied abruptly and continued walking...

"You must be an Iraqi" he said

I stopped, looked at him and saw a very thin man, with deep lines creasing his hollow face.

"Yes,I am an Iraqi. How did you guess?"

"I detected a very faint accent when I heard you talk to one of the ushers. I am an Iraqi too."

"Yes, I can tell, from your accent of course."

"I am a poet as well. Had to escape Baghdad."

"So do you write poetry on Escapism ?"

He laughs.

" No, I write poetry on Love"

"Love? Is there Love under Occupation?"

He looks at me, pauses for few minutes and says

"I write about where to find Love under Occupation"

"I thought so too" I replied. Saluted him and walked away...

So what do you do if you are in my place ?

What do you do with the torrents of words that I hear daily from seekers of Love under Occupation?

What do you do with sentences like -- "How will I survive?", "I have no future",
"I can get over the grief", "The memories follow me everywhere", "I am lost",
"We are in a tunnel","I have no hope"," This will never end ","We have been abandoned","No one wants us","We have been forgotten","We don't count anymore",
"We have no more country","My home has been destroyed","I am ill and can't work and have no money","They killed my son, husband, wife, daughter, parents...",
"They raped me. I will never be the same again","I've been tortured and no one understands and I don't even understand myself","We are worthless in their eyes..."

And I can go on and on...

What do you do with these words? How do you turn them around ? What do you say to them ?

What do you do with the pain that accompanies these sentences ?

What poetry would you write?

More words handed out as props, as crutches for the crippled and you say "be patient, endure more, persevere, things will change, God is generous..."

And you and I know these words are empty, they have lost meaning a long time ago. They have become like some worn out, tattered cloth whose colors have faded away from being exposed for too long, in a scorching sun...

And where do you find Beauty and Love ? In which experience? In which setting? In which memory? When all previous memories have been erased leaving nothing but a void, to fill with more worn out, tattered cloths...

What do you do with the ugliness that remains stuck to you, like some second skin, deforming your vision, perverting your perceptions, settling in your mind, like some unwanted visitor who refuses to leave. Colonizing your being.

What do you do with the Ugliness ?

What do you do with the Ugliness you've witnessed, seen, felt, heard ?

What do you do with the Ugliness of what you thought to be a human face unmasking itself only to reveal the most hideous traits ?

What do you do with the Ugliness of mass genocide, cruelty, hypocrisy, indifference, abandonment, poverty, survival...?

I keep asking myself these questions, and the questions that naturally follow -- Will we ever heal from all of that ?

And where do you find Beauty ? Except in tarnished souvenirs maybe - turning us into a people that keep digging in a past, since a future is so out of reach.

And what do you do with the Present? How do you accomodate it? Or more aptly how does it accomodate you, from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute...?

Will you keep trying to squeeze in as I tried doing in that old poetry hall or will you simply give up and walk out into the unknown? And if you opt for the latter, where will you go ?

This is no defeatism. This is Reality. A Reality you know nothing of.

A parallel reality that can drive anyone absolutely insane. A form of schizophrenia as this reality has become our bubble. A bubble that no one addresses or even looks at.

And where do you find Love in a bubble ? A survival bubble.
You attach yourself to a bubble ? Or maybe you attach yourself to people living with you in a bubble ? In a mental, physical, emotional ghetto, where Space keeps shrinking and becomes a point.

And you stand in that point and that point becomes your vital space, and all you're concerned about is to be able to keep standing on your feet, in that precise point.

A desperate point. And where does one find Love in a bubble tainted with despair?

A myopic, ignorant, Westerner wrote to me and said:

"How do I hook a worn out, patriotic old rag? How do I reel in an unwanted, rusted Iraqi tin can? More to the point, how do I manage carnal knowledge of its contents? How can you say you are unwanted? How can you think you have no future?"

Why can't people conceive of the personal and the collective as one ? A common destiny, that we carry inside of us, like some collective gene pool.

This is not about me, this is about us.

And us, as we stand today, have no future. We have been robbed of a vision of a future. That is fact.

And if someone can still come up with so much ignorant "philosophical" crap -- then they have understood nothing at all about occupation, mass genocide, torture, rape... loss of reference, loss of trust, loss of meaning...loss of Life in a philosophical sense, since you are all so bent on philosophy.

They have not confronted that deep existential abyss of occupation with no end in sight. A hideous occupation with all of its facets and consequences...

But then I can offer nothing but words...even these slide away into a pool of cold detachment, or bump against a brick wall made of "humans."

So again, I ask you, where does one find Love, when one's personal and collective experiences are brushed off with so much flippancy ? Is that not, yet another form of despair that we have to confront daily ?

There is only one way out - Fury.

A collective fury that will set ablaze all your notions, all your philosophies, all your analysis, theories and concepts...

A gigantic fury, like some wild fire that will burn and wash away the tragic ugliness, hatred, indifference that have flooded us through your Presence.

Yes, that is the only way out from the aesthetics of your multi-layered Occupation -the Aesthetics of a sublime Fury.

Siege of Makkah - Part 7

2008-02-23T13:24:00.004+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. So whatever you read, first of all dont judge a book by its cover. Here is part 7:

As the situation of the Ummah deteriorates, we have developed an alarming tendency to blame all our misfortunes on the Americans and the Zionists. We, many Muslims believe, can do no wrong. Everything is a conspiracy. And the response to every misfortune is rallies against America and Israel all over the Muslim world.

If our rulers are corrupt, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

If a military dictator takes over our country, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

If a politician or a dictator is killed, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

If Iraq attacks Kuwait, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

If planes fly into buildings, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

If a newspaper somewhere publishes offending cartoon, it must be an American-Zionist plan.

We get out of our homes to shout slogans, close down shops--striking against America, and hurt no one but our own economy. Something similar happened in November 1979. Protests were held in front of every American embassy in the Muslim world. Caucasians were beaten up by mobs in every Muslim country. And in Hyderabad, India, where the Muslim mobs could find no American embassy for protest and no Caucasians to beat up, they turned on Hindus and burnt down dozens of their shops.

Ever ready to blame the other, have we ever looked within ourselves? Have we ever thought that may be, just may be, the cause of all our misfortunes is us? The siege of Makkah by Muslim militants highlighted the need to look within for problems, but the Ummah, once again failed to learn its lesson. That lesson needs to be learnt, sooner rather than later. And that was my sole intention for writing this series.

The recovery of Ka'baa was an important issue and everyone wanted the credit for doing so. Prince Abdullah's National Guard, Prince Nayef's special security commandos, and Prince Saudi Army were combined to come up with an attack team of willing soldiers. The problem was, the three units had never trained together and didn't even have compatible radios. The first hodgepodge joint force to attack and recover the Sacred Masjid started its mission in the early hours of November 22. The joint force picked Bab Salam in the Safa-Marwa gallery ( http://www.randomho use.com/doubleda y/siegeofmecca/ mapOfTheMosque. php) to make their way into the Masjid.

Here they met another unexpected hurdle. They had expected to be fired upon from the minarets as they made their way to the gate, and made adequate arrangements to shield themselves from the militant snipers. They had also expected that the gate would be locked and would need to be opened somehow. They didn't expect that opening door would be as much trouble. As it turned out, the gates were very well built. And they were under orders, given the lack of fatwa, to make sure they do not damage the Masjid in any way. As the task force stood by the door, trying to find a way to open it, the militants opened the second floor windows, turned their machine guns to the ground, and killed the entire task force in a matter of seconds.

Near fajr time, a plan was devised to open the gate using TNT. Colonel Homaid, leading the troops this time, suggested to Prince Nayef that they should wait until the nightfall to attack again. Prince Nayef was infuriated, called Colonel Homaid a coward, and declared that the loss of life should be of no concern. This was, after all, a noble mission and any soldier killed would a martyr going straight to the promise paradise. The poor Colonel had no choice but to comply with a prince eager to send his men to paradise.

Bab Salam was chosen once again to be detonated. The sun was out by that time, and inside the Masjid, the Safa-Marwa gallery was in near darkness since the militants had cut all electricity. The Saudi military outside was in full view of the militants inside. Muhammad al-Qahtani himself, armed with two machine guns, had decided to greet the Saudi army. He was hiding in the Safa-Marwa gallery along with some fifty other militants. Once the Saudi army entered the building, the militants opened fire, killing every single one of them on the spot. Colonel Homaid, understanding the suicidal nature of this mission, had decided to lead from the front and was the first one to lose his life.

Outside, Saudi information minister went on Saudi radio and TV and announced that by the grace of Allah, the Masjid had been recovered and the "minor incident" was resolved. The Muslims rejoiced. Heads of States from all over the world sent congratulatory messages to King Khalid. And the newspapers all over the world had front page headlines praising the quick recovery of the Masjid. But Saudis weren't going to fool too many people for too long. Barely 24 hours later, Muslims around the Middle East turned on their TVs to see the Juma' Khutbah from the Sacred Masjid. There was none. The Saudi government had lied to the world, and not for the last time. During the next two weeks, various princes and ministers would claim victory another six times. Each, except the last of these, were white lies.

On that Friday, sermons in Masjids around the world condemned Juhayman and his band. Khateebs all over the world declared that Juhayman and his band deserve the wrath of God for what they have done. The 29 top scholars of Saudi Arabia, however, were still discussing their response.

They had decided to play hardball with the Saudi government. They shared many of Juhayman's grievances against the regime, though they did not approve of Juhayman's means. The ulema would only give the fatwa if, and only if, the government agreed to introduce certain "reforms" in the Kingdom. The government kept its side of the deal, and in the days after the siege many reforms did take place. Women were forbidden from working and appearing on TV. The newspapers were required to obliterate the face of women in any published pictures. Alcohol in Western compounds was outlawed. And most importantly, the Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice was established. The 'Mutawwas' of this committee became infamous in the next two decades as loose cannons. As children growing up in Saudi Arabia, we never feared anything or anyone as much as a mutawwa in a GMC at the time of Adzaan.

The 29 ulema did come out with the fatwa later that Friday. They had decided fairly quickly that Muhammad al-Qahtani cannot be al-Mahdi since the hadith of al-Mahdi mentions an army of 70,000 Jews originating from Isfahan in Iran. The Iran after the revolution did not have any Jews, let alone 70,000 in Isfahan. They were also able to find verse 191 of the second Surah of the Qur'an in no time. The point of contention that delayed the fatwa for three days was the last part of the verse which states, "but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of the unbelievers." Could they declare Juhayman and his band unbelievers?

The fatwa that eventually came out, according to Arab News, roughly had the following wording.

The armed group should first be asked to surrender and lay down their arms. Should they agree, they must be imprisoned until their case in considered in accordance with the Islamic Shariah. But if they resist, all measure could be taken to arrest them, even if it led to a fight and killing of those who were not arrested and had not surrendered.

And then after quoting the above verse, the fatwa stated that although this verse has been revealed in connection with the unbelievers, its connotations include those who act like unbelievers and fighting them is therefore permissible.

Over the next few days, the Saudi army would try many more times to enter the Masjid. Each one of those tries was from Bab Salam. Each one of those tries ended similarly. Prince Nayef succeeded in sending many young men to paradise with his stubbornness. With the fatwa, however, they brought in King Abdelaziz Armored Brigade with artillery support.

TO BE CONTINUED

Siege of Makkah - Part 6

2008-02-20T22:57:00.003+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. So whatever you read, first of all dont judge a book by its cover. Here is part 6:

Imam Subiel did all he could to warn the authorities of the severity of the situation, but no one seemed to believe him. The police station sent three more patrol cars that met a similar fate. The militants on top of the minarets made it a point to single out uniformed police officers only--letting the civilians be.

Imam Subiel was finally able to reach Sheikh Nasser bin Rashid, the senior Imam responsible for the two Harams--Makkah and Madina. He had the authority to go to the top, and it was he who rose Kind Khalid from his bed to give him the news. Within minutes Prince Nayef and Prince Turki Al-Faisal were on their way to Makkah. Crown Prince Fahd and Prince Abdullah (the current monarch) were not available, with Fahd at an Arab League summit in Tunis and Abdullah vacationing in Morocco.

Meanwhile, the news of Juhayman and the Mehdi was spreading rapidly in Makkah and Jeddah. As pilgrims were trickling out, they brought with them the stories of the appearance of Al-Mahdi, and a copy of the Seven Letter (Saba Rasail) written by Juhayman. Within hours, the appearance of al-Mahdi was the talk of the town. The Saudi government realized that if the news spreads, it will cause a serious law and order situation within the country. Outside the country, it will show the Saudi government in extremely poor light. So as is the fashion among many governments in that part of the world, the Saudis immediately ordered a communications blackout. The Canadian phone company that managed international calls to and from Saudi Arabia was ordered to close all lines.

The American embassy in Jeddah noticed right away that the phones were down. They made some inquiries and heard that there was some sort of trouble in Makkah, but they could not get any more details. Diligent as they were, the embassy officials contacted every government person they knew to find out more information until they got a vague idea of what is happening in Makkah. The phones were down, but the embassy had a secured cable link to Washington, and they wasted no time in communicating the news to the White House. That same day, President Carter had ordered USS Kitty Hawk to the Gulf to put pressure on Iran and a State Department Spokesman was briefing reporters on that decision. In what was to become a very costly mistake, the spokesman made a casual comment. "There has apparently been some kind of a seizure of a mosque by a group in Makkah." Giving an interview to the media a couple months after the incident, Prince Abdullah remarked that given how quickly the Americans knew about the incident, one cannot be blamed for wondering if they had advance knowledge of it.

The local media in Saudi Arabia gave no hint of any trouble in Makkah. On top of that, Sheikh Ibn Rashid decided that if the Masjid in Makkah can be attacked, then the Masjid in Madina would be at risk too. He was right, to some degree, because Juhayman had announced that his people controlled both Masjids. Juhayman, however, was bluffing. Precautionary closing of Masjid An-Nabawi would cause rumours to intensify. Almost everyone believe it is the work of either the Iranians or the Americans, and Saudi Arabia was in no hurry to correct the misinformation. The Saudis were deeply offended by the leak from the American embassy. That was probably the reason it took the Saudi government five days to release a statement saying that no Americans are involved in siege of the Sacred Masjid.

Back in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi military faced another unique problem. Getting the Saudi army and the National Guard to Makkah was no problem at all. However, given the rumours of the Mahdi, the Saudi government faced another unique problem. The soldiers had their oath of allegiance to the King, but it also limited their obedience of the King only to the matters allowed by Allah. The rank and file of the Saudi military openly started to wonder. What if the person claiming to be the Mahdi really is al-Mahdi? What if the end of time is near? What would be their end if they were among those who fought against the forces of truth, the forces of al-Mahdi? And above all, what about the clear prohibition by the Prophet of bloodshed in Makkah? "The fighting in Makkah was not permitted for anyone before me, and will not be permitted for anyone after me." How could they raise their weapons and fire towards the Sacred Masjid? And even if the claim of Muhammad al-Qahtani was wrong, should the defense of the Sacred Masjid be left to Allah, like it was left to Allah by the grandfather of the Prophet against the Army of the Elephant?

Desperate, King Khalid called an immediate Shura meeting with 29 of the top scholars in the Kingdom, led by Sheikh Bin Baaz. However, where it took the Sheikh of Al-Azhar a few moments to give a fatwa permitting fighting against the militants, the Saudi scholars took much longer.

The morning of November 21, the Saudi government decided that it should tell its citizens about the situation. Trofimov provides the four line statement given by Prince Nayef at 5 AM on Saudi radio: "A handful of deviators infiltrated the Holy Mosque with arms and ammunition during the early morning prayer Tuesday, the first day of the first month of Hijra year 1400. They presented someone to the worshippers in the mosque to perform the morning prayers, pretending that he was the expected Madhi, and urged them at gunpoint to recognize him as such. The authorities concerned took all necessary means to control the situation after procuring a fatwa from the ulema to protect the lives of Muslims inside the mosque. The Ministry of Information will issue a subsequent statement on developments in the situation."

The fatwa had not yet been procured. And the handful of militants actually numbered over 200. It appears that the Saudi government did not believe the number could be as high as 200 until many days later. Meanwhile, the American embassy in Pakistan was burnt down and Muslims around the world protested against the American/Zionist attack on Makkah.

TO BE CONTINUED

Importance of Language in Education

2008-02-17T20:02:00.004+01:00

Today my best friend forwarded an interesting article by Shahzad Roy, the educationist (and pop singer).Shahazad Roy runs a young but wonderful NGO working on grass root education for the poorest strata of our society and his economic model to make this happen is well appreciated and what better to call it than Zindagi Trust (Life Trust). Here is a video song he made:

I have referred to The Zindagi Trust earlier here, but more information can be found from their website The Zindagi Trust.

As for the article, Shahzad points out a very pertinent point in our education, the role language plays in building analytical skills. Being a product of Pakistani's Federal Board, the devastating culture of relating a foreign language (English in our case) as being an indicator of intelligence had ever been pertinent and I have seen so many talented people lose out due to the language. It is a case well made by proponents of English that it is necessary to be in the 21st century since most of the progress stems out from research and publications in this language. Nevertheless, in primary education, English infact hampers the very cause education tried to solve. My dad 'escaped 'from Lyari (a poor desolate area in Karachi) through Urdu medium schooling (even that was mildly foreign since he is a Sindhi) but managed to graduate and post graduate in Physics in English and to much surprise a Bachelors with distinction. Earlier on in my age, I never heard of better pronounced English than his, and better physics been taught elsewhere, the reason has been the ability to learn a critical thought process from childhood. My generation and the ones which follow haven't been so lucky, since English as a primary language for education has been more pervasive throughout while the ability to think in English hadn't. As as Shahzad Roy suggests in his article that analytical thinking allows faster learning of foreign languages, atlest that was the case in my family too. It is very important to harness the localized knowledge, either it be langauge or cultural teachings, etc as these are the skills most inbuilt and hard wired into a child. This is what the famous Greg Mortenson, a philanthropist, an educationist working in Paksitan also thinks about, check this for instance.

When I arrived in Germany nearly three years ago, I was surprised by the pervasiveness German language has in everything. And yet countries like Japan and Germany who are at the front in technological excellence, all did it in their native languages, ofcourse so did Americans :-)

There has been numerous published work on the role language plays on education both from linguistics and sociology but there is also a growing research which believes that the fundamental requirement to develop an analytical thought process is the ability to visualize abstract concepts. Although developed from a much earlier age than schooling, there is a growing user base of using virtual reality based learning to develop analytical skills. Ofcourse still a luxury but not for long. Virtual Based training for children is picking up, here is an organization I was once affiliated with providing technical and vocational training using visualization, the VDTC. However, their focus was on adults. There has been a popular programming language which teaches kids about logic building using visual concepts called LOGO. Another interesting project is developed by Carnegie Mellon University for teaching students programming(analytical skills) in a 3d environment again harnessing the power of visualization, the Alice project as it is called is easy to learn for both students and teachers alike. It is a bit hard to imagine NGO's offering such tutorials to children now but this cannot be a distant future, inshallah!

Siege of Makkah - Part 5

2008-02-17T10:05:00.001+01:00

Thalassemia, how you and I can help...

2008-02-14T19:46:00.005+01:00

Philanthropy, I believe can make a change, even if it be negligible. For cynics it might be a shady business but for the unprivileged and deprived for whom governments and bureaucracies can offer only shallow promises, NGOs and public services powered by philanthropists is the only option. Or simply because governments of developing worlds are under already so much preasure to deal with other so-called bigger issues that such matters as health are often deprioritized.

Thalessemia is a painful and persistent disease and is most pervasive in the subcontinent, including Pakistan. There are some notable philansthropist activities in the health sector in Pakistan, for Thalassemia,
a friend of mine documents of one such effort, the Kashif Iqbal Thalassemia Canter which offers free patient care and treatment.

According to him,
Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Center is one of a facility in the country where Thalassaemia patients are treated free of cost. This trust came into being when the 16-year old boy of Mr. Iqbal died from this dreadful, genetic disease. Today, he along with his highly dedicated family and staff members work day and night to save children from dying. And they don't ask for donations. People, rich and poor, pour their bank accounts and their sympathy to this organization.

Today, with 18 branches across Pakistan, this trust serves countless children and adults by educating them on this disease, its prevention, and providing free testing facility to all who want to know whether they are a Thalassaemia minor or not. Two Thalassaemia minors must not marry. If they do, the chances are that 1 in 4 children born will be a Thalassaemia major. And that's a life-time of a problem.

For further details contact:

Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Center (KITCC)
Becham Road, Laiqabad, Landhi,
Karachi - 75120

(+92-21)-8232414
(+92-21)-4515600
(+92-21)-5021188 (Fax)

kitcc@gem.net.pk
http://kashifiqbal.com/

Ammeer Hamza is one of my favorite photojournalists of Pakistan who covers the lives of the poor and the unreachable mostly in rural Pakistan. His work has been frequently noticed by various international institutions, most recently by National Geographic. He maintains a Flickr page at:
Ameer Hamza

Siege of Makkah - Part 4

2008-02-11T22:41:00.000+01:00

Greg Mortenson - An American Hero of Pakistan

2008-02-10T14:42:00.000+01:00

I recently finished reading the book, "Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson" and as my mind is trying to grasp the variety of dimensions this book offers, the motif of the book, that it can just take one man to make a difference, that it takes understnading and not enforcement of one's beliefs, that the concept of giving aid using local resources sprouts a possitive evolutionary imporvement, that stereotyping leads to chaos, that voilence begets violence, that education builds bridges, I am but one more fan of the man. And what a man he is, as I read from the book, Greg Moretenson, an American former climber who found his destiny in failure, failed to climb K2 but succeeded in building bridges, breaking stereotypes and as the paperback edition reads, "Promotes Peace". His weapon is education, but not one which he imports with himself from his part of the world, but education which is embedded in the local soils of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not trying to enforce a school of thought but a school of opportunity. In literal, he is teaching us how to catch a fish!

This book presents various lessons to learn, especially in post 911 affected regions, the US, Afghanistan and ofcourse Pakistan. What the politicians failed to see, he not just played the rhetoric but his actions moved mountains. Places where the great armies of Alexander couldnt conquer, the battle of hearts and minds has been won by Mortenson. The thinking, the experiences and the journey Greg Mortenson or more famously, Dr. Greg took, cover various aspects besides education. Afterall, inorder to break the status quo towards improvement, one has to conquer several forts, he did all.

Greg Mortenson, according to his NGO IKAT, has established 58+ schools in Nortern Pakistan and Afghanistan, on the principles which he states in his book,

"CAI schools would teach the exact same curriculum as any good Pakistani government school. There would be none of the "comparative cultures" classes then so popular in the West, nothing conversvative religous leaders could polnt to tas 'anti-Islamic' in an effort to shut the schools down. But neither would they let the schools preach the fiery brand of fundamentalist Islam taught in many of the country's madrassas."

"I don't want to teach Pakistan's children to think like Americans'. I Just want them to have a balanced nonextremist education. That idea is at the very center of what we do" - Greg Mortenson.

How pertitnent and geniune one's intentions are can be judged by the apporach one takes. And as our rulers maligned intentions to alter our curricula instead of improving it shows their disgust, a foreigner takes the heed to learn the local culture, traditions and even religions to create a preserving, sustainiable and truly enlightening education for the people.

Mortenson quotes a very interesting text from Norberg-Hodge's work,

"I used to assume that the direction of 'progress' wsa somehow inevitable, not to be questioned, I passively accepted a new road through the middle of the park, a steel-and-glass bank where a 200-year old church had stood...and the fact that life seemed to get harder and faster with each day. I do not anymore. In Ladakh, I have learned that there is more than one path into the future and I have had the privelage to witness another, saner, way of life - a pattern of existence based on the co-evolution between human beings and the earth." - Norberg-Hodge

"Norberg- Hodge continues to argue not only that Western developement workers should not blindly impose modern 'improvements' on ancient cultures, but the industrialized countries had lessions to learn from people like Ladakhis about building sustainable societies. "I have seen", she writes, "that community and a close relationships with the land can enrich human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication. I have learned that another way is posisble." - Three Cups of Tea.

I wish our leaders get the chance to gain enlightenment from this, instead of altering people's beliefs and traditions. The hate for the so-called 'West' is more of a hate of an invading school of thought brought none other but our elitist rulers but here is an American organistation centering on a single man who earns more trust and respect for not his institution but the best traditions West has to offer the perochial 'East'.

The book discusses how Mortenson journeyed to different tribes in the region, making contacts, making friends and the important measures one has to take for bridge building. For instance, talking on Waziristan, the book points out:

"Wazir like all Pashtuns, live by the code of Pashtunwali. Badal, revenging blood feuds and defense of zan, zar and zameen, or family, treasure, and land, are central pillars of Pashtunwali. As is nenawatay, hospitality and asylum for guests who arrive seeking help. The trick was to arrive as a guest, rather than as an invader. Mortenson climbed out of the car in his ridiculous custome and set about trying to become their former, since it was too dangerous to search for another place to stay after dark."

The bloody suicide bombing we are seeing now in Pakistan, taddly dismissed by the rulers as narrow minded religious zealots has more to it than what it appears, mistake so grave in the making that one wonders how to pacify the siuation. Instead of bombing civilians and crooks alike, the Pakistani military should have learned lessons from Dr. Greg, according to whom,

"No tribe captured his imagination like the Wazir. Loyal to neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan, they were Pashtuns, and allied with their greater tribe above all else. Since the time of Alexander, foreigners had me fierce resistance every time they sent troops into the area. With eac defeat of a larger, better equipped force that arrived in Waziristan, the region's infamy grew. After losing hundreds of his men to a small guerilla force, Alexander ordered that his troops thereafter skirt the lands of "these devils of the desserts". The Britished fared no better, losing two wars to the Wazir and the greater Pashtun tribe."

During 911 days, when the entire world wanted to portray us Pakistanis as all evil, Greg Mortenson says:

"Green reporters who know nothing about the region stand up on the roof in flak jackets and act like their backdrop of the Margala Hills is some kind of war zone instead of a place to take the kids on weekends. Most of them don't want to get anywhere near the border and are running stories without checking them out. And those that do wan tto go are out of luck. The Taliban just closed Afghanistan to all foriegn reporters".

Later on he says,

"I tried to talk about root causes of the conflict - the lack of educaiton in Pakistan, and the rise of the (extremists) Wahabi madrassas, and how that led to problems like terrrorism," Mortenson says, "But that stuff hardly ever made it into print. They only wanted sound bites about the top Taliban leaders so they could turn them into villains in the run-up to the war".

It is heartening to see how an open mind can bring to this world, especially in breaking the culture of stereotyping. When our rulers are busy creating rifts and divides within our religion by classifiying us as extremists vs moderates, and dividing us on sectarian differences, Three Cups of Tea states,

"I wish Westerners who misunderstand Muslims could have seen Syed Abbas in action that day, they would see that most people who practice the true teachings of Islamm even conservative mullahs like Syed Abbas, believe in peace and justice, not in terror. Just as the Torah and Bible teach concern for those in distress, the Koran insturcts all Muslims to make caring for widows, orphans, and refugees a priority."

At another ocassion, he says,

"I dont want to give the impressoin that all Wahabi are bad, many of their schools and mosques are doing good work to help Pakistan's poor. But some of them seem to exist only to teach militant jihad"

Nearing the end of the book, reaching its climax, the book gives a universal message which is simply a portrayel of local thought emerging from the most extremist labelled areas of the world,

"I request America to look into our hearts," Abbas continued his voice straining with emotion, "and see that thte great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people. Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education. But today, another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness, we find ourselves in".

At another ocassion,

"It was an incredible speech, and by the time Syed Abbas had finished he had the entire crowd in tears. I iwsh all the Americans who think 'Muslim' is just another way of saying 'terrorist' coiuld have been there that day. The true core tenants of Islam are justice, tolerance, and charity, and Syed Abbas represented the moderate center of Muslim faith eloquently"

The book being mostly about education, it presents a thesis of how women education can start a self-healing natural process of improvement within a community. I had earlier talked about a similar theme before, here Greg Mortenson simply reassures it:

"After the last note of the anthem had faded, the children sat in a neat circle and began copying their multiplication tables. Most scratched in the dirt with sticks they'd brought for hte purpose. The more fortunate, like Jahan, had slate boards they wrote on with sticks dipped in a mixture of mud and water. "Can you imagine a fourth-grade class in America, alone, without a teacher, sitting there quietly and working on their lessons? Mortenson asks. "I felt like my heart was being torn out. There was a fierceness in their desire to learn, despite how mightly everything was stacked against them, that reminded me of Christa (his departed sister). I knew I had to do something"

Thank you Dr. Greg for your lifetime of efforts for us, You have already won my little Nobel Peace Prize....

Siege of Makkah 3

2008-02-08T20:24:00.000+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. So whatever you read, first of all dont judge a book by its cover. Part 1 and 2 were earlier published on this blog, here is part 3:

I, for one, cannot find much fault with at least six of Juhayman's tenets. And depending on what he actually meant, I might be okay with another couple of them. The scholars of Saudi Arabia, for the most part, could find little wrong with any of his points. Afterall, Sheikh Bin Baaz was jailed in 1940 for a number of his fatawa, one of which was strong condemnation of putting the pictures of Saudi royalty on walls and the currency. Bin Baaz had also criticized King Faisal for bringing TV to the Kingdom and had more than once shown disapproval for women newscasters on Saudi TV. The scholars were also infuriated by women getting employment in the private sector, especially at ARAMCO, where women secretaries were commonplace until then.

Juhayman and his followers were well known to the scholarly community. They had attended many lectures and were very active in the field of Dawah. So when the scholars sat down in Madina to debate the issue of Juhayman and his followers, they couldn't find much fault with the ideals Juhayman preached. After all, many of them had given fatawa espousing the same views. They strongly believed, however, that the house of Saud, with all its deficiencies, is best placed to defend Islam against the forces of secularism and communism.

When Juhayman and his followers were arrested, it was Sheikh Bin Baaz himself who called Prince Nayef and asked him to release the group (Yaroslav Trofimov based on an interview with Prince Turki Al-Faisal).

The release, though, wasn't soon enough for the group. Many of them were severely tortured during the few days they spent in the Saudi prisons. One of them, a 25 year old Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Qahtani had his fingernails pulled out violently. Once release, the experience only strengthened Juhayman and his band in their belief that the Saudi government was illegitimate.

It is difficult, if not nearly impossible to find much accurate information on what exactly happened--you will still find people who should know better blaming this on the Shi'as of Iran--and I believe that we will never know all the details. I had passively searched on this topic, on and off, for many years. My father had first told me of this episode of Islamic history when I was about ten; he was was in Masjid Al-Haram hours before it was taken over and was present at the beheading of many of the accused. But even he knew very little. Searching the Internet proved more difficult--though I was able to find many references to Juhayman and his siege on websites related to mujahideen and militant groups within the Muslim world.

And then I came across "The Siege of Mecca" by Yaroslav Trofimov. Though the author tries to be objective, his frequent Wahhabi-bashing rants take away from his objectivity. Nevertheless, the facts he presented in his book are as close to the truth as anyone has ever been, and they are nearly indisputable as far as I can tell. He obtained previously classified documents from the CIA files, as well as letter and cables exchanged between President Carter, ambassador West and the Saudi government officials. He interviewed dozen of people present in the Masjid at the time. He interviewed many of the Saudi princes involved in the episode, especially Prince Turki Al-Faisal--the head of Saudi intelligence agency--as well as Saudi and French commandos who ultimately freed the Masjid from the militants. He interviewed Imam Subiel, who was the Imam of the Fajr prayer after which Juhayman seized the microphone from him. He even dug up surviving militants who were spared because they were only 16 at the time.

I cannot take everything he says word for word, but I am relating here whatever I believe to be accurate given independent research, which was primarily on the Internet, but also included looking through old newspapers at libraries in Mississauga, Toronto, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. I still have to give credit to the incredible research done by Trofimov.

And though Trofimov would argue that Juhayman became obsessed with the idea of Mahdi after he was tortured in 1978, there are many indications that he had been eagerly waiting for the Mahdi for many years.

Juhayman believed the Mahdi will appear near the end of time, on the first day of the new hijri century, and will take the oath of allegiance by the believers near Ka'baa, standing between the station of Ibrahim and the Hateem. Juhayman also believed that Mahdi will be from the family for the Prophet, a Qurayshi, and will bear the name of the Prophet--Muhammad bin Abdullah--and will have a red mark on his cheek, like the Prophet himself. After his experience in the prison, he became increasingly convinced that the end of the world must be near. So when Juhayman saw that with less than a year to go, there are no signs of the messiah, he actively started looking for one.

Among his followers was the young graduate of Kind Saud University, Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Qahtani. He had the right name. His features, if you tried real hard, were similar to those described in the books of Seerah as the Prophet's. And he had a red mark on his right cheek. He was an eloquent Khatib at a Masjid in the district of Malaz in Riyadh. Everyone who knew him believed that this kid was destined for greatness in the service of Islam.

There was one problem though. The tribe of Quraysh was from the Adnani branch of Arabs, the descendents of Prophet Ismail, whereas the Qahtanis were the indigenous population of Arabia from Yemen. A Qahtani Arab, according to Juhayman's understanding, could not have been the Mahdi and there was no one else Juhayman could see who would be fit to be al-Mahdi. He was in a quandary. That was until Saeed, the older brother of Muhammad, told Juhayman of his family's history.

TO BE CONTINUED

Siege of Makkah - Part2

2008-02-06T16:10:00.000+01:00

Here I am presenting an episode of blogs written by a very dear friend of mine whom I will disclose later for various reasons which will become apparent as time progresses. This is a ten part article and will present each part as interest in it by the readers suggest so.Please note that this series of articles is neither to defame a religion, a country or a sect. It is merely a window into an already published work. The author of this article is a Canadian Muslim who has himself spent a decade living in Saudi Arabia as well. Part 1 was earlier published on this blog, here is part 2:

For most of his life, few people would have thought that Juhayman al-Uteybi will ever do anything that will outlast him. He was an average corporal in Hars al-Watni--the National Guard of Saudi Arabia for some 15 years before he left public service while in his mid-thirties. He was always a devout Muslim, but in 1973 he decided to dedicate himself to studying and propagating Islam. This is about the time when Sheikh Bin Baaz rahimhullah became the supreme religious authority in Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Bin Baaz was known around the Muslim world for his intricate knowledge of hadith and Islamic fiqh. His fatawa were published in many languages, and he was well respected by the royalty and the commoners. Sheikh Bin Baaz was also known for keeping the royalty from blindly following the West in its immorality. He often strongly and fearlessly condemned the princes and the royal families for their loose behaviour outside of Saudi Arabia. That did not, however, mean that what he said was always done. And often, Sheikh Bin Baaz, being a scholar of the high calibre that he was, gave permissions to the government for certain "evils" in the interest of preventing a bigger evil.

For example, in 1940 Sheikh Bin Baaz gave a fatwa that the land of Arab, not just Makkah, is prohibited for the non-Muslims. However, later realizing the necessity of having non-Muslim experts in a mostly illiterate land, he allowed for a rukhsa. Famously, he did that again in 1991 when he allowed the Saudi regime to call upon the Americans and the Britains to help defend against Saddam Hussain's invading armies. The Sheikh has been unfairly criticized for that in many circles--though the text of his fatwa made it clear that it was in the interest of stopping a greater evil from spreading.

How is all that at all relevant to the siege of Makkah?

For many of us it is not; for Juhayman and many like him, it was of utmost relevance.

Juhayman had attended many lectures given by Sheikh Bin Baaz. He was a regular at Madinah University--though he never sat for the exams. He was also a committed Daiee of Islam, traveling far and wide in the desert lands and the oases of Saudi Arabia. He was an eloquent speaker and was able to connect readily with the youth. And he was a man of knowledge--afterall, he had sat in the lectures of Sheikh Bin Baaz.

Within a few years of leaving public service and joining the Dawah organized by Sheikh Bin Baaz, Juhayman became somewhat of a legend. Young people flocked around him as he went from village to village, tribe to tribe, calling people to tawheed.

But Juhayman was becoming increasingly frustrated as well. He saw Saudi Arabia going down the route of indecency and immorality. He despised the Western ways of the royal family, especially the crown prince Fahd, known as somewhat of a playboy. He was also infuriated by the Saudi policy of sending scores of young people to American universities for higher education, from where they came back heavily influenced by the civilization of Satan. And above all, he saw the permissions given by Sheikh Bin Baaz and other scholars as betrayal of the true faith by these scholars.

In 1978, Juhayman printed a small booklet called Saba Rasail (Seven Letters). The basic tenets of his ideology were as follows:

1- The duty to follow the Prophet's example
2- The necessity for Muslims to overthrow their corrupt leadership
3- The requirement for the leadership to be true to the Quran and the Sunnah, be of Quraishi roots, and be elected by the Muslims
4- The duty to base the practice of Islamic faith of the Quran and the Sunnah and not on taqlid of scholars and their incorrect teachings
5- The necessity to isolate oneself from the sociopolitical system by refusing to accept any official positions
6- The advent of Mehdi from the lineage of the Prophet to remove the current corrupt leadership
7- The duty to reject all worshippers of other than Allah
8- The duty to reject the worshippers of Ali, Fatimah, Hassan, Hussain and others from the lineage of the Prophet
9- The duty to reject immoral innovations such as music, television
10- The duty to establish a pure homeland for Islam and Muslims that does not court the unbelievers

The booklet was printed illegally in Kuwait and was smuggled back into Saudi Arabia. Within days, Juhayman and over 200 of his followers were arrested and put away with Prince Nayef personally overseeing the operation.

That should have prevented any operation that Juhayman may have been planning, but it did not. Juhayman was not destined to be behind bars for long and within a year he became the commander of the militant group that overtook the Scared Masjid. Juhayman, who was no more than an average unknown corporal in 1973, was on the front page of every newspaper in the world by 1979. And long after he was beheaded for what he did, another man whose life was altered by the events of November 1979--by the name of Osama bin Laden--would praise Juhayman for his true understanding of Islam, his courage, and his stance against the immorality and the illegitimacy of the Saudi government (in an October 2001 interview to Al-Jazeera).

Even today, you will find young people (in Canada, no less) who say rahimahullah with the name that spilled the blood of innocent Muslims on the most sacred land in the universe ( http://chameleon47.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/19/). The man who forced old pilgrims to drink their own urine out of thirst while locked up in the basement of Masjid Al-Haram; the man who was responsible for preventing congregational prayers to be held in Masjid Al-Haram, is considered an exemplary believer and a role model (see #80 - http://noiri.blogspot.com/2007/08/homicide-bombers-by-name.html).

How did Juhayman get out again? What were his motivations? How did he gather that many followers and why is his ideology still popular? These questions will be answered in the coming days inshaAllah.

TO BE CONTINUED

Siege of Makkah Part1

2008-02-04T22:27:00.000+01:00

The Great Debate - Politicians on Education

2008-02-03T20:05:00.000+01:00

Recently Pervaiz Musharraf told the Europeans and the world at large that Western Democracy is not for Pakistan. Adding fuel to fire to the democratic elements in Pakistan, Musharraf failed to realize that even though our election process are not based on mandates as much as they are based on 'dynasties', the untamed beast, the Media in Pakistan has now matured further by exposing the country's politicians to the awaam (public). Talk shows have matured and recently the series 'The Great Debate' has introduced something which does has the potential of having YouTube type election campaigns. Working under danda (under strict limited government watch), the recent series has now focused on issues pertinent to the elections. And I was pretty impressed to see how some politicians pointed out correct problems of the education in Paksitan, and suggested some very good solutions to move forward. Although it will be interesting to see whether as previously, these politicians will restrict themselves to lip service or will actually make things happen. One possitive thing which the faujis have done due to their constant intimidation is brought the politicians to for once, agree with one another on certain issues, be it Pakistan's education.

The participants all were nominated by their respective parties by those parties contesting elections on Feb 18th and all of them were experts on education in their parties. It was interesting to see that the parties out of current government all had strong points and parties in power were just filling in their time slots. Special notice was this MQM person, Mr. Syed Sardar Ahmed, who on all points made very impressive suggestions and insight. So was Ahsan Iqbal from PML (N) and PPP's Shahnaz Wazir Ali, all three out of the government. ANP's Bushra Gohat although better than her counterpart from the same region, MMA's Maulana Fazal Ali Haqani, nevertheless didnt point out any thing worth her position except for the idenfitication of RATTA (Rote Learning) System int he country. MMA's Maulana Fazal Ali had on most occassions found shelter of Islam and instead of giving his party's standings on the issues, instead quoted the relevance of Islam and education which most Pakistanis are already aware of. Is it just him or his whole party always hijacking Islam for their growth? But the worst was PMLQ's Nighat Orakzai who mentioned 'Teacher's Day' as a way to improve education? No wonder why her party had to spend so much on advertising on their so-called education campaign than to actually have a real education campaign.

After going through their manifesto's and this talk show, PML-PPP-MQM wins my vote on education by a far margin... Whats your say?

You can find the talk show at PKPOLITICS

Justice @ theSpeed of Light...

2008-02-03T01:36:00.000+01:00

It has been a week old news but it might have either much needed effects or very devestating effects for the stabilty of NWF Pakistan. Its about bringing Judiciary to the doorsteps of the mountain dwellers. People who have an existing culture of Jirga (local courts) by leaders of the area, some areas lucky to have just leaders, people who earn respect of their people and are thus designated to settle their matters then and there. But some areas are not so lucky, landlordism, although most common in the rest of Pakistan, also destroys the Jirga , the aw providing institution. It has been elements like the latter which has brought all the negeative attention to the alien world, especially that urban populace whose understandings of such affairs are minimal in general.

Parvaiz Musharraf has never been a man close to represent Paksitan to this region, infact he never had any 'democratic' meetings with the tribal leaders and his entire take on the region's mindset had backfired.He goes down in history as the man who broke the age old pact between Waziristan and Pakistan which the founding fathers made. He might think of this as the man who accepts confrontation to move forward rather to remain stagnent but as this video suggests, the obvious effects of bombing an entire area instead of alienating culprits, i.e. terrorists in this case, leads to things uncontrollable.

Few days back, the current interim (and controversial) government launched a scheme in 'good will' to provide speedy justice to the region. When I first read this statement in the news, it felt like the gvoernment did homework on the root causes of the unrest in the region and figured out that the people demanded justice and so they present a short term solution to pacify the anger in the region by providing mobile courts.

The media took notice of it but I felt by and large, it missed the point to argue. Instead of merely talking about the issues of providing mobile, speedy justice to areas where it has been denied for so long, the media focused on the word 'Shariah' more and that do in a skeptic way which I believe besides the acute understanding of many western journalists, also was the subject of mild ridicule by the Pakistani media. Shariah is simply law of the land governed by the teaching of Quran and Sunnah. Sharia is also present in the Pakistani constitution, even if not fully, but the problem is, if the law of the land is not followed by even its caretakers, then any law, may it be US constitution, the Cuban or the Congo's, it won't make much of a difference. Morality has already left us. I for once agree with the interim government to use the word Shariah IF AND ONLY IF their intentions are to use local vocabulary of NWFP.

However, ill as their other actions have been (holding ECP hostage, participating in upcoming elections even by being intereim government, etc), if the goal of this psuedo-government is to deamonize Shariah by using its name on this temporary, short-term and risky mobile judiciary, then it makes a vey disheartening point for the rest of hte country, for the four provinces who stand together due to their common interest in Islam.

Secondly, it will further mobilize the separatist and provoked masses of NWFP who believe that the war in the regoin is a war on Islam. It would further polarize us. Recently, Talat Hussain of Aaj TV made an interesting talk show on this affair and among the many points discussed, it was shocking for me to hear that this whole idea is not based on any research which indicates a possiblity of mischief by someone holding the strings.

In theory, a speedy justice system is required but instead of implementing it using the state sponsored and governed judicial machinery, parallel courts even with the intention of applying the Pakistani law but with a suddent influx of 'unqualified' (meaning not everyone's background is homogenious) law practictioners, this would develop parallel systems of judiciary within the state by the state. Further in the video, you will see there is no risk analysis of such an action carried out either. No backup plans, no nothing.

And even with this blatent and rash move to provide justice at the doorsteps, where in the world is justice for Aitzaz Ahsan and Tariq Mahmood? Where is the speedy justice for the missing persons? Where is the Justice for Benazir Bhutto's first attack and later assassination? Where is the justice of 12th May? Where is the justice of Justice Iftikhar Chaudary? Where is the justice of the November 3rd Recoup? And this can go on and on...where is my speedy justice? where is justice at all?

US vs Germany - Learning to say NO

2008-02-01T22:46:00.000+01:00

This is the difference in nations, at times even when the mightier, stronger and larger marches at your doors, you should have the courage to stand against them to defend your just cause, your sovereignty. Yet over the years, we the second beings, the Pakistanis who are more fond of playing servant to this proxy lord, the United States would enter afterlife even thinking about saying NO to the big brother.Yesterday Teeth Maestro and Adil Najam discussed about the documents shared between US and Pakistan, involving two by Parvaiz Musharraf and a reply by Iftikhar Chaudary. It constantly reminded me of weeners at school copmlaining everything to their teachers or worst, mommies. This sad depiction could be the reason mommy spanks back.

With the rising tensions or rather intimidations by the US to take matter into her own hands in Northern Pakistan, the US sends a bold request to Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan which Germany bluntly denied. I read this news at BBC today and found this very interesting map:

Some of you might be learned enough and would care to elaborate why the entire US army is in the East? Planning to enter Pakistan eh? They only closest they allow others are Turks, Parvaiz Musharraf's asylum destination soon....

Eye of the Beholder

2008-01-29T21:56:00.000+01:00

Not usually it is a common happenstance that I happen to be the last person at office. So rare to recollect the last time I switched out the lights in the floor's hallways, my office and the stairways on my way out. Usually a person like myself prides in oneself leaving the desk at 5 sharp, ok 6-ish but as I climb downstairs, I carry a heavy burden of a late night at work, even if it be from my safe haven, my home.

As I move out of the building and enter a certain porchway with ocassional lamp posts reminding one of olden times, dark times, before the European Renaissance. And even though these tall lanterns of light are powered by modern gizmos, their queer forms reinforces a gothic surrounding. Much as I walk forward on this porch, with an open football field at one end, abandoned and dark with the farther end all blured in the dark night, that suddent feeling of unwanted creatures charging on me, hounds maybe, of Baskerville, I still find the work I was taking home with me, heavy enough not to fasten my pace. I slightly survey the area around me, gothic as it may be, it had a sense of security as I knew bleaker roads await me further. The leaves whispering to one another as if alarming others of my arrival. What others? What could they be?

With the redness of the soil below my feet, and the periodical intensity of light from the lamp posts falling on me, the pitch blackness of the football field besides me, I fancied about the other kind suddenly appearing infront of me. Talking to me, contacting! There was a silly smile, of cunning nature on my face for a while before the fear of the unkown, of the unkown creature besieged me.

I hurried a bit, finally the turn on the road came. an untimely vehicle with its headlights more like spotlights passed by and sped into the darkness, I had my back to her already, and I took the turn. The sky looked brighter, I dont remember I can see a moon tonight but the sky looks lyconthropic tonight. I see the parked caravan again, in a stroll to these walks for three months now. The caravan like always, not parked, but waiting, ready to start its journey, thats what it was made for. I advanced it and she might have been humbled, rather humiliated by another footsoldier. But instead of this wicked joy of beating the machine, I had my own insecurities, of entering the short alley, where nature made up of leaves, vineyards and century old trees await me. They were signaled about me no doubt. As I enter this forsaken alley, with the work load I carried, the fears I carried were lighter on the shoulders and on the heart. I had this tad dismissal of it all as I not like always felt disgust at the rotting of nature.

Nature which had stood for centuries here, where vines sprialling unkown wood, rooted deep in its soil, still fresh of summmers, didn't fascinate me today and I ridiculed the grotesque scenary it projected on my walkway. I moved one further, one step at a time till I reached light, the end of the natural tunnel where squirrels conspire in the daylights. I welcomed these new lights. They weren't as queer, as intimidating as those olden lamp posts, painted dark black just like their surroundings. But these lights reminded me of society again, an artificaility within nature or a natural entity with an artificial being (us humans), I cared less to ponder these thoughts. I brisked myself towards my destination, towards home, even with all the burden I had. I kept on looking at the bushes on the pavements, strange they were, as if nature was confused of its season, a mixture of green and baige leaves, green full of life and water, whlie baige, rotting in a dry grave. These are strange times, nature is confused too. Amongst this queerness, when I started to recall the day's news I read in the morning which seemed ages ago, I felt how much the context of events foreplays the existence of truth.

The same person who used to enjoy these wonderful paths to home, found them to be remmiscents of gory forbiddings. It is all the state of mind, which is a state of time, which is a state of one being observed in a limited world of dimensions. And this state has the power to change one's perceptions of truth as I had. I passed on the final lane and accidently brushed my shoulder with a car's side mirror. Was I disbalanced or was it deliberate, who can be sure when one is lost in thoughts, the surroundings mute off and time holds either still or moves faster than perception, its just that you are not in it. I was in that state and I was thinking of this all the time, I thought there is a parallel reality to my existence, to my country, to my people, to all people, to all countries, to all creatures. I had looked into the future and I had seen burden, of work, of a sleepless night and my perceptions took control of ravaging the beauty around me. Can't it be true not just for individuals but for societies? The fear of the future, the fear of the unkown makes the present bleak. Its all in the mental eye of the beholder!

American Christian Missionaries Terrorising in Iraq

2008-01-28T11:51:00.000+01:00

Came across this from an Arabian blogger:

Most Bizarre Pakistani News of the Week!

2008-01-28T03:19:00.000+01:00

This is ridiculous, this is insane! This must be the most bizarre news of the month!
Atlaf Hussain, leader of MQM sought assurity from President Pervaiz Musharraf of free and fair elections on Feb 18th!

Reported by Dawn here, I just wonder besides the formality one has to make during such high profile visits is one thing but asking for free and fair elections by the person whose party's best interest under the current crisis is NOT to have free and fair elections. Afterall, PMLQ and MQM will have to sustain longafter this dictator goes, MQM more so after this regime finally leaves Pakistan at her own mercy. PMLQ might be disintegrated though, but for both these sinking parties, atleast after their sham government can only survive if they team up together and that would mean that PMLQ would have to counter PPP not to have a stronghold and MQM is the only party which can provide them ithis assurity n Sindh. Even with the vote bank PPP has at the moment, now increased due to anti-MQM sidings and sympathy towards the party, Altaf Hussain's MQM would create some distortions to capture atleast a strategic interior region besides Karachi to keep PPP occupied if elected by creating fuss throughout the tenure. How in the world does MQM think they can surive without cheating?

As for their development efforts of falling bridges, unaccountable money laundering which has been repeatedly mentioned in the press and an infrastructure based on fancy fountains and pedestrian free highways and bridges, already atleast another bridge is reported to be dismantling indicating an audit-less procedure to it all. During the devestating rains when billboards were taking lives, MQM was bold enough to claim Karachi is run by 14 agencies of which the City District Government is just one of them. But it has single handedly tried to hijack all development activities done by non CDG too under their own umbrella, with the recent addition of claiming responsibilty of revamping the Hyderabad Niaz Stadium. Who can forget the bloddy 12th May when the MQM in control prepared a totally nondemocratic, unconstitutional, extra juducial tyrrany with the blessings of the dictator whonow acknowledges MQM for her development work to Altaf Hussain during his visit! How lame is that!

Even in this information age, how much more disinformed can u get, even as a fauji?

Alhamdulillah - Praise be to Allah

2008-01-28T01:59:00.000+01:00

Our Lord! Lay not upon us such a burden as You did lay upon those before us. Our Lord! Impose not on us that which we have not the strength to bear, grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us. You are our Protector. Help us against those who deny the truth. (2:286) AlBaqara.

I write this at a post midnight hour, with a heavy heart and sorrow eyes for I have been trapped in a small, hollow sphere of resentments and complaints. I wonder why is it that each one of us, at one time or the other, feel a further desire for satisfaction. A growing hunger pervades us all and we can only deny it to enter our fool's paradise. Hunger for more, a desire to rise from status quo hoping it would achieve some predefined satisfaction level, but it never does. But be not confused with this hunger being tabooed here, the inner quality of humans to do better, do 'achieve' and 'earn' better is an inherent trait and cherished in any progressive society, but the hunger I refer to here is when the purpose instead of being able to gain energy to serve the Almighty and bring peace to his land, is to indulge in lust, be it lust for our perceptive jewels be they materialistic or conceptual, or even the lust to fulfill the hunger itself. And this lust, disconnects us from the real blessings Allah has bestowed around us, for us and inside us.

I feel empty when I see my hollow belly full of fat and chubby, which had sustained all the junk food and denial to exercise it deserved. I feel the emptiness of a little boy in Africa dying of famine, his belly is round too. But his hunger had been different, had been legitimate and more of a test on me than a test on him, Allah knows better. For I had been complaining about my cuisine lately as today, oh I missed the delicacies I cherished a month ago back home, which I am unable to enjoy in my western home due to my religious beliefs and taqwa on this matter. How empty I was not thinking a child dies in the world every odd second due to hunger. How more wicked one could get, I perceive not. Praise be to Allah who granted me food to eat and I pray that each time I dine, I think of dining for His sake, to worship Him and bring peace to His land.

The evolutionary process of societies and 'humanities' around the world, at the awe of sustaining two world wars and numerous disasters beforehand and suicidal acts of self inflicting experiments of sociology, some sense of ethics prevail. I hear myself complaining with others about the good old days, whether they be the times of the Prophets and the privileged time of the Last Prophet PBUH, or the time of the Caliphates, of Omar in particular, or of the golden period in Muslim civilisations of the 12th and later 14th centuries and comparing them to the horrid days of today with bomb blasts, misqueued mobs of frustrated people, of corruption, hate, anger, deprivation, inequality, injustice but when I realize that it would be worse nearer the end, that it could be possible I witness an era of a revival, a renaissance and thus a chance to be part of it somewhat and somehow, I realize how ungrateful I had been. Praise be to Allah who has given me skills and strength in areas I can help others with, Praise be to Allah for giving me this opportunity to even offer my thoughts whatever they may be. They might be worth less than a penny, but the opportunity itself is enough for redemption. Praise be to Allah for putting me in a social circle where I can 'choose' my way of life and not be imprisoned in a thought of others or a choice of others. Alhamdullilah

The thought of not being photogenic (My euphemism for considering oneself ugly) dismissed myself of experiencing the beauty of perfection Allah has granted me which I realize only now. I watched the Elephant Man, and reading about how hard could one has to face her/his luck is beyond my imagination. A severe deformation could have accompanied my physical body and it could have been me pleading to the ugly society to consider me a human and not a freak! Or about people with cancer, who have their time clocks ticking, worse than a sudden death, I think most people dont want to know when they will die, isnt that in itself a blessing in disguise? Alhamdulillah! Praise be to Allah!

So much I can cherish now thinking of family, friends, countrymen and other humans around me who spread love and warmth and truly make this world a wonderful journey. How pity I felt for the elderly women last week when she was walking her dog telling it was her Kinder (German for child). How much our mothers blessed to see their old age spending with grandchildren rather than old age houses thinking of seeing their children on xmas by chance.

Many Pakistanis won't agree to be Pakistani if provided a second option, many more despise carrying our notorious green Passport yet when I see Palestinians in the richer gulf states or here in Europe, just desperately trying to fit in and committing nepotism of the highest order just to preserve their families, I thank Allah. How about the Bengali who is human trafficked into the rich Arab world for being the cheapest labor at the mercy of extortionists, one who is there, shown to be racially inferior by all strata of society, a person who sees his family once every 5 years, or the Indonesian housemaid these Arabs import and are at times subjected to worse human abuse not just by men but by women also, mothers deprived of their children. What about Afghan refugees with respected educated groups selling scrap at junkyard sales on asylum around the world. Or what about the fast paced Tokyo dwellers who feel like suicide the most and succeed more than what most others do. How about West European countries who feel alienated due to a more formal, professional life. Or the glitzy and glamorous lives at Beverley Hills who turn out to be psychos in search of happiness. How much I thank Allah I have a nationality and a country always ready to accept me, even with all her shortcomings. Praise be to Allah!

By now this blog has become pretty heavy on depression but there is another blessing of Allah, and that of self-esteem. Our ego is our blessing, had we not had it, our nothingness would have tortured our existence beyond imagination, there would have been no smiling face on earth had it not been for Allah to bring hope and happiness to conquer our hard times. THe opening Ayah emphasizes on this. Besides, Islam forbids despair.

I thank Allah now for bringing this to me while i write this:

Praise be to Allah! Alhamdullilah

Imran Khan at the Asia Society, US.

2008-01-25T22:22:00.000+01:00

A timely public invitation by Teeth Maestro allowed me to listen to Imran Khan live from New York, in a seminar hosted by Asia Society. However, the topic wasnt so pleasant as his personality, where he claimed that Terrorism threatens the existence of the country. WIthout knowing the cultural heritage of the people of North West Pakistan is causing gravest of dangers to Pakistan. The history of the region has been filled with incidents which totally discourage modern day presidential tactics to curb terrorism. Infact, according to Imran Khan, the cultural fabric of revenge which also acts as a strong motivation not to commit crime is and will continue to hurt Pakistani establishment, since after the masacre of innocent lives both in Wana and Waziristan, the younger generation of these lands are hitting back at Pakistan and the Pakistani Army is facing severe casualities. The alerts of Taliban uprising, according to Imran Khan is just the popular name carrying by these avengers. And a similar insurgency in Balochistan is also not the Afghan Taliban which are so intimidating worldwide.

Imran Khan mentioned the turmoil of the country, with 65% of its superior courts judges unconstitutionally removed, 47 consittutional ammendments made during his emergency meant only to silence the judiciary. Despite Musharraf's claim at the WEF that Pakistan's economy is on the rise, reality is that who will invest anything in an uncertain Pakistan? We have trade deficit, fiscal deficit, wheat deficit and an energy crisis according to him and political parties have done the worse of compromises by giving Musharraf ease.

However, despite all this, Imran Khan highlights of the rise of a Soft Revolution, by the civil society, the lawyers community and the students of not just the middle class but the elite setups as well all rising for the just causes against the dictatorship. People, according to him are more aware of whats going on thanks to the news channel.

Sometime ago, a group of journalists agreed that inorder for Imran Khan to succeed at the forefront and not just be a popular public figure, he needs a party structure, when asked my one of the questioners about it, his answer was crystal clear "If I get killed, Suleman Khan, my son will not become the Party Chairperson"...

Imran boycotting the coming elections on strong principles and allying with the lawyers community cause had been true to his speech. Unlike some others who boycotted or those who cudn't make up their mind and were see sawing, once he had boycotted went on his business as an ordinary civiilian and was found more on cricketing circles instead. A worthy approach...

Musharraf at the Kitty Party called WEF

2008-01-24T23:34:00.000+01:00

pic: Turkish Press

With the recent good deed of unblocking Geo TV Network from transmission into Pakistani homes, Musharraf set out to EU only to be ridiculed albeit rather diplomatically about his recent acts which he shrugged off as being judged from a western point of view, implicitly arguing that his acts are justified in an eastern moral system. It gets lamer than this when he claims that the economy is on target when in reality, benefits are not at all reaching the masses. The state under
a controversial interim government is more like the horror led days of communist strongholds nearby in the region, with ration cards and food stocking being the norm.

His self professed force field around his ego revolves around his policy that he will leave Pakistan to her own mercy if its people find him unpopular. However, he has been well known of blocking news transmissions, one has to give him credit he blocks all reality checks entering his system too. He is bound for London shortly but already 10th Downing Street won't be a welcome spot for him for picnic. See this and this for instance. Gordon Brown isnt Tony Blair either and he has his own way of dealing with World Affairs. He stops for a breather, more of a luxurious holiday actually at Davos, to meet with other like minded world saviors, aka leaders who reminds one of beauty paegent awards where the Miss World is an agent to World Peace! These sorry figures have invited our two heads of the state, Pervaiz Musharraf an Shaukat Aziz for the last three years atleast and even though the WEF committy at large knows of their hollow promises, still invited Pervaiz Musharraf to speak, but there was a difference this time around.

Just like his recently aired program, "Aiwan-e-Sadar Say" on Geo TV, where the international journalist panel gave up asking him critical questions due to his timid and at times queer responses, Three Crucial Questions for Pakistan

this Davos crowd, even though upbeat to solve global issues, didnt muster up the need to post any crucial questions and simply nodded him off diplomatically to a short, formality based, annual
presediantial activity. What worse can be said that his host was Henry Kessinger, the man who had been best friends with the Yahya regime, another American Government representative who just cant
get their hands of befreinding Pakistani military dictators. And both introduced each other with a wave of optimstic pasts from a perspective only they can see.

However, one think I did admire about Musharraf and would like to give him credit for is the way he started off the speech reminding the host that it was Pakistan helping US and China to end their cold war which was late acknowledged by the Chinese premiere by annotating Pakistan as the bridge. Maybe, it was a good patriotic stance by Musharraf or maybe he like his predecessor generals, Ayub, Yahya and Zia is once again asking for a share in the cake on offer in Afghanistan.

One think which pinches me still about the openning remarks Henry Kessinger made, ""islamic radicalism within the muslim world", makes me wonder what was he actually suggesting? And that too involving Musharraf to it, is he pulling him out of the Islamic circle or what? Or is he revealing a different faith of his acquaintance and guest. I just wonder how would Pervaiz Musharraf react to such a challenging ridicule to him made indirectly?

Another indirect message which might have been given to him was made crystal clear by Condelizza Rice on the openning day at Davos, claiming in general that the US changes its enemies but never changes its policies.

Now Musharraf was complying with their policies uptil now and he has lost all popularity, is it time now actually that US is declaring war on Pakistan too?

The US and Pakistani governments had been best of buddies, then US realizes Musharraf aint complying, they tried intimidating, he didnt respond, then US tried distancing, Musharraf expressed his anger on this, US starts inviting others to the party, now Musharraf is trying to fit in back to the 'kool-group-ready-for-world-domination' little tea party...

Maybe he aint that bad, his ever changing policies sure are, ofcourse which according him are Pakistan's best interest...

Bhutto's demise, let us revive..

2007-12-28T04:01:00.000+01:00

So it is the Liaqat Bagh where she gets to be assassinated. The third leader from Sindh after Liaqat Ali Khan (Pakistan's first high profile assassination) and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (nearby) in another turmoil stricken time. All three assassinations taking place at decisive political stage of the country. Like the earlier assassinations, politicians, oppositions and dictators taking advantage of the situation. This time it happens to be the baldy with a recent hair transplant who takes advantages and presents his 'sacrifice', his boycott from elections 12 days from now. Damn the elections, they were already under heavy skeptic eyes both locally and globally. And now the chance of any elections soon are also not a realistic possibility anymore which means an indefinite rule of status quo, of king Musharraf.

My city burns, my village burns, my ancestors weep, my town angry, out of control, rampant for revenge. I had never been her supporter, nor her party under her rule but this is a tragic event, abominable and condemnable to the bones. And we must unite, now and ever, for our enemies want us to fight one another and forget we have demococray and judiciary to fight for together.

The situation on the streets is bad, my fiance stuck for hours in a gloomy place, had to seek refuge at my relative's place. My cousin postponing her wedding proceedings, after being dressed up in bridal wear, my Punjabi (not from PPP's votebank) mom weeped, on account of humanity and stability for the country.

Lyari, the old slums of Karachi where my father grew, a favorite votebank of Benazir Bhutto in recent times is in anger and people there already furstrated due to poverty and illiteracy, couldnt hold their legitimate emotions for long and rampaged the city. The media focusing on this aspect too much to make it into a pervasive and global reality throughout Pakistan. But this is not true.

All through the hours, the sudden shock of this national disaster definitely have aroused emotions but it is noteworthy to see the possitive changes coming about due to this tragedy. An alive Bhutto was one thing, a dead Bhutto might also be very useful in my layman eyes. She was campaigning for elections already rejected by the civil society, she had some dead skeletons in her closet like many other politicians and she was responsible for not uniting with the APDM for a joint boycott of elections under the King's party. But now, she even though have left a vacant leadership spot at her party, has now won the sympathy of the civil society from all regions of Pakistan as reports of recoil aggregate. Aitzaz Ahsan who has been clean this year and infact have been one of the heroes of this latest history can rise as a strong leader for many reasons. First, he was the lawyer who defended ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudary. Second, he boycotted elections and defying PPP under Benazir Bhutto which raised his popularity among the civil society. Third, he is a Punjabi who can win sympathies from Sindh which at this time is raging for separation, or atleast some factions have already started towards that front. Fourthly, among the current candidates for PPP leadership, Asif Zardari, one of the Bhutto skeletons won't improve the Pakistan cause any, infact, he is one of the chief suspects behind his own wife's assassination now, after he being a suspect of his brother in law's assassination. He has to team up with Aitzaz Ahsan as suggested by Talat Hussain of Aaj TV, otherwise anarchy might take over.

It is interesting to see that the National Security Council held a high level meeting WITHOUT Musharraf (please confirm this) indicating that the higher military cadre has decided to take matters without keeping Musharraf in loop. He, at this hour, again exhibited his lack of leadership by asking the nation to remain calm at this moment. He has no sympathy for the nation. A popular leader, the main candidate for the prime ministership has been assassinated even after countermeasures had been promised and shatters the country's route to normalcy, destroys the road to democracy and creates another dark death, cannot understand the emotions of both the supporters and opposers of Benazir Bhutto. He instead had to take the context of the situation under consideration and except of being self centered in presenting his demands should have, as Dr. Adil Najam said at Al Jazeera TV, 'channelized' the anger towards a national loss. Lowering of flags and giving a three days 'vacation' would not be enough at this extremely critical time. But Musharraf is on his all time low and regardless of considering the needs of the nation, didnt take much time in blaming alqaeda behind all this. There are so many options open who could have been behind this attack, it could be himself, it could be the ISI+GHQ, it could be PMLN, PMLQ, it could be MQM who are going to be the power sharers in Sindh according to the "American Script". There hasnt been any postmortem inquiry committee in place and the disgusting politics of finger pointing has been started by this skinless tyrant.

Accordint to Mark Seigel, a personal friend of Benazir Bhutto has presented an email from her sent to him two months ago where she presents a preemptive blame of her death on Musharraf for not providing her the security she requires against the taliban+alqaeda elements and elements closer to him, the army cadre. Watch the Wolf Blizer's The Situation Room at CNN for detailed report.

We might be at a low in recent times, but we have come out of hardships before as well, this is time to do it again. I request all readers and writers to STILL be possitive, instead of playing the blame game which could at this stage break the country, join in the united civilian people's protest to restore democracy, to restore judiciary, to stand besides (and not behind) emerging leaders like Munir A Malik, Ahmed Ali Kurd, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Chuadary and Aitzaz Ahsan, among others. Dictatorships bring turmoil, dictatorships bring hardships, dictatorships bring terrorism!

Unite my friends, my brothers my sisters, and let us mourn this tragedy of political assassinations once more and pray it to be the last....

Pakistan ka Jinnah

2007-12-25T04:55:00.000+01:00

Santa comes not just to the Christian world but has been a regular visitor of Pakistan as well, thanx to globalisation, he finds us on his map. Ironically though, Santa hijacks our own little parties, EID and the birthday anniversary of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. EID luckily finished before xmas started but poor Mr. Jinnah, he had to share his viewership today with Santa Clause. Even though, I like the concept of xmas and all, I really dont fancy it because with all due respect to Christians, we Muslims dont believe that Jesus (PBUH) at anything to do with this date. Anyways, what bothers me more is that Jinnah Sahib who usually gets only a day a year to evangelize his "interpreted" messages to the third and fourth generations of young and nacent but confused and bemused Pakistanis because as much as some made Jinnah a local superman, many still believe of deep undercover conspiracy theories surrounding his persona. Regardless of any of his backdoor life, what adds dimensionality to this chapter of Pakistani life was his agenda for Muslims and for Pakistan. A British educated person as he was, he underwent a Shakespearian tragedy and joined the ride. He died, and we, very recently....

Jinnah"s reference starts from this first official Pakistani speech (please reconfirm):

In the words of Stanley Wolpert,
"Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three." Stanley Wolpert. Jinnah of Pakistan."

Really? Gimme a break, what a lost affair is Pakistan on the map these days. I dont have to reiterate the bad patches u and i normally hear about this place, how could it be a 'nation' state? Well elders with distant relations always talked about how he designed an "Islamic State" where Shariah will be practiced, while some elders degrade him by tagging him a British agent of divide and conquer the Indians, while still some elders talk about Jinnah as the savior of Muslims (not Islam) from the caste dominant Hindu population of India eyeing to revenge the Muslims after the British would leave eventually for the long and mostly useless rule of the Mughals. So here we have it, three Mr. Jinnahs and maybe more, sidelined to one lousy day which Santa steals (to give) to our less than 3 percent population but very worthy population, no doubt, but the point remains...Why just one day of debating the vision of Pakistan.

With all the diversity of opinions one could imagine, I am sure not many if not none lead up to the mess we have today in a country it never envisioned itself to be. My brother who is in high school still believes that Mr. Jinnah was a noble man, tooo pious, too righteous, that no Pakistani can repeat his achievements. Ofcourse thats not true, and he wasnt a Massiah either lightinging the torch of an Islamic Renaissance. No way, as Hamid Mir says, he was only a Muslim, not a Shia, not a Sunni, he couldn't lock in to the demands and emotions of the masses who were always critical of sects and creeds. Though he always had a problem in truly connecting with the locals who were foreign people to him, he did gave them their required agenda and implemented it with huge success. A leader in the sense that he took his movement by storm and made the impossible into inevitable.

Yet after 60 odd years when we have a totally different state organism, people and even culture, the achievements of Mr. Jinnah had been unmatched. It would be cliche to say how ungrateful we have been or that if Jinnah was here today, how ashamed we would have felt but I guess its more embarrasing not to have a clear idea of who he was. For instance, on LK Advani's (Foreign Minister of India) recent visit to Pakistan, he acknolwedges Jinnah as a secular (not anti-religious) on which he had to face public pressure and a crisis, strangely from a country boasting about it being secular herself. Anyways, the two nation theory which was the start of his political activism which some credit (or blame) to Allama Iqbal's influence on him, was all but secular. Further one, his idea of a secular state was still confined in an Islamic State. You can be secular in Jinnah's Pakistan as long as you are governing the constitution according to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. We have seen neither a secular state, nor an Islamic State nor a hybrid like Jinnah's recommendation. Anyone of them is welcome at this dire state, as long as we believe in an evolutionary democracy rather than a shortcut military interventions.

When I think of Mr. Jinnah and his history, his change in attitude over the years, he appears to be a strictly secular in the beginning and later a theocratic towards Islam which is secular to non-Muslims and infact provides ways to ensure their proper representation and rights. However, his late hour speeches, when taken out of context, represent only a secular view point, but as i said only out of the context. However, a lot of people won't agree that the context was a presupposition that the constitution will be built upon Islamic Laws to start off with. For such people, I ask, if Jinnah was a secularist and that he fought for the rights of Muslims rather than Islam, then why not fight for the rights within the state (India) and why demand separation? And when certain provinces in Pakistan are demanding separation, they are labelled rebels by the same secularists. Was then Jinnah a rebel too? Interestingly, people who defy these separatists groups within Pakistani mediocre provinces always claim of foreign mischief. Same must be case of those claiming Jinnah to be a British agent dividing the land...

Regardless of what he said, what he actually did, and regardless of all his critics and all his fans, he was just a human being, unlike the over patronized character we hear of in text books and unlike the spy type which some people accuse him of. And when he was just a human being, he can be inspired and learnt from. Pakistani sruggle is a relay race, Jinnah did the first phase, ZA Bhutto 'attempted' the second phase but nothing till now. The torche has to continue forward and we ahve to realiye that our struggles are not the struggles of Jinnah's Pakistan but a new colonial fightback. There are military dictators who take over, change constitutions to their favors, carry out extra judicial crimes, inovlve in looting and decoiting the national assets, build their own social networks,deprives the nation of their rights, there are those bureucrats who help them achieve all this, there are those politicians who justify them. ALl these various curroption networks prevail in our society and as time after time, I see various programs where youth is encouraged to spring up and failed, I believe it is time to create a civil society network, who even if dont agree with what Jinnah' vision was, are aware of the vision of Pakistan to be pursued today, starting with all those fundamental benefits whcih recently Mr. Jinnah highlighted. A network which can sweep through sectors, departments, cities and overcome local resistances, I dont think Pakistan deserves to be on the map anymore if it remains hypocritical Afterall, What is Pakistan if not about its People, that was one vision of Jinnah we all agree with.....

A semi-documentary on Jinnah can be found freely hosted at Google:

The99 - Muslim Comic

2007-12-15T18:21:00.000+01:00

Being a teenager in the nineties, I grew up in a generation where comic characters and cartoons had an influence on the teenager 'gang'. Teenage life is the age when one's dad stops meeting the criteria of being a hero in the teenager's life. Ofcourse, pre-teenage years are dominated by the childen patronizing their fathers who are their role models exclusively. The infleunce is strong and immediate However, teenage life comes with an inner juvenile tendency to separate from pre-existing concepts especially of choosing the role model. Its a confusing age, one which swings between childhood and a prospective adulthood and these swings of self-actualization, teenagers need role models the most. For my community and time, cartoons were the talk of the day among peers. From the latest episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Captain Majid (arabic version of Captain Tsubasa), boys used to revolve their day around their favorite programs, collecting merchandise and living their fairy tales. Girls had similar interests with a different program offers, for them the likes of Care bares were fancier. Nevertheless, from the Riyadhian community I grew up in, cartoons were one of the few rare windows we had to art and literature in general.

There are several cognitive theories backing the thesis that such early age programs influnce the characters of teenagers. Although I hardly believe that was the case in our community, afterall, our culture, heavily guarded by a traditional setup never ever allowed teens to be influenced a lot by tv. But todays's children are different, with access to cell phones, the internet and a far larger tv channels list, the traditional family setup has lost its grip on the development of the teenage character and results have shown various negative trends among teenagers in such places.

There is a huge implicit debate going on in the Muslim world, at one end are the modernists (not liberals) who believe that Muslim Media should flourish and adopt the different media channels (print, video, audio, sitcoms, talk shows, comics, sports, news etc) which the developed world has patronized in recent times while on the other hand are the traditionalists (not conservatives) who believe that the media outlets should be restricted to the conventional Islaimc propagation centers, the Mosque, the Maddrassah and the home.

Both groups have their strengths and weaknesses, the traditionalists, like to see a stronger community bonding which is best achieved by a physical community center like the Masjid where nowadays not just worship takes place but at times, a Madrassah is associated too, imparting Islamic education, a library, community service centers like free kitchens etc. The modernists however, point out that it is difficult (infact baseless) to isolate the Muslim community from the rest of the world especially from television and radio. Since the tv and radio revolution, there hasnt been significant contribution by the Muslims to cater to the entertainment demands of Muslims which in some communities still is considerd a dead-end topic.

In this regard, several recent media figures have emerged among the Muslim world which manage an international following as well. Among journalists, people like Riz Khan (former CNN, now AlJazeerah)and Rageh Omer(former BBC, now AlJAzeera) on the international level have a huge credibiilty and following. It was Riz Khan who brought world's eye to the Hajj pilgrimage by documenting on it on CNN. Rageh Omer's documentaries on Islam and Muslims societies have also been worth watching. However, for me, the greatest service has come in the most unlikely form I could imagine, a British born, Pakistani Muslim writer/director Zarqa Nawaz with her highly entertaining and informative sitcom, "A Little Mosque on the Prairie" which has captured audiences from all faiths and have introduced the life of Muslims in a realistic, progressive way. She broke not just the west's but the east's stereotypes of a practicing muslim woman who can do comedy too. There are several characters which people are relating to and implicit role models are emerging, especially the character of 'Rayan' has become a symbol of female modesty.

However, for teenagers, gone are the days when we Pakistani teenagers used to read the likes of Naseem Hijazi and related to our real historical heroes and heritage. Its an electronic culture and recently this got my attention: The99.

The99 seems to be a very good idea since it brings a product in the comic book market in the Muslim world. Its a comic about 99 characters, each one having one quality of Allah but at a lesser scale, bringing a moral lesson the table which conforms to the Muslim life. (according to the creator). However, introducing change inthe Muslim world is difficult issue as this comic has spurred a debate of whether the message portrayed in it is consistent to the teachings of Islam or not. However, nothing ever remains free of controversy but at large, such projects are surely a way forward.

A Journey to the Universe

2007-12-05T14:51:00.000+01:00

Daren Aronofsky....I dont know who he is, nor do i pretend to. But he has performed three magic acts, skills of illusions which I cannot easily forget. Unlike many illusionists who win the awe of their audiences by performing the unperformable, showing the unshowable, Daren's magic had been more to reveal what was hidden beneath layers of confusions, wild theories and even dogma. He brings another pov to the table, to quote it in my gentle way. Afterall, being individualistic in thought and act is the style of the mellinia. And with this fashion of thoughts, of being different, being unique, brings about the acceptance of parallel views of truth, of interoperable segments of bias but coexistance.

Daren's first magic i encountered was the 'Requiem for a Dream'. I think illusions as Daren's which are more revealing than reality (perceived) are measured on the variablity of thought and ideas people acquire after experiencing them. A question as simple as what the movie is about, if bares an audience which gives an impression that nobody has a clue of whats going on, on the contrary shows its success. The vastness of ideas which people engineer after adding the instance of watching the movie after all their life experiences, thoughts, emotions, social and economic backgrounds, current context, etc all shouldn't be surprising. The 'Requiem for a Dream' as i percieved it, was a story about a world where we create illusions and try to fit our world to those illusions. After a while, we begin to see what we want to see, how we want to see and according to the theory of possitive reinforcement, we as humans, observers of the same earthen life, drift apart in our meanings of it regardless of whether thats important or not. Paolo Coehlo, out of normality, has actually made a quote of worth:

"We could spend the rest of our life saying that we love such a person or thing, when the truth is that we are merely suffering because, instead of accepting love’s strength, we are trying to diminish it so that it fits the world in which we imagine we live."

However, this blog is not about that movie. So leave it be. Daren's second magic involves mathematical obsession in the movie 'Pi' where he portrays a young mathematician who at first frightened by the reptiitve presense of a pattern in everyday life, the mysterious number PI, enters a quest to seek its true nature. Well cynically speaking, Phi is more ubiquitous in life than Pi but thats not the point here, this mathematician dedicates his life to finding the secret formula which can engulf the entire universe into a reasonably finite equation, somehing which satisfies Occam, we know Einstein did (E=mcSquared). His quest to find an authoritative, definite, formalism to define life was to enter the world of the lifeless and considering time as space and space as time (literally), finding patterns. In mathematical terms, it was simply a matter of transposition but life as complex as it has been perceived and believed, cannot be dealt with the coldness of the lifelessness. Again in mathematical terms, its like a man searching a hyperspace in vain to find the truth, transforms the hyperplane on complex (imaginary) axes and searches in his abstract world of ideas. Only to make conclusions of the real world, or the untransformed, original hyperplane from his illusionary (complex plane) world. By now some readers might be not be having an iota of a clue of what im rambling about. Its the drift of perceptions I was talking about earlier, whatever makes sense around us is welcome. Whether it be numbers, permutations and equations or the scent of a flower or the experience of extra-terrestial visits.

I believe there is a strong connection between the two magic tricks Aronofsky pulled, the first one showed the diversity of illusions, the second one showed one case where sense was made of the universe. But the real master work comes in his third magic act, 'The Fountain'. where not just illusions but in my perception, dimensionality interact. It is a metaphorical abstraction where love is analogous to purpose of life, the term 'Ishq' is often found to be more suitable a definition for my thought here. The one human emotion which binds us to the unity of the universe. Bare with me, although my musings might seem pantheistic to some, the intentions are not. And inorder to clarify my standings on this, I dont want to enter a never ending epistemological debate. So leave it be.

"For u there is only death, but our destiny is life".

The fountain can be taken to be one of many messages and more than one motive can be percieved. For me, it has been the integration of parallel universes on the common denominator of love and the ultimate meaning of everything lying in completeness of duality, to understand life one must understand death, to understand day, one must understand night. This relative knowledge acquired motivates us to experience things differently, with a lot more openness to adventure. It gives us the reason to percieve things outside of our perception patterns, out of norm, out of the box. See things as others see it. I always believed that I will have my own individuality but in order to understand truth, nature has brought duality in thoughts too, particularly of that of a woman. Once the two duals copercieve life, death becomes clearer, life becomes clearer. Then one is ready to accept any unkowns or any unseens without the slightest doubt or skepticism which usually scientists have. It neither makes one fictionalize what religious zealots do to worship, but to make sense to both heart and mind.

Why be afraid of death, death is not the end, it is only the beginning. Here in the Fountain where the protagonist tries ever so hard to save his love from a certain eventuality, namely death, finds out that death is rather his way to utopia. And as the same story repeats itself in different contexts in parallel universes, the common denominator which generalizes the same perception of the universe is love (symbolized by the ring). This movie questions me many a time about my definiton of life's ambitions and goals. Do I really understand life and how it should be lived? Do U?

Here i'd like to point out a nearly similar pov in the Indian box-office flop 'Meenaxi' but highly recommended for the intellectually hungry folks.

Warning: Spoilers ahead...

This leads to still further questions on the abyss.....

Reply to - The Plan to Topple Pakistan Military

2007-11-28T09:33:00.000+01:00

Nothing is good and bad in its entirety and it is a known fact that when presenting a debate, people tend to highlight only favorable points of view. In this regard, under the current political crisis in Pakistan in which the military is all too involved, those predicating various aspects of the event might be far stretched from the truth. But that's the whole point of debating, to find middle grounds, collective knowledge is attained through dialectics of intellectuals in the society. Recently, the book, Military Inc by Ayesha Siddiqa caused a rift against the military and in reply various arguments have been appearing negating that work. Although, having read the book and finding it too much pessimistic when giving the perception of the military, the actual truth might not be too far from it though. One interesting reply to a 'different' point of view of the military stance is floating over the internet, particularly this article:

The Plan To Topple Pakistan Military By Ahmed Quraishi
http://despardes. com/articles/ 2007/20071121- aq-topple. htm

The writer leaves too much to outside events and fails to mentions the blunders (to say the least) committed by the military establishment including the President of Pakistan. For instance, he starts off building the predicate list that US and some other elements started to corner Musharraf and the Military at large by carefully manipulating the media and had foreign funding. But these predicates without giving any evidence to start off, or at least provide a systematic and empirical evidence where media had been manipulative of its sourcing stand baseless. On the contrary, what the common man has seen is the government allies creating a planned mass massacre on 12th May, the police brutality at its peak during lawyer and journalist protests, what media had been able to show were the flaws in the government supplied security to Benazir Bhutto on her return. What the media had showed is the intimidation of the military to oust the Chief Justice. The media all but showed the inconsistencies in the statements made by the government, the overwhelming gap between speech and action by the government representatives. And in many popular stringent-to-the-military shows, like "Meray Mutabiq", former military personnel like Hameed Gul, Mirza Aslam Beg, Roudaad Khan etc have been speaking up against military's foreign policies and political intrusions.. ARE THEY PART OF THE ANTI-MILITARY PROPAGANDA TOO?

It is proposed that the public have been falsely aroused against the government by the media and various NGOs funded by Europe and the US. Every tom, dick and harry in Pakistan is aware of the political inclination of such NGOs towards a liberal, secular mindset where as the majority of the masses tend to incline towards the conservative way of life. There hasn't been a bigger mass movement on the streets since Zia Ul Haq's regime who was an American proxy ally but highly unpopular. It has been the current government which had time and again pointed out the lack of credibility and the cruelty of that regime but the protesters are the same, the same old people against this government as well. Public protests in Pakistan are not so easy to make. Had they been sponsored by the west, the west could have done that long time earlier especially during the Nawaz 'regime' who had given more than one reason for US, Europe and Pakistan to protest. Remember, Pakistan was put under economic sanctions by going Nuclear. That could have been the best time for US to cripple the Pakistani state and the military. Without any substantial evidence, these claims that outside influence is amassing the protests are also baseless without any concrete evidence!

As for the protesters classification of being 'rich, westernized' Pakistanis, they were the same people who were the strongest supporters of Musharraf till around 2005 and that drastically changed earlier this year. For Musharraf to have gained support, this class of Pakistanis could have been the easiest option because of common objectives of liberalism and secularism in general, with the common objectives of curbing terrorism within the country. But the matter of fact, this group of supporters has joined the other crowd, the poor and eastern-still people and what the government tried to develop into a secular vs conservative divide had actually enjoined into a collective people's protest. Secondly, its not hard to imagine the lawyer community being organized, they represent an educated section of society and if the military claims to have the 'training', so can the lawyers! Infact this union among the civilians had been attributed by some intellectuals to be caused by the inhumane handling of the Red Mosque crisis. Majority of the public of Pakistan were against the manifesto of those radicals but the way the issue was handled by both the government and the military, had tagged the military 'inhumane'. It was the first incident where retaliation from within the military segments first appeared to surface. There is no foreign hand involved!

As for our foreign neighbor's ambitions as suggested by the author, who else is responsible for the tense situation between Pakistani and Afghani relations? Isnt it the ISI and the Military being back tracked at in every little incident right before the Soviet war?

As for the civil disturbances in Baluchistan, the problem had been more pertinent and elementary to solve but the military, even though being in power for the majority of Pakistan's existence didnt even try to tackle it: Provincial Autonomy and distribution of resources. Regardless of Bughti's affiliations or sponsors had there been, it had been the state which constantly denied the natives economic opportunities, infact as usual, a steady rise in military land grabbing took place and an invitation to usurp up land by the highest bureaucracy and elites of the country was made. Land and property is at a premium in Gwadar. IT IS THE MILITARY'S OWN FAULT TO HAVE ESTABLISHED SUCH A RIFT. Whether perception or reality, the fact remains that the rest of Pakistan does not hold the Punjab government with much respect has been ever apparent. The ethnicly motivated groups like the BLA had been ever so vocal against the attrocities of the Punjab government against theirs. Perception prevails, the military being overwhelmingly representative of Punjab did nothing to ease off these perceptions in Balochistan and Sindh, which are now rising in NWFP. Interestingly, the major civilian protests are taking place in Punjab itself indicating no other motives which the other provinces have.

Abdullah Mehsud is an interesting point raised though. As for the suspicious religious rebels, there might be a point made here, especially their unknown sources of funding and information.

Regarding the book, Military Inc, the author says:

"Pakistani military’s successful financial management, creating alternate financial sources to spend on a vast military machine and build a conventional and nuclear near-match with a neighboring adversary five times larger – an impressive record for any nation by any standard – was distorted in the book and reduced to a mere attempt by the military to control the nation’s economy in the same way it was controlling its politics.
The timing was interesting. After all, it was hard to defend a military in the eyes of its own proud
people when the chief of the military is ruling the country, the army is fighting insurgents and
extremists who claim to be defending Islam, grumpy politicians are out of business, and the
military’s side businesses, meant to feed the nation’s military machine, are doing well compared to the shabby state of the nation’s civilian departments."

Which clearly indicates what the author of the book was talking about, a sense of pride in the military cadre prevails and it is this sense of superiority which kills all merit for the civilians to participate. The military had always compared itself with the worst of the civilians, a.k.a the politicians and having established them as a benchmark, developed an exclusiveness of class and opportunity.

I'd say that if the military consumes 70% of the country's budget to come up with such stuff is not impressive, infact the recent decline in military technology and defeats indicating weaker strategies have lessened our demand in international assignments mostly pertaining to the UN which in business terms, is a dumb thing to do!

As for the comments made against the author of the book, I feel not necessary to go on defending a person I hardly know, nor do I think the statements of accusations made by the author of the article under discussion indicate his knowledge of Dr. Ayesah Siddiqa who once again linked all our issues with Indian involvement without giving due consideration on evidence.

It certainly is well pointed out that the motive behind the said 1999 advertisements in the US media are suspicious, but what the military has done in Kargil reflects that nevertheless. We have a problem in blaming the culprit for sure, Musharraf claims that he was told to jump in the Kargil circus and failed with some tactical blunders while the Nawaz Shariff government claims that it was the chief of the army staff, Pervez Musharraf who was the war mungerer.

Since the author has mentioned about seizure of military assets aboard by ISG, it would be interesting to know what assets are we talking about here, to calculate the damage caused and the proper transparency of those assets, whether the military earned them or not.

All the perception that Pakistan is a rogue state and the removal of stable elements, so called Musharraf or Bhutto would require urgent penetration and control of assets especially the nuclear have been the idea given by our military. The Musharraf regime similar to Benazir Bhutto have been argumenting the claims that all without them is lost, the fanatics will take over if they dont remain in power. Recently, the military passed a statement to the press that without the military, there is no safe keeping of our nuclear assets. It has been the military which is responsible for a total distrust in our democratic norms.

As for the imperialistic nature of US, had their wish been the installment of Mrs. Bhutto on their account and removal of the Pakistani military, they could have done so earlier this year. After all, who asked Musharraf to 'deal' with Mrs. Bhutto, isnt she the same person Musharraf swore not to come to speaking terms with. What about all the cases against her taken down by this military-led government? As a matter of fact, US has never been an ally of Pakistan, but has always been an ally of the Pakistani Military! Every single military regime had strong ties with Washington. As for their interest in Mrs. Bhutto, they can clearly see that Pakistan with the Military in power means greater insurgency, so a civilian who take their mandate for the region (secular and liberal) can get US backing. It has been the military which not only demonized itself but also Benazir in this case, who played the opportunist's card to get in power.

The ending has been the wish of any civilian in Pakistan who understood international relations today. It has been the military and specifically Musharraf who opted to cooperate without care with the US's revengeful campaigns. It was our military which is responsible for thousands of extra judicial killings in areas like Wana and now Waziristan. In the same show the author refers to at the start of the article, Jon Stowart keenly asks the truth behind the statement Musharraf made in his autobiography about a statement made by Collen Power indicating Pakistan's denial of corporation would mean war. Musharraf bashfully escaped from answering, such has been his tactics with the US administration and the media!

It is about time the military is back to where it belongs and in order to ease the situation, the military businesses should start contributing more (especially legally) to the civil society in terms of tax, real valuation of property and an anti-monopolistic market economy to say the least. Most of our success lies in the hands of the military if they ever recognize. For so long Musharraf had been pressurized to leave his post as the head of the army and now only when under dire crisis, he obliges, still not sure whether he will take off his uniform tomorrow or not, for a military person, he aint very convincing on his speech anymore. Allah bless Pakistan.

The lack of proper leadership among civilians does not mean we don't deserve democracy. Yes, when it will start, it will be shaky and will tumble on many occasions but we have to persist. A nation isn't built in a day, it takes constant progressive evolution, sustained enough that it maintains its tempo. Then things come out bright...The military just has to stop conquering politics.

Martial Law - Boycotting Military Products

2007-11-26T18:20:00.001+01:00

Its been 20 days now since martial law has been imposed in Pakistan. The wishful reason given has been the rise of insurgency and militant groups in the country later changed to the preemptive control of anarchic elements by the lawyers community of Pakistan who were protesting against the military's rather intimidating stance on mostly political affairs. Military had to remain in power represented by General Musharraf in order to 'justify' its last eight years (+ 52 years), especially the earlier ones (1999) where the current government setup (even though artificial) was welcome by many fractions of our society. They had to change their justification for denying everyone their right since the original reason of curbing terrorism was quite apparently contradicted by the action of the military: People from relatively 'civilized' civil society, the lawyers, the human rights activists, the social activists and politicians were arrested and detained in various jails and military custody.
The media retaliated and there the international community responded harshly against the regime. They just HAD to change their 'topi' (excuse).
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The news channels have been pretty vocal on the front, although in particular, Geo TV which emboldened itself after their offices were thrashed by the Punjab Police earlier this year during the First Judiciary Crisis that befell the faujis (soldier) and of course Pakistan at large. Their stance, no doubt had glimpses of biased coverage but for Pakistan's media quality, they were good enough, their analysts indeed saw no good in the current government's frantic and obviously rightly so. They also lacked the sense of morality and viewer ship censoring of gory images not suitable for the masses. Geo TV in particular also caught up on the all too-pervasive strategy of winning audience sympathy and support through common slogans of patriotic notions. However, reporting had been relatively better compared to other news sources in Pakistan. According to Geo TV themselves, even the government at times considered their news sources for their decision making rather than seeking help from the mysterious ISI. But the total falling down of commitments and loss of temper, the regime had once and for all denied us of this breathing space too.

This has made many people uneasy who didn't know about this before. The general feel of people at various forums who were adamant before not to retaliate have all the reason to do so now since it doesnot matter to their well being whether they stay home or fight back under a martial law. So why hold back?

Protests are still going on and the international media has taken notice of it. Many foreigners who were supportive of Musharraf are not anymore. Thats a success on our front, ruining the fake perception he earned abroad. But even if Musharraf is toppled, it will not make a huge difference as the military has infiltrated nearly every sector of the country. No doubt our military is our asset, but at the barracks and borders, as safegaurders not land lords. According to Ayesha Siddiqa's insight, the military businesses have served only the upper echelons of the military and the welfare organizations which funded these setups from civilian tax money haven't distributed the accumulated wealth from their operations to the lower, yet populated military resource, we should start boycotting products which are coming from military enterprises. At the moment, these include Askari Bank and Financial Services, Fauji Cornflakes, Fauji Fertilizers, Askari Apartments, Defense Housing Authority DHA plots and property, Gwader Port projects.

They don't need these businesses anyways, they already suck up 70% of Pakistan's resources on every budget. By boycotting the military though, their flawed perception that they are better businessmen than civilians will also drop, at least boycotting them will bring them to a level playing field with the civil society. After all, they get all the privileges, tax levies, government networks to start off with so they had unfair advantages. Boycotting them will not disturb the lower ranks of the military since they don't get enough benefits from them anyways. Secondly, the civilians who are employed at such organizations in the worse case can bare unemployment if the media sector can! Tit for Tat!.

Lets deprive the BOOTS from our tax money!
SUCK IT UP TO THE MAN!

Martial Law - What can we do?

2007-11-17T15:36:00.000+01:00

It was the start of the 90's, i was a junior school student looking forward to our annual stage show where our class 3-E were to present a stage performance on the famous and heartening work of Allama Iqbal, "Lab pe aati hai dua". Everyday we little kids of class 3 section E used to practice our roles for the upcoming show. Our class teacher, whom I very remember my face and name, Mrs. Iqbal the director/screenplay writer was not a bit less motivated than us. But it was the Gulf war which took it all away from us, as a friend of mine quotes for a similar instance 'The Play that never took place", war took over. I remember school was postponed till after the war. We, in Riyadh, were in constant threat from Iraqi attack lead by Saddam Husain. There were sirens placed throughout the city, everyone of us were given gas masks with little backpacks to keep them with us all the time. Occasionally the sirens would go off and I remember my parents rushing us to one of our apartment rooms, sealing the doors and windows, helping us get our masks on and wait till the sirens were off. A nearby building was brought down by a patriot missile, American technology used by Iraqis against American allies in the war, the Saudis. Our walls shook and that was my "Lab pe aati hai dua".

The month has been the centennial year of Allama Iqbal, a 100 years of the philosopher, thinker, poet who wrote this poem, infact supplication. But today, I watched it from a different event, its no war here in Europe but my heart belongs to home, Pakistan. Military has taken over once again, thats a cliche'. And media which was previously restricted have now been taken off, one of the leading news agencies in Pakistan, the Jang group presented their channel's last transmission and amidst all the sadness that encompassed it all, with one of their leading analysts, Dr. Shahid Masood, who too was a graduate from my school where I was supposed to play "Lab pe aati hai dua" ended its last voice during this draconian dictatorship. Watch it till the end and if you were one of those in 3-E who were about to present it, recall yourself in that little kid's shoes who had a specific role in that play to the kids in this video. We are the society we were meant to represent then, how true things have persisted. Just check:

If you don't understand Urdu, you can check this version, beautifully sung by Siza Roy with English subtitles:

Same Dua (supplication), same situation, different granularity. Damn, if 100 years of Iqbal haven't been enough, then what the hell are we going to do? More important and relevant is what we can do under dictatorship? After all we are a nation of middle class workers trying to make both ends meet, right?

Adil Najam puts it this way:

"here is a democratic society trapped in an undemocratic state"

As the final countdown of Geo came down to a zero, another stations ARYOne World was also ordered to shut down. Its a total darkness out there. Before going off line, Dr. Aamir Liaqat Hussain puts it quite aesthetically,

"bacho ko andheray say dar lag jaye to koi taajub nahi
lekin baalig ko roshni say kaufh ho to yeh kia baat hai "

meaning if children fear the dark, that is nothing to wonder about, but if grownup fear the light, then what the heck is this!

These days there arent many Paksitanis who are NOT discussing about the current dismal state of affairs in Pakistan. But at the end, many people just end up saying what can we do in all this? But here is the interesting thing, this is the only martial law in which the ruling dictator under democratic camouflage imposes martial law on his own government. That is, General Musharraf is the ONLY dictator in our long list of dictators who has brought a military coup TWICE! In all previous cases of coup, there was some civil society support against the ruling government. So was the case in Musharraf's first take over in 1999. However, the clear signal this time is that he is NOT welcome to bring martial law AGAIN! The difference adds on when it comes to people's better awareness, thanx to media privatisation and 'relative' freedom, someone coined the term that Musharraf has released the Jinn (gini) from the lamp and cant control it anymore, but that was uptil a few days ago anyways. But this closure of a fundamental human right to not be able to KNOW whats going on has brought the civil society to fight back. A declared emergency takes away so many of our fundamental rights that we are as vunrable sitting at home as we are out in the streets protesting. So why stay back! The lawyers, the media are protesting in huge numbers, and the only fair 'enough' politician Imran Khan has started a student movement. Students of LUMS and FAST, the rich snobby kids as perceived in the streets are at the forefronts. This time around, EVERYONE is out there. The rich, the poor, the middle class, the business class, the working class, the students, the liberals the conservatives, the representatives of Pakistan!

The pertinent question among us civilians has always been, what can we do to stop martial law from happening again, the answer is simple. In previous times, the civil resistance was weak, this time its strong. Protests are working, they worked in March, they are working now but they have to be reinforced, they have to be powered up. Protests works, for isntance check this off topic but similar themed video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-QfLJbEN3k&feature=PlayList&p=38024B19FF1D1259&index=29

Its a butterfly effect, a single flap of the wing can bring a storm. Lets give Musharraf some opposition, PEOPLE POWER!

Here is an inspirational excerpt from Adil Najam:
"…this is a moment of great pride for Pakistanis. How can you not be proud of your people when ordinary citizens – lawyers, journalists, students – come out on he streets ready to be beaten up and put in jail… knowing that they will be crushed and yet demanding democracy…. this is NOT Pakistan’s failure… this is a moment of success for Pakistan’s people… the reason that the military government has been forced to apply ever greater force and every more draconian measures is simply because the democracy forces in the country (the lawyers, the students and journalists… unfortunately not the politicians as much) are simply unwilling to bow down. In the past people used to stop demanding democracy at much less pressure than this. Now they are resisting pressure and they keep demanding democracy and freedom."

And if you cannot even afford to step out of your homes, here are a few starters you can help out from home:

1 - Stream TV:
--------------
Using software like SOPCAST www.sopcast.com, TVUPlayer, tvuplayer.com, TVAnts tvants.com, etc we can broadcast news channels like GEO, AAJ, ARY within Pakistan. This would only require a small hardware as a tv tuner if you get these channels on your actual tv. However, if you have an online subscription to them, for example from sites such as GeoPakistani.com or DishTV, then you need no additional hardware at all.

2 - TV Pooling:
---------------
If you are catching our private news channels on tv (through satellite etc) then you can invite people over to watch the news at your place. Or inorder to maintain your total privacy, you can transmit the channels via cable to them.

3 - TV WIFI HOTSPOTS:
--------------------
You can also stream tv via WIFI (WLAN) by simply buying a WIFI Router (Pretty cheap) and transmit your tv subscriptions which people can even catch on their mobile phones near your building. like Nokia N series or Smartphones like Imates, O2, etc.

4 - Blogging:
-------------
There are certain sites where you can provide updates as small as a sentence, for example, www.twitter.com. Other more elaborative blog sites include www.metblogs.com/karachi, metblogs.com/islamabad, metblogs.com/lahore. If you own your own personal blog, you can register your blog at www.bloggers.pk so that a significant blogging community of Pakistan can also realize your efforts.

5 - Important Sites:
-------------------
Some sites worth mentioning:
www.pkpolitics.com where you can find a lot of tv transmissions, videos, forums and documents. The pkpolitics team is a dedicated team of Pakistani patriots who have also started a site where you can participate and help the 'AWAAM' coordinate with various activities around the globe at www.pkunited.com/coordinate
www.pakistaniat.com and www.understandingpakistan.com to be food for thought.
Other sites are commercial news agencies websites which you can mirror as soon as they are blocked by "THE MAN".

6 - Contact Foreign News Agencies:
----------------------------------
Write articles, submit news bits to Foreign media to aid them in getting a better look at our mess. This can put international pressure. A good point to start is to participate in European Media as Europe has already started to put pressure on the regime. US, on the other hand, is still continuing to fund military operations, we need to invoke the US media to pressurize their governments to stop that.

7 - Sharing Ideas:
------------------
Share ideas of how to participate even by sitting at home to all you meet. Pass ideas around. Its People power, a small effort snowballs....Lets bring dictatorship down!

BB-ride of Re-animator - Karachi Redux

2007-10-19T21:50:00.000+02:00

It is something about freaktales of H.P Lovecraft that has held most of the last century and current one to 're-animate' his grotesque imaginations, intimidating the peace around the world. I find his short story, the Re-animator to be among the most horrific of his collections but seeing it happening in real life and also in Karachi is a living nightmare. Although the trend aint pioneered here, it was 'Zibhakhana' which localized zombie clad horror genre of the largest movie industry around, this version appeals to the local audiences simply because every other person wearing shalwar kameez could remind of a blood thirsty zombie which Zibhakhana portrays. Unlike the western cinema where zombies in skirts are a commonality, it aint happening in Karachi. The circus is coming home.

But about the Re-animator, the doctor who brings the dead to life for his experimentations finally meets his demise as the reanimated haunt him to his gory death. Although Lovecraft aint an Aesop's tales author (driving a morality lesson simultaneouly in his stories) but wasn't this described ending of the 'Re-animator' enough of a lesson not to follow it in real life?

We, Pakistanis apparently dont think so. You see the process of Re-animation some might say begins with the collection of body parts, but I'd like to start way before that, when life sprouted naturally and freshly before death took over and we start our reanimation process.

A healthy body with its universe of cellular structures yet organic enough to develop abstract visualizations for us to understand dies gradually when the time comes. I have witnessed a few deaths of similar nature where the body gradually (but not gracefully) degenerated. First the central core, the heart stops functioning properly, in our case the death of our initial leaders (Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan) along which the death of the idea of Pakistan died out (eventually) as well.

When the heart goes down, body cells start to feel the shortage of blood. But visual symptoms are that the body temparture goes down meaning that the nation has lost its zeal, its zest, its josh its jazba. (Qaum Thandi Pargayee). This happened in Pakistan for sometime and we were negligent of what further degradation we were preparing for ourselves when Justice Munir opened a new chapter of military rule in the history of this 'republic' country. The threshold of this phase came when Zia Ul Haq came in power and a new partnership of MULLAH and the MILITARY established. This is like the chemical reactions in a dying body which makes the muscles and the limbs stiff for a few days. Till date, the stiffness exists, we, once a republic with parallel systems of coexistence, where Balochis, Sindhis, Sarhadis and Punjabis, Mahajirs and all inbetween shared the diversity atleast at the mindset level died. Where Muslims and minorities alike celebrated Pakistaniat, thought otherwise.

With the entry into this phase came the time when all our blood started to flow towards the body reservior: (Pak-Afghan border). This is the next stage of body decomposition at death, blood becomes purplish and the body becomes blue. Its the time when the nation loses its identity, a black becomes a white, a white becomes a black. It was the time when Pakistan: Land of the Pure became Pakistan: Land of Terrorism. It was not long ago. With our stiffness of ideas, with our intolerance, with our lack of respect for life, for value, for society, for education, for the people we have become that body, dying towards its death, losing her identity...

In a normal case, in an average body, 'the doc' will not be interested in reanimating it since the chances of it being reanimated are directly proportional to how strong the body had been when alive. And maybe thats why Pakistan has not gone to the grave yet, not decomposed into skeletons of the past, not split into smaller states, not yet!

The doc believes that a dead body as ours can be reanimated but nature has her own rules. No matter how much you try to put life into it, it is still a short lived, artificial process and the reanimated may not function as a normal alive body (naturally alive that is). This is the phase we have entered now, when the dead walks the earth again. When the josh 'appears' the same, when the 'struggles' appear the same. Just like before, we have leaders, we have followers. We have ideologies, we have awareness. But not the same. The leaders are clueless, they are the worst of our kind. Afterall, its a reanimated body, don't expect vision. The followers are sailing without a rudder, afterall its a reanimated body, don't expect direction. We are senseless, we are deathless even though we are naturally dead.

Even now, we further decompose, we decomposed our reanimated self on the 12th May when our ethnicity and values died, on the 29th September when our freedom and justice died and on 18th October when our loyalty and rights died. The reanimator (US Government) tried his best to bring this dead body back to life even though it meant that he had to do some unnatural, inhumane things like bring Musharraf and Bhutto to close a deal, like tame two enemies (PPPP and MQM), like cut off the parts in pain (Waziristan) . So my dear readers, why are you so surprised now when another bomb blasted, when another treshold of our decomposition is crossed. It wasn't the footballer Mark Vivian Foe who died on a football pitch! We as a nation are already dead....., reanimated....., dying again....., why surprise?

Only the dead know how much it pains to be experimented with, to be reanimated. The reanimator (US) is only interested in his little world laboratory where he carries out experiments over us as lab rats. I've heard that at the time of decomposition, the 'self', the khudi wills to either live or die, thats the fighting spirit we see in people in deep comma, but some just let it go and die. We Pakistanis were promised utopia, a land where we would be able to live as human beings, with our rights respected and honored, where we would play an example for the world to follow. We dont want to be reanimated from this death. We have to let go now, we have to be willing to accept ourselves, our new selves, this is our new identity we have to adopt. No more to these politicians, no more to these fauji boots, no more to these extremists who need to be calmed down rather than provoked. Today we further decomposed. But maybe a life of reanimation isnt what we are looking for. So lets find a new self. Do what is required which We know already...

PS: The BB-ride of Re-animator was yesterday's top searched item at Yahoo, check this:

For Geeks and Hunks alike...(Warning Adult Content)

2007-10-19T01:24:00.001+02:00

How many times do we pick up items from the counter shelves at our grocery stores and super markets. A chewing gum strip, some menthol bites, maybe a pack of cigarretes, a soft drink, some batteries and other common items of use. These shelves mostly constitute easily consumable items which are pervasive yet cheap enough not to hold value to occupy a proper shelf. Yet their best place in stores are at the counters simply because the waiting time at the counter might convince us to buy it, or a last minute recall of memory or a sudden interest in the item, it could be anything.

But i just couldnt stop laughing when I saw this:

I have seen blank cds and dvds at counters because I accept that such media types are pervasive enough to be disposable in nature. But how about USB memory sticks lying out like that. Thats still something new for me to digest. But what really made me laugh out loud was what the memory stick was surrounded with? I mean, what is more pervasive, reusable digital memory or sex?

Being a data mining majors, a common application we study is 'Market Basket Analysis", these shop keepers try to figure out which products have a likely propensity of being sold together. Like chips go well with softdrinks, baby powder with baby diapers and so on. But contraceptives with USB drives?????? Gimme a break! :-)

Pakistan vs India World Twenty20 Final

2007-09-23T16:54:00.000+02:00

They say that before a great battle commences, the subtle march of thousands towards the battlefield, producing a humming sound, vibrating the grounds, enters the ears of the brigade already waiting to meet their end. And up above the higher grounds, a vision of the armies of the foe beyond the horizon becomes "before the horizon" and intensifies the nerves of those in the higher grounds who although are resting on firm grounds feel the shiver of the moments to engulve them soon. The earth knows it when the battle will commence and signals the sky red. And what bloodier venue for a blood striken sky than the plains of Africa, home of the lions, the predators at pray which at sunset render the sky bloody red.

We shall go down south where Pakistan awaits India tomorrow. Who's the predator and who's the pray is a matter of context. Both have been ruthless, both have been mighty hungry as their recent downfall in the Carribeans thrusted their thirsts for the coming bloody battle that awaits us tomorrow dusk. So who shall be the king of the jungle tommorrow at the inaugral World twenty20 Cup?

Nature has its own rules and devoid of our intervention, it was about due time in the world of cricket that the panultimate matchup is made for the greatest storybook tale of the game, India Pakistan WorldCup final, although the rules of the game have been changed but nonetheless every team came up to Africa hoping to reign supreme but all faltered by the underdogs now turned lions, the Pakistanis and the Indians.

There was a glimpse of the battle to come very early during this African festival when both teams had drawn. The result only to be decided by a freak of nature, the 'bowl-out' where India succeeded. But was it any considerable setback for Pakistan after the fact that Pakistan toppled the top two favorites of the contest, Australia and SriLanka? I guess not. Their bowling had been their inspiration early on with likes of Asif with his seem bowling consistently teased the batsmen, Tanveer with his confusing action and skidding deliveries, Gul with his perfect yorkers and sharp bouncers at the end, Hafeez whose miserly bowls restricts run leakage and Afridi, the sensation of them all, with his gentle leg spin but varied in pace that made him leading wicket taker of the tournament.

But on the other hand, Indian bowlers had been scripted pretty ordinary but nature has funny rules and the rise of RP Singh at the front caused shocking damage to the opposition. Some unusual yorkers from Harbajhan Singh has been a result of the bend of rules this tournament introduced, there r only 20 overs at stake and the Indian bowlers did the magic acts well. But more than bowling has been the Indian batting, underdogs in the tournament, their older lions resting at dens back home, younger cubs going out for a hunt, caught good prays, the best of which were the mighty South Africans, the third favorite team to lift the trophy by many. But who can forget the battle they had enroute to the final battle ground at Johanusburg when they ousted Australia with just 30 bowls by Yuvraj Singh, the Gaama Pahlwaan of India who was pretty terrifying to look at from miles away. Punjab da Puttar fond of Paraathaas and Lassis was all for muscle and flicks when he teared the Aussie balling apart. Much to the credit of Indian batting have been Guatam Gambhir who is in sublime form at the top and cameos from wk skipper MS Dhoni and Robin Uthappa make them a very strong batting lineup. But compared to their final rivals, their batting doesnot go deep so Pakistan will try to get them early, Asif going for four? Deja Vu anyone?

But the surprise package for me is the Pakistani batting line up, with Misbah Ul Haq and Shoaib Malik among the top run scorers of the tournament and getting good support from Hafeez and Younis. Luckily for Pakistan, Imran has riped in form at the right time and who can avoid Afridi, boy if he goes buzurk...

All in all, its a good fight coming up and fight to the d.... (dug-out :-) ) between these two teams tomorrow. Some interesting mini battles worth watching will be between Asif and Sehwag, early on, Yuvraj vs Afridi and Gul later on. I'd rather see Afridi coming one down after Hafeez and Nazir. Malik, Misbah and Younis can float around. Kamran can bat lower down.

As for cricket, in the words of Ravi Shastri, there couldn't be a better script in the making. Both underdogs living the finals, both have scores to settle for their WorldCup demise early this year and both arch rivals, one of the most celebrated rivarly in the game. Both shall give a tough fight and the winner although will be one for the trophy, for the crowds and the game itself they both are already! Best of luck to both, may the better team win.
picture courtesy of cricinfo.com

I have 'Sinned'

2007-09-08T01:26:00.000+02:00

Watch this:

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we'll roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage...
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler's Green!

Its about Pirates, the crooked and the criminal kind but who opposed to oppression of imperial forces of the British East India Company in the Pirates of the Carribean series. I like to relate to this rather gloomy expression as the British East India Company also conquered the sub-continent (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh), conquering the Indus Valley region, my home. The Sindh province known to the armies of Charles Napier as Sind was the entry point. Ironically, this fancy General is well known for quoting 'I have Sinned'. The Imperial forces, masters of the oceans conquered our lands and we physically, mentally and worse institutionally were enslaved by them. Some men had died, some were alive, and other sailed on the sea. We were the thieves and beggars then, we are the thieves and the beggars today...And Karachi is our Sin City!

"Walk down the right ally in Sin City, and you will find everything" - Sin City

You will find this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlGuu0dTSVA

but you will also find this:

We are a city where you will find the enlightened confused and the pre-historic living side by side...ya right! We are a city poised to polarization. The city is expanding yet dividing, where borders are broadened physically and outskirts are turning into places of rush hours, our minds are blobbing away into different poles of mentallity. This is what the Imperialists do, they divide and conquer. Cant be sure of the latter part, but divided we are, just like Pirates of the Carribean... Thieves and beggars we may be, but we stand against the imperialists...

In this Sin city of Sinned, you will find this:

but also this:

and this:

and yes, this too:

Where people are asking for more gutters, the imperialists are giving us fancy water fountains, when people are asking for industries, the imperialists are taking away our energy. When people are asking for 'Roti, Kapra, Makaan', these imperialists are busy fooling us around with more luxury hotels and expensive merchandise.

And who can forget that bloody day, the 12th of May, when sails were let loose and ships went asstray...

Who to blame, for we are pirates, theives and beggars while the kings and queens enjoy their hymns in their castles!

But we are the dwellers of Sindh, home to the Indus Valley, the sands and storms of this place are queer for even the great armies of Alexander started their downfall from this region. The British East India company too one day met her demise and our modern day imperialists will too one day find themselves cornered. But who are we but pirates, thieves and beggars...

Your time is coming soon to an end...
a new Pirate might take your place in the land of Sinned....
atleast for u,

The bell has been raised
from it's watery grave...
Do you hear it's sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

Loudspeakers!

2007-08-29T21:06:00.000+02:00

Do you ever get this feeling that people are so much obsessed with their religious sects that they start trolling to make their points rather than actually searching for truth themselves? Well it happens to me all the time, whenever I throw a question at a group of religious buffs, instead of the group actually participating in the converstaion to answer questions, they try to enforce the knowledge they took from their chosen religious authority, some try to emphasize their points by changing their voice tones, some raise their voices, some are so hard headed that they classify all others but their point of view as incorrect, hands tightened, nose puffing smokes of anger and faces turned away. Well, I thought this was only among Pakistanis/Indians then I started to interact with Arabs who although are far better off than the Paki/Indian counterparts generally when debating, they do have these traits.I thought it must be a trait common to one religion but lately I found this among Christians as well. I thought then it might be among religious figures only but then I happened to meet some scientologists who too happen to be 'arrogant' just like the religous buffs when it came to actually debating. It aint too bad though that a person presents a certain bias towards his/her views but many debates end up at the point where there is nothing but bias which decides one's point of view.

For instance, at a larger perspective, lets take the Evolution vs Intelligent Design debate. Both adverse groups classify the other's argument as being non-scientific. Evolutionists say that there are observations from nature where smallest indivisibility has been observerd to be evolved rather than being created in full form as such and thus the 'belief' of a possiblity that an intelligent designer must have been responsible for creating life is unscientific. The Intelligent Design

school of thought claim that the evolutionists are all consistent with sciencitic methodology and scientific findings that natural selection is a reality but the start of life which according to evolutionists 'might' have been due to a fluke of nature which although highly improbable is still possible and without actually proving (disapproving) this huge gorge of scientific closure, have this 'belief' that this is the only explanantion for the start of life. So it all ends up with bias.

For the sake of this debate, the bias ends up till the point science itself becomes a religion (in a notorious way) where its all about belief in the end.

At a bit finer level, its a debate about one god, one God, many gods, many Gods, or no god(s) or no God(s) etc. How should I approach whether a monotheistic religion where there is only one God is the correct path or pantheistic religions where everything is God (or gods) or atheistic religions where there is no God or gods. No body has proof except for the teachings from their religious authorities, wether it be the Pope or Richard Dawkins. I have always been confused how to go about deciding on the actual path I should follow, ive got to die one day too and I dont know what is going to happen next? I figured out that if you open doors to all thoughts out there, and filter out those thoughts who dont have a 'knowledgeable backing' out of my candidate choices, I might be able to come closer to whatever is called 'salvation'. What I mean by 'knowledgeable backing' is a bias free knowledgebase which besides talking about univeral ethical and moral principles, is also consistent with all the eras gone by and coming along and which gives prophecies which are specific that one may not be able to fit them in in every other event occurring. But these prophecies are not just about predicting the future, they are about humanity's understanding of prophecies as well.

If you look at atheists who follow science as a religion, their only argument I have heard so far against the presece of God is that men made God to fit their uncertainties with some sort of explanations, and that man is capable of anything while God restricts man's potential! I mean how unscientific that is coming from those who worship science. If you look at those who worship stones they make themselves, they claim these stones to have powers over them, I can't understand or make one of one is that how can one invent God or gods to be more specific here. Although there are certain religions who dont actually worship the stones and claim that there is more that meets the eye when we see them actually worhsiping their idols, their claim is that they worship the gods and their idols are actuallly their avatars so that they may easily visualize how their gods look like. But isnt god about belief in the unkown, even among those who worship their avatars? Then who gave them their shapes and figures to begin with? I have been unfortunate enough to actually get a bias free logical answer to this.

IF you look at monotheistic religions, the three main ones, infact the only ones I know of or rather heard of are Judaism, Christianity and Islam in that order. I dont know anything about the Judaistic faith, so won't comment on it. As for Christianity, when I meet Catholics they tell me that Evangelists and Protestants are not Christians anymore! When I meet Protestants they aren't any fans of the Catholics and the Orthodox either. The Jehovahs like Muslims believe that God is one and that Jesus was a human being, devoid of divinity. That makes them totally unfit among the other sects of Christianity.

The trouble I find with this faith is that even if one christian wants to find which particular christian sect is on the right path, he/she can't because the sacred scriptures are not preserved at all, so if one text favors trinity, the other sects claim that thats a forged scripture and if one text favors unity (One God), then the other half claim of forgery. So it all ends up in evaulating other texts but they too suffer they same fate and eventually a Christian is left with just believe
where he/she wants to end up? The trinity camp or the unity one, whether the Catholic government system or the Protestant Secular order? It all ends up in bias!

For Muslims, there are the Shias and the Sunnis. and there are several minor ones. Although there is no difference in their believes, there is just one God, Allah while Moses, David, Abraham, Ishmail, Isaq were all His prophets and Mohammad (PBUH) was the final seal on prophethood. The difference comes in lineage and Caliphate between the Sunnis and Shias and now if you put a topic infront of these two groups, there is a chance that you will get a different interpretation or required action for it. If we trace the source of Seerah, you might also find some problems in the way a particualr point in the Seerah is classified as authentic or not.

I am confused because poeple instead of helping me out seek truth are actually throwing their biases at me blindfoldedly. I call such people 'LOUDSPEAKERS' who instead of presenting their own understandings through arguments are just amplifying somebody else's thoughts with a possibility of human error in transmitting the message. I dont know how to deal with such people but my little heuristic is to simply avoid them for any discussion but then again how will I seek truth if I am myself biased towards a thinking methodology. Afterall, every religion (including science) has a unique understanding of logical reasoning. I am tired, I am frustrated. Everytime I get a predicate (a judgement on a certain topic), I have to trace it all the way back to ensure it is actually authentic. And I end up making mistakes myself because I am not an expert in processing the knowledge base of various religions and scientific domains.

Why can't we people instead of enforcing our biases on one another actually sit together and seek the common truth which is not subjective, which is not about just making meaning of this life but actually collectively finding out its true purpose in a well organisedformal methodology which too is not free from subjective biases or is it that we can never actually do that in a threshold of possibility? I dont know, I just feel that we need a debating 101 in every school out there. But then again who lays the course content?

You might be one of those who might be thinking 'This child needs to see from the heart', a common tool which the religiously inclined use, especially when logicians bring out the fallacies in their understandings. I cant express how I see the world from my heart, but I do know for sure that if I leave everything on my heart, then bias takes over and I end up another loudspeaker. I guess its all about balancing between heart and mind. neither one alone, both together to make sure we are not biased towards our judgements.

For the sake of this article, feel free to express your judgements about it even if they have an essence of bias...

Khuda Ke Liye (In the name of God) - Review

2007-08-27T19:49:00.000+02:00

Warning: Spoilers ahead....

I could try to express ten different things in one article but I don't feel I am capable enough to do that. Shoaib Mansoor. However, did that in a movie! Ive tried to think about starting this article presenting every concept of the movie, each one quite unique and important enough that a single movie can be made out of each concept but couldn’t. The problem with such articles or movies that present too many concepts either intertwined or mutually exclusive is that people always fail to identify hierarchical tags or keywords to it. ‘Khuda Ke Liye’, is it a movie about Pakistanis after 9-11 or is it a movie about cultural inhumanities and lack of education, or is it about juvenile religious activism, is it about Halaal vs. Haraam or is it about progressive thinking vs. backward thinking, I think it is a mixture of all of those and many more. I guess as fuzzy these concepts are, as unrelated our tagging for this movie will be.

For some it is a threat to their delusional ghettos and an illegal intrusion to their thoughts, for others it is a platform, an excuse, an advocacy to their insecurities of action, an explanation for their fragile moral grounds to settle in. But I don’t want to think of this movie in these terms as they are creating rifts in society and regardless of the real intentions of the stakeholders involved, it is one thing that is breaking our society apart.

So what then would I like to remember this movie as even knowing that the director’s intention were revengeful towards his old accomplice turned anti-music Junaid Jamshed? A platform where serious matters are discussed, a milestone which Shoaib Mansoor single handedly gifted to the entire Pakistani cinema, a voice to the Pakistani Muslim community against the atrocities which the US Intelligence Instruments committed after 9-11. A heartening story about a girl, a British citizen who was turned a family slave by force by her father in a remote tribal area of Pakistan, an example of hypocrisy among the first generation immigrants out of our "religio-cultural ghetto", a brush of brainwashing the ‘simpler’ ones and most importantly the climax, the debate between two religiously inclined elders about several topics and their interpretations of Islam.

Details have not always been bad, in fact besides a couple of ignorables, the movie rates high on details, from costumes, to accents to music which is one of the important topics discussed in the movie. Shoaib Mansoor famous for his use of natural light has surpassed expectations once again and a personal favorite of this skill of his comes in the start of the movie when a long corridor ends up in a window emanating day light in a mental rehabilitation center. The light not just passes the window but it skids off in reflection at the floor and the camera angling is perfect enough to capture it all.

Acting has been the good part, the bad part and the best part of the movie for me. Although the acting of the Mary's father in the movie had been very irritating and totally unprofessional, the rest have been handled well by the director especially the likes of Fawad Khan who impressed me a lot by his jolly depiction of a 'seedha saadha bacha' who even after being 'extrematized' had a cute and comic act of words and moves. The scene where he decides whether to ride the heli or not for me defines his entire character in the movie. 'Khuda Ke Liye' is really good on humor as well, sprinkled nicely here and there which made the atmosphere relaxed and fun. Shaan had been magnificent, far better than all Bollywood actors except Abishekh Bachan which i still rate higher in his Amitabh Bachan like acting in Guru. Music had been well placed and choreography had been top notch as well. All in all, a fine make, one that would set standards for the industry.

However, as much as technical competency and finer details matter, the script and concept of the movie holds as much importance to create the perfect blend. In this case, without even moving closer to the controversial Islamic aspects presented, I still find the movie a 'burger act' where goodness and badness is based on the perceptions of a special society we in Pakistan call 'elites'. Its not bad though, in our fragmented society, the more we talk, the more we have access to our elusive worlds.

Besides the last part, which has created the real controversy and thus revenue for the movie, I’d rather focus on the other issues as this part requires a separate article in its own. Well, that’s me, I ain't able enough to discuss several topics at once. The most interesting observation was made from a friend of mine who is a neighbor to the Waziristan area showing this scene where a flag bearing a particular slogan of the Shia sect is shown as being part of Waziristan. According to this friend of mine, Waziristan is a very conservative pro-Sunni area so it ain't even possible to show this flag, let alone hang it around. Secondly, this is my gut feeling that the rituals performed during the birth of the British girl’s daughter is also taken from eh…lets say a non-Waziristani religious standard and that makes me doubt about the research work done in the area's religious practices. But what troubles me about depiction of Waziristan in this movie is that it might not be a true representation of the area and I am already hearing people being judgmental over Waziristan based on what they see in the movie. Isn't this the same mistake the movie’s other plot tries to portray and yet makes it itself albeit on a regional scale? If the movie seeks out to show that Pakistan is not about all what the media says, then why would it present such a polarized view of the Waziristani society? Even though Shoiab has shown elements of progressive nature in the area (the supportive guy who wants to learn English), but the general feel of it is that Waziristan is a unipolar mess. Women are shown to be commodities in its truest sense which although is so but not to the extent shown in the movie especially with dialogues like 'Hum larki ko maar to saktain hain lekin...' . Infact, Pathans are not as bad when it comes to 'handling' their women as the rest of Pakistan are. I don’t see Waziristan worse than any other tribal area in Pakistan. Maybe, a wild connection with the current war on terror campaign by the military in Pakistan (also in power) wants to define 'the enemy' through the media, sort of our Pakistani Rambo renditions...but thats just my wild wannabe thought...

Another character which I couldn't come to terms with was the female protagonist's father, who living a non-Islamic life tricks her daughter big time to protect the so-called Islamic lineage of his family. A true hypocrite whose only conviction is to maintain his position in the Pakistani community in Britain. Although it might be a common behavior there, I didn't expect the protagonist Mary to fall for his trap so Bollywoodishly :) I didn't fancy her ending either, the director sells the idea that Mary's teaching of ABCDs in Waziristan is going to make inroads towards progress....What a burgerish fantasy!

Trying strictly not to talk about the Islamic debates and overtones of it through out the movie, I'd like to end this two part review by appreciating the wonderful yet emotional scene where the two brothers are being beaten up by two different groups in two different parts of the world yet both extremists, the Talibans (which is politically incorrect but used anyways) and the secret gov. agencies in the US (oh yes)....Truly that was the artistic climax of the movie for me....

The Free Mansoor Slogans makes me feel how tough it would have been on Pakistani Americans during 9.11. Bravo Shoaib Mansoor.......uptil now :)

Should Pakistan (60) Retire?

2007-08-14T01:18:00.001+02:00

Exactly 20 years ago I was quarreling with my sister in a flight towards Pakistan. I was only 5 then and I couldn't register that we were going to Karachi instead of Pakistan which my sister was adamant to prove. I was pretty confused, sort of irritated and repeatedly asked my mom whether we were going to Karachi or Pakistan, she said we are going to both places. She said Karachi is inside Pakistan but somehow I didn't get it. She gave me numerous examples after which I got the idea but as soon as we landed, the old Karachi CAA terminal announced something like 'welcome to Pakistan' and there I was again, are we in Karachi OR Pakistan.

As soon as we got out of the terminal, my worries shifted to another aspect. There were so many tall strangers around me, looking at me as if im some cute little stuffed toy. Some cuddled me, one gave me candy but I was terrified and hid behind our luggage as my parents and sister continued to talk with them. Then my mom told me that this lady over here is your khala (aunt), and this young man over here is your mamoon (uncle). That was the first time I was meeting them, first time I had set foot on Karachi or rather Pakistan. That was how relations were built for me in just one meeting.

Since then I have landed numerous times at Karachi and somehow the same questions arise in my mind? Is Karachi a part of Pakistan? What IS Karachi? What does Pakistan stand for? Is it a country of similar culture, race, religion or a geographic (natural) boundary? Is Pakistan a nation? Who are these people we call fellow citizens? What is my relation to them? What are my duties towards them and theirs towards me?

I was 'half-baked' with Pakistan history thanks to our state controlled syllabus. Although I aint a fan of the Indian counterpart either, it wasn't the sequence of events or the ideas that I was against later on, it was the classification of our 'heroes', the rising of their stature, the divinity of their speeches, the raising of authority of their texts over state affairs and the enshrinement of their dead bodies which people from our region had reserved for saints and clerics before.

I wont go into details because they are good enough for a small group of people, details never work out for the masses. For any large scale movement, borders between ideas are drawn in a very solid line, simple classification of sides work when spreading the message and bringing momentum to the movement. For our case, Jinnah's idea for Pakistan is fairly complicated when compared to the movement on ground it was steering. It also had elements of variation over the course of time. The concept that Pakistan was made for Muslims rather than Islam, meaning that its was made for an ethnicity rather than a religion is too complicated for the common man to understand especially in those days when communications were indirect.

Although even after 60 years people are polluting history with their likings of Jinnah's thoughts, most pollution comes in the form of Jinnah, the secularist. The major point for him being a secularist was this quote and several similar ones but people forget the context they were presented in. Besides, this much part of secularism is already a part of an Islamic state, at least by law. Secularists today however, want a totally westernized secular country where wearing a veil is forbidden even by choice.

The second reason why some believe that Jinnah had a secular vision for Pakistan was that the conservative Islamists were opposing the idea of a separate homeland. The irony is that even though the Islamist leaders knew what Jinnah stood for, the masses had a very different vision for Pakistan, and what the Islamists should have done, it was Jinnah Saahib who played the leader's role. Now Pakistan was established, the Islamists who resisted earlier and least participated for the movement thought it to be the best interest of not just themselves but of the newly separated country that they side with her. This act has till date been highly criticized by the upper echelons of Jinnah's team and people who understand his ideology for Pakistan better than the actual masses who made it happen.

Then there were those local stories and perceptions about Pakistan. Sindh, for instance had two reasons to join Pakistan. The Islamic one and freedom from feudal landlords. The Muslim League deceived the Sindhi activists by using these fuedals landlords to support the Pakistan movement. As far as an Islamic state was concerned, the idea died out because people were more wary of feudals than the political system. They were betrayed, yet they remained with Pakistan. Today, its neither an Islamic country, nor the feudals are defeated, there are growing separatist groups emerging in current day Sindh.

Sarhad also had her own story, the Pathans had the option to either opt for Afghanistan or Pakistan. Correct me if I am wrong but they chose Pakistan because of Jinnah Saahib's promise of a progressive life under an Islamic state. Now Pathans besides being mocked at in our pathan jokes are also bombed without trial. Borders have never been protected, drugs and gun culture have prevailed. Sarhad seems now that it was always an incomplete boundary. Areas like Waziristan never had state intervention and now the old pact is breached too. Sarhad is on the brink of separation.

Balochistan, in my opinion, the missed opportunity of our state. Too many unexplored grounds which are known to be abundant in minerals. We could be self reliant on fuel if we invest heavily there but I guess its too late for that now, like Sindh and Sarhad, Balochistan too has reservations over provincial autonomy. There too, our state has committed human rights abuse by numbers. Thing is when a small feudal commits a crime, the victim looks on for the state to provide justice, when the state commits the crime, its time for anarchy.

So on one hand we have the Islamist vs. Secular ugly and physical debate going on which has taken these two concepts to too extremes, militancy and something termed 'enlightened moderation' (dont be fooled by the words). This is all state created, mostly by military.

On the other hand we have this huge issue of provincial autonomy and resource distribution. On top of all of this, we never succeeded as a democracy before, every time we failed, every time military further messed her up. So what are we celebrating?

Jinnah's Pakistan never happened, whether it was a secular one or an Islamic state. We never had independence from the forces we stood to fight against, we only had a separation from greater India. I am desperate to celebrate our Independence Day one day but it is not today. Today is a day of separation, a movement, half-baked just like our Pakistan studies curriculum.

Elections are coming soon, the tyrant doesnot want a respectable exit, we dont have leaders anymore. we are in an abyss. Another bloody revolutions looms over, the main battle remains on human fronts now. Educate the masses, rob the elites, monitor the police, oppose every government to keep her on a tight leash. It takes time, maybe a lifetime. But it atleast aint today.

Its about time that the concept that Pakistan has practiced retires, its 60 years now, its time that we hang up all our dirty boots and call it a day. Its time for a new Pakistan to take her place. And a starting point is acting for civil rights, education, justice and provincial autonomy. And during any of it, a secular agenda for a country pops up, we will see the country further splitting apart since there is no common denominator in the four lands except religion. We need the state to sponsor religious education, to provide an air of interreligious harmony and understanding. If they can spend millions in sponsoring fashion shows then why not this. It is about time something good is done about the half achieved Jinnah's movement.

Special Message for Women

2007-07-19T17:38:00.000+02:00

Girls, u cook very delicious food :)

Eureka!

2007-07-14T00:29:00.001+02:00

Eureka!

I echo loudly while running through the hallways of my dormitory, hands widened, wings spread and I am about to take off from the window at the end of the corridor...

Eureka!

I am not Archimedes discovering buoyancy in a bath tub...

Eureka!

I am not Newton struck by an apple explaining gravity...

Eureka!

I am not Marx or Smith who understood their problems and enticed whole generations of activists...

Eureka!

I am not a saint or a cleric who seems content, blissful, peaceful, calm and spiritual...

Oh Eureka!

Every night I drop my alpha waves (I sleep) hoping that I will be screaming Eureka, passing the barrier of Plato's allegorical cave and falling in space, arms wide apart, entering into reality. The more I dream for this, the more I deny this pseudo-reality which seems more restricting that what it might be. But the dreams are more real than any pseudo-reality I have, as it represents ideas through symbology of idealism. And idealism governs one's direction even if not implementable. The moment I wake up, the objectivity of this pseudo-reality you call life turns against my existence as I recall that I am enslaved in a sanitarium, the likes of which heavy metalists scream about in their hymns. and go screaming:

Eureka! Eureka! Eureka!

That moment is a moment of triumph, a great escape, a final piece in a jigsaw puzzle, when one of us, breaks the shackles and observes with his own penta-sense, the existence of para universes beyond the pseudo real. Heart beats accelerate, blood is warmer, skin is moist, and alpha frequencies in the high peaks, he escapes the cave (Plato's), sees the light so bright that revolutionizes the concepts of luminescence and he is momentarily blind but sees all.

Eureka!

He goes back in utter desperation, devoid of any control on his emotions on his latest discoveries of thoughts. And the fundamental human instinct to communicate his revelations with others prevail and he enlightens the still enslaved (who are used to host pseudo-realities) but in vain as the enslaved are not ready to be freed, to be unplugged. He keeps on screaming Eureka Eureka, sometimes ends up in a sanitarium, sometimes in the dusts of his grave but hardly worth any fame. Yet history through a gradual evolution of progression, already introduced to the ideas he brought in his time of trance, finally assimilates the society with his revelations and suddenly a dead body becomes a hero, a visionary, a martyr.

Although sometimes these heroes in fact led by a motive far superior than the strains of time are not well equipped to carry out their revelations properly and historically most have failed to do so. Sometimes, the method to spread the word and develop a mass movement of supporters of a revolutionary idea is not implementable by the escaped heroes. When this happens, then those enslaved willing to escape must take on the revelation in a far better instrument of propagation to entice a revolution in the making. When there are no enslaved willing to do that, history makes yet another mockery of the whole generation of prisoners and define the 'honor' (or the lack of it) of the coming generations.

Fellow prisoners, one of us escaped the bounds of our solitary confinement and saw the future of our race, our identity drowning as the ships at great sea, and even though the captain is honorable to sink with his ship, he is the one cracking her down. Generals are not meant to be captains of this ship. The throne has to be overthrown, and the men who escaped the ship, and saw it from a holistic view of what lies ahead in their sheer emotional outbursts of Eureka, mismanaged their method of propagating this message to us. Now they have fallen, but their message is left with us. All they wanted was to have a society respecting morality, where right is differentiated from wrong, where might is not right, where social values are based on progress, their only fault being they took the already corrupt law in their own hands to prove their point, hence they were annihilated. But the message they brought has to be carried on. Prostitution centers have to be closed down by the model they presented, provide human rights to the workers by given them a better alternative lifestyle while bringing the business owners and clients to justice. They complained about rising corruption, they complained about increasing income inequality, they complained about country's autonomy and foreign hegemony. Was their message so out of context or out of proportions? Are we the enslaved so lost and at ease with the version of reality forced on us? There is a greater world outside, the sun shines bright, as Neo would have said, "This is not how it ends, but how it begins", as Truman would have said "In case we don't meet again, good morning, good evening, good night".

Ghazi screamed Eureka!

Lets get free, lets break the shackles, lets face the sun....rising!

Laal Pakistan (Red Pakistan)

2007-07-03T21:36:00.000+02:00

Before I begin my occasional outburst of mind-body team work as i jolt down my feelings under the current context pertaining to this matter, I would be using the word 'laal' instead of its English translation of red from now on to make this text more close to home.

The first time this phrase popped up in my mind today, "Laal Pakistan", I was halted for a while in confusion: wait a minute, isn't it supposed to be "Hara Pakistan" (Green Pakistan) instead, as apparent from the color of her flag and the philosophy behind it. A lot of years ago, that would have been the case, when the newly separated Pakistan (from India) was motivated by all things good and peaceful and green a universal color of peace would have harmoniously advocated the growing greenery in the state capital as well as in the urban setups. Not just in nature but in human nature of state governance, things were starting to look bright for the common man which under the context of this text is the man not involved with the country's politics or governance or the added group, the military. So this common man knew nothing of the collective dreams that were about to fascinate the teens of this new federation. a fast forward in time, and here we are today, a country termed as a failed state and ranks 12 in the list of failed states by the highly independent International Crisis Group, the dreams that were and the dreams that are don't match, so I guess the color of green that was Pakistan should also change and in fact has changed, its Laal Pakistan now. Red hot in anger, red hot in frustration, red hot in temperature and red hot in blood. Where the developed south has seen iterations of sectarian violence recurring in different shades of caste, creed, religion and now politics, the undeveloped south is seeing a rise of neglect, poverty, desperation and a growing tide of separatist movements supplemented by militia like the Baloch Liberation Army. The North has seen an uprising of suppressed ideologists en route to the norms of the Talibans. Things would have been much much better had it been just that, but the series of unfortunate events that beset in this fast movement in time brought some more blobs on our white slates. The Military, or rather GHQ +ISI (General Headquarters of the Military and the Inter-Services Intelligence) has been a painful part of the greener pastures of Pakistan whose influence went all the way from the rocky mountains of NWFP down to the plateaus and beaches of Sindh and Balochistan.

By now some readers might be classifying my feelings to be too pessimistic, negative and out of context. I mean if the government claims to be one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, a 7% annual GDP growth sustained within the last 3-4 years plus the overwhelming improvement in the stock markets indicate that things are on track. New port being constructed, the increase in consumer buying power, and the influx of foreign businesses in the country is a sign of prosperity. Not only this but Pakistan being the leading ally in the war on terror and its regular presence at the world economic forums and other similar events indicates that we are 'progressive' and present in the modern world. Who can deny the massive construction work going on (although more for leisure and luxury than infrastructure), the hard pressed case for tourism, the model of tolerance by adopting norms which might even go beyond the religious barriers dominant in the region just to show that we care. All this is happening in Pakistan so I better buzz off. But I wont.

Years ago, I participated in the worst debating contest of my life, where the topic of the debate was "Another bomb blast means quit Pakistan". Besides the flaw inherent in the statement, the semantics are far more ridiculous for seasoned debaters. But the part which I feel made it the worst debate was that out of the ten debaters, only two of them supported the motion while eight opposed solely based on patriotic notions that a Pakistani can and should never quit Pakistan. The question raised by myself and my other peer were the ones the people are asking today, are we going to take everyone's concern in Pakistan in a democratic way or are we going to remain hypocritical and govern the region in might is right mentality? This requires just a slight insight into what actually makes a bomb tick and a bomb blow. Why people are willing to commit suicide bombings taking usually innocent ones with them? Does it have to do with religious doctrines or its interpretation (read misinterpretation) or some other camouflaged intent? Just yesterday, amalgamating the various causes for suicide bombings, came another definition, this time by an Israeli lawyer according to whom suicide bombing is a patriotic act done by those who don't know or have any other way to present their case. Somehow under the current political context in Pakistan, I felt that this definition holds a very practical justification and enlightens a road map to move forward. The Lal Majsid issue has been floating for months now but the government had remained silent (in actions). We also saw sectarian violence in the past, political violence in the near past, and a rising civil war triggering in Balochistan and NWFP where the military is found in combat against Pakistanis. So then, even amidst the so-called development going on in the country, if there is strong evidence that the government's mistakes had led to a greater mobilization of extremist elements within the state, when the common man is protesting against increased prices of daily necessities, when the lawyers are protesting for the independence of the judiciary and so on, it serves a strong case for Pakistan being a failed state which includes those states in which the government is not doing what the people want or when the government does not have control over the state, (just as in the case of laal masjid now besides others) or it goes against its own people (12th May, and raid on media channels, etc).

All this can change, not by a new ideology (enlightened moderation) or the forced enforcement of one's wishful religious laws, (laal sharia) but by tackling the root causes of extremism through dialog and better understanding. But the problem is that of arrogance, lack of interest for integration of various voices within the country and the lack of a rule of law which has caused Pakistan's flag color from green (go) to laal (stop). Consider this for instance, at the current Laal masjid issue which has far reaching effects all in negative ways, this is how the clerics at the helm of affairs of the group had to say:

Followed by this, Musharraf replies in this manner:

Like the Lal Masjid authorities, he is also living in a world of his own, with an arrogant rejection of Lal Masjid's authorities. The President accuses them of not being capable of running a government when the President himself didn't have any formal training in governance himself, so ironic to see a military dictator talking about governance skill set.
Notice how both groups are living in a self-righteous world and are not ready to hear the other side story and both groups asking Allah to give the other side some sense of understanding.

However, class of cultures, ideologies and viewpoints is not new in metropolitan societies across the world and one proven method to resolve inter-cultural, inter-religious conflicts have beenthe use of tools like constant dialogs, integration events, and a genuine concern for the protesting party keeping one's arrogance aside. The current government and many elitist bureaucrats have this fiction that religious people don't have an understanding of civic matters. The irony is that if it is false, then it shows the arrogance of the government, if its true, then the government is also to blame for it. After all, they are held responsible for the facilitation and propagation of religious education in the country, one can ask without much optimism how many madrassahs and masjids the government sponsors? When they don't take the responsibility themselves, they don't have a right to stop others. Plus, without being concerned about this aspect of the Pakistani life, it is the government's sole responsibility that many extremist madrassahs are present today. The government should have facilitated the people wihtout considering its arrogance of power and wealth.

However, this does not solve the issue, but we are lucky that many clerics in Pakistan are also against the Laal Masjid motto, otherwise the agnostic & atheist lobbies would have found a good time to chant their slogans, for instance, check this out.

Somehow that day during the debate, the overly patriotic jury who couldn't come to terms with anyone going for the vague term 'Quit Pakistan' was not ready to accept that things have changed, we in Pakistan, no longer stand for the same cause and its about time to start respecting one another out of our own arrogance and work more to integrate (not necessarily assimilate) into each and every society present in Pakistan to turn the flag color back to the peaceful green, we have to find a common denominator of existence. The Pakistan that was a dream and the Pakistan that is today are two very different concepts. There is no inter provincial harmony, religious understanding and social and economic inequality has risen to huge differences. Ina ll this, our conserved society for which nearly every thing is taboo cannot stand the notion of Quit Pakistan without even understanding what Pakistan really is today. Its better to set aside our differences now otherwise hurricane Americana is on its way when we all will be forced to quit Pakistan (the one we dreamed about)...

Picture Courtesy: Sufi @ KMB, edited in Adobe Photoshop without permission

(Rain) بارش

2007-06-24T21:16:00.000+02:00

آج کیوں کچھ یادیں تازا ہورہی ہیں, آج کیوں پرندوں کی چہہچاہت میری توجہ کا مرکز نہیں ـآج ابھرتا سورج کیوں بارش کی یاد دلارہاہے ـ وہ بارش جب دوستوں کے ہمراہ کراچی میں گرماگرم جلیبیاں اور پکوڑوں کا مزا اردگرد کی سماجی اور معاشی آلودگی پر حاوی ہوتاـ وہ گزرے دن جب بارش سیر سپاٹے کی وجہ بنتی اور گرجتا برستا ساون بچوں کو سڑک پر تھپتھپانے پر مجبور کرتا ـ جب بارش بدلتے موسم کی نشاندہی کرتی اور لوگ آیک تازہ جزبے سے اس بدلتی حالت کا استقبال کرتےـ نیا موسم نیی امیدیں اجاگر کرتا اور بارش کے گزرنے پر دھنک اورخاموشی,, دل سکوں کی آیک اور منزل طے کرلیتی ـ

ـ لیکن آج یہاں کوی بارش نہیں ـ صرف وہ گزری یادیں ہیں جنہیں بھلایا نہیں جاسکتا ـ وہ یادیں ہیں جن کے ساے تلے آج کو قبول کیانہیں جاسکتا ـ کیوں کہ آج جب میرے محل وقوع میں دھوپ ہے,, میں ایک ایسے ساے کی تالاش میں ہوں جو مجھے آج اس ہزاروں میل دور اپنے شہر میں بارش کی نیی پہچان سمجھاسکےـ

آج کی بارش کراچی پر ایک نیا عزاب لای ہے یا ایک آنے والے طوفان کے نشاندہی ـ طوفان تو آج بھی ہے لیکن ہم سب پر نہیں ـ صرف وہی آدمی جس کو فیض احمد فیض انتصا ب میں بیان کرتا ہے,, جس کو جنرل اپنا غلام سمجھتا ہے,, وہی آدمی جس کو سیاست دان استعمال کرتا ہے,, وہی آدمی جس کو امیر حقیر جاننتا ہے,, صرف وہی آدمی آنے والے طوفان کو پہچان سکتا ہےـ یہ وہ طوفان ہے جس کی گرفت میں من پنسد مزلوم ہی آتے ہیںـ یہ وہ آدمی ہے جو شاید اشفاق احمد کا بابا تو نیہں لیکن بابا کی کیفیت کی عقاسی ضرور کرتا ہےـ وہی اس آنے والے طوفان کو محسوس کرتا ہےــ

اس طوفان کی خبر پچھلے سال سے ہی مل رہی تھی لیکن اس آدمی کی سنے کون جس نے طوفان کو بھگتا ہےـ

ان طوفانون کے نوعیت کچھ عجیب سی ہوتی ہےـ یہ وہ طوفان ہوتے ہیں جن میں نوح کی کشتی تو بچ نکلتی ہے لیکن ٹای ٹینک ڈوب جاتی ہےـ

ان طوفانون میں شاید کوی عمارت تو کڑھی رھ جاے لیکن انسانیت ختم ہو کر رہ جاتی ہےـ اور پورے شہر کا اجڑا نظارا آنے والی نسلوں کو اس ظلم کی یاد دلاتی ہیں جو ہم خود کرتے ہیں اپنے آپ سے اور اپنے اس شہر سے جس نے ہمیں ہماری پہچان دی ـ

میں آج بے چین ہوں,, اپنے شہر کے بدلتی پہچان سےـ ساینس دان کہتے ہیں کے ارتقا ہمیشہ بہتری کی طرف راغب ہوتی ہے اور قدرت نے ارتقا کو کچھ ایسے اوزار میسر کیے ہیں جن کی بدولت ایک ڈوبتی قوم ساہل سے جاملسکتی ہےـ یہی قدرت ہے لیکن شاید ہمارے فطرت کچھ اورـ

آج ایک برس باد پھر ایک بارش نے ہمارے شہریوں کو حلاق کردیاـ ہم کہتے ہیں قدرت مہربان نہیںـ لیکن پھر ناجانے کیوں قدرت کی انہی بارشوں کے ساتھ ہماری سنہری یادیں بھی وابستہ ہیں جو آج ممکن نہیںـ یہ کراچی کا فرد شاید اپنے قوت برداشت کی بنا پر خاموش رہا,, مشکلات جھیلتا رہا لیکن سر زمین کراچی نے جو مشکلات کا سامنا کیا اب دم توڑ رہی ہےـ

آیک ڈھای ملین روپے کے فوارے نے کراچی کو کیا دیا جو ایک گٹر دے ساکتا تھاـ کہنے کو تو آج اس ڈوبتے شہر میں امیدیں بھی ڈوب رہی ہیں اور بارش ایک پریشانی کا باعث بنتی چلی جارہی ہےـ لیکن میرے کچھ اچھی یادیں ابھی باقی ہیںـ شاید یہی وہ یادیں ہین جو قدرت کی قوت ارتقا ہیںـ شاید یہی وہ اوزار ہیں جو کراچی کے گزرے کل کو زندہ کرسکتی ہیںـ جب شہر میں امن تھا اور عوام کا راج تھاـ وہ لمحہ کتنا ناقص ہی کیوں نا ہو لیکن اس کراچی کو پہر سے زندہ کرنے کیلے اس قوم میں ابہی وہ اناثر باقی ہیں ـ جب یہ طوفانی بارش تمھے گی تو دھنک کی رنگت اور پرندوں کی چہچہاہٹ دل سکون کا باعث بنے گی اور اس تثور کے لیے عوام سب کچھ کردکہھلاے گی کیونکے امید پر دنیا قایم ہے اور ارتقا کی پابندـ

Yeh Hai Pakistan

2007-06-16T08:10:00.000+02:00

pic: GeoTV

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon internet hai
lekin chlaanay ko computer nahi

Yeh Hai Pakistan
Jahan gaon gaon mobile hai,
leking account main balance nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon motorcycle hai,
lekin uss main petrol nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon bankaari hai
lekin logon ka apna paisa nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon gaadi hai
lekin koi pakki sadak nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon PTV hai
lekin ghar main bijli nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon hukoomat hai
lekin school aur college nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon police hai
lekin kissi ki hifaazat nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon panchayat hai
lekin kissi kay paas insaaf nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon hatyaar hai
lekin sehet aur hasptaal nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon lagaan hai
lekin peenay ka paani nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan gaon gaon aabaadi hai
lekin unki kushhaali nahi

Yeh hai Pakistan
jahan sab kuch hai
siraf Pakistan nahi

-Shayar

pic: GeoTV

Look-alike Lights

2007-05-24T22:54:00.000+02:00

I was standing beneath a lamp post eying its height tipped by its light, the growing moon emerged not a ruler's length from it. Tonight's moon is bright and the sky, clear. The sun had set half an hour ago and there was still some blueness in the sky. The town is pitch black with silence and a distant lighting visible behind me down the road but I was facing opposite to it and not bothered about it at all.I was staring at the two lights, from the moon and from the lamp. At that time when I was out there making long distance calls, I was nervously thinking about the consequences of the news I was about to break. Will they know it already? Will she panic? What if they know already, what then? Wouldn't it be best for me that they know about the sudden paralytic attack on my khala (maternal aunt). She is in ICU and I wanted to call my parents but only reached my brother. On another day, I would have strictly given him the report and told him to convey to our elders and cut off. Today was different, today I kept on learning through various events and experiences what was going on around me. Man should never frown for an opportunity, because most of the times it flies away in front of our eyes and we don't even catch a glimpse of it. I talked about video games and his studies and took it all casually. When I hung up, the two sources of light caught my attention again. How similar they look and how different they are. How bright they look but how far they are. One is emitting light, the other is simply reflecting it. But to our eyes gazing from a point in space, they both look pretty similar. Is this the similarity of every one's fate. Yours, mine, every ones? Even though we are made up with different mixtures of environments and experiences, we all emit light to the distant wanderer, demanding an awe about the timeliness and vastness of the cosmos.

Today was special, it was special from the moment I realized that I live another day. Yet it was a day I didn't want to see just yet. If somehow time could have stopped and I could have dreamt about him a moment further. After all, he was recurring in my dreams for three consecutive days, there must be some symbology in it. For once I deemed it more important to attend to him than anything else in the world. Why was I reminded of those special father-son moments these past few days? Those moments when I was just too vulnerable and dad just that protective man every child demands him to be? Am I falling? I only had good memories of my dad to hold on to. He helped me all the time. But i have been living away for seven years now, then why the vulnerability now, why the dependability now? He can't help me here in my town, can he? But why do I feel I need help here in this town? I am doing perfectly fine, or am I? As for him, he is a distant call away, in a different time zone, in a different environment and with different experiences. Yet I feel the similarity I can visualize but can't express in words. We represent the same natural ancestry of genes and lineage with so much history and evolution embedded by default, separated by time but not by space. Is it the same person or personality preserved through generations. Are we the two look-alike lights?

I was making the first long distant call of the day. At that time, symbology's first artifact struck me. It was a small DHL post box opposite the bench I was sitting outside my office, a car stops in front of it, an old lady comes out, puts her post in it and they leave. Why was I even paying attention to it? I know not. That was not the end of it, as you will read along...

The day continued not a bit better as I remained lost in thoughts I felt random then, but now believe some pattern of numbers and symbols represent them. I forgot to check-out from office using my id only to enter the other branch near the train station to overcome my mistake and check-out from the machine there. After checking out, i sat out, waiting for my bus due 30 minutes later. I was completely lost, tired as well and I was warping between my dreams and my lost reality. And I wasn't reading any book either (which I usually do), the morning reading was enough for the day to digest. I did not see him again in my dream at the station, but I saw it and it was horrific. I was swinging between a state of being awake, sitting on a bench facing the rail tracks and dreaming about approaching a purple sky on a Gothic night, standing outside a mansion door, staring upwards and there it was: eying me with evil. Sitting there in contraction. And then suddenly with a devilish smile, it spread it's wings and flew away blocking a clear full moon with its arrogant shadow. It was the vulture which had been fantasizing me for a week now, many thanx to 'Raja Gidh' by Bano Qudsia which occupy me at nights just before I sleep and dream of him. Suddenly a recurring thud of metal brought me back to this side of reality and I was quite awake, albeit in confusion watching a cargo train pass by with a number of DHL containers. One after the other, they came and went in my frame of perspective, as if flashing the DHL sign, on and off.... emphasizing their existence and screaming their symbology. But was I paying any attention?...

I realized it was time to catch my bus in a nearby stop but I soon realized my folly. At this late hour, I had to call the bus half an hour ago before its departure time and when I was supposed to do that, I was busy fumbling across realms, reality and 'para-reality'. Why was I so absent minded today, its no use cursing my self then as I was tired, hungry and clueless what to do next after missing the last bus back home. And the news of my khala's stroke attack had to come at that time to force some urgency to my muscles and I started to take the long walk back home.

As I progressed from one step to the other closer to home, I started to curse myself and fate for my mistakes that landed me here. What could have triggered my behavior today? Was it the dream I broke off which took revenge? Was it the book I didn't read today? Was it something I ate. What? I was sick of it at that time and my mind was anything but relaxed, looking for answers it was bound not to find given the tired state I was in. I walked and I thought. First I reflected the day's thoughts, then I started to pay attention to pavements, then the birds chirping started to distract me, the cricket cricketing irritated me, my sweaty shirt irked me, my thoughts erred me. Still I walked the distance, distancing myself from the wonderful scenery around me and I remained adamant on the quest for answers, why isn't man in control of his emotions? Why am I lost in several realities? Why can't my multiple realities co-exist? Why time changes my existence?

But as I continued hitch-hiking across my own galaxy of thoughts, I realized that all these questions wouldn't have surfaced had I had a normal day. Something in routine, sometime totally expected. But it was an unusual day. When I am out of my comfort zone, my own existence questions me. And this brings the perfect opportunity to criticize the self and seek answers. My walk and my thoughts took a turn soon as the road turned left and my eyes stared a DHL post office. Ive stared it before as well but only when I had to post a mail once. Why was I staring it now? Was it already an instance too many and I started to take notice of it. I just did that out of reflex and as soon as i straightened my gaze, a Jesus on a crucifix surprised me, starring down on me from a height on my right and the two lateral stares brought an associated idea of fate and God, of coincidence and predestination. Sometimes these two concepts seem so correlated. Are these two concepts the look-alike lights?

My mind found a new field to browse as I started my last decent downtown, a 2km stretch with nothing but fields and a forest to traverse. I always believe that our existence as humans is always under a temporal context. Our behavior, our thoughts and our beliefs are all subject to a frame of reference whether it be time or space but time eventually is a concept least understood by man. I think our understanding of the universe is subject to our visualizing it, we understand concepts much easily if we can visualize it, draw a mind map, a mental representation of it. Our vast knowledge embedded in human languages use analogy as a tool to express our visualizations. But sometimes that is not enough to express our emotions.

I believe existentialism and time dependent contexts although fail to give the 'out of the box ' picture, but they give certain unique angles to look at reality. 'I think, therefore I am' was Rene Descarte's understanding of the mystery. Mine, however, is based on how I felt the fields and forest that day, how different they appeared to me before and how different they emerge before me today. Even though time had traversed between my two observations of the same reality but my feelings and my lust for the scenery was different on both occasions and thats the indication of who I was before and who I am today, a different person at this different hour.

Somehow my two realities at these two different timestamps don't resemble at all, the previous me resembled another person and this new me resembled the 'Gidh' (vulture) described in the novel. The previous one passed through the fields and the forest ignoring their existence, this one passed through the fields, awed the array of plants in the field and the silence of the forest, chorused with birds and insects. How soothing the flowers smelled, how large the fields have grown, how tall the grass had grown, how vast the forest stretched. I begin to wonder whether this new place is totally unrelated to its previous one just like I was unrelated to my previous self. The new me felt more related to this new forest than the old me was related to the old forest. I began to blend into its existence and reflect the same colors the forest was emitting.

As I approached my house, the fields and the forest gone, I realized the sensation had vanished, I wasn't thinking anymore. But I did reflect on the thoughts of the day, my khala (aunt) hospitalized. Was it fate that she was there. Death is inevitable, but are death and fate two unrelated concepts? In appearance they do resemble the look-alike lights, the moon and the lamp post but they are a long distant call from one another. While death happens to mortals, fate is eternal. Death is just like this artificial lamp post. It shines too and attracts attention and is as mortal as the lamp. Fate resembles the moon, it reflects eternity but only through reflected light. It also shines bright but is distant from death. Death stops at its occurrence, fate continues even after that. I feel there was a purpose in my fate today that I had to miss my usual route and notice my surroundings more. To stare at the DHL office opposite the cross and relate fate with God, i feel that the force that be, is asking for its recognition. My acute observation had remained focused on only the two look alike lights, when I saw them last night, but now I realized whose light the moon was reflecting...

Day emerged and the sun appeared on the horizon, all night it was relaying light from an internal source and in the context of night, appearing out of sight but present through the look-alike lights of the moon and the lamp post. How was I last night, what was the given context I was in that I missed the presence of God when I stared the two look-alike lights. He was not there, but His knowledge was there. He is always there, not in realms and dimensions I can visualize but through His knowledge of the moon and the lamp post light and every thought or feeling of ours, all our analogies, all our visualizations and symbology testfiy His existence...

Tale of two cities

2007-05-11T23:26:00.000+02:00

Most of us read news in a fashion Noam Chomsky describes as 'The Propaganda Model'. Most of us are too busy, too intertwined into 'the corporate world', aka the 9 to 5 life that when we have exhausted most of our energy and come back home after work, we simply don't have the time, the energy to go into details of the news we so absorb in a zombie-like manner. And thus we fail to see the dis balance in the neutrality of the media we digest, and inherently and subconsciously our thoughts are altered, our beliefs eroded, our judgments rusted. Right wing or left wing of the center, we no longer get bias free information and thus, our democratic right to information is already violated by those providing it. Usually journalism which has a domino effect and one lie leads to another and in a short time a huge fiction is created with group authors is the culprit, other times journalism is just ain't free enough and there is always an influential factor making all the decisions. And we, the tired and loathsome lot, keep on absorbing this fiction while the news is lost somewhere in the middle. We need better search strategies to find true news, or to find both sides of the story. Irony is that when we do that, we see that there is just so much foul play at hand, that even bias free news is hard to get in the Republic of Pakistan. No civilian knows for sure whats going on for real.

But today was something special, a holiday made for us bloggers and blog readers alike to sit all day home to absorb the brutal news of the day from various channels, print, tv, and internet. But even with fresh energy which my little corporate world could not seep today, the news was so demoralizing and so much entangled with suspicions and what-if scenarios that I feel more fatigued than after a day's work.

10 dead, 40 injured....
15 dead 50 injured...
20 dead, 70 injured...
33 dead, hundreds injured!

Today was a day when history was repeating itself on various contexts. May 10th and May 11th signify the first rebellion against the British Raj by us as Indians. When the Sepoy of the British Raj who were natives fought against the other natives per orders of the authority, somewhere, some hearts melt and a true revolt from within emerged. Today however, this was not to be seen as today what many would have sought out to be another 'Day of Independence' turned out to be a 'Day of Violence'.
There was bloodshed, open firing for over six hours at least throughout the city and no one was safe from its presence.

History repeated itself today in the context of historical fiction. It was a Tale of two cities, Islamabad and Karachi and just like its historical footprint, the famous Charles Dickens Novel, 'A Tale of Two Cities' based on Paris and London which led to the French Revolution, whether today's tale leads to a Pakistani Revolution is yet to be seen but highly probable.

If I had read the point of view of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Pakistan, I could have been a bit skeptic but now I appreciate their foresight and analysis, according to them,

"The regime of Pakistan is nominally democratic but in fact General Musharraf has imposed an autocratic form of rule on the country. Although there is some freedom of the press, human and civil rights in Pakistan are honored more in the breach than in the observance. There are reports of torture and executions, religious minorities do not enjoy protection, and there is much violence against women and children. All political opposition has been banned and opponents of the regime have been jailed. The government has been placed above the law, with severe limitations set on the judiciary. The police force is corrupt and terrorizes the population it is supposed to protect. Prison conditions in Pakistan are appalling, with no rights for prisoners.
"

If all is so simple and already documented, why was I scratching my head all day long. You see, its a Pink Panther episode in the making:

Its the first time since Ive been following news that a government establishment is openly firing at people. The MQM, (Mutahida Qaumi Movement) (United Nationalist Movement), the residents of Karachi, and part of an allied government with the Faujis were so brutal and barbaric as they were back in 1992-1995 period. Their allies, the Musharraf cronies in Islamabad were going to present a public speech in Islamabad followed after a rally by MQM in Karachi against the insulted and ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudary whom Musharaf undone in March. So by now you are already aware that CJ and Mushy dont go well together. Now why in the first place MQM had to choose today to carry out their rally (pro-gov and anti CJ) when the CJ had already announced his visit to Karachi today? Ok this is what happens next, the CJ easily leaves ISB airport and lands to KHI airport always accompanied by his new friend, PPP's Aitazaz Ahsan (anti-gov, pro-CJ) but is stopped at the Karachi airport because of all the violence in the city caused by MQM which they deny and claim to be acts of smaller nationalist groups and PPP, MMA, IJI, all are supporters of CJ and thus anti-gov.By the way, in our country, opposition parties are fond of playing politics to the extent that a man who is convicted to a crime and is presented before the court by the government, suddenly becomes a hero. Now whether CJ's hands were clean or dirty is yet to be found out but that is quite rare to happen as things have taken up more serious directions. All we know that he was stranded at the Karachi airport and eventually fled back to Islamabad, even though PPP's Sherry Rehman's bold speech of heroism to personally receive him in her pink dress and khakhi green cap couldn't materialize. Several news footage on tv showed that MQM started the firing but was later turned into a two way clash which became pro-CJ vs pro-Mush, both lost their men and people of many ethnicities lost their lives.

hai liye hathiyaar dushman taak mein baitha udhar
aur hum taiyyaar hain seena liye apna idhar
khoon se khelenge holi gar vatan muskhil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
-Lalkaar - Rang De Basanti

Hospitals declared a state of emergency as bodies were brought in, streets blocked for the CJ's visit which never took place, and a tv channel office stood between a triangular wild fire at the hub of affairs. So much was going on at such a fast pace that it will take some time to study this single day. Tears and prayers apart, fear and dejection accompanied social feelings, it sure was a day enough to declare a state of emergency but our self-righteous General President Musharraf 'Darta nahi hai' and cannot accept a problem at his backyard, is lame enough to accept that a major tragedy and chaos is under way in Karachi. Instead, according to BBC Urdu, there has been music and songs accompanying his public speech as a token of appreciation to his supporters. In Islamabad, there is music and enjoyment, in Karachi, there is silence and death.

We, the confused, dejected, rejected, cheated, citizens are the only ones who will face the music!

At this sad hour, when all these political parties are playing with our lives, literally, when the police and army are against the public, the girls from Jamia Hafsa might be the only force against evil left! So much for taking law in their own hands, they seem to be the only force maintaining it. Since early this year, we are having a free fall decline, one thing unacceptable today becomes the only choice tomorrow. I hope we start joining hand in hand, set our differences aside for a while and clean up our own mess. Otherwise, still worse days are yet to come...hopefully not!

Image Sources: BBC Urdu

Cyclic States of Mind

2007-05-01T15:59:00.000+02:00

A little more than a week ago I was on a recurring session of solitude, sort of lost in my own, dragging my self here and there, to work and fro but still being ignorant to the world around me. Day dreaming and contemplating on issues within, I succumbed to the depths of the concept of singularity. There I often find peace, not the kind of one between Earth and the other planets but peace in the sense that I had eternity on my side making me enjoy every bit of a breath I could take in those moments. What was I doing? Nothing of course :) but somehow I find this sudden stop of time around me healing my inner guilt, wounds which my surroundings give me for living in this era without a purpose greater than being a servant to the economic machinery chaining me.

When I come out, I realize how my solitude to a distance space and time had sucked my motivation to earn food for the belly as i descend from a state of meditation to a state of observation rather than the expected state of motivation for the earthly. People usually believe that the sole purpose of meditation is to get one's act together in the physical world but for me, its simply losing more 'man hours' as they say as now I enter the state I was till yesterday, the state of observation.

Sometimes I wonder whether its a hidden blessing that I find these states 'occurring' on me after long periods of time. Although they seem random in recurrence but I am a stern believer in complex mathematical progressions and somewhere in this chaotic lifestyle, there is a pattern I am yet to see. Whether I am able to simplify the equations and make meaning out of them, they are still useless for my own understanding. After all, man is such a creature that he cannot see himself through his own eyes. Maybe thats why, out of the state of lonely contemplation, I enter the state of observation.

I observe people, mostly as a social group, at work watching colleagues and their interactions, at the bus stop watching juvenile kids trying to 'fit in' by spending there time at their common hangouts, on tv during various talk shows ranging from global warming to summer fashions, on the internet where old friends chit chat, and in Masjids where people with a common belief meet in an unexplainable bondage of trust and respect. To my stressful thoughts to cluster them into separable, identifiable labeled societies, I can see nothing but fuzziness in the demarcation of these separately motivated groups. Assuming my system (mind) is working fine, you must be thinking what common do I see between people discussing about global issues, summer fashions and a Masjid community?

Knowing a foreign language is a plus point especially when meeting with those who speak it, knowing two foreign languages is better still when the people with whom you are conversing with speak these two different languages, it gives one powers to tap into both groups simultaneously. However, not knowing a foreign language in such a group can be frustrating, not knowing two of them is hardly a participation in a conversation, and this helped me continue on my state of observation, not obliged to speak or squeak.

I observed a group of five men yesterday for four hours, one Turkish and four Arabs (1 Egyptian, 2 Tunisians, 1 Lebanese), mostly in silence replying in monosyllables and a few mustered up phrases. Although I was able to understand them and wasn't actually bored by the various conversations taking place but I was drifting back to the state of observation and there I found remarkable similarity between this group (bond by common faith) and any other group I converse with, colleagues, school friends etc.

Different languages, different beliefs, different purposes, different conversations but somehow the same characters, the same snobs, the same losers, the same winners, the same wise, the same happy, the same sad, the same urges, the same drives, the same history.

I certainly like to talk about this one character which I admire, yesterday was in the form of Habib, a Tunisian technician who works in Lichteneu, a small German town with his wife and toddler. Habib came to Germany some years back in search of a better future. He is young, maybe in his early thirties but shows energy of a far younger youth, one who hasn't realized the bitterness of this world. He visits me often, always with some freshly cooked Tunisian food. He is energetic and always smiles back. But in some of his smiles, you can see the roughness one sees on the faces of war veterans. Some handle it better than others, Habib is one of them who does it well to camouflage his tough times with bright hopes of the future. He was never lucky to get academic education, came from a very poor family, struggling to meet ends let alone dream about any education. He managed to grasp the skills of being an electrician from an early age after an agreement with his uncle. After early life filled with child labor, he entered adulthood mastering the skills. At this time in life, we, the more privileged are boasting about being this and that and starting our first steps outside home, these people having skipped their childhood step into the irony of the world, that they will remain behind the educated, the untouchable elites. Whatever he does, how good he works, some one with a better education will push him aside in our global society. Nevertheless, now he is here, working a decent job of an electrician in Germany, and not an ordinary one, he specializes in Siemens heavy duty equipment as well. And yet he is always curious to learn more things, i knew he had already learned how to operate a computer some time ago, but when yesterday he asked me to teach him how to program one, I was taken aback by both ridicule and surprise.

Ridiculed at the concept that after studying this topic for nearly six years now, here is a man, who is willing to learn the skill bypassing all barriers of time and expense.

Surprised at the concept that how a lack of so-called 'education' becomes the driving force towards it.

My state of observation ended with yet another example of a person who is more than willing to get education which we snobs despise of getting maybe because its so easy to get. School was never an option for us, thats why we despise it but school was never an option for them as well, yet they love it.

I have realized how important it is to make education easily accessible to all these enthusiastic, intelligent, and deserving laborers around the world. Charity begins at home, I found these organizations already doing something back home:

1. The Citizen's Foundation Schools
2. Zindaghi Trust

Besides these, there are are some more organizations as well including Madrassas but the models of self sustainability exhibited in these two are worth mentioning.

There is an interesting tale of a similar observation as mine, a memoir, and a social group working on the same cause:

3.Three Cups of Tea

During my bachelor's study at Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, where a student, Ghulam Ali, initiated a social education program for a nearby poor neighborhood, I found the same enthusiasm, the eagerness to learn among the many children who came there to study for free. At times their parents would visit the place and in tears of new hope wish the people involved.

And now as I have come out of my state of observation, I am writing these thoughts on not any other day but 'Labor Day', somehow I feel these states of my mind are following a perfect pattern...

The Captaincy Conundrum

2007-04-15T16:00:00.000+02:00

When things are not going your way, the whole world around tends to fall apart but then it takes a couple of consecutive fight backs to retain order and control and luck becomes an ally.

So far, luck and the Pakistan cricket team are in a cold war of sorts, and the battle of captaincy decision takes a strange direction. It was as though, throughout the ongoing war between Pakistan cricket and success, the captaincy hill was relatively easy to conquer and the general consensus was amassing for Khan junior to lead the team affront. However, the jollier Khan turned out to be more amateurish than the professional counterpart we had till 92. In wars like this, the stronger hearts and the stronger minds step up, and history has shown that ordinary civilians turn out to be the best generals. However, chaos strikes when officers falter under pressure, and in the line of duty, fail to accept duty beyond their natural capacity. One such man, we find now in Younis Khan.

A fantastic batsman who made his position almost immediately in the national squad after the Lanka Test in 99/00 season and has been the vice captain for the last three years. His accolades for the team had been many and his guile has tipped him to lead the army of cricketers. And the timing could not have been better than now, when the battle of the World cup brought many martyrs and the fall of the general Inzamam ul Haq. Wars tend to get the best of men and its no rarity that a pawn pushes down a power. Younis Khan, although no general but nevertheless a high ranking officer, pushed aside by just the fan reactions! In his statement where he declines captaincy, he blames the fans for his demise and not the challenge that lies ahead.

And under these gloomy days, the best of hearts rise on the occasion and it has been the wise (Mohammad Yousuf) and not the vice (Younis Khan) offering to lead the battalion to war. But are battles (and wars) won by the bravest? Does fortune really favor the brave? It didn't favor Javed Miandad and others before as for as my bleak observations state. However Mohammad Yousuf ain't such a bad option, he has been around in many battles, still alive and knows his game well. Not only that, he is expected to be the main batsman of the team and a very settled team member. What remains blurry is how well he is as a strategist, although he holds a good cricketing brain, a cricketing strategists has to do scouting for team selections, bonding the team, becoming a central figure in the team, grooming the team, and of course have a winning ability as well.

Where Mohammad Yousuf has cemented his place and understands the game well, he is quite an introvert, apparently not as communicative as compared to other candidates notably Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt. And with his age reflecting seniority, he might not be a long lasting solution. What we need now is a general like Stephen Fleming or Graeme Smith who started to lead at an early age. But having said that, is the youth strong enough to take the job? Salman Butt for instance, hasn't even been a permanent member of the team let alone his ability to lead an international top side. And those who portray him being communicative with the team, I wonder whether they are mistaking it with him being the only one speaking audible English which is only good for post match presentations. Shoaib Malik on the other hand, is more famous for being the team's jester, only the teams know better whether his communicative skills work on cricketing terms or not.

However, Shoaib Malik is one of the best batsmen in my books, he reads the battle scripts well, and is obedient (consistent in civil terms) to the context sensitive plan which speaks a lot about his potential as a captain. A match winner who can bowl, bat and field, very fit and athletic.

There are also chances for the aggressive Abdul Razzaq, one of the most feared all rounders among the enemy (opposition in civilian terms) to become the general. His habitual presence in the team backed up by his fitness and relatively young age holds promise for him but as a strategist, one can find Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik to be higher in ranks. One thing which might not end in his favor is his inconsistent performances in Test cricket and if current Pakistan has to go with a captain, they need one for all three game formats, twenty20, ODI and Test cricket and Abdul Razzaq might not be the best Test captain mainly for his weak position in the Test team.

In all this frenzy, I am just wondering whether the now x-vice Younis Khan is waiting for more martyrs before he steps up and saves the day or will it be too late? As for these horrid times, we just need two consecutive fight backs, and we are back in business.

I bet under the losing war, the best strategy rather than go out and die is to play it safe. Live today, fight tomorrow. A humble team might be led by Mohammad Yousuf with Shoaib Malik as his deputy until time is right for Malik to step up and charge. However, as things happen in a hurry in Pakistan, we might see him leading immediately. Anyways, who ever gets the share of the cake, Yousuf or Malik, they will be atleast equipped with Inzi's blessings....

Allah makes the way

2007-04-06T19:10:00.000+02:00

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to say:

اللهم أصلح لي ديني الذي هو عصمة أمري، وأصلح لي دنياي التي فيها معاشي، وأصلح لي آخرتي التي فيها معادي، واجعل الحياة زيادةً لي في كل خيرٍ، واجعل الموت راحةً لي من كل شرٍ

"Allahumm-aslih li diniyalladhi huwa `ismatu amri, wa aslih li dunyaya-llati fiha ma`ashi, wa aslih li akhirati-llati fiha ma`adi, waj`alil-hayata ziyadatan li fi kulli khair, waj`alil-mauta rahatan li min kulli sharrin

(O Allah, make my religion easy for me by virtue of which my affairs are protected, set right for me my world where my life exists, make good for me my Hereafter which is my resort to which I have to return, and make my life prone to perform all types of good, and make death a comfort for me from every evil).''
[Muslim].

Some say this supplication (Dua) covers the gist of Islam. But I'd like to share my recent story regarding the part of this supplication 'Allah, make my religion easy for me by virtue of which my affairs are protected'.

Today marks one complete week which I want to forget as soon as I can. It was tough, not horrible, but tough. I moved from a very settled life in Magdeburg to a small village far away from it, called Moos in South West Germany. I like peaceful places and Magdeburg was good enough for my likings but I wanted more, I came to a place which is part of a connected network of towns and villages called Bühl. I could not have imagined how life would be difficult for me without a car here. I have to cycle for 40 minutes every day just to catch a bus to my office. Supermarkets are far away. On top of all this, i got totally disconnected to the world, there was no internet in my room until 3 days ago, there are no mobile signals in my room, no landline, and at office, I can't access public email sites and others I just recently got access to. However, with all these problems in mind, the only problem which sort of teased me throughout the week was that I wasnot able to figure out how would I attend Friday prayers. There are no Masjids (Mosques) in office's neighbourhood. The only one I knew of were in the closest city Karlsruhe half hour away through S-Bahn (Train). And getting to and fro the train station is a 40 minute affair. All in all, i find that would take 3 hours approx. every Friday during office hours, I could manage 1 hour lunch break out of it but my bosses, I am not sure would have allowed me to be absent for 3 hours.

I made a supplication that Allah I have been given very good facilities for performing my duties and I have not been very thankful of them, but now when I dont have any facilities in the form of time, commuting, and of course Masjids, I seek your help.

And Allah made it easy for me. Earlier this week my German landlord Mario Winter told me that there is a mosque in another town called Steinbach, approx 8km from our house. So today, Friday, I made up my mind to go and find it after getting little information about it online. I cycled all the way and went there, Mashallah the Turkish community in Germany are doing a good work, a wonderful Masjid surrounded by the beauty of Steinbach mountains and greenery. This place is at the edge of the Black Forrest. The Masjid has a sky blue dome and while driving through the Auto Bahn, one can easily see it and the blend of colors from nature behind and the architecture affront made me smile.

I prayed there and immediately after prayers I asked the person praying next to me whether he knows any Masjids near by office in Bühlertal. He knew none, but he introduced me to Hassan, a 72 year young man, a German national now but actually a Turkish. Hassan has offered me pick and drop services for Jummah Salah (Friday prayers) every week from my office, he lives near to my office, is retired and is very happy to help me out. Even though we couldn't communicate with much ease, I hardly speak German and whatever I do, I am sure is difficult to grasp for the listener, yet patiently but persistently, we managed to communicate our pick and drop spots and time.

I am just wondering how convenient it all seems now. Today is Easter holiday, the good Friday for the Christian community, I was able to find the Masjid, I don't think I would have been able to do so if it was a work day and things would have been quite different. So many ways Allah helped out, with the timing, with the people, with the resources. And so many things I am not aware of. Allahu Akbar.

Now I breathe a sigh of relief. One major task sorted out thanks to Allah. I continue to pray to Him that He makes my religion easy for me by virtue of which my affairs are protected. Ameen.

I wish I had a camera, I recently broke my cell fone which had one, now I have to wait for a while before I can get a camera and share with you the pictures of the beautiful Masjid, and my new friends at the mosque, Hassan, Taufeeq and Abdullah.

Till then, Ma'Salaama.

Source: WICenter.Org

Cameo Cricket

2007-03-24T18:33:00.000+01:00

According to a popular definition, a brief appearance of a character in a comic book is called a cameo. However, cricket commentators use this term for a brief yet entertaining and more importantly effective appearance on field. Usually a batsman who goes bizurke in limited overs time or a bowler with a wicket taking spell is said to have played a cameo, but when this term is applied to the whole team, it does not talk much in favor of it.

Pakistan, once considered to be a threat to oppositions is now also a threat to bookies due to their short stints, wild stunts and a knack of unpredictability to perform. However, that would undoubtedly demote their ranks in cricketing order yet it is there cameos, the brief show casts of immense talent bursting out with performances time to time that keeps us all inquisitive about them. Expect drama and suspense of Hitchcockian caliber from this bunch of lads or infact a whole forest of fruits. (we have bananas, pineapples, grapes, peaches and some seasonal mangoes).

One can easily replace the 15 man squad Pakistan fielded with another 15 equally likely to represent the national team with similar force. But beware of the tone I am adopting, things have been misleading and so am I. The Australians boast about a team which has a complete backup ready, so do we. Does this talk about the genuine geniousity (ingeniousness actually) within the Pakistani pavilions back home or is it a Garbage in-Garbage out phenomenon which is so persistent in our cricket systems.

The kind of replacements we have have learned their art and science from those who they are replacing and that might be the reason we again and again produce fast bowlers, reverse swingers, and sloppy batsmen who like to play 'nick-nick'. Or is it that the whole state of affairs of the state at large is symmetrically reflected in our cricket management as well.

One man comes in, takes charge, takes oath to fix it with a magic wand, incarnates his ad-hoc committees, winds of change blow in our faces, we weep, we cry, but then we cheer we joy, the cameos come into play and things move on (for some at least).

But a handful of cameos lead to too many characters and one can find resemblance with Russian novels, like War and Peace. And then it becomes just that, War and Peace.

So far the Pakistani cricket fate author was all for peace and tranquility, but he had to make his plot thicken, things became viscous before the World Cup started yet somehow the average viewer knew that in order for the story to go on, the troubles will dilute and the climax will reach. That didnt happen and we ended up with defeat and death.

Yet when it was all over, the novel had shown its true nature of being a tragedy of Shakespearean order, the cruel author brings his cameos back again in the plot. Pakistan thumped the Zimbabwe youth and once again the reader bemused of the next few pages to ponder.

Even with all the pain, we continue to follow the team with much enthusiasm, even with all the shame, we continue to follow the news. Perhaps its time to stop waiting for the cameos. Diversify our reading habits, move on to new sports, try football for a change. But that wont stop the authors messing around. If the state of affairs at the lowest level are the outcomes of what happens at the top order, at the helm of affairs, then we need to seriously consider fixing that up, protesting that, instead of the silly little cricket board.

After all, cameo cricket ain't as bad as a cameo country.

"Gurrum Chai Do Chini"

2007-03-18T23:05:00.000+01:00

The phrase above sums it well, its in Urdu which translate to something like hot tea, two spoons sugar please. A phrase which must have made Bob (Robert Andrew) Woolmer hip and popular among his team mates, ultimately reflects the ironic state of events this weekend. He appeared into Pakistani lives when he accepted to coach Pakistan's cricket team for an initial period of three years back in 2004. He picked up a bunch of kids and transformed them into pretty decent cricketers, could have done better had he been given better management at the helm of affairs.

At times, the management made such blunders that they seem to be against the will of the coach, and ones which would directly end up to being his fault. Yet his ability to keep his cool kept things in relative control.

Last six months have been devastating for Pakistan cricket, controversies, bureaucracy, doping, team selections, injuries, media pressure, fan pressure, expectations pressure but none could penetrate the jolly man's sanity.

Yesterday Pakistan were virtually out of the World Cup and his job was definitely on the line. However, the management was persistent to have him around after the world cup which they acknowledged before the tournament started. Yet it was quite impossible to comprehend after yesterday's defeat that he will be Pakistan's coach. I think dignity, professionalism, honor gets the best of men.

Till yesterday, I have been reading a lot of hate mail on Woolmer. People protesting at large, the mentally disturbed ones on public displays of anger, the moderate ones calling for his arrest (of course on nonexistent charges) and the intelligent ones if not doing anything, at least criticizing him but still not as much as criticizing others. I too had my share of reservations with him yet I could never have imagined that he would take the defeat so seriously and so honorably that he wouldn't withstand it.

As Allan Donald said "(he) gave his life to cricket "...

Sad Sad day....
If i were the mayor of Karachi, i'd rename the Stadium road (leading to National Stadium Karachi) to Woolmer road just because how he felt and breath his last ones for Pakistan.

According to Junaid Jamshed, Woolmer once said that 'he is a Pakistani and would like to be buried in Pakistan', check this out.

RIP Bob!

In the end, a poem shared by a friend of mine:

a very moving poem written by someone by the name Faraz Khalid:

goodbye coach…
though we missed our mark by a mile
and stole away much of everyone’s smile
we never realized you would take it so deeply
for we never were, into the game so deeply
you did your job well, we were just not upto it
you did your job well, we were just not ready for it
it sounds so sudden, so troublesome to us all
for we never thought our egos will see this fall
and we never realized you would take it so deeply
for we never were, into the game so deeply
you did your job well, we were just not upto it
you did your job well, we were just not ready for it
you appoligised to the nation, for what we had done
you would have silently stepped away, if we had won
but we never realized you would take it so deeply
for we never were, into the game so deeply
you did your job well, coach, we were just not upto it
you did your job well, we were just not ready for it

Sources: Cricinfo, Pakistaniat

Big Bear Being Cornered?

2007-03-15T01:07:00.000+01:00

Alas! We lost an important match, perhaps more important than what we can imagine. This match was just the right drug to boost performance of the winner and that doze had been well taken by the windies. Hats off to them, they did surprise us on a couple of occasions, a couple too many simply due to the sheer carnage it brought. First, the last six overs when windies only had under 200 secured, walked in Dwayne Smith and fired a cameo. Second came when he rattled the Pakistani batting core when all things looked safe for the batsmen. Yousuf, Inzamam and Akmal all fell victims in this short period and that happened to be the final blow.

Fortunately we do have a lot of excuses to put on, key players missing, relatively inexperienced squad, playing against the host team and blah blah. Good thing is that the press hadn't started to criticize the team yet, thanx to the overwhelming yet deserved publicity achieved by the Windies.

However, I find it quite awkward that this time, the captain isnt scrutinized at all! First, the squad has been quite controversial as apparent from various forums around, the captain plays a huge role in selecting his team and one finds his insistence to field Rana Naveed not going according to his vision. He was wary and rusty with the ball, clueless with the bat and the occasion got the better off him. I wonder what Azhar Mahmood could have done with his superb domestic form and loads of experience far more superior to Rana Naveed.

The biggest blunder of the day could have been the over conscious batting which Inzi and Yousuf adopted at the cost of the run rate, but one feels it was the captain's rotation of bowlers which backfired. He went out to the field with an aggressive frame of mind, perhaps too aggressive even the likes of Ponting didn't dare to do today against the Scotts with a far better bowling attack than what Inzi had with him. In context of consecutive power plays, Inzi played 23 overs of his sole seam attack in the first 30 overs. Had there been chances of wickets coming their way, one would back such an approach but the Windies were keen on preserving them and finally unleashed themselves at the death.

Last 20 overs, only 7 overs among the pace, and under the circumstances it was evident that those will come right at the end. Pakistan was left with no other option but to continue with spin for the remaining 13 with Shoaib Malik who went a bit unlucky thanks to the keeper, Danish Kaneria who attacked and attacked but luck seldom smiled back and Mohammad Hafeez who turned out to be the trump. Marlon Samuels and the great Brian Lara (king of spin) launched themselves at a stage where Pakistan were constrained to spin only.

By the time the spinners especially Kaneria settled and were looking to dominate Dwayne Smith, Inzi took off the turning option and brought straight bowling again, the game turned around then. Figures are staggering here, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, comes in at the death, with a certain sense of pride, 8 overs 17 runs and 2 important wickets, ends up with 10 overs and 44 runs while wickets remaining the same. His re-introduction was relief aid for Smith and co who smashed around 80 runs in the last 6 overs.

The famous Management guru Peter Drucker says that focus on your strong points, somehow the message hasnt reached the Pakistani leader upfront. Rana Naveed has been proven statistically and suggested by experts to bowl at the death, yet he had only 2 overs to party as he was consumed way earlier in the match without much success. Rao Iftikhar has never been a death bowler even in the domestic circuit and the Windies brought this fact to the international audience. Gul couldn't bowl all his overs, thats the treatment the best bowler got!

At this stage, the bang on yorkers of Mohammad Sami were badly missed yet it appears a headache for the management to squeeze in both Anjum and Sami keeping Gul and Naveed/Mahmood and Kaneria in.

Inzi didnt opt for swing bowling and focused on seam early on, although Gul was bang on target, Naveed is known more of his late swing while Mahmood is known for his seamers. A double switch paradox for Inzi one can suppose.

During batting, Inzi once again amidst all the controversy,came at No.5 and played an unseen innings with Mohammad Yousuf. At times, Mohammad Yousuf would go on to Inzi, cool him down for his rogue shots and wild swings, other times, he would come to Yousuf and suggest a bit of a slog. Inzi had also missed taking 2's and have missed out 15 more runs due to his lack of enthusiasm for running between the wickets.

Interestingly, when the over of Dwayne Bravo started, Inzi went on to Yousuf and had a chat, Yousuf played three dot balls in the over, the crowd started to back their bowler, a Mexican wave in the crowd started simultaneously and out of nowhere, Mohammad Yousuf charged in towards the bowler and was lucky not be bowled out, next bowl, a wild swing in vain outside the off stump, Bravo had the bowl to bounce a bit too. Next bowl nearly identical to the previous one, crowd charging in as much as the bowler did, Mohammad Yousuf playing the same shot but this time getting OUT! That was the start of the turning point of the match.

All in all, the team had the brawns but big brain Inzi didnt get it quite right in the end. What comes out to be a further irritation for the fans is his recent press statement blaming the top order for failing. I wonder when will Inzi finally take charge of things up there on his own, everyone is suggesting him to play higher in the order yet he seems not to understand. But some faults should be delegated to others as well, after all, its a team of 11 and not 1.

Here is my list:

Fighting Warriors: Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul
Fighting martyrs: Danish Kaneria, Rao Iftikhar Anjum
Mix Plate: Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf
Free Loaders: Imran Nazir, Rana Naveed
Rotten Tomatoes: Inzamam Ul Haq, Younis Khan

Pic courtesy of GeoSuper.tv

Cornered Tigers

2007-03-05T23:09:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow begins the long gruesome tour for Pakistan's 15 for which was targeted to be the ultimate milestone to reach after 2003's dismal performance. The World Cup has been Pakistan cricket's most sought after trophy and its safe to say that our whole cricket strategies, policies, team selections and in fact to some extent even infrastructure revolves around this time line. The start of every post world cup campaign sets out with ambitions of raising the prestigious world cup above the shoulders of 15 men the management sets out to find and figure. They have ample four years for that. They mix and mash the team, giving celebrity debuts to many youngsters, full of talent, some even before they are ripe, they enter the cricketing colosseums worldwide, some perform, some falter and those who do the latter, return home for an inevitable long time and life goes on...

Pakistan has been performing well after 1996, in 1999 they were hot favorites to lift the cup, came as close as they could without lifting it. Year 2000 was an emergence of series victories, some change overs, new players coming along, re-emergence of Waqar Younis, players like Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Sami and Imran Nazir came to center point. Things were looking good and Pakistan went into the world cup 2003 with a solid squad, fair enough in form but with a bit more aging than necessary squad but more with captaincy blunders and lack of confidence. Pakistan failed to pass the first round. Came back home and a cricket revolution was born in the country, the effects of which were not seen on the pitch as much as they were seen in backstage, management restructured and a massive right sizing took place in the board. However, in this case, the euphemistic right sizing is actually up-sizing and a whole team of managers took over. First thing they did was replace many of the failed world cup campaigners with new players, this including players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saleem Ilahi, Saqlain Mushtaq and eventually Saeed Anwar besides all players being fined half their world cup fee for under achievement. The board went on to blame all to the captain and coach but truth is a failed notion among bureaucrats.

However, as fans, we were expecting some new Shoaib Maliks, Samis and Younis Khans to emerge and found some in the form of Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, and Rana Naveed. Unfortunately, none of them were given enough facility both in terms of international outings and guidance to adapt and till the last tour before the world cup, Pakistan went in with an undecided and in fact unplanned squad. Captaincy has also been an issue after 2003. There was even one stage when the team seemed to have no suitable options for captaincy, then Younis Khan emerged and we had our vc, however Inzamam being the leader in the whole time.

Unlike his predecessors who had tough times when starting their captaincy careers and later mastering it, Inzamam had a very different role from the start. He for once had a very young squad at his disposal, energetic and fully obliging giving Inzamam enough time to settle in the new job role which he did and in fact he was the reason the Pakistani team had a good team understanding. However, he failed to take the larger role of being a true leader and this might turn against us at the world cup. He has been caught napping in the field many a time which climaxed at the champions trophy where he elected to bat on a grassy pitch after winning the toss and eventually lost, literally handing over the match to the Windies. Perhaps if atleast fielding and bowling strategy be delegated to Younis Khan, things can work out well. He has also been criticized for batting way down the order when its about time to start slogging and finish the game off which unfortunate for both him and the team, hasn't really worked out well.

Now the problems are enhanced by drugs and injuries, Pakistan's core bowling attack Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar are out of the world cup and Pakistan didn't try out enough options to call for as their replacements. A country full of cricketing talent is having problems in finding replacements surely reflects on the management. And then Abdul Razzaq, Pakistan's core player is also out of the world cup. And days before these two incidents took place, the captain goes on the negative side of morale boosting and claims that the team depends on the two bowlers. And now they are out, you can just imagine what the team morale will be like.

Having said all this, Pakistan is going to play their first warm up game of the campaign tomorrow and I am optimistic about Pakistan's chances for the whole tournament because history has shown that this team performs well when in crisis. Even Imran Khan's captaincy was a bit controversial before he set out to make history in 1992. The team then were underdogs, just like now, they started off quite average but as the tournament progressed, found their way to the finals and victory. The current format allows Pakistan to re-emerge as a strong contender and make it to the semi finals. Back then the team had a fine balance between old brains and new brawns. Imran Khan, Javaid Miandad, Aamir Sohail, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed were favorites for the team selection but some new names came along, Inzamam Ul Haq and Wasim Akram which are now household greats. The current team holds similar freshness in Yasir Arafat and Iftikhar Anjum.

However I feel Imran Nazir, Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naveed will rise to the occasion. Pakistan's middle order is very solid, Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik at six. And in openers Pakistan have recalled Imran Nazir who is a genuine timer and a genuine stroke maker, he can prove very effective in the power plays and West Indian grounds being smaller suits his genre. Kamran Akmal has the advantage of opening the innings besides being the keeper. He is an aggressive stroke maker and is good with the new ball, so even if Pakistan has not been able to find a solid opening pair, he can very well fit into the role.

Among the bowlers, Rana Naveed had been the pick of the team after 2003 and his peak came when he was the man of the tournament in India after consistently he demolished the famous Indian backbone. Since West Indies offers similar pitches, he can surely be a threat, only problem has been his recent form after returning from injury but its time for him to come big. Umar Gul has been arguably Pakistan's best bowler in 2006 after others have been plagued with various problems. He is a seam bowler and Vivian Richards once called him to be potential best bowler in the world. However, Mohammad Asif phenomena didn't happen to the world at that time but now since he is out, Umar can regain that respect.

Azhar Mahmood had been sidelined throughout and only after public pressure, team insistence and some solid performances both at home and in England has forced him into the team and I reckon with his prior experience especially in South Africa and current form, he will be a surprise package for at least Pakistan. So there you have it, three pacers. Although occasionally a leg spinner might come handy, Danish Kaneria might have his day but after looking at today's spinner performances, its quite an opportunity to use him as a strike bowler, after all, he does lead in test matches. For the final bowling spot, we have Yasir Arafat who can replicate what Abdul Razzaq did in 99, Mohammad Sami has made a comeback and is in good form, although luck has been a bit harsh on him. His dismal performances in 2003-2004 made a huge blow to his reputation as Pakistan's most dangerous bowler. However, his recent work around to his problems have brought fruit in latter half of 2005 and in 2006 so he might have his day at the tournament. Rao Iftikhar Anjum has the 'national' ability to reverse swing and he brings fresh variety to the bowling pack. The key to bowling at this cup is mixing it well and thats what he brings to the side.

After two matches, Pakistan will have the luxury of playing Shahid Afridi who is a bowler who can bat too. Options are there, the urge is there, just like in 1992, Pakistan starting their campaign amidst controversy and catastrophe, the chances of these cornered tigers to perform are high. Dont write them off!

The Enlightened Moderation Question

2007-03-01T19:43:00.000+01:00

Dear all,

I recently stumbled across the President of Pakistan website and found out that he is actually presenting a way to communicate with him. So I have posted a question there, but before I get any response (if any) from the man himself, or maybe his office staff (most probably), I wanted to know what do you people think about the whole question and what do you think the answers should be? So here it is:

Dear President Musharraf,

I have been following your enlightened moderation drive for sometime, I have observed the public feedback to it from most parts of the ideological spectrum we have among Muslims from various nationalities.

If Islamic levels of tolerance can be represented as a spectrum then I think you have done a good job in marking out one end of this spectrum, namely that terrorism and obscurantism shall not be allowed, lets call this end the right end.

My question is that you since you have not specified the accepted tolerance level at the left end, how much of a deviation and innovation is allowed in the name of Islam? For example, I know some Muslims in Europe who are used to drinking and when asked about their act, they claim to be 'moderate' Muslims. Similar elements are easily found in Pakistan too.

Lack of this second threshold has led the elite and powerful to propose an agnostic, atheistic control on at least the media which has everlasting effects. Not only this, it has confused the majority of moderate Muslims that you too are posting agnostic and even anti-Islamic propaganda in the name of enlightened moderation.

When are you going to clear this fog by defining the left end of the Islamic tolerance threshold so that the current momentum does not take the westernization route which is most likely without the presence of such a threshold?

A French Footballer, A Pakistani President and a head-butt

2007-01-08T01:19:00.000+01:00

This is amazing, one of the world's greatest football players is coming to Pakistan for some serious charity work in march (source). But I hope this (picture) does not happen!