Why Wouldn't I get Married?

Why Wouldn't I get Married?

That article is partly, in response to the flurry of women rights and women freedom articles adorning today’s blogs, magazines and papers and partly as a bid to break the silence on gender biased liberties especially when it comes to one of the most sacred institutions as marriage.

 
I know this question of dependence or independence will stir a huge riot in the feminist, women-rights or female-independence camp, though I am not against this in anyway, but do feel that men should be able to voice their concerns as well. As soon as a man tries to speak of his rights and wishes he is shot down as a chauvinist being trying to control his better half. But I believe it is important that both sides be heard to save this institution of marriage.

Our female colleague writers and speakers, who do make their voice heard on the public forums, somehow encircle around a certain implication to the issue of female independence and women rights. That is to say marriages, and point in interest to early marriages. It is a common belief among certain women that marrying at an earlier age is somehow binding them to their bread earner hence curtailing their independence. That not having the chance to study as much as certain men do, they somehow are not able to exercise their right to determine their livelihoods. Though up till that age they are very content in being dependant on their parents but being dependant on their husbands? No that is supposed to be a taboo although the relation being as pure and proper as humanly or religiously possible.

To carry on with this discussion of who is independent or not, let me lead you through a typical man’s life, especially up to the point he gets married. Boys grow up to the point where their education has a bearing on their careers. So they get into an academic program permitted by money and the grades they have where they will have the best career. Best career? The only known considerable measure of it; is how much money he will make once he is through with his studies. That’s the pinnacle of his independence and free will. To earn money
to do what?

I ask the men reading this article as I am sure everyone will feel free to express their opinion in the comments section. You make yourself a good career to do what? To go jet setting around the world? Alone? To buy expensive big cars to drive? Alone? Or, surely speaking for the majority and not a few exceptions, to be able to one day provide for your future family? To certain women the idea of marrying late is like the Holy Grail like if they are able to wait as long as men do it will give them a certain edge on other not-so-fortunate girls who married in their 20s. Again I ask boys, do you like to wait for so long or you are forced to do so hence you can
get established enough to run a house?

The other thing I do not understand, probably due to my ignorance, is what independence are women asking for? When they say they want to peruse the career of their dreams? What career of dreams? Yes it starts as a romantic tale at first but then it’s just a 9 – 5 with men yearning to be able to spend time with their families. The only investment in this world worth taking care of, a man has, is his wife and children whether he admits it or not. What other independence are they demanding? Financial? Do working women really eat, sleep and dress better than their housewife counterparts? Or probably and certainly true in some parts of our society, the liberty to go out and have not so appropriate relations out of marriage. Is it a trait of men really worth copying? And coming back to the question of finances, in how many households where men and women work equally the primary household expenditure is the woman’s responsibility?

I am sure a lot of readers here have and do certainly quote the glamorous lifestyle of the west. Well, one thing apart from marrying or not on their free will, men, women working as equals, or perceived to be working as equals as not many women are ever allowed to advance much in their careers, having financial independence of spending, touring and living as they like, leaves, a vast majority of the population from 24 to 45 years of age alone, unmarried and companionless. So the choice is yours if any woman wants a slice of a man’s freedom feel free to do so, it is not a pretty place to be in.

What is all this , in the end, this fight for independence and liberties, is just an excuse for both of men and the women to run from their inter-dependences. Our expectations of what a married life should be has grown to the point where nothing seems enough anymore, hence men are perceived to be having fun frolicking around and women are seen to be caged within their houses. It is only when both try to satisfy the other’s need this fight for dependence and independence can be put to rest.

A few tears for our children too Mr. President!

A few tears for our children too Mr. President!

here On 15^th December, the horrific murder of twenty children and six adults at a primary school in the U.S state of Connecticut made news headlines globally; it also reignited a raging debate over implementation of gun control and limiting arms sale to the general public. In the aftermath of the tragedy, an emotional Barack Obama shed tears of grief and vouched for meaningful action against an increasingly deadly menace.

Only a parent knows the true love for his or her child, it is one of the greatest gifts that Almighty Allah bestows upon his creation and there is an accompanying exodus of endless bliss and infinite joy. Every child is precious and deserves to be loved, appreciated, nurtured and provisioned for.

In this context, every conscientious human being shares the limitless grief suffered by the parents of the brutally murdered children in Newtown, Connecticut. Yet, there is an utterly befuddling paradox to tackle. When all children are as delicate as flowers, then why does the world shed tears when one set of them is brutally maimed and keeps criminally silent when another set is ravaged by bombs and drone attacks?

Why can’t Obama shed a single tear for a mutilated child in Gaza, Kabul or North West Pakistan? Is it because it is his hand that presses the missile trigger? Or were these children harboring some kind of a militant and anti-occupation intent?

On the 17^th of December, George Monbiot wrote a fabulously though provoking article in the Guardian, entitled “In the U.S, mass child killings are tragedies. In Pakistan, mere bug splats”. The term bug splats according to the author, first appeared in a rolling stone magazine report, and is used by the drone operators to label their victims. He also referred to a meticulously compiled; first hand researched report entitled “living under drones” released by the law schools at Stanford and New York universities.

This report makes for an eye opening and gut wrenching read, “from June 2004 through mid-September 2012, 474-881 civilians including 176 children were killed by drone strikes in Pakistan”.Evidence collected from extensively conducted primary research also reported wide spread hysteria and psychological trauma amongst the civilian populous as a result of twenty four hour hovering of drones. Ironically, in the first three years of the mellow hearted Barack’s presidency, 297-569 civilians including atleast 64 children were killed by drone strikes in Pakistan.

Not even Ban Ki Moon at the U.N shed a single tear of grief for them, perhaps these are children not made of flesh and blood, not made of twinkling eyes and crystalized laughter and boundless energy. Perhaps their parents didn’t wail and cry in utter despair and lost all meaning and hope that constitutes this ultimate gift of life.

Having said that; moaning and lamenting about the world not feeling our pain is a fruitless endeavor, as there are countless people amongst us who defend the collateral damage by arguing that these drone strikes also kill militants. In the process, they conveniently ignore the fact that a disgruntled victim might become the next suicide attacker and kill more innocent civilians in return, thus completing a vicious cycle of death that has no seeming end in sight.

To us the death of someone else’s child is an acceptable exception. We only choose to grieve for the killings that are widely reported and lamented in the media. This is not surprising for a country like Pakistan, where fifty precious lives maybe lost in a day yet hardly a soul sheds a tear or asks a question.

Our leaders non apparent vision may be blinded by their corruption laden, power crazy antics. But how come a U.S president who is a Harvard Law school graduate and seemingly embedded with all the intellect and vision in the world resort to such blatant double standards?

Dogs and Indians Not Allowed

“Dogs and Indians Not Allowed”?

Clubs, as they are called, are for the elite. For those who can afford to be members. They should either be able to buy the memberships worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. Or, they should be spoilt rotten by multi-national companies who are willing to give them these memberships as the ultimate status symbols. Depending on the person’s financial standing, he has a membership in the upper rung elite clubs. And even among these elite clubs, there are levels and rankings. To attend the Annual Ball of the top most club, or to be able to mention that “I go to such and such club’s gym” is a social statement in itself. One has to go through a rigorous process of interviews and recommendations and what not to get admitted into these cliques.

Acceptable, somewhat, to this point. Go ahead and enjoy what you have earned, and flaunt it if you must. That, though, would be another debate as to what this flaunting does to the collective psyche of a nation that already grapples with economic disparity that is unprecedented in its own history.

So to this point, ok. People have to live with certain facts of life. Elitist mentality is one of those facts of life. But to everything, there have to be limits. And the list of rules outside certain clubs and specially their dining areas go beyond these limits.

To begin with, the dress codes. While women can come in any shabby unkempt state wearing the national dress (which, I think, is good because who can forever look like the Kardashians). But the men cannot come wearing a Kurta Shalwar unless they are wearing a waistcoat over it. So if you happen to go to this club, they will politely tell you to leave or lend you an over-sized waistcoat worn by countless other unfortunate souls who have found themselves in a similar predicament. A casual polo tee is apparently more “respectable” compared to the national dress. Sneakers are accepted in a certain club, but not Kolhapuri chappals or sandals without straps. In a nutshell, if you MUST wear the desi garb, take those stiff-collared waistcoats out of the closet (pun intended). Also, jeans are not allowed, but a dilapidated pant might be allowed.

Some might argue that the dress coding is indicative of simply the fact the clubs want to maintain certain decorum and a certain ambience. But the whole exercise reeks of a psyche not so simplistic. If something wildly provocative that might be offensive to certain sensibilities is prohibited, it would be understandable. But shalwar kameez and Kolhapuris? This is our indigenous dress that we are talking about. And this attitude of the clubs goes towards reinforcing the “gora complex” that has inherently been passed down in generations as a cultural aftermath of the Colonial era.

The rules like not smoking or not using mobile phone are still acceptable. But when it writes, specifically, that “maid servants are not allowed”, I inwardly cringe each time at this blatant show of imperialism in our society where a social hierarchy is carefully maintained. Any change that threatens to topple elitism is not welcomed by the crème de la crème of the social pyramid.

Whom are we to blame for this? The administrations of certain clubs that were formed in the Colonial era are milking the exclusivity they offer. This benefits the market value of the clubs. So it is not just the food and the sports facilities they are offering. What they are offering is that sense of smug satisfaction which people get when they announce which club they are a member of. I have personally had an educated girl say to me “what is wrong with these clubs? They are giving memberships to every Tom, Dick and Harry. Why, now even Sindhis get memberships! Har kisee ko de dete hain.” I cannot forget the look on her face when I casually mentioned that I am, in fact, a Sindhi.

Clubs, per se, are great facilities. Particularly in an unsafe city like Karachi where our children can no longer safely play on the roadside, clubs offer these safe havens. Food is good and reasonable. Sports facilities and other services are all available within the walls of the clubs. It is a luxury that is a need.

The problem begins when the acquisition of this luxury (or need) becomes a reason for us to look down upon others or to marginalize certain parts of society. It is time we rose above such complexes. The dress that is a distinctive sign of being Pakistani is acceptable and honorable. And the woman who is good enough to cook my bread and take care of my child surely deserves more respect than being categorically forbidden from entering an elite ghetto. The clubs will change their rules according to my and your attitudes. It is time.

I stopped my wife,,,,,...............!

I stopped my wife,,,,,...............!

when I got married to my colleague in 2007, yes I married a working woman (no millions in guessing I am walking on murky waters).

The two leading newspapers of our time have been running endless blogs/articles where the miserable plight of the working woman is rigorously highlighted. How her typical Pakistani mentality husband has enslaved her within the Chaar- Deewaari of her house, how she is confined to a dish washing, bread making and baby chunking machine, how he makes her beg for pennies and, yes, the mother in law and Nandhs are always there to make her resemble the captive of a holocaust concentration camp. She was educated and had a shiny career, a life, an identity and was no lesser talented than her other half. With marriage all seems lost, staying at home becomes the ultimate disrespect.

Before I move on, let me clear out that I am no male chauvinist who wants to undermine the importance of working women in society. I am only here to tell the male version of this grave tale.

The arguments and plights sung in these articles for sure make music in my house, reading such lines my wife turns bitter, all the politeness and affection vanishes away like the K-electric claims and I brace myself for a long lecture on how I took away the essence of her life.

“My falah falah friend is doing this, coming on TV, going into commercials and here I am with lost confidence and identity. I can’t even look up and face people like I used to in the good old days.” (I assume all this sounds much familiar to my married friends).

Back in 2007 I asked my wife to stop working well before we tied the knot. Just why did I do it? Frankly, I don’t have one answer. Maybe I couldn’t digest the idea of her intermingling with male co-workers but that’s something I still enjoy doing. Maybe I was brought up in a house where I saw my mom battle the housework while father greyed his hair in search of work. Or maybe I wanted someone to take care of, someone to pamper, someone to love and perhaps wanted someone to look to me for all her needs. I still don’t know.

Women of Today’s Pakistan should be thankful to their stars, although a huge number still continue to face various social doldrums in our society, but to be brutally honest a large proportion enjoys much more freedom and workplace equality than they ever did in our history. We have had women bank presidents, media gurus, sports sprinters, spokeswomen for foreign office, law experts, pilots and the list is endless. In truth, one cannot find much wrong with this empowerment.

Agreed, I am a bad boy, I stopped my wife from working and by now all women NGO’s and fire-fighters hate me. Now please relax, take a sip of your well-brewed tea and listen to my defence. I would however, leave the honey-bee nest of Saas-Bahu-Bhabhi-Nandh untouched and allow the women to discover truce themselves.

I, like most Pakistani boys, ok ok men, sounds better, who belong to middle class educated families have been taught to respect and love their wives. We have seen our fathers do that their entire lives. From the day we bring that beautiful girl we madly fall in love into our lives, she becomes the central figure in our universe. What ever we earn, our prime objective is to give her the best we can afford. Yes we are not landlord material, we earn a respectable income and have to balance it out amongst family members, but come any occasion (Eid, Marriage, Milad) our wives are the first beneficiaries. I can bet dozens of my friends have bought glittering suits for their other halves this Eid and willingly compromised with used or ordinary dresses for themselves.

If we are not letting wives work doesn’t translate into our being disrespectful to them. We hate to see them chunk a heavier check or slam them in a dungeon. It’s just that our minds haven’t been trained to accept the change instantaneously. Asking you not to work, stay home and take care of our next generation is just our way of saying that we love, respect and cherish your presence in our homes.

Some women love it while others don’t, still the winds of change are already here. In 2007, I was just 27 and not too naive to think about the consequences, but as I grew older and wiser I realised that work life is important for my sweetheart and its time that I become a bit flexible. So much so that I have offered her to switch roles for a while.

As of today, I am the biggest supporter of women going out to earn while men take care of home, trust me I have done it myself and life rocks. With 10 cooking channels on your tele, you have the chance to make easy and mouthwatering delicacies each day and become the darling of your kids. Take them to playgrounds each evening gives you fitness incentives and yes that occasional homework is just a piece of cake. Trust me its much easier than negotiating the crazy traffic on roads, office politics and the worry of putting enough food on the table. Let the women take care of it while we relax and admire Turkish beauties on TV. Your friends might find this denting their machismo but once they see you in comfy bermudas all day long with that carefree smile, you will soon have admirers and followers.

The famous novelist Appa Bano Qudsia had said that a happy marriage is all about understanding and compromise. While men today need to understand and open up to the idea that more and more women simultaneously want a house and income, women need to stop looking at men as oppressors and dictators if we are to save the marriage institution. Otherwise just look to the west and you will need to look no further.

News Channel in Pakistan

THE Tune-into any News Channel in Pakistan these days, you will watch and listen to nothing new but the same old breaking news, same faces, same speeches, sentences, deadlines, threats, demands at the same timings and at the same places.

The on-going DHARNA fiasco has been the central point of all news channels and the hot topic of all talk shows for the past 23 days. The wheel of the news programming is divided into three main segments i.e. Parliament speeches in morning time-slots, talk shows in noon/evening and the live Dharna sessions at night slots. Whereas, the news bulletins focusing all of the above are run throughout the day and night.

It is a fact that the on-going political crisis has significantly increased the eye-balls on almost all news channels and the viewership from the entertainment has shifted to news genre to great extent. Therefore, the cameras and reporting teams of these news channels are busy in covering special Azaadi and Inquilaab March transmissions 24/7. Whilst these transmissions going on, some of the channels must be charging premium from their advertisers and whereas, some news channels might even be sacrificing their revenues by dropping the commercial airtime in order to provide continuous coverage to the Dharna sessions because during such scenarios of live speeches and coverage, the broadcasters often avoid taking commercial breaks and thus lose business.

May it be PAT, PTI or the Parliamentarians or ruling bodies, everyone should be thankful to media and give credit to these news channels who are giving them more than enough coverage to spread their messages to the masses. It would not be an understatement if we say that Media is the actual strength of all the stakeholders here. If all these channels move their cameras away and stop giving them coverage, the situation will diffuse itself not within days but few hours. But, to our surprise, the batons, sticks and stones are now being used to attack the media. Consequently, some media channels have boycotted the coverage and some might have turned against these parties.

It all began with the harassing of the reporters and cameramen of Geo News by angry supporters of PTI due to the clash and boycott of PTI against Geo/Jang Group. They struck DSNG vans of Geo News with batons and had later barged into the offices of Geo, The News and Jang in Islamabad and pelted their building with stones.

Here, PAT couldn’t stay away and on September 1, 2014, the protestors armed with the sticks stormed the state-run channel, PTV, trashed their office and hindered their transmission by damaging the equipment and cutting off the wires in the control room. Later, the army had to step-in to expel the protestors and to clear the building.

However, it didn’t stop here. The Punjab Police have also joined this race of attacking on the media and crossed all limits. Around 28 journalists, cameramen and media workers were injured in an attack by Punjab police in Islamabad during the riots at Dharna. Police did not ruthlessly beat up the media workers including reporters, cameramen, DSNG Operators & Engineers and Drivers, but also damaged the satellite vans of a number of news channels.

Besides, one of the news channels had also reported that their team was attacked by few PTI protestors for recording Women abuse Scene at PTI Dharna. The protestors broke the camera and DV and also assaulted the team and threatened them. Another channel had reported that PTI workers had attacked its 4 crew members. They were brutally beaten by many workers of PTI with batons, punches and chairs.

All of the above incidents are on record and displayed by all these news channels. This has led to an extreme insecurity being faced by most of the media personnel.

I put a question to the torch-bearers of “Revolution” and “Change”… Does beating up the media workers and attacking the media houses do any good to you in your quest to bring about ‘Revolution’ and ‘Change’? I also want to ask the patrons of security (Police) whether beating up the media persons help you establish law and order or does it further aggravate the situation? At the end of the day, the journalists and media workers are just performing their duties.

Azadari in Muharram?

Azadari in Muharram?

Contrary to the popular belief by some who assert that holding Majlis is a rather contemporary tradition, the first Majlis-e-Hussain (AS) was organized by his sister Syeda Zainab (AS) whose veil was torn off by the assassins Prophet’s (PBUH) grandson.

Who is not aware of the history of Karbala? – of the tragic incident that took place after 60 years of the death of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Dialectics behind Karbala need no glossing over, but what does need to be highlighted is its influence on people over centuries’ span. From languages to countries, from styles to rituals, the Azadari transformed a lot and now while living in Virginia I’m conveniently listening the lectures and “Marsiyas” in English., at my own place.

Currently, people in all parts of the world are seen mourning for Imam Hussain’s death in destitution. The journey of Azadari traveled with his sister from Damascus to Karbala and to Medina. She returned with some family members which includes son and grandson of Imam HussainAS. His son and grandsons always encouraged the performance of Azadari but in their time it was performed in utmost secrecy as the regime was opposed to any remembrance of Karbala.

In 350s AH an Islamic scholar Sheikh As-Suduq became the first person after family of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who started reciting extempore on Karbala’s history to his students. His students used to write his lectures to share it further in the community.  The first ever procession took place in 351 AH in Baghdad and Egypt, when hundreds of men, women and children gathered on the roads beating their chests and weeping for Imam HussainAS. The recitation of elegies started from there and became the part of Azadari, and then Azadari started with an entirely different style. Tamerlane, the founder of Timurid dynasty, introduced the institution of (Taboot and Alam) the icons of flags and coffins of Imam HussainAS.

Under the rule of Tamerlane’s grandson in central Asia, the Azadari went to sub-continent and deep rooted in the hearts of Muslims. Lucknow, one of the most developed, cultural cities of India, became the center of Azadari where many Indian poets started writing Marsiyas or eulogies in the remembrance of Karbala. These eulogies touched the peak by the hands of a famous poet Mir Baber Ali Anees. With Mir Baber many poets like Mir Moonis, Salamat Ali Dabeer, Mir Zameer, Ali Haider Tabatabai and Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi wrote eulogies. In the earlier days, speakers and reciters used to read the eulogies and this is how Azadari started in Hindi or Urdu.

According to Muntazir Mehdi, the History Professor, in the era of 1930s, Maulana Sibte Hassan was the first to introduce Azadari in the form of lectures in Urdu and the mourners included eulogies, lectures, Nauhas (eulogies while beating chests) in one Majlis.

The people, who migrated from Arab and sub-continent to the Western world, started Azadari-HussainAS with the same style as they adopted in back homes. For many years, immigrants relied on the original eulogies (Marsiyas, nauhas) of their languages. But the second generations of immigrants who were born in West and whose original language was English were facing issues grasping the complexity of allegories, idioms and metaphors of other languages.

Therefore, parents of that generation started transferring the Azadari’s material in English. They started translating the Marsiyas of Mir Anees and many Persian elegies. Ali Abbas, an English Nauha writer and reciter from Maryland told me, “9 years ago, a scholar from London said to me that English has global reach, and has potential of influencing people of all communities; therefore, poetry in English will convey the pathos of the tragedy of Karbala more effectively.” He said, “Since then I am writing one Nauha every year”.

Ammar Nakshwani, a renowned scholar from London, said that Azadari in English brings Shiite community of different countries under one roof; English Azadari unites people of all countries and spread the message more effectively to other communities.

Ali Abbas believed that imam Hussain’s message is universal and his influence has truly been global as well. While quoting the example of Gandhi; when Gandhi took 72 people in his nonviolent protest against British Raj to mimic Imam Hussain’s 72 companions in Karbala; said that even those who don’t understand the religious significance of it relate it with personal courage, integrity, patience and sacrifice.

Now the youth who is born and raised in West is writing Nauhas on western rhythm which is a way of understanding the responsibilities of learning and teaching Azadari. The trend of writing elegies in English is growing but it will take time, but this transformation has proven one thing that Azadari will grow in different languages and countries. The way it has spread, many say that this is the miracle of Imam HussainAS that how everyone recalls his sacrifices every year in Muharram in different languages.

Needs to Tell the Story Right

Needs to Tell the Story Right

It is a battle for ideas, narratives and tales.

HERE ,Get your story straight. Get your story right. Even if halfway through you realize that you have chosen the wrong side or perhaps the less profitable one, don’t panic. All is not lost. Get up, brush yourself off and get your act together. Be better prepared and equipped to make a come-back that flashes through the dust of time. Present a story that sticks, a narrative that gels well with the stakeholders, and a tale that grapples the audience. Anything ranging from a heart wrenching confession from the past to an optimistic commitment for the future would work to excuse your behavior. The trick is to make it convincing to a level that the audience is completely and utterly drunk on the idea. And boom! You work is done. You’re back in the game.

The problem with Pakistan is that it has never been able to define a narrative for itself and even when it has; it never stuck with it long enough so that it settled with the public or with the international community. Case in point: Failure of project Jinnah which aimed at creating a positive image of Jinnah and ended up sparking an infuriating debate about the difference between Jinnah’s ideologies and actions.

We as a nation have been marred with a benign disease: the curse of confusion. A confusion that has deadened our spirits, scared our ideology, paralyzed our thinking, crippled our state machinery and blinded our public. From the question of the reason for the creation of Pakistan to its current status on terrorism to its future goals, we have been confused about everything. We don’t have to look far for examples; our frequent experiments with religion throughout our history provide a glaring testimony to that.

The only good thing out of this manifested confusion is that it provides a lot of grey area for our political leaders to move around. They secretly guard their loyalties and never openly declare who their friends or foes are. This provides them with ample room to get cozy with one, sleep with another and all along, flirt with all the available partners. It is a good gameplay for as long as it works but we have worn out our cards and exhausted this strategy. We have shifted our sides’ one too many times and there is a limit to how many times you can go back to your old partner without butchering your soul and completely diminishing your self-esteem. There comes a time, when those around you figure out your game and refuse to mingle with you anymore. Pakistan is at that stage of abandonment.

What changed?

The magnetic surge of internet and the subsequent boom of social networks have changed the way politics is done in the country. It has disposed immense amount of power at the disposal of the public. Anyone with a strong argument is immediately bought forward in the spot light and is made a stakeholder in the political arena. The already existing players are more vocal than ever and their differences are highlighted, magnified, and painted in the color of controversy by the rating (read profit) starved media. Couple up this entire mixture of variables with a heightened civic sense of the community and you’ll get the current state of affairs of Pakistan. The government is facing exuberant amount of pressure from all sides to clearly define its stance on issues of national and international importance. Pakistan has to realize the dangers of continuing with the war on terror in its narrative-less state. This is not a sustainable policy and if not rectified, it will backlash soon.

We have to make a decision, pick a side and then stick with it. We can’t continue to harbor the enemies while simultaneously condemn attacks on girls like Malala Yousafzai. We can’t make under table agreements to support drone attacks yet spread anti-American sentiments on the public front. We can’t let statements like that of Munawar Hassan discredit the efforts of hundreds and thousands of people who have lost their lives in this battle. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. The sooner Pakistan realizes this better it will be otherwise, it is only a matter of time till the catastrophic consequences of sharing the bed with both the enemy and the friend will take a toll on the health of the nation

VIP culture in Pakistan

VIP culture in pakistan

days ago, two amateur videos captured from mobile phones started circulating on social media and instantly went viral.

The videos clearly show how ex-interior minister Rehman Malik and PML-N legislator Ramesh Kumar faced public ire due to a delay suffered by an Islamabad-bound flight as it waited for these VIPs. There was a cry of “shame shame” from the passengers. As one passenger voraciously stated, “It’s been going on for 68 years and it’s enough”. This particular incident should not be taken as an event that occurred out of the blue but it is a result of the accumulation of desperation and agony in public caused by the humiliating VIP culture in Pakistan.

Pakistan went through a turbulent start after it obtained independence in 1947. From the outset, Pakistan witnessed concentration of power in the hands of those who governed her, whether they belonged to the political class or the khakis. The treatment meted out to the motherland was no different. And this, as a consequence, led to the destruction of democratic values and principles. Those who were in power indulged in bending and twisting the democratic practices and methods of governance according to their own liking and choice.

The VIP culture in essence is demeaning. It negates the idea of equality. By its virtue it creates a class of citizens that are superior to the other citizens. A very small section of society enjoying special privileges as they are escorted by large police motorcades and given a special treatment creates a difference of status at the cost of the self-esteem of the ordinary citizens. This alone is the reason why “VIP culture” should be challenged and torn apart. Some may argue that government functionaries, be it the President or Prime Minister, enjoy special privileges around the world. But they fail to factor in an important fact that this treatment is not accorded to the individuals but to the offices they hold. In Pakistan we have effectively subverted this logic in creating special breed of people who enjoy a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of taxpayers’ money. Here this phenomenon is not limited to the individual office holder, who derives his status from government or state assigned duties but these privileges are extended to their families as well.

The VIP culture in Pakistan is widespread. Elected parliamentarians, bureaucrats, high ranking police and military officials wave flags on their cars and their ear-piercing loud sirens are a reflection of their privileges and are a common scene for the ordinary Pakistani. Citizens of all major cities of Pakistan frequently witness gunmen in large caravans clearing the roads for the VIPs. This shows the arrogance and superiority of the government functionaries and the VIPs. This behavior reflects disconnect that exists between the public and public servants. There are well-reported incidences where ambulances got stuck in traffic jam due to the VIP movement causing loss of lives as these patients could not make it to the hospitals in time.

Pakistan is a country where there is a great shortage of police force and what is even more disturbing is a fact that a woefully small proportion of cops is made available for the ordinary citizens. That’s because a major share of police resources is mobilized to provide security to our VIPs, rendering a common citizen vulnerable to crime. The ordinary man remains unsafe both on the street and at home. It is ironic that a common man pays for the security of the VIP while he himself is left at the mercy of criminals.

The VIP culture in Pakistan has to change now. I, as a common citizen, would like to see our public representatives, government officials taking public transport – a practice which is common in developed democracies.

A common man wants the VIPs to go through the treatment that they have to face when they break a red signal or are caught speeding.

It’s time that we apply the fundamentals of a functioning democracy in Pakistan, where all her citizens are treated equally before the law, irrespective of their political affiliations, class or economic status.

Dismantling the VIP fortress is necessary because without doing so the VIPs won’t realize how they are undermining the values and principles of a true democracy. They too have to understand what a common citizen goes through in his life viz a viz the so-called civic facilities made available to him. The should be made to experience what a common man goes through in public transport, government schools or the hospitals.

We as a nation have to realize that the time has come to bring about urgent changes in how this country is governed. We will have to rollback the VIP culture which is no less than a curse for the masses. This culture only adds to their misery as they helplessly behold how mercilessly their hard-earned money that they pay in the form of taxes to the government is squandered on luxuries.

Nietzsche and the youth

Nietzsche and the youth

This My, my! Even if you have seriously criticised Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif, his government, his cabinet, his family, his businesses, his coterie of advisors, his governance, his performance, you are not spared. Even if you rebuke the PPP, demand a major shakeup in its ranks, highlight the inadequacies, admonish their performance in running the government of Sindh in particular, snub them for the lack of party organisation in Punjab and other provinces, you are not spared. 

Even if you have used the most caustic words against the politics of the MQM, you are not spared. Even if you say that the ANP performed so poorly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that the blood of seven hundred workers and leaders killed by extremists could not turn them back in during the last polls, you are not spared. 

But it is not the parties mentioned above that do no spare you. Instead, you are not spared by the PTI faithful even after you equally criticise the rest of the political actors, parties and groups. In Naya Pakistan, you will be spared only if you believe that Imran Khan is the messiah and you want him to become the prime minister, unequivocally and categorically, ideally by close of business today. 

You are spared if you profess and preach that Pakistan will become a paradise on earth, power supply will be in abundance overnight, and corruption and mismanagement will disappear the moment he comes to power, injustice will be a thing of the past, quality education will be provided to all, state-of-the-art health facilities will be in everyone’s access, there will be an industrial revolution and so many jobs created that people will queue up outside Pakistani missions in world capitals to seek visas. 

If you do not believe in all that is stated above and critically look at the current ability of the PTI leader and his faithful to bring about any significant change, if you are unable to see a clear plan beyond political rhetoric, if you can vividly see that even the unclear plan for Pakistan’s transformation is subservient to the naked ambition of capturing power by the leader, you will not be spared. 

Don’t ask questions even if your questions are driven by a pure desire to get clarity yourself. If you are not a believer, you are a thief, a cheat, a swindler, a corrupt woman or man. You take a lifafa (meaning ‘envelope’ in English and a metaphor used for money or favours you get by toeing the line of a powerful person or an institution or a party other than the PTI). 

Following in the footsteps of their leader, the frontrunners among the PTI faithful – the affluent middle-class brats whose own dads, granddads and uncles brought this country to where it stands today – are perfecting the art of levelling baseless allegations, accusations and blame on anyone who asks disturbing questions in order to shout down that non-believer through her or his character assassination and challenging the person’s professional or personal integrity. 

They are unable to answer a single question their critics raise. They resort to abusing you. This is a shining reflection of their leader’s self-righteousness, conceit, impatient lust for absolute power and intolerance for even a minor difference of opinion. He blames everyone whom he sees as a reason for delay in him becoming the prime minister as a person with no character and integrity. 

After the two big rallies of the PTI in Karachi and Lahore over the last few days, I posed a few questions, old and new, in all earnestness to an educated group of PTI enthusiasts in the Kohsar market of Islamabad where they religiously come for lunch every afternoon in these testing times of dharnas, freedom and revolution. I am reproducing the conversation here with as much accuracy as possible. By no means did I have an exhaustive list of questions and it was merely a coffee-table chat. 

“Q: Khan Sahib mentioned in his speech about the case of that Pakistani-American woman imprisoned on charges of terrorism, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was handed over to the Americans by spineless Pakistani authorities. Her uncle came to find Khan’s support for the release of his niece. Does Khan Sahib know that Khursheed Kasuri was the foreign minister when Aafia was handed over to the Americans? Does he also know that Shah Mahmood Qureshi was foreign minister when the uncle came to visit him?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: Khan Sahib is spot on when he says that the rich are becoming richer and the national exchequer is being defrauded. Does he know that his mate Jahangir Tareen, whose jet he frequently uses for travel, multiplied his wealth exponentially when he was a minister under different regimes? I am not even asking how the expensive fuel for private air travel is managed. But does Khan Sahib also remember a sugar crisis in the years when Tareen was a minister under martial rule and who was blamed for it?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: Khan Sahib wants all our children to get uniform, quality and good standardised education. I am the first person to support him here. However, has the KP government begun to establish an egalitarian system successfully? Will Khurshid Kasuri and his family, who run the largest elite-school chain in Pakistan, open their gates to children from all classes? Will there be an end to commercialised private education once the PTI comes to power?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: The PTI will revive the economy, bring power bills down to half, create jobs and at the same time make the national institutions function efficiently. Hmmm… This means our friend Asad Umar, the PTI MNA from Islamabad and certainly far better than the rest surrounding Khan Sahib these days, will replace his real brother Zubair Umar in the PML-N-led Privatisation Commission of today. Will Asad stop selling national enterprises or just sell those to Tareen rather than Mansha?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: Why did Khan Sahib not mention even once the murder of Zahra Shahid, his ardent supporter and leader of the PTI in Karachi, and the election rigging done by the MQM in his Karachi rally? Also, what happened to the case filed in Scotland Yard against the MQM?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: When pontificating from the container, Khan Sahib frequently says that one should always speak the truth. Who can not respect that? But is speaking the truth important only in political matters or is it applied to personal matters as well?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: Khan Sahib is absolutely correct when he says he wants the nation to rise, throw away the yoke of slavery, stand up to the powers that be, etc. But at a smaller, more mundane level, after Khan becomes the prime minister will the disciples and peasants of the pirs and gaddi nashins in his party including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, stop paying tributes in cash and kind to fuel the land cruisers the pirs drive and the palatial houses the landlords reside in?

A: You take a lifafa.

Q: Last question, mates. I have tested your patience already. Can Khan Sahib confirm that the hundreds of kanals of land he occupies atop a Bani Gala hill in Islamabad does not include forest and common land of the state? Can he also confirm that people who live in his neighbourhood are wrong when they say that the boring for providing water to his house and land is done in the Korang riverbed – which is not legal?

A: You take a lifafa.”

Khan Sahib mentions Iqbal as his guiding light. Iqbal was influenced by Nietzsche, the German philosopher. Many of us view Nietzsche critically. But I am reminded of one of his famous quotes. He said, “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” Read both ‘him’ and ‘her’ here.

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سوشل نیٹ ورکنگ سائٹ فیس بک دنیا بھر میں انٹرنیٹ کی رسائی میں اضافہ کرنے کے لیے 2015ء میں وائی فائی انٹرنیٹ فراہم کرنے والے ڈرون کا تجربہ کرے گی۔

فیس بک نے عالمی آبادی کے دو تہائی حصے تک انٹرنیٹ کی سہولت بہم پہنچانے کے لیے شمسی توانائی سے اُڑنے والے ڈرون استعمال کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔

فی الوقت یہ ڈرون سے دنیا کے ایسے علاقوں میں وائی فائی کے ذریعے مفت انٹرنیٹ فراہم کریں گے، جہاں پر موجودہ دور میں بھی میں انٹرنیٹ تک رسائی نہیں ہے۔

یاد رہے کہ فیس بک کے بانی مارک زکربرگ نے اس سال مارچ میں اس پروجیکٹ کا اعلان کیا تھا، جس کے تحت فیس بک پوری دنیا میں انٹرنیٹ کی مفت سہولت مہیا کرے گا۔

اس وقت بتایا گیا تھا کہ اس عظیم منصوبے کے تحت ڈرون، سیٹلائٹ اور شمسی توانائی سے چلنے والے طیاروں پر کام کیا جا رہا ہے اور اس مقصد کے لیے فیس بک کمپنی نے ایک لیبارٹری بھی تیار کی ہے۔

کمپنی کے انجینئرنگ ڈائریکٹر ییل میگير نے ایک بیان میں کہا کہ انٹرنیٹ فراہم کرنے والے ڈرون تجربہ 2015 میں کیا جائے گا، اوراس تجربے کے لیے تیار کی گئی لیب نے لاطینی امریکہ، ایشیا اور افریقہ میں 21 مقامات کی نشاندہی کردی ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ اگر یہ تجربہ کامیاب ہو جاتا ہے تو اگلے دو سے تین سال میں انٹرنیٹ کی فراہمی کامیابی کے ساتھ شروع کردی جائے۔

ییل میگير نے کہا کہ مہینوں تک ان ڈرون کی پرواز کے لیے ہمیں ان کی اُڑان کا تجربہ 60 ہزار سے 90 ہزار فٹ کی بلندی پر بھی کرنا ہوگا۔

اس سال مارچ میں فیس بک نے اپنے منصوبے کا اعلان کرتے ہوئے کہا تھا کہ اس نے نئے ’’کنیکٹوٹی لیب‘‘ پروجیکٹ کے لیے ناسا کی جیٹ پروپلسن لیب اور اس کے ایمس ریسرچ سینٹر سے تعلق رکھنے والے خلائی ٹیکنالوجی اور مواصلاتی ماہرین کی خدمات حاصل کی ہیں۔

10 Selfies Taken Moments Before Death

10 Selfies Taken Moments Before Death

#1 No Fear of Heights

Xenia Ignatyeva took a selfie from a bridge 28 feet off the ground to impress her friends. The 17-year-old Russian girl lost her balance and fell on a cable, which tragically electrocuted her.

#2 Jenni Rivera

In December of 2012 Mexican pop star Jenni Rivera and her entourage took this selfie right before taking off on a private jet which sadly crashed and left no survivors.

#3 Happy

On April 26, 2014 Courtney Sanford posted this picture of her reacting to the Pharrel Williams song 'Happy' while driving through North Carolina; seconds later she crashed into a truck and the accident proved to be fatal.

#4 Jadiel

This is a selfie snapped by a famous Puerto Rican reggaetón musician Jadiel, uploaded to Instagram moments before he had a fatal motorcycle crash in New York in May, 2014.

#5 MH17 Selfie

Gary Slok and his mother took this selfie minutes before taking off from Amsterdam on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in July, 2014.

#6 Gun Selfie

21-year old Oscar Otero Aguilar lost his life when he tried to take a selfie with a gun for his Facebook page in July of 2014. The Mexican gun enthusiast accidentally shot himself in the head and didn't survive.

#7 River Selfie

A 13-year-old girl named Karen Hernández wanted to snap a selfie on the banks of the El Tunal river in Durango, Mexico. Unfortunately she fell into the river and drowned; firefighters recovered her body in July.

#8 On Top of the Train

In March 2014 a 21-year-old man died in Jaén, Spain by electrocution when he climbed to the top of a movie train to take a selfie.

#9 Iranian Girls

These two women wanted to take a selfie while singing karaoke in their car . . . The Iranian girls stopped watching the road to record this video and crashed into another car. They survived and took another selfie on the way to the hospital.

#10 Cliff Selfie

A Polish couple on vacation in Portugal tried to take a selfie on the edge of a cliff on August 10, 2014 . . . they both fell to their death.