Category: Pakistan

The pain of expats is pretty hypocritical.

While looking for stable economies abroad, their hearts melt for a rocky economy at home.

While praying and voting for liberal democrats abroad, they hope for conservative rightists at home.

While offering prayers in mosques in west, they know nothing about state’s attitude towards minorities at home.

While moving in uncensored cultures abroad, they want blasphemy to prevail at home.

While trying to keep religion away from politics abroad, they look for religious references of politicians at home.

While opting for being a second class citizen abroad, they keep mentioning the intellect of first class citizens at home.

While they do everything to evade taxes abroad, they are disgruntled when people avoid taxes at home.

Ask them if they’ll come back to work home? Absolutely not. Their opinions don’t matter abroad, so they become opinionated for things at home for which they are not even stakeholders. Except for currency exchange rates which are pretty much in their favor.

Actually, it’s a confusion between home and abroad. Your abroad is your home and let the actual homies decide for their home. Not your home. Don’t cry your heart out when you ran away long time ago. You left this stage.

You can have an opinion for sure. But you cannot have an opinion for the masses who are actually living and suffering at home who you simply label with words.

It’s pretty much like the domestic affairs where kids who leave their old folks alone are more worried and concerned. The kid actually living with the parents suffer with the blames, physical efforts, worries, and daily errands; while the kids abroad make a video call and are done with their duties.

It’s easier to be a judgemental idiot. Stop poking your nose where you don’t matter.

PM: What’s this new mess?

Fawad: I lost the count at 100,000. We were doing really great.

PM: 22 is the count idiot. And you?

Sheikh: I am an interior minister. That snow is not my concern.

PM: Trains were not your concern either. You broke the news, right?

Sheikh: Habitually.

PM: Okay, so what’s your take?

Sheikh: Had an omellete.

PM: Not in-take. Take on the matter?

Sheikh: I am interior…

PM: Enough of that crap! You are as much interior as Qureshi is exterior. You are more in the information ministry to stay alive. Now, tell me?

Sheikh: This happens everywhere. Just like train accidents. People die in the snow every winter. And people have died in the previous tenures of PMLN too.

PM: That’s thoughtful. Give me some empathy. I need to be empathetic.

Gill: A little empathy and people will blackmail you like they did last year with the dead bodies in Balochistan.

PM: True, Gill, but I need words to handle dead bodies. They don’t even decompose in the cold.

Fawad: Martyrdom. Give them shahadat. Badges of glorious death.

PM: But they went to enjoy the snow. They were tourists not fighters.

Gill: Remember the APS kids? They were also students in a school. Tags like shahadat and martyrdom keep the actual questions of security lapse in a cantonment away.

PM: Yes, people are stupid.

Fawad: And they died of their stupidity.

Sheikh: No disagreement.

Gill: Offer them martyrdom.

Shibli: In the name of Pakistan and tourism.

PM: That’s poetic, Shibli! Keep that up.

Fawad: I need to tweet. Tell me where we stand now!

PM: I will tweet. You all will retweet. Blame the previous regimes when you can’t handle anymore.

Gill: Noted sir.

PM: So, here it is: they laid their lives for the prosperous future of tourism in Pakistan. They are shaheeds. They sacrificed their present for our better future. When you were sleeping, they were…

Fawad: Don’t romanticize much. It wasn’t Kargil.

Sheikh: Can we call this collateral damage?

Shibli: It was neither a missed drone on a village nor a CTD action in Sahiwal.

PM: A verse again, Shibli. Keep that up.

Shibli: Thank you sir.

Gill: Unlike father, unliked son.

PM: Ok, this meeting is over. I need to snort… snore. I will tweet and you will retweet and let the administration do what they can do.

Gill: How long will we keep on answering for every death? I am tired of this. Balochistan, Karachi, Sahiwal, Sialkot, Islamabad, now this. Even rapes are somehow our responsibility. We need to come up with a solution for all the upcoming deaths and rapes.

Shibli: Like Deputy Commissioners on Twitter.

Fawad: Or like boys coming out as heroes in every tragedy, even when they are part of the tragedy.

Sheikh: Don’t cross the line Fawad. You sat in their lap, under the table, over the table and everywhere.

Fawad: And you Sheikh? You came out of the pit on your own?

Shibli: No need to fight. We have our arguments and we have dead bodies too.

PM: Again, poetic! But let’s end this. It’s too cold here.

Gill: Yes, let’s disagree in agreement. Let’s tweet and handle this on Twitter.

PM: Wait for my words on Twitter. And let me not be blackmailed.

Tweet: Tourists in Murree should have checked the weather. They should have gone for snowfall in the Summer when it’s easier. But, let’s pray for the martyred souls who have sacrificed their lives for a prosperous tourism future of Pakistan. They are shaheeds and shaheeds are always alive.

She wanted to make her point with a placard in Aurat March. Then she was beheaded. Murdered. Buried. Making her point with a tombstone. Yet, the ‘Qamars’ and ‘Oryas’ are as ugly as they have ever been.

The other one stayed for 10 years with four children in a toxic marriage. Tortured for a decade and then murdered ultimately. What else was expected there? The only blessing in her life could have been a divorce.

Then another one was fatally shot by her husband. He shot his kids too.

Then another one.

And another one.

Some reported. Some un-reported. Some viral. Some ignored. Regardless of class or illiteracy. Or literacy.

A chain reaction of dead bodies. Of dead bodies we hush up. Of dead bodies we prefer over divorces.

Do you even know how beautiful divorce is? It is as beautiful as marriage. Both the concepts are divine and are from up above the sky.

But you – a staunch believer – prefer blood. Why do people of religion prefer blood? Blood here and there and all over the pages of history.

Men, in general, are animals. All the wars were waged because of their egos, greed and lust. Sometimes they battled in the name of religion and other times in the name of land.

All the current affairs are catastrophic because of men. Here and there. Be it a guy with a gun in New Zealand Or Dick in Iraq or Rumsfeld with his WMDs or a whole Military Junta looking for blood and blood money all the time. Men.

Besides, we have our own existential crises. We hush things. A kid is raped; hush. A woman is raped; hush. Raped and killed; hush hush.

So, we reject. We reject the domestic violence bill. Rulers have a whole nation to exploit. Military has unidentified people to exploit. What do common men have? Homes. Women and kids at home. So, rejected. No need to report or curb domestic violence.

Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which is neither Islamic nor Ideological; has all the expired and irrelevant minds sitting to discuss the fate of women and kids. This council has no women but it decides their fate. Such a pity.

Ideally speaking, these expired old minds should be discarded. ASAP. The illiterates with no modern and developmental education should never be part of any council.

Anyhow. Here we are. In a domestic blood bath. Where women and kids are found in morgues. With the expectation that they will be safe in the Hereafter, (not in graves though) we say our goodbyes.

But you, not-my-friend, with Oryaniat in your mind, Qamaraniat in your words and Abbasiat in your intellect, you are the scum of this part of the world. That’s why we are poor and pathetic in comparison to the world.

Now let us come to the institutions.

As I always say, the curse of this country is the establishment; both military and civil. The CSPs of Islamabad always make a mockery of themselves as soon as there is a crisis. The lady from PSP went to the crime scene. Had a photo session. Said some loud words. No gloves or forensic gear. That’s it. Job done. Well done.

Twitter and Instagram have made these dumb people crazy. They just want to stay relevant all the time with lectures and photos and photographers. The result: see their actual postings. What are they delivering to the public? How good is their reputation? Or how bad?

Islamabad has the finest CSPs in Twitter Town. One after another. Noting and putting up. Taking charge. And delivering shit by rotating the fan at its fullest.

Well, well. Mesmerizing. With innocent dead bodies, with character certifications in high demand, with sensational murder stories, drugs and weapons; we are living in a dark world of errors.

Errors. Where religion is in law, judiciary, lectures, PM’s words, military morale, and everywhere; yet there is no justice.

Errors. When CII is trusted with domestic violence bill when no member of CII is a representative of women.

Errors. When irrelevant and dumb bureaucracy is more active on Twitter than at their desk.

Errors. When victim blaming comes before anything else. When character is demanded from a mutilated dead body. When empathy is dependent on religion and character of the deceased.

Errors.

We did this. We made it this way. Fake blasphemy charges can lead you to jail for a decade. 23 strikes on a woman with a knife can get you released in 3.5 years. But hush. Rapists are hushed with their rapes. Kids are buried. Women are buried. Tombstones are erected.

Funeral and Fateha should be for the ones living here in the dark world of errors.

There must be hangings. Capital punishments. For all the men who killed women. For all the men who raped kids and women. That’s it. A country should get rid of such monsters without wasting money on their survival in jails and prisons.

Just hang them after a speedy and transparent trial. Get rid of them. Courts must provide verdicts within a span of 3 months.

But laws. We have different laws for different classes. You can kill and get away with it OR you can kill and be punished. There are laws for both. The debate on it may lead to blasphemy.

I don’t have anything else to say but to beat the old drum again and again. It’s hard to be a woman anywhere in the world but it’s hardest to be one in South Asia. And Pakistan is a living hell. Sometimes, I feel, those girls who are aborted before they are born, are lucky. Yes, you can beat my words and my sick mind.

But you are sick.

Your society is sick.

Your homes are sick.

Your culture is sick.

Your schools are sick.

Your religious halls and madrassahs are sick.

Your past is sick. Your present is sick.

You are existing in an existential crisis and your whole existence is sick.

Not all men but all men are sick. Because one way or the other, we are part of the problem.

P.S. All the ladies out there, please do not trust men in such vulnerable times in a sick society. If you are afraid and alone, join other ladies. Talk to them. Don’t put your trust and weakness in a random chat or a rendezvous or a soon-to-be-asshole. Have your own club where men are not allowed. Keep us away for your own good.

Still. Victim blaming. Not someone ordinary, but the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

You know how much we have progressed in the last two decades? Let me elaborate.

4 regimes back, the President (direct military dictator) said that women get raped in Pakistan to settle abroad. He’s settled abroad though. No pun.

4 regimes later, the Prime Minister (indirect military stooge) says that men get tempted because of women and their clothes.

So, here we are. Sick. Frustrated. Desperate. Absolutely unconscious.

Look at the recent events. A boy was was blackmailed and raped by a 70-year old molvi. Then there is another case of gang-rape of a delivery boy in Islamic University. No female is involved, yet it’s the clothes.

Maybe it’s the beards? Who knows?

Yes, we cannot generalize. Rape has no specific demographics. But madrassahs and their molvis are the hub of rapists. On one hand, they chant slogans in the streets regarding religion. On the other hand, they are the ugliest blasphemers who rape kids in sacred halls. In mosques. In homes. On prayer mats. Using the same hands with which they hold the Verses.

Yet, they roam free. A rare event takes them to the police station and then they are free again. To rape. Again and again. Without mercy and without any fear of the Hereafter which they sell to us all the time.

Sometimes, I feel like they know there is no Hereafter. There is only here. Them and their lifestyle and their filthy existence.

Do you know why and how rape happens?

It’s not what Imran Khan has said at all. Imran Khan is a misogynist and an apologist with zero sense on a lot of topics. I wish he should have let that question pass. Better to shut up then to vomit.

Rape happens when you have unquestioned and undue power. It happens in dictatorial environment.

It happens when a molvi knows he can keep the kid past evening. It happens when a teacher far off knows that he can beat the hell out of a kid and no one will complain. It happens when a man knows that he can rip a woman apart and no one will care. It happens when a man knows that he/she will bear it secretly. It happens when a man knows he/she has nowhere to go. It happens anywhere when the situation is not democratic but dictatorial.  In a democratic environment, rape will have lesser chances.

The ugliest cases of rape and child molestations have been found inside sacred halls. Be it any religion. Yogis and temples have their own stories. Monks have their own. Priests and churches have their own. Molvis and Madrassahs have their own. All examples where one man (or men) have absolute power over others.

I am not targeting religion. But the religiosity is too weak to be defended at times. And when the spokespersons of the religion are men like Mufti Aziz and Imran Khan; you are in deep hell. The guts they have are dangerous.

He had a girlfriend. He had a daughter from said girlfriend. The girlfriend went to court to prove his fatherhood. The fatherhood was proved, but the father eloped. Today, that father, tells the whole nation that a man is tempted by a woman’s dressing.

Someday, he will say that men are tempted by kids. As young as newborn. And animals. Cats. Hens. And women. Dead or alive. On bed or in grave. Men are tempted.

The other day, people were saying that I was defending prostitution. No, I wasn’t. But I do believe that prostitution is a buffer. It is because there is a demand in the market. It is what it is and it has been since ages. Perhaps the oldest profession in the world. You do whatever, this profession is going to stay beyond you. So, the developed nations have taken it as it is, and have made laws accordingly.

The countries where prostitution is legal, have lesser rape, sex trafficking and sex crimes.

The countries where drugs are legal, have lesser drug abuse, trafficking, and bootlegging.

Google this and read some research-based articles. But I know, we are too behind to even comprehend these things.

But who can shut our Prime Minister on this? This is not the way a PM should utter nonsense. This is not the way to talk about half of the population. This is no excuse to rape. Victim blaming should end. At least from the men in charge of the town.

We are yet to be born. We have yet to become conscious. We are still centuries behind in basic human development. Roaming around the lamp for centuries, like moths, and dying. Over and over.

Post Script Notes:

Didn’t write on molvi riding a molvi. Behave, he’s a Mufti. He can oust you with a fatwa.

It’s a sensitive topic. It isn’t a Christian couple you can kill at will for blasphemy. It’s Maulana and his usual business of arse. They tell you about graves and jinns and hell and volcanoes and snakes and spiders.

Yet they ride. A high ride. Followed by free fall. Inside the sacred territories. Where non-Muslims cannot drink water but molvis can…

Religion. The biggest industry of the country. Bigger than Bahria and at par with patriotism.

Brothels and whores are better than these scums. Well, they always are. Manto always said that they do their business, never hurt others and – above all – are not hypocrites.

Even pimps don’t sell religion. They sell bodies and they don’t hide under any banner. They know they are in the sin business and they accept what they are doing.

Sin. It’s an art actually. Its a no-no. No no. Defined and undefined. Accepted and ridiculed. A spark in the mind. A circuit. And it trips.

Anyway.

This is perhaps the ugliest reality we are facing in this country. Of kids being raped and murdered. As commonly as anything.

There was a movie – Spotlight – based on true incidents where a small team of investigative journalists go deep into a child abuse scandal of a priest of a Catholic Church. By the end, the abuse was found everywhere. In every state of America and beyond. Till Rome itself.

As we cannot make movies, we live in denial. We cannot expose problems. We cannot make dramas. Topics of blasphemy, actual history, failures in wars, the dissection of events, maulanas, military stuff, religion, etc. are banned topics.

You can stop movies. But you cannot stop tapes.

This is the child-abuse-capital of the world. This is heaven for all the pedophiles. Ugliest country to be born and raised in. Don’t doubt that.

Realize and accept the problem without ifs and buts. That’s the first step towards recovery.

Heaven and hell are both here. Denial and hell here won’t lead to heaven there. Evolve!

PREAMBLE

An agricultural country which has recently accepted Zakat and Fitrana of rice from the Arabian Desert; is asking the Ummah to stand up and fight for the Palestinians.

Well, standing up is right. One should always condemn the wrongdoings – at least verbally – if nothing else can be done. Every one of us should call out Israel for its atrocities, terrorism, colonialism, and violence. But for us, Pakistanis; without any comparison to other nation states; we have to answer some personal questions while we stand for the Palestinians.

This is going to be a long one [3 chapters] as I was doing a lot of reading on this topic and was trying to figure out where we stand and where our flaws are. So, let’s start:

CHAPTER I OF III: HISTORY

In the not too distant past, the region was mainly known as Jerusalem, which is the capital city of Israel today. This land had civilization for thousands of years before Christ.

Alexander attacked it. Romans had numerous conquests. Constantine conquered it. Before Islam, Jews and Christians ruled this land and had various wars and conflicts.

Caliph Umar RA conquered Palestine in 637 AD – 5 years after the demise of the Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Some great Muslim sahabas were part of this conquest including Abu Ubaidah Ibn-e-Jarrah, Khalid bin Waleed, Amr bin al-Aas among others.

According to one narration, Caliph Umar RA declined to offer Namaz in a church after the siege, to set an example of the righteous path, so that later Muslims would not find excuses for converting churches into mosques. [Some nurses did the opposite in a church of Lahore. Lesson forgotten.]

In 661 AD, Palestine fell under the Umayyad Caliphate. The Abbasids in 750 AD. The Fatimid in 970.

And the Crusaders in 1099.

Kingdom of Jerusalem – Palestine – was conquered by Crusaders in 1100.

In 1187, Saladin defeated crusaders and established control in the region.

The Third Crusade started in 1189 under Richard who recaptured major parts of the region by 1192 and had a truce with Saladin on Jerusalem. Saladin died in 1193.

In a long bloody history of the crusades, Jerusalem fell under different hands. Crusades ended in 1291 and Mamluk period started which lasted till the Ottomans came and conquered Palestine in 1517.

By the end of the 18^th century, Napoleon conquered Palestine after a series of attacks.

By the 19^th century, Jews from different parts of Europe started to settle in Palestine. That was the time when Ottomans were again in power in the region. Jews – at that time – were working to make their permanent settlements in Palestine, Syria and Egypt.

On April 11^th, 1909, Tel Aviv was founded in Jaffa.

Ottomans were defeated in World War I (1914-1918). While there was Khilafat Movement in the Sub Continent, the caliphate was abolished by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He was hated by the Muslims of Sub Continent and was also hailed as a visionary by some. Jinnah was his great admirer as he knew Ataturk is laying the foundation of a secular state.

Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917 by the British government. According to this declaration, the British announced establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Authors of Balfour Declaration were Walter Rothschild, Arthur Balfour, Leo Amery, and Lord Milner.

Remember, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. The war in Palestine between Ottomans and British was in full force till the end of WWI. Palestine remained part of Britain from 1922 till 1947-48.

After WWI, the settlement of Jews in Palestine remained intact. The Great Arab Revolt (1936-1939) was an uprising against this settlement. However, it failed and the British were able to suppress the revolt.

On November 29, 1947; a formal resolution (Resolution 181) was adopted by UN General Assembly for formation of Israel by dividing Palestine between Arabs and Jews. The resolution was passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions.

On May 14, 1948, Israel declared independence. Hence, the State of Israel was formed. A long forgotten dream of Jews came true on the blood and soil of Palestinians.

Right after Israel’s declaration of independence, Arab-Israeli War began when Arabian countries – including Saudia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen – attacked Israel. It was aimed to liberate Palestinians but it was a strategic failure. The Arabs were defeated. The State of Israel sustained. In fact, they occupied more land after the war. In the end, Palestinians suffered more from this war.

In 1967, Six-Day War was fought between Arabs and Israel when Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon attacked Israel to liberate Palestinians. This war – like the previous one – resulted in failure too. Israel expanded further. Palestinians suffered more. And the Arabs were crushed again.

Arabs did try in subsequent decades but they had no long-lasting success. In 1973, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel and captured Sinai back from Israel.

THE PARTITION PLAN OF 1947 & GRADUAL EXPANSION OF ISRAEL

Israel was proposed and established on a partition plan which was adopted by UN General Assembly (Resolution 181). UN proposed the plan and after all the undue processes, Palestine was divided as:

• Gaza (or Gaza Strip) and West Bank for Palestinians
• Rest was for Israel.
• Jerusalem was declared as separate entity. Corpus Separatum.

However, today’s Israel is much bigger than the partition plan mentioned above. Today, Palestine is nothing but a scattered state with refugees and unsettled aboriginals. Due to the failed Arab attempts (mentioned above) and support of Western power to Israel, today’s map of the region is completely different from the actual partition plan.

There are numerous major settlements of Zionists in West Bank. Both Gaza and West Bank are nothing more than prison states. All routes (air, roads, water) are under control of Israel. Permits are required to travel within and around. Permits are even required to enter Al-Aqsa to worship.

CHAPTER II OF III: THE SACRED LAND & CURRENT SCENARIO – 2021

The current situation occurred when forced settlers were entered in Sheikh Jarrah and Muslims were stopped from praying in Al-Aqsa. But that is not the entire reason.

There were times when Christians conquered and ruled Jerusalem. There were times when Jews did. There were times when Muslims did.

Israel was forced into Palestine by the UK and Western powers on the eve of World War I when the Ottomans lost. It was settled illegally, though with a formal UN resolution. Gradually, with the use of force and terror activities, Israel took hold of all of Palestine except Gaza and West Bank. Palestinians are now prisoners in their own homes because of the power and terrorism of Israel.

Palestine or Jerusalem is home to all the Abrahamic religions. This part of the world remained at war and in conflicts throughout history and it will remain so in the foreseeable future. It is destined to suffer as it is a sacred land for three major religions of the world.

The solution to Palestinian problems is none at the moment. All these years, with monopoly in suffering, Palestinians were unable to do anything substantial. Resistance should continue, but the Arabs actually did more than their actual power to liberate Palestinians. They did it thrice by initiating wars. Even today, various countries, particularly Iran with her bold stance, has stood against Israel’s hegemony.

When Israel was not even properly established, the Palestinians were clueless. From 1922 to 1947 was the time when it should have taken through strong resistance by the locals under a leadership. No one is going to give them freedom on a plate. No one can, at the moment.

Just a while back, Arab countries were gradually formalizing their relations with Israel. In 2020, Bahrain, UAE, Sudan and Morocco established diplomatic relations with Israel. Many countries, including Saudia, have covert relations with the Zionists.

A recently exposed investigative piece by Al-Jazeera exposed Bangladesh’s military relations with Israel. Pakistan too had its secretive relations with Israel during Zia’s regime, mentioned clearly by Charlie Wilson.

You may dislike this, but Iran is the only country from the Muslim world which has stood boldly against Israel consistently. It didn’t bow down to the US and always gave Israel some nightmares.

Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela are the three other countries which vehemently oppose Israel. These three countries have no diplomatic / formal relations with the Zionists.

Around 31 countries in the world have no relations with Israel. However, out of these, many do have covert relations.

But nothing is solving the ugliest human rights crisis. The UN is numb. So as many other organizations. Those who were calling for ‘Freedom of Speech’ are also dead somewhere around Charlie Hebdo. Al-Jazeera stood tall and let us hope it will stay strong among the impotent press of the world.

Hypocrisies are being exposed with the rising death toll in the largest concentration camp of the world.

A thing to understand: the difference between Zionist and Jewish. Zionist is a person who is in favor and pursuit of an independent Jewish state with whatever means necessary. Be it violence or terrorism. The blood of all the dead Palestinians is on the hands of Zionists. You cannot blame this on all the Jews. There are Jews who are against this terrorism and have been very vocal. You will see Jews standing against Israel. I can give you one example of Abraham Gutman – a journalist – who vehemently opposes all the violence by Israel. And he is hated and abused for his righteousness by the Zionists.

Before ending this part, let me write correctly that:

• All those praising Hitler and atrocities of Germans against the Jews during WW-II are despicable.
• Israeli Zionists are as despicable as the Nazis once were.
• All the liberals – anywhere around the world – supporting Israel’s violence against Palestinians, are not liberals but scumbags.

CHAPTER III OF III: PAKISTAN, PAKISTANIS, AND HYPOCRISY IN AND ON BLOOD

Pakistan and Israel. Two countries of the world founded in the name of religion. Two countries of 1947 origin. Came out of the British Empire. The two have so many things in common but let’s not go into that for the time being.

Pakistanis are on social media since this new wave of violence by Israel against Palestinians. Calling the Ummah to stand. Abusing the rulers for not doing anything. Abusing the west. Abusing the east.

Well, the Ummah did stand. And fought. And lost. In 1948. In 1967. In 1973 (Yom-e-Kippur). They were not only defeated but crushed within 06 days. It was Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and other Muslim countries, including Pakistan, who aided against Israel.

But again you cry that the Ummah is doing nothing.

The Ummah can’t do anything.

The Ummah has nothing. Not even Ummah itself.

Before you jump into the Caliphate, wait!

Islam didn’t present a political system comprehensively. It just presented ideas of democracy and secularism – yes democracy and secularism – and nothing much besides that. It gave principles but not a complete system in itself. The Muslims were supposed to use their brain to move ahead.

The Caliphate was not an Islamic system. It was based on nepotism. Family dynasties flourished. The bloodshed under Caliphates – particularly of Muslims by Muslims – is beyond comprehension.

Karbala is one of the examples of how corrupt and corruptible – like all other systems – was the system then. It didn’t even leave the House of Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

So, don’t Caliphate here. And don’t Ummah here. One is outdated and the other doesn’t even exist.

There was a dialogue in a Lebanese movie “The Insult” that no one has a monopoly on suffering. That was what the Lebanese said in a court to the Palestinian. No one – neither Jews of WW-II nor Palestinian since 1947 – have monopoly on suffering.

But we – Pakistanis – do have a monopoly on hypocrisy.

We don’t talk about hundreds of thousands of people killed in Yemen because Saudia killed them and we get our pimping dollars from them. We managed the army for Saudia to kill kids in Yemen. And we just got rice from Saudia. So, we don’t talk.

By the way, just to write the figures:

• 30 were killed in a bomb blast in a guest house in Puli Alam, Afghanistan on April 30^th, 2021.
• 85 were killed – mostly school girls – in a bomb blast in school in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 8^th, 2021.
• 12 were killed in an explosion in a mosque during Friday prayers in Kabul on May 14^th, 2021.
• Though the violence has decreased in Yemen, yet the basics are denied. Tens of thousands of people will starve to death this year in Yemen.

So?

We don’t talk about men, women and kids being killed in Afghanistan. Because we have our own political philosophies. Of good men and bad men. Of snakes. We don’t talk.

We don’t talk about education camps for Muslims in China. Hundreds of education camps with thousands of Muslims being ‘educated’. We don’t talk about them because we don’t know about anything that happens in Uighur. Or Mainland China.

We talk about Kashmir. That’s business. That’s our philosophy of life. It gives direction to our budget and priorities. It makes us a security state.

And we talk about Palestine.

After the Ummah’s failure within 6 days, we want the UN to do something. Why would the UN do something? What interest does the UN have in you? None. You have nothing to offer. No research. No budget. No scientists. Funding to the UN by the entire Ummah doesn’t even count to pennies in comparison. But yes, we want the UN to do something for us because we failed and our OIC is impotent.

As said earlier, Ummah doesn’t exist. In fact, it never existed on the political platform of the world. Ummah means brotherhood. It’s like alumni of the same university – i.e. Muslims following the same Book and the Prophet PBUH. It’s an affiliation. It is not what is portrayed here in Pakistan.

Ummah: Saudia is killing Yemen, Talibans are killing Afghans, ISIS is spilling blood in Syria, Uighur is never spoken of, Iran and Saudia play proxy wars in Iraq and Syria, Kurds are fighting for their rights from Turkey, Turkey has its own political preference against Saudia, Pakistan has its hand in Yemen and Afghanistan. Muslims against Muslims. Is this Ummah? This is Ummah.

• This Ummah cannot come together on deciding a unified Eid day.
• This Ummah cannot offer Namaz the same way. They don’t even know the exact way the Prophet PBUH offered Namaz. This is the practice the Prophet PBUH maintained 5 times a day for decades yet we don’t know.
• This Ummah has its own sets of kafirs and momins. A kafir here can be a momin there and vice versa.
• And this Ummah has its relations with Israel. Some despise it and some make a trade out of it.

You can praise Mia Khalifah and Bella Hadid; and curse Malala (neither a fan nor a hater). As you are misguided about history, your love and hatred is also misguided. Doesn’t matter. Why Malala said it that way is not going to solve issues. She is not your PM. Or anyone’s PM. She is not COAS. She does not hold any political office. Yet, you blame her for her tweets. It’s only your hatred. And that’s ok; you hate her. Fine. But this is not the way towards any resolution.

FORESEEABLE FUTURE

There were people who fought even when they couldn’t achieve their target. Imam Hussain. Che Guevara. Bhagat Singh. Nelson Mandela. Maximillian Robespierre. Malcolm X. Jinnah. And many others.

They all were different on different stages against different fascists but they didn’t wait for others. They didn’t beg. They planned. They stood. And they fought. With whatever means necessary. With or without a victory.

The solution is long-term. And it is evolutionary.

First, make yourself better. Grow economically. Enhance educational standards. Improve your healthcare system. Research more. Nurture scientists, philosophers, ideologists, thinkers, and rationalists. Follow religion but excel in it with Ijtihad. End these dogmas and orthodox ideas. Get your funding priorities straight. Get out of all the wars of the world and focus on yourself until you are someone with influence.

Get out of ghosts. Get out of graves. Get out of tombs. Get out of these people who sell and make a living out of religion.

Read. Think. Unlearn. Re-learn. Evolve.

Revolution and wars are not your way. Evolution is your way. It took 23 years for the religion to be bestowed upon you; evolution. The Holy Book was completed in over two decades; evolution. Evolve. Learn. Grow. Become someone so that you don’t have to beg others to stand for your causes. Become someone to become an impactful voice.

End this hypocrisy. Empathize above religion and ethnicities. I feel for Palestinians not because they are Muslims but because they are humans. Like there are humans suffering in Burma, China, Kashmir, Yemen, Egypt, Africa, India, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan.

We just got rice from Saudia. An agricultural country getting donations of rice from a desert peninsula. Shame! We are succumbing to new downfalls every year. We are falling, yet we want the world to behave according to our wishes.

Caliph Umar RA declined to offer Namaz in a church in Palestine. Remember that? And what were the nurses doing in a church in Lahore? Wasn’t that blasphemy? Or do we have monopoly on blasphemy too?

Voice must be raised. No doubt. But it must be raised without hypocrisy. And one must remain realistic too.

And before asking our neighbors and the world to mend their ways, we need to mend our ways. A kid of a missing father lost his mother recently. Did we offer him his father back? Did we give him justice? No.

There are people suffering in our country. Are we offering them justice? Did we offer justice to the brutally killed family in the Sahiwal massacre? Did we give justice to the families who suffered by the bullets of Raymond Davis? Did we give justice to the parents of the APS incident? Did we give justice to the 444 murders of Rao Anwar? Everyday kids are raped and killed here. Everyday people are dumped here. People go missing here on a routine basis. People are dying of hunger. There are severe discriminations in different parts of this country. There are grave human rights violations in our own home.

We need to get our house in order before we point fingers at the rest of the world.

Till then, your hypocrisy is at your disposal. The choice is yours: to become someone. Or to remain nothing.

May Palestinians find their way to peace and freedom. With whatever means necessary. The two-state system could work without discrimination and violence. If not, then may it be the Palestinians’ way. Amen!