Category: Politics

Random Numbness (September 2020)

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A kid is raped.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A woman is raped.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A journalist is missing.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A kid is murdered.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Kafir. Kafir.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Hit-and-run killer in an open-and-shut case is acquitted.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Terrorist escapes from prison. Well, not prison.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Another kid is raped.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Another woman is raped.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Another journalist is missing.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Kafir. Kafir.

Hardly A Tick. Hardly a Tock goes by here, without an episode of degradation of humanity. Then we compare numbers and stats with the West. Is there another state as ugly as this? No.

West includes ‘marital rape’ as ‘rape’ in their numbers. Even then, we are the leaders. The East. Mashraqi Muashra. Self-proclaimed champions of haya and pardah, with gems like Ansar Abbasi watching PTV.

Oh! I forgot.

Welcome to the land of pure. Windmill of martyrdom. A martyr here. A martyr there. A kid here. A woman there. Kafirs everywhere.

After the motorway incident we are expecting justice from those who killed a family in front of their kids. In Sahiwal. In broad daylight. Remember that?

And even if the police does its job, judicial ugliness will surface.

Like Majeed Achakzai went free after CCTV footage of hit-and-run murder of a police constable. What do you expect?

People go missing in the Capital and hardly a judge is able to do anything.

But you hate the messenger. Right? Ad Hominem. Don’t waste time vomiting.

Whenever there is a mess, there is a diversion. For our diversion, the state uses religion. Illiterates – who misuse religion in mosques and madrassahs – come out. Create a mess. Burn stuff. Real issues are flushed. Non-issues become grave. Some dead bodies complete the play. Credits: Unknown directors and known producers.

The split between the Ummah is 1400 years old; since the departure of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. There were wars between the great companions. Sahabas were killed. Muslims killed Muslims. There are references on both sides of the argument. Equally strong and equally debatable.

Do you think you can resolve that with your hate or violence?

Or by demolishing a shrine or a mosque?

Or by killing a person or two?

No.

None of you is going to resolve anything. Because there is nothing to resolve.

None of your scholar is going to win. Because there is nothing to win.

Namaz was offered 5 times a day. People saw the Prophet (SAW) offering Namaz 5 times every single day. Yet there are differences in opinion on how He offered Namaz. And here we are resolving things which happened once or twice.

1400 years. This split is going to sustain till the Judgement Day. You need to accept it. Tolerate it. And live with it.

You can debate and persuade. There can be conferences. There can be harmony which can lead to a lot better future for our generations to come.

Or do you want your kids to continue your legacy of “Kafir Kafir” on roads? Please, if you may, use contraceptives.

The circle is shrinking by the way. Coming closer to your demise with every passing day. And you think your licking will serve as a certificate? Maybe yes, for you. Maybe no, for your family or friends. Who knows!

When that state machinery needs blood to run, it will consume you anyway. Be it a patriot or a traitor. Be it a Sunni or a Shia. Be it a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

Anyhow.

If something is not igniting violence, hate and discrimination; let it be. Disagree. Criticize. Argue. But don’t stay numb on their abductions. Don’t be happy on violence against your opponents.

As Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Like women coming out on marches and chanting things which you never imagined in your wildest dreams. You took marital rape as your legal and religious right. Or convenient denial of its existence. On a bed given to you in a charity. Or dowry. Whatever.

You have to hear the other gender. Even if they are raising debatable slogans. Because this is the first time in the history of mankind that womankind is speaking. Hear them. At least give them space to shout. Let it be.

Again, it’s easier to have an ad-hominem-piss-off after everything. Come and vomit. Give verdicts. And be happy with the state and its writ and its pimping and your licking. Nothing is going to resolve, anyway. Because agriculture has nothing to do with Agriculture Department. Says the  Agriculture Department.

Adios.

Hayat Baloch

Anger isn’t blind. It’s pretty intelligent. It seldom goes out on the powerful and rarely unleashes itself on the higher ups. Face-spitting and insults always travel from top to bottom. Hierarchical.

Same is the case in informal social life. You will divert your gaze from an angry stare from someone you think can hurt you. But at home, no one dare stare at you. Because you are an angry man. You can spit venom and can hurt anyone under you.

That was the whole point of the movie “Thappad”. Of all the people in that party, the furious guy slapped his wife only. Not his boss or colleagues or his uncles. His wife. Taken-for-granted one.

Anger isn’t blind. It’s pretty intelligent.

Come to Hayat Baloch.

A student of Karachi University, killed in Turbat by FC Personnel on August 13th. It’s a crime to call it ‘reaction in haste’. That’s insult to injury. It was not haste. It was the intelligent anger. From powerful to powerless. The superiority of the defenders.

FC personnel knew that they can unleash their anger on the general public without a second thought. And they did.

So. Gunned down. Outside his home in front of his father. Eight bullets.

Happy independence day!

And then you wonder why they don’t get goosebumps ata national songs. They don’t. I don’t. Because life there is not life here.

Anyway.

Sahiwal massacre happened. Everyone cried for weeks. The government used the usual tactics of cooling down the anger. The anger cooled down. And CTD personnel were escorted.

Like Ehsan Ullah Ehsan. Oh! He wasn’t escorted. He escaped. I apologize.

Naqibullah. One of the 444 encounters of Rao Anwar. Naqib’s father died in pursuit of justice. While Rao walks free. Even Supreme Court didn’t get ‘angry’ when he didn’t respond to subpoenas for months.

Remember Sarfraz Shah killed by Rangers in 2011? Hayat Baloch’s murder is an exact case. From Sindh to Balochistan. The power remains intact. Above law. Above humanity. Above consciousness.

These are the reported cases. Imagine the unreported. If you look closely, you will remotely find such news in mainstream media. Hush!

Yet we call it Riyasat-e-Medina. Stubbornly. Without shame. There were no such cruelties in Riyasat-e-Medina. Prophet Muhammad PBUH would never approve of Pakistan as Riyasat-e-Medina.

People were not killed in broad daylight in Riyasat-e-Medina.
People were not abducted in Riyasat-e-Medina.

But guess where we are. Here:

  • One religious scholar is busy licking honey fingers in dreams. While another religious scholar – who talks about diversified peace – is living in exile. In fear of his life.
  • Mosques. Kids are raped. A married couple spins. Former one is accepted as no one labels it blasphemy. Latter one demands blood and blasphemy trends.
  • People are being abducted and killed by the state. But the whole community is adamant to declare the state as the fortress of Islam. Such sheer hypocrisy.
  • Books are banned. Dissent is not allowed. National narrative is being implemented through force and violence.
  • Justice for Kashmir with songs and roads. And bullets for those who dissent and ask questions. Hypocrisy remains intact.

Chief of the boys is talking to Bill Gates. And meeting MBS. From locust to Covid-19 to earthquakes to flood to wherever there are funds are boys. Getting fat now. Decomposing while composing. Well, it’s democracy.

And the puppet IK is the man to blame. Because we blamed puppets before.

These politicians and the political parties and the licking scholars and proxy outfits… these are effects. What’s the cause? What’s the root of all these evil?

Exactly! There is one cause. There is one evil root. You can keep counting leaves and argue over puppets, meanwhile I pray that Allah defends us from our defenders. And of course… duffers!

Our Saudi. Not Our Saudi.

EPISODE 1

MBS arrives. PM drives. Nation derives. Petrol on credit. MoUs and MoUs. Brotherhood. Unity. Herd: Charismatic. History is made.

EPISODE 2

PM pulls out from Malaysia’s visit. Pakistan sidelines Turkey, Iran and Malaysia. Herd: Strategic foresight. Bold. History is made.

EPISODE 3

Dirilis Ertugrul. Must watch. Haga Sophia. Must follow. Praises. Herd: Tectonic shift. Caliphate coming soon. History is made.

EPISODE 4

Foreign Minister: Slam Saudia. Slam, slam, slam. Saudia: You accented idiot! Give my money back. China: Here’s the $1 billion. Give them back. Government: Here’s the $1 billion. No more pimping for you. I’m out. Public: Where’s the actual $1 billion gone? Herd: Shut up! Saudia: Where’s the remaining $2 billion? Government: Bro! Let’s meet. I will drive for you. Saudia: No! You are driving me crazy. Government: Let me send you my man to cool things down. China: The fuck bro! Government: (winks China) Saudi: I see that. No more oil for you. Government: We will not succumb to any pressure. Herd: Bold. Farsighted. Bliss. History is made.

FINALE

Foreign Minister: I stood tall and resigned when Raymond Davis was escorted. Today, again, I will leave if I had to. And then I will resurrect again. Like Jesus. In another era. In another party. In another way.

EPILOGUE

We’ll not surrender. We’ll not compromise. It’s not Yemen. It’s not Uighur. It’s not Afghanistan. It’s Kashmir. [music] We’ll draw maps. We’ll make songs. We’ll be shouting [music]. We’ll be quiet. [silence] Whatever happens. Whatever we commit. Is farsighted. [music] And history will be made. [silence]

Conversation in Hell

Ex-Opposition:
Government is corrupt. It isn’t spending on public welfare. Vote for us.

Government:
Situation is worse than we anticipated. Because past governments were corrupt.

Public:
We know that. That’s why we elected you.

Not-Public:
Elected?

Public:
Elected by general public. Us.

Not-Public:
Selected. By General. Not public. Us.

Public:
Ok! We don’t care. Tell us where to put our concerns?

Not-Public:
In your ass.

Civil Service:
The proposal may be considered for further process in the matter.

Judiciary:
Language! We may ban you. Tube.

Government:
And books too.

Not-Public:
And criticism too.

Opposition:
Money-trail too.

Not-Public:
Agreed! Money trail too.

Public:
Ban reproduction altogether.

Civil Service:
The proposal may be considered for further process in the matter.

Public:
Oh for fuck sake!

Herd:
Don’t you dare talk like that. You can leave the country if you don’t like it.

Public:
I have.

Herd:
Oh! You coward! Come back and talk like a man.

Public:
Should I leave or should I come back?

Civil Service:
The proposal may be considered for further process in the matter.

Michael Jackson:
All I wanna say that they don’t really care about us.

Public:
Aren’t you dead?

Michael Jackson:
Yes. You are dead too.

Public:
Is it graveyard? Isn’t it Pakistan?

Michael Jackson:
Yes. Yes. Welcome.

Government:
Eternal peace.

Civil Service:
The proposal may be considered for further process in the matter.

Not-Public:
No it doesn’t. It’s eternal piece.

Government:
Land of pure.

Matiullah

Matiullah happened because Saleem Shehzad didn’t matter.

Saleem Shahzad happened because Balochistan didn’t matter.

Balochistan happened because thousands didn’t matter.

Thousands happened because you didn’t speak.

And if you won’t speak, nothing will matter. Until your father. Your brother. Your son. And you will be alone.

Just when they should have been vulnerable after CPEC Bajwa’s assets, they came out more violently. Ruthlessly. Without a hindrance. Without a shame. Because we don’t matter. Remember 55% didn’t matter in 1971?

Jallianwala Bagh won’t happen. Babrra won’t happen. One by one, thousands will be evaporated, and nothing will happen.

It’s time for you to speak for the people and not the state.
Because state is for people. People are not for state.
And without people, state is a barren land. Useless.
Just like us.

MilBus

No minus-one is going to happen. Not in Federal. Not in Punjab. With all the mess around and all the civil posts under non-civils, it’s not even needed. No need to change the diapers.
 
Extended Bajwa and Faez – not our Faiz – came and smiled while the PM was gibbering at Diamer-Basha Dam. A nod. A smile. All good.
 
Retired Bajwa – CPEC boy – suffered on Twitter. But the herd came on time and defended the defenders. But that’s not my problem. My problem is different.
 
Firstly, I cannot differentiate between a Toyota and a Honda without seeing their logos. So, as you can guess, I didn’t know about Toyota ZX. I know about FX though.
 
Anyway.
 
Secondly, when I read the cost of Rs.3 million, I was like this is less than his current monthly salary. Why so serious then? And then – another then – I saw the actual cost of Toyota ZX. Over Rs.3 crores.
 
And crux of my problem is, even if someone will offer me a brand new Toyota ZX for Rs.3 million, I wouldn’t be able to purchase it. My evolutionary solution is; I don’t need that. I am Jack’s broken heart.
 
Don’t be selfish.
They are awake, when you are asleep.
When you are asleep, they take your stuff.
They take your stuff; you go into Stockholm syndrome.
And Stockholm is beautiful.
 
So. No minus-one needed. All is good.
 
On the other hand, we took Faez – our Faez Isa – to the cleaners. We unskinned him and took all the measures to make him look ugly and questionable. Why? Because he questioned the unquestioned. Because he did what Twitter tried on Retired Bajwa. Because he stood corrected. Our Faez.
 
Even after stripping him naked, he stood tall. Without an army behind. Without an intelligence to manipulate. Without a moral brigade on social media.
 
Before twitter, there was a woman named Dr. Ayesha Siddiqua. She wrote a book and become a certified traitor. In her ‘Military Inc.’ (2007), she detailed the business empire of the military. Which is like a spider-web. She estimated ‘MilBus’ (military business) of being worth £10 billion. She said boys have 12% of the country’s land. That was in 2007.
 
You can browse Eliot Wilson’s article on Spectator for more details. Or you can read the book: Military Inc. by Dr. Ayesha Siddiqua. And then you can become despicable too.
 
Or you can abuse those who ask questions. In that case, you don’t need to read or analyze or be a sane man. You don’t even need a mind. Your dumbness would be enough.
 
That’s all a state needs – when it’s a security state.
That’s all a religion needs – when it’s in danger.
 
There was East India Company before. Now there is West Pakistan Company. Or Pakistan Company. Because there is no East anymore. High 5!
 
Shut up!

Our Chomsky and their Hoodbhoy

Noam Chomsky is a linguist and a philosopher. He’s a renowned expert in his field and is loved by his students across America. But that’s not all. He is known worldwide because of his whistle-blowing and political activism. A heretic, a rebel; who criticizes American hegemony vehemently. He regularly opinionates against militarism, violence, capitalism and discrimination.

His educational work / career remains unhindered regardless of his critical views against the state. He has a strong influence – deservingly – in both education and politics.

In Pakistan, we love Noam Chomsky. We love to quote him. We use his words as a reference particularly in the Palestine-Israel conflict. He is ‘our’ intellectual hero who has exposed all the devils of the world. We just love him.

But.

Brace for impact. We are landing. In the land of pure… hypocrisy.

We have a similar heretic and rebellious professor here. Pervez Hoodhboy. He is a physicist and has degrees from MIT. And like Chomsky, he keeps on expressing his political views. He never hesitates to expose corruption around him. Just last year, he unveiled corruption of millions of rupees in government universities.

But we hate him. We hate him to the extent that we have thrown him out of the university. We don’t want him to teach rationality and modern sciences to our kids.

Because light makes us blind.

We doubt his credentials. As well as his sanity. We doubt his words. As well as his loyalty.

We have tagged him too. Haroon Rasheed – who loves to vomit live on TV – has recently ‘revealed’ Hoodhboy is an American agent. Alas! Here we are. Since the beginning.

Agents. Traitors. From Fatima Jinnah to Bacha Khan to Walli Khan to Marri to Suhrawardy to G. M. Syed to Mujeeb to Bugti to Faiz Ahmad Faiz to Jalib and hundreds of others to those abducted to those in unidentified graves to you and to me.

We have foreign heroes. Arundhati Roy. Edward Snowden. Jullian Assange. Daniel Ellsberg. Chelsea Manning. And Noam Chomsky. Astoundingly, we hate the same minds at home. Like Asma Jahangir. Eqbal Ahmed. Tariq Ali. Ammar Ali Jan. And Pervez Hoodhboy.

We lost one half in 1971. Because 55% of the population was of traitors. So – fortunately or unfortunately – majority decided to part ways. That is too a comic. Because it was the first time in history when majority decided to find a separate homeland after getting tired of stubborn minority.

Anyway.

We are firing teachers. Not like we are firing bullets. But literally. We are firing all the men we doubt. Because credentials and PhDs are guttered when loyalty is doubted. After all, that’s the whole idea behind a successful marriage.

Our hypocrisy and ‘corrected’ history have brought us here. Here.

Dissent is a beauty of any living society. You may disagree, but you defend the right to express. I disagree with Hoodbhoy on certain points, but I know; he knows how to hit the cord where it hurts the most. And the cord is of truth. Brutal truth.

And other times I just feel sad for him. He is fighting for more than 3 decades for sanity. He could have moved abroad. Very easily. But he stood here. And decided to fight against the holy cows – mullah, judiciary and establishment – along with their herd of 22 crore sheep.

Edwin Markham poem “Outwitted” says:

He drew a circle that shut me out-

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and took him In!

Kids – From Pakistan to Kashmir to Afghanistan

Two stories. Of violence. Of gun-shots. Of state-terrorism.
 
But that’s not the point.
 
In one story, a whole family was brutally attacked by the state. Killing half of the family right in front of the remaining half. In broad day-light.
 
Those who were going to a marriage hall, ended up in a morgue. Those who were going to play with kids, were out-played by the state guns.
 
But even that’s not the point.
 
Point is hypocrisy.
 
You have been nurtured and brainwashed. Even your DNA must have compromised.
 
You saw the other kid – not our kid – in Kashmir. Traumatized by the Indian state. The kid sitting over his dead nana’s chest, in blood.
 
So, you wept. You took the pain personally. You highlighted the case. Took it internationally. Tweeted it to the foreign news agencies.
 
Back home, our kids suffered without justice.
Back home, everything remained normal after the massacre.
Back home, all the culprits and perpetrators were freed.
 
In Sahiwal massacre, 4 were killed by state bullets, including a 13-year old girl. 2 kids witnessed the whole episode.
 
But for the Kashmiri kid, we want justice. We want the world to take a strict notice. We want the world to bomb the hell out of the killers.
 
For the Kashmir kid.
Ignoring our Pakistani kids.
 
Oh! epiphany. Remember “two-legged dogs”?
 
Hundreds of children were killed in drone strikes in Afghanistan. Guess who provided the sites / stations for the drones? Don’t weep. Keep mourning.
 
Those were all kids. Those kids in Pakistan, in Kashmir, in India, in Afghanistan… were kids. They all suffered equally in the hands of ugly state narratives. Be it any state.
 
What matters is your domain. Your domain starts from your home and your street. So, if you were numb a year back, you are just being hypocrite now. Even your pain political.
 
Mourn. But mourn without political affiliation and national bias.

Post 8303 and PIA

Blaming IK or PTI for PIA is your political bias. They don’t even share 5% of the blame. First and foremost, air marshals ruined it. Of all the institutions under the boys, PAF got this one. And like all the other ones under men-in-uniform, this one is also ruined. Imagine! Air Marshal Arshad Malik and his predecessors did not have a proper mechanism for recruitment of pilots. So, 8303 happened. Bad judgement and poor piloting skills led to a catastrophe. Catastrophes. Then PPP. The party which is known for giving jobs in bulk to the least capable people. For votes. Behind an ugly employees-to-aircraft ratio in PIA, no one is to blame except PPP. No wonder we have the clueless men on ground and fake pilots up in the air. In abundance. Why don’t we export them? Anyway. And PML-N. They were here in federal government for 5 years from 2013 to 2018. PIA kept bleeding before, during, and after their tenure. 47 people died in a plane crash in Havelian in 2016 and yet we didn’t dissect PIA. We covered the incident like we cover dead bodies. Like Punjab Police, ugly footsteps of PML-N can be traced in PIA too. Don’t jump. Let it crash. PTI deserves the credit at least for highlighting the facts in the media and exposing the ugly hierarchy of PIA, as well as of pilots. EU has banned PIA for 6 months. Quite reasonable. Let’s hope that the issues will be resolved and ugly ducklings will be removed and thrown out. Or we can privatize it. Nothing is above human lives. That too in cases where you have to keep an instituition alive with billions in bailout packages. Like Pakistan Steel Mills. Get it done. Or be done with it. No more bailout. No more scapegoating. No more sugar-coating. And. As I always reiterate; these PPP, PML-N, PTI, PML-Q, MQM, etc. are all eggs. Rotten eggs. Laid by the same hen. Try slaughtering it someday. You may find a golden egg.

Random Numbness II (June 2020)

Firdaus Aashiq warned that the virus can enter from “neechay se”. She advised to cover your mouth as well as your genitals.
Zartaj Gul defined the 19 points of Corona.
Asad Umar explained that we are at the lowest already. We can’t go any lower. Isn’t this hopeful?
Then came Riaz Fatyana. During the sugar crisis, he went against sugar, not the usual scapegoat of ‘mafia’. Now, he locusted in the National Assembly. ‘Eat Locust. Beat Corona’.
Sheikh Rasheed is selling 24 crore tickets. Haleem Adil is distributing funds among 29 billion people. Qureshi is busy fighting Tareen. Tareen is busy making money. Money is busy dipping. Fawad is busy spilling beans. Vawda is busy being an asshole.
And just when we thought the episode was over, came Prime Minister himself. He challenged the opposition to point out his any contradiction since March. March 2020. Not March 2010. He knows.
For instance, back in the not-sold-days, IK used to bash war on terror and our funded Jihad and collateral damage. He asked for trial of the terrorist Bin Laden. Then, during transactional-mode, he stopped giving opinions. Now, after-sales-service, he is back. With the oldest and strongest narrative. Shaheed.
Bin Laden is shaheed.
All those, who died fighting Bin Laden, were also shaheed.
Those who stood behind Bin Laden, shaheed.
Those who stood against Bin Laden, shaheed.
Kids who were killed in school, shaheed.
People who were bombed, shaheed.
Welcome. To the Windmill of Shaheeds.
We make and sell Shaheeds.
Yardstick of our ideology.
But not all that lost are shaheeds.
Rao Anwar is ghazi.
Ehsan Ullah Ehsan is ghazi.
Ertugrul is ghazi.
I deviated. Now back to Majlis-e-Shora!
Imagine, these folks – all these comedians – are making budget, policies, setting priorities and running the state. ‘Apparently’. We know there is another hierarchy of duffers who is running the state, actually, but yes, there are apologists who believe not them but them and them and democracy.
Where do such out-of-the-box ideas come from? Memes? WhatsApp jokes? Because these ideas are not in newspapers. Or scholarly articles. Or books.
Or maybe, when they can’t sleep in the night – not because of their ugliness but because of making less – they have profound thoughts. They concentrate. And then they get an epiphany.
What are the rationale ones doing? Getting fired probably. Mohammed Hanif. Ammar Ali Jan. Pervez Hoodhboy. Or being humiliated. Like Faez Isa.
This all looks like chaos. Everything falling apart. Right? Wrong.
Everything moving so fast, yet no progress. Like foreign funding case. Or Musharraf’s treason.
PIA, like Suparco, is all going down. With fake licenses of pilots, imagine the future of the airline. Death.
You dissent, you get fired. Literally too.
People go missing. Have you seen supporters of duffers and status quo gone missing? No. Specific ones only. Targeted ones. Only.
Doctors being threatened. From Quetta to Lahore.
Students being punished. Baton charged. Humiliated.
Censorship gagging you. Choking.
Yet, you have to survive. Like an insect. Regardless of all the ugly conditions.