Saturday 30 November 2013

Big The Size , More The Issues!!


Ever since a child, I would tinker with Styrofoam to make model planes. Once the design issues were kinked out, I would try to expand its size. But every time I would expand the size, something or the other would fall apart or malfunction. Back then it confused me as to why a working design would pose a challenge at expansion. Growing up, I noticed these phenomenon’s in many different fields where a perfectly well functioning design or an idea would not work at a different scale, just like my plane design. Let me explain.

Economics: We have been told that Communism does not work. Soviet Union & North Korea bear witness to this fact in history. And we are told that Capitalism works. Many countries adopting free-market policies have prospered (compared to the Communist nations). In a Free-market economy, money is the means of signal for supply and demand. Communist Economies requires Central Planning. What I find interesting is structure of a family. A family runs on communist principles. You do not charge your kids for food. Everyone works according to his ability and need. This model may even work in large families. But as the size of the model expands, communism falls apart. Whereas if Capitalism were applied to a family unit, it would destroy the social fabric and the human element from relationships.

Knowledge:  Pick any major event in history – Roman Empire, WW1, WW2, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The more you read into its details, the opinionated the information gets with conflicting point of views. Plus, when we try to granulize details, we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. This is very common in the field of Economics. We tend to mix things between correlation and causation, or the arrow of causation. The marginal utility of more details goes from beneficial to harmful. It is important to always keep the larger picture in sight. More information does not mean more wisdom.

Religion: Religion creates a baseline for morality. Practicing an old religion keeps us in touch with our history, regardless we understand it or not. But implementation of religion in its strictest sense twists matters in reality. Let’s take Pakistan for example. My parents tell me that Pakistan was one of the most prosperous nations in the region in the 60s & 70s. It was a very friendly and safe place. I see my parents wedding pictures and I do not see anyone looking too religious. Today, taking a random sample from Pakistan would show more people practicing religion. Yet, the moral sense didn’t improve proportionally. In fact, it’s common that neighbors no longer interact as much as they did 40 years ago. So what went wrong? I feel Law of Proportionality comes in handy explaining that we may have overextended a working principle. Or maybe it’s the ‘Institutionalization of religion’. Who knows! And that’s the thing with Complex social systems – they aren’t linear. In Complex systems causation is noise. Correlations & long term trends are the real signal carrier.

 Science: Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein explained the world of natural laws of gravitation via mathematical equations. Their discovered laws hold well with celestial bodies. But these very laws fall apart when applied to Quantum Mechanics, where there is no such thing as certainty and everything is probabilistic. The Law of Proportionality prevails even in the purest form of natural science. I am not arguing against the size as the factor in complex system but the layers of complexity. The more complexity is layered into a system, the higher its risks of failure. And there is nothing more complex than a human conscious. We can predict the durability of machines, we can calculate the half-life of radioactive materials, energy levels and even molecular processes but we cannot calculate rational or irrational responses of a conscious being. This very element of consciousness restricts us from ‘calculating’ future economic conditions via fancy models. It’s not just that we cannot calculate conscious irrationality but interpretation of data adds our own conscious  abstraction to our conclusion.

Sunday 28 July 2013

A day on the streets

As had been customary for pretty much the entire summer, 11-year old Amir woke up at around seven in the morning drenched in sweat. The fan had been still for almost three consecutive days now; a silent reminder of the bliss it had been that Amir had never bothered to acknowledge when electricity would visit their home a few hours a day. His mother was stretched out next to him; asleep; the fanning mat still clutched in her hand. She had fanned him to sleep, Amir knew, and had finally given in to exhaustion and dropped off herself. Her sleep wouldn’t last long, Amir knew. The heat would see to that.
Soon he was out on the streets, in the scorching heat with the stack of newspapers balanced under his arm. He didn’t have to try hard to appear in a pitiful state as he shuffled from car to car, waving the newspapers in the car windows; his grubbed and torn-at-places attire, matted hair and dirty face saw to that. Whether a disgraceful appearance helped him in selling more newspapers or not was a debate he had forgone a long time ago. There was just no satisfying people, he knew. If he made himself look abject, people might take pity on him, but would mostly just turn away in disgust. If he made himself look presentable, there would be no end to the ‘such a fine young lad you are, and look at you. Begging here on the streets (even though that wasn’t exactly what he would call selling newspapers), why don’t you go out and get a real job?’ stereotypes.
In his scrimpy trade, Amir had come across a lot of different types of people. There were the big, rich businessmen who would ride up in their big black cars, seated in the backseat clad in grand suits. Such people hardly ever bothered to even look up at him. There was the harried father rushing his kids to school, always in bad mood. Often he would vent out his anger on Amir. There were youngsters, whos’ arrival would always be heralded by loud music blaring from the car speakers. Whenever he approached them, they would engage in a loud and raucous discussion, and pretend not to hear him. There were taxi drivers; always mopping their sweating foreheads; and most of them hardly had enough for their own selves, yet would at times try to shell out whatever they could for him. Very few were the relaxed people, who would smile whenever he came up and pay him, and sometimes they would even refuse the newspaper he offered them, telling him to just keep the money.
Rejection was an integral part of Amir’s ‘trade’. He had learned long ago not to let it get him down. And so he had stopped seething at people who would roll up their windows when they spotted him, or the disdainful looks he received, or the snide comments about how he was a perfectly healthy young boy who should do something more worthwhile than selling newspapers. He had even stopped being frustrated at the selfishness of the people; after all, if a person could afford a big car, an expensive mobile phone, maintain a family, why could he not shell out a mere 10 rupees to him, a person in dire need? It was something that used to bother him a lot once; when every window rolled up in his face, or every annoyed expression on a potential customer’s face when he ambled along would be an affront to him, and he would turn away with a sickening feeling in his stomach, his heart aching. It wasn’t just the fact that they were forcing him to move on empty-handed, but also the contempt with which they regarded him. He may not be educated, or have a proper job, or own a car, but he was still human. He too had feelings! But as the days rolled by without anything changing, he learned not to let it get him down. Sometimes he told himself to be strong; at other times, he would compare himself with shopkeepers. He told himself that while he may not have a proper shop, he had the freedom of being able to interact with his customers openly and freely, and he did not have to worry about competition either. Of course, he did not get the respect that shopkeepers get in his case, but after all, you have to give something to lose something. Sometimes he would realize how ridiculous he was being, but he forced himself to believe that, for he needed a way to uphold his pride. He had some of it, if not a lot, and like every other person, he needed to maintain it. To keep himself going.
But despite whatever he kept telling himself, the fact remained that rejection wasn’t just in his ‘trade’; it was in Amir’s whole life. He had been rejected a father who could financially support his family. He had been denied a country which could, or maybe chose to, help people like him all over the country. He had been denied the basic necessities of life such as water and electricity. He had been denied an education. In short, he had been denied a proper life.
He had even been denied a healthy mother. She was sick most of the time; sprawled on the bed, her skin burning to the touch. Fear and worry for her made Amir forget all about his misfortunes though. Amir didn’t know exactly what she was suffering from, but he was aware that they never had enough money to get her treated properly. Amir had even started to save up the small amount he used to shell aside from his income every day for sweets and chocolates, in the hope that one day he could gather enough to get his mother treated. He loved her so very much; the pure love born of innocence that exists between a mother and child; and he didn’t know what he would do without her.
And that, in fact, was his true driving force; not him telling himself to be strong, neither the need to uphold his pride; it was fear for his mother. It was what kept him doggedly padding through the roads, stopping at car after car, waving his newspapers in the windows, steeling his nerves at every rejection, and moving on. That, and of course his self-assurance that this was still better than being stuck at a shop, being forced to sit the hours away. It was something Amir knew, deep down, yet he refused to acknowledge it, and kept telling himself it wasn’t true. Because it would always lead him to thoughts of what would transpire if something were to happen to his biggest source of inspiration; if she was around no more; what would he do then?

And then he would shake his head; telling himself that he was being foolish, for nothing was going to happen to his mother, and that he would soon have enough money to get her properly treated; and then he would move on to wave his stack of newspapers in the next car’s window.

Saturday 8 June 2013

Accord

''Give up!'', says the mind,
and now the heart agrees.
What of this agony? This malice?
That no one ever sees!
What of this peace, i havent known?
Unknown to me, like the floatin trees;
Of Babylon!
Which way do they sway, when a certain cold breeze,
Hits their upside down copses;whither do the leaves
Fall? Down or up, towards the sky?
If so, then why?
Or, are there Djins, and Ghosts and ghouls?
And terrifying ghost-houses with forlorn souls.
Pity! For the haunted, who no one consoles.
Furthermore, on the contrary if we are to think.
Do djins and Ghouls dwell in barren lands,
Stories being stories,
Tales to overwhelm?
And so do they think of us humans
.............as we of them?
And are they afraid of the horror i.e ''Man''
And is honesty really the policy best?
Coz men have failed while being so!,
Or were they; simply put; or else,
They surely would have forseen so!
Hypocrisy; it shines when put to test.
Man notes and progresses,
forgetting the rest!
Seemingly tis a powerhouse of unflinching zest!
But it does make life look like a sorry jest!
Tis new yet the biggest mystery of them all!
Does the heart have any role in feelings.
Does it transcend and mould and bend;
The way we make our dealings?
Or is it a mere organ, devoid of sentiments;
Like the hectic learned man,
Who never diverts an inch or so ever,
From the purposed plan.
If so then Lo!
Tis only brain,
And heart muscle and vein.
The idioms and phrases of yore,
Are apt to go down the drain.
So much hassle bout the heart of before,
All in vain!
Hail the mightiest of organs; the real vital one
The mighty electrical brain,
And yet, i am unsure
and so there is room for contrabands,
And thus ardently the question stands,
Because to this there is more,
And im fiendishly unsure,
And this my brain with my heart grieves,
How can the brain and the heart,
So peacefuly be at ease?

Saturday 13 April 2013

Can't come up with a title... NOT ready for publishing!


If you were one of the unfortunate victims of the deranged and vicious attack on the Christian community in Lahore a couple of months back, chances are that you are one of those really few people in Pakistan who still hasn’t applied the forgive and forget, or rather forget, policy related to the whole event. You were there; you know the whole story. No one else knows the cold, piercing fear that impaled your heart the night the police and then a mob gathered at the house of the accused. How you and your whole community were forced to flee, fearing the worst. The worst, which you’d been imagining too demented to actually happen. And then the sense of unreality that gripped you as you stared in horror at the ashes of what had once been something that belonged to you; at the charred roads and black smoke that encompassed what had once been your home; and the only thought running through your mind was:
You: What did I ever do to deserve this?
And then along comes one of the many people responsible for the burnings; the man of the hour, here to rescue you from the plight of your endless/conclusion-less pondering.
Deranged maniacs: You committed blasphemy. You insulted our Prophet (S.A.W).
You: But… I did not do anything.
Deranged maniac: Well, one of you did. You all had to be taught a lesson.
You: But the man who committed the actual blasphemy got arrested! Isn’t that lesson enough?
Deranged maniac: Pah! You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you? But it’s not as simple as that. In matters as serious as this, a stronger statement is always needed.
You: So basically, if one of us committed a blasphemous act, you deemed it fit to burn down the entire Christian community? Punish all for the crime of one? Just to send a ‘statement’?
Deranged maniac: Blasphemy is a very serious crime in our religion, boy. It must be dealt with a punishment as severe as the crime itself.
You: I don’t really get how the severity of one man committing blasphemy and that of burning down an entire community match up…
Deranged maniac: Spare me the clever talk, boy. You tell me this: what is your problem with our religion? We’re willing to live in peace with you Christians, but you’re not making that entirely possible, are you?
You: Oh, oh, so you’re calling punishing all of us brutally for one person’s crime ‘living in peace’?
Deranged maniac: Why are you portraying it like that? We’re the actual victims here!
You: You’re the victims here? HOW?
Deranged maniac: You heard me. We’re the actual victims here, just as we always are. Victims of your propagandas, always targeting our religion. This was merely a way to defend ourselves.
You: You burn down the entire Christian community to defend yourself?
Deranged maniac: That was the only way. For a strong statement was needed to keep you people in check, since you obviously can’t do that yourself. I repeat: blasphemy is a VERY serious crime in our religion.
You: Are you implying that we should keep a check on EVERYONE here and stop them from committing a crime; else it’s hell for all of us? That’s impossible.
Deranged maniac: (shrugs) Then deal with the consequences. Remember: as you sow, so shall you reap.
You: So you’re actually defending the mindless atrocity of your actions.
Deranged maniac: I stand by what happened. You deserved it.
You: Deserve – what, HOW? Okay, let me explain the situation to you in very simple words. Suppose a person committed a robbery. The punishment for that in Islam is that the hand of the one responsible gets cut off, right?
Deranged maniac: (nods vigorously) Yes.
You: Okay. So if a person steals, do you cut his hand off, or do you go and cut off the hands of his entire family as well?
Deranged maniac: Only the person who stole would be punished. Why his family? Islam is a very fair and just religion.
You: Exactly. So isn’t ours the same case? If a person commits blasphemy – what’s the penalty for blasphemy in Islam again?
Deranged maniac: (sourly) Death.
You: Exactly. So if a person commits blasphemy, would you not have him sentenced to death? Why burn all of our belongings and possessions down as well?
Deranged maniac: (growing frustrated) These two are completely different things!
You: HOW, pray tell? Or are you implying that blasphemy is a special case in Islam where you are allowed to take the law into your own hands and inflict whatever punishment you deem fit on the criminal?
Deranged maniac: Of course not. Islam is just.
You: Is it really? Your actions certainly suggest otherwise. Or maybe that’s because there IS no penalty for blasphemy in Islam, and you don’t know what to do about it!
Deranged maniac: (growing increasingly frustrated) There is. Stop insulting our religion.
You: I’m not insulting anything; I’m only pointing out what seems evident. Is it the fact that there is a penalty for blasphemy in Islam; you just don’t know what it is and thus decided to act of your own accord?
Deranged maniac: (suppressed anger) Are you implying that we are ignorant of the ways of our religion? Because if that’s the case –
You: Well, it’s either that, for I refuse to believe that considering how ‘perfect’ and ‘just’ Islam is, as you keep reiterating, it would allow something as senseless and unjust as this.
Deranged maniac: (seething) Do not doubt Islam, it is the fittest religion!
You: Then why are you continuously giving me reasons to doubt that?
Deranged maniac: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
You: I’ll TELL you what I’m talking about. I’ll tell you what really happened. The penalty for blasphemy in Islam is death; death for the criminal. But that isn’t enough for you people, is it? You always talk of Islam being the perfect religion – and maybe it is! Yet you don’t consider it perfect according to your intemperate views, and thus are redefining Islam, molding it according to your perspectives, and yet using it to defend your actions! You are using your religion, your beloved and PERFECT Islam, as an excuse for oppression. And that, my -
Deranged maniac: (takes out a gun and shoots you).

Friday 15 March 2013

Steps Towards Democracy


A political person is appointed by the peoples and is responsible for hatching the development issues to the higher level of administration and improvises the innovative policies to improve the governance. This is one of the most respectable occupation and the elected person is considered prosperous national servant.  One of the most interesting enigmas is the process by which such 'servants' are selected. This process is referred to as the democratic where the community is given the option to mark on his favorite person's electoral symbol. The outcome of this exercise is a best servant that receives high number of votes.  The process consist of following three phases, phase-1: Pre-Poll, phase-2: During-Poll and phase-3: After-poll.


In this article the objective is to provide the hypothetical analysis about each phase under the prospective of a common Pakistani.
Phase-1: Pre-Poll
The pre-poll is the phase where the political entity reforms its social contacts by attending the funeral, marriage ceremonies; go for prayers and dinners parties etc.  The member explains his party manifesto and highlight the burning issues and vouch that his party is the final choice to pull out the nation from the current mayhem.  At this stage, the best exercise is to erode the corruption and incompetence of incumbent govern authorities by providing the references to the various cases and intend that their party manifesto is the only hope to prevent the Pakistan for additional disaster.  The member describes his fidelity and explains that how his party has suffered and faced different democratic peril and how opposition has curbed various ongoing projects. Similarly, the opposition has the same sentiments of how the government has blocked the national interest projects by bolstering the administrative discretion  The member cronies prepare various types of slogans that revel the ineffectiveness of opposite counterpart.  In short the members try to hide their incompetence by putting all garbage of corruptions and vitiated governance on the previous govern authorities and on the opposition.
Phase-2: During-Poll
The Phase 2 is short and interesting as the voter receives the higher level of importance and protocol from the member cronies. For instance, the use of vehicles, vans, cars, rickshaws and mini buses are common to take the voters in the polling stations.
Phase-3: After-Poll
The phase 3 is the actual epoch in the life of both voters and the winning member (servant). After the result announcement, the voters go the political offices to greet the winning member, enjoy a cup of tea there and come back home. The disarming journey of voter demise and servant ride starts as lot of issues upraised for him.
For instance the winning member feels that the party manifesto that brought him into this winning position is not in the wider interest of nation. He feels that, despite the corruptions (that he had proved during the election campaign) the other party is not bad as much. He deems that he can develop and serve his constituency better by joining the counterpart regime. Such ideological rejuvenation forces him to leave his incumbent association. So, do we need to obliterate such culprit system that is based on the personal goals? The answer is no, because the democratic system works like this. The ominous speculation is that the same members are going to rule the system for the next five years or more. Let it happen and allow our leader to check the temperament of the peoples.  Let the peoples bear the smashes of politician cronies on them. Let them observe how our political leaders fight each other and how they sit together. Let them witness various corruptions and one day these frustrated peoples will come out.  The day will be the 'day of judgment' and will be a staggering day for the political elite. The peoples will have their own court and the decisions will be made on immediate basis.

Monday 11 March 2013

Election 2013: Political Parties Approach


Latest polls show that Nawaz League's nexus with Punjab-based anti-Shi'a terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has not hurt its popularity in Punjab during the last several months.


PML (N) Popularity:
In fact, it appears that PML(N) has successfully exploited Sunni majority's bigotry against the Shi'a in Pakistan, particularly in its home base in Punjab. Sharif brothers' PML (N) is now the most popular party in  Punjab with 59% approval and nationally with 41% approval rating  in Pakistan, according to the latest Gallup Pakistan poll. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is second nationally with 17% and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) third with 14% approval.
Exploiting Hate:
To put PML(N)'s popularity in perspective, let's look at the history of how politicians have exploited such feelings of hatred against minorities. Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany by riding a wave of resentment against European Jews. In India, Narendra Modi solidified his popularity in Gujarat by approving of Muslim massacre in 2002. Ten years later, Modi continues to be the most popular chief minister in India.  While India's ruling Congress party governs only 8 states,  BJP's anti-Muslim rhetoric continues to help it retain power in ten of India's 28 states. Most Israelis continue to vote for politicians who maintain brutal military occupation of Palestine.
Militancy in Pakistan:
In Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto caved in to pressure from right-wing religious parties and passed a law declaring Ahmedis non-Muslim. This self-serving act did not save Bhutto. Anti-Bhutto riots gave Gen Ziaul Haq the opportunity to remove Bhutto from power. After grabbing power, Zia collaborated with the religious right to take advantage of average Pakistani's religiosity to consolidate his own power. Zia exploited the strong anti-communist sentiments after the Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan. He collaborated with the United States and Saudi Arabia to give birth to religious militancy in Pakistan, eventually leading to the creation  of Al Qaeda and the Taliban who, along with their allies and affiliates such as LeJ, continue to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan and elsewhere. Nawaz Sharif, too, is a creation of the Zia era.
Civil Society's Role:
Most politicians in democracies are followers, not leaders. They respond to sentiments of their constituents, even hate-filled and violent sentiments. Most of Pakistan's politicians and political parties have their militant wings or alliances with various militant groups who carry out attacks against those who disagree. Such venal politicians are part of the problem, not part of the solution to rising violence in Pakistan. 
Given the venality of the politicians, the only possible solution to this problem is to build public opinion against violence in all its forms. Once the people decide to reject bigotry and violence, the politicians will follow.
Who has the power to shape public opinion in democracies? It's the civil society consisting of the mass media, non-governmental organizations, religious scholars and other powerful public advocacy groups.
Why Should Civil Society Care?
It's in civil society's best interest to create an enabling environment for peaceful coexistence for freedom, music, arts, literature, culture and economy to flourish. Such freedom is necessary to promote creativity and ensure prosperity of the society as a whole.
Why Should Mass Media Care?
The media are owned by corporations who should care because a safe and secure Pakistan is the best way to increase their profitability. These media magnates should have a clear editorial policy to discourage incitement to violence. They should tell their anchors to stop spinning conspiracy theories designed to distract the attention of people from Pakistan's real threats which are mostly internal. They should encourage the people to take personal responsibility for their actions.
Why Should Politicians Care?
The politicians should care because they have to govern after winning elections. Here, they can learn from Indian BJP leader Narendra Modi.  Modi is still a bigot but he knows that he can not afford to alienate the whole world, particularly businessmen and investors who need security and stability to invest in Gujarat. Modi has used his anti-Muslim rhetoric to get votes but he has not allowed mass killings of Muslims after 2002. The lack of violence and continuing stability have attracted massive investments which have made Gujarat's economy among the fastest growing in the world.
Summary:
It's in the best long-term self-interest of Pakistani politicians and civil society  to work to reduce militancy and promote peace and tolerance in the country. This will help bring stability and economic opportunity to Pakistan's current and future generations.

Sunday 3 February 2013

Blunders & Pakistan


To recall the past, the history of Pakistan is full of an endless streak of debacles from the very inception. The fragile democratic system, erroneous policies and lack of vision has averted this nation into a direction-less horde. I am writing about the top 10 blunders which had a drastic impact on Pakistan's history. 

  1. From the outset, Pakistan was confronted with challenges of national security, economic well-being and mushrooming influence of the Soviet Union over Afghanistan and Iran. The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaqat Ali Khan, was compelled to cement pro-American ties. It was argued by the strategists that America could provide the economic, military and technical support to a thriving country like Pakistan. As a consequence, Pakistan went into America's camp, whereas, India remained the part of the non-aligned movement.

  2. Ghulam Muhammad's dismissal of the constituent assembly was the first onslaught on democracy. Speaker Tamizuddin filed a petition in Sindh high court. The high court overturned the decision but the Federal court under Justice Muhammad Munir upheld the dismissal. This judgement was passed under the law of necessity and mutilated the face and jeopardized the process of democracy. This verdict justified the next four martial laws and 'guaranteed' a somber future of Pakistan. This law has been obliterated by the current judiciary.

  3. One unit scheme was introduced by Muhammad Ali Bogra and Ayub Khan carried on with its implementation and included it in the interim 1962 constitution. The seeds of discontent among East Pakistanis were sowed.

  4. Separation of East Pakistan left the entire nation traumatized. Bhutto refused to accept Mujeeb's mandate in East Pakistan. The sentiments of national unity had disintegrated. East Pakistanis were among the front line ranks to achieve independence for Pakistan. Rather than alleviating the grievances of East Pakistanis, a relentless military operation was conducted to counter insurgency which further deepened the cracks in the federation and antagonized the Eastern wing. A failure to reach political settlement resulted in Indian military intervention. Pakistan's military was left unfettered to deal with the matter and carried out endless atrocities against East Pakistanis which proved to be the final nail in the coffin.

  5. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was imprisoned and later sentenced to death. Military establishment and the flawed judicial system were embroiled in this catastrophe. This changed the dimension of politics in Pakistan, bringing inherent politics and politics of 'martyrdom' at front and burying the ideological politics.

  6. Zia-ul-Haq's martial law was another ferocious strike on democracy. He concocted the policy of Islamization to win the support of Mujahideens and the Western forces against Communist Russia. He fought a proxy war against Russia in avarice of financial and military aid. Pakistan intruded in Afghanistan, leaving it dismantled and brought the evils of sectarianism, drug mafia and violence in our own country. Pakistan's policy on war on terror destabilized Afghanistan once and for all and we are paying it off.

  7. Kargil war was Pakistan Army's adventurism which resulted in a defeat. This created a rift between Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf which ultimately ended up in the enforcement of martial law. Pakistan sought America's help in de-escalating the conflict. Kargil war was an utter disgrace for Pakistan in the world arena. Indo-Pak relations were once again strained and went to its lowest ebb.

  8. Decisions taken by Musharraf after 9/11 backfired. America asked Pakistan to request Mullah Umer to withdraw his support over Osama Bin Laden. Allegedly, former DG ISI, General Mahmood asked Mullah Umer not to hand over Bin Laden and advised the Americans to negotiate with the Taliban leadership. As a repercussion, military intervention became inevitable. Pakistan's military once again became the mercenaries. In the light of this so-called 'war on terror', 35000 Pakistanis have been killed, resulted in an economic meltdown and the entire social fabric uprooted.

  9. Musharraf lashed out at the judiciary and sacked the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He derailed the process of independent and fair judicial system. Meanwhile, National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was passed and political concessions were granted. A strong lawyer's movement struggling for the restoration of judiciary caused Musharraf's doom.

  10. Out of the blue, Asif Ali Zardari occupied the presidency. Zardari was reluctant in restoring the judiciary. Another movement launched and presided over by Nawaz Sharif reinstated the judiciary. PML-N and PPP deviated from the charter of democracy, depriving the country from political stability, economic revival, peace and prosperity. Zardari wanted immunity over his corruption cases. Government's refusal to implement court orders has disturbed the state's institutional harmony. Zardari gave protection to orphan political parties under the umbrella of 'reconciliation' to stretch his regime. The office of the president demands a neutral personality representing the federation of Pakistan. We are living this blunder and the aftermaths will become vivid after the current tenure.

And the country continues to bleed. A functioning democracy, across the board accountability, revamping the state institutions and paradigm shift from the national security state to a welfare state are the solutions to the woes of Pakistan. We all hope and pray for the best of our beloved motherland.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Of Gotham City, and Pakistan

I was watching the movie Batman Begins a few days ago, and one of the things in it that really perked my interest was the state-of-affairs of Gotham City. It was a city shown in shambles; a place where corruption had infiltrated the very infrastructure of the city. A city overrun by criminals, and no system of law and order. 'Create enough hunger, and the society can be easily bought'. Even the people unwilling to resort to criminal acts were forced to do so just to survive. And the good people, who yearn for justice in the society, their hands are tied because they are encircled by corrupt people everywhere and there is no one to support them.

Why did it perk my interest? Well, because of the fact that the state-of-affairs in Pakistan these days are really not that different from Gotham City. The same corruption, criminal activities being carried out in the open accompanied with an absence of justice, the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer and so on.

Of course, while drawing an analogy between reality and fiction, some things just do not add up. The most obvious one in this case would be: where is our Batman?

'Where' might not be a suitable question to ask at the moment. A more pressing question would be, what does the 'Batman' in this context even refer to? To answer this question, I would ask you to recall the Batman movies (the Christopher Nolan trilogy in particular). The people believe in Batman. They have stored all their hopes in this one masked man, that as long as he is around, Gotham is safe and they can safely hope for a better future. In short, Batman is a symbol of hope for the people of Gotham City.

Coming back to the Batman of Pakistan, I think the above paragraph answers our question. We do not need a masked man running around under the cover of darkness beating up criminals to a pulp, for that would not solve our problems; we need a symbol of hope.

And thus crops up another question: do we even have one?

From a certain perspective, a lot of people would answer that question with a positive response. Hope is a must; its necessary if we are to get through these tough times. Usually these are the ever-optimistic people who are always saying things like "we'll get through this, "one must always stay positive", "do not lose hope people", "sab theek ho jaye ga" etc.

For such people, I have a question: what exactly are you instilling your belief(s) in that gives you such hope? Or what are you advising us to believe in and gain hope from? The people of Gotham City had Batman; who or what do we have?

People will react to that question in different manners. Some people will attribute their hopes to the government and the many political parties engaged in a never-ending warfare to wrest the throne from one another's hands and trying to bring it into their hands. They may store their hopes in the current government, PTI leader Imran Khan, or the relatively new guy, Tahir-ul-Qadri or some other person/party; that is their business. Some people see hope in the Army. Others have given up on the government and all political parties and have instead resorted to putting their faith into the public uniting, or the youth of the nation or as such. Some people have given up on the country altogether and are concentrating on getting out of Pakistan, ready to resort to any way possible. And then there are the dejected pessimists who have given up hope altogether and continue about their ways, oblivious of the matters going on in their country, convinced that all is lost now.

My point is that whatever your symbol of hope, your Batman, it has to be a legitimate one. For the present state-of-affairs of our country have worsened far beyond the point of merely sitting around and hoping for a miracle. And here arises the complex problem, the reason why our nation is not progressing at all, and everytime we seem to be the brink of a revolution, it all crumbles back down; it is our inability to cope with difference of opinion.

We all have our different Batmans, and that should be fine, but it is not. The concept of 'I have my opinion, you have yours, lets leave it at that' simply does not exist in our people. No, we HAVE to make the others see reason, we HAVE to force our opinions down their throats and remain on their case until they see the error of their thoughts and the wisdom in ours. And these arguments are not carried out in a peaceful and proper manner, as they should, but rather heatedly with abuses spewing from both sides, and a sense of righteousness and extreme loyalty to the side we support accompanying the involved parties. These arguments may be carried out on some social network; where all it takes for things to turn ugly is some agressive loud-mouth to make a rash statement, and then all that follows is merely a matter of feeding the fire; or in person; where fists can take over words in a matter of seconds. Take the latter scenario to a higher level, and you have people being kidnapped or gunned down for merely disagreeing with someone. He/she may have been disrespectful in doing so, but that does not give you the right to resort to violence, does it? It shouldn't, but it does.

And this is precisely the thing standing in the way of 'the people uniting'. According to our ideology, people cannot have different Batmans and the idea of one Batman reigning supreme over all others is simply unacceptable, and must be protested against ferociously. Our country is caught up in a circular loop, a paradigm. And sadly, this lack of difference of opinion does not exist simply where Batmans are concerned, but other matters as well (consider the Shia killings for example; not considering them Muslims and thus terminating their right to live? Bravo!).

And as long as this paradigm remains, so shall I being one of those dejected pessimists who sees hope only in getting out of this country and settling somewhere else. For how can we hope for any progress under such circumstances?

To sum it all up: We as a nation have become so diverse in our opinions, goals, hopes and pretty much everything else. Add to that our absolute lack of tolerance for the existence of difference of opinion and we have the current situation: where the word 'nation' can no longer be used to describe us. We are a myriad of sects, tribes, peoples living in an enclosed boundary set by the British Empire right before they left. We live in Pakistan but we are not Pakistanis...