Posts

Showing posts with the label Pakistan

Wait. let's just breethe.

Image
This summer is the hottest as long as I can remember but tempers run even higher. We see divides being enforced, our biases being re-enforced. I don't want to waste time on arguing on who is wrong or who is right. There are endless arguments & counter arguments and no one is listening to each other. In my opinion, they are all liars (the politicians, the religious gate keepers and anyone who sells faith or hope) and we blindly follow, happy in our preferred echo chambers, but the question which I want to ask is, Is it worth it? Have we learned nothing from history? From logic from knowing how things work? All I know is that, whoever sells hatred is at the wrong side of history. If we try to look at things objectively we find the real cost of it all, the loss of humanity and civility, the very things that separate us from animals. We act like mindless zombies on both sides of the narrative never asking, who does this narrative actually benefit. We argue among ourselves, with our

What we never learned

While I was working nearby my wife was on the phone with her mother and the topic was the Minar e Pakistan incident.  The sheer outrage and fear in that conversation hit me hard and is perhaps what's on the minds of every thinking human being left in Pakistan.  No amount of analyzing can hide the fact that this is it, these times we live in are the rock bottom we all feared we were headed towards, there is no more going down from here. No amount of sugar coating can hide the fact that this is a nation of worst creatures ever to roam the earth, I find no words that can actually describe the depravity of soul and the loss of the very last shreds of human decency, this mob is an insult to the word humanity. What a loss, what a shame, to those who still believe these incidents to be isolated, how mistaken you are!  When will you realize that this is the reality of this country. These people are the majority, the mob is the law. There is no enlightened silent majority that will wake up

Empire State of Mind

Don't read this, it maybe gibberish to you but its the state Im in. I feel like all that's bottled up in me needs an outlet. I write poems without context but I don't want to give context either. Its like part of me wants to tell the world my story and a part of me just wants to forget.  I look around and the superficiality is painful. I see mockups of what real people used to be. I see relics of what once was exciting. Sometimes I want to scream at the top of my lungs and name names of those who wronged me, who stood there and did nothing when they could have stopped what was right in front of them.  But they took sides, I don't want to see their faces anymore but I can't escape, stuck here in this prison, this black hole. This  city just sucks the life out of you.  But thats just one stream of thought that haunts my mind, there are others, a blend of disgust and indignant resignation.  People running ... just running towards what they can get, possessions... or st

Welcome to the new dark age

Image
Pakistani millennials are even worse than the rest of the world and this is for a simple reason which is that hatred for others is as normal to them as breathing. The culprit here is the slow indoctrination of the youth from the very start of their lives. The legacy of Zia's infestation of intolerance bears its fruits. The disturbing trends on social media recently shattered the illusion of that illusive silent majority which it was supposed to be there, lurking in the shadows. The truth is that the very fabric of Pakistani society reeks of intolerance and bigotry and there is nothing that can be done to change that now. The instances of people celebrating murderers and openly calling for persecution or oppression disregarding any semblance of understanding basic human rights is not restricted to a few bigots or zealous clergy anymore, the poison has spread to the youth, with no inkling towards researching or even questioning what has been taught to them, they are now the perfect e

The Lost Chance

I for one have given up trying to present reason to everyone, for I know that words are useless at this wretched time, when a place loses rule of law and its upholders, it becomes a living hell, a prison for the sane, awoken by the nightmare as the state takes the first steps today towards the genocide of minorities. Confronted by the twisted priorities of my fellow inmates in this ideological prison, which once was Pakistan, now overrun by blood thirsty overlords that have hatred in their veins. Why couldn't anyone stop these men, the answer is so simple & in plain sight. Fear. Pakistanis have accepted their fate, they have accepted that these men, just few of them, have their dominion over us, to play with our blood, we have accepted that none of us is capable of standing up to them, just a few, who attack from the shadows, hiding behind hands of patronage from within us, it is the disease that has tainted our blood from within. We let it in, we nurtured it, and now it k

Qissa Civic Sense aur Common Road Courtesy ka

There is a thing called common road courtesy jo ke Humaray sheher ke logon ke Kareeb se bhi nahin phatki... Jinan no nank ponjhan di tameez nahin unhan noo Honda city de diti... Poori road ke centre main Aisay jatay hain Jesay road ka tender notice inkay Abu ji ki behind se nikla tha.... Awal to koyee road bachi nahin sawaye "shahrahay dastoor" ke... Baki jo road numa chezain hain unpe rakhsha walon nay dibs li hoyee hain aur baki jo jaga khali Bach gaye usper ab rerhi bhi na khari karen... Road bhalla hoti kis liyay hay? Aur wallah kia genius ke bachay waldain hain jo Apnay 12 saal ke bachay ko motor bike de detay hain aur Unki mama apni poori 200ft kay gheray ke saath peechay bhi Bethi hoti hay... Matlab akathay marain ge... Beta 😏 Woh jo naye girls college wali road hey na Uspay koyee speed breaker nahin Wahan se Micheal shumaker ke bachay Rickshaw driver Aisay guzartay hain jitni speed main Aap tab gari chalatay hain jab bohat zor ka washroom aya hoo... Koyee

The Dilemma of Certitude

Image
Trying to understand the world around us, what makes people do the things they do, their motivations, their beliefs, is it simply that black and white, what about the greys? 
 Why do we find that most of the times those supposed bastions of faith are the ones the most corrupt. Dont these people understand the precept of their own belief system. What makes them not practice what they preach? The answer to this question unlocks the deepest mysteries of belief and sin. 
 Unfortunately the dogma that one adheres to does not supersede the universal vice of greed & ego, until there is equality, all the promise of salvation is deluded, a smokescreen to enslave and exploit, regardless of what dogma you adhere to, if in practice there is injustice and there is a clear divide, it is a failure. 
 Here is the stumbling block, when one tries to make sense of what one observes, with logic alone and can be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the purpose of every theological dogma

Wars Within & Outside

Image
I usually stay away from the news and thats by design cause every time there is a new atrocity, my mind starts reeling, I come face to face with the same dilemma again & again, if you speak up no one listens, yet can't stay quiet as well, too much bloodshed all around, the soul slowly becomes numb, while the killing & bloodshed in the name of every possible deity continues, on to the next atrocity & the next. Outrage expressed in the form of words on a computer screen, What does it achieve... Nothing. Murderers keep roaming free. No one can/will stop them, for everyone has vested interests. Those who need to hear those words, never will & those who read them, choose to ignore. Truth. It doesn't phase anyone anymore, We see images of unimaginable human suffering due to the cruelty of other humans, we are content with sharing those images with others on social media, a few comments here and there and on to the next post, all that human suffering reduced

Some harsh realities

Image
We often cherish some moments, events that happened in our lives, but we rarely take a step back and take a deeper look at the intentions and motivation behind our actions, we never put ourselves through the scrutiny, we put others in. We never take a moment to reflect on our own actions to see if they were right or wrong.  There is always a line that must not be crossed, either it being a line of moral values or edicts by religious dogma, whatever it is, society respects those boundaries for a reason, that these boundaries enable individuals to maintain civility & morality.  For those of us who adhere to religious values, its paramount that we scrutinise our selves, that our actions are in tune with the teachings of Quran & Sunna, that our motivations are guided by the need to please our creator and not by the whims and wishes of the self. Decisions that are solely to appease the self & its petty desires often result in mistakes & misbehaviour, becoming r

کچھ تلخ باتیں

ہم بعض واقعات اور لمحات کو سینے سے لگا کر تو رکھتے ہیں مگر یہ نہیں سوچتے کہ آیا وہ فیصلے اور ترجیحات درست بھی تھیں کہ نہیں؟ ۔ کہ کہیں اپنے سکون اور خواہش کی تسکین کے لئے خدا تعالیٰ کی بنائی حدیں پار تو نہیں کیں؟ وہ خواہش یا ارادہ کیسے صحیح ہو سکتا ہے جسکی تکمیل کے لئے خدا کی بنائی حدوں کو توڑنا پڑے۔ وہ فیصلے کیسے درست ہوسکتے ہیں جن کی بنیاد خدا کی رضا کے بجائے نفس کی خواہشات ہوں۔یہاں سوال اس بات کا نہیں کہ ان لمحات کے احساسات کیا تھے بلکہ یہ ہے کہ اعمال درست تھے یا غلط۔ کبھی کبھار واپس مڑ کر دیکھنا بھی اچھا ہوتاہے، تاکہ تزکیہ نفس ہوسکے۔ لیکن اسکے لئے ضروری ہے کہ کم از کم یہ احساس تو ہو کہ غلطی تھی۔ ہم لوگ دوسروں کو اور ترازو سے تولتے ہیں اور اپنے لئے ہمارے معیار کچھ اور ہوتے ہیں ۔ اوروں کو تو شاید ہم ان غلطیوں کے لئے جو ہم نے خود بھی کی، کبھی معاف نہیں کرتے۔ کیوں لوگ اپنے تعلقات سے خوش نظر نہیں آتے۔ کیوں اِدھر ادھر سکون ڈھونڈتے پھرتے ہیں لیکن گھروں میں سکون تلاش نہیں کرتے؟ بنیاد ہے نفس اور اسکی خواہشات۔ جب انسان اپنی زندگی کو خدا کی رضا کے بجائے خواہشات کے طابع کریں گے تو یہی ہوگ

Thoughts on why Mullas hate Ahamdis so much

#ahmadiyyat #islamahmadiyyat #persecution #pakistan  The really twisted thing is that they (mainstream muslims) want everything that Jamaat Ahmadiyya offers in terms of uniting the Umaah but still won't accept Ahmadiyyat.  The mullah doesn't let them do it cause doing that means that they will have to leave their monopoly on everything religious. The mullah don't let the common man learn Islam for themselves cause that way the mullah holds power over every aspect of their daily lives. Let's take a child's birth as an example. The parents will wait hours for a mullah to come and give a simple Azaan cause they don't know how. This arrangement suits the individual as well, cause do whatever u want and the mullah will take care of forgiveness is an easy deal isn't it? Jamaat Ahmadiyya teaches to have a strong connection with Allah under the leadership of one Imaam the Caliph. Emphasis is on learning & bettering ones self.  Mullah on

Leonard Nimoy and Me

Image
To tell the truth I am more of a ST-TNG fan than the original series and thats because my introduction to Star Trek came in the form of TNG in the late 80s on Pakistan Television. I was 11 and was blown away, spent hours on an imaginary space ship of my own, giving orders and defeating threats. The desktop of my school desk was littered with the designs of my imaginary touch screens. Only when satellite tv came to us in the mid 90s I got a taste of the original series which seemed weird and wacky to me, but in it there was a voice, a voice of reason and logic which appealed to me and thats when I fell in love with a tv character called Spock. As I grew up and went through various re runs and books related to Star Trek I began to understand the appeal of an utopian society where logic and science ruled, where there was no poverty for the most part, where there was no need for money and everyone was free to pursue their dreams, most of these books were written by Leonard Nimo

Outcasts - The Ahmadis of Pakistan

Image
As I was growing up in Pakistan I never really thought of myself as a minority until the bitter reality hit me in the late 80s that everything I was, was wrong to someone. Even though I never did anything to that someone, I didn't even know that someone. A generation that has grown belonging to my faith has known nothing but hatred from their fellow Pakistanis, Ahmadis living in big cities face discrimination as routinely as an ordinary Pakistani does load shedding. As if firing from jobs, shunning from businesses, students being rusticated and separation of water glasses were a birth right, every facet of society takes its share in discrimination, in dehumanising, in rampant disregard of common human decency.  Someone told me how her family was evicted from the house they were renting because they were found out as an Ahmadi & the landlord although acknowledging the fact that they were model tenants had to do it. I noticed that when she was speaking whenever she us

16 December - For the Children & Parents of Peshawar

The heart weeps As if it forgot how to beat I close my eyes and see faces Of children in uniforms Drenched in blood The blood of innocence I see that mother Beside that coffin I see that father Kissing the dead hand I see dreams shattered I see futures Being buried I see my son In those faces And I can't hold my tears I can't stop my heart from exploding You who have lost your child I know your pain I weep with you I grieve with you I pray for you

Form Democracy to Fascism

I hear the argument again and again that Pakistan has no alternative but Imran Khan, he is our last resort. Even so called intellectuals can be found repeating the sentiment. They say, when the intellectuals of a nation abandon principals nothing but chaos and anarchy becomes its fate. There are alternatives if one is looking to avoid total disintegration of every system that is in place, there are alternatives. There always are. 
Instead of rhetoric lets just consider a few facts. Fact is that the current Government along with the previous ones have failed to alleviate the problems of the general public. If you listen to Imran Khan's speech repeated every night for more than a month, the picture he paints of the Pakistani condition is almost accurate. 
Every successful political movement in history started when the masses arose, it is also true that almost every popular revolution was then hijacked by fascists, dictators and were moved away from their true purpose and the pe

Somber Eid

Image
A day before Eid Pakistan gave us a gift, the gift of burning our houses and killing 2 young children, an unborn child and an elderly lady. The gift of celebrating & dancing in the streets on the deaths of our loved ones, the gift of indifference of the Pakistani media & the people, the gift of going to our mosques to pray, under the shadows of guns. This Eid when I woke up to get ready I was in a somber mood, the news of the babies killed by Pakistan last night, the images fresh in my mind, I knew I wasn't going to the Aqsa mosque (the central mosque) where there would be thousands of people and the sweet smell of perfume would make the cool morning air even fresher, all that seems like a distant memory now and a younger generation is already here that hasn't seen an Eid like that ever. No Those days are gone now. When we used to go to our mosques (places of worship) without the shadows of guns. I was going to the mosque just a few houses away from my house due

Selective Morality

Image
After witnessing the horrors of what's happening in Gaza, the sentiment I hear over and over again from the youth of Pakistan is that we need another Hitler. I felt really disturbed by this cause it shows the total disconnect our youth and society has from the ideas and concepts of true Islam, which is peace for all. Which can clearly be seen in full demonstration at the time of Fatah Makkah, when all were pardoned regardless of their crimes. We hear the word "Holocaust" used over & over again, sometimes to play the politics of victimization by the aggressor, but regardless that does not diminish the pain, the horror of death and brutality & utter inhumaneness of the actions.  It also does not justify doing the same to others. But to rationalize murder and hatred to cover up our own inadequacy in dealing with our enemies  is cowardice to the highest degree.  I don't care about the details of whether it happened or not or if the accounts were exagge

Sorrow

Image
Image after image trickles down my Facebook and twitter. Images of children in pain, parents mourning, unmeasurable suffering. Images intermingled with the routine triviality. Some lament the atrocities and on the same page post the mundane. The outrage, just like anything else, worthless. The hypocrisy rampant and selective. Some atrocity becomes deserved while an other, genocide. I lay awake at night sleepless, that image of a child with severed limbs stuck in my mind. I see the news, wishing someone of power in the world would stand up for the oppressed, wishing someone with authority would put a stop to genocide, wishing humans would not just ignore the tears of a child who lost both parents and wept himself to sleep, Alas! nothing. Some days pass, outrage fades away, till the next outrage, the next killing, the next child burned to death. No remorse, as if humanity never existed, those who suffered become the executioners. The cycle continues. All of this becaus

May - The Month of Faithfulness

(A translation of مئ  ماہِ وفا by @khaksaar75   click here to read the original post ) Today another Ahmadi achieved martyrdom. Rekindling the memories of another month of may in my mind. They not only were pure hearted but were sculpted from the finest soil; and had come to worship their Lord in all tidiness This was 28 May 2010 a Friday when two of our mosques were attacked by terrorists and nearly 100 of our beloved souls were martyred. I requested to volunteer for the night, my duty was to present water to conveys coming to Rabwah, that had families of the martyrs.I stayed awake all night crying and thinking how would I be able to comfort orphans and widows. When I left the house in the morning the whole city was in mourning, empty roads, closed shops not even an auto rickshaw. It felt as if there was a funeral at every house. When I reached Awan-e-Mehmood, I was confronted with unforgettable sights. The convoys had already started reaching since last night. Holding wat