Pity the Nation...

After a gap of more than one month I am back to my blog. Partially my personal commitments were keeping me away but I waded off primarily to glance back to the not so happy yet evenful year. Surprised to see that over the last two years and even last 5 and ten years nothing has actually changed for good for 'janta' i.e. ordinary people living in Pakistan. Things had never been ideal but sadely the speed of deterioration has actually accelerated manifold during the last two years. I could only 'Pity the nation' just like Khalil Gibran did. Sharing it with you so it goes off my head to yours!

Pity the Nation
By Khalil Gibran

My friends and road fellows,
Pity the Nation that is full of beliefs
And empty of religion

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
Eats bread it does not harvest,
And drinks a wine that flows
Not from its own winepress

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as Hero,
And that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,
Yet submits in its awakening

Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Save when it walks in a funeral,
Boasts not except among its ruins
And will rebel not save when its neck is laid
Between the sword and the block

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
Whose philosopher is a juggler,
And whose art is the art of patching and mimicking

Pity the nation that welcomes
Its new ruler with trumpetings
And farewells him with hootings,
Only to welcome another with trumpetings again

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
And whose strong men are yet in the cradle

Pity the nation divided into fragments,
Each fragment deeming itself a nation……………

1 Billion Rupees for Flood Relief - not Monument Petition

We need 1 billion for flood relief and rehabilitation, for people of Pakistan. spending of Rs.1 Billion of our money on a monument at this time, is clearly inappropriate, and is actually an insult to our 21.6 million fellow countrymen when we should be using all our country’s resources to help them.
Participate in the petition being signed online and speak out.

1 Billion Rupees for Flood Relief - not Monument Petition

The Hare with many Friends

I despise nepotism and I am very vocal about it. But this does not mean that mere equality means turning a blind eye towards loved ones, especially towards those whom you look upto for every step in life.
So let me add another blog wheeler who is my best pal, fatherly figure, biggest critic and enjoys being pestered around by me. Content quality, vigilent and well thought out blogpost.
A mutual guarantee that both of us are blessed with the 'inability to express our feeling through heart sinking, husky voiced utube videos'.
So I say, Hit it!

Visit:
http://avisoadee.wordpress.com

Damn you Muslims, get off my lawn...(One of the best articles I have read so far and would recommend all to read.)

Damn you Muslims, get off my lawn

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

This much we know: America needs its demons. We need our enemies, our menacing and dark-eyed nemesis, that foreign and terrifying thing we do not understand and against which we must rally and wail, push and pule, fight and destroy.

This is, as the legend goes, how we define ourselves, how we give our tribe and its happily flawed capitalist/Christian system meaning, purpose and a reason to kill anyone who dares to disagree. Too young as a country to know ourselves at any depth, too mal-educated to have any real and lasting confidence, we just lash and burn, too afraid to shut up and hear the quiet roar of our own grand irrelevance. Same as it ever was? Like you even have to ask.

Communists. Arabs. The Japanese. Blacks. Native Americans. Hippies. Gays. "Gooks." Immigrants. Chinamen. The poor. Women. Teenagers. Vegans. Science. What's the problem with this nation? What's really eating at our soul and threatening our honest love of an angry God, apple pie and giant homoerotic firearms? It ain't us. It's them. They're trying to mess with our heads, steal our freedom, impregnate our virgins, poison the water supply. Damn them to hell, and where's my shotgun?

It's in this fine American tradition that we devolve yet another notch, as we can't help but notice, on this recently passed anniversary of 9/11, yet another wretched legacy of the Dark Days of Bush, another scar, another sickness, another sociocultural STD left to us during our nation's bleakest period in modern history, a hateful little nodule of moral cancer known as rampant anti-Muslim sentiment.

Have you heard? It's the latest thing, the easiest target. Islam is now the most convenient demon available given the notable absence of all those tangible demons of yore. As evidenced by the New York furor over a proposed Islamic center to be built near Ground Zero, the tiny, rabid sects of radical fundamentalists who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks are just not good enough anymore. There simply aren't enough of them, and they live way over there, in caves, in mystery, in places we cannot spell. Plus, most of them are probably dead.

We need to expand. Why not believe the panicky media, Glenn Beck, the Tea Party dinkbuttons? Why not ignore all common sense and nuanced understanding, and instead broaden our hate to include an entire ancient religion, over a billion believers strong? That way, we'll never run out of evil. Hey, we're nothing if not resourceful. Most Republicans believe our own president is one of Them, despite how he's been a Christian his entire life. Neat!

See, in the new American mindset, all Muslims are secret Al Queda sympathizers. All lovers of Allah want America to burn, Christians to suffer and innocent white children to be stoned to death for dancing in public while eating a Happy Meal. All swarthy foreign types, even if they've lived here since birth, even if they are your nicest possible neighbor, even if they smile at you every day, actually believe violence is the truest way to heaven, where hordes of nubile virgins await and everyone can finally eat a ham sandwich. Hey, Muhammad said so, right there in the Koran! Someone should burn that damnable thing.

No matter what Obama says in his impassioned plea for empathy and tolerance, the very last thing America needs is subtle thinking, a deep understanding that we are, by definition and Constitution, a great melting pot of multiple religions and faiths, that in any given urban apartment multiplex you'll find not only multiple Muslims but also Jews, Catholics, atheists, Jainists, Hindus, Buddhists, pagans, Wiccans, recovering Mormons, even silly Scientologists and their funny little hats. To hell with that. Far too confusing.

By the way, if you would like to pause and offer deep thanks to the source of this anti-Muslim rage, you may now bow in the direction not only of Bush, but of one Dick "Black Soul" Cheney and his flying monkeys led by Karl Rove, who planted the seed during the time of the Axis of Evil, all about fake WMD and the bogus demonization of Iraq, effortlessly manipulating the panicky media and turning America's deepest tragedy into a seething outpouring of mistrust not merely for a handful of extremist dirtballs, but for all members of one of the great religions of the world.

The sentiment has since grown in fits and farts and boozy burps, fanned by Rush Limbaugh's moron Dittoheads, Glenn Beck's gullible simpletons, and of course, the Tea Party, perhaps the first significant political movement entirely dependent on our failing educational system to survive. Truly, the Tea Party might just be the dumbest gaggle of humans ever to rally around a nonsensical, as-yet-unstated worldview no one can quite spell out. Because they have no clue what the hell it is.

But they do know one thing. They are against a general Islamic takeover of America, Wal-Mart and NASCAR. They do not want their wives forced to wear a burka. They do not want to have to walk all the way to Mecca. Where is that, like, in Peru or something?

And of course, they are dead-set against the construction of that Islamic community center three blocks away from Ground Zero, on the site of a former Burlington Coat Factory, right next to skanky strip clubs and Subways and camera shops owned by, uh, Muslims and Jews and the Chinese. Because all Muslims are the same, is why. Sort of like you and I protesting, say, the construction of a Catholic church within a mile of an elementary school.

Did you know there was a Muslim prayer room inside Tower #2? Did you know many practicing Muslim-Americans died when the towers came down? It's OK. Neither did the Tea Party. Far too confusing.

Do not misunderstand: the Muslim faith, being enormous and multifaceted and therefore home to millions of beautiful, mild-mannered, humble practitioners as well as some of the most ridiculous, violent, hateful extremists in the known galaxy, is plenty deserving of scorn and derision. It is, in this way, no different than any dogmatic organized religion throughout time and history. Why let Mormons, Christians and the Catholic Church have all the fun?

Wait, did I say this enemy-invention thing was an American tradition? Far from it. Demonization of the Other as a means to boorish, violent nationalism is universal to nearly all cultures, all nations worldwide. We are, you can say, a planet of self-righteous, petulant tribes, claiming this or that strip of dirt, crying that God chose us as his most favorite, flinging feces at each other like deranged monkeys, signifying nothing. Ain't it grand?

Maybe in this greater truth, we can find a hint of reassurance. This too shall pass. The Islamic center will or won't be built, the media frenzy will die down, the Tea Party will self-flagellate itself through the mid-term elections, and suddenly no one will care about Muslims anymore because, well, we are an ADHD culture. We grow bored so easily. We gotta keep it fresh. We gotta feed the voracious 24-hour news cycle. No one can hold the title of Enemy No. 1 for very long. Praise Allah for that.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/09/15/notes091510.DTL

'what was once wrong is now simply unconventional...What is tolerated soon becomes accepted.

"The anchors of moral behaviour appear to have dragged to such depths that they no longer hold firm the ship of life: what was once wrong is now simply unconventional, and for the sake of individual freedom must be tolerated. What is tolerated soon becomes accepted. Contrarily, what was once right is now viewed as outdated, old fashioned and is often the target of ridicule."

These are words from speech of His Highness Aga Khan (IV) in 1976 at First seerat conference in Karachi, Pakistan.

At that time, Pakistan was riding high and the success of the first Muslim Summit Conference was still in the air and people were still open to some sensible debate. The arab leader praying together in Pakistan during the Islamic summit were still flashing on TV screens declaring Muslims as one united wall.

Today after mere 33 years we are not only struggling to steer our daily lives from the chaos and terror rather we have become insensitive, wooden and living savages for our fellow human beings.

This didn't happen in one or two years, not even five. The over indulgence in the Afghan war, the mullaism, the moral brigade, fluctuating tolereance for sectoral faith and vested interest protector of America washed off our abilities to see the dark thick line of falling and failing society and individual standards.

Yesterday we cursed taliban for brutality in swat, today we dig our hand in blood of neighbouring kids and watch the brutality with ease. We protect the savages to let them loose to inflict pain on other but never imagine the same inflicting pain to our loved ones.

No words for the people watching the brutal murder and for the law enforcement agencies. Another flank for hall of shame for government after this: http://tribune.com.pk/story/45537/%E2%80%98mughees-and-muneeb-were-not-robbers%E2%80%99/


The incident of Sialkot was still fresh in mind when Lahore trembles with ruthless multiple attack on Shia Mourning processions http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/06-religious-procession-attacked-in-lahore-triple-terror-blasts-leave-27-dead-290-rs-02

What we hold for future is something philosophical to discuss but what shocks at present is already ragged fabric of society, humanity and justice torn into pieces every passing day to the extent that Pakistanis may be the first nation to face the dangers of extinction by killing each others. Let alone following the Muslim tradition of honesty, integrity or tolerance we have surpassed the limits of sanity and indulged in savagely drenching our teeth in blood of our own brothers.

Sadly the time for 'chiheye', 'we should' or 'lets unite' kind of slogans has even passed and I have no conclusion for this horrible nightmares, seen in open day light getting scarier at each passing day. However I do wish that we on individual level can atleast hold on to the sane common laws of humanity, tolerance and wisdom if not for the country at least for the community that surrounds us.

Difficult times in Gilgit

"The best thing to do is publicise the government’s inattention to the area and its peoples."

"It rained very heavily all night and, at 1.40am, Wadood and I were up (trying to comfort one of the children after a nightmare) when we heard a massive ‘explosion’ and ominous rumbling for the next 10-15 seconds. I panicked, thinking that perhaps there was a landslide heading our way but thankfully nothing happened. With no sounds of alarm raised in the neighbourhood we finally went back to sleep, albeit uneasily. Early this morning a relative called to confirm that there was a massive landslide off the mountain immediately behind Jutial Mohalla – one of the largest ‘boroughs’ in Gilgit – but because there is a dense fog sitting low on the mountainside, no one is able to yet ascertain the damage.

The situation is going to get increasingly more precarious unless the government or aid agencies – in one form or another – do something to ensure regular transport of basic necessities into Gilgit-Baltistan. Because the Karakoram Highway (KKH) is submerged between Attabad and Ghulmit (Gojal), there is no way to bring in provisions from China. In Ghizer District, damage was extensive; multiple portions of the road are washed out and several bridges destroyed. Babusar Pass, we are told, is partially closed due to rain-damage. My sister-in-law, Neelum, arrived for her summer vacations from Lahore two days ago. It had taken her nearly five days to make the trip between Rawalpindi and Gilgit Town due to road-blocks, washed-out highway and bridges. I’m told there are five bridges that will have to be replaced along the KKH – two are in Besham and one in Pattan. There is supposedly an alternate route available through Naran Kaghan but its reliability isn’t yet confirmed.

In Gilgit, food and fuel provisions are fast disappearing. We have had two hours of electricity this morning, either from the Kargah Nala power station (which was partially damaged in the original floods last week) or Naltar to the north of Gilgit. Guru sub-station, the power house that supplies Gilgit Town’s power, was – depending on who relays the story – partially damaged or completely washed away. There are estimates that it will take at least another month or two to restore regular power to the city. There is a civilian diesel fuel depot in Jaglote, a small town an hour’s drive or so to the south of Gilgit, which has been taken over by the Army. It maintains one month’s worth of emergency fuel in case of emergency, but the Army – we’re told – has reserved the fuel for its own trucks “in case of an attack by India.”

Diesel supplies in Gilgit Town and the surrounding environs are finished; petrol is now running out. Because of the lack of power – on a good day we receive two to three hours, and a bad day one hour or so – many people are relying on generators. Water from the mountain channels – depending on the day and if there have been rains – is either usable for cooking and drinking (if boiled) or not at all. The water we had all last week was soupy with mud. We can no longer find milk or filtered water in the bazaars; flour and rice are running out, although there still seems to be cooking oil available. Because it may take another month for the KKH to open again – two weeks is an optimistic estimate – people are increasingly concerned they will run out of food. Ramazan may help, in a way, by reducing daily consumption rates. I’m still researching in the local hospitals and will ask them about medicine supplies; when I spoke the store master at the District Headquarter (DHQ) two days ago, they said they had sufficient supplies (although ‘sufficient’ is hardly ever enough to meet peoples’ needs).

The picture was taken last week, it shows submerged homes in Sakarkui, a small village to the north-west of Gilgit Town. I suspect the best thing to do is publicise the government’s inattention to the area and its peoples."


Emma Varley, currently in Gilgit, contributed for Dawn.com

Source: Difficult times

Stranded at Home?

and Pakistanis inherit cataclysm and Presidency..though latter being more deplorable..

The last two weeks have been deadliest in the recent month with a plane crash costing 152 lives and crew, flood killing more than 1400 people and 2.5 million homeless and rescuers are struggling to reach more than 30,000 people still cut off by the floods, which are the worst in 80 years. Worse is the fear of outbreak of diarrhoea and cholera among the homeless while food is scarce and water supplies have been contaminated by the floods. The things had not fallen down when Karachi went mad killing more than 50 people after an MPA was killed on August 02, 2010.

So a country would expect its leadership especially government to set aside all task and take up humanitarian assistance and rescue/ rehabilitation work at priority.

Correction, its Pakistan! People of Pakistan inherit catastrophe and presidency with latter being more deplorable.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is continuing with his plan, to enjoy family's stately home in the French countryside and to visit Britain to make him understand war on terror and 'beg' despite outrageous remarks made by Prime Minister David Cameron in Bangalore, at a time when the country is struggling to cope with what is being described as its worst floods in 80 years.

Yes his presence in the country would not, in any way, be conducive to rescue and relief efforts. But in such circumstances isn't it common practise that heads of state or government, at least make symbolic gestures of solidarity by putting off pleasure trips. But oh yes, launching political career of Bilawal 'Bhutto' zardari is far more important than the lives of half of population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and millions of displaced people. Besides, we have 'rich precedent' of axing life of millions of people and billions of Rs. from national enchequer to personal accounts in name of earth quake and internally displaced people.

The outburst of anger against such reckless and mind boggling heartless behavior has been overwhelming , be it online blogs,print media and electronic media. The question remain, who is listening? The governments with quacks like dasti, fozia wahab debating non-issue through senseless talk or the Prime minister Gilani who kept addressing public rallies in connection with a coming by-election despite the havoc in country?
Sad state of Affairs of Country and hearts.
Please spread the message of ways of helping the people affected by floods

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/08/03/pakistan-floods-how-to-help

Help wherever and however you can!