Swat

City of the dead at the end of another lost highway
- Green Day

Pakistan is a country that has various ethnic groups who have been living in harmony together for decades till today. Being a multicultural country Pakistan is a place where people with different beliefs, cultures and philosophies live together. When did it become right to tell an ethnic group that their beliefs are wrong? When did it become right to impose the beliefs of one ethnic group onto another ethnic group? When did it become right to suppress and even eliminate one ethnic group based on their beliefs? Whatever is happening in Swat is called “ethnic cleansing” by every definition and in every dictionary of the world. Masking the issue of ethnicity and beliefs with the label of terrorism is resulting in the deaths of innocent men, women and children. It is hard to understand why today any ethnic issue that has Islamic roots is tied to terrorism. I don’t know why is the struggle of one ethnic group to protect it’s culture and to live freely and survive with their own beliefs is considered wrong.

Pakistan as a country has lost its way, its ideology and (hopefully not) its future. We are going down a lost highway with misleading signs that will take us to disaster. Today one ethnic group calling itself “moderate” is taking over the entire country, tomorrow the other will strike back and it has already started happening. The show of moderation by the group in power can be seen in the blood of innocence at Swat. It is like the history repeating itself again and again and we are determined not to learn from it. We can look back and see what happened in Bosnia, we can recall and think over why Algeria never saw peace, and we can learn something from the Shah of Iran. The philosophy of “to live and let live” is straight out the window of our leaders who by living most of their lives in barracks learnt nothing but the philosophy of war and violence. How come these people know what human rights are when all they learnt is war tactics, “yes sir”, “left-right” and to follow orders. Power belongs to the people of Pakistan and not to these puppets pulled by strings in the hands of their foreign masters.

Swat, a paradise on earth now looks like a town of Bosnia, which is too much of a price to pay for ones beliefs. I hope the blood of the people of Swat breathes life in every Pakistani living in every part of Pakistan. I hope all Pakistanis rise up against this aggression and struggle for justice and their right to be free. It is a big ask that requires perseverance and constant struggle and this is the time to do it. We need to refresh our minds with the ideology of Pakistan; we need to recall once again the freedom that Quaid-i-Azam stood for. It gives me strength to see the people of Swat who despite of oppression still stand for their beliefs and I wish and I pray that they succeed and bring Pakistan back on track. And I wish we all make Pakistan the country that was once dreamt by Allama Iqbal.

Freedom doesn't come easy

dream the same thing every night
see a freedom in my sight.
- Metallica

I wake up at seven, have some breakfast go to work at nine, come home at seven, have some dinner and sleep at ten. Then I dream, I dream and do what I wanted in life and then wake up at seven again. To me my life is like a dream and my dreams bring me whatever I wanted to have in life. To me my dreams are real, my dreams are the reality and I dream of freedom every night. I wish it could be the other way round but when I wake up I push myself into neverland, a world that has no concept of freedom, and I offer myself to be controlled. I wish I could wake up and feel and smell the freedom in the air. Someone said that on average a man sleeps for twenty years in life and the average life of a man is sixty years. It makes me think that I am only free for the twenty years I sleep and live in imprisonment for forty. Why can't I control my own destiny, who takes away my freedom when I wake up? Life is more then waking up at seven and going to work at nine.

It is not divine intervention that grips me in chains and turns me into a zombie everyday. It is a manly force with manly shackles and the promises of freedom that carry chains with them. I think I can break these shakles but I can't break them alone. How many are there like me, how many like me lives freely for the twenty years they sleep. If we all join hands I don't see any reason not to taste the freedom we dream of every night. It is only the realization of the fact that we are in chains and the longing for the freedom in life.

So what is the right way to have that freedom? How many times have we tried? How many decades have passed and how many lives are lost? Now after all the struggles do we still think that the freedom comes easy? The answer is no. We should never allow anyone to rob us of our right to freedom and we should all go to every length to be free because we only live for sixty years and sleep for twenty.

Helen and the Trojan horse

The mockery in the name of elections is nearing; the stage is set for the crowning of the queen. The battle is on between the right and the wrong; the swords are out, thirsty and waiting behind the shinning armors. And we all know how just this battle will be; but then all is fair in love and war. The Trojan horse has done the damage; Helen is being rescued for the crowning. Maulana Fazal the modern Trojan horse has been used a lot of times by his master and he has stabbed in the back many times when the time was right. Maulana has proved to be one the most unreliable persons in today’s politics although he must himself think that he is a clever politician for some self satisfaction.

The way Maulana infiltrated the democratic alliance as a “friend” and stabbed everyone in the back, not even the Trojan horse of Troy could’ve done better. May be the whiff of power and the sweet smell of “halwa” the master is cooking is enough for the horse to be expecting a lot more to come in return for his services. The way Maulana has helped the cause of Benazir to be the next prime minister is just like the way the Trojan horse of Troy helped in the rescue of Helen. No matter how openly both parties point fingers at each other, both are meant to be together.

Although this union of selfish, opportunists and back stabbers is very dangerous for Pakistan but I am an optimist and the good thing that has come out of this is that one can now clearly see who stands with the people and who stands for vested interests. Now that we are days away from the crowning ceremony, Imran, APDM and others must feel betrayed but their principles must not change and resolve is now what is required from the true leaders of the future.

Who is he trying to fool?

After all that happened for reasons that are so obvious, our president still is in denial. His rationale is so flawed that even a child can see through the smokescreen of lies he is trying to build. In the last interview to a foreign television channel, which was full of his blatant lies, he claimed that majority of the people of Pakistan are with him and only a handful of people are trying to undermine him. Let’s see what he meat by a “handful” of people that he has dealt with after the imposition of Emergency. These “handful” of people include the entire judiciary and all the lawyers, these “handful” of people include all the political parties of Pakistan and their workers, followers and families (except for one he created), these “handful” of people include all the private independent media channels and all the journalists, these “handful” of people include all the civilians who protest against dictatorship. I don’t think we even need to count these “handful” of people to understand what he “really” meant. “One man against the entire nation”, a quote of Ihtizaz Ahsen that very well sums it all up.

It just makes me laugh when I listen to the president and his claims. So who is he trying to fool? It can’t be the people of Pakistan because we all know where our president stands. It can’t be the West and United States because US is playing with Pakistan for a long time to be fooled by such statements, secondly US is the sole beneficiary of his actions. So who is the real audience of such lies? May be he himself needs some self satisfaction, may be he is trying to make himself know that he is popular. May be the façade of lies are not for the people but for himself so that whatever he does against the interests of Pakistan he doesn’t feel bad. May be he is too arrogant to accept the actual facts and the “reality on ground” his favourite phrase that he uses very often in interviews.

It is a shame that after eight years of disaster where now Pakistan is on the edge of an abyss our president is still not taking responsibility for that. All the suicide attacks, the deaths of innocent people and the blood, all the lawlessness, all the hatred in the people of Pakistan for the army, all the compromises on national issues, all the heros of Pakistan thrown in jail and treated like terrorists, it all happened in his presidency and in his rule and still he is blaming others. It is time for our president to realise that he is a failure “a failed leader” and he should take responsibility like a man for what he has done with the country and resign. He should accept his fate and let the people of Pakistan choose their own destiny because we can no longer be fooled.

Beard or Mask?

Poor Imran became the victim of his own innocence in Punjab University. He didn’t realize that Qazi remained under the shadows of Mualana Fazal for quite a long time; and that Qazi has the same beard, the only difference is that its completely white. Qazi’s betrayal put him on the same side of the line where Mualana is standing alongside Musharraf. His action today has seriously hampered the movement against dictatorship and it is a very loud acceptance and his submission to Musharraf. His adventure in PU makes Qazi a blunt hypocrite like the others in Musharraf’s political platoon.

I know today Imran must feel betrayed and his infant party got yet another grave setback but that is the reality of Pakistan’s politics, that is the reality of the so-called Islamic political parties and that is the reality Imran must face and re-devise his political strategy to deal with these thugs. Clearly the people of Pakistan want to see a change; the fame of Imran is a thorn in the eye of every traditional, status quo loving political leader; Imran just needs to realize that. He has to learn not to trust everyone because the hypocrisy of the leaders here speaks for themselves. And I’m sure after this event he will etch it in his mind.

Qazi and his brethren have proved once again that it doesn’t matter if you have a beard because as long as you have vested interests in politics everyone is the same. The advantage is that the “Maulanas” can hide their real faces with their beards so their sick-intentions are well masked and their evil plot only unfolds when it’s too late. I am not against the beard but I am against the use of it; in Pakistan Islam is being used as a façade by these pseudo political leaders to have the blind following of the under-educated and naïve masses like jamiat and to gain the trust of sincere people like Imran. In the end they defame Islam; they defame themselves and leave every patriot and sincere Pakistani suffering. And I think after this incident the real faces of these hypocrites are exposed that were hiding behind their beard-like masks and opened the eyes of many Pakistanis like it opened mine. The good thing about this incident is that it filtered and put in spotlight a good, honest and sincere leader this country needs in the shape of Imran.

The second coming

It had to happen; the dictator was ticking like a time bomb and now he exploded. He finally murdered democracy with his own hands, choked it from the beginning and now watched it take its last breath. He, for his lust for power, was waiting to crack under pressure both foreign and domestic and then committed the biggest political crime against democracy and the nation in the history of Pakistan, which some people term as serious as committing treason. Started off as a copycat, he then carried the flag of his predecessors for the second time and even went a few yards further; the only difference is that this time there was some resistance that wasn’t there before. This resistance, which seems to many as a sign of hope but still the Valium addict masses are not willing to wake up. And now it all seems like deja vu.

The pressures Musharraf faced were of two kinds, foreign pressure particularly from the US that only had US interests; the second was internal pressure that was clearly in the favor of democracy. The only country that benefited from this action is US who would have no troubles in fighting “their” war against terror in Pakistan that has killed hundreds of innocent Pakistanis as collateral damage. Musharraf is the only man with absolute power in Pakistan and it is always easy to deal with one man then waiting for a national consensus. So this pro-US leader will have no trouble assisting his US allies in their "war on terror" that has become a "war of terror" for the Pakistanis.

Pakistan now is on a verge of civil war and Mr. Musharraf is the only person responsible for this; one man against the entire nation. My analysis on this situation is that Musharraf needed a new facade to provide a cover for his dictatorship; he looped back and now is trying to correct things from the start all over again. His action is similar to the 1999 coupe after which he formed PML-Q; that became the ruling party in the 2002 rigged elections. Now again in this sort of second coupe by Musharraf, he will side-line PML-Q, which has become a liability and bring in a democratic party PPP that has some public support. And this forced transition will take place if everything goes right for the dictator. Judiciary, the only thorn in the sight of Musharraf, has been dealt with and NRO will be legitimized by the new judicial set up. There will be some resistance this time by the lawyers in particular and if the people of Pakistan don’t rise up now then this crisis will have the same result as in the past.

Analogy of a drowning man fighting to stay alive in the middle of a landless ocean depicts the condition Musharraf is in. His endless effort and commitment to fulfilling his ambitions for power is almost admirable; but he has compromised everything in his desperation. He has wrecked every institution in Pakistan, aggressively suppressed the people and isolated them from the government and created a war-like situation domestically on every front. And now he gave himself another chance to do it again and to finish the job that he started. I don’t know whether Musharraf is a complete traitor or is he being blackmailed a bit; but I know one thing, no patriot Pakistani would ever act against the national interests even if he is blackmailed.

Feminism: A flawed concept

The victory of capitalistic democracy over other economic and political systems has shaped the face of the world to what it is today. The global monopoly of capitalism has paved the way for a new world order, where other socio-economic and political systems like Islam and left overs of Communism are considered as a threat to a single system in the world. Nations now are run like businesses and people are used like labor. If one sits back and see, the world seems like a pyramid where an average man and majority is at the bottom and the handful of bankers with all the money are right at the top. The effort-input of the people doubles the profit of the bankers who have a strangle hold on the people through credit, interests and taxes. The more people work the more profitable the business is. Every nation in general has a balance between both sexes in terms of numbers. No business man wants 50% of his work force to sit in the houses and do nothing. So this is where “feminism” comes into play.

The women are now being tempted in different ways to come out of the houses and run the machines with men; tricked out of having families and becoming slaves to the new world order. Being lightly dressed and having more sexual partners is considered as a sign of freedom and independence for the women. Feminism appeals to women and makes them want to have total freedom and jobs, being in bed with different men and looking like a model with little or no clothes. Men on the other hand are restricted with stupid laws to so-called protect the right of women. With these laws a woman can fearlessly integrate in this capitalistic system as a valuable worker and at the same time be as lightly dressed as she wants to and sleep with any man she wants; without the fear of any criticism or action against her. This unnatural and one-sided view of equality in feminism is destroying the family system and promoting individualism where both sexes instead of depending on each other are now being isolated. The religious and moral values now are being considered as ancient and unnecessary. The beautiful ideas of love, marriage and family are now being replaced with unnatural, depraved and deplorable philosophies.

These new immoral and false concepts, which appeal to women, are being promoted by bankers with liberal fascists actively using the media and only these people benefit from it and the woman is at loss. She will lose the respect she deserves, she will miss being a wife and having a loving husband and becoming a mother and will then regret it later in her life; and there are several examples of such resenting women. I am not against women with careers; I am just against the social and immoral side effects of feminism that is bringing in a lot of evil and destroying the family system that is the basis of a good society. Feminism is like taking a step backwards then moving forward, it makes the woman as an item for bid in a show case and degrades and lessens the respect for her. By nature there is no plain and simple equality between a man and a woman; nature created them different for different reasons, but there exists a balance between both sexes that makes them equal. We just need to understand this natural balance; if we as human beings recognize our responsibilities, if we are taught well enough to respect each other and learn the moral and religious values and social ethics from the start then we would never need ugly philosophies like feminism.

Polygamous politics

The unholy matrimony between a dictator and a pseudo democratic alliance has been successful for years. The whole affair that never meant to be had its ups and downs but seemed to go well till Musharraf had a seven year itch. No one ever thought that Musharraf had hearts for BB as he considered BB as a corrupt leader and a serious security risk. So this new extra marital love affair of a dictator isn’t love at first sight it is more of a necessity. The forbidden becomes permissible in fatal situations for survival; so it was a desperate move by the dying dictatorship to stay alive.

Now what about the first wife? Of course she is angry and doesn’t want another woman (a Sautin) in the house. She doesn’t want to share her husband with anyone else and she will do everything to prevent such a union. So the reaction of PML-Q is exactly what was expected and justified and it is only the beginning and this brawl will go on till one goes out or down.

Who let the dogs out?

Police in every nation works for the people of the country. They are regarded as the guardians of society, enforcers of law and order, and they serve the people. On September 29, in Islamabad we saw a different story. We saw the police beating unarmed and peaceful civilian protesters and the media, which was the worst display of brutality by the police against the people they serve. We saw police even shelling Supreme Court and taking the law in their own hands by disrupting public order and damaging property. The irony is; it is not the first time the police in Pakistan did something they are not supposed to do.

Now the question is why did they do it? Police in Pakistan is for a different purpose; they serve the dark interests of the government not the people. It is a special force to weaken and eliminate any rising threat for the government from people of Pakistan and democracy and at the same time safe guard their masters (the government). This force is used on the people many times in the history of Pakistan. Sometimes I feel that we don’t have a police force in the country instead we have some government body guards calling themselves the police. By having such a force shows how scared the government is from the people of Pakistan, which then also tells us that the government officials are not the true representatives of the people.

If one thinks of an analogy to better understand the "police"; Pakistani police is like hungry dogs who feed on the blood of the people. Not wild stray dogs but ultimate K9s of the government especially trained to scare and suppress the people of Pakistan by force so that the people can't rise and voice against the cruel and illegitimate leaders. They are purposely kept hungry by their masters to allow them just to feed on the people. Every trained dog serves it’s master and does what it’s master wills; the same is true for the police in this country.

Vulgar display of power

Recent verbal adventures by some people associated with the government have put a dirty "black" stain on the "face" of the government. This attitude spawns from the power given to these people without the fear of any accountability and consequence. The recent unethical and offensive comments (heard by millions of Pakistanis on Nationwide television) by some senior personalities linked with the government show the state of aggravation the government is in. These people face the music everyday representing their illegitimate leader while they try to justify things that are so obviously wrong (like dictatorship). The reason for them to be so agitated is their own failure to prove their point and their selection of words without any sign of fear in their eyes indicates that they can get away with it. They also know that the nation doesn't like them because they have chosen a wrong side that is hated by the masses. So their vulgarity clearly is a result of their frustration.

Wrong moves

Dictatorship is an antonym of democracy, something obviously opposite. It is something so clearly in negation to democracy that I can’t help asking myself, do we really need to waste our time, money and effort to try and drag something that is so visibly contradictory to democracy in the highest courts and hope that judges may change it’s meaning. No matter what happens in the court, dictatorship would still be unacceptable and illegitimate in a democratic environment. So there is no need to try to have something justified that is evidently wrong and deplorable.

The amount of time and thought that is being spent in this unnecessary exercise in court can be spent in resolving issues like terrorism and the so-called war on terrorism in which hundreds of Pakistanis have lost their lives. The efforts that are being made in conducting this dull stage-show can be of substantial outcome if applied towards sincere national reconciliation that can lead to stability. The money that is being wasted on such stupidity can be used for the welfare of the people of Pakistan and to alleviate poverty. None of the actions taken by the government is either logical or morally acceptable.

It is mind boggling that on one side government is trying their level best and working day and night in exploring every possible option, whether legal or illegal, to remain in power and on the other side people are dying everyday in suicide bombings and no one cares. On one hand leaders are spending millions to find loopholes in the law and are even willing to change the constitution for a single person and on the other hand tens of thousands of Pakistanis, women and children sleep on empty stomachs every night.

If you ask them why they are doing it, they reply that it is in the interest of the nation. Someone said that patriotism is the last hope of a scoundrel; after seeing these leaders, perhaps that someone was right.

Benazir: The return

It is clear from the present set of events involving Benazir’s return that all have been decided and the agreement has been reached between herself and Musharraf. Their silence is speaking so loudly but both of these leaders don't have the guts to admit it in public because they will lose the last ounce of support they have, if they have left any. The thing to notice is the blatant display of hypocrisy; if Benazir was so against the uniform and dictatorship she would have decided to come before the presidential elections and protested against and legally challenged Musharraf’s candidancy in court but she decided otherwise. Now as Nawaz Sharif out of the way, her arrival after the presidential elections clearly indicates her facilitation of Musharraf becoming president in uniform. It also vindicates the perception that the reelection of Musharraf as a president in uniform was also part of the deal. After election if Musharraf retains his presidency and his army chief office then it will become a hard fact and then there will be no point in pushing this issue further. But Benazir doesn’t care about that; all she cares about is her own personal interests, her cases and the share in power.

Many analysts say that the marriage of PPP and dictatorship is unnatural, but the reality is that the power hungry and corrupt leaders have lost all their ideological beliefs and have no vision, patriotism and sincerity for Pakistan left in them, all they now see and care about is their own interests. Now from Musharraf’s end the next step is to rig the polls so that their agreement is upheld and everything afterwards will be hunky dory and all the required and agreed constitutional amendments will take place and the latest editions of that dwindling constitution will be available in every book store.

Thank you, Mr. President

Thank you, Mr. President for showing us how bad dictatorship is for the country by trying to distort the shape of the constitution, depriving Pakistani citizens from their basic rights and by killing innocent Pakistanis in the name of so-called war on terror.

Thank you, Mr. President for ensuring that the military will never dare to come in power again, after creating the poisonous hatred for the military in the hearts and minds of all Pakistanis, which has resulted in civil war in parts of the country.

Thank you, Mr. President for showing us the real faces of corrupt, immoral and insincere politicians by forming Q-League and by striking deals for personal interests with other corrupt and selfish leaders.

Thank you, Mr. President for making the judiciary independent and strong by illegally trying to remove the chief justice, which has created unity within the judiciary and shielded it from political influence.

Thank you, Mr. President for opening our eyes by enlightening us with all these truths and making us realize the true worth of freedom and democracy by robbing us of them.

tick tick tick...

If one sees the current internal situation of Pakistan, Pakistan feels like a time bomb ticking towards its destiny. Pakistan was never that unstable internally with a deteriorating image on the foreign front. Our selfish and corrupt leaders have planted this bomb with their own hands; how different are they from a suicide bomber? Fighting someone else’s war with its own people has made this country come to point where everything seems to be on the verge of collapse. The proxy war of United States against Pakistani citizens using Pakistani armed forces is now taking its toll and the country’s own army is being considered as an enemy. Everyone is now becoming rebellious in Pakistan. Apart from the lack of democracy, adding fuel to this inferno are the government’s flawed policies that are driven by the interests of foreign countries. These policies always compromised on national interests and weakened every institution in Pakistan. No institution in country at the moment is strong enough to solve the problems that have stemmed from the rule of cruel dictatorship that is pushing Pakistan closer to the edge of oblivion. The only institute that regained its respect and honor is the Judiciary, but as seen from the recent events, the Judiciary has been slapped again by the government by denying Pakistani citizens their basic rights. If the country’s own government denies its own people their basic rights then who will grant them? If the country’s own government does not uphold the law then how would they expect the people of the country to do so? The example of lawlessness is evident from the latest attack on Supreme Court in Karachi. Pakistan is so fragile at the moment that any wrong move can take us apart.

The reason we are all at this chaotic moment in time is that we never voiced against such actions. We let our corrupt leaders who don’t care about us, choose this explosive situation as our destiny. If something that stops working is changed; we the people of Pakistan need to gather and overthrow this flawed leadership and replace it with the one that cares about the people and national interests. It is about time we change our foreign policy and let the interest of the nation decide who our allies are and who are our enemies. The time is running out and we need to pull the plug now if we want to keep this bomb from exploding else one day we will be named with the countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Algeria in the history of the world.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a.k.a PML-Q)

The invincible superheroes of democracy, who believe that democracy, can only prevail under the shadow of dictatorship. They believe that without dictatorship one cannot sense the importance of democracy that is why dictatorship is inevitable for Pakistan. They believe that the bunch of them is the best of 160 million Pakistanis and that is why they don’t find it necessary to listen to the so-called less knowing and inept people of the country. They are not ordinary people they have the superpowers of disloyalty, dishonesty, lying and immorality. They believe it is better to lie then to speak the truth because truth may be too complicated for the simple Pakistanis to comprehend. They believe in the display of their superpowers to defeat the enemies who may make the inferior people of Pakistan develop some sort of superiority complex. Their leader, a caped crusader, a gentleman of high prestige and respect, whose suit is the source of his superhuman strength. He is the sole commander of the league who chose the best among the 160 million as his worthy side-kicks and the deserving members of the league. This is the powerful force of the new century that has changed the face of Pakistan. This is the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a.k.a PML-Q).

Who are we?

After seeing another despicable and immoral act by a shameless, dishonest and lying dictator who forcefully exiled a Pakistani citizen against his will; and after seeing other fellow citizens quietly watch the freedom taken away from him, makes me think, who are we? Are we mindless slaves happy to live under a cruel master? Are we cattle that anyone can use, slaughter and then eat us? Are we lower and less important then the animals that have more rights then us? Have we accepted this as our fate? Are we willing to die in slavery then to live freely? Are we completely dead and soulless that we are barely bothered by the injustice we face every moment in our lives? Who are we?

We are the masters of our own destiny. We and only we can protect ourselves and take what is rightfully ours. We and only we can defend our rights from the forces who are trying to enslave us. We and only we are the cure to the cancer of dictatorship and plague of corrupt leadership. The day we realize this will be the day remembered in history for all times.

The Enlightened Road To Moderation

One of the very first lessons learnt in school is when and why our country came into existence. After so many years we still remember that lesson but that surety or the enthusiasm with which this lesson was taught has been lost somewhere in translation. We are becoming a nation of many contradictions. Our inner conflicts are beginning to tremor and making us confused and misleading us on how to come to blows with the outer conflicts. In order to combat the modernized world we have been told to become “enlighten modernized citizens” which seems to be a good strategy but is this strategy applicable to all citizens living in this “wannabe modernized nation”. Looking around one is compelled to think that are we becoming “modernized” or “westernized”? The westernization has definitely had its impact on the modernly enlightened, which is not a bad thing, but the only harm it has done is, that it has NOT made us aware of “PAKISTANIAT”. We are trying to get westernized but are we really adopting the good and bad values of westernized society, we still keep slaves in our homes whom we just give petty sum of money to make our lives more relaxed, this mere sum three or four thousands is probably not good enough to feed them two times a day let alone of education, health and a roof.

The most unfortunate part is that this privileged or the gradually westernizing small sect of the society believe that they represent Pakistan whereas the bare fact is people living in rural areas who in present age are still deprived of clean drinking water and other basic necessities make majority of the country. They are still migrating to urban areas to improve their living standards; they are the people who are not exposed to English language till the sixth grade, how can we expect them to earn a better livelihood in our ‘modern’ cities. There is a big gap between the different economic classes of today and this void between the very rich and despondent of our society is only widening. This disparity can lead us to total chaos, people need to stand up for their rights, and put an end to this exploitation caused by lack of opportunities and abundance of human resource. This social injustice has initiated cultural differences among the different faction of the masses. Whose annual pay raise is in paisas, the company may be earning profit in crores, but the labour which serves as blood for production unit has got coins to share just because cheap labour is available in Pakistan and the fortunate enough have got full liberty to exploit it. Just imagine income of 4,000 rupees and by the end of year an increase of few rupees, at which rate are these people living their life in our global village. believe they are really rich and enjoy a lavish life style are they really rich, We will have to rise as a nation, nation that is on the road of progress to a better future. But for that we first have to believe in ourselves as a nation. The present problems we face today illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, cultural unawareness are result of our own attitudes, our own approach towards life. These problems exist in modern societies as well but not to that extent as they do in our society. It has been sixty years since our inception, now is the time for us to mature as a nation. Understand where we have gone wrong, analyze our weakness, improve on our strengths and grow as a stronger nation
I want to request all the landlords and all mill owners, and all the industrialists to free these people, and don’t exploit them, give them their right, give them a share of what they really earn for you, don’t pay they them because they don’t have any other option in life to get what they are being paid. They are the people stooped to the lowest level in our society, and they are the ones looking for glitter of hope in their lives, and they are the ones who have the most energy to achieve that average standard of living everybody hopes for, we just need to provide them with the impetus, and with this energy they will bring us out on the surface and we will all set afloat, but we need to take the initiative. Once we are out on the surface we would be able to show the world we are a proud nation, a nation brought into existence for the Muslims of the subcontinent, who are aware of their values and who are at power with the rest of the world. Let’s do it, let’s do it for the sake of ‘Pakistaniat’.

Written by: Mudassar Babar
mudassar_95@hotmail.com

Deal vs. Democracy

In the past few weeks where an alliance of political parties is working together to rid Pakistan of dictatorship, which infact now is taking it's last few breaths, a party solely lend a helping hand to the dying dictatorship. This conditional help also known as "deal" has significantly damaged the reputation of that political party. Now if we stop and think, the questions are, why did this democratically elected party found it necessary to go for a deal with a dictator? How can both PPP and Musharraf benefit from this deal? And is it in the interests of democracy and the nation?

First of all after the recent freedom of judiciary and the up rise in the thoughts of an average Pakistani it was a very good chance for the political parties to take leverage from this situation and put an end to dictatorship. Most of the parties did try and formed an alliance against the dictatorship. In these dire times Musharraf needed help from a political entity who has popular support to strengthen him else it was time for him to leave the stage. At this crucial moment when the way was being paved towards democracy PPP made the biggest mistake to talk to the dictator for a share in power.

In every deal there is give and take where both parties negotiate on certain needs. The nature of “needs” from PPP as seen now is more of a facade to the actual agenda of an individual, the party leader Benazir Bhutto. Benazir individually without the consent of her party secretively met Musharraf and kept on meeting his colleagues till today. The prime need of Benazir is the remission from the corruption charges against her, which as it sounds is a personal interest and not the interest of the nation. Because of the arrogance of Musharraf and some deadlocks over certain issues she went to US to put foreign pressure on Musharraf to strike a deal for share in power. This shows how selfish and insincere she is and how far she can go to get into power, clearly in opposition to what her father died for. After that deal BB is supposed to be the prime minister and Musharraf can remain the president, obviously after certain amendments in the constitution; again for personal interests and not for the nation. The power will then be divided among both leaders; the percentage of division of power is one of the reasons for the deadlock in the negotiations.

Now clearly this whole episode is not in the interest of the nation, neither is it good for democracy. The deal is not an end to dictatorship instead it will strengthen it. It has made PPP less popular among the people of Pakistan and considerably dropped it's vote bank. This deal also shows that if it is successful and the power sharing agreement is reached then the elections will be rigged in order to uphold the agreement as neither party of this deal is popular. This is a blatant act against the spirit of democracy. It is high time for all of us to put an end to the corrupt leadership that makes mockery of people’s sentiments, national interests and the spirit of democracy. We need popular opposition and not a deal to end the dictatorship so all Pakistanis can enjoy the freedom in democracy that was the vision of Quad-i-Azam.

Written By Kamran
xeus_man@yahoo.com