Not every revolutionary situation leads to a Revolution

Elections 2013 are coming closer, most probably in April, as the current Assembly will be dissolved after completing its five-year term in March 2013 (hopefully).  If it does, we might as well have the first democratically elected government to have survived its full five-year term. Strangely, it is a proud and yet an embarrassing feeling to have finally achieved the holy grail of surviving a full term without any army intervention (so to speak) in our 65 years of existence on the world map.

Politics is in the air and not a single day passes when my Twitter and Facebook timelines are not swamped by political debates. Though I do not purport to be an elections expert as there are already enough out there without me stepping into the fray, I will make an effort to present my thoughts about the elections from a layman voter’s perspective.

Lenin once said that a revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation. So is there such a situation in Pakistan. These elections are being heralded as harbingers of change-positive change i.e. But are they really?

PTI, PMLN, PPP, MQM, ANP are all, promising to usher Pakistan into a new era of prosperity. To me, after the nightmare 2008-2013 period nothing that comes from PPP should be taken at face value, well at least I will not take it. But despite all its failings – and those are some pretty gigantic failings- PPP still has support in Southern Punjab and  Sind, even though its popularity in interior Sind is waning, courtesy bad governance. While PMLN, ANP and MQM are squabbling over their respective regions, what Pakistan truly wants right now is a national party. Supporters of PTI will disagree with me as they will cite successful rallies in the four provincial capitals of Pakistan as proof of support, but rallies do not automatically translate into votes and despite claims, PTI is focusing to get seats in Punjab as it does not have enough “electables” to be a serious contender in three other provinces.  We can call PPP, the ghost of a national party it once was but now it cannot form a government without coalition support in Baluchistan, KPK, Karachi and Southern Punjab.

Since no party right now can claim to be a truly national party, what they are doing is squabbling over and exploiting, biradri, sectarian and ethnic votes. Policies and plans have been left over to be argued on social media and Talk shows, none of which, in all sincerity, will affect the opinion of the general voter populace much. The main body of voters resides in rural areas and is too hard pressed in their daily struggle of lives to really give a thought to the various economic and educational plans put forth by the political parties.

Hence, hunting for electables in constituencies is the main strategy of parties right now, policies and issues be damned.  This is the sad reality of Pakistani politics. Every election in this country has been called as a change but has the change ever come? Every single government in this country’s 65-year existence is a case study in bad governance and indecisive character. And, expect this trend to continue unless one thing happens. Spread of Education.

In my opinion, it all comes down to education when we are choosing which political party will be leading our country for the next five years. Like I said before, we are still quagmired in ethnic, biradri, sectarian and favor asking politics and all this is because our general ‘awam’ is not educated enough to really question the manifestos and economic recovery plans of political parties nor are they really empowered to vote freely.

Talking about published plans by political parties, they really haven’t evolved from being simple idealistic statements to implementable objective plans with checks and balances because quite honestly they don’t need to.

When 70% of our prodigal parliamentarians don’t even pay taxes and at least 60% of whom we will be seeing in the next assembly, how can you expect major changes? The general Pakistani population is too busy in making their ends meet to really go out into the streets to protest or to go in courts to sue their respective MNAs and MPAs and thus this issue will soon fizzle out into nothingness and will not affect the outcome of elections in possible sense, which really tells us something about how the voters will be marking their ballot in the upcoming elections.

So if you ask me if the next elections would bring anything new to Pakistan, will any positive change be coming, all I can do is to re quote Lenin, “…..not every revolutionary situation leads to revolution”.

The New Iraqi Civil War. Oil and Fruits of Syrian Civil War

As the civil war continues to ravage Syria, another civil war looms over its neighboring country Iraq. Instead of looking towards heavens, the answer to the reason of the impending civil war may be found in the oil fields of Iraq.

After the fall of the Saddam regime in 2003, the Kurds have been gearing towards achieving independence from Baghdad and already run a semi autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional  Government  which has its own ministries and a parliament with its capital city being Erbil ( also called Hewler in Kurdish language). Oil is one the reasons that keeps the Kurds at loggerheads with Baghdad and this time the situation has reached  a point where war between the two sides might be declared on the very slightest provocation.

The provocation it appears is the planned excursion of Exxon Mobil and other oil companies into the Kurdish region to drill for oil. The Iraqi government has said that if Exxon or any such company comes to the disputed Kurd territories, then they “will face the Iraqi Army”.  On November 20, 2012, the Iraqi government dispatched thousands of troops and reinforcements to the front lines of the disputed Kurd territory when a shootout between Iraqi and the Kurd Peshmarga forces, over an unpaid gasoline bill, took place in the town of Tuz Khurmatu. Tensions have been high ever since.

Ever since Saddam’s fall, the Kurdistan government has been maneuvering to distance itself from the main Iraqi government and projects itself as a safe a haven for the world oil companies and all the signs show that the western oil companies are taking the bait. With the declining security situation in Iraq, car bomb explosions, sectarian strife and the fact that the Syrian Civil War might soon spill into Iraq, it only appears logical for the western companies like Exxon, Chevron, Mobil and even some Turk and UAE based companies to come into the Kurd region for oil exploration.

The situation is not helped by the fact that the Iraqi oil contracts are toughest in the world offering low returns, problems that are further compounded by the security issues and deteriorating infrastructure that has suffered from the ravages of decades of war.

Even though, companies are racing towards the Kurd region because of lucrative contracts offered by the government, the southern Iraqi region stills remains crucial to global oil supply. However, it is the events on the ground that are shaping the future.  Iraq’s government led by Nouri Al Maliki is striving to maintain closer ties with Iran, a move that has earned the displeasure of Washington D.C. In addition, that the Iraqi government has made little or no effort in stopping the arms supply from Iran to the President. Assad led Syrian government, furthermore in a sign of increasing independence from the US; the Iraqi government freed a key Hezbollah leader Ali Moussa DaqDuq, considered by the Americans as a threat to their interests in the region. All these issues, it seems, are compounding the already complex security situation and if Iraqi government continues to seek closer ties with Iran, the US and its NATO allies might be forced to rethink their arms and economic aid to the fragile Iraqi democratic government.

The western powers certainly do not want Iraq to have any ties with Iran and Iran on the other hand wants to woo Baghdad as the Assad led government is nearing its end and might be replaced by a conservative Sunni government, which might not be very friendly with Tehran. The Shiite government of Iraq is already on the hit list of Al-Qaida’s chapter in Iraq (AQI) and the Iraqi government fears the influx of Sunni fighters from Syria into Iraq. This has been confirmed by the fact that AQI (in a hugely ironic twist) has actually benefited from the American backed Syrian civil war and has increased its terror activities in Iraq.

If Al-Qaida actually establishes itself in Syria, then Iraq would face a security crisis that would be reminiscent of Bush era occupation with IEDs, suicide attacks and car bombings becoming a daily feature. All this would ultimately affect oil supply from Iraq and ultimately world oil prices. Hence, the western and Middle Eastern oil companies are so interested in the Kurd oil fields, and Iraq is wary of this as it would mean loss of precious oil revenue in the future and increased security concerns and that is why it does not want the Kurds achieving autonomy over the oil fields in their areas.  The Syrian civil war has given new impetus to terror activities in the Middle East and it appears that the effect would be felt outside region too.

Prank Gone Royally Wrong‏

When the sun rose on December 5, three people on this planet did not have a clue that their lives were about to be turned over. Quite literally. Those three people were, Jacintha Saldanha, Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

Jacintha Saldanha- The ill fated nurse

When the media frenzy began over Kate Middleton’s pregnancy, it came across to the people working at Australia’s 2DayFM radio station that apart from the intense media scrutiny of the Royal House of Windsor, what was lacking was a prank call. And so it was decided that Radio DJs Mel Greig and Micheal Christian would take part in a prank call to the King Edward VII Hospital in London where Kate Middleton was admitted. They would pretend to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and would try to get through to Kate Middleton.  The number was dialed and the call was picked up by nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a married mother of two children. They prank callers identified themselves as the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and inquired to know about Kate Middleton’s health. To their immense surprise, they were put through to Kate Middleton’s ward where another nurse gave them confidential details about Kate’s medical condition. The call ended and the news spread. They all laughed, Prince Charles pronounced it as a joke and the DJs shared their success with the world at large. The hospital and the nurses came under intense English media scrutiny.

Two days later, Jacnitha Saldanha, 46, wife and a mother of a daughter and a son was dead.

It has been reported that Jacintha died of shame as she might have been devastated by the outcome, which had involved the leaking out of private medical data of a globally known British Royal, but the police have yet to confirm the details.

For two days when everybody was laughing and the British press was voicing its disbelief that two people with such horrible British accentscould easily get access to a Royal’s private health info, they now turned over to the two Australian DJ’s. Some tabloids declared the two Aussies ashaving the blood of the nurse on their hands and a storm of furious tweets and hate mail deluged 2DayFM. People from around the world, especially in UK called for the DJs to step down and face inquires.  And then, after three days the two shell shocked and visibly distressed DJs, appeared for two interviews on Australian channels and apologized for the prank call.

Mel and Greg. Australian DJ's in the middle of the controversy

While it may have been a harmless prank call in the minds of Greg and Mel, it is worth noting that they were not the final authority on the prank call that was made. As they explained, it was a part of the team process and they refused to give the names of the higher ups that gave a go ahead. People are lambasting them for their prank call and nobody disagrees with it, yes, the actions were reprehensible, but to blame them altogether for the nurse’s death is going a bit too far. No one would have foreseen such an extreme reaction and the self righteous in their admirable haste to call for blood forget that they were the same people laughing at the prank five days ago.  The intense media coverage might also have contributed to Jacintha’s death.

Where once this prank was being regarded as the  best international scoop so far, it is now being regarded as being a deplorable act.

We can all safely say that the two radio presenters didn’t foresee these kinds of events unfolding and  in my opinion they are being subjected to an unfair global tirade of hate, half of who’s participants are just jumping the band wagon as is the norm in the social media and which has been all too apparent in useless trends that clutter the twittersphere and Facebook.  They already have got more punishment than they deserved and if intense media coverage was able to crumble Nurse Jacintha, how would the media feel if  their intense bombardment of accusations leveled against two little known radio presenters has an effect on them and prompted them to take any extreme measures. Yes, 2DayFM has beenguilty in the past of such pranks, and it had been served notices by Australian Authorities sans harsher penalties, it is up to the authorities to question the higher ups of the 2DayFM and the management of Southern Cross Autero Media that owns the radio channel. On the other hand the media (especially the British media), reporting on the incident should take a balanced approach ( especially after the Leveson Report). An innocent life has already been taken, let us not scar the remaining ones. It is time to review practices and code of conduct rather than targeting individuals to increase ratings.

Note: This blog was also published in Express Tribune: http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/15126/kate-middletons-pregnancy-and-a-prank-gone-royally-wrong/

Another Islamophobic Movie: Please Ignore

After numerous deaths, burnings, protests, suicide attacks, website bans and religio-jingoism laced TV Talk Shows later, it seems like we are going back to square one.  Another Anti Islam ‘movie’ called, The Innocent Prophet - Life of Muhammad from the Point of View of an Ex-Muslim, is being released by an ‘Ex-Muslim’ and a Pakistani refugee in Spain, named Imran Firasat. The usual suspects Dr. Terry Jones and Islam Watch .Org are collaborating on the film project, which is supposed to be a documentary questioning whether the Prophet of Islam promoted peace and showing how Islam spreads violence. The tried and tested formula of spewing out amateurish and laughable Anti Islamic bilge in the name of Freedom of Expression is again being used.

Imran Firasat

The documentary was supposed to be released on 14th December 2012, but after a fierce back lash from Muslim groups, and most importantly, after warnings by the government of Spain that he might be deported back to Pakistan if he continues with the attempt, Imran Firasat has decided to temporarily delay the launch of his documentary which he says will be released online after he has shown the authorities that  there is “nothing in this movie which doesn´t fall under the right of freedom of expression” and which, “will not cause any kind of loss to humanity”. You are allowed to roll your eyes.

What is anticipated from this documentary is more Anti Islam rhetoric and what is also expected is the violent Muslim reaction which will certainly lead to a couple of deaths and after a few days, when all the hate from either side has been spilled out, when Muslim conservatives will have strengthened their positions in their respective societies, this incident will be forgotten. The perpetrators of anti Islamic speech will again prepare for a hate campaign, which as the trend shows are becoming more moronic with each attempt.

But, let us not give importance to an another kiddish attempt against Islam, it pains me when I see innocent lives lost over things that will be forgotten after a couple of days, what will not come back are the persons who will lose their lives.

But having said that it is worth noting that the amount of content vilifying Islam and Muslims has increased as of late, and thanks to the clerics from our side, the anti Islam hatemongers  are finding themselves publicized without any advertising overhead to worry about. Let’s face it; The Innocence of the Muslims would not have spread like a wildfire if the Egyptian clerics hadn’t showed the clips on national televisions. And it’s not that the Muslims are violent by nature, it’s just that if you keep playing the hateful images again and again in front of an already infuriated audience, you are bound to incense them further. This is what George W Bush and Co. did with the American public by stamping the images of burning Twin Towers on the minds of ordinary American citizens and created a war hysteria that would see Iraq and Afghanistan devastated and USA slumping into recession.

The solution to these issues lies not in more violence, but providing logical counter arguments to the detractors. In reacting violently against such rubbish attempts to malign the Muslim World , it would be a much better option if we made movies, documentaries and arranged interfaith conferences that reflect the Islam that our Prophet (PBUH) preached and not the Islam that Terry Jones and Imran Firasat want the world to believe.  It astonishes me to see that how easily we fall for the tricks of these hate mongers and forget the lessons of peace and patience that Islam has taught us. It pains me to see that we readily ignore the works of many Islamic organizations in western countries who strive day and night to promote the real Islam while Terry Jones and Co. get prime time space on our TV sets.  Yes, sooner or later, this hate-filled documentary is going to be released and yes, the Islamophobes will continue to indulge in their odium against Islam, but we have to show ourselves to be above such irrational, imprudent and comic attempts. There are better and more peaceful ways to protest. My request to religious leaders is to show responsibility and calm the masses should any attempt is made.

The last words belong to a homeopathy student Sabahat Siddiqui, who in response to this incident told me,

If the world desires any kind of peace, there must be laws to stop such hateful material to be made or published against any religion! All faiths are from the God and should be respected likewise.

Sorry Owais , We Messed Up

My following blog also appeared on Express Tribune Blogs : http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/15039/we-are-sorry-owais-baig/

I was viewing the Facebook profile of a young man from Karachi. Looking at the publically shared pictures, I came under the impression that he loved his nieces and a nephew. His name was Owais Baig.

He appeared to be a typical Karachiite with swarthy, intelligent facial features- looks that gave away small details of his life. You could tell that he was a young man, still studying, working alongside and looking for a better career and just trying to make it in a city of 20 million.

Then I looked at the video of him dangling from a burning building, which ironically belongs to a company that sells life insurance. I looked at the crowd below, entranced by the dance of death. I saw this same man looking down helplessly; to me it was becoming unbearable. I looked away and a few minutes after wards, I heard grown men scream. I knew the whole story, we all know it.

As much as I want to talk about why the people did not help him, why the fire brigade failed for the umpteenth time, I won’t. But I do want to talk about the role that our media played in this whole situation.

To broadcast the clips of a man dangling from a burning building until he falls to his death shows the level of empathy and social awareness that our media lacks. Now, I won’t the blame the whole media, but those involved in this game would get an idea. When we say “O kuch nahin yaar, bus aik do hee marray hain” (Oh man, its not a big deal, just one or two have died), we know that we have been desensitised by the media.

We were glued to our screens when Owais fell to his death.

His death was plastered on thousands of TV screens nationwide. A couple of apologetic TV programs, wailing and mourning and we are back to our daily routine, thinking little about the trauma that Owais’s family went through during the coverage.

They have been scarred for life.

Owais’s parents, brother, his beloved nieces; they have gone through a trauma that few of us would ever face. And unsurprisingly, our media bigwigs remain unapologetic.

In a program by Matiullah Jan called Apna Apna Gareban, the director of a local news channel unapologetically defended his newschannel’s decision to air Owais’s video clip. And the atrocity doesn’t stop here. Right up to the time of writing, not a single statement by any media house has been broadcasted, seeking apology for airing disturbing visuals.

Somehow, the image of Nero fiddling away while Rome burns flashes across my mind.

It’s not as if we lack laws and regulations, it’s just that our TV channels show blatant disrespect towards implementing them. It is specifically stated in PEMRA (Amendment) Act 2007, article 20, clause C that the person who is issued a license by PEMRA must ensure that:

“All programmes and advertisements do not contain or encourage violence, terrorism, racial, ethnic or religious discrimination, sectarianism, extremism, militancy, hatred, pornography, obscenity, vulgarity or other material offensive to commonly accepted standards of decency”

Forgive me, but I assume that our TV channels do not think that the live broadcasting of a young man’s death nationwide constitutes something ‘offensive’.

This September a Fox News presenter’s YouTube clip went viral. It showed a driver being chased by US police in Arizona when suddenly the driver stops the car, gets out, runs a few yards and then shoots himself in the head.

As soon as the presenter realises what the man is about to do he screams,

“Get off. Get off. Get off it. Get off it. Get off it. Get off it!”

And when his channel accidently shows the video he comes on air and responsibly issuing an apology on live television,

“… we really messed up. And we’re all very sorry. That didn’t belong on TV. We took every precaution we knew how to take to keep that from being on TV. I personally apologise to you that that happened. Sometimes we see a lot of things that we don’t let get to you because it is not time appropriate, it is insensitive, it is just wrong. And that was wrong and that won’t happen on my watch…”

Dear TV channels,

If Fox News - which we all know is famous for its biased and right wing stance against Muslims- is capable of such professionalism then I believe you have got a big ethical dilemma on your hands.

Let us therefore not talk about enacting new laws and regulations, as they already exist, but let us enforce them. Let us force our media houses to publicly apologise for this particular error so that they recognise their professional code of conduct and never indulge in such indecency again.

It is time to apologise to Owais Baig and his family.

I do apologise- sincerely, from the bottom of my heart – to Owais Baig and his family.

May his soul rest in peace. Ameen.

Pharaoh Mursi?

This week Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi  stupefied Egyptian public and Islamists around the world with his new decree which  grants him sweeping powers that practically make him immune to judicial decisions and gives him near absolute power in constitutional matters.

Pharaoh Mursi??

At the time of writing Egypt is roiling with mass pro democracy protests that are spreading with the passing of each day. On 27 November 2012, almost 100,000 protesters flocked to Egypt’s iconic Tahrir Square to protest against Morsi’s new decree, which they call as a power grab and led the Nobel Laureate Opposition leader, Al Baradei to pronounce Morsi as Egypt’s New Pharaoh. 

The decree gives President Morsi the power to proclaim any new law without any hindrance and no challenge could be made to his decisions, not even in the Supreme Court. He also actively banned the judiciary from dissolving the Shura Council (i.e. the Upper House of the Parliament). This has been viewed as a defensive strategy by Morsi to protect the Shura Council from any judicial decisions, seeing that the Supreme Court already dissolved the lower house of Parliament on the premise, that the elections were held on rules that were in contrast to the country’s constitution. That decision pitched Morsi against the Judiciary that has remain unchanged since Mubarak’s reign ended in 2011.

Morsi’s new decree also immunizes his decisions on “National Sovereignty” from any judicial review until a new assembly is elected early next year. Now what those issues of national sovereignty are, no one from the Morsi camp has been able to satisfactorily explain it to the world at large. Most probably, the issues of national sovereignty pertain to his decisions on foreign and domestic affairs like imposition of martial law, severing diplomatic ties with nations and dismissing the cabinet.  

Egypt unsurprisingly has risen up in protest

He also gives himself the power to tackle any challenges by issuing uncontested decisions to protect any state institutions from performing their functions. This has been interpreted to mean that the President has given himself extensive standby emergency powers, should such a situation arise.

Needless to say, this new decree has raised more than just eyebrows. Egypt is up in protest, and this protest seems to have united the hitherto divided and diffused opposition.  Although it is the common Egyptian on the street protesting against the decree because he sees it as a return to Mubarak era and the judiciary, who see it as a blow to their authority,  it is very  interesting to note that the protest camp has also seen former military men join the Anti-Morsi demonstrations.

In an interesting article in the Washington Post , it has been reported that the mass protests are also being used by Anti-Muslim Brotherhood elements, notably the liberals, secularists and Mubarak era military officers, to topple Mursi’s Islamist regime. It is important to bear in mind that Mursi faces opposition from the Coptic Church and secularists who claim that the Brotherhood dominated panel does not reflect the pluralistic identity of Egypt .

Despite the allegations by the liberals and the church leaders that Morsi is trying to pave the way for Salafists to come into power, it is worth noting that Morsi has proved to be so far not the demon that the western analysts predicted. In fact, his relations with USA have improved since he brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza much to the consternation of Islamist and Jewish right-wingers.  It remains to be seen how big a role USA plays in this ongoing drama seeing that ice between the Morsi led government and USA has just started to melt. The White House, given its apparent cold-shouldering of the Islamist regime, has stopped short of denouncing the decree and called for a peaceful solution of the issue.

From the view point of Morsi, we must remember that from day one, he has been on a quest against ousting Mubarak era officials from any positions of power. So far he has been generally successful since he has effectively sidelined the military officials from interfering in important political decisions and also removed the Mubarak era prosecutor general Abdel Maguid Mehmoud, who had infuriated Egyptian revolutionaries , by playing an important role in the acquittal of Mubarak era official who allegedly were involved in violent crackdowns against Anti-Mubarak protesters.

This whole play, it seems, is heading towards the-soon-to-be-introduced constitution, which many fear, would impose stricter Islamist oriented laws in the country, which the Mubarak era elements, liberals, pro-USA parties, church leaders and secularists are opposing in principle. How will the new constitution shape Egypt and its role in the middle east, we will have to wait and see, as the success of the Arab spring  depends on how Morsi lets democracy flourish in post Mubarak Egypt.

Slave Mindedness of our Pakistani Twitteratti ( Through Pictures)

US President Obama won the elections, which was of no surprise to anyone, although what surprised every body was  how closely the election was fought eventually, and it must be acknowledged that for all the fiascoes that Romney and the Tea Party created over the years and during the campaign trail, they still gave Obama, a run for his money.

That being said our liberal journos were ecstatic at Obama's win, something which is also not surprising with the US government's active interest in managing perceptions. When Obama won the election today our liberal journos and media personalities exploded with joy as if Obama was being elected as the President of Pakistan and not of USA. I will say no more here but present to you screen shots that I took of twitter regrading those people's tweets and leave you to be the judge.

The darling of our fashion industry seems jubilant at Obama's victory? Is he your president Ms. Aaminah?

Dear Asma Shirazi,  how can you maintain your impartiality when you are so over awed by Americans

Aliya Salahuddin, haven't seen her much on TV for a long time, well we now know she spends her time crying for Obama, could  that time been spent crying  for Pakistan, we all would have been happy.

Yes, Mr. Salman, may the junoon of droning the bejesus out of Pakistani always be with Mr. Obama.

Ah, thegenius Ms. Mehreen Malik, writes brilliant Op-Eds on The News but seems she is beholden to Democrats, somebody please check whether she is Pakistani or American.

What is this champion of human rights is doing in Pakistan and is beyond me, apparently drones and constant attacks by Obama and Co. do not constitute human rights violations.

Yes Ms. Tarar, we know you are extremely happy, couldn have cheered and show interest our own elections too.

What to expect from Mr. Solangi who runs Radio Pakistan, even our radio waves are being controlled by yanks now.

Yes, Ms. Nuzhat, a ladoo every time a drone blows up a civilian house in Miraanshah. 

Now you have seen. Now you decide. The power to decide is yours. Avail it.

Combining Wahhabism and Capitalism to Destroy Islamic Heritage

The current controversy of the potential Saudi demolition of Riyad-Al-Jannah and the graves of Islamic Caliphs Abu Bakar and Omar is one in a long line of projects that the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil has undertaken to erase Islamic Heritage sites. The Saudi obsession with everything concrete and steel is a cause of concern for Muslims around the world. The construction of enormous towers and skyscrapers including the ghastly Mecca Clock Tower tell us something about the future plans of the Saudis.

A 2011 report by The Independent  paper titled “Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas” written by Jerome Taylor (who wrote the recent story about the planned Saudi destruction of Riyad-Al-Jannah etc), says that the Saudis are planning to turn Mecca into a playground for the rich, by building sky scrapers and luxury hotels that cater for the rich Muslims coming from all over the world. The same newspaper reported back in April 2006 about the Saudi construction rampage in Islam’s holiest sites.

Systematic destruction of the holy sites and building hotels and resorts is being backed by the blessings of its religious clerics, who endorse the destruction of the holy sites because of their (baseless) fear that idolatry might creep into Muslim ranks.  Wahhabism, which is an extreme and strict form of Islam that denounces the reverence of any holy site, is the official religion in Saudi Arabia. It is worth noting that the same brand of Islam is practiced by the Taliban who have been involved in the destruction of Bamyan Buddhas and the attack on the legendary Sufi Rehman Baba’s shrine  in Peshawar. However, the Wahabbi Kingdom seems to be on something more than destroying shrines, graves and imposing its own brand of Islam.

Even a cursory search reveals that the Saudis are embarking on a real estate and renewable energy projects as they plan for the future post 2030 when it is feared that the supply of oil, which generates 86% of the kingdom’s revenue, might start to dwindle thus forcing the Saudis to import additional oil from other countries. The Economist states that the rapid increase in demand for oil inside Saudi Arabia has increased by 37% and 65% of its electricity is generated by the oil that it produces. For now, increase in oil price has caused the wealth of Saudis to soar, quite literally, and their construction of the Kingdom Tower is a testament to the money flooding in.

But the increase in oil consumption, the increasing American reliance on Shale Gas , the expectation that Canada and Mexico might become the new middle east  and the awareness of  the fact that oil reserves would not last forever has led Saudi Arabia to consider alternate forms of revenue generation which include real estate, Hajj ( obviously),banking sector and other renewable forms of energy. Khalid Al Falih, the President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, reflects the future strategy of the Saudis when he says that Saudi Aramco wants to transform from an oil& gas company to a ‘global energy and chemicals enterprise’. Apart from energy sources, the real estate sector is booming thanks to the swelling population and the increase in tours by the increasingly affluent middle-class of the Muslim world.

So how does the new course of Saudi economy relate to destruction of Islam’s holy sites? In this regard, my hypothesis is that the Saudis under the valid pretext of real state expansion are destroying the holy sites by invoking the tenets of Wahhabism but on the other hand, in order to clear the way for capitalist expansion projects and to keep up with the rest of the world they are back tracking on the Wahabi doctrine which vehemently opposes all forms of modernization.  The real estate development and other modernization projects can be undertaken anywhere in the kingdom but it seems that the Wahabbi clerics are capitalizing on this opportunity to erase the early history of Islam and increase their hold on the religion. Few countries have dared to raise voice against this heinous crime of the destruction of Islamic holy sites, fearing diplomatic repercussions that might arise. Yet we Pakistanis Muslims scream over the depiction of the Prophet (PBHUH) in the western media, burn buildings, kill people and block websites in protests but do not raise a single voice when the house of Hazrat Khadija (R.A) is turned into a public toilet block and when the Saudi Islamic affairs ministry declares that “the green dome (of Masjid Nabwi) shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".

The time to raise voice against this crime of titanic proportions is now!

US Led Drone Warfare in Pakistan. Strikes or Struck Out

The usage of drone technology by USA inside Pakistan is a hotly debated topic. Supporters of drone attacks cite the death of many Alqaeda and Taliban leaders and the reduction of terrorist attacks inside the Pakistani homeland as an example of the effectiveness of drone strikes. Detractors argue that the collateral damage is far too high for the drone strikes to be permissible and point to the moral dilemma that drone warfare faces.

Nobody denies that religious extremism and fundamentalism is an evil personified by the Taliban and the Alqaeda. Nobody argues that action should not be taken against the militants that are hell bent on the destruction of the fabric of society. Since September 2001, the fight against extremism has been raging on. Although there is no argument that many key terrorists have been killed but we also have to acknowledge that religious extremism has sharply increased rather than decline, which calls into question the USA led war on terror, which ( thanks to USA) has become our war too.

If this war has become ours. If TTP has become our enemy then, do we have to fight this war on the directives and with the assistance of USA, whose own withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan is a case study in strategic failure!

Surely, the enemy we are fighting is not a traditional enemy our operations against them might have reduced their military threat but they have not reduced their zeal to perpetuate terror. How drone strikes counter that shortcoming is anybody’s guess. But look at the bigger picture, there is a collateral damage in the drone strikes involved. That collateral then becomes fodder for the extremists who exploit the havoc wreaked by the drone attacks on civilians to recruit and BRAIN WASH more members and slowly this whole situation degenerates into a vicious circle whose only victim is the innocent civilian who’s killed regardless of a Hellfire Missile or a high velocity shrapnel emanating from the exploding jacket of a suicide bomber. Surely, if the solution to terrorism was a military one then the 11-year long war on terror might have made our world better today.

The drone attacks are one such mistake in a long line of mistakes that have been made when countering the disease of terrorism. To the satisfaction of its supporters, drone attacks produce quick results. Unfortunately, the short-term nature of the attacks is often confused with the rapid availability of results. Hence, important questions regarding the legality and future usage of drone technology has been consigned to the dustbin.  We should have the right to ask our governments that if drones are used a la’ American style, then what sort of precedent does it set up for the future of international military offensives. If USA can, with ease, violate the sovereignty of any country then, can other countries do the same? Can Iran target alleged Jundullah camps in Pakistan or MKO camps inside Iraq? Can India strike Hafiz Saeed in his home by using drones on the oft-used premise that the use of force is in self-defense or an imminent threat.

 Drones cause the local population to live in fear, the psychological toll of the constant fear of drones, the suddenness of a strike, the unseen attacker, may be more damaging to the psyche of the civilians than the battle hardened Taliban.  The argument that drone attacks reduce extremism are baseless because their proponents are sadly confused on the phraseology. Reductions in terrorist attacks do not constitute a reduction in an extremist mindset.

Hence, the question that must be asked is not Can Drones Reduce Terrorism. Rather Can Drones Reduce Terrorist Ideology? An ideology is not some bunker or hideout that could be destroyed by a Hell Fire Missile from the sky. Sadly, the proponents of North Waziristan Operation and drone attacks are similar in mindset to the Taliban who also claim that violence is the only solution. Hence, in my book both are the same. If drone strikes or military operations had been successful, then Malala would not have been attacked in the first place.

The fact that religion inspired terrorism is still alive in Pakistan is a testament to the joint failure of our military and political establishment to come up with a well-defined counter terrorism policy, the nation should be taken into confidence concerning that policy. If Pakistan were given the charge of drone strikes then the situation might have been different. Operations against TTP would have been more successful if it was followed up by commercial development but the rampant corruption, worsening economic situation and trampling of law is a major obstacle in the elimination of terrorism from Pakistan. In that case, drones can be effective against Taliban if they were part of the strategy, not the strategy.

The duplicity of Pakistani Opinion Makers

Stephen Covey once said; The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. And if our words and our actions come from superficial human relations techniques (the Personality Ethic) rather than from our own inner core (the Character Ethic), others will sense that duplicity. We simply won't be able to create and sustain the foundation necessary for effective interdependence.

For more than 60 years of its existence Pakistan has been ruled by the elite the rich the capitalist the landlord he affluent or whatever category you might want to assign to this group of people. Name me one instance..one event one government one military establishment where scions of the elite and liberal class did not preside over. How effectively and efficiently they have controlled our masses for 60years one must hand it over to them.

Right from the First president of Pakistan Iskender Mirza to the current president Asif Ali Zardari. From Nadeem F Paracha to Nusrat Javed how many of our journalists businessmen polticians and social workers have reaped the fruits of the western brand of liberalism and present  Janus like two faces to the world. One reserved for the masses and one reserved for their elite friends.

But one must stop here and ask, is it just he fault of our liberal elites that is the root of Pakistan's problems??

No!

A resounding No!! The mullah and fundamentalists championed by such figures as Mufti Mehmood, Shah Noorani, Khawaja Qamar Sialvi and Maulana Maudoodi..these men are as much responsible to the current state of Pakistan as are the liberals capitalists and generals.

So one may ask, which of these ideologies that one should choose in order to make Pakistan a better place to live. Should I follow the generals who although come in power and try to sew up a tattered country but once they depart, they leave the country in a much worse fix.Cases in point- the Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Musharraf Regimes. So should I follow liberals lead by PPP whose incoherent financial planning horrendous economic performance(1.7% GDP growth rate in the1995-96 period) has brought Pakistan to the edge of disaster and who ironically helped prop up the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Or! Should I follow the religious parties who unholy blending of politics and religion has divided Pakistan along sectarian lines!

Or should  I follow the media who's antics were laid bare in the Malik Riaz Bahria scandal??

They who puport to work for the people and claim to be from the masses but are entirely different personalities behind the scenes, should I believe those duplicitious figures??

NO! I follow none of them becuase none of them represent the Pakistanis per se. Some of them are liberals, some of them are socialists some of them are saudi or iranian aligned religious politicians some are pro India and some are pro USA...but pray, name me one of those so called  political military and religious demagogues who have in actuality, followed the Ideology of Jinnah, the ideology of the founding fathers.

NONE OF THEM!

You people have a problem with my tweeting of the so called scandalous pictures of Marvi Sirmed Mehmal Sarfaraz and Nusrat Javed. You who think that I am breaching privacy ethics. Well, I dont have a problem with their drinking wine or bedding each other..its their life. My problem is their duplictious personalities. How many times havnt I heard Nusrat Javed call upon God,Prophets and their companions to deplore the condition of Islam and Pakistanis and then I see those pictures. I ask you why? Why this duplicity??

It is my dream to hold high office in Pakistan and I dont know if this dream comes true or not but let me make it plain clear. I will purge Pakistan off these two faced monsters, I will cleanse Pakistan, off this extremist filth. I will hunt them down till none of them or descendants remain alive. And then will Pakistan be free of the vermim that are eating away its foundations.

Thankyou for reading my humble blog.

Blog on Malala YousafZai coming soon.

The Casual Vacancy Book Review: A Dark Masterpiece by JK Rowling

The Casual Vacancy

Published: September 27, 2012 Author: J. K. Rowling Genre: Black comedy

Einsjam Rating: 

JK Rowling has done it again. Her new novel Casual Vacancy is a magnificently written piece of literature and one, which will be hotly debated in the coming months. Its language is salacious, its prose is incisive and its delivery is forceful.  By writing Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling has made it clear that her range is not limited to writing fantasy novels only.

J.K.Rowling. A masterful story teller.

Casual Vacancy is the story of a little, apparently idyllic, English village of Pagford, whose façade of calm and serenity actually conceals an ongoing war between its inhabitants.  The novel begins with the death of Barry Fairbrother who is the local councilor from Pagford, a champion of the underrepresented and the disadvantaged inhabitants of The Fields, the nearby council estate, whose very existence is a thorn in the eyes of the well-to-do Pagfordians.  Barry Fairbrother has a tendency to see good in every one and he sees good combined with talent in a young bold and aggressive skank from the Winterdown School named Krystal Weedon and her classmate, a bullied dyslexic girl of Indian parentage, Sukhwinder Jawanda. He motivates them to stun other schools by winning the rowing championship but any hopes of these girls making it big into society vanish with the death of Barry Fairbrother. Upon his death, the old guard of Pagford lead by the Mollison family want to cut the Fields adrift from the council because it’s a drug and crime infested place and a threat to the well to do and superficially peaceful life style of Pagford. They also want to close down the drug addiction prevention institution named Bellchapel Clinic, which they think, is eating up precious government funds by producing no noticeable results in its patients, most of whom are the residents of The Fields. They can only succeed in achieving their objective by getting their candidate elected for the seat left empty by Barry Fairbrother and thus a Casual Vacancy is opened.  But also with Barry’s death, the purposefulness in the lives of Krystal Weedon and Sukhwinder Jawanda is gone.

Soon the ill-disguised racism, alleged child molestation, personal vendettas, corruption, whistle blowing and petty personal grudges push this election into the backdrop and bring forth the simmering hatred in the inhabitants of Pagford for each other. Teenagers are at war with their parents, neighbors at war with each other, white English folk at war with the brown-skinned immigrants and affluent people at war with the poor.

And so in this novel JK Rowling launches into a no holds barred, bold, incisive and brutal attack on the privileged classes who think that they are cut above the rest. The comedy in this novel is black as coal, the language is industrial and the wit is sharp as a Samurai sword. Anguish is etched in plain black letters across the novel and the depiction of human misery is authentic. It has a Dickensian feel to it in the way it shows the harsh reality of life in the recession hit Britain. JK Rowling highlights the gaping holes in the fabric of society, which definitely need to be stitched up.

But in the end, it is a tragedy. A tragedy that leaves you thinking about the flaws in human nature  and the direction in which our society is heading towards. Just like in Harry Potter books, death plays a key role in the novel but unlike the Harry Potter books, this one doesn't only just deals with the death of characters but also the death of dreams of the disadvantaged and the aspiring.

Like all JK Rowling novels, this novel again taught us the importance of seeing good in everything, human compassion and believing in oneself.  If you come out of this novel, having learnt those lessons then JK Rowling will have achieved her objective. I rate this novel  with 4.5 stars, cutting 0.5 for being boring in the beginning. Highly recommended.

Ref: Sketch of Jk Rowling by Niruh

The Article Also Appeared in Express Tribune http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/14156/spoiler-alert-the-casual-vacancy-rowling-shines-again/