Call for National Psychotherapy

Somewhere in the White House, US President Barack Hussein Obama was sitting with his generals and advisers in a live video conference with leaders of Israel and India. Obama is concerned that his plan to destroy Muslims is not going well and his allies haven’t been of much help.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his gentle and low voice squeaks in the screen, ‘Mr. Obama why do you look so worried?’

Obama who’s head is buried in his hands looks up at the screen and says, ‘Nothing Manu  bro, recently there haven’t been much attacks against Muslims, I think we are losing our steam’.

‘ No, we are not’ Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu in his strong Philadelphian accent chips in, ‘ we are trying to buy some major TV channels in Muslim countries so that we can indoctrinate their populations with our Zionist ideology’.

Obama looks up at Netanyahu and asks him, ‘how much money would I have to keep giving you to buy Muslim media and business assets? In case you haven’t realized, there’s a recession going on in here and my voters are keeping an eye on this one’ He said, anxiety apparent in his eyes.

‘As long as the media remains in our grip everything would be fine’ said Netanyahu.

‘ Don’t worry Sir Obama Sir, we have recruited Veena Malik and she would definitely do her best to defame Pakistani Military and ISI because if we destroy ISI and Pak Army, we can easily take over the Muslim world and my generals can finally enjoy a Jack Daniels at the Lahore Gymkhana’, chirped Manmohan Singh.

‘What if they treat her like Shakeel Afridi’ , Obama asked Manmohan.

‘ Oh  no no sir this is not possible sir, as you see we have quite a lot of liberal politicians and media anchors in our employ and they are doing their best to provide a cover for Veena” said Manmohan, self satisfaction evident in his voice.

‘ Hey OB’ Netanyahu said, ‘ I see that you are still looking worried , thinking that the  damage in the  Muslim world is not enough eh?’ asked the Israeli  PM. ‘ I have a plan’ he said dropping his voice conspiratorially low.

‘What ?’ said Obama now in a hushed voice and leaning towards the screen.

‘ Why don’t we publish another set of cartoons of the Muslim Prophet, that will enrage them for sure like it did last time’, said Netanyahu.

‘ I have got a better idea this time’ , said Obama, now smiling.’ Why don’t we make a  film this time, and then spread it all over, that will enrage the Muslims, and then they would peacefully protest, but we will insert our agents who will incite the peaceful Muslims to violence and we can all cheer as their shops and buildings and hospitals are burnt and razed to the ground’.

‘Hallelujah’ cried the Israeli and Indian Prime minister in unison.

Dear Readers, this conversation did not take place, so says logic common sense and media reports. However, it’s frightening to see how much of this fictional story can actually be viewed as truth by many Pakistanis. This is what we as a nation have become.

Targeting of everything American was the order of the day on Yaum-e- Ishq-e- Rasool . Yes, by the grace of Almighty, we burnt many infidel restaurants but in doing so, we also destroyed the lively hoods of many of our fellow citizens. My friend told me of a protestor who was beating a burning empty police car? I wondered why beat a burning police car, which has no infidel occupants? Children reveled in the carnage that ensued on the streets of Lahore Karachi Peshawar and Islamabad.  Adults looted medicine shops and burnt trucks and buses.

On that day, our nation showed symptoms of psychosis.

Psychosis is an aberration in mental health. The sufferer loses contact with reality. Delusions are a symptom of a psychosis. Delusion is an erroneous belief that does not have any  rational or logical foundation. One of the types of delusions characterized by psychologists is the delusion of persecution in which the person wrongly and irrationally believes that people are conspiring against him and desire nothing but to hurt him.  It is an observation of mine that a vast majority of Pakistanis have slipped into the Delusion of Persecution.  On  a simple matter of peacefully registering a protest, we took to the streets and after all was done we had the gumption to say that the movie and the ensuing violence was an American Zionist conspiracy because Muslims always conduct peaceful protests and that those Zionists and Yanks really want to destroy us.

After all this happening, can we still remain in denial and reject calls for a National Psychotherapy?

Does 'Innocence of Muslims' really deserve our attention?

So here we are again, after blasphemous cartoons, burning Qurans now we have an insulting film.  Many have been injured, some killed, buildings, restaurants, tires, motor cycles and buses have been burned, websites have been blocked, and still the issue is hot.

Up until now, I was reluctant to see the trailer of the movie because frankly I was not interested. I have much bigger issues in life then to waste my time watching trailers of third class movies, which also happen to insult some other religions. But then after seeing and reading about all the violence I decided to give it a go and saw it on YouTube.

My fellow readers, if I believe that Sam Bacile (the producer of Innocence of the Muslims, whose real name is alleged to be Nakoula Basseley Nakoula) says that he financed the project with 5 million dollars then I would also believe that King Kong really did climb the Empire State building. The trailer showed that this movie is a hideous and revolting insult to the art of movie making. Not only that one can clearly see that at some parts it is horrendously dubbed, especially where the name Muhammad comes in. The acting is other worldly bad and the dialogues are offensive. Remember, this movie is supposed to be satirical, but if this was satire then one might as well call Nazi propaganda movies like The Eternal Jew as thoughtful and considerate works of art. This is a crude movie that does not even require big financing, even I can finance this movie with my $10 per hour part time cash in hand job. But if it is, so crude, so childish and so amateurish, then why is it responsible for worldwide violence.

One might blame the attitude of the Muslims; some are calling the Muslims as immature and contend that that this movie is not enough to have sparked worldwide outrage and violent protests. For hardliners in USA and Israel it is a dream reaction, they can now confidently say that, look this is why we are against Islam, it’s a violent religion.

Its critics point out that there is a thin line between good-natured satire and malicious satire, others say that movies like this should be banned because freedom of expression doesn’t meaning hurting the religious beliefs of others. Hardliners from the Muslim camp, point to a sinister conspiracy by the Jews and Americans.

I find some valid points from both the arguments, I believe that killing people and burning cars and buildings in response to a sub-mental dialogued movie is absolutely nonsensical and this movie should have been ignored and I also believe that there should be line drawn when it comes to satire because this movie was not what you would call satire. When somebody knows that this sort of movie will hurt the feelings of Muslims in the same way, a satire about concentration camps will hurt Jews then why do it?

Turns out that the consultant for the movie, Steve Klein did know about the outcome of this whole enterprise. His life mission it seems is to protect his family, especially his granddaughter from ’these monsters’ (referring to Muslims).

So we have a bunch of Islamophobes out there that made a crude anti-Islam movie, but then there are lots of websites, books, documentaries, even seminars, that purport to be anti-Islamic, but should we do violent protests every day just because they insult our religion?  Surely, there can be another, more mature way to register a protest. Why hasn’t any American Muslim sued Nakoula or Steve Klein for being indirectly responsible for the deaths of American citizens in Libya? Or doesn’t anybody from the cast sue the filmmakers for duping them?  Surely, there are ways if one is willing to look.

In my view the only the entities who would benefit from such a situation (and they have always benefited from such situations) are the hardliners from both parties. Its them hardliners who are having a field day and hyping up the issue, which is not worth even a penny.  The public property that we end up burning happens to be our property not Nakoula or Klein’s.  With such actions, we only favor the cause of the extremists and nothing else.

It’s high time that we show some maturity. If one is offended by the movie then don’t watch it (hardly 10 people watched it in USA but which, thanks to the Egyptian cleric, has now been watched by millions), ignore it and the agitators would eventually fade away. Such violence only reveals insecurities of own beliefs rather than being an expression of our strong belief and the love of the Prophet (PBUH).

PTI Trolls

Youth have played a pivotal role in revolutions and movements that have changed the course of history and as Herbert Hoover said, “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die”.

In modern times, Obama’s 2008 campaign and the Egypt Uprising are examples of how the power of youth was utilized by older leaders to create history. However, it can also be said that the politicians and leaders in both cases struck a chord with the youth who were resentful, dissatisfied and angry at the status quo. In both the cases, the youth passionately advocated the ideals of democracy and social equality and made sure that their voice was heard so that the degeneration of a political system or the whole society could be prevented. These youth really wanted to change the world and they made sure the chance they had was not wasted. And, the wily politicians exploited that masterfully.

The case is almost similar to PTI and specially Imran Khan’s story as well. It’s popularity among the Pakistani youth is mostly due to its effective use of social media, the presence of which has changed the political landscape of Pakistan by exposing the life and lies of well known personalities both political and nonpolitical. In social media, the youths of Pakistan have certainly found a platform where they can express themselves and make their thoughts heard by a large audience. Well, with this growing number of social media users, you also get occasional ‘trolls’ who disrupt normal debates and conversations with their own brand of reasoning which is pretty much detached with reality and rational thought. But is there any method to their actions, especially of the ‘alleged’ PTI trolls? One is led to believe that the PTI trolls are just random masked idiots who’s only aim in life is to disrupt conversations and malign the people who’s allegiance lies with any party except PTI. Normally their behavior is alleged to be such that if you don’t like, revere, love or hold Imran Khan and PTI in high esteem then you are a western agent or unpatriotic. Well some of them are certifiably like that but the classification by our liberals, media personalities and rights activists that all youths supporting PTI are like that is demonstrably wrong. I am in no way an office bearer or on the payroll of PTI but I do support it because of its principles. But does that mean that I am a troll? Would I attack liberals and all personages anti-PTI just because they disagree with me? But we must ask ourselves, what compels those other youths to attack online anybody disagreeing with their political views? For one thing, one is angered by the amount of criticism hurled down by political parties and certain journalists and ‘enlightened’ individuals whose own past is tainted –rather heavily- by corruption, disreputable behavior and links to terror, all which is well documented .  How, a ‘PTI troll’ thinks, is it so that those political parties, which have led Pakistan to this catastrophic situation, have the audacity to criticize a political party, which hasn’t come into power yet. That youth /aka PTI troll is angered by this and when unable to effectively communicate his thoughts and grievances, then adopts trolling as a medium of protest, yes it is true that that ‘troll’ abandons rational judgment of differentiating right from wrong and doesn’t criticize his own party but the blame lies on the vile and loathsome mess that our elders, liberals, conservatives and political parties have created.  But the leadership of PTI must also take steps to prevent this from happening because that tarnishes its own image. Trolling is extremism in its truest form and while it cannot be stamped out, but it certainly can be reduced. The youths supportive of PTI that I know are very good communicators and open minded. The actions of a few must not reflect on the majority.

Trolling also tells us something about our society that has engendered those trolls, trolls are just not on the internet, they are in offices, mosques, institutes and gatherings. Our society has become such that it provides the right ingredients for the creation of a troll.  Strict adherence to any ideal, lack of critical analysis and open mindedness are now becoming the characteristics of our society and that is reflected in the verbal jousts taking place on the social media.  The sad part about these trolls is that they tend to be youth, the same youth that are supposed to lead the country in the future but alas, their actions warrant introspection by the society itself.

Nusrat Bhai's Problem with PTI

Nusrat Javed is a competent journalist; let’s give him that at least. He deserves it. On occasion, he might blunder and bluster just like somebody’s extremely old grandpa on family occasions, but still, his journalistic experience demands respect.

Nusrat’s saab’s  contention with PTI youth, or ‘trolls’ as he and other respectable liberals (present  almost exclusively on Twitter) , prefer to call them , is well known, well observed and has been the subject matter of much casual chit chats, face to face verbal jousting and war of comments on social networks. As a part of the generation that is gradually disappearing, his discomfiture with the social network active youth is understandable. He is slow to catch up on the trend, but social media is now gradually playing an important role in Pakistani politics with its ability to bring on the table, youth (though mostly from urban areas) and their newfound love for political activism. And with youth, well, you get occasional hot heads, cyber bullies, overzealous preachers and passionate expounders of conspiracy theories. It is a whole new world for the people of old electronic and print media and a one to which they now have to get used to. But one has to understand the undercurrents of the rising tide of participation by Pakistani youth in politics.

Youth have played a significant part in world politics. Throughout history, their participation is synonymous with dramatic changes or to be more fair, the various revolutionary leaders throughout history have utilized the services of young people to change the course of history. It has been seen that youth can get exploited and manipulated for both good and nefarious purposes. Muhammad Ali Jinnah used the Muslim youth of the sub continent to good success for the Pakistan Movement, but there have been instances where youth were used for more sinister purposes like the Nazification of Germany or the Cultural Revolution in China and yes it is shameful that the Taliban have proven more successful in attracting young people than our mainstream national parties, and that is the reality. But as you might observe these days, the reserves of undecided and politically inactive youth are being tapped by political parties throughout the world.  With the voluntary and involuntary inclusion of youth in political and social discussions, the rules of discussion and debate are changing and which many politicians and journalists -including Nusrat Javed- are finding hard to come to terms with.

In comparison to other parties, PTI seems to have had a reasonable success with youth and parallels with Obama’s 2008-election strategy can be justifiably drawn. Their crafty exploitation of the Messiah Syndrome in the masses and the use of youth in spreading their message are two similarities that glaringly stand out.

But aside from all this, both the Democrats in USA and PTI in Pakistan have realized the importance of youth in politics. It was the youth that toppled the Shah’s regime in Iran and the despotic governments of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The power of youth thus cannot be under estimated.

But what happens in most cases is that the young people who have been in the fore forefront of movements and election campaigns get disillusioned by the policies of their leaders, like this year, Obama faces an uphill battle against the rising number of youth non-participants in elections, the same youth that so fervently voted for him the 2008 elections are now are little unsure about him. This is a case study from heaven for PTI and it should learn something from this.

But we must ask that what leads these ‘trolls’ to ridicule and viciously attack their opponents online, isn’t that a trait that is found in the Taliban?  I.e. you disagree with us we attack you. In my opinion it is the constant betrayal and continuous exploitation by politicians that drives these young people to brutally attack differing opinions because they seem to have pinned hopes to a cause or a personality in which they have fervently come to believe. Every religious, secular and violent movement in the past has been led by these same young zealots who blindly follow their leader and more often than not these are the same people who are the most disenchanted at the end of each revolution, because no revolution in this world has seen a happy ending for the youth and Nusrat saab as an avid reader of history might know this.

Book Review::Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base

Area 51 is probably one of those conspiracy theory target places that always manages to maintain this aura of malevolence around it, and the US government does nothing to stop it, in fact the many silly attempts by conspiracy theorists and ufologists to reveal the inner workings of this highly guarded place, actually helps the US government to safeguard its secrets rather than worry about them being exposed.

The review that I am writing today is about one of the plethora of books that have dealt with the subject of Area 51.

Well, if like its counterparts, you are looking for a book that’s riddled with conspiracy theories of alien visitors, captured alien space craft ( sigh, Independence Day ) or some plans to establish a Illuminati new world order than you will be highly disappointed.

Annie Jacobsen’s Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, is a forceful account of the highly secretive workings inside Area 51, a highly guarded military base in Nevada, USA.

This book brings to light the story of the extraordinary genius, vision, hard work and patriotism of the American men and women that worked at Area 51 and churned out marvels of human ingenuity and intelligence.

From Roswell Crash to the ultra secret but gigantic (to the point of being biblical) nuclear tests, from NASA astronaut training to drone aircraft technology, Annie Jacobsen builds on a huge number of declassified never before seen government files, and most importantly, interviews from people  who worked at Area 51.

Great read if you are not a conspiracy theory junkie, this book packs in truckloads of information but somehow conveys it smoothly with the very human stories of the people who worked at Area 51.

I spent two days reading this book and at no point, I was bored.  Worth the time and money spent.