To Mourn the Death of a Political Activist

On 27^th March, “unidentified persons”, shot dead an MQM activist, within hours of the incident numerous buses, hotels and shops were set ablaze and several casualties were reported in the aftermath of the killing. Then on 29^th March, some ANP activist was killed by some “unknown people”.

Those people who think that setting ablaze shops and buses would somehow quench their thirst for vengeance, are wrong, it is not right. It is never right, by any law, by any code or by any moral standard to injure and maim people in vengeful anger and the political parties are utterly and entirely to held in blame for this carnage.

These knights of vengeance forget that when they set about to avenge the death of their comrade, the people would only mourn for the loss of their own personal property or worse their loved ones. Just for the death of two political activists, 7 Karachiites were killed,

is there any justification for that?

I ask you, how many of us actually shed a tear for the death of a political party of any standing. Majority of us do not, because we have other important things to do in life, struggle to earn bread for the family, study for exams or look after kids. Well, if we don’t care as a nation then why does the ticker on the news channels reads like, “ aaj------kay karqun ki halaqat kay sog per Karachi main shutter down hartal”, so are these news channels telling me that the Karachiites are shutting down their businesses and educational institutions as a protest?

As a consequence of strikes and shutter downs Pakistan suffers a loss of 15 billion rupees and Karachi alone suffers a loss of almost 2.5 billion rupees.

Would a hard-pressed shopkeeper actually even think of closing down his shop for a day just because some activist died?

Would a day laborer actually sit at home as a protest against the target killing of some obscure political activist?

Would a CEO actually think of bearing a loss on revenue for a day just because a political activist died?

No, nobody ever does that, except of course the political parties. How can I think of mourning the death of a political activist of any party when my city burns, when my city loses billions of rupees, just because of political chaos? How can shed I tear for those dead activists when innocent patients cannot get treatment because nurses and doctors fail to turn up at the hospital as a result of the strike. How can I grieve the death of those activists, when a day laborer is unable to feed his family because he could not go out to earn money, just because “some political workers died”.

No, in all honesty and sincerity, I would not grieve, mourn, or protest against the death of the political activist if it means chaos and carnage in my city.

We are much intelligent beings then what we consider ourselves to be. As intelligent beings, God has given us brains to analyze and process complex thoughts, surely we can figure out better ways of protesting, but no, we have to kill, maim and torture our own people to avenge the death of our comrade in arms. All I can say is that the Quaid would be disgusted.

Why I want the Quaid's Picture be Removed from the Currency Note‏

Before I begin my article, there are two important definitions that I want to lay down before you:

1) Founding father: defined as a person who starts or helps to start a movement, institution or a revolution.

2) Institution: An established custom, law or behavioral pattern of importance in a community.

When founding fathers bring revolutions, they lay down the basis for or introduce new institutions, and dismantle unfair institutions

Let us move on.

Now if we accept these definitions, then according to these, M.A.Jinnah cannot be the founding father of this nation of Pakistan. You would question the reason behind this sacrilege, to which I would quote a section of M.A Jinnah’s 11^th August (and oft quoted), speech:

“..If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his color, cast or creed, is first, second and last, a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make”

I ask you, did we ever follow this advice of our “founding father”? Did we preserve this legacy?

On the other hand the founding fathers of USA deserve to be called ‘the founding fathers’, because the constitution that they set up, the legacy they have left behind is still preserved, is still guarded as sacred. They laid down the foundations of institutions that have been protected to this date. So I implore of you, who merits the claim to be called a founding father, George Washington or M.A Jinnah?

I ask you, can a non-Muslim become the president or prime minister of Pakistan no matter how capable he or she is. We can have lawbreakers, dictators or religious fanatics holding the reins of power, but we cannot even contemplate to have a capable and committed non-Muslim governing the Islamic Pious Republic of Pakistan! Refer to Jinnah’s speech when he said, “…a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges and obligations”

Our assemblies can unanimously declare a certain Muslim sect as non-Muslim and effectively enforce that bill but cannot unanimously approve a health and education reform bill.

“You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state”, The Quaid said, and we as a nation make a mockery of this statement every day.

The Quaid said:

“The first duty of the government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by state”

Sectarian killing, increasing crime rates, party owned land mafia and the regular killing of minorities prove this statement of the Quaid as false. Every Day!

To the Armed forces, he said:

“Now you have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy...” (2^nd Feb 1948)

This statement has already been mocked five times since 1947.

Addressing the students in Dacca in March 1948, he said:

“You will be making the greatest mistake if you allow yourself to be exploited by one political party or the other”

APMSO, ISF, IJT, PSF etc... Clearly show how much regard they have for their own party’s founding fathers than Pakistan’s founding fathers.

To the reader, I ask, since our laws, institutions, behavioral patterns are exactly the opposite of what M.A Jinnah had in mind, therefore shouldn’t we say that the founding fathers of this nation are actually, ZA Bhutto, Maulana Maudoodi, Ayub Khan, and Zia Ul Haque because of their untiring efforts the Islamic Pious State of Pakistan came into being because before that, it was just …Pakistan. Hence I propose with all solemnity that the picture of M.A Jinnah be removed from currency and be replaced by the above mentioned esteemed personalities for these truly are our founding fathers who’s legacy we still preserve- and cherish.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the founder of a country once called Pakistan, not the founder of the Islamic Pious Castle of Islam Pakistan.