Where did it go?

Not letting it go, and not letting it disappear but it will despite all the efforts. That is how the fourth dimension twists and manipulates the very fabric of our torn and conflicting realities. That unfinished mint tea symbolizes the befuddled state of mind. Bought that mint plant with so much enthusiasm and it did work and grow and it was so fresh. But right there where it needed me the most, I stopped caring. Well not entirely correct though, did not stop caring but it was the cold. The cold inside me or the barbarous winters outside made me weak and stopped me from taking two steps to water that beautiful mint. The mint died and it was awfully satisfying to see it go through that stage of life. Talking about life, it reminds me of that wavering candle which is inside the glass. The glass protects its candle and candle warms the glass with its flames. One day candle felt boxed by the glass as it needed more air to burn its flames. It ended up burning its very own glass in the desire of more air. The moment the glass got melted, the candle couldn't handle the flame and it went off for the entirety of its existence.

Just some moments before we go to another man made time differential of universe its very probable that we might just become the very entities of this forever expanding universe. And what can be a better way to commemorate new year other than writing a blog post? Well lets give a warm applause to another 365 days of already planned life of a unicorn. 

Security lapse or Abusing privilege ?

We have been over the years, without any misgivings, a giant buyer of sensationalism. In the name of ‘sting operations’ people’s private affairs are being publicized, trespassing is common and using hidden cameras is considered to be a norm these days. This all is being carried out because the eonian theme of sensationalism is very remunerative. This directly prompts people like Iqrar-ul-Hassan to earn their share of this consumer market and make lofty sums of money.

Call it a severe lack of judgement or a blatant hatred for the civilian governments; we are once again supporting someone who has abused his privilege and quashed his trust by puckishly entering into sindh provincial assembly. In this very incident the anchor person has abused the trust he had been entitled to as a media person. He has used his privilege and his profession to wangle a poor security guard, who now stands jobless, in getting a ‘stranger’ enter into provincial assembly. The luridness reached its acme when the anchor person revealed a gun in the national assembly. It was not a security lapse instead it was a judgement lapse. To begin with, our judgment is corroded already but now it has become atrocious. Atrocious to the point that we failed to see how this anchor person has abused the mutual trust between legislative assemblies and media persons which was built over the years. While he was busy in making his TRP’s he has made the entrance of all the journalist community into these legislative assemblies more arduous. 

The same anchor person in numerous other tv shows has lamented over the inflated security of the civilian politicians which now he thinks is not enough and more needs to be done. He highlights the millions being spent for the security of these legislative assemblies but still the security remains ineffective. He should also carry out a ‘sting operation’ sometime in GHQ, perhaps? Because there not millions but billions are being spent and even then we had major security lapses in past.

We are living in a fragile democracy and such media persons leave no stone unturned to make people believe that civilians governments are nothing but corrupt and ineffective. In days time another smear campaign against civilian government will start. The powerful media house will then ask for the release of this anchor person and then they will continue to carry out more of these ‘sting operations’ transgressing the rights of people by using hidden cameras because unfortunately that is what sells in this consumer market.

The curious case of Axact Controversy

In Pakistan there are not so many home made corporates that one can fancy but there are some exceptions such as Axact; a growing IT company. When I was in Pakistan and more specifically in Karachi, I always wanted to work for Axact. Because of its robust organizational structure, fast growth and various educational and recreational opportunities for its employees; it can easily be regarded as one of the top employers of Pakistan.

But until recently, it has been involved in many controversies from hosting illegal porn websites to selling fake degrees, it became the notorious employer of Pakistan. It is no less than the curious case of Benjamin button who travels in time but in opposite direction. Everyone sees it but no one understands it. Same is the case of controversies with Axact, everyone see them but little do they understand. The corporate world always has its pits, from the financial giants like Lehman brothers to medium scale firms like Axact, the air is always contaminated with scandals. The inaction of the governments involved is linked with fears of losing employments, economic melt down and other related socio-political aspects.

Technological entrepreneurship is a lifeline to Pakistan, which many do not conceive. The pakistani entrepreneurship industry is linked with outside world, as it requires outsourcing of work from other western companies. In west the increasing standards of work ethics and transparency makes it almost difficult for any big firm to outsource its work to Pakistan. The latest Axact controversy and the article “Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions” by Declan Walsh in New York times is a deep blow to pakistani technological entrepreneurship industry.

I was overwhelmed with curiosity after reading this article by Walsh. The controversy blew out of proportions specially because of its linkage with the upcoming media house BOL network. I was so much intrigued by this article that I asked my friends who worked in the past and are still working for Axact about the nature of business of Axact and its link with fake degrees. 

Following are some of the responses shared publicly on the condition of anonymity:

Question: What are the main businesses of Axact ?

Anonymous-1: Graphic Design, Business Consulting, CRM and Education

Question: What type of education they provide?

Anonymous-1: Online education, online courses accredited with foreign universities and some are independent courses by Axact.

Question: Is there any truth in Axact hosting illegal porn websites ?

Anonymous-1: No, not as of I know, I was in corporate communications.

Anonymous-2: Being a graphic designer, I knew there were some colleagues working on such things but I never worked on it, so I can’t say for sure if it had happened or not.

Question: Fake degrees ? what is the reality ?

Anonymous-1: Seems to me pretty much cooked up, the media channel BOL controversy has its strings attached with this controversy. I have never seen or heard about it.

Anonymous-2: From fake degrees to any other IT related shady business they always had their hands soaked in it, but I have no proof of it.

It is difficult to conclude anything from these mixed responses, but the official response of our government suggests that there has to be some powerful people behind this controversy. Our country and its law enforcement agencies which had been slower than a tortoise when it comes to implementing the law acted so swiftly on mere a publication that it makes it close to unprecedented. There are currently people in our senate, in our parliament and other respected governmental institutions with fake degrees and FIA knows of everyone but still they chose to do nothing against them, yet they raided and arrested the employees of Axact on mere allegations. Let us hope that this controversy is resolved successfully and results in more corporate transparency and cultivation of work ethics in Pakistani firms. 

So much for the beloved Country

This poem is in remembrance of 100+ Hazara people who were killed in Balochistan. The protestors refused to burry their loved ones for two days. They just sat in blistering cold out on the streets. With all this misery they still are expected to love their country, and sing the songs of its greatness,  

Withering hopes and shriveling smiles,
Crying mothers and lamentable wives,
So much for the beloved country,

Buried fates, unthinkable lies
deceased justice and pilfered autarkies,
So much for the beloved country,

Stolen away what was mine,
Woofing dogs steal the shine
So much for the beloved country,

Blood is luscious, Tears are joy
miraculous anguish, cheerful cry
So much for the beloved country,

Silence being shouted, Vocals are ceased
Verity being slaugterd, sentinments have no heed
So much for the beloved country,

Her son is in nirvanas, she had been told,
Later today she sang the song,
So much for the beloved country,

To cry not for he is fine, in God's hand he will dine,
Motionless she is standing, sick of hearing these two lines,
So much for the beloved country

Your little brother shall never come, pity it is, but it is true,
She looked at him with such a gaze, and later today she squalled again,
So much for the beloved country

For the grey hairs and wrinked skin, His son was the only kin,
His son is dead he conceives not, yet he stands and mourn again,
So much for the beloved country

In crusading words he gauged me today,
for I love you not, and went astray
So much for the beloved country

Today this land utterd an astonoushing riddle,
Peace and Equality are my only fears
So much for the beloved country

The WRIT of the state

We can very comfortably and quite sarcastically call ourselves the most privileged youth of the world. The youth which spends most of its time listening news reading news and watching news. Likewise, I spend most of my day following news and since the time we have endeavored ourselves with the peace talks, my enthusiasm for following the news has stirred new heights. Yes I am talking about the peace talks with Tehreek Taliban Pakistan. 

The recent air attacks on the tribal region prompted me to scribble my thoughts on the piece of paper. I am of the opinion that these present peace talks with TTP has become one of the most analyzed and spoken issue in the history of Pakistan. It is highly unlikely that one finds a person who’ll not have an opinion about these present ongoing peace talks. Everyone has an opinion so do I, and my opinion is the specie human must always contend against any offensive till the time it becomes inevitable. I have a steadfast, unwavering resolve towards peace talks. There had been certain times when I forced myself to think the otherwise but my brain was of no assistance. I was sharing the same opinion with one of my very good friend who studied with me in the college back in the days when I was in Pakistan. As time passed we both continued our journeys through life and at this point of time we both are in two different parts of the world in two different roles and suggesting two different solutions to the same problem. This my very dear friend at this very moment is serving in Waziristan as a captain in Pakistan armed forces.  

The last time when I talked to him after what happened to the FC personnel made me think that may be I am not even trying to understand him. In a very muscular way by unclogging my mind he made me understand that his only job is to protect the people and how terrible and incapacitated he feels when he is deprived of his very job. He further added that the notion that tribal people sympathize with Taliban is itself blemished because they don’t. His enthusiasm and ebullience to help the people and liberate them was itself mesmerizing. I happen to be an adamant critic of army but at that very moment without a single doubt I felt exclusive to be protected by such highly esteemed personnel. Another of his daunting challenge is to be able to gather all the patience available out there to hold himself upright despite hearing his success rate is 40%. In his words he is living to ensure the writ of the state stands firm and strong in every corner of this country and it matter little to him what the success rate is. 

Clearly he made me think, but the term writ of the state is a much misapprehended term. State is the mother of all the bad, the ugly and the right; for each and everyone state is responsible. State will not look weak but instead attentive by not taking any forceful action because of resulting thousands of IDPs, increased extremism and more social divide. How is it even sensible that state be ruthless to a majority of civilians for a handful of criminals. We had learnt from our history that using force internally always had made us weak. From the fall of Dhaka to Baluchistan the examples are so atrocious that we can’t just dwell on them. The solution is difficult and very much demanding but it will liberate us, it will be the peace process which will eventually kill all the extremism in our society.  This extremism is because of various reasons from military operations to almost no infrastructure development. 

There can be no reason good enough to bomb the civilian populated areas with air strikes. The people in tribal areas have a history, we did not build a single school for them in 50 years and yet we have a nerve to accuse them of being backward. In the end these are our people we can't bomb them for sake of some criminals. What about our ground forces are they so weak that they can't even handle bunch of criminals in their own country without air strikes ?. We must understand that pounding our civilian areas with air strikes will only create more extremism and more hatred. The following video edited by the Bechancing World Blog team is a glimpse of what these air strikes are actually doing to the people of Pakistan. 

Link 1 Youtube

Link 2 Dailymotion
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1d4x48_writ-of-the-goverment

We allowed 55 thousand times the bombers to fly off our airspace and attack our neighboring country Afghanistan. That is barbarism in its very accurate sense. In the end the best way out was, is and will be peace talks. 

" If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other " Mother Teresa

CHRISTMAS PRESENT – DHOOM 3 – Almost died.

Christmas is the time when the whole of EUROPE goes quiet. Everyone visits their families and for two days the whole EUROPE becomes solace to peace seeking lot.  This also prompted me to visit my set of cousins who live near the GERMAN border which somehow is the part of NETHERLANDS.  After two hours long drive when I reached my cousins place I was entertained with delicious food, which they kept serving me until I was stuffed to the point of no return. Soon I realized the highlight of their two days holiday was travelling to Brussels. I was chuffed to know about our upcoming trip to Brussels but soon when I realized this exercise of travelling all the way to Brussels was only to watch DHOOM 3, it left me cheerless.

The next day in evening, after hour and a half drive two SUVs stuffed with more than ten people reached the Kinepolis Cinema in Brussels. Not to my surprise the DESI crowd of Brussels flocked in big numbers to watch DHOOM 3. Because of which our seats which they reserved were all located in the front row of this big IMAX screen, which was pretty much depressing. One literally has to rotate his neck by 180 degrees both sides to be able to watch the movie. Now this movie DHOOM 3 which is a sequel of previous DHOOMs is everything but a good movie. But before I prove how badly and poorly this movie was directed I like to tell my readers here that I like all kinds of movies. I specially enjoy foreign language movies. I happen to be a huge fan of Korean movies. The amount of time an average Korean movie spends in developing and evolving the characters of the story is much more than any other movie industry of the world. But DHOOM 3 is a movie which is made for special set of people who would like to see drama, action, romance, thriller and musical and all other possible genres in just one movie. This is the main problem of INDIAN cinema and its viewers that they fail to distinguish between all these genres. And another basic flaw in INDIAN cinema which is evident in all their movies is the magnified entry of their main characters. DHOOM 3 actually utilizes 30 minutes of its script just on the mere entry of the four main characters.

DHOOM 3 is still a decade old concept a serious cop, a funny cop, a thief and a beauty flaunting actress. GOD knows better why such movies even need actresses, a sizzling still image of a female will do an equally good job. The cops in the movie look like anything but cops; and thanks to the generosity and celerity of the thief that he not only robs the bank but somehow manages to sprinkle all the money over the city as well, before the police can even see him. Watching DHOOM 3 was such a terrible experience that this stolen concept of twin magicians from the Christian bale and Hugh Jackman movie "The Prestige" couldn't even save the movie from being in my list of most horrible movies. The much lousy and crummy actions scenes make it more unbearable. The BMW did sponsor DHOOM 3 and the rumour is such they’ll now claim for the damages it bring to BMW. This transformation of a BMW bike into floating boat and that too all in the air, then the bike becoming an almost underwater submarine and then thrusting out of water like a rocket and again transforming back to a motor bike was a little too much to digest. It actually reminded me of 1962’s James Bond 007 of Sean Connery where he used to defy all physical laws of gravity.

The biggest of all evils was the ending scene of  DHOOM 3. The ending was so abrupt that it actually made me feel that the cinema authorities made it cut short. All the robberies the thieves the chasing of thieves, the great Indian circus in the movie was in Chicago, seconds before last scene, Amir Khan escaped Indian police in Chicago. But in the last scene somehow Amir Khan was found between two police vans in the middle of the great contra dam of Switzerland. This imprudent direction and script writing can’t be forgiven. DHOOM 3 is basically a collection of different short scenes put together haphazardly to make it look like one complete movie.

DHOOM 3 gets 2 out of 10 for its non-existent script, deceased direction and its unfounded action scenes.   

Wish we could live another day

I cut this slice of time to hold it in my hands,

I go on my knees but the sullen crowd doesn't understand,

The unsaid words and the repudiate belief,

All come together to celebrate our defeat,

Do you hear me my flawless pride?

 I shout out loud to commemorate our fallen love,

The sullen crowd is felicitous with its remarkable triumph,

A word to you has become an offence,

Let this crowd has its say, let us gift it another thousand days,

Let me be weary and old so I can bury these grievances,

Then allow this crowd to immortalize another victorious day,

My screams will come as whispers; my wishes for you will always be silent,

Rarely I speak to me and unfold the acerbic prevarications,

Better our world crumbled better the home was burnt,

Better the crowd lacked empathy, better we got fleeced,

For what it matters is not the beginning but the end,

Yet I wish we could live another day, just another day.

TUQracy or Democracy?

Democracy at best can be summed up in a simple yet old saying “Slow and steady wins the race”. The best socio-economic development is always through evolution which is a deliberate obtuse process. The societies are glob of people living together under a certain set of rules and regulations. These rules and regulations known as social justice system is prescribed by the people themselves. So any legislation made by the society is the outcome of how the people are being evolved inside that society. It must be understood very carefully here that it is not the legislation which is developing the people; it’s the people who are developing the new legislations as a result of their social evolution. It’s analogous to a phylogenetic process where the accumulation of different events helps the individual to transform systematically. The maturity of understanding certain legislation and how it will affect the society in the long run comes with time. It must be people changing the people rather than some law changing the people. One can implement the most ideal system which will guarantee the virtues such as social justice, zero corruption, religious tolerance etc, but the question remains are the people willing to accept it in the long run. Those who implement the law and those who abide by the law both are people. There is no point of having some ideal legislation when the people on both sides have not evolved enough to adapt it. This is why democracy is a slow self evaluating process. 

That was all about democracy, let’s now discourse to TUQracy. TUQracy is actually the name given to the narrative of Tahir-ul-Qadri who is a famous religious scholar turned politician. This article is definitely not about Tahir-ul-Qadri but it is about that robust and ideal change of system that many advocate in Pakistan. The post elections 2013 scenario in Pakistan was such that people were frustrated for change because of the corrupt regime and worsening economic conditions. Yet again the ‘change’ itself had changing definitions for different sects of societies. Hence there was never one absolute definition of ‘change’ and that was why the possibility of chaos remained always in the back garden. TUQracy was at its peak for three days in the month of January, 2013 when Tahir-ul-Qadri staged a protest in Islamabad for ‘change’ in the system. TUQracy predicted that the Elections 2013 will be rigged, and based on this forecast TUQracy wanted to bring the country to halt and postpone the Elections 2013. TUQracy was of the view that present electoral system will bring the same corrupt regime back into power. Based on the earlier predictions TUQracy further suggested the complete overhaul of the system. The phenomenon was such bring masses on the roads, challenge the writ of the government and occupy Islamabad secretariat. Hence TUQracy believed in fast and robust ‘change’ and rejected the slow self-healing democracy. TUQracy asked all the political forces including status-quo to join hands and to support this ideology. This was itself contradictory because one cannot simply fight the system by asking the system to fight against its own self. TUQracy enticed the emerging political force Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which perhaps was the biggest stake holder in terms of corrupt electoral system. But thanks to almost 60 years of deprivation of democracy, people of Pakistan wanted democracy so bad that they couldn't care enough even if it ends up handing power to same old corrupt regime. This was evolution. So the luxurious idea of having our very own Tahrir Square passed away before even touching the reality. Perhaps Pakistan never needed a Tahrir Square and the ‘change’ it promised. 

What Pakistan actually needed was not the ‘change’ but the commitment to change. And following this commitment to change; all political forces and the people of Pakistan achieved a milestone, the first ever civilian transfer of power that is Elections 2013. Though Elections 2013 was a milestone still they are considered to be the most rigged elections ever conducted in Pakistan. But nevertheless Elections2013 has created a dividing line in the history of Pakistan. This means all those 60 years will now be remembered as pre-elections2013 history. 

It must be said here with clarity that TUQracy predictions were right. Elections2013 had been rigged but it does not mean that we as a nation repent over Elections 2013. A system can only be changed when the people have seen worst of it. People from all walks of life condemned any possible rigging in elections 2013. It can be said with full confidence that elections 2018 will be much better than 2013 and this cycle will go on. This is how nations evolve gradually. We must understand there are no short-cuts to happiness and prosperity. If TUQracy had been adapted instead of Elections 2013 the country would have ran into unthinkable and never ending chaos. Even the rigged elections are better than these cushy revolutions. 

It’s about time that we learn to be patient with the present on going system and let the system complete its tenure. Tahrir squares are fancy flabby revolutions which lose their essence very rapidly on a mere foreign interference. Whereas gradual change is more resolute and long lasting and unlikely to be diluted by the outsiders. One must never confuse the desperateness of the people for change with their acceptability to change. The Arab spring had been an eye opener for many who thought a single protest or a single event can change people forever. It’s a universal narrative change must come slow. There shouldn't be any illusions about absolute change; there is no such thing as absolute change. The fact of the matter is the moment you commit to change, you have changed actually. Pakistan has set out on a path of change; and Elections 2013 was the commitment to this change.

Such is the story of my thousand moments - Part-I

Dovish sky and the silver gate

A gentle touch and a golden haze

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

Walked the green carpet with the bare feet

Heard the heart of GOD with a gentle beat

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

I saw her standing near a beamish lake

Frozen were the footsteps and weary breathe 

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

The trees were falling the wind was seized

The cosmos roaring still she paid no heed.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

She was wearing majestic white,

A symbol of her flawless pride.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

A noble monk affectionately held my hand,

Apprised me to walk towards the flawless pride,

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

                                                                                                       

With steps belittled and infinite space

I covered a mile in a hundred decades.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

With an angelic joy the fear crumble my heart

Will again the endless enmity of time take away my flawless pride?

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

The gaze of monk and this state of my anxiety

Made him wonder about my orthodox sobriety

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

In his wise words he made an astounding remark,

Our fears shall further advocate the sanity of our love.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

Eyes will freeze hearts tend to cease,

On a mere thought of meeting my flawless pride,

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

A 1000 shout outs on this Independence Day,

• Today we shout out loud no to religious, ethnic and political racism.
• Today we shout out loud no to sectarian killings.
• Today we shout out loud against social injustice towards every human living in Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud against the politics of terror and lack of freedom of expression.
• Today we shout out loud against all odds depriving us of a social security homeland.
• Today we shout out loud against religious intolerances.
• Today we shout out loud against sexism that deprives us of quality individuals.
• Today we shout out loud against any form of bribery any step taken to diminish the prevailing system of meritocracy in our country.
• Today we shout out loud to be better humans than anything else.
• Today we shout out loud against the monarchy of rich and elite.
• Today we shout out loud against rude attitudes of any person holding the public office.
• Today we shout out loud for the rights of our Baloch brothers. They are our brothers in blood and flesh in kith and kin.
• Today we shout out loud against terrorism that swallowed thousands of Pakistanis.  
• Today we shout out loud against TTP and their fake threats.
• Today we shout out loud for the terrible security situations faced by 180 million Pakistanis.  
• Today we shout out loud to pay homage to our heroes.
• Today we shout out loud for Abdus Salam the Nobel laureate.
• Today we shout out loud for Malala yousafzai.
• Today we shout out loud for unjust killing of Salman Taseer.
• Today we shout out loud for the complete freedom of our print and electronic media.
• Today we shout out loud for our alarming education situation in our country.
• Today we shout out loud for a stronger federation.
• Today we shout out loud for the price this nation paid for the rule of democracy.
• Today we shout out loud to our Prime Minister for one single unanimous security policy.  
• Today we shout out loud to our Prime Minister for one single unanimous foreign policy.  
• Today we shout out loud for better relations between Pakistan and India.
• Today we shout out loud for a better energy policy, for a better tax regulation policy.
• Today we shout out loud against money laundering and all means of corruption to deprive this nation of its basic rights.
• Today we shout out for humans living in Pakistan, not Pakistanis, not Muslims, not Christians.  
• Today we shout out loud against the politics of ethnicity, against divide and rule policies.  
• Today we shout out loud for one Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud for our warriors.
• Today we shout out loud for all our security personnel who lost their lives protecting us.
• Today we shout out for peaceful relations with all neighboring countries.
• Today we shout out loud for one Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud to vow never again we shall be played at the hands of hate mongers, and religious manipulators.
• Today we shout out loud for one nation.
• Today we shout out loud for prosperous and strong Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud for our independence, our freedom and our dignity.
• Today we shout out loud for the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Today we shout out loud for the day history was made 14^th August 1947. 

Letter to Fauzia Kasuri – by an Insafian

Dear Kasuri,

It has been our pleasure to have you in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for long time. The pleasure has not been much endearing for the past six months. Your grievances were such that you were being played inside the party.  Sometimes you attributed this to lack of attention given to you and sometimes you not being given the party ticket or any post inside the party for that matter.

We Insafians are seriously sick of you lot, you join the party and then you talk of it as you own the party. Later you leave if your demands are not met then you go to media bash all of us. Make huge claims and then after sometime you find yourself some weird reason and then again you join the party. If you think after doing all this you become important for the party then you are clearly mistaken. To tell you the truth we’d give you and mazari both on any given Sunday if not only for Imran Khan. In the case of Mazari her process would be speedier thankfully to her hippie desperately trying to be blonde daughter.

It’s about time that your lot should leave the high school and think of being a graduate. I must remind you lot here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is not only Imran Khan. It seems that you think that the only person you have to work with or you have to listen to is Imran Khan. From Republicans to Democrats every party has lobbyists inside them. There are always groups within the bigger groups. If you can’t fight them politically then it’s your incompetency. From the first day you only wanted to work under Imran Khan. You never worked on your relationships with other party members and you still don’t. How would you expect anyone to lobby for you then. It’s time for these “founding members” to actually learn that a political party is full of internal politics. If you can’t play it well it’s your fault, everyone is on its own. If you have to cry in front of media because you are house wife, and a mother and some other stuff as well then we’d honestly suggest you concentrate on that. There are quite a number of women in PTI with all those traits and still working for the party without claiming a bigger carpet for them.

From now on it’s my humble request if you go out on media stop whining about what happens inside the party. You haven’t done any better in your first interview with Kashif Abbasi, and your whining still continues. In order to be in politics you need to have thick skin, and if you can’t have it, it’s about time you can choose a different career path for yourself.

 And lastly, do not please for the sake of this good earth use the term “Mother of PTI”. I don’t know if you realize it or not but it is itself is a big LMAO. A piece of advice for you is to concentrate on the internal politics more than the external politics because clearly the former is of more importance to you.

P.S Nevertheless Welcome Back.

Kind Regards,

Ali Waqar

The Moderate way

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami – A Case Study

Note: - The seat adjustment between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami is only chosen as an example to study the general phenomena for the creation of a moderate society. The Author is fully aware that the two parties are no more accommodating each other for seat adjustment.   

The liberals and the conservatives, the leftists and the rightists shall all be given the immunity towards communicating their opinions in a democratic society. Any negation of such rights is actually negating democracy. Societies over the time learn from all these cliques they have inside them. This sectionalization of societies is essential towards the evolution of a moderate state. A leftist only exist because he is anti-rightist. The distinctness of liberalism will languish if the existence of conservatism is brought to question.

Pakistan is warming up for democracy, and we shall all see the shining democracy of the world after Elections 2013. But the maturity of understanding this phenomenal solution called democracy for the civilizations will prevail over time. In Pakistan the debate is not about leftists or rightists it’s more about liberalism and conservatism. And this debate has conflagrated after the seat adjustment of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf with Jamat-e-Islami.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is an emerging political force in Pakistan and seen as the party of progressive minded people. Its ideology and its name are not religiously endorsed. Therefore it is able to attract different segments of the society. Whereas Jamat-e-Islami has been an old political player. It is the first religious political party to ensure democracy within itself. Clearly its name and its ideology come in a religious packing, which is not agreeable to those who dream for a secular Pakistan. Now these two aspects may sound like antithetical but it also depends on how you look at them. The perspective of looking at them shall come later.

In the wake of recent events over the past years the society has become highly polarized. The killing of Salman Taseer, shooting Malala Yusuf Zai, intolerance towards minorities, killing of Shias all these events have further stretched the two portions of society apart from each other. The ones who were not to be blamed were also blamed and hence fostering the conflicts. Both entities see each other as a probable menace towards their ideologies. That is why the overly done reaction over the seat adjustment of two political parties is no surprise. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf does not want to have an alliance with any political party who had their involvement in the ex-government. Jamat-e-Islami on the other hand does not want an alliance with those political parties who have corruption charges on them. Because of almost the similar reasoning both of them opted for one another. Now in this whole line of reasoning one cannot think of any nascence of dispute between the two ends. One can further cogitate to ameliorate the reasoning on which the dispute between two streams of society can rest.

Imran Khan after his clear opposition of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi became an iconic merit figure and most of the liberal chunk of the society assumed Tehreek-e-Insaf to be a liberal political party. This was the time when the liberal section of society extended its support towards Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. But the picture became tainted after the announcement of seat adjustment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami.  Jamat-e-Islami other than being religiously endorsed also has another controversy in its sleeves. This is related to the comments of ameer of Jamat-e-Islami on the issue of the rape victims. This became a main shout out for the liberal section of society which opposed this alliance and became a reason of bedlam. 

This reaction on this seat adjustment is not only related to these two political parties but it defines a mindset which the people of Pakistan have developed; either its good or bad it is not for us to judge. The only thing which can be done is emphasizing the evolution of a moderate society. One must empathize that any section of society being left alone will only lead it towards more extreme ideologies than it ever had before. This will only grant the right of manipulation to those who take the advantage of this deprivation.

The liberal section of society did vent their anger out on the statement about female rape victims. But the same section denied any chance being given to work together so that they can moderate the opinions which they find extreme. This seat adjustment between the two political parties could be seen as a bridge to minimize the polarization of our society, though it did not reach its conclusion but nevertheless it’s a good example to study. Such political alliances give the chance to both liberals and conservatives to work with each other and to moderate each other opinions.

Since the humanity up till now is unable to find an alternative solution to democracy therefore one must stick with the rules of democracy. The conservatives are in mass numbers in our society so they must be given a fair chance to represent themselves. And liberals should take the lead here as they stand out for freedom of speech. But unfortunately both are in the same water and equally soaked. The reaction over this seat adjustment is an example to this inability of these sections to work together. The existence of both these divisions is requisite to ensure a moderate state.

Moral: - The working together of all sections of society with different beliefs, ideologies and opinions is the only way forward towards a moderate society. 

Beta apki Namaz nai hoi ....! [Part 1]

Every now and then you come across elderly people who love to pass judgments on you. And our desi elderly people excel somehow in this marvelous art.  Well I complain not, for they are genuinely sweet and lovable. But when you are young and specially in your teens you just hate most of the people around you. And for me I hated everyone in my teens to the point of no return.

The short story which fills up my mind at the 12th hour of the night still somehow manages to put a smile on my face. When I was in my teens I was an avid namazi. I use to offer salat 5 times a day and that too in the mosque. Now this all seems like an accomplishment to me. I was always dressed in a casual way, whenever I went to mosque. Sometimes I even sweat terribly, because I used to go to mosque with friends just after playing cricket in intense summers. In the mosque the young people hardly ever noticed my ill-state but for the elderly people I was always the subject of their criticism. My weary jeans my short t-shirt never looked agreeable to them.

Among elderly people there were different classes too. Some of them were so much grumpy that you couldn't even dare to stand with them during jammat. And some of them just used to converse with us about our cricket game. In our mosque there was a flock of elderly people who were always together. Some of them were even grandfathers of my friends. Everyone was somehow linked to each other as we all lived in the same block. These elderly people were always hard on us when it came to our salat.

Once me and my friends were offering Asar Salat and because of something we missed the jamat. But before we could offer our salat, we had to answer all the questions of these elderly people who used to spend most of their time in the mosque. You have to be prepared to answer their questions as it can be of any type.

Among that group of elderly people Meer sahab (R.I.P) was a very gentle soul, though he used to get annoyed very easily, if you see him and you don't offer a salam to him. So if you saw Meer sahab somewhere in the block an assalam-e-alykum shake hand is must even if you have to walk a km to shake hands with him. If you somehow did not offer salam to him the next time you see him prepare yourself a very good explanation of the crime you committed by not paying salam to him. I have always thought that how Meer sahab use to remember the exact time and date of the day when he was ignored. He must had some kind of notebook in which he used to write the name of the person the moment he ignored him. But this all was not the reason of Meer sahab popularity in our block. It was actually his golden tooth which was of prime importance. It was just right there at the center when he use to smile and indeed it was a worth seeing site.

Another must mention personality of that flock is Mirza sahab. A long white beard person, always dressed in white shalwar qameez. He was so famous for his whiteness that he eventually ended up being called as surf excel. These short names were the code names between the youngsters. Mirza Sahab also kept a sharp eye on all the affairs of our block. He can see the guy in the eyes and tell what is going though his mind. Mirza sahab was not judgmental but he just somehow happens to know the truth of us all. You have to have a nerve in order to plunge yourself in religious discussion with Mirza Sahab because then be prepared to sit in the mosque from Zuhur to Maghrib.

Agha jee was the spice of their group. He had a story on everything you name it. He once even told us that he had traveled on the time machine as well. He was not a hardliner at all, may be he was just there among them because he was given a central position in the group. Agha jee knew all the heroes of pakistan and in his stories he had been there to help for almost everyone. Seldom he advised us to offer salat unlike others. May be he knew that he must not go hard on us and instead he was the one joking with us all the time. Agha jee once told us that he was right hand of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto though he never took any party positions. Agha jee had a great sense of sarcasm when it used to come to Mirza Sahab, but they were really good friends. They remained good friends till last.

The next guy in the line was siddique uncle. He also had a white beard but shorter than Mirza Sahab. Siddique uncle was the scholar of our block and an avid supporter of the imam sahab of our mosque. His height of faithfulness was such that he even went to jail once because of Imam sahab, but that is a long story which just cracks me high. Siddique uncle had a philosophy and according to that philosophy calling him uncle was haram. He wanted to be called as brother siddique. According to him he was our brother in Islam not the Uncle. Everything we did was almost haram in the eyes of siddique uncle. Entering mosque with jeans and t-shirt was haram, not wearing a topi was haram, whispering in the mosque was haram. We had so much haram in our lives that in the end we named siddique uncle as brother haram. He was the source of great laughter and fun we use to have in the mosque. Smiling with a bit loud noise was just unacceptable for siddique uncle and exactly at the point when we used to see him we couldn't ever stop not laughing loud.

We always used to sit in the last rows in the mosque. And many a times Agha jee used to come to us and told us to go to the lines in front just to tease siddique uncle. Siddique uncle also had a philosophy that without proper beards we must not put ourselves in the front lines. According to him, we must improve our Imans as we terribly suck in that, and for that he had a way ..

[TBC] ~~

Little I know

Little I know,

The wickedness of the soul, which defeats me ever so often
Little I know about it,
Little I know about the campaign of prevarications inside me,
Little I know how to win over the fears I have,
Little I know these astounding whispers in my ears,
Little I know this unweary person who stops not, 
Little I know this gratitude of the Lucifer,
Little I know his hope in me,
Little I know his deadpan smiles,
Little I know the attractions in his eyes,
Little I know his ways,
Little I know his love for me,
Little I know the act of treachery for the love of the Lucifer,
Little I know his love for you,
Little I know impuissant me,
Little I know your calls for I hear them not,
Little I know your forgiveness for I love you not,
Little I know your guidance for I want it not,
Little I know your strength for I see it not,
Little I know your knowledge for I accept it not,
Little I know your rewards for it attracts me not,
Little I know these people for their chaos harkens me,
Little I know their cries for it saddens me,
Little I know their schemes for forever we live not,
Little I know your creation for creating its worth not,
Little I know this act of quizzing me for which I pass not,
Little I know this state of denial for I deny you not,
Little I know you my GOD for you described me not,
Little I know myself for in real I exist NOT.

"Water Kit" Myth in 5 minutes

Hydrogen has always been one of my favourite elements in the periodic table. So inflammable and energetic that its able to thrust 2000 tons of mass into space and that too in just some seconds. And on the other when it gets combined with oxygen it becomes the source of life. The love of oxygen actually makes hydrogen forget its vivacious past.

Somehow the nature has placed this cruel condition on hydrogen that it must let go its energy in order to be with oxygen forever. Now people all over the world thought that they can actually separate the hydrogen from oxygen and can get all the energy of the hydrogen back. In 1800 William Nicholson finally was able to separate hydrogen from oxygen and they named this process as electrolysis. Now in order to do that, one must give more energy as compared to the energy hydrogen gave in, in order to be with oxygen.

The first law of thermodynamics is the law of nature, which simply means energy will always be conserved. No man in this world can 'create' energy, it can just be transferred from one form to another. The second law of thermodynamics places a condition on how the energy will transfer. It simply says that one can never convert all the energy into work, there will always be some heat losses.

To make a water molecule you need less energy as compared to destroy a water molecule. The nature has placed an interesting principle in these equations, and one can always appreciate this if he/she can realize the importance of water. 

One can always come up with an idea of an efficient electrolysis scheme but actually by doing so one will violate the second law of thermodynamics which states, the entropy of the universe is decreasing. There is not a single system in this world in which you put some energy and extract the equal amount of energy back, there always will be heat loses. 

The day we will violate the second law of thermodynamics, is the day when a ball fell from a table will be able to go back to its initial position using the same stored potential energy.  

I just wish I will be there to see that, but I seriously doubt it.

P.S Readers are encouraged to read about the concept of hydrogen car,  

  

Pakistan without Khan

Recently a friend shared with me a link, in which Time is going to publish its 2012 list of world’s most influential people. It prompted me to write something at minimum a piece that will help me or someone else to gather their thoughts.

It is the first time that I am aware that a political leader of Pakistan (Imran Khan) has been nominated to be in the world’s most influential people’s list. It gave me a tremendous amount of joy to see such things happening at last, even though there may be some who may not share the same joy. So to fully appreciate the influential nature of Imran Khan, let’s imagine what Pakistan would have been like if he did not exist.

The first iconic thought that comes to mind if, Imran Khan did not exist, is the glorious moment when we took the well-deserved, thick crystal Benson and Hedges cup. The glorious moment was in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, a memory that my country deems as being precious. Now imagine a country, full of passionate cricket lovers and players with drive and determination, and yet not winning a single world cup. It would be like eating the same meal everyday without any spice, flavor or satisfaction.

It is estimated that 1 in 3 people will have cancer in their lifetime, so if we consider the 7 billion world population, approximately 231 million people, a very large number of people, will have cancer. We are a country with a population of 187 million, forming 2.7% of the world’s population. Out of 187 million people, 62 million may well be cancer patients in Pakistan. So now imagine a country which constitutes 2.684% cancer patients of the world without a single dedicated cancer hospital. A single cancer treatment costs 8-10 Lakh PKR, so the treatment of 10% of the cancer patients of Pakistan will cost around 5 million PKR. So to be deprived of a hospital where 75% of cancer patients receive financial assistance and some which receive the treatments free would indeed be detrimental to the health of our people.

It is the dream of every student to go abroad for higher education, but not many can afford this luxury, especially in the region of Mianwalli, a backward region that also has the highest level of unemployment in Pakistan. The city has a population of approximately 1 million, out of which 45 % are youngsters and students. Many of these students are unable to afford the big universities within Pakistan let alone afford to study at foreign universities. These students are now able to earn an internationally acclaimed university degree by studying right there in their own city. Imagine them being deprived of this higher quality education. Imagine tatterdemalion of a dream of building up a city like Oxford right in the heart of Mianwalli.

Now coming to the current political situation, the happening, and the tide of awareness. The era of change, the era of hope, and the time where we all feel that we can get rid of these hounds sooner or later. The sudden awakening of these political gladiators and realizing the importance of the youth. The change in the political slogans, distribution of laptops, symbolizing the youth on the pamphlets, banners, etc. The realization of the importance of political arguments, debates, explaining one’s political stance and this sudden sanity of being truthful and honest. Imagine this all to vanish, imagine no political activity, and imagine 63% of the population, the youth, to have no importance. Imagine no sanity checks and no resignations based on morals and high esteem. Imagine no will to change, imagine the juridical and political death of the country, imagine the world’s most politicized youth not concerned with the mainstream politics anymore.

Imagine the dying out of HOPE, dying of the desire to change. Though its hard but in the end imagine Pakistan without Khan.

Moral:- Before we are ripped off a blessing, we should start apprising it.