Difference between people and nation

11th March 2011, it was a normal Friday for everyone, then at about 5:45 GMT the world saw nature in its most calamitous form. An earthquake measuring 9.0 on Richter scale hit just outside the coast of North Eastern Japan. While Japanese infrastructure is built to coupe with it, there was another threat they weren’t prepared for. A tsunami, with waves soaring up as high as 13 meters hitting the coast of north eastern Japan. It was nothing like this generation has ever seen. The tsunami swallowed everything in its path, whole communities wiped out in a matter of minutes. This disaster also affected the most busiest place on earth, Tokyo. No least than a hundred thousand (may be more) were stranded for the night on the streets of Tokyo. Then one of their nuclear power plant was crippled and it was hazardous if it wasn’t controlled. It was a brutal challenge for the Japanese.

In these tough times, the Japanese people showed the world what they are made of. It was their second greatest disaster since the World War II. The prices of foods and basic necessities were lowered voluntarily by business owners, doctors and engineers made themselves readily available for public service. They started looking patients, repairing what ever they can by themselves but in an organized way. There was no looting, no riots, no complaints even when they were sleeping on the streets they weren’t blocking any corridors. There were no kidnappings, no breaking into stores and no indiscipline at food distribution centers, everyone waited patiently for their turn to come.

In contrast, if we see the response towards natural disasters of the rest of the world, I am afraid its more or less the same horrifying story. From Unites States of America to Philippines and Australia, looting, breaking into, stealing and chaotic scenes. The worst of these have to be Pakistan. Recent floods showed how people were desperate to get their hands on anything they can whether or not it belonged to them. Those who were responsible for looking after the dams fled their duties, many dams were broken to save the properties of the rich, people kidnapped little girls for God knows what reasons, they looted everything from the disaster areas, even looted the immigrants who were coming to seek shelter in the city. Even in times of disaster the nation was divided, many minorities were left out of the relief operation because they were not Muslims or belonged to a different sect. Compare the two situations, Japanese and Pakistanis, it sounds like there are animals living in Pakistan rather than human beings.

The one thing I conclude from this comparison, nations unite in times of disaster while people divide at the same time. We Pakistanis are people while Japanese are a nation. We have a compassionate example of Japanese to re-visit our national character and transform ourselves from people to nation, because history remembers nations and forgets people.

Make hay while the sun shines

The sun is shining on the (so called) clerics of Pakistan. Since the infamous murder of the ex-governor of Punjab, it has been a power show for them on the streets of every major Pakistani city. Every major religious group is involved in either protesting or striking. Their claim, stop amendment in the controversial blasphemy law. The government on the other hand has been repeatedly saying that it is not going to amend the law at all, yet the strikes and progressions continue, shutting down markets, schools and colleges in the city.

I fail to understand this, coming from the ones who claim to be religious and tolerant. Not only are they disrupting daily life in those areas, some of the legally banned organizations have joined their progressions and are active again. Shockingly, neither of the (so called) religious leader notice it nor they condemn their participation. Their followers, as always, illiterate and ignorant of their surroundings.

courtesy "The News Pakistan"

These (so called) clerics are ripping Islamic values apart by disturbing daily lives of thousands of people living in the city. Many people who live on daily wages are unable to go out for work, children are being deprived of education, yet no one is asking these clerics, are these actions ‘Islamic’? The nation is failing to understand the fact that Islam is being maligned by these (so called) clerics. They are ‘too busy’ expressing their emotions over the ‘intent’ of amendment in blasphemy laws which time and again have been clarified by the government.

Pakistan is already going through a rough period, inflation is rising, employment is drying up, murders are common, robberies are widespread, number of rape cases is increasing but they are non-issues to the clergy, which should be leading the standards of morals in any society. Sadly they are busy making hay while the sun shines.

Again in the end I will quote the same prophecy I quote every time I speak of the (so called) clergy.

The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) told us 1400 year ago:

“There will be a decline in religious faith and nothing would be left of Islam except its name and nothing would be left of the Holy Qura’an except its text. Mosques though full of worshipers will be empty of guidance. The religious scholars will be the worst creation under the canopy of Heaven”.

(Mishkat-ul Masabih, p.88 & Kanaz-ul Ummal, vol.6 p.43).

If this is not that time, then I don’t know what is going to be worst than this.

What are you complaining for?

These days, living in a foreign country with a green passport requires a lot of effort and caution. While we are already foreigners in that country, the cold response from the local community creates a much more alienated environment. A simple phrase, for instance ‘I am from Pakistan’ in a public place will turn alot of heads around you.

Recently a friend of mine lost his patience, when a ‘gora’ started hurrying his children away from him at a local market and started taking out his frustration on a ‘gora’, dubbing that ‘gora’ racist, narrow-minded, proud and many ‘other’ titles. When I heard his story, I was felt shocked and grieved. Shocked on the part of that ‘white’ man who was living in a country which is leading the campaign to remove racism, a country which boasts itself as a multi-cultural and a multi-racial country.

My grief was towards the behavior of my fellow countryman. True the ‘white’ man could have been racist but did we ever try to win their confidence? Within the past 63 years, did we as a nation contribute anything towards human kind? Rather we took huge lumps of loan from the international community, just to feed our hungry politicians! Do we have any inventor / innovator to celebrate? (I dearly wish we could claim and celebrate the likes of Professor Dr. Abdus Salam, whom our ancestors turned their backs on).

In their country, murder is a serious case, their law enforcement agencies don’t rest until the criminal is found and put to justice. In our country, hundreds of innocent people are murdered on daily basis, yet our law enforcement agencies are nowhere to be found. We are still unable to determine who or ‘what’ is causing the target killings in Karachi.

How is it their fault that they see us burning assets and properties of our own countrymen in order to record our ‘protest’ over an issue. Why is it that our politicians always run towards these regimes rather than their own constituencies to gain confidence?

Literacy rates are lower than any average country, education system is faulty, our nation is divided into class, religious, political and theoretical groups, our currency is a mess, our economics is going down the drain, our streets are filled with garbage, sewer systems aren’t proper, nearly half of our countrymen live below the line of poverty and yet, inflation is still on the rise.

Suicide rate is high, people are gunned down in broad daylight. In the presence of all these issues, the ‘religious leaders’ are only content to safeguard the controversial blasphemy law, their argument, “Because there is rule of law, hence we should not talk about changing blasphemy law”. On top of that, many in our nation are singing for their ‘hero’ the murderer ‘Mumtaz Qadri’.

These ‘goras’ they just don’t see us individually, they picture us as a whole nation. It isn’t their fault they have a horrible image of us in their imagination. The fault lies within us. If I am wrong, then pardon me for taking your time. But if I am right, then what are you complaining for?

An apology letter for Quaid-e-Azam on his 134th Birthday

Dearest Father of the nation,

Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah

May your soul rest in peace. Today on your 134th birthday, I wish I could give you something. I know what you wanted from your nation, but I am sorry we as a nation have let you down. I know we didn’t live up to your expectations as much. I understand, the Pakistan today isn’t what you dreamed of. I am sorry about that.

I am sorry we made corrupt people as our leaders, who robbed us and took everything away. I am sorry we didn’t find any leader like you in the past 62 years, so we had to settle for the feudal ones. I am sorry for the fact that we failed to ensure security of each and every individual living here. I am sorry we failed to preserve the rights of the minorities, instead we persecuted them. I am sorry we don’t have any Pakistanis here, but we do have Sindhis, Punjabis, Pushtoons, Saraikis, Baluchis, Mahajirs etc. I am sorry we don’t have any Muslims here either, but we do have Sunnis, Shias, Deobandis, Barhelvis etc. I am sorry we failed to develop like India or China, but the good thing is (I hope you will be thrilled to hear that) we still have IMF supporting us.

I am sorry we cannot reduce poverty, hunger, illiteracy and lawlessness because we have to spend the money we have on our leaders, parliamentarians and the military. I am sorry we let our talented youth go to waste due to our ignorance. I am sorry we let the illiterate religious leaders use us for their interest, sorry that we have to follow those who called you an infidel and Pakistan an abomination. I am sorry no place of worship is safe here and I am dearly sorry that we are now listed among the top 10 dangerous countries in the world. I am sorry that this country which was meant to be the fort of Islam, is a disgrace to the very cause.

Dear Quaid-e-Azam, on your 134th birthday, I am sorry we are even worst than what we were, back when you gave us the most cherished gift of all, ‘freedom’.

I am sorry.

Enemies of the state

it has been 63 years, since Pakistan was acknowledged as an independent state. It has been a long journey with sacrifices and test of patience for those who migrated from their homes (in India) to start a new life in this newly formed state. Sadly enough, life hasn’t been a bed of roses since then either (for the majority). There are many reasons that are the obvious cause for that as I have mentioned them in my previous blogs about the issues in Pakistan.

 

Pakistan

 

Today, I will focus on one of the major issue that hasn’t allowed Pakistan to move forward, be it economically, socially, democratically or influentially. The people of Pakistan are proud, hard-working, strong-willed and welcoming, yet at the same time they are also emotional, ignorant, violent and in many cases corrupt. The major issue of Pakistani people is not its government but the people themselves. In the past 63 years, while other nations have grown more sober and sophisticated, Pakistanis have gone the other way.

What Pakistanis don’t think is that these little things (of soberness, sophistication and civilization), if not practiced, hurt the national interests more than anything. Lets take protests in Pakistan as an example. True they are led by a leader  (or a political figure on most occasions), but there is no code of conduct at all for protests in Pakistan. Protests happen in other countries too which show authority of people or groups who are protesting, but in Pakistan protests are another form of chaos. Other nations express grief by standing and staying quiet for two minutes and pray for the soul of the deceased, while Pakistanis protest the same incident by burning properties of their own fellow countrymen.

What Pakistanis don’t understand is that they are damaging their own country, making other Pakistanis suffer, putting other families in loss and hurting their own countrymen. Is this civilized? Will this help the deceased? This makes the everyday average man feel like cursing the deceased out loud, then why do such act which will hurt the soul of the deceased.

Pakistanis protest on other issues too and they protest in different forms as well. Rallies, strikes, public processions, hunger strike, picketing, blockading etc. While they protest, in their cities, there is no business, no trade, no public transport and no daily life. This is hurting Pakistan badly, more regrettably, it is hurting the lower-middle and the lower class whom are mostly on daily wages. How can one be a part of such activity knowing that within his or her city, some one or some family will go to bed hungry. Is this the concept of an Islamic Republic? Is he or she a Muslim (or remotely associated to any religion)? Most important question is that the person who is involved in such protests really a human being?

These protests (which have become frequent lately) have teared Pakistan apart. While the world is now engulfed in an economic war, nations advancing over one another in technology, transforming the ways of living for their people, Pakistan and its people are totally unaware of it. Because let’s be honest, we do not have any economy to begin with.

It is said that Pakistan have enemies who abhor Pakistan’s existence. I believe Pakistan is not in much of the treat from those outside its borders, but the ones inside are the most dangerous and are hurting Pakistan’s essence on daily basis. Pakistan, a nation who is its own enemy.