The True Perspective

Stay in your limits, general

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:11:41 PST

"Can't say anything to the military, that's treason; can't say anything to the judiciary, that's contempt of court; can't say anything to the Mullahs, that's blasphemy; but the Prime Minister, President and Parliament, let's lynch them because it is our democratic right."

Or so read the Facebook statuses of thousands of Pakistanis. And apparently also on Twitter. So why is everybody being so queasy about treason and contempt of court and blasphemy? Well that's because the lot of Pakistanis with some common sense and rationality are increasingly being cornered with no way.

PM Gilani in an interview to a Chinese daily hinted that the replies filed by the Chief of Army Staff General Kayani and the Director General ISI General Pasha were unconstitutional and held no legal merit. He of course forgot that they were both respondents who were served notices by the court directly and then had to reply to the court with or without Gilani's approval.

Now we know that Gilani is not a very clever man and doesn't think things through properly. But we have been led to believe like the little black sheep who only bleat and follow whatever comes in their way, that Kayani is super perfect and that he has Kim Jong Il type powers of awesomeness. In addition we have also been told rather repeatedly that because Kayani is so perfect, he can never do any wrong. Oh how sorry were we.

You see in response to Gilani's rather stupid hinting capabilities, Kayani hit back at the "civilian democracy" in the place where it hurts the most. Kayani via an army statement said that Gilani's statement could have "serious ramifications" for Pakistan. But hold your horses! He further goes onto threaten the civilian baddies with "potential grievous consequences for the country."

As a citizen of this poor, shunned, brow beaten shell of a country that this once was, I stand hurt and well mighty damn angry. How dare Kayani who is nothing more than a grade 22 officer threaten the democratic institutions of Pakistan? Who does he think he is? Does he think he is God (naaoozubillah)? Does he have a magic wand that he will wave and make the problems of Pakistan go away? Oh wait. That can't be it because he was asleep in his king size bed at home when Pakistan's sovereignty was raped for 2 whole goddamn hours on May the 2nd!

It pains me, disgusts me and shames me that even now there are people in this country who support a martial law imposition; who think Kayani coming to the helm of affairs will fix everything. Well let me just bust your bubble: It will not. The favourite argument of these self professed cleansers of Pakistan is that because Zardari is corrupt, he has done corruption. Because he has done corruption, his whole party has done corruption. Because PPP has done corruption, the army needs to come to fix everything. Wrong!

So Zardari is corrupt and Gilani is stupid and Firdaus Ashiq Awan is an affront to the intelligence of women, the fact of the matter is they are only criticised because there are no "ramifications". Because criticizing them will not land you in jail, or your deathbed. Let's talk about another type of corruption today shall we?

Rs 800 billion was allotted to the army last year. Rs 800 billion. Now let's recount what took place last year. First there were the drone attacks. But it turns out Kayani was hand in glove with the Americans on that one. Let's all laugh about how stupid we all were for thinking the army was defending the frontier while in fact they were the ones providing spot locations for drone attacks. And lest you forget I'm all for drone strikes to wipe out militants. I'm just amazed at the sheer hypocrisy of those (read: army) who proclaim that the Americans will not be allowed to toy with our sovereignty. What sovereignty do they talk about? But I digress. Then came May the 2nd. A day that will forever go down in history as being the day when Pakistan lost all morality in the comity of nations. Why didn't our army defend us? Why didn't our Air force defend us? Why didn't the army shoot down the raiding American helicopters while they fluttered about in Pakistani airspace for two hours? Why didn't the army take action when all the action could in fact have been live from the Pakistan Military Academy? Why? And when the civilian baddies tried to fix that (via the Memogate, wrong method but correct intentions) the army just got pissed. What about the navy base attack? When 4 "Star Trek" characters set a whole base on fire and laid siege to it for 16 hours. How incompetent is our army? Even with Rs 800 billion a year in its pockets. And they talk about defeating India in war when can't even defend their own shoddy selves. Why does no one talk about this corruption?

And lest we forget, yes Kayani is the rat bastard who is responsible for putting this country under the water and making it sink. Now he trespasses the halls of morality but let me jog your memory. In 2007 Musharraf wanted an NRO with Benazir Bhutto. He sent his DG ISI to draft an agreement and get it signed. That agreement was called NRO. And who was that DG ISI, the architect of that agreement? Why yes it was Kayani. Who rules this country behind the facade of Gilani and Zardari? Why it's Kayani. And who has burnt this country down and sold it to the dogs? Why yes, it is indeed Kayani.

I don't have a problem with the army, or the soldiers who stand day and night watching these insolent generals who have nothing better to do than to fart all over the destiny of Pakistan. I have a problem with the generals. Making Kayani the chief executive will be the final nail in the Pakistan's coffin. Let's make that clear.

So how do we go about sorting through this mess? By letting the PPP complete its 5 years in power. You see we have now seen how inept the PPP has been in power. In the next elections people like me who have never voted before, are going to vote it out of power and vote somebody better in its place and so on and so forth. But instead if Kayani comes to the helm, well then bye bye Pakistan. You were truly loved and you will sorely be missed.

By linking the performance of the governments to the voting process and by empowering the common people, in only 20 years' time this country will be a much, much better place than it is today. People themselves will see how democracy is a million times better than the army mounting coups. Kayani should not sully the good name of all those nameless soldiers who have died, who stand upright during the night to protect his highness, and who when the time comes become brothers to those Pakistanis who need them. Kayani would be well advised to keep his fantasies to his self. Kayani should stay within his limits.

The Pakistan Memo

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:25:36 PST

By Shahida Mazhar

Leadership is indispensable to Pakistan’s future progress and survival.

In the current Pakistani scenario, we must always have a third option to survive the dirty politics of the two major political parties.

Anyone who can redirect Pakistan to its destined path, as envisioned by, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Allama Iqbal and Quaid--e-Azam -- is the third option today.

If Pakistan has to survive as a rational nation, then it must really become Jinnah’s Pakistan and not a Pakistan for ignorant mullahs of Jamaat-e-Islami, who follow the Maududi Doctrine for a theocratic Pakistan. Jinnah fought against the organized mullahs, who preached/practiced 'Theocracy' as the Islamic doctrine.

Jinnah did not want Pakistan to become a theocracy and vociferously debated with the Muslim clerics in United India against it.

As citizens of Pakistan our mission today should be to evolve social justice, for deliverance of good governance.

Every Pakistani must speak up, against inequality, corruption, insufficient security, deficient education system, social malaise and healthcare, in order to usher in reforms needed desperately by Pakistan.

The time is over for 'fence sitting' and remaining silent for silence today will mean concurring with the status-quo, which is not an option any longer.

The world is going through epic history making events in the peoples' movements' like the 'Arab Spring' and now the 'Occupy Wall Street' as global citizens. We must get involved, and must play our part in it.

The American people have stood up against its tyrannical establishment, via the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement. Similarly Pakistan must play its correct role, and define its direction today also. As citizens of Pakistan, we have a responsibility to the world, and we need to indentify our mistakes, and then resolve to change our direction. We need to put our mark on history. We may or may not have the same demands yet we have a common front composed of many diversified interests.

Unified we have to confront and solve the most pressing problem of our time. It will not be an exaggeration to say that our survival as individuals, as a society, even as a species depends on it.

I request all Pakistanis, to cross party lines and support the correct person in the next Elections in 2013.

Let us remember that: "Allah will never change the condition of a people unless they first change what is wrong in their hearts" – Al - Quran

About the author: Shahida is an overseas Pakistani deeply devastated by Pakistan's state of affairs. Creating awareness and differentiating between fact and fiction is her passion. She is apolitical and freelances for different blogs from Facebook.

Dhaka's fall 1971 - The forgotten stranded Pakistanis

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:05:05 PST

By Sahar Farrukh

They say nations which do not learn from their history are condemned to repeat their mistakes. The 40th anniversary of separation of Pakistan just passed away, the Quaid’s Pakistan divided into two on 16th December 1971. The heart of a true Pakistani still breaks at the thought of it. Regardless of what the reasons were, behind the unfortunate event, it is now an indispensable reality. After four decades we do accept our mistakes verbally but the need of time is to learn from these mistakes. As the result of this war the Bengalis got a separate country; West Pakistan changed into the Islamic republic of Pakistan, and among all these frenzied developments we ignored the third group, the most affected one. Those identity less, homeless people who were looking around on the hopes to be accepted — talking about more than 250,000 Biharis or stranded Pakistanis trapped in camps in Bangladesh, which are still hanging in the balance.

These people are paying the price for the love they had for their country. They supported the Pakistani army but were not given enough importance to think about their evacuation. They were deprived of their properties and are third grade people because they were the supporters of their enemies. Very little attention has been paid up till now over such people. In 1972 when Bangladesh announced nationality for the Biharis more than 60,000 voted in favour of Pakistan. General Zia ul Haq deprived all such people of their nationality and identity in an ordinance in 1978. Later on a few pacts were signed and were tried for implementation too by other governments, but following the tradition it also fell prey to our politics. The fear of racial, cultural, linguistic, ethnic issues and problems that would have risen from accepting the Biharis as Pakistanis was the major propaganda by political parties. In 1993 even these efforts stopped and in 1998 the commission dissolved in mid air too. UNHCR and other organizations refused to consider them as displaced people and from then on these identity-less people had very little attention paid towards them.

After more than four decades and three generations later these camps give a surreal sight of humans living in conditions worse than animal shelters. The later generations though bestowed with the generosity of being called Bangladesh nationals in 2008 are confused, on a crossroad having no past and a dead end to their future. Without any education (illiteracy rate for this group of people is 94%) and healthy environment they are considered a burden on the earth. 70 to 80 percent of Urdu speaking have registered themselves as Bangladeshis but it DOES NOT include those who still want to come back to Pakistan. These true patriots who deserve a high status are living in unexplainable miserable conditions trapped between the conflicting histories and selfishness of governments. These stranded Pakistanis will remain Pakistani till death whether anybody acknowledges them or not. The land mafia vultures are eyeing these camps after the 2008 Supreme Court decision of Bangladesh, stripping them off with their only so called shelters. Will the time ever come that government will realize its responsibility towards them? The life moved on for us and for the Bengalis too but not for them who are living a stagnant life for four decades.

Since that time, no efforts have been made and neither the people nor the media tried to catch up on facts or the presumed efforts form the government which were only directed towards further lies, including the inquiry report --- the Hamood ur Rehman commission report. Further facts were hidden and an altered history was presented to the new generation. The distorted facts were included in Pakistan studies syllabus.

Every year this day comes and passes away, and documentaries about this day are played by a few television channels (always ignoring the plight of Biharis); columns by writers seldom throw light on this issue, and the government at the height of its tepidness, is always silent as if it has simply given up. Sadly the new generation knows nothing about it. If they did or tried to, they would have never forgiven their elders. We have to bear what they sowed for us. We have to pay for their mistakes. They made our past but now we are responsible for the future. As the future of Pakistan, lets join hands and spread it towards our less fortunate, stranded brothers who are hoping against hope that they will be rescued by their dear homeland for which they have rendered relentless sacrifices.

About the author: Sahar is a graduate of MBA from Islamabad.

2011 in perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:18:07 PST

2011 is gone. The year heralded undefined and unheard hardships for Pakistan and its people. There were suicide bomb blasts, electricity outages, corruption allegations, electoral discrepancies, massive shenanigans from our dearly elected and well the usual, heat and dust and anger management issues.

Imran Khan also rose from the ashes as a phenomenon that could herald Pakistan in a new direction towards the end of the year. How true that is we'll simply have to wait and see. With the army recuperating some of its lost pride in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden's death and the Karachi naval base attack, it tried to meddle in the affairs of the civilian government again by getting Hussain Haqqani sacked.

All in all it wasn't a happy year for Pakistan and certainly not a good one. We find ourselves internationally abandoned and the world appears to be extremely frustrated with us. It is true that they haven't been very straight with us but to their credit neither have we. We continue to try and push through the delusional mudslides that keep falling over us every other day and perhaps that's the biggest take away of the year. We showed the world how resilient we are and how well we hold our own.

As 2012 arrives, some metaphorical bombs have already exploded on us. Petrol price has increased, CNG prices have increased in addition to their load shedding, and electricity prices have also increased. A bad start but here's to hoping that as the year progresses, we are able to salvage some sense from all the mess we find ourselves in.

Please vote for The True Perspective!

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:06:02 PST

Hey everyone,

The True Perspective got nominated in the Pakistan Blog Awards in the category Best Current Affairs Blog. You all are requested to please vote for the blog and make it win! You can vote for the blog by clicking here. Simply select the rating by clicking on the number of stars.

Alternatively you can click on the link to your right, and you will be redirected to the Pakistan Blog Awards' The True Perspective page.

Thank you very much for your support. It's appreciated! :)

Did Imran Khan just own Lahore?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:14:42 PDT

Imran Khan

I know a lot has been said, is being said, and will be said about Imran Khan's insanely large rally in Lahore yesterday. Did he woo the masses of their feet? Yes. Did he prove that a lot of people support him? Yes. Did he own Lahore? I think he might just have.

Imran Khan set out to prove a point, and he nailed it into every nailable thing out there. He ripped through the Sharifs' fortress and came out the other side victorious. He didn't say anything new, he didn't surprise anyone with new promises, but he delivered a powerful speech, one that might have sent shivers down his opponents spines. He also managed to shut his detractors (yours truly included) up and proved that his followers are not only from the educated urban middle class. They come from all strata of society.

But while all that is good and rosy, there are other points that need to be discussed. There are questions that need to be asked and answers that need to be heard. Imran Khan once again continued to lick the shiny armour of the army. He recounted an anecdote involving Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, and Zardari in which both of them beg the Americans to save them from the Pakistani generals. Perhaps Imran Khan thinks licking the army's shiny suit would earn him the required number of points to qualify as the next prime minister of Pakistan?

He also talked about corruption and how Rs 3000 billion is lost every year in tax corruption. But once again, he failed to mention how he would eradicate this colossal negative enigma from Pakistan. He also talked about telling the Americans to talk to Pakistan on an equal footing. While these are noble sentiments, in the real world they hold no water. The US acts as our benefactor, hence we dare not say anything offensive to it. Unless the shackles of benefaction can be broken, I'm afraid Imran Khan was simply indulging in yesterday's rhetoric.

Imran Khan also spoke of ending the military operations in the tribal belts. I really want to ask him whether he's become insane? OK so he says the military fights the local Pakistani population in the tribal belt. My question is what of the many thousands of Uzbek, Chechen and Arab militants residing in those places? Who is going to fight them? Or are they "our people" too? Or does Imran Khan believe they do not exist and they are simply a figment of the imagination of a few people?

Imran Khan said the tribal elders have assured him that if the army stops taking action in the tribal belt, the terrorism will automatically go away. Of course it will. By not fighting the cancer spurting out of the tribal belts, the Pakistan army will become complicit in letting it spread.

Is Imran Khan a very charismatic man with a lot of fan following? Yes he is. But he talks nonsense at times particularly with regards to the foreign and interior policy. While his solutions to the energy crisis are admirable and in fact extremely workable, his solutions to steering the country out of the mess it finds itself in are based on populist whims and rhetoric.

I want to like Imran Khan. But he never gives me any reason to even bother. Rather, he takes all of the reasons that might make me like him and shoots them in the head. And that makes me wonder, who am I going to vote for in 2013 when I've ruled Imran Khan out?

Imran Khan or Nawaz Sharif?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:28:57 PDT

Nawaz Sharif (L) and Imran Khan (R)

The million dollar question everybody has been harping about for the past week or so. Who is the king of Lahore? Is it Nawaz Sharif, who has traditionally held the throne? Or is it Imran Khan, who has dethroned the former king to wear the crown himself?

Now if you're a regular reader of this blog, you would know I am not exactly a fan of Imran Khan. All the reasons for my not being his fan can be found by clicking here. But this right now is an entirely different debate. Who would you choose between Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif?

See the problem is once again in this populist political quagmire (or thriller depending upon your preference) we are stuck in choosing one individual over another individual. But that is another blog, for another time. So is Imran Khan better than Nawaz Sharif? Or is Nawaz Sharif better than Imran Khan? It's hard to say given the scale of confrontation and the statements that emanate from both of them. They both hate Zardari. They both want midterm elections. They both claim they can rid the country of evil and produce good Samaritans. But there's one fundamental difference between the two, which to the cool thinking and rational mind blows up the difference between the two as if one was day and the other was night.

Imran Khan wants a confrontational approach vis-a-vis the US, NATO and Afghanistan. Nawaz Sharif on the other hand wants to play it cool and let things take their natural course. One of the prerequisites of this approach is not pissing off the Americans. Another glaring difference between the two politician's approaches is that while Imran Khan keeps licking the army's shiny armour, Nawaz Sharif is trying to keep them at an arm's length by calling for judicial inquiries against the generals responsible for the May 2nd debacle.

But that is where the differences end. So what do the masses think? Imran Khan has by and large crafted a huge fan following amongst the educated middle class and the youth. But that support has been the most vocal and active in Lahore. What about other parts of Punjab? What do people think about Imran Khan in for example, Vehari? Or Bhalwal? Or Mian Channu? The vast majority of Punjabis resides in rural areas and rural populace is the one and only factor that can make or break any party in an election.

So can Imran Khan pull it off? He might. Or he might not. The problem like I mentioned before is that we're talking about individuals. In the case of Imran Khan, he really is just one individual. It is only today that I found out that there is a person called Rauf Hassan who is in Imran Khan's party as well. But what about the other hidden gems of talent in Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf? Or are we to assume that there are no other? On the other hand there are several people who I can name from Nawaz Sharif's party, albeit they all disgust me.

The worst case scenario for Imran Khan will still be a win for him. He will win 5 - 6 seats in the provincial assembly and will be the head of a vocal opposition. That's more than he's ever had. And the best case scenario will be a complete rout of Nawaz Sharif's PML. Either way he will have to make alliances with people who he keeps denouncing. Nawaz Sharif, if he can still maintain his unbeaten streak will most probably not need the help of allies to keep him standing on his two feet. But of course only time will tell exactly what happens.

In the meanwhile, the two upcoming rallies by the PML-N (which takes place tomorrow, Friday, 28th October, 2011) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (which takes place on Sunday, 30th October, 2011) will be a sort of litmus test of who stands where in this sprawling metropolis.

As for me? Well in my perfect world Imran Khan's idealistic rhetoric and populist politics would work seamlessly without any repercussions of any sort, and I would gladly vote for him in that case. But in the real world, I feel Nawaz Sharif has got the grasp on reality much better than Imran Khan has ever had even though the Sharifs are like fat cobras standing guard around a pile of gold (read Punjab).

I'll wait till after their rallies to decide who's side I fall on. It's going to be interesting.

Die you useless bunch of nincompoops, die!

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:50:23 PDT

So on the morning of 11th October 2011, I went to the NADRA Registration Office located at Shami Road - II, Lahore to get my National Identity Card (NIC) altered. I had to get my address changed so that I could get my passport made from Lahore, and also so that I could register myself as a voter for the next elections, whenever they may be. Why couldn't I get my passport made, or register as a voter from Lahore without having a Lahori house address (when I am willing to provide proof that I live in Lahore in the form of electricity bills, gas bills, physical address verification blah blah) is anybody's guess. Red tape and bullshit with nonsensical rules are the hallmarks of Pakistan. So don't even ask.

I have to get a passport made so that I can appear for my GRE exam which is scheduled for the middle of next month. But now, apparently, I will have to get it postponed and pay many more dollars. As if dollars grow on trees in my house.

I paid Rs 1000 so that I could get the NIC made urgently. The urgent application says the ID card will be delivered in 5 working days and you can collect it from NADRA's office. I didn't go after 5 days. I went after 13 days. 13. You might imagine then that even with the bullshit that broils and transverses the halls of NADRA's Shami Road Registration Office, that they would have gotten my card ready. But they haven't. And I'm not even sure they will till the middle of next month.

I waited patiently in line for 2 hours. Yes. There are no waiting facilities. There are no toilets, or water or sitting facilities provided. Senior citizens stand in line just like women and children. There are no fans or benches. And there is utter and complete mismanagement when it comes to delivering the cards that have been made. Of course the majority of the people don't get their cards because "they haven't been made yet". I have always thought that it was the uneducated masses who make a mess and who don't know how to make lines. I was wrong. It is the people on the other side of the counter who are so useless, and unbelievably worthless pieces of shit that they mess up people's brains completely.

So what happened when I got to the start of the line? I was told to "come back after 6 or 7 days" because my card hadn't been made. I asked them why it hadn't been made when I've already come after the passage of a week after the due date to which the person at the counter had no reply. I further asked him what's the point of paying a 1000 rupees when eventually I wouldn't be getting an urgent card at all? Again he had no answers.

But the cherry on top of the cake? When I got home I called NADRA helpline from where you can get to know the status of your NIC. So I called and I asked the man on the other end of the line, "When will my card be delivered to NADRA's office in Lahore?" He shocked me completely when he said, "We have no record of your application at all. It appears that the office from where you've tried to get your card made hasn't forwarded your application to us."

Haven't forwarded my application?! WHAT THE F****?!

So yes. Die you miserable nincompoops, DIE!

The Pakibots

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:55:48 PDT

We have become robots. Some of you may disagree, but I hold my ground and still proclaim that this nation of Pakistanis (or Pakibots as we shall henceforth be called) has turned into robots.

The logical question to ask obviously is why do I claim that an intense transition has happened suddenly to Pakibots? Well as intense as it is, it hasn't happened suddenly. It has taken years, but it has happened.

So, why?

Well we've always been told that robots can feel nothing. No pain, no misery, no anger, no sorrow, no love, no desperation, no tension, and a lot of other things that outsiders think Pakibots might be feeling. But the truth of the matter is (and it is indeed remarkable) that a lot of the Pakistani people stopped feeling, well, feelings. Hence, they became Pakibots.

Pakistanis have stopped feeling outraged. Pakistanis have also stopped using their brains. They do as they are told. How else does one explain the fact that despite the return of the dark age to Pakistan, when pagan customs such as murder of women who give birth to girls, rape of women by members of the so called Islamic organizations, selling and buying of girls for prostitution, infinite growth in the drug trade etc., all become common the Pakistanis are still not robots?

The Pakibots are a first. The first cripple in an increasingly demonized world. Lust and money is what is currently making this world go round and its taking its toll. It already has in Pakistan. Pakistan died. And in the process of its death, it transitioned the nation into robots.

So maybe this new message should be inscribed on plaques that are installed at our international airports and border crossings:

Welcome to Pakistan. The land of no feelings or common sense. The land of the robots.

Heart wrenching

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:05:04 PDT

Nobody seems to know from where the Hazaras originated. We only know that they originated. We know they are Pakistanis. We know they love Pakistan. We know they have been oppressed for decades. We now know that they are sick of all this nonsense. We now also know that they want a separate province for themselves.

They don't talk about breaking up Pakistan. They don't talk about a separate homeland. They only talk about their rights which non Hazara people refuse to provide them because they look different, speak different and because they are Shiite in a nation comprising largely of Sunni Muslims.

Barbarianism which has long become a trait identified with Pakistan has reached epic proportions. A couple of days ago a passenger bus carrying 20 people on board (mostly labourers going to the vegetable market to work) was attacked. 13 were killed in cold when non stop bullets were pumped into their bodies. Why you ask? Because they were Shiite Hazara people. Yup. That was their mistake.

On September 19 another similar incident took place. Another passenger bus carrying Shiite Hazara pilgrims to Iran was stopped by gunmen. 26 were slain that day.

I wonder this everyday and my soul aches for an answer but it never seems to be forthcoming. I don't understand why we have become so engrossed in our race and sects. Why we have started to identify people based on their sects, and the way they look. It pains me to see hurt strewn all across the country simply because a few people cannot bear to see a different looking person proclaim that he has a right to the Motherland.

So what if Hazaras want a separate province? We ought to remember that we have forced them up against the wall. So what if Hazaras are Shiite? The whole of Iran is Shiite and yet the Muslims of Pakistan keep reminding each other how great an Islamic nation Iran is to stand up to the USA.

I still don't understand how it went from being everyone's Pakistan to somebody's Karachi and somebody's Lahore and somebody's Quetta. Don't I have any ownership over Quetta? Am I not a Pakistani? Don't Hazaras have any ownership of Karachi because they look different? Aren't we all Pakistanis? Don't I have a right to go anywhere I please in this country? Is the answer no? Is the answer no for everyone?

It is sad. So truly sad. We have failed. People keep saying how broke this country is, but no one ever calls into question how broken this country has become. And just like that we have isolated another minority. The majority has all started cracking down into blocks of minorities. How long before each one of us becomes selfish in our aims and declares war on the very roots of Pakistan?

Good Taliban, Bad Taliban

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:41:46 PDT

If it were merely blithering idiots giving us the good Taliban, bad Taliban story, we would simply laugh and move on. But that's not the case. The good Taliban, bad Taliban is deeply embedded into the minds of our intellectuals and journalists and hence this rhetoric finds its way onto the mainstream. Which is problematic for two reasons: 1) it creates confusion amongst the masses, and 2) it keeps the Pakistani establishment hovering two feet above the air when it needs to be brought back down.

Why does the Pakistani establishment keep floating in the air when this rhetoric is flowing though? The answer is simple. They are the ones who have fooled us into believing in this rhetoric in the first place. While the Afghan Taliban are good Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban are the bad Taliban. Unfortunately for the Pakistani people, the Taliban refuse to distinguish themselves as the Pakistani or Afghan Taliban. To them they are just the Taliban. Hence the Pakistani Taliban claim that Sirajuddin Haqqani is a commander of the Taliban while the Pakistani establishment believes that because Sirajuddin Haqqani is an Afghan, he is good for Pakistan.

I have questioned repeatedly and vigorously as to what benefit the Pakistani establishment sees when it tries to enforce upon the masses that creating a strategic depth in Afghanistan is paramount to Pakistan's future. However no answer has ever been forthcoming. So, we don't know what good will come from having a war torn and destabilized Afghanistan on our west border with the Taliban in the government's seat other than somehow it will help us against India.

Reverting to a point I made earlier regarding Pakistani intelligentsia's fallacy of falling for the rhetoric that is spewed by the establishment, it becomes doubly dangerous because this propaganda is passed off as facts. When national newspapers become the playgrounds of manipulation, the concept of objective journalism evaporates. It is indeed the need of the hour that the Pakistani journalistic community get its act together and pushes for an objective viewpoint that questions the intentions of all parties involves and condones transparency and the point of views that are beneficial for Pakistan as a whole; not simply for those pulling the strings.

Soulful Music - Tyler Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:53:37 PDT

The trouble with having a relatively mainstream blog is that you are stuck to just one type of genre. You're limited by what you can say on your blog. For instance, I can't talk about the weather here. Because people don't come to this blog to read about the weather. I can't talk about the amazing kind of music I find occasionally because that's not related to Pakistan or its affairs. I can't talk about my personal problems because I doubt people would be interested in hearing them.

So I'm stuck with just talking about Pakistan. And the various shenanigans going on in this huge, massive, beautiful country. Which also makes me wonder why the people in charge want to ruin it so badly. I mean just its beauty is enough to merit a stop to all the ungodly things that mere mortals are indulging in. But that's not what I want to talk about any more. Because I'm sick of repeating the same things. I'm tired. Everybody is. Its time to just end it all. US or no US; Afghanistan or no Afghanistan; India or no India, nothing matters. Pakistan matters. But that too only to a few unfortunately.

But I think I'm going to take a chance. I found this really amazing cover of Katy Perry's ET by Tyler Ward. It turns out he's some sort of Youtube sensation, a celebrity if you will. And he sings well too. Check him out:

Trying desperately to save face

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:51:10 PDT

Last night all the top politicians of Pakistan got together to chalk out a united strategy in the face of extreme pressure from the United States. Much as I would like to tell these same politicians what's really on my mind, I do believe they deserve tremendous applause for being man enough to tell the world that there is still some semblance of sanity that exists within Pakistan and its political ranks.

The joint resolution that was presented at the end of the 9 hour meeting says what we've always been hearing: that Pakistan is a peace loving country and that it will always keep its interests supreme. We already know from the last 60 odd years that that's not true. We also know that we're absolutely unsure about what Pakistan's interests are and who decides them. Supposedly, supporting the Haqqani network of the Taliban in Afghanistan is one of the interests of Pakistan. Like I questioned in my blog yesterday, to what end?

The resolution also failed to distance Pakistan from its image of always helping the wrong side and of double dealing. You see while the Pakistani government may feed us all lies about how our establishment is so sweet and nobody loves it, the world has become quite sick of our shenanigans. The Pakistani nation is identified in vile terms and its image is scorned upon. Did the resolution address any of these critical exclamation marks? Afraid not.

So what did the joint resolution of the APC achieve then? Well the answer to that will be nothing really. General Pasha and General Kayani simply denied all allegations of wrong doing. Even with Nawaz Sharif's rather testy remark that wherever there is smoke there is fire, the military men refused to concede that they are responsible for maintaining links with the Haqqani network. Ironically the resolution fails to say that Pakistan does not, will not and has not maintained any links with the Haqqani network. Does that amount to admission of guilt? You're free to draw your own conclusions.

While the world continues to move on berating Pakistan for its duplicity we vehemently and strictly refuse to acknowledge our shortcomings. We refuse to accept our mistakes and we refuse to correct them. We live in denial. We like it. Unfortunately the world doesn't like it and hence it has run out of patience with Pakistan. Mike Mullen was just one man who made one allegation. Very soon (if we keep our charades) a whole corps will be out there doing the same.

10 questions that need to be answered at the All Parties Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:33:25 PDT

As you all might know an All Parties Conference (APC) is currently under way in Islamabad to chalk out a united response from the country's political leadership to the threats and accusations made by Admiral Mike Mullen in which he accused the Taliban's Haqqani network as being a veritable arm of the ISI. Almost 58 politicians belonging to all the major political parties are attending this conference including Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Chaudry Shujaat Ali. The important question is whether this conference will actually achieve anything substantial?

We of course need a united stance on the American accusations and allegations which are by their nature very extreme. To help the politicians achieve that, General Ashfaq Kayani (COAS) and General Ahmed Shuja Pasha (DG ISI) will be presenting themselves before the politicians and answering the various questions that they might have.

Some of the questions that I have and which I would really like to be answered are as follows:

Does Pakistan actually have any "veritable" links to the Haqqani network?
Does the Pakistani military support a "strategic depth" doctrine in Afghanistan?
If yes, then what exactly does the Pakistani military intend to achieve with that strategic depth in Afghanistan?
Does the ISI share strategic intel with the US intel agencies?
Does the Pakistani military have compulsive, incriminating evidence against CIA/US double dealing in Afghanistan and Pakistan?
Does the Pakistani intelligence apparatus have compulsive, incriminating evidence against Indian involvement in Pakistan's tribal areas and Balochistan?
Does the Pakistani military believe that it can defend the country in the event of a ground invasion by the US forces?
Why did the Pakistani military allow a known CIA operative who is also a murderer (Raymond Davis) go scot free?
Has the Pakistani military officially sanctioned the lease of Shamsi airbase to the UAE and further on to the USA?
How can General Kayani and General Pasha convince the Pakistani nation that after the OBL fiasco (being discovered in the heart of the Pakistani military) a repeat of that episode will not take place?

These are just some of the many questions that I would like to be answered. Because they form the bedrock of the many confusions plaguing our nation regarding the intentions of our armed forces.

A reply: The Gloves Come Off

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:52:36 PDT

Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

On Foreign Policy magazine's online website today, you will find a hard hitting article by Daniel Markey regarding the US pressure vis-a-vis Pakistan. In that unfortunate article, Daniel Markey has just talked the talk and labelled the Pakistani military as being a sponsor to terrorism in Afghanistan. Being a Pakistani, this hurts me deeply for obvious reasons. However, while some part of me may believe that the Pakistani military has not been entirely honest with the US (they've been much less honest to the Pakistani people) I do believe that the American people must know of the inadvertent failures of their own armed forces in a country that they shouldn't have attacked in the first place.

The US has taken the Pakistani case to the press and has played hard ball with it. Twisting the Pakistani military's arm in front of the camera must have been a massive adrenaline rush for Mike Mullen and Leon Panetta but the fact remains that there's hardly anything else they can do.

While the world looks with dazed eyes on the volley emanating from both sides, there is little doubt that they have both hit a stalemate. Frankly speaking though, the Pakistani government and military might just be about to enter the bad boy zone by unilaterally telling the US to piss off. Ramifications for such an action are far reaching and dangerous; already the IMF and World Bank heads have refused to meet with the delegation of Pakistanis headed by Hafeez Shaikh the finance minister and there is little doubt the US will squeeze every remaining drop of blood from the Pakistani veins.

If Mike Mullen and Leon Panetta feel confident in berating Pakistan publicly and delivering some not so veiled threats then it must mean that they have credible information regarding Pakistan's double game. Surprisingly however this time around the Pakistani's have hit back with a vengeance and have counter alleged that the CIA itself has links to many terrorist organizations and that the Haqqani network, which is the bone of contention, was a blue eyed boy of the CIA for many years.

So what can the US really do in such a situation? Well it can ill afford to wage a new war in Pakistan. Sure it can replace the drones with B-52 bombers which make a much higher impact but lets not forget that in these freezing times, the Pakistani military just might grow the balls to actually scramble the F-16s that it keeps touting about.

Most importantly though, and I cannot over emphasize this enough, the Americans have failed on the frontier that they should've won -- the Pakistani people. Like I said before the US has never really worked on winning the hearts and minds of the people of Pakistan. It has always tried to push through its policies in the region via the corrupt, the weak and the dishonest governments of Pakistan whether they be civilian or military. When foreign minister Khar stated that "...the US cannot afford to alienate the people of Pakistan," she forgot that the US has already alienated the majority for the last 60 years. She also forgot (because she lives above the common man?) that her words ring hollow back home.

If the US wants to win the war in Afghanistan, it will have to win the people of Pakistan. The governments, the military and the agencies will always fight their two faced wars because they want to maintain a stronghold over this country and the mantra of "strategic depth" and "India is our no. 1 enemy" holds a large majority of the people hooked.

Cracking the code to Karachi's misery

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:57:56 PDT

Ladies and gentlemen, I have returned from my hiatus. If you missed me, then please be assured I missed you too. If on the other hand you did not miss me, well then you know what you can do.

I have been away from my blog for so long for two primary reasons.

Because I was far far away in Karachi and did not have quite the access to internet that I would've liked and,
Because even after having watched Zulfiqar Mirza blow up like a helium filled balloon set on fire, I really didn't feel like I had anything to say.

That all changes now because as it turns out I do have something to say about the whole affair.

To start of there are rumours that Altaf Hussain has been arrested by the British police in connection with the murder of Imran Farooq. Self professed analysts on the media also proclaim that since Altaf "bhai" has been arrested, hence he has not really communicated to his party (MQM) about what to do with Zulfiqar Mirza and his amazing diatribe against them.

In humdrum, no one really cares where Altaf Hussain goes. Just like no one cares where Zulfiqar Mirza goes. The MQM and Zulfiqar Mirza depict deeply embedded ethnic taboos that have come blasting to the fore. Zulfiqar Mirza's deliberate attempt to string up discord between the Urdu speaking and the Pashtuns in Karachi was visible for all to see. But he went a tad bit further and proclaimed that he will only work for Sindhis now. I wonder, what became of the Pakistan that stood for equanimity and equality without ethnicity and religious affiliations affecting one's relationship with others?

While I was in Karachi I had a realization. All my life I had seen Karachi on TV as being the most horrid place in Pakistan. The people, the location, the smell, the size of the metropolis, the pollution. But that's not true. What Karachi really is, is the most amazing city I have ever visited. There is a diversity in Karachi. The people are friendly. And there's so many food places, you have to wonder why they don't just call it food city. And it has the sea. Nobody ogles at you for dressing weirdly. Nobody hoots at you for wearing jeans (yes girls, I did not see anyone hoot at any girl the entire time I was there). And best of all, the people have a lot patience and respect for each other.

Which made me wonder, why is there such a big mess broiling in Karachi then?

The answer is simple. The message of Pakistaniat has disappeared from the hearts of Pakistanis. Karachi is no longer a city that belongs to Pakistanis or even Karachiites. It is being fought over by idiots who think that they own Karachi. But the truth is they don't and that's why the city doesn't yield.

Who cares if you're Urdu speaking? Who cares if you're a Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun or Punjabi? The fact of the matter is that we're all Pakistanis. We all own Pakistan and all the cities in Pakistan. I'm as much an owner of Karachi as the little boy who sells pakoras on the streets of Mardan. Just like the people of Karachi are as much owners of Islamabad like the Baloch elder who sits outside his sajji shop in Quetta.

I love Pakistan. And so should you.

The confusion within

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:54:42 PDT

I have been reading up on a lot of polarized material of late. Polarized meaning those who call themselves liberals (who believe the US and the West is everything, and everything it eschews is absolutely correct) and those who call themselves the saviors of the Muslims (who believe killing the US will solve all our problems). In both instances I have found glaring deficits and discrepancies. Neither side has the capability or the willingness to offer solutions. Both sides are so distrustful of each other and so confused in their own right that they find it impossible to find a middle ground. Hence, there are no grey areas. There is only black and white depending on what you believe in.

I know what I am saying has been said many times before. So let me just cut through the crap and talk about myself. I was a firm believer in the theory that nation states do not have friends or foes. They only have strategic interests. I still believe in that theory to be honest. Based on this theory then I concluded and I pleaded with people to understand that the US is only acting on its interests when it goes to war, or attacks innocents, or maims millions of people. After all, it is the world's largest economy. An economy that boasts of individualism and a narcissistic affinity to money. Any kind of money.

However, I always wondered what the US would gain by destabilizing Pakistan, if for instance I were to agree with this notion. You see I believe very strongly in the idea that to understand and win an argument, you must think and act like the devil as well as the angel. In this case, I know why the US would want to go to wars, carry on the wars it is fighting, would want to get out of Afghanistan etc. But I wondered and wondered as to what possible motive the US could have in destabilizing Pakistan.

On the face of it it would seem like that encouraging the destabilization of Pakistan is akin to the US throwing down the axe on its own foot. But that just sounds contrary to what common sense suggests. But I don't have any answers. I don't know why the US is so intent on doing what it is to ensure that Pakistan keeps going on the back foot until it is finally cornered and pushed up against a wall.

Now since no one seems to know the answer to that (no, the US does not want our weapons; it has a much bigger stockpile of immensely advanced nuclear weapons than we can ever produce) I can only go with what is left. Like Sherlock Holmes said: Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

By that logic the US is genuinely concerned that the Pakistan government would collapse leading to a free for all frenzy which would be hard to contain. And herein lies the US' folly. Like I mentioned before in one of my earlier posts, the US has refused to engage the biggest shareholder in Pakistan: Its people. When and if it realizes this, it will also realize how easy it actually is to win in Pakistan. We're a very loving, loyal and hospitable people. And we are suckers for kindness. When someone is kind to us, we become their loyal pups forever. Case in point, China and Saudi Arabia. Even though we know how both these countries have used us to no end.

So that's how the confusion within rolls around. Would love to hear your views about this. Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts.

$800 million less aid? Good riddance!

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:48:48 PDT

Athar Abbas says the army doesn't care if the US doesn't

give it more aid.

Now I have been reading up quite a lot on the purported US cut in military aid to Pakistan which totals $800 million. Apparently this is big news and it somehow masquerades that the US government is oh so angry at the Pakistani military. Obviously the Pakistani military deserves to reap what it has sowed, but somehow the effect of the aid cut has materialized in the public sector instead of from the military establishment. Which I presume is good for the military establishment since it shows that the population of Pakistan is slowly forgetting the horrors and nightmares that army generals have wreaked across and upon this country, once more.

But before I get down to the nitty gritty of what the US aid cut means, if anything at all, I would just like to let everyone know that the very first thought that came to my mind after hearing about this news was: I don’t give a damn.

You see a lot of people, bloggers, like me have stopped writing. They’ve vanished, disappeared. Why? Well because there’s nothing much left to say or tell the world. We’ve constantly been saying the same things over and over again, and now there just doesn’t seem to be any point in conveying our words and thoughts to the population at large. Maybe it’s because we’ve become accustomed to the intuition that we are the world’s new favourite punching bag. Maybe it’s because we realize that we are partly responsible for the senseless monstrosities occurring with impunity in our homeland. But it’s mostly because we’ve become immune to the senselessness, and in this dark, depressed, depraved, deprived way of life, we’ve still managed to find something to cling on. Even though we’ve forgotten how to articulate our thoughts any more.

We need someone to blame. Every day when you see nothing good of your country being shown on international television and when people talk about your country as if it is hanging by a thread, you need to find someone or something to vent your anger out on. For us that someone/something is the US. Yes it is truly an evil that has grasped the world and poisoned the very roots of the concept of equanimity, brotherhood and peace. Maybe it isn’t the US; maybe it is the system it represents: A capitalistic overture that spouts for individualistic control over everything, at the cost of well everything. Human life is not sacred to the policy makers of the US. Countries’ sovereignties do not matter in their grand design. So what if they raped Pakistan (raid to capture OBL) and stabbed in the back (publicly stating they will not share any proof of OBL’s presence in Pakistan, but will go back and attack it again if they have ‘actionable intelligence’), and then left it to die (publicly telling the world the focus has shifted from Afghanistan onto Pakistan) before finally calling 911 (telling Pakistan there will be no suspension of aid at all), and then dashing back to put it on life support before it dies out completely (promising that the P3-C Orions and F – 16s will be delivered as promised), and then teasing it some more by lessening the amount of oxygen it was getting (reducing the total aid by $800 million)?

Here’s some food for thought. People in Pakistan don’t care how the US deals with the military of Pakistan. And that is the saddest bit. The US’ bigoted and selfish policies have only meant that the US only talks to the military and not the biggest stakeholder in Pakistan: The people of Pakistan. So the government decides to cancel aid from the USG as a form of rebellion, if I may be so brash to use that word. But the toothless rulers only cancel humanitarian aid. So here we are, a confused people, cursing the US for not giving us any aid, then rejoicing that we grew the balls to tell them to shove their aid where they may, and then cursing them some more for not providing aid for the hapless citizens of this country.

The military will find a way to get the $800 million that the USG has bitten back. But what will the people of this country get? More terrorism, more death and destruction, more sadness, more depravity, more misery.

Where the US could have made a mark, like educating children, or building basic infrastructure, or instead of training the military they could’ve offered to train the police so that we could’ve had real law enforcers instead of diseased pigs, or maybe started community projects to provide clean drinking water to the nation at large, the US did not bother. Because why should it? It’s already got the real players in the game by their balls.

So today, I don’t have any logic or reason left. Today I stand by the dozens and dozens of people in Pakistan who say that the pittance the US was paying us that they’ve now decided not to pay us is good riddance. Maybe like their money, they would also like to leave us alone. We will survive. We will win our battles. We have done that for 64 years. We will do it again.

Why is the US being such a pain in the ass?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:26:58 PDT

Now I know most of you think that because I am so anti-establishment, I am an American loving old fool. And like I once said before, you would be wrong on both counts as I am neither old, nor America loving. Fool though? I don't know about that to be honest.

The Americans have gotten on my nerves. I don't know what they want from this country, but I am now certain they do want something from this country otherwise why would they be in a perpetual motion to induce destabilization in this country? On the one hand they proclaim that the armed forces, and the horrid so called "security agencies" are hand in glove with the terrorists, on the other they say we stand by the same armed forces because they have suffered the most at the hands of the same terrorists with whom they are hand in glove. I mean, seriously?

The Americans have got me confused. While I strongly agree with Irfan Hussain that we shouldn't snap at the hand which gives us aid and raise our middle finger to the aid giver with our free hand, it is impossible for me and I'm sure a lot of others to simply ignore the tell tale signs.

Question marks have been raised. I know I have become lazy at updating this blog but hopefully, over the course of the future I will be looking to asking the questions and unravelling the answers as to why the US is on our case. In such a two faced manner.

O Pakistan... You have been screwed.

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:13:40 PDT

Literally. And repeatedly.

This is going to be a short post. Here's the thing. I get frustrated with people when they refuse to understand the obvious. It isn't their fault. Everyone's different, everyone has different views, opinions and ideas. But it just sort of annoys the creeping hell out of me.

Anyway, the title of the post has a literal meaning. Let me just say that the enemy (whoever that maybe) has partially succeeded. Internal strife has now become a regular affair. Other than that, raging division lines have appeared all across the country segregating people by thought with different thought holders looking at each other with the lust of blood in their eyes.

And finally, Pakistan has now become Hypocrisy Central. Hypocrites are as rampant here as the craters and potholes on Barki road.

I do have one final question though. If I were to agree with the opinion that the CIA, Mossad and RAW are following an objective to break up Pakistan, then what is there for them to gain out of our break up?

Anyone?

Is criticizing the army anti state?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 11:29:06 PDT

I simply cannot hold back my views on this topic any longer. The reason I blog about this matter in English and not in Urdu is simple: There are a number of people out there to whom I direct this blog and they find it easier to read, write and understand English rather than Urdu. For the wider Pakistani population, I will blog about the same in Urdu later.

So is disagreeing with the army anti state? Am I an anti state person committing treason when I say that the army needs to put its house in order? Do I deserve to be burned at the stake when I question where the Rs 620 billion went that were allocated to the defence last year when events like May the 2nd and PNS Mehran take place? These are pertinent questions regardless of what anyone believes.

The fine line is that while most of us agree that the Pakistan army failed somewhere along the way in letting Raymond Davis off the hook, the continuous drone attacks take place, the rape of sovereignty by the Americans on May 2nd, the heinous incident of PNS Mehran in which we lost 10 commandos, there are people amongst us who classify even talking about these issues as being traitorous to the nation. I'm sorry, but how do they expect us to become better at our game when we simply refuse to acknowledge our problems?

Yeah I know there's always that "India's doing this, India's doing that" debate that's thrown at you in return every time you try talking about the atrocities being committed in the name of Pakistan's defence but it simply won't cut it any more. You see while there are people who will tell us that simply talking about the acts of dumbassery being committed in Pakistan is tantamount to blackening the name of Pakistan and sullying our reputation. But these hard questions need to be asked and answered in order to ensure that all the stakeholders (Pakistan nation, government and the military) are on the same page.

While there is no doubt in my mind that Pakistan needs to start standing on its feet; while I agree that the current government and the opposition is nothing other than shameless two faced bastards; while I agree that the US hasn't always been our friend, and well it doesn't appear to be one right now, I do agree that the US is absolutely within its right to want the best for itself. Might is right in the international arena and there's nothing we can do about it.

What we can do is to channel our energies into correcting our mistakes which will only be possible after the acknowledgement of our failures, our wrong policies and our wrong strategies. Once we clear that, then we will have no reason to not correct ourselves.

What have we done?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:23:23 PDT

The mother of Sarfaraz Shah. I bet she wonders why her son

was punished so brutally?

After approximately 32000 page views of this blog, the introduction of a new Blogger user interface, and a murdered man later, this is where we stand today.

Yesterday evening, a man was shot dead by one of the many dreaded law enforcement agencies of Pakistan aka the Sindh Rangers. Now I know how clichéd it sounds constantly reminding people that it is time to wake up from the stupor, lest we become a part of the madhouse and be treated like mad hounds but that has never made any difference. And well to be honest, I don't expect this to make any bit of a difference either.

Yesterday evening, before I had heard, seen or known anything about the 19 year old kid named Sarfaraz Shah murdered in cold blood by the Rangers, I was mulling over the fact about how the police is perhaps the most hated, reviled and abhorred institution in this entire country. Apparently the paramilitary which comes under the direct control of the military is fast catching up.

Remember the incident involving the Punjab Rangers by the way? The one in which the son of the DG Rangers Punjab parked his car in a no parking zone and when the traffic warden came to serve a ticket to him, he called up his goons who thrashed the warden and then locked him up in the Rangers HQ? Is it a problem individuals or is this indicative of a major problem with the mindset of the entire military? The latter seems to be true, but only God knows what's the truth.

I saw Javed Hashmi of the PML-N cry on TV today. I could see how this incident had hurt him. How this incident has hurt a lot of people. This incident reminded me of the Sialkot incident in which two brothers, Mughees and Muneeb Butt were beaten mercilessly for 4 hours before they succumbed to the callous, despicable violence and after which they were paraded around the town on the back of a tractor trolley with a police escort. Back then my blood boiled with rage. In fact, if it wasn't for my young age (probably) or God's mercy (definitely) I would've had a heart attack. But today? I just mourned. I was angry yes, but my anger was morbid. My anger was more of a desperation. I mourned the death of sanity in Pakistan. However, I simply could not open my arms and welcome the barbarity that has engulfed my beautiful, ruined country.

But getting back to Sarfaraz Shah. He was a 19 year old kid. He was a petty thief. He stole a mobile telephone from someone. His admission of guilt can be heard loud and clear in the video of his murder. You would imagine that when a thief admits his guilt, he would be hand cuffed and handed over to the police because civilians or paramilitary troops for that matter, cannot become judge, jury and executioner. But I forgot. From the people who brought you the Sialkot murder, this was totally expected. It was stupid of me to have assumed otherwise. It is strange how short our memories are. Even a whole year hasn't passed since the murders of Mughees and Muneeb Butt (whose murderers still walk outside of prison by the way) that we have a repeat episode. Only the cast is different this time. In the Sialkot case, the police had stood idly by. In this case, they were the mob themselves.

So what exactly went wrong? Sarfaraz Shah was caught by a plain clothes member of the law enforcement agencies (allegedly) and then thrust towards a van of the Sindh Rangers which had appeared there apparently on the call of the apprehender. While Sarfaraz Shah stood besides the van, he admitted his guilt. Then he gets an automatic rifle thrust into his face with the superior of the Rangers saying "Shoot him! Shoot him!" Sarfaraz Shah panics, raises his palms in supplication and moves towards the person who is thrusting the gun in his face, begging him not to shoot. He touches the barrel of the gun and begs for mercy, at which point another Rangers man grabs him and pushes him backward. Sarfaraz Shah still has his hands in the air, raised, begging for mercy when the Rangers man shoots him. One bullet pierces his hand and hits his leg. Then he fires again. In to his leg.

Sarfaraz Shah is then heard moaning and begging the Rangers' personnel to take him to the hospital. But he forgot that he was dealing with incorrigible wild, rabid dogs. Who know nothing of humanity or mercy.

The purpose of telling you all this narrative is so that I don't have to post the video here. We've seen enough blood being spilled to merit another one.

All I can say now is this: May Allah have mercy on us. May Allah have just a teeny weeny little bit of mercy on us. Please say Aameen. Please do.

What do I write about?

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:01:33 PDT

Of late I haven't been blogging so much. That is primarily because I have been suffering from a vastly known disease called the blogger's block. It's basically the same as writer's block, only that it applies to bloggers who then end up not being able to write about anything. Or anyone. At all.

It all started with the OBL raid on Pakistani soil. It has been more than a month since the world's most wanted terrorist was assassinated by US commandos. But since then things have just spiralled out of control. There are commentators on TV who say they are shocked at what the young Pakistani generation is writing on the internet but to be honest, I have to disagree with them. They shouldn't be shocked. At all.

Then there was the PNS Mehran attack in Karachi. Big news. Shameful to be honest and even then I was unable to write anything. Because somewhere in my head I have this vague idea that no matter what anyone says, does, writes or shouts from the rooftops, it simply will not make a difference. Two days later, a journalist involved with covering the PNS Mehran attack, Saleem Shahzad, turned up dead. So much for freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

The moral fibre of the society has decayed so much. Only today I crossed the same army checkpoint where a few months earlier I had seen a murder taking place. The army men did nothing back then. Today right next to the checkpoint I saw four guards of a housing society beating up a man with whips and rocks the size of someone's head and yet all those army men did was stand foolishly by. Yeah right. They are going to defend the civilians of Pakistan.

All I have is anger and despair. And that impedes me from saying the things that I want to say; stops me from writing the things that I want to write about. I wonder how the government cannot see that the lack of focus of educating the masses is yielding an irreversible decay in society. We have gone back 20 years ever since this government took over. It will take us at least 20 to 30 years, or at least till the next generation grows up to reach some sort of sanity. And that too if only the next generation is educated and taught the manners and etiquette that are necessary to live life as a gentleman.

Anyway, my mind has shut off again. More blogging when I can actually think of something to write about. Till then, ciao.

Attacking the generals, not the military

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:58:31 PDT

I’ve just finished reading Sana Abid’s blog titled “Stop attacking our military!”

I am the son of an army officer. I know the "hardships" that Sana talks about. But let's get something straight? Free phone, free water, cheap electricity, free medical services, staff cars, armed guards, plots in DHAs, PAs to do all your work and to stand in lines while you lounge about, cheap memberships to golf courses? Yes, that's exactly the life of a general.

The armed forces personnel die every day, like PNS Mehran for instance while an Admiral, a Navy's general comes on TV and blabbers forth like a God forsaken idiot about how it wasn't his fault, that there was no security lapse. I beg your pardon? 13 armed personnel died! A whole Naval base came under attack for a mind boggling 16 hours and in the end, some terrorists still managed to escape!

When we talk about the armed forces and how they have sold this country, we talk about the generals, admirals and the Air Marshals. Look at the BMW Nauman Bashir travels in. If he had any shame, he would travel on a donkey cart instead of a BMW with the donkey sitting on the cart, and Nauman Bashir pulling it.

If Shuja Pasha and Kayani had any shame they would publicly hang themselves because the best defence they could come up with after Pakistan's sovereignty had been raped was that they would "review" the military and intelligence cooperation between Pakistan and the US. What honour is there in that sort of military service? When you are effectively the servants of someone else?

My dad is a shamed soldier today. He is ashamed at how his generals have let him down. He is ashamed at how his generals have ruined this country. He is ashamed at their naked extravagance. He is ashamed at how they have ripped this country into smithereens.

I can go on and on but I think you get the point. A lot of people here say that they sleep peacefully at night because the army safeguards this country's borders. That's the whole point. They have been so "busy" in defending the "borders" and the “ideological boundaries” that they just couldn't be bothered to defend their GHQ, their regimental centers, their air bases. These very generals who come on TV and denounce the US secretly gave away a whole air base to the US and the UAE to operate drones out of. These generals because of their incompetence and lack of foresight have let 35,000 people die. They set up road blocks and check points not to capture terrorists, but to make the life of the common man hell. Because hey, a general does not have to stop anywhere.

What have the officers of the Pakistan army done to deserve plots in DHA? If anything, they should only be given to the jawans who sacrifice their lives and embrace Shahadat. What extraordinary thing has my dad done to deserve a plot in DHA and a house in some Askari somewhere? I can bet and he says this himself, that there have to be a million Pakistanis out there who are more deserving of these amenities; who have done more than the officers of the armed forces' combined; who deserve to be treated as heroes but instead are left to rot like garbage.

Let talk about fairness. Let us call a spade a spade. Look around. You will see how the generals and their ilk have ruined this country.

O hypocrisy, thou art a heartless bitch

noreply@blogger.com (Hamza Malik) — Fri, 20 May 2011 09:11:02 PDT

Now if you are a regular reader or follower of this blog, you would know how much I abhor hypocrisy and hate hypocrites. I do not claim that I am not one myself (and I loathe myself for being hypocritical at times) but I do claim and know that I at least try not be a hypocrite or follow the hypocritical line.

As it so happens, not many in this country are capable of making amends. They preach one thing, do and follow quite another. So for instance, a debate with two fellow Facebookers really got my blood roiling. Firstly because what they were saying without substantiating their claims was absurd (at least that's the way it sounded to me); secondly they claimed to know much more about Islam than me (but that would've been OK because I'm not a theologist or an Islamic scholar, had they been one which they were not) and thirdly because they were sullying the name of my religion by attaching atrocious stuff to its commands.

To start of they claimed that the Taliban are the real Muslims and I quote, "Mullah Omar is the Ameer-ul-Momineen of all Muslims". You would imagine that would be it but then they claimed the killing of innocents is quite acceptable in Islam because there is always collateral damage in war. They also claimed that mere mortals like myself are the "dogs of the US" and we only know what the Jewish media feeds us; apparently to them it is quite OK to use Jewish media (Facebook et al.) to spread their own message.

I tried reasoning with them, repeatedly asking them questions that stated that is it OK for Muslims to kill innocent Muslims? They did not answer at first but rather rambled on and on about the US and how it has killed millions of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that's not what I asked I pointed out, and finally they said the Taliban don't blow up barber shops, girl schools, behead people, shoot people, or kill civilians. They only kill military personnel who are the "dogs of the US".

After debating with them for almost an hour one of them finally conceded that he was a hypocrite. How did he concede that? Well I told him since he believes in the cause of the Taliban (blowing people up), why doesn't he go to the army house and blow himself up in the face of the army chief. Obviously it emerged that it far easier to preach what you do behind a screen and keyboard in the safe confines of your home. Hypocrisy then was the winner in this case.

I do not care that some people are crazy enough to say we must fight the Americans. As it turns out there are far crazier stuff people come out with. People have twisted Islam so much that they find it next to impossible to see that what they say and preach is extremely illogical and Islam is anything but illogical. To give you an example from this very debate, I stated that I cannot believe that a religion who's name's literal meaning is submission to peace can preach violence. Ironically, the counter argument I got was that the meaning of Islam is the submission to Allah, not to peace. To clarify this folks, the word Islam comes from two root words: Istalama and Salam. Istalama means submission while Salam means peace, hence the literal meaning of Islam is submission to peace. Not submission to Allah which as you will find out is the ideology of Islam.

The irony is that these people have hijacked Islam and claim to know everything about it. They quote out of context Quranic verses and proclaim that Islam ordains violence against the infidels. Maybe so but Islam only ordains that in defensive terms; like when you are attacked by a foreign force; like when you are repeatedly provoked through aggressive means such as the Israeli indiscriminate killing of Palestinians. The only trouble is, I'm not a Palestinian and I can't help them because I have to put my own house (country) in order first!

The other problem with people like these is that they think all those who do not preach violence against the "dogs of the US" aka all the military personnel, political leaders and the civilians of Pakistan are the lovers of the US. They conveniently forget to mention that their siblings reside in the infidel countries, study their education and live a luxurious life in the infidel lands. They also forget that disagreement does not mean that one has taken a stance that supports the other side.

To make this point clear I would give my point of view vis-a-vis the USA: The USA is no angel, saint or pope. It has committed atrocities. It has committed unspeakable and unpardonable sins. I cannot and will not deny that. 9/11 was a US intelligence failure was it not? The Americans knew terrorists wanted to attack their homeland and still let it happen. In 2003 George Bush authorised and launched a genocide in Iraq and yet he walks scot free. But the only reason the US can do whatever it wants is because it is the world's most powerful country. It will serve its own interests. That is common sense. That is only logical. We also need to keep our interests supreme and intact. And one of the ways we can do that is by not launching a war against the US. Lets be honest. This country is full of hypocrites. Not the Muslims about whom we read in our history books and Allah does not love or help hypocrites. Hence if we fight the US, we will lose. Our country will be torn apart. But I suppose that's OK because these extremists believe that nationalism is a sin anyway. The only way to fight the influence of the US is to stand on your own two feet. When the Muslims were powerful in the pre-1000s, they were expanding. Now the US is powerful, hence it is expanding. Common sense, common logic.

We rely on the West's education, the West's language (English), the West's mode of communication (Facebook, Skype, Twitter, internet) and we pretend like we are the masters of all eternity. Actually I don't pretend that. They also quote newspapers and magazines to support their points but when people having a debate with them quote from the same literature they are termed "fasiqeen" because we have "unreliable and unverifiable" literature.

How does one argue with such people? How? Please feel free to enlighten me using the comments section below.