For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a dictator doffed off his uniform without a drama involving blood. A lot of questions now loom over the newly elected parliament.

The first and foremost issue is of the crushing inflation and economic pressure, Pakistan is going through. Macro-economic policies of the previous government weren’t really keeping in mind the situation with the poorest in the country. As a result, rich became richer while poor became poorer. Whatever was left, oil was there to take care of it

The second, though by some means, more important than the inflation issue, is the problem we are facing with our judicial setup. Of course, a military dictator would never have been comfortable with an independent judiciary. In the beginning, dictator was able to convince the twisted parliament to vote in his favor and was able to keep judiciary from creating troubles for his unconstitutional role. However, with the expiration of the old parliament and with no legal foothold, a strong, independent judiciary is bound to send Musharraf into exile. Whether the parliament will be able to restore the ousted judges or not, is the key question which will define the direction Pakistan will be taking for the next 5 years to come.

Thirdly, war on terror. It’s a strange notion. Now we are at war with a concept. Human learning and experience has taught us to defend our countries against invading armies of men but how do we defend ourselves against a concept ? or how do we defeat a concept we consider to be wrong ? Our American brother thought, a military offensive is the best solution to the problem at hand, and 5 years since the start of war in Iraq, we are deeper into the problem. In my opinion, when one has to fight a concept or defeat an ideology, the only weapon that can be used against it is education. Instead of spending billions on war in Afghanistan and on war in Iraq, only if this money was spent on education in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of these countries would have been much more stable, their people would have felt much more liberated and without doubt, there would have been no threat to the dollar, likes of which we are seeing these days. For Pakistan, the situation is much more difficult then any country on the planet. It shares its borders with Afghanistan from where massive influx of refugees has taken place. These refugees, having lost their relatives as collateral, sought help from their neighbor, Pakistan. However, the dictator ruling Pakistan considered it best to sell his countrymen and innocent refugees to foreign security agencies in the name of “patriotism”, similar of which we have now in US, in the form of an act. They feel betrayed and now are incumbent in avenging the blood of their kins. How this new parliament deals with this situation, will actually weigh the intelligence and effectiveness of this house.

Only a stronger, stable Pakistan can bring peace to this trouble region of the planet.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, founder of Pakistan Peoples Party was a diplomat of a highest stature and of great charisma. While some claim his rule to be of immense censorship, others considered him to be the greatest leader of Pakistan after Jinnah. His dubious trial and hanging at the hands of a military dictator not only left the people in shock but also created a vacuum which could not be filled until the return of his daughter, Benazir.

Benazir was put to exile by Zia and when she returned, huge crowds awaited outside the airport to welcome the prodigal daughter. She had a clean slate and it was to no one’s shock that PPP won the elections with a clear victor in 1988. She was elected prime minister at the age of 35, making her the first women prime minister of the muslim world. Though she had the ambitions to take Pakistan forward but could not hold onto the flimsy power corridors of the country for long and her government was sacked by the then president on grounds of corruption. Her party won the elections the second time in 1993 and this gave her a second chance to prove herself. Yet again, massive corruption charges against her and her husband took the best of her government and it was sacked again.

Before the military coup of Musharraf in October 1999, she had left Pakistan and only returned two months ago on 18th October 2007. Her return, was thought to be the result of a political deal between herself and Musharraf. The deal in effect would have enabled Musharraf to secure her party’s support towards presidential election and in return, she was to be given safe passage to elections. All corruption charges against her were dropped and she was given a green signal to return to her homeland.

On the day of her return, her escort was attacked by suicide bombing, killing 150 people but she escaped. Her killers, thought it best to try again on 27th December and this time the luck was not in Benazir’s favor.

Her popularity was effected gravely by her deal with Musharraf but perhaps it was the kind of politics she wanted to carry out. Her death has rocked the country at its foundation. The reasons for which are several.

Her father was hanged after dubious trial and he was not only the most popular figure of the country but several heads of the arab and western nations were amongst his personal friends. All of them pleaded to General Zia to replace the death sentence given to Bhutto with a lesser punishment but Zia knew too well that the only way to be safe from the gravity which Zulfiqar Bhutto creates is to make him walk to gallows.

People were shocked when they found out that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto has really been hanged. Mostly believed that the man of such connections and stature could not be hanged by a dictator but as the press quoted those times, “There was one grave and two men”. Time and circumstances did not give the people the vent to express their sentiments.

Benazir’s assassination has worked as a reminder to the people. Combining the disapproval of the injustice done to Zulfiqar Bhutto and the anger at Benazir’s assassination, the resentment in people’s minds has crossed the sane limits. They are out on the roads, showing openly that government has failed to place law and order in place. Out of all the responsibilities of the government, law and order is of utmost importance and if a government can not provide that then that government is of no use.

People of Pakistan are fiercely democratic and they now see the dictator taking away whatever was left with them as a hope towards democracy. I myself am strong opponent to her politics but whatever her politics was, it had hope of democracy in it. Her rule, though attracted corruption cases in huge quantities, yet was democratic and like any other democracy, required its iterations to transform Pakistan to a developed country.

Pakistan is the only country in the world having nuclear weapons and being governed by a dictator and being dictated by the west about its interests. In this hour of turmoil, Pakistan requires support from its friends outside its borders to pull it out from the grip of dictatorship. While a lot of people had differences with Benazir on the way of her politics, there is hardly anyone who considers her assassination to be of benefit to Pakistan.

Her death, brings an end to era where the Bhutto family played a key role in the politics of Pakistan. Her family’s legacy shall always be remembered for the times to come.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSGEQedkR8A[/youtube]

These young students are protesting in Islamabad on the road that leads straight to the presidency and national parliament. Its location and the fact that now such students are raising their concerns towards the actions taken by current regime is a proof of how seriously Pakistani public is against the notion of Martial Law in Pakistan. Moreover, it is heartening to see that Pakistan’s future is bright where its public is sensitive to its well being.

Emergency, under the constitution is proclaimed by the president whereas in our unfortunate case, a sitting Chief of Army Staff has proclaimed so. When an army chief takes this step, it is Martial Law and not an emergency. Emergency can be declared by a president due to various reasons. Reasons could vary from a harsh natural calamity to external threat to internal turmoil. Whereas, here the general got scared of the possibility of Supreme Court giving a decision, making him ineligible for the seat of presidential candidate. Not that, Musharraf’s regime had any eligibility from the beginning; this decision would have greatly exposed the hollowness of his regime and have further strengthened public confidence in judiciary.

A strong judiciary is a corner stone of every developed nation. Judiciary in Pakistan has always been dealt harshly by the elite and army and mostly used as a tool to gain legitimacy rather then looked at as an institution, whose strength gives strength to the nation. It is in the interests of Pakistan and its army that the country has a strong judicial setup but its not in the interest of Musharraf and his cronies that the judicial activism in Pakistan progresses further. The first one to have got a hit would have been Musharraf and then his cronies would have been left helpless against empowering judiciary and as a result, most of the members of Musharraf’s government could have ended up in jails.

Trying to save its own hide by claiming to be the sole person in Pakistan who can carry out War on Terror along with the international coalition, while ignoring the fact that his actions are greatly damaging the institutions in his country. While it is western world’s greatest misconception that Musharraf is the only person on Pakistan’s soil who can lead the country’s public and the army against terrorism, it is Musharraf’s greatest mistake to have invoked public against himself.

In the past, public opinion was in Musharraf’s favor, largely due to the very unpopular civilian regimes of 90′s. However, times have changed, and due to the greatly autonomous media and unlimited sources of information access, public has educated itself to figure out regime’s faults. And historically, it has always been observed that dictatorship leads to the disintegration of institutions and as a result, public trust on institutions fall and eventually country either ends up with an anarchy or a revolution.

Pakistan is at the brink of both. Further turning of events might take Pakistan to a failed state and as a result, US requiring to take further action towards disarming Pakistan of its nuclear arsenal. Or, Pakistan could revolve and throw the dictatorship away and bring the rule of the people, by the people, for the people. I would not be lying when I say here that such a revolution would be in everyone’s interest except the terrorists.

I say this, because larger population of Pakistan is peaceful. However, due to certain harsh and unjust policies of Musharraf’s regime has made certain areas of Pakistan vulnerable to extremist mindset. Such policies and its effects could only come to end with an end of Musharraf’s regime. However, to attain this goal, the world must help the people of Pakistan by giving a strong message to Musharraf’s regime.

This message should first incorporate an unconditional with drawl of the proclamation of emergency (Martial Law) and then should invoke Musharraf’s regime to ensure free and fair elections in Pakistan, according to schedule.

For this purpose, a petition has been created at this URL. Please sign it so that this motive could be developed into a strong force as well.

Petition to stop support Martial Law in Pakistan

Why do humans want to complicate their lives ? There were no marked boundaries on earth, we created them. Humans weren’t born with lethal claws or fangs, but they are nothing compared to what destructive machines humans have created. Humans can fly in machines and stay under water longer than even some mammals can and yet are naive enough to be destroying their own habitat at a speed no other living creature can even imagine. Humans worked their nights off to create industrialized cities and now are researching their days off trying to minimize their damages. Every human wants to live a peaceful life, yet most of them are responsible for some problem in another human’s life.

Humans are perhaps the most worried about future then any other living thing on earth yet we are screwing up the future like no other.

Your religion forbids you to have pork, the country you resides in allows it. Would you have it ? If you are a religious person, you would not but if you are not, you would.

At other times, its a dilemma.

Should UAE allow all muslims entry into its territory without VISA ? UAE is a muslim state, if religion is more important than the state then all muslims should be allowed entry and basically there should only be one giant muslim state and not the divided form of muslim countries. If state takes priority here then what’s the point of calling muslims of other countries your brothers ?

If Iran and Pakistan have different ideologies and both safeguard their own interests only and do not allow their citizens to visit the neighboring country without obtaining permit, then these are two independent states. According to this line of reasoning, everyone is on his own. If tomorrow, America attacks Iran then its Iran who should worry about, why should Pakistan or any other country should suffer ?

If Iran and Pakistan are brothers in faith then not only should they try to achieve visa-less borders but also stand for each other in times of trouble and the same goes for other muslim countries.

But I wonder when will we be able to decide, with whom lies our loyalty, state or religion ?

The answer to the question carries insight to the situations present in many countries at the moment. Whether it be the unrest in the north west of Pakistan or the strict laws of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, religion of Islam is plays the pivot role.

The golden era of Islam was in the times of first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar. The selection of these caliphs was not a democratic process. The people who appointed them on the seat of caliphate were in the form a council formed by prophet. When prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was on his death bed, he appointed a council and asked them to choose their caliph. As Abu Bakr had been leading prayers in times of prophet’s sickness, council considered him to be the most eligible for the task. Similarly, at the time of selection of Umar, same process was followed.

Without doubt, both of them upheld the morality of leadership to a benchmark, which still finds no parallel. However, their selection was not done by ordinary citizens of the Islamic empire. Their selection was done by the council. Yes, they themselves as great human beings held themselves accountable to every citizen of the empire. Every citizen had the right to object to caliph’s decisions if the considered them to be out of the jurisdiction of Islam and if pressed, court had the independence to call the caliph to answer for his decisions and actions. Such level of independence is not present in any form of government today.

Once appointed caliphs, these men of honor, further appointed government officials in the newly conquered regions on the combined decision of the council. The officials responsible for provinces were muslims as well. This method of appointment though worked flawless in those times, but was still 180 degrees opposite to the idea of democracy. In democracy, the people of that province would have been able to vote for the most eligible person but in this case the appointment used to come from the council.

If during the golden era of Islam, the system followed was not plain democracy, then why are the current muslims trying to find a solution in democracy ?

The caliphs were not elected through a democratic vote but were rather appointed by the council. No doubt, these men exercised their authority in the true sense of fairness and without being biased to any religion in the world in terms of applications of laws to the state citizens. When this is true, that shows that to implement an Islamic system of governance, we have to walk away from democracy.

That is perhaps the reason, most of muslim majority countries are still having a hard time implementing democracy. It is about time we decide what we want for ourselves. If we want democracy then perhaps in due course of time, it might erode some of the values that Islam brings in. If we want a Islamic governance system, we have to bid farewell to democracy.

Israel’s modesty Buses

I do understand till where it says that the modesty buses are a way of maintaining the modesty level in the society, by avoiding public contact of men and women. This does make sense when a man and woman are not married to each other. But the part, where husband’s leave their wives to move to other part is an overkill. If you are already married to a woman, even if you are sitting with her in a bus, what kind of a social norm or religious law are you breaking ?

If people in Afghanistan ask their women to cover themselves up is religious extremism then I think its the same where you put up signs to make them wear modest clothes. Either both of them are extremism or neither of them.

However, I would really like to read the comments of Israelites here. Because I am very well aware of the propaganda these news sites put up at times. It could be something really normal in Israel which they just exaggerated here.

Applying the same logic to Al-Qaeda & CIA. Al-Qaeda is a brainchild of CIA to help CIA against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Now if the same Al-Qaeda is acting against the interests of CIA and killing innocent people, who should be blamed, Al-Qaeda or CIA. As a matter of fact, they are still doing what CIA trained them to do. Kill people. The action remains the same but just because CIA does not agree with targets they have now, they are termed unwanted.

Do we really want Al-Qaeda to be wiped off ? But that would only means that we dispose off the egg ? Who would do something about the chicken with the capacity to give birth to more like these ?

In a busy bazaar, road was blocked by several bearded men by putting up cloth sheets across the road. Inside, they spread out a carpet, setup a loud speaker and starting signing hymns in praise of Prophet Muhammad. A person, irritated by the road blockage goes out to them and asks them about what they were doing. They promptly replied that they were celebrating the month of the Prophet’s birth. This person asked them if they know of any occasion when Prophet raised his voice other than Azaan (call for prayers); to which they of course replied in negative.

Then this person reminded them of an incident of the Prophet’s life where he used to walk down a path everyday and a lady would sprinkle thorns on the pathway. He would clear the path everyday and used to move on. One day, there were no thorns. The prophet goes inside that lady’s house to make sure she is safe and sound. Lady was inspired by his action of sympathy and love; as she was actually ill that day.

After narrating this incident, this person asked these men whether blockage of road was part of the prophet’s teachings or taking care of your neighborhood was? Whether this is what Islam is?

In reply, they said. This is exactly was Islam is. Stop all businesses, block everything and just elevate the name of the Prophet.