Gaza Siege to Israel’s Isolation! Just a matter of time?

The world is being completely asymmetrical in the terms of peace. Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa are struck with wars. Hatred is rampant. Violent political ideologies are mushrooming from every nook and corner of the world. More wars with more hatred and more bloodshed would be the ultimate folly at this time. More chaos is the last thing humanity can afford!

Gaza is not only about Muslims anymore. It was and it is about humanity. Gone are the days when millions of people could be massacred, pogroms be run, apartheid be nationalized and nobody would know. This is the world with information age. Nothing dreadful or inhumane can be kept hidden behind anything. Even corporate media cannot control the information dissemination. Despite all its ills, social media has completely changed the scenario of access to information. It has changed the way war crimes could be hidden. Social media is also becoming a strong support for electronic media, not only in the terms of marketing but also as an information and opinion resource. The free speech on social media has considerably affected the media aspect of international politics and peace promotion. This evolving and new budding dimension of media has affected the recent episode of Gaza conflict as well. In 2008, for example, when social media was not much popular, the war couldn’t get the needed coverage. While, now, in 2014, despite of strong Israeli propaganda to cover the brutal side of the war, word got out.

In reply to the Ignorance of Mubashar Lucman

The following verses are from chapter 1, poem 10 from Saadi's Gulistan (Bostan). They resemble a hadith. Somebody ask Mubashar Lucman to issue a fatwa on Saadi Shirazi. 

بنى آدم اعضای یک پیکرند
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی
Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

Many folklores and metaphors are same in many cultures. Khalil Jibran has rewritten many such stories in his own words. Paulo Coelho has rewritten many. Many stories of Quran are already present in other previous cultures. In Zoroastrian religion of Persia dating back to 7th century BCE, even before Judaism and Christianity, one can find many similar stories. The concepts in Abrahamic religions of 7 heavens, God and Satan, Virgin Birth, Head covering, Renovation and judgment are highly influenced from this ancient persian pagan religion. There are many stories in Quran which are also present in Bible and old testament with great variations. Should a blasphemy case be filed against Zarathustra, St Paul and Rabbi Juda Hanasi? What an ignorant ass this Mubashar Lucman is!

(The above verses are displayed in the entrance of the United Nations Hall of Nations as Saadi's poetry and not as a Hadith. Charge UN for blasphemy too?)

Geo/ARY Case: Blasphemy laws for corporate agendas and state sanctioned persecution after religious persecution and personal vendettas.

It was a very sleepy morning. Cool breeze would'nt let me get up from bed any time earlier. As per my bad habit, after shutting down my alarm I opened my twitter and fb apps and saw this torrent of anger against Geo on twitter feed and facebook timeline. I was completely confused as to what sinister act has Geo committed now?

Digging it deeper, I found out that a Qawali was played in some morning show at Geo on a virtual wedding that our brother Mubashar Lucman inherently disliked and didn't hesitate to show it to his viewers on ARY TV. What was that Qawali? Then there was this Sunni Itehad council issuing fatwas against Geo, filing cases and petitions and I saw my Shia friends relatively more hyper than Sunni friends on their timelines. It seemed a serious condition.

Arabisation or Westernisation; what are we really victim of?

The problem with the critics who call Pakistani progressive thinkers desi liberals is that they ignore many dimensions of a single problem. They see things in black and white. When a progressive person speaks about the horrors of Arabisation, they suddenly come up with the pictures of Pakistani youth wearing jeans and using mobile phones and remind them of western imperialism.

Let us bust this myth today. First of all, let's define Imperialism. Edward Said, a famous anthropologist and academic defines imperialism as any system of domination and subordination organized with an imperial center and a periphery. There are two major types of Imperialism. Regressive and Progressive Imperialism. Then there is colonialism but let's not confuse it with imperialism because it is just for territorial control and/or commercial aims coupled or not with imperialism. Now there have been many kinds of imperialisms in the history. Ottoman/Turkish, German, British and Tsarist Russian and now this Arab. Arabia is a vast land comprised of multiple cultures from Morrocco to UAE including completely versatile cultures like Jordan and Oman. However, when we talk about Arabisation, we are talking about imperialism, centred in Saudi Arabia. A recent article written by Abdul Majeed Abid [1], one finds the summary of the events stating how Abdul Wahab convinced Al-Saud to declare Salafiism as a state religion. What followed next is more proof. Now this was the result of a pact signed between Al-Saud and Wahab where the king promised to expand that religion across Arabia and all over the Muslim world by whatever means necessary in 1744 [2]. Abdul Wahab was a Hanbali mufti and so was his father and he was largely influenced by the teachings of Ibn Taimiya, the same Imam who completely shut down the chapter of Ijtihad and declared that everything should be Islamised according to existing knowledge and no new knowledge will be incorporated in Islam. Does one see why we still fight over Tooth Brush and Miswak? I know many have a positivist view and they will dismiss this example and my argument on the grounds that there are many scholars who have no problem with toothbrush but this is not actually the case. They still are convinced otherwise and would tell you to prefer Miswak. Those who actually believe in the same like Dr. Farooq Khan and Javed Ghamidi are either murdered or in exile due to their “unorthodox” views. A friend of mine who is an MPhil in Biochemistry from a top university of Pakistan and a forensic scientist in ministry of defence keeps Miswak in his pocket and claims that it has more benefits than tooth paste.

The Challenges to Feminism in Pakistan

Many of my feminist friends got offended by this post and I was bashed being politically incorrect on the notions of patriarchy and feminism. But Readers are the real judge. Please feel free to comment. I am embedding the facebook post as well.

The original post was;
"In our middle and upper middle class households, women are quite empowered. No matter if they are educated or not. What they need is a husband, kids and an eventual control on the family being a boss all the time. This is a cultural reality. This is not Stockholm syndrome. It is very much of a conscious choice. My feminist friends may call it typical behavior but these women do not see it in any clash to their rights. In conservative households of KPK, one finds matriarchal setups in majority of the families. Majorily there are only the young girls who suffer from any negative consequences out of this family system in more conservative families. Although the misogyny in the society at other places like workplaces, educational institutions and community centers is very much a reality."

مولانا طارق جمیل کی خدمت میں کھلا خط

آج کل آپ کی تعریف میں کافی قصیدے لکھے جا رہے ہیں اور ہر دوسرا کالم نگار حضرت کی عامر خان کے ساتھ “انٹریکشن” کو بیان کرتا پھرتا ہے۔ میرے کچھ سوالات ہیں اور کچھ اعتراضات۔ جن دوستوں نے مولانا کی ویڈیو دیکھی ہے وہ جواب دے سکتے ہیں۔

 پہلا تو یہ کہ آپ کو اخلاقی طور پر بالکل بھی زیب نہیں دیتا تھا کہ وہ ایک شخص کے ساتھ اپنی ذاتی انٹریکشن کو پبلک میں اسکی اجازت کے بغیر بیان کر رہے ہیں۔ دوسری جس بات پر مجھے اعتراض ہے وہ یہ ہے کہ آپ کے ہر لفظ سے ایک خدائی غرور جھلک رہا ہے اور آپ کسی صورت بھی عامر خان کو اپنے آپ سے بہتر انسان سمجھنے کے لئیے آمادہ نہیں ہیں نہ تو فلمی شعبہ کے حوالے سے اور نہ ہی دینی شعبے کے حوالے سے۔ جبکہ مسلسل اس بات پر بھی اشد اصرار کر رہے ہیں کہ وہ ایک اہم آدمی ہے اور اس سے ملاقات کو باعث تفاخر بھی سمجھ رہے ہیں جیسا کہ عموما تبلیغی حضرات کرتے ہیں۔ سعید انور، یوسف یوحنا سے سلطان گولڈن اور شاہد آفریدی تک کی سیلیبرٹیز آپ لوگوں کا ٹریڈ مارک بن چکی ہیں اور باقاعدہ طور پر خواص میں جرنیلوں، بڑے گورنمنٹ آفیسروں اور اہم سیاستدانوں کے ہم پلہ ہی اہم جگہوں پر ایڈورٹائز کی جاتی ہیں۔

 مولانا آپ کو یہ بھی برا لگ رہا ہے کہ آپ عامر خان کی “حرام” فلم کی کامیابی کے لئیے کیونکر دعا فرمائیں۔ اسکے ساتھ آپ اسکا دل بھی نہیں دکھانا چاہتے۔ لیکن ایک مجمع میں یہ بات کر کے اپنی بڑائی بھی بیان کر رہے ہیں۔ حضور اب اگر عامر خان آپ کی یہ گفتگو سنے گا تو آپ کی کیا عزت رہ جائے گی؟ مجھے ایک دو دفعہ آپکو ڈائریکٹ سننے کا اتفاق ہوا ہے، اگر آپکے مقلدین نصرت جاوید کی طرح مجھے بھی نہ رگڑیں تو ایک عرض کروں؟ آپ کے لہجے میں مجھے شیرینی، محبت اور نصیحت کبھی نظر نہیں آئی۔ بلکہ رعونت، غرور، تکبر اور خدائی جلال کی نقل اور شور ہی نظر آیا ہے۔ جبکہ آپ اور آپ کے ہم پلہ و پیالہ فرماتے ہیں کہ تکبر خدا کو پسند نہیں۔ 

 برائے مہربانی لوگوں کے تقویٰ کا فیصلہ خدا پر چھوڑ دیں۔ مزید براں، آپ نے اپنی MBBS کی ڈگری چھوڑ کر کسی پر احسان نہیں فرمایا۔ ایک غریب آدمی ایسا نہیں کر سکتا، جو اپنی دیہاڑی، ریڑہی اور نوکری چھوڑ کر سہ روزوں، چلوں اور سال کے دوروں پر جاتے ہیں، انکی نہ تو جائیدادیں ہوتی ہیں اور نہ ہی اہل و عیال کے کفیل۔ وہ اپنی آخرت کے چکر میں کافی لوگوں کی دنیاوی پریشانی کا باعث بن رہے ہوتے ہیں۔

 والسلام،

 ایک خیر خواہ

 عاکف خان

Click Here to See the Video of Tariq Jamil
This article is also published at Rationalist Society of Pakistan's Blog. 

Post by Akif Khan.

ذاتی رائے

عاکف خان

اس وقت ملک کی دگرگوں صورتحال میں مہنگائی، غربت، تعلیم، دہشت گردی، بھوک اور لوڈشیڈنگ سے بالاتر دو مسائل ہیں جن پر ساری قوم غوروغوض کرنے میں مصروف ہے۔ میںنے سوچا میں بھی موقع سے فائدہ اٹھاؤں۔ تمیزالدین رپورٹ کی گریٹ ڈیبیٹ "کون کافر ہے اور کون مسلمان" کو درمیان میں چھوڑ کر قوم اس وقت ایک تو اس قومی ڈیبیٹ میں مشغول ہے کہ کون شہید ہے اور دوسرا مسئلہ ہے اظہار ذاتی رائے کا۔

میری ذاتی رائے کے مطابق ذاتی رائے ایک انتہائی واضح معانی کا حامل ایک لفظ تھا۔ لیکن گزشتہ کچھ عرصے سے اس بے ضرر لفظ کا انتہائی جارحانہ استعمال شروع کر دیا گیا ہے۔ آپ کسی سیاسی جماعت کے سربراہ ہیں اور آپ کوئی بھی بیان داغ دیں- اگر وہ موافق نہ آیا تو آپ کے اہلکار اسکو آپ کی ایک ذاتی رائے قرار دے کر آپ کی جان چھڑا دیں گے۔

Charachteristics of a Patriotic Pakistani Mard-i-Momin

Why is it that I found most of the people in Pakistan with this same profile. They believe in following things unanimously.

1. Imran Khan is the hope and he will bring the change.

2. There are Good Taliban and Bad Taliban.

3. Good Taliban are very peaceful and they just goto Afghanistan to fight US.

4. Bad Taliban are RAW/CIA agents.

5. We need Shariah in Pakistan.

Glimpses of Cities: Old Photos - Vintage Lahore

Courtesy: Farid Alvie

Rudyard Kipling's House in 1890s

My white paper on PTI's 100 days performance in KPK

The night of the election, I was thinking only one thing; which party to vote? My whole family was going

for PTI. Already having tested PMLN and PPP, they had no other option. On ideological grounds, I wanted to go for left, i.e. ANP or AWP. But there was no candidate contesting on their behalf. All four of the candidates of PMLN and PPP were not the people with good history. And unfortunately to my dismay both of the PTI candidates were good reputed and educated people. So it was quite a distress for me and I was still indecisive when I went to bed.

In the bed I had been thinking  the same things. I knew my vote was not a big deal. But I had heard that every vote is important and it counts and it is one's duty to cast it. On the other hand I had no choice but to vote for Khan. I have no personal problems with Khan. But the way he showed dreams to Pakistani youth and people was very unrealistic for me. I have strong reservations towards his narcissism, his affiliations with Jamat i Islami, his weird interpretations of Iqbal's poetry, his Modoodian version of Sharia' (same as that of Zia ul Haq), his hatred towards liberals (his hypocrisy, because he has remained the same in his youth,) and his habit of boasting high. I did not want to give the future of my children in this man's hands.

Deeyat Laws: Social Impact of the level of strictness in laws; A Discussion

When Shahzeb Khan's family granted pardon to their son's murderer, whole nation came to utter shock. This was one of the most fought causes by civil society and people from all professions and backgrounds on the basis of barbaric show of feudal power. In the aftermath of the murder, which was committed by son of a very influential person of Sindh, people went in streets, protested and started mass movement with support of media to put the culprit behind the bars. 

Shahzeb was killed in cold blood because of saving honor of his family when the servant of this politician's son was bullying his sister despite of several warnings and he asked him to stop. The murderer, Shahrukh Jatoi out of vanity went after Shahzeb, they fell into arguments and Shahrukh and his friend opened fire on him. Shahzeb, young and educated person, belonged to a upper middle class family. However, after Sharukh tried to escape from Pakistan, was caught in UAE and was brought back. He was prosecuted in criminal court as well as Anti Terrorism Court. It was kind of Jessica Murder Case of Pakistan. 

Previews from Interesting Recent Scientific Advances

1) The World of Wonderful Mathematics

Source: cliffmass.blogspot.com

This one I happened to see on Scientific American blog and is quite interesting. Starting from a comment on an Onion News (Satirical News Emag) article on 27 new functions in trigonometry, author Dr. Evelyn Lamb, University of Utah introduces to 10 unheard functions of trigonometry.

After such a long time I came by some superb blog on trigonometric function and log scales, maths to be precise. It reminded me of my school days, thanks to my father when he used to ask us to solve trig and log problems via conventional means i.e. using log tables and papers. Feeling proud of the fact that I still know how to make my own trig table out of nothing. I don't know if our calculator/computer dependent generation has any idea how much fun is math.

Here is an excerpt from the blog,

Orthodox Patriarchal Agenda at work

Can you believe this bullshit? The guy is serious. This man Maulana Pandit Pastor Raylan Alleman has outclassed all the orthodox bullshit that we come across in South Asia. Guess all dogmas have same misogynist patriarchal agenda. However this piece posted on Fix the Family Citadel Catholic Media, an organisation to promote family system in Catholicism, is informative in the sense that a major set of counter-arguments, feminists use to present everyday, can be learnt from this blog. And of course shame on this thinking. Read this excerpt to make some blood boil to rejuvenate the feminist code!

"The indoctrination of the feminist culture and the practicing of a sexually promiscuous lifestyle severely cloud, practically blind that good judgment. Getting a college degree often makes a young lady feel an “obligation” to use it, to make money. Often her husband doesn’t want to see it go to “waste.” So the degree is what actually traps her. Not having a degree frees her to enter into a marriage with proper roles in which her husband will provide for her and their children. Christian marriage by definition does place her in a submissive role to her husband, but no one forces anyone to marry anyone. "

Here is the link

http://www.fixthefamily.com/blog/6-reasons-to-not-send-your-daughter-to-college

وڈیرا شاہی، طالبان اور اے پی سی

کل جب نوجوان شاہزیب کے قاتل کو شاہزیب کے والدین کی طرف سے معافی ملنے کی خبر سنی تو سارا دن جھنجھلاہٹ طاری

رہی اور خون جلتا رہا۔ کہ یہ کیسا ملک ہے جہاں ایک قتل کو ریاست کے خلاف بغاوت تصور ہی نہیں کیا جاتا، جہاں ایک ظالم اپنی بریت کے بعد فتح کے نشان بناتا ہے، جہاں قانون کی بالادستی کی یہ حد ہے کہ قاتل دھونس دھاندلی، طاقت اور پیسے کے بل بوتے پر پوری انسانیت کے خلاف جرم پر بھی باعزت بری ہو جاتا ہے۔ جہاں دیعت اور معافی جیسےراستوں سے ایک بااثر شخص قانون کی گرفت سے مکھن میں سے بال کی طرح نکل جاتا ہے، وہاں 80٪ غریب لوگوں کا خون کوئی معنی ہی نہیں رکھتا۔ کہیں ذیادہ دبائو پڑا تو پیسہ اور طاقت کو استعمال کر لیا۔

کیلے کی پٹائی

مبینہ کیلا حوالات جانے سے پہلے

۔(اسلام آباد، مملکت خداداد) کل ایک کیلے کو مسجد کے باہر بغیر چھلکے پڑا دیکھ کر مومنین نے مار مار کے اسکا شیک بنا ڈالا۔ کیلے نے مبینہ طور پر رمضان مبارک کی توہین کی تھی۔ اسلامی ملک میں رمضان المبارک کے تقدس کے لیئے خاص قوانین موجود ہیں۔ پاکستان ایک اسلامی ریاست ہے جہاں ٪95 سے زائد آبادی مسلمان ہے۔ 80 کی دہائی  میں ان اسلامی قوانین کی تشکیل کے بعد ریاستی سرپرستی میں مومنین کو نصاب، نسیم حجازی کے ناولوں اور کوڑوں کی مدد سے ان قوانین کے بارے میں آگہی فراہم کی گئی تھی جس کی افادیت اس کیلے کے انجام سے واضح ہوتی ہے۔ کیلے کے خلاف تھانہ کوہکن میں احترام رمضان آرڈیننس مروجہ 1981، سیکشن4 اور پاکستان پینل کوڈ، دفعہ 295-الف کے تحت مسجد کے مولانا صاحب کی قیادت میں  ایف آئی آر درج کروا دی گئی ہے۔

Being an idealist; Curse or a Gift?

This article has been published in Monthly Laaltain magazine and can also be read here.

The people who are driven by passion always (or may be most frequently) end up in alienation by society and in loneliness. I always wondered why is that so? How come brilliant minds like scholars, sufis, scientists, writers, artists and great musicians end up in such an agony. Still I found most of them contended. It seemed like societal norms did not apply on them. So the agony part was always doubtful. I was told that they become narcissists and hence they lose the balance that social adjustment requires. I tried to study the private lives of these people. From Aristotle to Russel, Voltaire to Neitzsche, Einstein to Edison and Planck, Faiz Ahmed Faiz to Dr. Abdus Salam and Eqbal Ahmed, Muneer Niazi to Michael Jackson.