French revolution RIP

The breaking news is that the famous French revolution (1787-1799) has decided to withdraw its chapter from the history books due to embarassment after witnessing the 'Revolution' of Islamabad led by Dr. Tahir ul Qadri. 

What a waste! 5 days of powerful anti-government speeches, vows upon God and the holy book, charges of corruption, number of women infants and elderly in intense cold weather of federal capital under the overcast and at times raining sky - chanting for a revolution that would change the system and bring them food, water, shelter, employment, electricity, gas and sense of freedom from the long-lasted hanging sword of terrorism, but the outcome was a 'Muk-Muka' - a consensus to which Dr. Qadri was against throughout his long march - with the same corrupt government. The original slogan of 'Save State instead of Politics' was optically isomerized to 'Save Politics instead of State'.

The so-called revolution promised a lot; attracted an ocean of masses; showed beautiful vivid images of a better future, but failed to live up to the hype that was generated. It ended up like such a movie - the trailor of which created raves but turned out to be a disaster itself upon a complete watch. Revolution does not end up in a consensus with the accused and with those against which the protest is being done. If this was really a revolution as tipped by Dr. Qadri, then the strugglers of French relovution will surely be tumbling over in their graves. 

PPP, Qaddafi and Nusrat Bhutto

Within a span of last few days, Pakistan Peoples Party has lost two of their close affiliates. Nusrat Bhutto, wife of the party founder, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Yes, you have read the name correctly - Qaddafi. Both deaths, however, have met with obvious discrimination by PPP.

Qaddafi's sad demise is a matter of concern for Muslims all over the world. Fine, he was a tyrant and he carried out some controversial actions during his rule but he was a strong and influential political leader for the Muslim world. Qaddafi was the first Leader who declared his support for Pakistan to pursue the development of Nuclear weapons against the will of United States during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government. He was in tremendous relations with Pakistan during Bhutto's government and It was Qaddafi who gave Pakistan the honorable title of 'Fort of Islam', which we Pakistani's brag about without remembering the actual person who came up with it. Qaddafi's subsequent relations with Zia and Nawaz Shareef were horrible. The relations were back to normal during Benazir Bhutto's government. In short, Qaddafi had a prosperous relationship with PPP, the current governing party of Pakistan.

A public holiday was observed today after the sad death of Nusrat Bhutto along with the announcement of 10 days of grief. She had been battling hard with death while being on a ventilator for few years now in Dubai. She was the one who kept the Party on its feet after the death of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and it is mainly due to her efforts that were made in those tough circumstances that PPP is in the government today.

I question the logic of a public holiday on the death of a person who was surviving on a ventilator since last 4-5 years. In a country like Pakistan where we are facing economic, electrical and industrial crises, three consecutive holidays is nothing less than a suicide. Where our government departments should work 7 days a week to overcome the shortcomings in every field, they are working 4 days a week. Ridiculous!

On one hand, the government is being gracious to this nation by providing them with an extra holiday on the death of a person who had been dying each moment for the past few years on vent but on the other hand, there has been no condolence over the brutal humiliation, before and after the death, of a person who was a staunch supporter of the founder of PPP, the current government, by the hands of rebels and NATO in front of whole world. Don't you think the current government should have shown some concern over the demise of Qaddafi and treated it equally with the death of Nusrat Bhutto?

Imran Khan and PTI: A revolution we need.

There is a widespread perception that the stauncher you are, the more hardships you encounter. This fact perfectly fits the current scenario of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI); a political party which was launched by Imran Khan Niazi. PTI has been a struggling political party in terms of lack of following just because of one simple reason that it defies the law by flowing against the tide. It defies the basic ideologies of a successful political party particularly in Pakistan where favoritism, horse-trading, double policies and so-called democratic motto are predominant. This is the only Political Party right now which is here for a change; a change in the fortune of this limping country and a change in an uncertainty regarding the country's future. This is a change which is meant to bring revolution and a revolution does not occur every day as Professor Dr. Allama Iqbal has rightly said:

Hazaron saal nargis apni be-noori pe roti hai

Barri mushkil se hota hai chamman mai deedawar paida

This piece of thought can rightly fit into the personality of Imran Khan, a man with a vision and a man who is capable of revolutionize this nation.

Imran Khan possesses all the basic qualities of making a good state leader but alas, the baraadri system has never allowed his party to gain significant voters. Pakistan is probably one of very few countries in which illiterate people blindly cast their votes on the basis of their affection to a dead person or to a person of same caste as their, irrespective of the level of incapability of a representative member of the party of their choice who is standing in the elections. The whole village ends up casting their vote by the manipulation of an influential rich person having a political ancestry without using their own brains and hence they end up in choosing a wrong person every time. This is a reason why PTI has not been able to emerge as a threatening contender for some of the other popular parties in the elections. There are, of course, several other reasons for a disappointing show up of PTI at country's elections.

The masses in our country have not yet accepted Imran Khan as a political leader; rather his sportsman's image is still fresh in their minds. A typical criteria set up by local people for a political leader is that he has to have a strong political background. An ex-cricketer is not yet acceptable to them no matter how capable he is as compared to rest of the so-called inherited politicians. For me, Imran Khan’s greatest victory is right now the biggest hurdle between his successes as a politician but it will not be the same forever. Had Imran Khan not made us win the 1992 World Cup, he would not have been remembered as much as he is now as a cricketer nearly after two decades. Of course he was a world class player even before but winning a world cup is a different thing altogether. If people start to think logically, they’ll find a right person to vote for the next time. Logically speaking, Imran Khan proved the whole world that what a true leader can take out of a highly disappointing and lackluster team by miraculously making them lift the come-from-behind World Cup. Imran used to select players, coach them, appoint their individual roles and last but not the least, he used to lead them from the front.

 I apologize for including too much of cricket here but it’s necessary because it shows his strength and capabilities as a leader. Most of the people will argue that there is a massive difference between politics and cricket but I’ll say that leadership remains the same. A 39-year old captain who made a team on his own authority and took the best out of them when they were down and out completely was nothing less than a miracle. Such was the level of his authority and self believe which he had in his players that during the 1992 World Cup warm up match where Aamir Sohail got a half century, he told the youngster that even if you continuously score zero in next 9 matches and Pakistan qualify for the final, you’ll still be playing in my team at the same batting position. Such was the level of confidence by a skipper which ultimately took the best out of his player.

People should be aware of his triumphing leadership which made Pakistan World Champions in cricket. Why can't we, as a nation, trust him to lead our country? The scenario in our country can’t get worse than this and since we have nothing to lose but everything to gain, we should give Imran Khan at least a single chance. He has shown us a glimpse of his successful miracle-making leadership in a complete different field so why not try him in state affairs instead of tried and tested horses? Has anyone else made a free of cost cancer hospital for this country yet? Does anyone else speak more bluntly and openly against the American policies than him? Does he have any kind of corruption or immoral charge against him? The answers are no. But sadly, majority of public here is either illiterate or unreasoned, which is the biggest hurdle that Imran Khan has to overcome before he can take up the leadership of this wobbling country.

Strange Life of a Political Party Worker

Sometime it becomes obnoxious for me to see the extent of devotion of political party workers towards their party leaders especially in a country like Pakistan. Leaders mean more than a mere human being to them. They can protest for them, sacrifice family life for them, die for them and even kill for them. What benefit do they get from their Leaders in return? An Intact party membership? A handful of bucks? Or just a few social incentives? Is that it? It makes me wonder what magnetic qualities are being possessed by these leaders which make the masses of people follow them like a blinded sheep. Is it really of any worth to spend your entire life as a political worker? Let’s see the religious aspect of this scenario.

Seeking power for ruling has always been a cause of violence, unrest, and turmoil. The original Islamic way of ruling was Khilafat with a vague concept of Democracy. Democracy is a Westernized concept of making use of one’s free will to bring a person of your choice. Why Islamic perspective is not entirely in favor of Democracy? There is a simple and logical answer to this question. Had Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ordered full Democracy instead of Khilafat, majority population of the Arabian Peninsula which comprised of illiterate Bedouins, would have brought an incapable ruler from their own tribes. This scheme had chaos written all over it hence Islam rejected the idea of complete democracy but choice of the people still remained of vital importance. Khilafat system made sure that only a capable and pious leader would rule the people and was elected by a group of well-learned and righteous individuals who were representing the local population. When power to rule is snatched on the basis of wealth or popularity, there is a high chance of a wrong person to administrate.

In a country like Pakistan in which the literacy rate is just around 35% (including those who can only sign their names), along with a strong caste and regional influence, democracy is the worst option. A malik will only cast his vote to a malik without actually knowing about his capabilities, a chaudhry would do the same and so would others. This would elect a ruler on the basis of social impact rather than competency; ultimately giving rise to many social problems.

Political workers have discriminated themselves by following a particular alphabet (N,Q etc) and waving a distinct flag. Their Leader is like a Holy figure for them while the leader never even knows the names of majority of his workers. Why not turn towards Allah who considers all of his creatures to be equal? Why should one give a political figure a status higher than that of a religious figure? If such devotion and dedication by political workers is shown towards Almighty Allah rather than towards their Party Leaders, the story is going to be far better. The civil unrest would cease and there would be social and religious harmony.

The kind of unity and enthusiasm that is shown by party workers for their political party is needed for a much important agenda – restoration of Khilafat in Islamic Ummah. The hatred and aggression that is shown towards the rival political party is actually needed against the anti-Islamic agenda of the Zionists. The objective of rallies and protests in favor of or against a particular political party is useless; they would be more meaningful if they were for showing brotherhood with Palestinians or against the brutality of Israel. The kind of obedience that is shown by a party worker for his leader will be of much greater significance if it is for Almighty Allah, the kind of affection shown for a leader will much more meaningful if it is for Holy Prophet(PBUH).

If an un-Islamic ‘tribal’ democratic rule cannot be abolished at this stage, at least the political workers must only restrict politics as a source of bread and butter rather than taking it as a motive of their life. They must not turn against their fellow brothers to hurt them on the basis of a conflicted ideology or just to please their leader. The most important motive should be to please Almighty Allah, which can be done by following his pathway but not the pathway of a mortal and immoral Leader.