Dead End

The whole thing is very tense. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of joint chief of staff of US armed forces, accusations against Pakistan secret service Directorate for Inter-services Intelligence for its alleged active role in the attacks against Americans in Afghanistan has caused the diplomatic uproar. The debates are being held at higher level, accusations hurled, even the threats being directed at each other where America as usual is threatening to cut the aid and undertake " all the possible options" whereas Pakistan, as usual, vociferously speaking out against any possible attempt to violate its sovereignty, a joke in itself indeed. The latest revelation by Carlotta Gall, on 26th of September 2011, in New York times about the Pakistan's security forces direct assault on American forces after a meeting to solve the border dispute in Teri Mengal on 14th of May 2007 ended, resulting in the killing of Major Larry J Bauguess and eventual hiding of the details of the event by Americans in order to avoid any confrontation with Pakistan at that time, sheds light on overall worsening of diplomatic ties which made this exposure possible. The timing is important.

But apart from all this diplomatic meneauvoring, an anatomy of the event is necessary to understand what makes the current episode important and how potential it can be in shaping the future scenario.

Two articles published on 23th of september 2011 by Michael Semple and Jeffery Dressler on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy respectively are important in two way. One, the projection of Haqqani network from mere militia status based in North Waziristan, carrying out cross-border attacks against Americans in Afghanistan ,to more bigger entity supervising " North Waziristan Militant Complex". Second, enjoining an autonomy on it regarding the execution of its operations with no approval whatsoever from the main Taliban leaders in its recent attacks. This indeed is going to cause serious problem to Pakistan. Haqqani Network is being referred to as one among those militant organization who are going to profit from the war and have no plan to engage politically. This distinct categorization of Haqqani Nerwork from Taliban have major implications for Pakistan because of its alleged association with the Network. Since 2008, 15 major attacks have been attributed to Haqqani network. These include july 2008 attack on Indian Embassy, Intercontinental hotel in Kabul, 20 hour long assault on American Embassy on 13th of September 2011 . Americans are frustrated. The domestic politics of America have major say in the events unfolding at the moment. Obama has to give his public something before election. The economic situation at home is not going to allow much flexibility in carrying the war further. The important point here is that, if the attacks on Americans do not cease and Pakistan fails to take any action against the Haqqani network, will America be forced to take stronger action than it has been taking till now?
On 23th of September, 3 days after Admiral Mike Mullen briefing to the Senate, a drone attack in North Waziritan killed 6 militants from Haqqani network. The latest attack occurring on 27th of the same month.
The gravity of the accusations were timely comprehended by Pakistan. Apart from the apparent display of anger, Pakistan sought the help of Saudia Arabia and China in diffusing tension with USA. Pakistan situation is becoming extremely complex. In fact, the complexity originates from the failure of Pakistan in producing a coherent viable strategy regarding Afghanistan. To date, its still not sure what exactly are Pakistan's objective. In response to American accusations against Pakistan, Pakistan Today reported on 28th of September, that Pakistan has shown willingness to help mediating between Haqqani and US. The offer is not new as Pakistan has repeatedly refused to take military action in North Waziristan against Haqqani and have insisted for opting for negotiations, which American probably finds suspicious. Marc Grossman's, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, call to Hussein Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to USA, in response to the offer throws light on the dilemma Americans face as well. They can't survive in Afghanistan without Pakistan. But domestic political and economic imperatives have also to be taken into account.

So what's important here is that, will America government be able to pressurize Pakistani's enough to force them to take action against Haqqani network, failing to do, what exactly will be their response? They can not afford the cross-border attacks against them.These attacks, which cast doubt to any American claim of even minimal victory in Afghanistan, require taking action against Haqqani, but they can not afford to lose Pakistan as well. The former objective requires confrontational strategy whereas latter one requires her to bring her tone down. Pakistan's dilemma is that its failure to revise its policy of strategic depth ultimately push her in supporting the militias and keep them as assets. So, if Pakistan does not revise its policy, keeps on sticking to its confrontational tactics, keep her utility alive through proxies instead of constructive political engagement and trying to enforce Pushtuns ( Taliban), who makes up 40 percent of total afghan population, over the other ethnic group, how will she be able to confront the pressure of USA? The cross-border attacks won't cease. Its seems unlikely, given the above scenario, that Americans and Pakistanis can pursue their objectives together. Its a dead-end situation. Its an alliance of entirely divergent objectives.Even if the tension is diffuse for sometime, it can't be avoided indefinitely. How long can Pakistan keep off the pressure of USA, that is to see, but Pakistan is running short of time.

Untitled

I am not surprised, and i had this idea that i would not be surprised, at coming across people defending the inhuman action of the 5 rangers in Karachi on 8th of this month. Its a natural tendency in people to see things in order and when they are not, he is ready to see it at whatever price,though most of the time not paid in indivdual capacity. So what has happened is that for some people, the cold-blooded slaughtering of that young man was a necessary price to pay in order to discourage others from taking part in criminal activities. But the question is, on what basis can one judge the victim has a criminal? Moreover, even the criminals have the right to defend themselves.
Also the question is, what exactly shapes this mentality of the people believing in street justice? In my opinion, people have lost faith whatsoever in the justice system. They know justice won't be delivered so whatever comes as a discouragement to criminals, take it! But, this is not the end of the story, and it can't be. whose actions they are defending as the rightly done street justice deliverance, and thats of the State. Of the very State who has perpetuated this state of inequality, poverty and intolerance which motivates people to indulge in criminal acts. How much really do we spend on education ( less than a year per capita on defence, 6 times less than per day expenditure on President, Prime Minister and same for Senate/ National Assembly)? On energy, infrastructure, industry? How much do we really spend on PEOPLE?
The irony is, haves-not believe their self-interest is in to get whatever they need forefully or un-forcefully, no matter how they get it take it, Those who have believe their self-interest is in to stay in their houses with their money and amenities and let the montrosity do the cleansing job on the streets. But what should be realised , the former and the latter should understand that there is no such contradiction in the real interests.The former needs financial, social and economic security and this can only be realised once the State treats it citizens equally and provides a uniform playing ground for everyone where everyone could get what one strives for. The latter needs security of life, security against what could do damage to his/her belongings, and that can only be attained once the have-nots are given their legitimate share. One is not born criminal. This tendency in human beings to act violently is only stimulated when one is insecured. The very motivation to act violenty has to be exterminated. And this is the real interest of haves and haves-not. How could an institutions which is responsible for giving birth to the motivation to do crime could provide justice against crime? State has failed to provide us justice, it was doomed to. How could it whose existance is based on commiting violence against its own people? We can't keep financing our own slaughtering.
Fear shall do no good to us, for the death shall overtake us sooner or later. But as long as we are alive, lets make it a dignified life.

UNTITLED

“Come on, Stupid! It was not a murder! It was just a negligence! I mean, yes, the guy was unarmed, was dragged by pulling his hair towards us by this fellow from our sister organization, ( trust me,they ain’t that good as we are, when it comes to killing, they just celebrate while the two brothers are being thrashed to death, lots of gore, but not as much as we can ensure), fear pulled the heart of the bloody guy to his throat, o yes! He was pleading for mercy, was about to get into the mobile, but, pardon! We have been on killing spree for quite some years now. I mean, the negligence is we should have thrashed that camera too. Why let our financiers, 180 million idiots, be disturbed with such visions, they know we kill, and they know we are very good at it”

The day went fine, I mean, there was laughter, jokes being cracked, everybody up-to he or she usually is, just now and then, the sound waves carrying the tragedy of the young fellow cold-bloodedly slaughtered in Benazir park struck the ears, but that’s it! It just strikes the ear. Why does not it strike the heart? I don’t know, perhaps, it can’t strike something which ain’t there at the first place.

Speaks volume, really, speaks volume! We have accepted it. We have accepted this state of being held hostage to these savages.

I happened to talk to this random guy. While speaking out what he thought about what had happened yesterday, he just ended it with this sentence, “ People are busy?”, but busy doing what? What really are we running after? A guy gets murdered, it’s there on television, aired time and time again, we know who have done it, but we are busy doing what? His mother shows up on television, that inexplicable pain and hatred for the bastards , yet it ain’t potent enough to shake us even a little inch? I really don’t intend to dwell further into it, but really, we know this is the way it is, this is the natural way things are supposed to be, because we have not seen them in any other way.

And the statements by the government esp. by prime and interior minister, somehow trying to make sense of this murder, showering Namak on Zakham, with their pathetic and arrogant bold-faces, by claiming the guy might have had been involved in criminal act. This is what you call solidarity stupid! Could not learn from your scriptures, could not learn from your sufis and sages, learn from the evil of the evils, learn from the butchers, may you learn it from darkness. Learn how when you are stripped naked with your mischeives, how to protect or be protected by your fellows.

Mahmood Mamdani writes in his book Good muslims Bad Muslims, about two kinds of violence, one that makes sense ( perpetrated by state) and one which does not ( non-state actors). The State has operated at such a level that perhaps we will never be able to deconstruct the myths and ideologies. Why do we get terribly enraged at the news of violence, perpetrated by the militants we mostly never get to see, given to us by the State? I do not mean to say that militants ain’t there! but that’s an attack on us? But what about this incident? Why isn’t an attack on us? Why this action isn’t as evil as those of militants? PM not going to declare so, no one in the government is going to say, because they themselves are oithe part of the system just like these butchers! It’s we who have to stop making this distinction. An act of violence no matter committed by whosoever is an act of violence! There shall be no distinction in delivering justice! But here again comes an irony, the ones responsible for delivering justice are themselves part of the system! No one really wants to be amputated even when he/she knows the cancer in the very part of the body needs to be amputated would contaminate the whole body. At least this is what I know from my experience of last 24 years as a human being.
I have no hope for justice against the crime perpetrated by the State. There is no point in having one. Will they deliver justice the way they have been doing in tribal areas ( in their language of how to deliver justice) in the cases where part of the state or establishment is itself involved. They can’t. They will never. But if whats going on in tribal area is what you call delivering justice, then roll your tanks over these five bastards and then I will say justice has been done.
So, no more distinction, or the monster this state has become will swallow us all and we will keep justifying or making sense of its act in this blindness, the myths and fabricated sanctification has caused.

No Surprise!

I do not find it surprising when I think about the current state of our society, which, as a matter of fact, has been consistently moving on terrain underlined by crisis and miseries, that the most of the channels which are being aired from within Pakistan are news channels. This fact lends considerable credibility to the notion that we “the masses” are best at making “news” as far as our collective social endeavors are concerned. I must add here, when I speak of “news”, it takes its definition from the portrayal by the media of all the happenings in our country, which unfortunately happens to be overwhelmingly tragic and unfortunate.Right from the top where those who “matters” are stationed to an alienated layman, although there is a lot of justification for his exoneration since the circumstances within which he plays his part are beyond his control, we are just making “news”. Be it corruption, deception, plunder, murders, street-crimes, capital punishments etc, its like everyone who happens to dwell within the boundaries of this country, has been injected with doses of restlessness, impatience, intolerance and in worst cases violence, which are getting frequent.

But again, there is nothing to be surprised about. When among those who “matters” are the ones who bravely defends the murder of innocent women as a part of tradition, are the ones who audaciously defend corruption, are the ones who reinforces in the minds of masses the idea of personality-worshiping and slavery by preserving and promoting families-dictatorships within the “political” parties in the name of democracy, are the ones who after arrested from the brothel house and literally dragged handcuffed are awarded with state-ministry and so on and on, then its in fact surprising to see one surprised at our current state of society. I must say, that this “surprise” is in fact the most” supreme” of hypocrisy among the ones we have in our credit. Pity the ones, who are not ready to acknowledge the fact they belong to a society which has degraded to abysmal state of deterioration. Talk of Somalia? How different were the streets of Sialkot tainted with the blood of two brother, brutally mutilated before a crowd who if were not participating physically in executing the murder were either boasting the killers or filming. And the Police! The exact definition of “ to police” in Merriam Webster is

“the internal organization or regulation of a political unit through exercise of governmental powers especially with respect to general comfort, health, morals, safety, or prosperity”

Do I need to say anything more? With all heinous activities, they are the ones who are entitled to be “martyred” when killed in a “terrorist” attack.

Absolutely no surprise. At least that’s what my rational reflections make me believe. It’s a complete subversion of social and political order and we must accept it. The forces which makes up our political order produces and reinforces this “subversive” state of political affairs. Our “society” if there is any left, is in its current state, apart from the factors beyond the scope of my present writing, because of deliberate political maneuvering and reinforcement of the current subversive state. Pity the ones, who are not ready to accept it.

The prime minister says things have not gone as bad in Pakistan as there in Tunis or Egypt. Again, the statement is not surprising. He can so say because, first of all, he has to, secondly because he knows his statement will fall upon ears who actually believe that things have not gone as bad in Pakistan as in middle east. Thirdly, because its perhaps our habit to take refuge from reality in someone else’s misery falsely assuring ourselves that things have not yet gone “THAT” bad.

I firmly believe that a moral and ethical order can not be constructed in a society which is being deliberately kept economically insecure. So the social chaos can be primarily blamed at the ones of who matters. But there can be no justification whatsoever for not recognizing the depth of the crisis and state of degradation we are in and worst than then fantasizing the golden days to come. If one is not willing to look at mirror how ugly one’s face is, then relying on other’s observation is surely going to keep one in an illusion of looking fine. And that’s we have been doing all along. Its in fact I would say naturalization of crisis. The crisis has become way of life. And this mentality is reinforced by our collective “un-recognition” of our tragic state of affairs. Not analyzing what historical and political forces and events have brought us to our current state, our apathy to our own miseries, have perhaps ingrained this idea in our sub-conscious as if it was always supposed to be like this. The observation stands true for serfdom. What else the so the called Urban class is anyway, a whole mass of people, controlled, legitimizing the rule of draconian “those who matters” with their existence. Until and unless, we recognize the mess we are in, I think, there is no hope to undo the subversive social and political order.

We are not heading towards any golden age! Our silence ain't going to bring any golden age for Islam! We ain't going to control the UN!
We are not free! We are in the worst social state! We are surviving because " the imperial center" wants us to survive, though in a certain shape. We are not sovereign. Perhaps we are not even " we" yet, in real sense of the term.

We should wake up and the first vision of that awakening is realization. Realization of our crisis. We should come out of fantasy world. We should!

Flowers , beautiful creation of God

A beautiful article by my little brother

Flowers , beautiful creations of God. They blossom well if they get pure water and nutrition but their petals will shed off if we don't feed them properly. Verily children, petals of flower, everyone with its own color, will blossom if they get good teaching and they will be ruined if they get bad to learn.
It is said that a child learns 90% about the world in first 5 to 7 years and everything he learns make up his personality. Aggressiveness, timidness, shyness , confidence, everything in
his personality is the expression of learning programmed in his mind in his early life.
In Pakistan people very much neglect the proper education of children. Lack and confidence , good conduct or character , lack of motivation in life , lack of sense of competition among people
are all the result of our basic learning. Education in our primary schools , our media, our surroundings , are playing their role in a way or the other in deteriorating the mind of our children.
In our primary schools we don't have such class atmosphere which encourages the sound and proper personality making of children, we don't have such mind exercises which can produce creative minds.Its very sad that the useless content has taken the
place of our great heroes in the books of primary classes.
Our media also subjects impressionable minds young people to ridiculous and unproductive information and learning.The sub standard stuff showed on the television has really played a major role in deteriorating our children's mind.
Even the cartoons made today teach aggression to the children.Everything a child watches on tv really affect his mind. He starts to find his hero in the movie actors and actresses and in his future life he tries to become like them. And he finds it odd to follow the real heroes because he hasn't listened of them on tv during his early life.
Family system plays the most important role in the building the thinking , nature and personality of the child. It is often seen that a child always predict the environment of his home through his actions and conduct. In this aspect the role of mother is most important. that is why Islam has also ordered the mother to bring his son up with the best of teachings.
We often ignore the small inappropriate acts of a child by saying that he is just a child and he knows nothing, although he knows nothing but whatever he is doing and being appreciated for is becoming part of his personality. In fact on such acts he should be checked. His good acts should be appreciated in front of everyone and his bad acts should be addressed to him alone but politely.
The basic learning of children is very much important for the progress of a country and in great nations it is taken as an important issue. Many nations have taken steps to build personality of their children from very beginning.This issue needs to addressed in our country at national level because the children of today are the youth of tomorrow and as it is said Destiny of nation lies in the hands of its youth.
Remember the character of a person is not always his fault, because whatever a person does in a particular situation is what he was taught to do in his early life.
Stop blaming people, start from the very beginning, because if you improve your start then you can expect to have a better ending.