Musharraf Vs. Washington

General Pervaiz Musharraf is not the first leader to have come in power with the claim and self proclaimed obligation to ‘fix’ things. Our 55 plus history is full of such leaders. It is one thing that they did not really solve problems, but it is a whole new dimension that they never left on there own. Whether it was the Marshall law administrators or a civilian govt., once in power there only objective becomes to make sure that they don’t leave the seat of the prime minister and ironically enough 99% of them never finished there terms and our thrown outside, mostly disgracefully.
Yesterday I was going through the history of George Washington. The man was practically was Chief of Army Staff of the soon to be United States. There was really nothing too great about him, except that he was an ordinary man who learnt his lessons from experience and luck was on his side also in helping him what he is today. He commanded the greatest army of the evolving U.S. and fought of the British troops. At the end of the war, he could have alone taken over the country both based on his achievements in war that earned him tremendous respect and the fact that he was in-charge of the most powerful physical force of that time. But what this guy does is that, he simply goes back to congress and ‘surrenders’ his sword as if he is saying ‘mission accomplished’. We can sum this up in one sentence but it has a great meaning behind it. The man surrendered, yes the word is surrendered. He did not go back claiming the ‘need of the hour’ or the ‘troubled times right now justify’ theme to take over the country. If he would have there would have been almost no resistance because he had practically created the U.S. by freeing it from Britain. His act symbolizes one thing, superiority of democratic institutions over any reasoning for dictatorship. And this has laid the basis which would prevent any future military leader from taking over because in order to do so they would have to justify that if ‘George Washington did not do it, why are you doing this’. He was not completely spotless in character, he had his own demons like in a number of occasions it became an issue of what he wanted for himself rather than being what is in the best interest of the country. But in the end he realized that nothing is superior over the democratic intuitions.
Let’s not go very far and take a very small example of the recent earthquake tragedy in Pakistan. The army practically took over the whole management of the crisis although this was not clearly a place for the army to manage, instead the army should have simply assisted the civilian authorities. This is where you can plug in Darwin’s theory of evolution also that if you don’t use it you will loose it. It is not that the democratic institutions are incapable, it is that there are never allowed to learn. Democratic institutions do not learn from text books like the generals do in colleges, democratic institutions learn from trail and error.
History is again repeating in Pakistan, Pervaiz Musharraf has no interest in democracy or leaving his seat as he frequently mentions about what his ‘friends’ are suggesting him to do. These comments clearly indicate that his focus is on how to hold on to both seats or if the circumstances persist which one. I do not think the architect of Kargil needs someone else’s wisdom that free and fair elections are important for the countries future.

Who to balme?

There had been a lot of talk about how the western nations have deprived the poorer nations from the latest technology and resources so that they would not become strong and capable of confronting the western nations. All the way from the African deserts to the Indian subcontinent there is a similar theme where the local resources were looted by the rich nations for there own benefit and the system was designed in a way so that these poor countries would remain poor and continue to serve as the blood line for the rich. The idea was that if they were left poor then they would be never be able to challenge the rich and powerful countries and since they will be dependent for the latest technology on the rich countries it will essentially prove to be a very good parasite-host relationship. But despite all this, the powerful west failed to foresee the terrible dangers that lay ahead. This strategy has left the other countries vulnerable from economical, political and military point of view.
About 50 years ago, this strategy might have worked just fine but not anymore. The reason being the increased effects of the globalization. Now not only it takes less time to ship the diamonds from the war torn countries of Africa but also it takes less time to ship drugs from south America to new York city. What this essentially means is that the problems in the poor countries to end up at the doorsteps of the rich countries. Let’s talk about America, it being the symbol of the western power and influence. Its biggest problem right now are terrorism, Iraq war, illegal immigration and drug trade. If the Palestinian state was allowed to prosper along with the Israel it wouldn’t have resulted in the 9/11, as it serves as the breeding grounds for the theories of terrorism that are often fed by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organization to its members. Similarly, if Saddam Hussein wasn’t supported in the first place we would have never seen the Iraq war now. If Mexico had an economy other than drugs and outsourced industries that come from U.S. it would not have resulted in the immigration issues right now in the U.S. If the U.S. wouldn't have ignored the afghan drug trade problems in the first place they would not be selling in the streets of Los Angeles right now.
Now all this does not mean that the rich countries are responsible for all this because it is not as if these countries woke up one day and found gold flowing through the cities. Germany was completely destroyed from the war hysteria before it became a super power and Japan was also completely destroyed and similarly there was a time when the people use to line up in the streets in U.S. for free food during the great depression. None of these countries were born with a silver spoon unlike the Middle East, which did strike black gold.
The whole point is that if we have a glass house in the desert, when the wind will below it will bring some sand with it inside the house. We, the underdeveloped countries need to stop blaming the developed countries for there misery and start building ourselves instead of focusing all of our resources on unproductive venues. It is possible and every country can do it, just look at the world map and there are plenty of examples.

Media Power

An interesting development has been taking place in Pakistan since the liberation of the TV stations from the Govt. control (although it is still far from complete liberation). We have been seeing its effects in almost every part of the daily life of an ordinary Pakistani. To me this change translates into a new from of empowerment for the common man. Before this change the politicians and the heads of the state could easily argue one side of an issue based on just complete ignorance or intentionally to bluff the viewers by presenting the 'truth' on state television. But now they have a new competitor which will only prove to be more powerful as time passes by, provided this new hope is let to flourish. We have seen quite a few examples like innocent people being rescued from the jails because the media high lightened them. Folks, for a long time there used to be an argument 'The western media is very powerful.....', but you know how it is said 'If you can't fight it, join it' and I think that this is exactly what has been done. Although the sad part is that we are just stepping into a very new field while other nations and countries have built huge empires on it, and it will be a while before the revolution gets enough momentum.
The biggest thing I want to credit the media with is 'initiation of thinking' in the common man. Now one might say that, were we not thinking before, my answer is, no. What we were doing before was accepting what was told to us as right or wrong. E.g. we did not have any other category for India than enemy. We had been told and taught in our textbook that the 'evil neighbor India....' did this or that. About 4-6 years ago if anyone even said or talked about India in a different way he was quickly labeled a traitor. Well all that is about the political issues of Pakistan. A very interesting thing that I came across this week was the discussion on Geo TV about the Hudood Ordinance. This is a very exciting turn for us, as we will be able to eventually open discussion among all sects and about all topics without getting involved in any kind of hatred or violence. This is the one thing that will eventually free the ordinary man from the claws of the mullah and convince him that he 'can' decide right & wrong without becoming a Kafir and that the mullah's stamp is not necessary for everything from how to drink water to which side to stand while urinating. It might be worth mentioning over here that while the mullahs have 'elaborated' and laid out in great detail the day to day activities for us ignorant people they have simultaneously forbidden any discussion on this issue among the people as it might lead them astray with the exception of the one way talk from the mullah's lips to the mullah's audience.
This is certainly the beginning of a new era.

What is the real problem?

In order to fight any enemy one has to be able to clearly mark him or identify him fast and then pursue an appropriate strategy to fight it. One such enemy that has been voiced by many countries and including President Pervaiz Musharraf has been extremism. Do you really think that the actual problem is extremism? Although due to the constant media churning of this word we are likely to say yes to this question but I will call it a case of mistaken identity of the target.
Let me explain. When we talk about extremism we are referring to the fact that the individual is going to extreme measures to pursue his perception of the religion. Is there anything wrong with this? Or to say it in better words ‘should’ we have a problem with this? The answer is no, if that individual believes that he should live his life in a particular way than be it. Isn’t that the basic mantra of the western nations concept of freedom, i.e. ‘I should be bale to live my life they way I want it to be’. So why are we having a problem in this case when the deciding factor is religion while we are Ok if it involves wearing tight jeans, or decisions about marriage to the person of choice or anything else that is anything but religious rituals itself. Now the question is then what is the real problem? The real problem is ‘intolerance’. Intolerance where one believes that not only that one has to live his life in a particular strict religious code and anything and everything else that is not in the book should be banned and also that he has the right to ‘enforce’ it on other people. This applies to both on individual, societal and national level. Let me give an example, if there are two neighbors and one of them happens to be a very religious person, who does prayers the whole day, reads Quran for 3 hours a day and wears a cap on the head and wears short sleeve pajamas and has a long beard and never listens to music, and then there is the other neighbor who has never offered prayers in his whole life and wakes up at the sound of the radio and goes to sleep while listening to the music, there is no problem with this arrangement. The problem only arises when the religious person goes to the liberal persons home with the belief that he has a ‘right’ to enforce his way of life on to him.
Folks, Islam is a great religion and in my belief the best religion that guarantees the rights of everyone whether you are a follower or not or if you follow a particular sect. Remember the famous incident of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) where a neighbor throws trash on him every morning and the incident of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) being stoned by the gangs and a angel appears asking the prophet if he wished the mountains to be crushed on them, what is the underlying theme of all this? Do you think the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) did not have enough power to force them into religion with the threat of force, of course he did, but he was also setting an example for all of us. Islam is a very simple and straight forward religion and some people will go extreme lengths by drawing complex conclusions to justify their ‘right’ to enforce a particular code or interpretation on the others. Let’s just keep the things straight as they are and not try to twist them around.
So, what we have to fight is intolerance and not extremism itself. Until and unless we identify the problem correctly we are just shooting in the air with no results.

Our Great Leaders

I have long wanted to write on this issue. We have a lot of leaders on the East side of the world but despite the huge numbers it has failed to produce quality leaders, that have a vested interest only in what is in the best interest of the nation itself, and in some cases where there were great leaders the system was used against them to refrain them from taking a lead and in some instances you can simply put the blame on the mass ignorance of the citizens of the country.
Where should we start from the, the list is very long, ok, lets begin with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president. My standard of measuring the credibility of a leader lies in the ability of the leader to understand the situation and problems around him and be able to drive the nation to prosperity, where prosperity could be in terms of politics, economy, religion or anything which is the need of the hour. Since Ahmadinejad came to power the only problem he saw was Israel. Not to mention folks, Iran is a country with vast natural resources and huge labor forces, but Ahmadinejad like some of the other leaders since the 1979 has focused on leadership based on hatred. We might think that this is a technique used only by the terrorists, but it is being played very effectively around us, a very good example of it can be found in Pakistan in the form of political religious parties. Lets not underscore the power of hatred over here also, it is a very effective force, but that is another topic, may be some other time. The problem with most of the religious leaders in the Asian subcontinent also remains in the fact that they have never realized the reality around them. If you ever listen to ideology of the religious political or more correctly the ‘Islamic leaders’ the theme ranges anywhere from ‘destruction of Israel’ to ‘the western nations plan to destroy Islam’. Our Islamic leaders have enough vision to sit in Peshawar (Pakistan) and spot the ‘conspiracy’ taking place in the White House but they cannot see the children dying from malnutrition and lack of medical care down the very street they are standing on, they can see the next strategy taking shape in MI5 in London but they cannot see the whole families committing suicide in the next city from absolute poverty, they can see how Israel is planning to attack the Muslim nations but they are blind from the honor killings in the villages. So if you ask them what the problem is they have one answer ‘Islam is under attack’ and if you ask them why is it so, there answer is ‘You are not good enough of a Muslim’ and if you ask them so how do you explain the poverty and illiteracy among the Muslim nations, there answer is ‘It’s the western conspiracy’.
Not only has this attitude kept us from moving ahead but has also put the ordinary citizen under a very difficult choice because he can either keep scum to the calls of these leaders or he can try to follow the tried and proven way of success which the western nations have went through but then he would be becoming a ‘Kafir’.
This is the very reason that despite revolution after revolution and after countless sacrifices of the ordinary people, a good example of which would be the rise of Taliban & the Islamic revolution in Iran, has produced no better results, instead has pushed us deep into the ever widening whirlpool of radicalization, terrorism, hatred, poverty, ignorance and destruction. But despite all this visible signs of failure it has not stopped them from pursuing even greater ‘visions’ like the, reestablishment of the Khilafat.
These are the blind leaders, that claim to see every problem and having a solution to every problem.

Cruise Vs. Zarqawi

It was funny/ironic but it was a moment of grief also. The last weekend saw two new openings on the TV screen. One of them as you all know was Tom Cruise in MI-III and the second was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi starring in, hold on it does not have a name yet, let’s give it a name 'Operation Infidel'. Well the MI-III trailer was not a very big surprise as it had all the usual bang bang and expensive visual effects etc, what was great was the trailer released by Zarqawi, in action, firing his automatic guns and wearing American tennis shoes. And did anyone miss the sound effects, I guess that was necessary to bring out the heroic theme in the trailer. I think that while Zarqawi might be a good match for Tom his associate was not as sexy as Michelle Monaghan.
So much for sarcasm, it is sad, and we need to really think at what we are against at. These fanatics need to continuously justify there act and present themselves as heroes. It is the same problem across the board that these people are living in a world of there own and for them that is the reality and if you don't agree then you are to die. After hearing the statements released by Zarqawi over a period of time it is not difficult to asses that he is suffering from some kind of inferiority or deprivation complex and the only way he can fill this big gap in himself is by pursuing his fanatical ideas, not to mention how does it feel like when you know you can kill someone at your choice. Doesn't that give him a feeling of being a 'God' also knowing that he can take this persons life or let him live. So much for his jihad, I think he is committing blasphemy himself.
We can probably write books and books to prove how they are wrong but that is not where we need to put most of our effort. We, as Muslims, need to unite and stand up and tell them that you do not represent us and that the damage you have done to Muslims in the name of God & Islam cannot be forgiven.

Homeless

Today I do not know what do I feel like, may be I feel like crying with blood tears or may be I feel very angry at the ignorance of the other people who are responsible for this or may be I feel hopeless and do not want to hope anymore so that I can stop feeling sad or may be I feel a new energy to do something about it, I don't know. I lived most of my life in a country other than my own, and always had one hope that there is a land on the other side of the sea where I can stand and no one can say to me that 'go away you do not belong here' where I can pick up the sand and rocks from the earth and claim that they are 'mine', a place where I would feel like home, but today my dreams are showing a crack and I can feel it on my heart, trust me it is a very deep wound. The question may be I want to ask is 'Why'. As you all know today Pakistan was on the Failed States Index, I can't believe it, is the word really 'Failed' or am I hallucinating. I always maintain myself but this is the one point where I do want to loose my mind and bring all the political leaders who have played a role in this into a line try them for treason, treason to the motherland, the land they never believed in but the land that was the hope for the millions of other people, treason for deceiving the hard work and sweat and prayers of the ordinary citizens of this country.

Yeah I have a home but I feel homeless today!