Guilty unless proven innocent

Who are the bad guys? What is the 'definition' of a bad guy? These are questions I have always thought of. I may have not found the complete answer yet but there is one thing for sure. We all view the others side of people (whom we do not understand) with suspicion and if they do not fall in line with our personal interests the punishment for the other side is they get labeled as ‘bad guys’. Fox channel has come out with the new series ‘24’ which is supposed to show Muslims succeeding in blowing up a nuclear device near Los Angeles. May I ask what great purpose does this serve? Isn’t this taking monetary advantage of people’s fears and gaining on the stereotypes. Shouldn’t there be a debate on the ethics of such show? Doesn’t this contribute towards hostile feelings towards Muslims? And then the question you hear every once in a while is that ‘why are Muslims not speaking out against terrorism?’ Does it ever dawn on someone that there comes a point when the individual gets tired of proving that he is not a terrorist? Fox can afford to spend millions of dollars to make a stereotypical show like this, how many thousands can I spend to go out there and prove to every one I am not a terrorist. When does it just become too much? Full story here.

My trip to Pakistan......

After staying in the Unites States for 5.5 years, I had my first trip back to Pakistan. After living over here for so long I had a lot of assumptions about how things would be when I will get there. I had imagined that people would have become very conservative (and anti-American) over the past 5.5 years due to all the wars and other stuff that has happened. I thought I will find people at every street corner willing to do ‘jihad’ and ‘preaching’ Islam. I was expecting a Pakistan that will be even more sharply divided over the sectarian lines.
But what I found was quite different from what I had expected. I found a more consumer oriented society then what I had seen a long time ago. I saw people who were richer then before. I saw people who had become brand conscious. I saw people more tolerant then what I was expecting. People were now talking more openly about things which were considered taboo before. And yes, I found private TV channels that had stolen the audience from the state channels and were openly critical about the govt. I also saw debates on TV about things from politics to religion.
While my trip was basically to see my parents and brother and sisters and attend my sisters wedding, I truly enjoyed living over there for the whole month. Something I thought couldn’t happen after living so long in the U.S. Like one of my friends had said ‘You will find that Pakistan has changed’.