Egypt finally banned Al-Jazeera television. But this is not for the first time for the Doha-based channel to attract the ire of despots and dictators. Every Arab land, including Palestine that has seen a spark of unrest, despots have turned on the television channel accusing it of fomenting and inciting unrest.
There is no doubt in the fact that mass media play a crucial role in mobilizing people everywhere. But it is always the suppressed and the caged that stream out in the street to say to their despots: enough. Short-sighted as they are, the despots and dictators fail to realize that unrest can never be fomented in a democracy. Stop clinging to power unwanted. Stop suppressing your own people. Let mass media give vent to public's grievances. Finally, let the people elect a government for themselves, you will find mass media on your side.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mullah, Media and Veena
It was not without feeling a pain and shame to watch clips of Express TV's interview with Pakistan film star Veena Malik and a mufti. Pakistani media in cahoots with religious right has taken Veena Malik to task for participating in an Indian reality show.
The only blame that host of the program, Shahid Malik, and Mufti Abdul Qavi could bring against Veena Malik was that she defamed the culture of Pakistan by participating in the show. My first question is that is there anything called Pakistani culture? There is no consensus about it at any level, because Pakistani people have yet to explore their historical roots.
The religious section, which is on a warpath against any dissenting voice, have been trying all along to link our roots with the Arab land. There is another section which looks towards Central Asia to find their antecedents. However, historians like Mubarak Ali have a strong case to say that the people of this region are old Indians and present-day South Asians.
Unless Pakistanis relate themselves to their roots, they cannot talk of any culture of their own, because culture is always a historical continuity. It never begins at a point in history; at least not at a certain date and year. Culture adds new layers to its old ones like a crustacean to grow.
Our culture did not begin with the invasion of Sindh by Mohammad Bin Qasim who was as culturally different from us as any foreign invader. Except for Pakhtuns, no Pakistani share any cultural roots with Ahmed Shah Abdali and Mehmud Ghaznavi who attacked then India repeatedly from the eastern side. India had never been a land without its own people; it has a historical continuity of no less than 4000 years.
People living in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are denizens of the mainland, and they should accept this fact. It was the result of Arab traders' intermingling with the local population and the message of love by great Sufis that a section of the local population became Muslims.
With the change of religion, culture does not change so quickly; the Muslims of the region still culturally share a lot with people of India, irrespective of their religious differences. Cultures can not live in isolation; we lived in harmony with people of other religions in the same land for centuries and that is the reason that we have a lot common in culture.
Back to Veena Malik story, she presented a soft image of Pakistan for which she deserves our and our media's kudos. Pity the media and pity the people who take pride when 'we' send Ajaml Qassab to spill blood of innocent people in India. Then, this fact did not cross our face that whose culture Qassab and his accomplices were representing? At least not ours.
If Veena Malik should not have taken part in an Indian show--as suggested by clean-shaved maulvi called Shahid Malik--because of cultural sensitivities, then Pakistani players should not go to India for sports, or Indian players should come to Pakistan.
If our maulvis in and outside media are so touchy about the image of Islam and Pakistan, they should stop glorifying murderers like Qadri. It is not only shaming us Muslims, but is also sacrilegious. Stop stoning people to death and stop harassing those very Pakistanis who are just religiously different from us. It is disgusting.
If Meher Bokhari has Salman Taseer's blood on her hands, then if--God forbid--Veena Malik is killed by another Qadri, Shahid Malik and Mufti Abdul Qavi must be counted among the culprits. One longs for the good not-so-old days when there was no private TV in Pakistan and no such obscenity and vulgarity beamed into people's living rooms.
Veena Malik spoke with the strength of a conscience while shame was writ large on the faces of the two maulvis--one modern, the other archaic.
The only blame that host of the program, Shahid Malik, and Mufti Abdul Qavi could bring against Veena Malik was that she defamed the culture of Pakistan by participating in the show. My first question is that is there anything called Pakistani culture? There is no consensus about it at any level, because Pakistani people have yet to explore their historical roots.
The religious section, which is on a warpath against any dissenting voice, have been trying all along to link our roots with the Arab land. There is another section which looks towards Central Asia to find their antecedents. However, historians like Mubarak Ali have a strong case to say that the people of this region are old Indians and present-day South Asians.
Unless Pakistanis relate themselves to their roots, they cannot talk of any culture of their own, because culture is always a historical continuity. It never begins at a point in history; at least not at a certain date and year. Culture adds new layers to its old ones like a crustacean to grow.
Our culture did not begin with the invasion of Sindh by Mohammad Bin Qasim who was as culturally different from us as any foreign invader. Except for Pakhtuns, no Pakistani share any cultural roots with Ahmed Shah Abdali and Mehmud Ghaznavi who attacked then India repeatedly from the eastern side. India had never been a land without its own people; it has a historical continuity of no less than 4000 years.
People living in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are denizens of the mainland, and they should accept this fact. It was the result of Arab traders' intermingling with the local population and the message of love by great Sufis that a section of the local population became Muslims.
With the change of religion, culture does not change so quickly; the Muslims of the region still culturally share a lot with people of India, irrespective of their religious differences. Cultures can not live in isolation; we lived in harmony with people of other religions in the same land for centuries and that is the reason that we have a lot common in culture.
Back to Veena Malik story, she presented a soft image of Pakistan for which she deserves our and our media's kudos. Pity the media and pity the people who take pride when 'we' send Ajaml Qassab to spill blood of innocent people in India. Then, this fact did not cross our face that whose culture Qassab and his accomplices were representing? At least not ours.
If Veena Malik should not have taken part in an Indian show--as suggested by clean-shaved maulvi called Shahid Malik--because of cultural sensitivities, then Pakistani players should not go to India for sports, or Indian players should come to Pakistan.
If our maulvis in and outside media are so touchy about the image of Islam and Pakistan, they should stop glorifying murderers like Qadri. It is not only shaming us Muslims, but is also sacrilegious. Stop stoning people to death and stop harassing those very Pakistanis who are just religiously different from us. It is disgusting.
If Meher Bokhari has Salman Taseer's blood on her hands, then if--God forbid--Veena Malik is killed by another Qadri, Shahid Malik and Mufti Abdul Qavi must be counted among the culprits. One longs for the good not-so-old days when there was no private TV in Pakistan and no such obscenity and vulgarity beamed into people's living rooms.
Veena Malik spoke with the strength of a conscience while shame was writ large on the faces of the two maulvis--one modern, the other archaic.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
WikiLeaks and Ben Ali's fall
Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali became the first victim of the WikiLeaks. Or, the leaks just dealt the final blow to make the corrupt dictator flee? (By the way, all dictators are corrupt. Are not they?)
However, more is expected to come in other Arab countries. Public outrage against dictatorship and voracious corruption of the rulers in Tunisia has sent alarm bells across the Arab world. Amr Musa of the Arab League has warned that other Arab countries could face unrest like that of Tunisia on account of increasing poverty among common Arabs.
It seems that WikiLeaks are proving a blessing in disguise for the people who suffer at the hands of dictators like Muammar Qaddafi of Libya and Hosni Mobarak of Egypt. The United States and its corporate media have never 'exposed' the Arab dictators only to keep the oil flowing and put the anti-Israeli sentiments of the people of Arab world on leash.
On another note, the media in Pakistan are trying to inflame public sentiments against the PPP-led government by trying to draw a parallel between corruption of Ben Ali and perceived corruption of President Asif Ali Zardari.
However, they fail to realize that Ben Ali and his coterie's power flowed from the barrel of the gun, while in Pakistan a democratically elected government is struggling to survive the repercussions of an inherited war on terror and deep-rooted extremism.
However, more is expected to come in other Arab countries. Public outrage against dictatorship and voracious corruption of the rulers in Tunisia has sent alarm bells across the Arab world. Amr Musa of the Arab League has warned that other Arab countries could face unrest like that of Tunisia on account of increasing poverty among common Arabs.
It seems that WikiLeaks are proving a blessing in disguise for the people who suffer at the hands of dictators like Muammar Qaddafi of Libya and Hosni Mobarak of Egypt. The United States and its corporate media have never 'exposed' the Arab dictators only to keep the oil flowing and put the anti-Israeli sentiments of the people of Arab world on leash.
On another note, the media in Pakistan are trying to inflame public sentiments against the PPP-led government by trying to draw a parallel between corruption of Ben Ali and perceived corruption of President Asif Ali Zardari.
However, they fail to realize that Ben Ali and his coterie's power flowed from the barrel of the gun, while in Pakistan a democratically elected government is struggling to survive the repercussions of an inherited war on terror and deep-rooted extremism.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Playing with words we don't know their meanings
Afghanistan's Education Minister Farooq Wardak, in an interview with Guardian newspaper said the Taliban have agreed to drop their opposition to female education in the war-battered country. "It is attitudinal change, it is behavioural change, it is cultural change," he said. Interesting!
Attitude, behavior and culture all changed within a few years. Do these change so quickly?
Behavior is always driven by belief. Therefore, it changes with a change in belief which may happen in a short span. Attitude is comparatively long-lasting because it has its roots in culture. Culture itself is mind, which is a combination of values, thought patterns & perception, beliefs and behavior.
Culture is like an iceberg with behavior, customs, language, food, art and clothes just the tip, which is called external culture.
The most significant part of culture is internal or inside our heads which encompasses our way of thinking or how we perceive or interpret reality. Our values and beliefs are determined by this part of the culture. These values, beliefs, and ways of thinking in turn shape or determine most of our behavior.
Looking at behavior, attitude, and culture in the light of these arguments, one is surprised how all the three transformed for the Taliban in just 10 years.
Daily Dawn of Pakistan in one of its editorials on January 14 says: "On the surface it was a stern public diplomacy message from the vice president of America to the people of Pakistan." Public diplomacy by its very nature is always soft. Because the aim of public diplomacy is to get people of other countries do what you want them to do without threat or coercion. For public diplomacy governments normally use channels other than diplomacy per se. Like Voice of American (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Liberty Radio (RFL)etc are tools of public diplomacy the United States have been using to promote a soft image of itself. Public diplomacy depends on soft power instead of stern or hard power.
We should be careful in using words which have a large baggage of meanings behind them.
Attitude, behavior and culture all changed within a few years. Do these change so quickly?
Behavior is always driven by belief. Therefore, it changes with a change in belief which may happen in a short span. Attitude is comparatively long-lasting because it has its roots in culture. Culture itself is mind, which is a combination of values, thought patterns & perception, beliefs and behavior.
Culture is like an iceberg with behavior, customs, language, food, art and clothes just the tip, which is called external culture.
The most significant part of culture is internal or inside our heads which encompasses our way of thinking or how we perceive or interpret reality. Our values and beliefs are determined by this part of the culture. These values, beliefs, and ways of thinking in turn shape or determine most of our behavior.
Looking at behavior, attitude, and culture in the light of these arguments, one is surprised how all the three transformed for the Taliban in just 10 years.
Daily Dawn of Pakistan in one of its editorials on January 14 says: "On the surface it was a stern public diplomacy message from the vice president of America to the people of Pakistan." Public diplomacy by its very nature is always soft. Because the aim of public diplomacy is to get people of other countries do what you want them to do without threat or coercion. For public diplomacy governments normally use channels other than diplomacy per se. Like Voice of American (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Liberty Radio (RFL)etc are tools of public diplomacy the United States have been using to promote a soft image of itself. Public diplomacy depends on soft power instead of stern or hard power.
We should be careful in using words which have a large baggage of meanings behind them.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Withering state
German philosopher and sociologist Max Weber says that only STATE has a monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a given territory. It means that a state exists so long as it has a monopoly of violence--of course apart from its other obligations. Furthermore, only states have the right to declare war.
In the light of Weber's idea of state Pakistan exists no more: it has lost its monopoly of violence over the years. Pakistan as a state has declared a war on terror, while home-grown non-state actors have declared war on the very state of Pakistan.
In a functioning state courts hand down punishments to the convicts which are executed by the executive (another organ of the state). However, in Pakistan, individuals and militant outfits punish people summarily in blithe disregard to judiciary (second organ of the state) and the executive.
I am wondering whether a state can claim its existence in the absence of any functioning organ?
In the light of Weber's idea of state Pakistan exists no more: it has lost its monopoly of violence over the years. Pakistan as a state has declared a war on terror, while home-grown non-state actors have declared war on the very state of Pakistan.
In a functioning state courts hand down punishments to the convicts which are executed by the executive (another organ of the state). However, in Pakistan, individuals and militant outfits punish people summarily in blithe disregard to judiciary (second organ of the state) and the executive.
I am wondering whether a state can claim its existence in the absence of any functioning organ?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Supine and spineless!
Behold! A member of the committee tasked with determining the causes of Salman Taseer's assassination has come up with a bizarre revelation: Qadri, the assassin, has no connection to any extremist and defunct organization. Which means that Taseer's assassination was the act of a lone lunatic.
But what about the thousands of people who jubilated at the murder and still try to lionize the killer? What about the scores of 'lawyers' who garlanded Qadri and offered to plead his case free of cost? What about heads of almost every religious party that still eulogize the killer and justify the murder?
Everybody that spoke at the Karachi rally and hurled threats at every moderate, sane people are complicit in this assassination. In short, Qadri is not an unbranded lunatic murderer; he belongs to every organization that bay for the blood of religious minorities and threaten every person that calls for the repeal of the draconian law called blasphemy law.
Every organization--and every individual--that supports the blasphemy law is related to Qadri, both directly and indirectly. And last but not the least, every 'journalist' that stoked hatred against religious minorities and against saner voices like that of Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman is culpable. Qadri belongs to Meher Bokhari, Ansar Abbassi and their elks, and they belong to Qadri.
Qadri belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI (F), Jamaatul Daawa, Jaishi Muhammad, Sipahe Sohaba, Sunni Tehrik--name a so-called religious organization and they belong to each other.
This shameful story was capped by our supine and spineless Prime Minister Gillani, whose government stooped so low and literally disowned the hero who stood by his conscience until his last drop of blood. Taseer died a hero's death; his party tucked its tail between its legs and ran for their lives.
The civil society put up a brave face, but was ditched by the government when Gillani announced not to amend the blasphemy law. Shame on you!
But what about the thousands of people who jubilated at the murder and still try to lionize the killer? What about the scores of 'lawyers' who garlanded Qadri and offered to plead his case free of cost? What about heads of almost every religious party that still eulogize the killer and justify the murder?
Everybody that spoke at the Karachi rally and hurled threats at every moderate, sane people are complicit in this assassination. In short, Qadri is not an unbranded lunatic murderer; he belongs to every organization that bay for the blood of religious minorities and threaten every person that calls for the repeal of the draconian law called blasphemy law.
Every organization--and every individual--that supports the blasphemy law is related to Qadri, both directly and indirectly. And last but not the least, every 'journalist' that stoked hatred against religious minorities and against saner voices like that of Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman is culpable. Qadri belongs to Meher Bokhari, Ansar Abbassi and their elks, and they belong to Qadri.
Qadri belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI (F), Jamaatul Daawa, Jaishi Muhammad, Sipahe Sohaba, Sunni Tehrik--name a so-called religious organization and they belong to each other.
This shameful story was capped by our supine and spineless Prime Minister Gillani, whose government stooped so low and literally disowned the hero who stood by his conscience until his last drop of blood. Taseer died a hero's death; his party tucked its tail between its legs and ran for their lives.
The civil society put up a brave face, but was ditched by the government when Gillani announced not to amend the blasphemy law. Shame on you!
Supine and spinelss!
Behold! A member of the committee tasked with determining the causes of Salman Taseer's assassination has come up with a bizarre revelation: Qadri, the assassin, has no connection to any extremist and defunct organization. Which means that Taseer's assassination was the act of a lone lunatic.
But what about the thousands of people who jubilated at the murder and still try to lionize the killer? What about the scores of 'lawyers' who garlanded Qadri and offered to plead his case free of cost? What about heads of almost every religious party that still eulogize the killer and justify the murder?
Everybody that spoke at the Karachi rally and hurled threats at every moderate, sane people are complicit in this assassination. In short, Qadri is not an unbranded lunatic murderer; he belongs to every organization that bay for the blood of religious minorities and threaten every person that calls for the repeal of the draconian law called blasphemy law.
Every organization--and every individual--that supports the blasphemy law is related to Qadri, both directly and indirectly. And last but not the least, every 'journalist' that stoked hatred against religious minorities and against saner voices like that of Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman is culpable. Qadri belongs to Meher Bokhari, Ansar Abbassi and their elks, and they belong to Qadri.
Qadri belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI (F), Jamaatul Daawa, Jaishi Muhammad, Sipahe Sohaba, Sunni Tehrik--name a so-called religious organization and they belong to each other.
This shameful story was capped by our supine and spineless Prime Minister Gillani, whose government stooped so low and literally disowned the hero who stood by his conscience until his last drop of blood. Taseer died a hero's death; his party tucked its tail between its legs and ran for their lives.
The civil society put up a brave face, but was ditched by the government when Gillani announced not to amend the blasphemy law. Shame on you!
But what about the thousands of people who jubilated at the murder and still try to lionize the killer? What about the scores of 'lawyers' who garlanded Qadri and offered to plead his case free of cost? What about heads of almost every religious party that still eulogize the killer and justify the murder?
Everybody that spoke at the Karachi rally and hurled threats at every moderate, sane people are complicit in this assassination. In short, Qadri is not an unbranded lunatic murderer; he belongs to every organization that bay for the blood of religious minorities and threaten every person that calls for the repeal of the draconian law called blasphemy law.
Every organization--and every individual--that supports the blasphemy law is related to Qadri, both directly and indirectly. And last but not the least, every 'journalist' that stoked hatred against religious minorities and against saner voices like that of Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman is culpable. Qadri belongs to Meher Bokhari, Ansar Abbassi and their elks, and they belong to Qadri.
Qadri belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI (F), Jamaatul Daawa, Jaishi Muhammad, Sipahe Sohaba, Sunni Tehrik--name a so-called religious organization and they belong to each other.
This shameful story was capped by our supine and spineless Prime Minister Gillani, whose government stooped so low and literally disowned the hero who stood by his conscience until his last drop of blood. Taseer died a hero's death; his party tucked its tail between its legs and ran for their lives.
The civil society put up a brave face, but was ditched by the government when Gillani announced not to amend the blasphemy law. Shame on you!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Murder in a context
Everything that a person does is determined by his/her environment. Prevailing environment provides a context to our doings because nothing happens in a contextual vacuum. When the assassin Mumtaz Qadri, who now hymns na'at's in police custody, emptied two magazines of his official gun into the body of Salam Taseer, the context for this gory drama had been provided by the national media, and many others.
Some others tried to give it a post-murder context. Babar Awan called it a conspiracy against the government--a government which literally let the valiant Taseer down. It was no conspiracy; it was plain murder based on religious and sectarian hatred. Full Stop.
Rehman Malik says that he himself would shot dead, on the spot, if someone blasphemes. One is constrained to tell him: "Just shut up your gab, man!" It is akin to promote anarchy by emboldening lunatics who have already gone haywire. It is worse than inquisitions. If Interior Minister of a country promotes lynching by mob, how can we expect justice in such a society. I know that Rehman Malik wants to save his own skin by pampering to the rabid reactionaries.
The last time I checked Pakistan had a constitution and a warped legal system with (mal)functioning courts. Then, how and why he felt the need to shoot down a person on the spot without bring charges against him to a court of law?
Babar Awan, who has a knack for making a mad run for every high office, set his eyes on the vacant governor's house in Lahore even before Taseer's blood was wiped from the murder scene. It was shocking to see a sheepish mirth on his face while sitting with Asif Zardari in anticipation of being called to replace Taseer. But can he or anyone else in the ranks of the present-day PPP replace Taseer? They may fill his chair, but the void will be there.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Pakistan or Orwell's Animal Farm?
When Mumtaz Qadri, the killer, was brought to a court in Rawalpindi on Wednesday a motley of lunatics showered him with flower petals and chanted slogans in his support. Just like an individual can suffer from schizophrenia or paranoia, these psychic diseases can afflict a whole lot of people. This is what Pakistan is passing through these days.
But the situation becomes all the more alarming when these schizophrenics and paranoids take control of the mass media, attire modern dress and bray for the blood of a few liberal voices. It becomes a classic case of Modern Media, Medieval Mind (Zafarullah Khan in his seminal research used this term for jihadi web-based newspapers in Pakistan).
But the line dividing hate-based jihadi and mainstream media is getting blurred. Blogs like http://cafepyala.blogspot.com/ are the only alternative and saner media in Pakistan. Liberal voices have been stifled. Blogs have become the only islands of freedom of speech. However, they can be no match for the mainstream media that have been taken over by the lunatics.
How many people in Pakistan have access to the Internet? How many people can read and understand English, which is the lingua franca of blogposts? People everywhere are dependent on newspapers, radio and television to have a world view. Private television play a havoc in Pakistan, because the common viewers have a blind faith in them on account of their being not government-controlled.
Gone are the days when journalism used to be a profession of the left; now it has been taken over by the rabid rightists. Even the present-day left has taken a U-turn. In the words of my journalist friend, Iftikhar Firdous, left is now only a sign of direction. This shows bankruptcy of Pakistani society.
Those chanting for the killer and garlanding him for his despicable crime forget that Salman Taseer was not an individual; he represented a section of society which does not see life in black & white. The criminal silenced that section of society; left them chilled in fear. Pakistan is fast becoming George Orwell's Animal Farm where people like Ansar Abbasi, Meher Bokhari, Shahid Masood and Hamid Mir will tell the people what to chant and how to chant. Goons like Qadri will stalk every nook of the country to silence any dissenting voice.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Groping in the dark!
How difficult it has become for individuals in Pakistan to adjust to the sensitivities of the numerous? Life has become a balancing act on a thin rope in a dark room which is not there. It is a torturous walk to a certain death. Nay! It eats into my vitals, but does not let me to die—once and for all. They want me to die in pieces. Like Prometheus, they eat my liver every day; but it grows back to be eaten again the next day.
How can I balance myself? My body and steps can respond to only one beat at a time. But there are many that shake my soul. Shatters my whole body. Confounds my mind. Sap my courage. And take away my will to step ahead. I want to freeze, turn into a stone just like ‘they’ have frozen time and space. For me, time moves but in a circle like arm of the clock. For them, time is standstill. Nothing has moved, nothing will move. The sun rises and sets out of its wont.
But I see their faces are frozen too. Like a mask that has no emotions, and it sends shivers down my spine. How can I trust people who garland the killer and shower profanities on the victim? Who reach out to the wolf for devouring one of their own primate. Don't they know that they are kissing the cold hand of the death? Look! blood is still dripping from his hands and he is frothing at his mouth.
He has tasted human blood. Now, nothing else can quench his thirst.
And look at the media! They are spewing more hatred. Instead of telling the story of the death of humanity, the anchorpersons and their 'experts' blame the victim and valorize the killing machine. Is it because the killing machine has got a beard? No problem, if he has got a warped and twisted soul like his mind--if he has any.
After all, the killing machine was manufactured by these anchorpersons. They wrote the script. They chose the characters. They directed the whole gory drama.
I am losing my balance. I cannot step forward--not even backward. And it is so painful to stand still. I can stop my hands and feet from moving. My eyes from blinking. But, I can't stop my blood from running in my veins. Therefore, I take one long plunge. To hell with death-mongers. I dare to say that the one whose blood turned the streets of the capital into red is a shaheed. The one who had a wry smile on his ghostly face is a murderer.
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