R O N I Nammar yasir’s personal blog

There is an Urdu metaphor ‘Navishta e deewaar’, that roughly states that wise men should make out the present and expected future by reading the graffiti on the walls. The graffiti that’s usually found on the streets and roads of Karachi is either a public service message that forbids you to use these streets like a public toilet or mass marketing campaigns from “wizards” (last name usually ends with Bengali) who guarantee to solve our problems, especially if they have anything to do with our love life, in 6 days. Why six? My wild guess says, they don’t work on Sundays.

Few months ago the two major parties of Sindh were going through a rough breakup, again (no, they don’t remind me of Ross and Rachel from Friends). It was the same time that target killing was at its peak and the walls of Karachi revealed that the Urdu speaking community aka ‘Mohajirs’ wants their own province all of a sudden. That was funny because, I belong to the same community but I wasn’t informed of any such arrangement. Not a single memo, urgent email or a petition for formality sake was forwarded my way to have my consensus on a demand of such significant nature. After all I am the member of the same community and I pay more tax than Nawaz Sharif. Anyways, I decided to let go when Ross and Rachel, oops MQM and PPP decided to put their differences and death of hundreds of Karachiites aside.

In the whole process I learned an important lesson; you can tell a great deal about a society by just looking at the billboards hanging at their streets. So whether it be Dr. Shaista Wahidi (sister of SRK-P) selling lawns or Dr. Ghulam Mujtaba advertising his Facebook fan page we can declare that Pakistan, a nation where retired railway workers take their lives because they don’t get the pension money of Rs. 4000 on time. Rich aunties won’t think twice about it while buying lawn suits worth twice the mentioned (pension) amount. Also the same billboard phenomenon tells us that people like Dr. Mujtaba find it easier to buy their way into popularity instead of constructing a medical college or a hospital in Thatta or Pishin.

This brings me to the talk of the week: Nabeel Khokar. The man, inspired from cheap Hollywood chick flicks came up with a new trend (at least the first in Pakistan). We have come a long way from romantic graffiti’s or wall chalking on school walls with initials like “A + R”. Will it win the heart of the mentioned lady? Or bring a revolution to roadside advertisement? These mysteries of life will take their time to solve. Maybe this bold and costly stunt won’t bring Ms. Princess back, but it tells us another important lesson:

“Money might fill the empty space on a billboard but not the emptiness in your skull.”

I wonder how the mullahs are reacting to Nabeel Khokar’s message on the wall. Maybe the use of ‘soon to be husband’ bit makes the message Shariah compliant. After all nothing wrong in apologizing for being dirty, sneaky, immoral, poorly-endowed slimeball? Not like he killed someone in cold blood or is responsible for spreading religious hatred and extremism, right? But then who ever apologizes for that kind of a thing in Pakistan. We hardly consider it a problem, so what if more people died in Pakistan because of religious extremism than dengue or drone attacks? Problems that are only considered real today are those that will help politicians multiply their votes in the coming elections.

So what if we allowed the man responsible for the attacks on the Sri Lankan team back on the streets? So what if Sunni Tehrik can place billboards all over Karachi in favor of a cold blood murderer? Not like anyone on these roads have any problem with it or the liberal\secular coalition Govt. of PPP, MQM and ANP is doing anything to remove the billboard. So why should I or 2 out of 10 people out there should give a crap. There are important issues out there we should be worrying about. After all haven’t we heard that both extremism and terrorism from Pakistan will automatically evaporate once USA and its allies leave this region? I am sure you don’t believe me, despite the fact that I pay more tax than Nawaz Sharif but you will believe Imran Khan don’t you and he will tell you the same.

No USA (in the region) = No suicide attacks + no hate crimes against minorities + No hate speeches in the Friday prayers + No targeted sectarian killings

Yes, it’s that simple.

Any idea what the billboards of Nabeel Khokar, Mumtaz Qadri, Dr. Gholam Mujataba and summer lawns have in common?  If you look into it carefully, it has the same relation that we find with the Jewish conspiracy in our daily life routines. Think about it.

Popularity: 18% [?]

At the time when the excited lot at Time Square was celebrating the death of OBL, we in Pakistan were in a state of absolute shock and bewilderment. Like an uninvited guest in a party who’s asked to say a few words on the stage, we had no clue on how to react. A large fraction in the west expected us to celebrate the death of OBL like New Yorkers. Similarly a friend in India tweeted that the moderate Pakistanis should come out of their houses to show their contentment on the death of the Saudi businessman turned Al-Qaeda’s founding daddy. But on the other side of the border we were still chewing on the facts that came our way via western news sources. Contrary to Scooby Dooby Cartoon show, where the evil villain was unmasked in the end; this episode further mystified everything we were made to believe in last one decade.

The answer to why Pakistanis didn’t celebrate OBL’s death came a few weeks after; when a double suicide attack was carried out in Charasadda (taking 89 innocent lives and injuring 140 people) followed by a  drone strike claiming the death of Al-Qaeda militants. So those American friends who are still curious on why we didn’t celebrate OBL’s death should realize that you might have won this year’s ‘Super Bowl’ but like always we have to clean up the created mess irrespective of who comes out as a winner.

Having said that, I secretly wish that Pakistanis would have been banned from expressing on this incident by our pro-active Supreme Court. As only few hours after the announcement of OBL’s death a section of journalists and anchors started referring him a martyr and Islam’s true soldier, who also turned out to be a porn lover (now I know who to blame). But what disappointed me the most was the shocking stance of some of Pakistan’s respectable names including writer/poet/ diplomat Ataul Haq Qasmi (creator of PTV’s classic like Khwaja & Sons) who found nothing wrong in publicly admiring OBL on the local channels. Similarly lawyers, political parties and even citizens in various Pakistanis cities offered prayers for the terrorist who publicly declared a war against Pakistan and its people, resulting in the death of over 3500 Pakistanis (majority of who never supported the US war mongering policy in the region).

BBC radio’s Urdu service interviewed a house wife in Abbottabad who wished if she knew of OBL’s presence in her neighborhood, she would have showed him the well known Pakistani hospitality. From the mood of our nation the Abbottabadi house wife is not the only one who follow this peculiar mind set. In fact I am pretty much sure that she or someone in her family will not mind a US citizenship if offered. Pakistanis who criticize the US policy the most find no problem in living or wish to live the American dream in USA or any prosperous part of the west. I fail to understand this behavior.

Numerous times in the past Islamic states have also sabotaged the sovereignty of Pakistan but we don’t want to talk about that. We trained facilitated and harbored foreign terrorists in the past and continue to do so today even if it proves out to be hazardous for our safety, economy and future. Only because the terrorists claim to follow the same religion or appear more Muslims than we are. Does that make sense to anyone out there?

We want our kids to study and work abroad, to bring back Dollars, Pounds, Euros and foreign degrees. At the same time we find it completely appropriate to publicly display open affection towards dead Al-Qaeda leaders and approve of Taliban version of Sharia in our country. So from what it appears we are either utterly stupid or despicably a hypocrite nation that does not want to learn from its past at all, as if learning from the past was freshly banned by LHC or have been put on the blasphemy list by the local Mullahs. We secretly wish to win a gold medal for our Islamic ghairat, if there was a championship where they gave out prices to Muslim Cheerleaders for showing off their affection for the religion we would have been world champions. If there was a reality show by the name ‘Muslims got Gherat (honor)’: Pakistanis would have voted their hearts out to win the title and we would have easily won it too for banning facebook two years in a row.

But no awards or rewards; religious or otherwise are handed over for absurdity or irrationality. The world is watching us and our growing extremist behavior. The legacy we are leaving behind for our next generation is only going to make them unwanted and disrespected as global citizens. As a matter of fact we are half way there.

Popularity: 28% [?]

We live in a society where people insist on labeling every living soul based on their religious, ethical and political association. It helps us judge people. Back in 3^rd grade and way before I started reading the Holy Quran I came to know about my sect. The reason that I fast forwarded to the secondary details before knowing the basics of the religion was of two reasons. Firstly, many of my class fellows were interested to know about how different my religious beliefs were from them. They asked inciting questions that weren’t their own. I wonder who planted those words in their young minds. Maybe their parents or perhaps the Qari who taught them Quran and religious education? Can’t blame the Indian or western media here or can we? The second reason that I had to keep up with the sectarian know-how was a tragic incident that took place in my extended family, when a teenage scout boy was brutally murdered among two other scout boys in a local Karachi mosque. It was just a start of the dark age of sectarian violence in Pakistan.

Contradictory to Imran Khan’s delusional belief, pre 9/11 Pakistan had a record number of target killings and sectarian attacks that took place in the name of religion. Also, the population of Pakistani minority thinned from a good 20% (in 1947) to a low 4%. Not that the remaining 16% converted to Islam or escalating Muslim population outdid the Non-Muslim population in the country. But it was half a century long discriminatory behavior and exponentially growing hate that forced them to move out of this country. When a TV anchor inquired a religious political leader about this trend, he blamed the rulers and their economic policies that have forced not only the minorities but also the Muslim majority to look out for better prospects in other countries. He went on saying that none of the Muslim religious schools in Pakistan incite hate or promote discrimination. He hinted that a religious revolution will bring the change every Pakistani is wishing for. Right!

Revolution this year has ironically become a fashion statement, just like the Che Guevara’s picture on a T-Shirt or the new iPad; “if they are having it, I want one too!”. But if we can actually learn something here  from the Egyptians; its the unity among the oppressed people which helped them get this far. They didn’t break down the protests and selfishly protested as Muslims or Christians. They didn’t even let their political affiliation come in the way of their national interest. When they protested they protested for the rights of every Egyptian irrespective of religion, class, sect or gender. And that’s something we hardly witness in Pakistan. We all are affected by terrorism and exponentially growing hate caused by a group of people over past few decades but still when a tragedy happens, our reaction is relative to social or religious association of the victims. A Shiite is seen mourning for a Shiite only, a group of energetic liberal activists will organize a vigil when the victims are Ahmedi or Christian. Only Bravelis will come out to protest the attacks on Sufi shrines and an attack on girl schools will only be protested by women.

Why a loss should be personally associated or it won’t be endorsed as a loss? Where does the humanitarian activist in us goes when something like that happens? If religious politicians who otherwise go to different mosques to pray can execute a common campaign to incite hate and score political points, than what’s stopping the hate victims?

Popularity: 33% [?]

Ever heard of Murphy law of terrorism? It says; “If a suicide attack can take place, it will”. Especially if the province is Punjab and the interior minister is Rana Sanaullah, probability of a terror attack maximizes. But it would be unfair to other law enforcers (intelligence agencies in particular) if the entire credit of incompetence, criminal negligence and corruption goes to the PML-N minister. After all he’s not the only one who allowed sectarian violence to prosper and flourish under the protected umbrella of law enforcement. Pakistani courts, military agencies, police and rangers for the past many years made sure not to catch any terrorist who is linked to sectarianism and if someone ever gets caught, they are back on the streets on the basis of lack of evidence, political influence or for reasons that we don’t like to discuss in public.

Prime example is the escape of four Jundullah militants from police custody in June, who were being tried for the deadly Ashoura attack earlier in Karachi. The government later on blamed the police for the security lapse (how convenient). After the Ashoura incident, series of sectarian attacks took place in including the attack on a bus full of women and children who were on their way to attend moharram procession. Sectarianism in Karachi didn’t stop there, there hasn’t been a month when sectarian killing didn’t take place leaving many innocent civilians shot dead. Brothers Shahzad Raza and Asif Raza belong to one of the many families who lost their loved ones in sectarian violence.

Now I am aware that this country is going through the toughest times in its 60 years of history, everyday there is a new story which leaves us shocked, distressed and dispirited. We opt to detach ourselves from every incident unless it’s personal. We indulge in discussions that revolve around on how these terror attacks are CIA funded or a reaction of Muslims that are disgruntled by the US presence in Iraq, Aghanistan and Pakistan. Religious clerics who can actually talk some sense into the trigging hands and stop them from killing fellow Pakistanis, conveniently shy away by taking no responsibility at all. But then religious clerics who went out of the way to condemn terrorism (Dr. Sarfaraz Naeemi) paid the price for their patriotism.

So the question arises where we go from here? We can blame Black Water and call it a reaction of drone attacks because we don’t want to take any responsibility for our religious intolerance that has been there before USA was discovered. Or we can adopt the easy way and ban the religious processions because ideologically speaking we don’t have anything to do with it and every blast brings strong graphics on the screens which kind of spoils our mood. Or we can condemn these attacks and ask the victims to stay calm because that’s what they do best after every attack.

With ongoing terrorism it’s kind of hard to keep track of who died for what reason but with every innocent death, Pakistan dies a little. With every lost life, the flame of what remains to be called hope diminishes. And this will continue to happen, unless we decide enough is enough!

In the end I would like to share the TED talk of Pakistani documentarian Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy whose allowing us to look inside a school of suicide bombers:

Popularity: 55% [?]

If you are a regular follower of the Pakistani blogosphere and main stream media, chances are that you might have come across these three stories (fake degree scandal, fox calling Pakistan pornistan and a heartbreaking rape incident of a nursing student). It’s amazing how the three stories that appear completely different to each other are one way or the other correlated.

Starting off with the fox news story, which claims that Pakistan tops the google chart when it comes to ‘Sexy Searches’ (Though personally speaking I find nothing sexy about horse sex). Frankly speaking the standard of journalism Fox News is infamous for, its special love for Pakistan and the Muslim world over the years and Google’s disassociation with the fox story takes away our special internet achievement. But I am sure folks around the world might have a good laugh on the story and our sexy (pervert is the correct word) nature. But does it take away the fact; that some of us actually make these searches or watch porn of similar genre (scary thought)? I think not, it actually signifies another attribute of our hypocritical nature. Like banning facebook, youtube and even Wikipedia but no such order against porn sites, I wonder why?

The Second story that continues to receive maximum media coverage is the fake degree scandal. The scandal reaffirms the value of education in our society and (lack of intellect) in our ruling class. Despite they invest millions in their election campaigns; the only investment they ever made in education department was acquiring a fake degree. Those who follow the budget speech every summer are aware of Governments annual spending on education (conveniently 3% or less of the total). It pretty much explains the literacy rate of this country. Not only that our rulers want us to remain illiterate, majority of us have hardly made any sincere efforts in getting quality or any education for that matter. Fact!

Last and the most heart breaking story is the tragic rape incident of a trainee nurse. I sadly witnessed the news when it first aired on a local channel. It was an exclusive video clip where the poor rape victim (rape survivor hopefully) was being brought to the hospital ward for treatment. In a 30 second video clip the cameraman found his professional obligation in zooming into rape victim’s wounded face and other injuries apparent on her body. It was the most painful sight ever; I wonder why the media squad present on the scene didn’t feel the same? The appalling coverage didn’t end here, every day onwards there is a video clip of the injured rape victim on every Pakistani channel. By now every Pakistani recognizes her face. The only object that sometime protects her from the embarrassment is her oxygen mask. Allegedly there are doctors who raped her and the hospital administration that ignored her genuine harassment complaints, now the same administration fails to protect her from unwanted visitors and media coverage.

The society where we live in, its A-Ok if the name or face of a rape victim is made public. Everyone knows that Mukhtara Mai or Dr. Shazia was raped but nobody can recall the faces or even names of the offenders who carried out this inhuman act. Deep down the perversion that we all embrace, negates the severity of a crime like rape. The lack of education that we all are so proud of, disregards the inhumanity in broadcasting rape victims while getting medical treatment. But God forbid if it happens to a member of your family, will you still allow it to broadcast?

Popularity: 64% [?]