The Canvas

So it’s confirmed that Imran Khan is not a politician. He is an activist. A person who is more honest to his causes, and unrealistically follows them has to be a person who advocates more good than actually stepping up to do some. I say this because five days ago he tore up his nomination papers for the next general elections for reasons amongst which included his ‘unwillingness to thump desks.’ I am like, “What the f***?”

Is he the same person for whom so many women were harassed and mis-treated in the middle of a bazaar and were dragged by their hair into police vehicles? Is he the same person that vowed to fight for justice and asked students to join his cause and ultimately got himself into trouble with the IJT students? What was all that for? A day when he would just up and leave the game as he willed? I believe it’s utterly childlike of him to do so and I won’t hold back from claiming he is a wimp, calling for an all out election boycott. For I too had my faith in him for a very short period of time…

If there is any chance to show the world that we as a nation are willing to vote for (relatively) good candidates if there are any, it was now. Since this election, no matter how unfair would have been more equalized if someone actually stood up to ‘represent the people,’ which I believed Imran was doing; I guess he has more consideration for his soft hands.

But lo and behold, the people who should have actually walked away from it all, had they any humility and self-respect in them, are the ones getting their mandates and manifestos in order. An opportunity to redo what they did to this country in the past, perhaps? I am talking about Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and her party who are padding up for another innings in the government.

“Welcome to the Post-Zia Era 2.0!” As I would say.

Talking about the sham democracy and elections we would or might have when they come, I believe the freedom of information and freedom for information are also two core concepts for a society that ‘has to know whats going on, and what people think.’ For that matter I introduce two more blogs to my blogroll. The first one is Destogate by Tabish Bhimani and the second one is The WeCite blog, both of which have interesting posts with varying opinions on different topics.

Sometimes it’s just cool to believe in things that you want to believe in, regardless of the fact that you know they might be untrue. Like a moment where one thinks as a child they would get their favorite gifts on Christmas, while the probability of which is already known and could start from zero. Regardless of the fact that those things are the truth you wish to seek.

Here is an attempt, a good one I believe, I found over at Crybaby’s blog at deconstructing how logic is sometimes mis-leading and mis-informing.

An excerpt from it,

In a state of utter frustration at the inability to comprehend the paradox of free-will and predestination, I asked a Malaysian islamic scholar to satisfy my intellect. We were sitting in a mosque and pointing his finger towards a wall he asked me “Can you see behind it?” I replied “No”. With a smile he said “You’re a human with such a small intellect that you don’t even know whats behind that wall, but you think you can understand all the workings of God with your mind”

While it might be is own personal path to enlightenment, it might or might not be true for others.

Update I
Just as I finished this piece, news came in that the woman has been sentenced for 15 days imprisonment, and deportation from Sudan.

Nowhere in the world would one see these three things discussed under one topic except for an Islamic and/or religious forum.

Just for the record, even if you are familiar with this case, there was a lady teacher in Sudan… Sudan! Who is British and was teaching a group of elementary schoolers. It so happened that she accidentally or unintentionally led a small school boy/student to name his teddy bear ‘Muhammad.’ The details of the event can be read in the news link and various other sources online. Her mistake was told on to the law enforcement agencies and she was taking into custody. In a nutshell, it has created a bigger riot outside of Sudan than inside of it. Let me explain how.

The Opinion Pools
All over the internet, Islamic apologists and pseudo reformers have started debating at how arcane a step it is for the Sudanese law enforcement to have arrested her in the first place and then made to stand trial to plea her case. “Free her immediately, for it was an honest mistake,” is what they say it’s all. Apparently they know more about her mistakes sitting outside Sudan with the limited information that is making out from that war stricken country.

Additionally, what is amazing to note is that these people, the so called reformists, have straight away declared this act as ‘insane’ or ‘idiotic’. Citations cannot be given since they are from closed discussion groups.

The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has repeatedly called for ‘commonsense’ to prevail, while I believe he has no idea what ‘commonsense’ in an astute Khartoum religious terms means. Commonsense in Sudan would mean lashes and imprisonment for a few weeks and possible deportation. I would use my word carefully, Mr. Miliband.

Read a variety of opinions and thoughts here.

The Annoying Part
What is annoying to see in all this is that when a country like Sudan, where religious fervor is as common as dust in the Saharan deserts, is trying to follow their constitutional system, their ‘laws’, their understanding of human liberties and giving the woman a trial to plea her case, all these overnight intellectuals pop out of the woodwork brandishing their version of Islamic laws and fatwas, adamantly demanding other’s to follow them. All the while infringing the very morals of freedom of choice of a society, and popular vote they so vehemently vow to protect and uphold.

If Sudanese people feel they cannot live with persons and people somehow defiling or defaming the Holy Prophet (PBUH), I believe it is their justified right to make a law to restrict people from doing so. Because honestly, what would be a better situation, a place where people try to keep quite about a few things rather than demand freedom of XYZ things and get harassed at the hands of the greater community?

And on a state level, we the libertarians should ask ourselves if we want to hinder the course of a country trying to develop it’s democratic institutions. Would it be best to dictate it’s path towards what is right and what is wrong regardless of what the people on the ground level believe? I believe it would be hypocritical of us to deny countries like these to have a chance at running their own path towards a society that better understands the in’s and out’s of the laws they have, and why they have them in the first place. Mending them to perfection comes later.

A Few Concepts Worth Preaching
In times like these, when everyone is so edgy, it is indeed good for everyone of us to take a step back and take a deep breath. We need to act calmer, we need to act patiently, we need to show people some mercy regardless of their faith or religion. I know there are somethings in like that aren’t acceptable, but it might be an honest mistake from a person who might have little or no knowledge about certain cultures and taboos in more conservative societies. We could always be more tolerant of such mistakes.

But only if these are honest mistakes and not some juvenile acts of pissing people off and making fun of their beliefs. The only best way of finding that out is through a fair trial for the defendant, and that I think is being given to her. Moreover, not all of us are as clean as we think we are. We are all sinners, big or small, we could always find a little spot in our hearts that could be given to people who might have committed a petty crime, unintentionally. That goes same for the people on the other side, who preach the world about their universal morals, etc.

After all, from God we all came, and to God we’ll all go.

It’s 7:10 am, this is probably the time Gen. Musharraf will be getting ready for his ceremonial farewell from a post he served for the last 10 years as the Chief of the Army Staff for Pakistan Fauj.

This transfer of power comes as a necessity, but more due to internal and external pressures built on him to resign from the post, and reinstate democracy, as he was also challenged by the law-makers that he could not and cannot retain both the posts after his re-election from the assemblies. Things stated to fall out of place long ago for Musharraf, and revisiting those reasons would be an exercise in time wasting and irrelevant now. But during this period we have seen a lot of undue tension and suffering at the hands of the civil society – which truly uncalled for and condemnable.

Gen. Kiyani will be handed over the command of the Army today, who was former chief of Intelligence for the institution and an aide to Benazir Bhutto in her opposition years,

Musharraf, 64, will hand over responsibility for the army to Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, 52, former chief of Pakistan’s spy agency, his spokesman Rashid Qureshi said yesterday. [...]

Musharraf plans to take a presidential oath for a second five-year term tomorrow after the Supreme Court rejected challenges to his eligibility last week.

Opposition politicians demanded Musharraf resign as head of the military to comply with a provision in the constitution that prohibits officials from holding two jobs simultaneously. Bhutto agreed to a power-sharing agreement with Musharraf in which he would remain as president if he let go of the military and allowed elections in January. She abandoned that agreement after Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3 and put her under house arrest twice in a week. (Bloomberg)

This might come as a welcome sign for a less militarized Pakistani governmental system, that has qualified civilian brought up through the ranks of the state to serve it on merit. But again, cynically, all will not be fixed in one day. His resignation from the post is crucial for any sort of restoration of a Democratic system (again, which cannot be brought-in in a day since it depends upon thousands of other variables) but hopefully he will be our last Commander-in-Chief President for all the good reasons.

Now the onus remains on us civilians to use this time to build stronger democratic institutions, that are free from those very viruses that have helped, or should I rather say ravaged our state to a condition it is in today. A post by shaibee on Islamabad Metblog makes a good point in this regard,

Its quite interesting to note that “President of Pakistan” will take oath of the office of “President of Pakistan” on Thursday, November 29, 2007. Attorney General of Pakistan has been quoted as saying that the oath will be taken under 1973 constitution. Again its interesting to note that although PCO (2007) has put the 1973 constitution in abeyance, yet the oath will be taken under 1973 constitution.

Which is amazing and sad at the same time.

Yet, as usual, some doubts were cast using acute statistical analysis by Mohtarma in his 0.1% chance of not resigning from the post. Someone who has probably made it her agenda to look everything with a certain bit of irony for any sort of political mileage she can get.

Shaheryar Ali recently commented on one of my posts that lead me to another wonderful weblog, Pak Tea House, on WordPress.

They present ideas and thoughts in a subtle constructive manner, something more appreciable, since I really cannot bother decipher what is what in most of the random posts I read on politics in our blogosphere. Most of them are just articles or webclips that really don’t make sense and have no connection what so ever with the writer’s thoughts. Because that’s what really matters.

Aasem Bakhshi is a regular contributor there and he recently did a post titled Death of an Idea that cynically argues how history might help us as a nation realize that today it is time we gave up relying on an idea that has not at all worked for us. But the dearth of ideas in our nation itself has lead us to become slaves of our mistakes.

It’s all about learning lessons, and a kid cannot be taught a lesson until that idea comes of age on it or there is a some mis-adventure with it. Our kid however has shown slow progress at accepting or creating newer ideas.

As someone rightly said,

The philosophy of one century,
is the common sense of the next.

It takes time for minds to assimilate around an idea for good, but I presume we can get there. He also goes on to quote Eqbal Ahmed’s writings and terms him one of the great liberal minds of Pakistan to have lived.

My qualm however is of a different sort, and is rather with how some sections of our society still might not be affected by what is going in and about in the circles of our ‘civil/urban’ citizenry. People who are more economically well-off, or at the other end, are earning their living the same way they have for the past 20 years in the fields and meadows of Pakistan, are only slightly affected by these recent events that have shook the very foundations of the Pakistani state. How would they see the light, if ever, God forbid this time comes again in the future.

I believe they need to be shown what the difference (blacks and whites) between democratically elected governments to the one that is not. Hence I said,

The middle class may have fully or partially tasted the bitterness of a dictatorship in this term. But it remains to be seen if the peasant/worker class is effected in any sort of way or not?

Perhaps, the democratic and liberal forces should make their importance felt by delivering to these sections their due share of empowerment, development and security. After all, thats what they stand for, thats what they should deliver. Not only as a mandatory obligation, but a way of perpetuating the thought of how non-centralized, free’r economic and political systems benefit them in the end. And they might see the light.

For me it’s more important that the people at all levels of our society feel a positive change and concern up top. The opportunity to gain from national progress and development be made accessible to all, even if it means simple access to education. Democratically elected feudal lords are mere minions of a greater tyrannical mafia in our country – legitimized through the general election poll – that control and command their land patches worst than some dictators we have seen. Rampant abeyance of the law, various misdemeanors and utter disregard of the human rights in some cases.

Which is really sad. Since it is that working class peasant that will bring the change that we desire to see in our leaders of the future. Competent, ambitious, qualified, honest and able people elected on merit. And not some saien baba or wadera or chaudary or sayth that overlooks them and their assets lives as if a god to them and subsequently orders them to vote for him in return of small benefits.

Suffering of one class does not justify suffering for the other. It’s time we encompassed everyone in our vision for a better Pakistan. It is time!

Today, as most of you might be aware, is the day when Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif (the two brothers) will take another chance at returning to Pakistan, now via Lahore.

It is not really amazing to see them get so much support from the Saudi government, that is actively taking part in Pakistani political issues, especially the ones relating Nawaz Sharif’s return. The Saudi government gifted two bullet proof cars to these brothers for their travel in Pakistan. A balancing act of some sort I would say, which is good. While there is utter disregard for the freedom of other politicians, why should not the S-Brothers get the right to be ‘that’ free? Someone recently stated that this might be Saudi government’s attempt at quelling the political situation in Pakistan, and to encourage a more balanced election campaign. I don’t know, only time will tell.

However, what kind of elections can we talk about when we have cynics and critics claiming there is a deal already cut between those that matter. And I am not making up bullshit, this is printed in the newspapers. It also states that Nawaz will not be able to contest these elections thanks to his convictions, and I quote,

Conviction: According to the understanding, as revealed by PML-Q sources, Nawaz cannot contest the election because of his conviction, as has been stated by Attorney General Qayyum Malik. Shahbaz does not face any conviction but there’s a case of a plea bargain in which he is party as director of Hudaibia Mills and according to some legal experts, this is equivalent to a conviction and hence makes him ineligible. [Daily Times]

What remains to be seen is how this drama plays out as Punjab Police is stationed everywhere today in Lahore, and near by areas. PML-N supporter however remain jubilant and prepared.

May God give us some sense as a nation and lead us to sanity, and saner times. Amen.

What is your take on this? Speak your mind!

This is a definite mention, without further ado, I present to you Niyaz’s remixed song, ‘DilRuba.’

Niyaz is an Persian-Western fusion band, that primarily revolves around electronic sounds. Their vocalist is a Persian woman who knows Farsi (Persian), and has sung a few lyrics in this song in Urdu. Since Urdu and Farsi are very similar in script and elocution, the band leverages on that advantage to create a mystifying sufi sound in this song.

This is what Wikipedia has to say,

Niyaz—Persian and Urdu for yearning—is the musical brainchild of three musicians: top deejay, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Loga Ramin Torkian of the popular Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice.Azam was born in Iran but raised in India, where she started singing at an early age, absorbing the rich cultures of both countries. Her early music influences include the English soprano Emily Van Evera and singing-medieval- mystic-visionary-composer and abbess, Hildegard Von Bingen. Loga Ramin Torkian plays guitar, the saz, and rabab, while Carmen Rizzo does all the programming; keyboards, synthesizers and drums, as well as performing live with the group. On their new album for Six Degrees Records, Tony Levin of King Crimson plays bass along with other Indian and Armenian musical guests.

Niyaz is a mixture of old and new music styles. Their lyrics are drawn from Sufi mystics, such as the Persian poet Rumi, and other classic poetry sung in Urdu. Niyaz claims it for our times and gives it a modern expression. [Link]

Visit their official site to gain more knowledge about their great sound. Rarely do I post YouTubes on my blog, but this is a definite addition, I love their song. If you are into something electronic, or want to checkout something different from your regular listening stuff, this is a definite listen.

Many a people have had the opportunity to sling mud at me from time to time thanks to a few things I believe in. Those beliefs might be contrary to the general notion, eccentric you might say, but the very fact that those beliefs become a weapon against myself is in utter retardation of the forces these people vow to support.

I am again talking about the big ‘D’ word.

I am a firm believer that we should look at every problem individually, and not confine ourselves to given rules and patterns to solve all of them. That is impractical. Since no two problems are the same, there is no guarantee that a set system of rules, or methodologies will apply to every problem and eventually solve it.

Two things however can be conceded. Firstly, there might be a common set of things between two of more problems. Here, by problem I mean the governmental system of a country or a nation. Secondly, there might be a few standard things that need to be taken into account every time we approach a problem, no matter how unique it might be.

Let me elaborate on the first point. I agree that the purpose of an all encompassing governmental system is to give voice to every individual in the society. Give him his due rights, and try to the best of levels at furnishing his desires and needs. That however cannot happen in a country with a poor economy like that of Pakistan. The cost of a roti has gone beyond Rs. 4; that should tell you how things are getting inaccessible for the poor and will tend to remain so until and unless we share our wealth equally. A concept devoid of any treatment in the free-market, low tax rate economic systems – the forefront of ‘Democracy.’ All societies have these demons of inflation marring their progress but they have dealt with it in their own unique ways. For Pakistan, however, the thought of giving regularly for greater social benefit is still weak idea.

Secondly, there needs to be an agreement that there are somethings in life that need to be perpetuated regardless of the conditions of man. Those conditions include status, lifestyle, wealth, profession etc. Those few things that need to be perpetuated are humanity, brotherhood, sharing, and humility. A society devoid of that will be on a path of self-destruction, just like the way Pakistan is today. Suicide bombings, protest rallies, separatist movements, sectarian violence are so rampant that today we are worse of than Iraq in terms of the human condition. Not that all this can’t be changed. Doing so is hard, and bringing about those values in us people is very difficult.

So to finish of where I started, I said that the problems of Pakistan should be looked at uniquely and not just like any cookie cutter problem that works for everything, everywhere. I believe that democracy in Pakistan is long way off from what it should be, and what it is in other countries, thanks to the two basic ideas I stated above. Those two things today have limited us in thinking at a greater level, and providing solutions for each other’s condition regardless of personal and political gains.

The day we see things in a common light of humanity and equality in all definitions of the word, even if we are not as strong a nation, I believe we will succeed in bringing around any change we like for the betterment of the community. Since our cause and effect will resonate, the results will automatically be amplified.

Am I just being incomplete, non concise, and inane? I might be, but I do believe the word ‘Democracy’ is overrated for our national problems if anyone who reads this finds me inane in any sense – exhibiting their intolerance to eccentricity and unconventionality all the while.

I guess this now applies to me too. I was inadvertently trying to be cool yesterday, for some unknown reason, when I took a nasty fall as I was stepping down from the curb in the market near by.

It was cold, it was late, there were people but fortunately or unfortunately it was practically a deserted side of the market with poor, poor lighting. No one saw me fall, but a young woman in a car. The wheel of which I bumped into when I hit the ground. Probably she didn’t notice me fall, just realized something went missing all of a sudden and there was a thump on her car.

“App theek toa hain?” And followed it up with a, “Are you all right?”

“Jee, Allah ka shukar hai!” I murmured, cursing her for not moving an inch after opening the door to get a good look at me on the ground. Probably that inconsiderate person had some sinister fetish – watching people squeal on the ground while making sure they knew she knew some English.

No one except this one person who knew I fell, no one was watching me, no one cared whether I was there or not. I was just a simple boy gone out to get some groceries for home; how many boys/young men do that these days?

It is more of an ego shock that has troubled me since then. Oh so accurately diagnosed by Asma. The vanity and how it took me down with it. Guess I shouldn’t have strutted that way in the first place, God knows where and when that strut might end… Where is my tax money? I want some street lights! Argh, my ankle!

Having played a lot of football in recent years and cricket before that, I considered myself agile/fit enough to brave out a nasty fall like this one. Walk it off in a while, but honestly, this pain is out of my control, and I still haven’t visited a doctor/physician for it. I remember taking a lot of falls where the pain just subsided after a few hours or a few days – but this one seems the mother of all pains, for the moment.

But what would I know about pain? Today there were two bomb explosions early in the morning in the middle of Rawalpindi (the twin city of Islamabad), that has killed 15 people as reported recently. These people have lost their lives, their family members might have lost everything. What would I know about their pain? Their suffering? Is my condition worse of than their’s? I don’t think so. People who commit such heinous crimes at this level to show their anger and hate for others should take a little moment and think what they are about to do. What misery they are about to bring upon others and their families. The bombings were suicidal, and targeted at the Ministry of Defense and General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Behind this computer screen, this immobile person can only wish well for those who are in any sort of suffering all around the world and may God give me the power to bring happiness or just a smile for one moment to those sad faces, or just do it himself. Amen.

Can we ever be a happy people? That question and what it might be will make a good topic for another post.

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

An interesting quiz, short and simple that tells one which lunatic character from history they are. Give it a try. Here is the a quite a long and detailed description of what I am and what I have done as Nicola Tesla, so be forewarned!

You are Nicola Tesla, inventor of the Tesla Coil!

A minister’s son from Simljan in Austria-Hungary, you were precocious from an early age. At three you could multiply three-digit numbers in your head and calculate how many seconds visitors to your home had lived. In awe of your older brother Dane, you shot a pea-shooter at his horse, causing it to throw him and inflict injuries from which he later died. This tragedy haunted you ever after. You frequently suffered bouts of illness with hallucinations throughout your life. During one affliction of cholera, you encountered the writing of Mark Twain, with whom you were later to be close friends. Later, another, this time mystery, illness inexplicably heightened your senses to a painful extent, only relenting when you hit upon the idea of the alternating current motor.

You developed an aversion to human contact, particularly involving hair, and a fear of pearls; when one would-be lover kissed you, you ran away in agony. Later, you insisted that any repeated actions in your day-to-day life had to be divisible by three, or, better yet, twenty-seven. You would, for example, continue walking until you had executed the required number of footsteps. You refused to eat anything until you had calculated its exact volume. Saltine crackers were a favorite for their uniformity in this respect. In the midst of important work, you forgot trivial details such as eating, sleeping or, on one memorable occasion, who you were.

Your inventions, always eccentric, began on a suitably bizarre note. The first was a frog-catching device that was so successful, and hence so emulated by your fellow children, that local frogs were almost eradicated. You also created a turbine powered by gluing sixteen May bugs to a tiny windmill. The insects panicked and flapped their wings furiously, powering the contraption for hours on end. This worked admirably until a small child came along and ate all the creatures alive, after which you never again touched another insect.

Prompted by dreams of attaining the then-ridiculed goal of achieving an alternating-current motor, you went to America in the hope of teaming up with Thomas Edison. Edison snubbed you, but promised fifty thousand dollars if you could improve his own direct-current motor by 20% efficiency. You succeeded. Edison did not pay up. It was not long until you created an AC motor by yourself.

Now successful, you set up a small laboratory, with a few assistants and almost no written records whatsoever. Despite it being destroyed by fire, you invented the Tesla Coil, impressing even the least astute observer with man-made lightning and lights lit seemingly by magic. Moving to Colorado Springs, you created a machine capable of sending ten million volts into the Earth’s surface, which even while being started up caused lightning to shoot from fire hydrants and sparks to singe feet through shoes all over the town. When calibrated to be in tune with the planet’s resonance, it created what is still the largest man-made electrical surge ever, an arc over 130 feet long. Unfortunately, it set the local power plant aflame.

You returned to New York, incidentally toying with the nascent idea of something eerily like today’s internet. Although the wealthiest man in America withdrew funding for a larger, more powerful resonator in short order, it did not stop you announcing the ability to split the world in two. You grew ever more diverse in your inventions: remote-controlled boats and submarines, bladeless turbines, and, finally, a death ray.

While whether the ray ever existed is still doubtful, it is said that you notified the Peary polar expedition to report anything strange in the tundra, and turned on the ray. First, nothing happened; then it disintegrated an owl; finally, reports reached you of the mysterious Tunguska explosion, upon which news you dismantled the apparatus immediately. An offer during WWII to recreate it was, thankfully, never acted upon by then-President Wilson. Turning to other matters, you investigated the forerunner of radar, to widespread derision.

Your inventions grew stranger. One oscillator caused earthquakes in Manhattan. You adapted this for medical purposes, claiming various health benefits for your devices. You found they let you work for days without sleep; Mark Twain enjoyed the experience until the sudden onset of diarrhea. You claimed to receive signals in quasi-Morse Code from Mars, explored the initial stages of quantum physics; proposed a “wall of light”, using carefully-calibrated electromagnetic radiation, that would allegedly enable teleportation, anti-gravity airships and time travel; and proposed a basic design for a machine for photographing thoughts. You died aged 87 in New York, sharing an apartment with the flock of pigeons who were by then your only friends.

Ridiculed throughout your life (Superman fought the evil Dr. Tesla in 1940s comics), you were posthumously declared the father of the fluorescent bulb, the vacuum tube amplifier and the X-ray machine, and the Supreme Court named you as the legal inventor of the radio in place of Marconi. Wardenclyffe, the tower once housing your death ray, was dynamited several times to stop it falling into the hands of spies. It was strangely hard to topple, and even then could not be broken up.

This description exaggerates a little about the introverted and anti-social nature I might have at times, but when it couples it with the genius of Tesla, it doesn’t taste all that bitter. However I do not feel I am that brilliant either. As for genius, it takes a genius to recognize one. Anyway, this was taken from a blog I recently visited, My Name is Red.