Megalomaniac

“India’s ‘cash-for- fatwas ’ scandal broke out last weekend when a TV channel broadcast a sting operation that showed several Indian Muslim clerics allegedly taking, or demanding, bribes in return for issuing fatwas , or religious edicts. The bribes, some of which were as low as $ 60, were offered by undercover reporters wearing hidden cameras over a period of six weeks. In return for the cash, the clerics appear to hand out fatwas written in Urdu, the language used by many Muslims in Pakistan and India, on subjects requested by the reporters. Among the decrees issued by the fatwas : that Muslims are not allowed to use credit cards, double beds, or camera-equipped cell phones, and should not act in films, donate their organs, or teach their children English. One cleric issued a fatwa against watching TV; another issued a fatwa in support of watching TV” — ‘India’s Cash-for- Fatwa Scandal’, Aravind Adiga, Time Magazine, September 21, 2006. After reading this news, I wondered which ...

While passing by the canal one day when it was raining, the sight of innocent children diving into the canal and enjoying the rain made me think how blissfully unaware these children are of the dangerous times we live in. They have no idea what kind of vultures inhabit the same planet, ready to pounce upon innocent children whenever they get a chance. “A boy gunned down a man who sodomised him 10 years ago in the suburban area Lehri Potha…” – ‘Sodomy victim kills assailant after 10 years’ ( The Post , September 2, 2006). “A father subjected his two-year-old daughter to sexual violence in the suburban area of Korotana…” – ‘Father rapes two-year-old daughter’ ( The Post , August 30, 2006). “Accused Malik Arif, a resident of Mohallah Usman Ghani, along with his accomplices kidnapped the 12-year-old girl of the same area with the help of a woman and took her to a house in a deserted place where he subjected her to sexual violence for one year” – ‘Minor kidnapped, raped for one year’ ( The ...

While going through some discussions at an online forum, one topic caught my attention. It was titled ‘Why you should not marry career women’ and it quoted an article that said, “Guys: a word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don’t marry a woman with a career” (‘Why you shouldn’t marry career women’ by Michael Noer, Forbes ). The article goes on to state how research has found that the chances of a successful marriage are lower if men marry professional women since they are “…more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it.” Indeed, this is reflective of a typical chauvinistic mindset. Throughout human history, men have been portrayed as protectors, supporters, financers, caretakers and breadwinners, and therefore it is deemed that a career is a must for them. Most people think that a woman merely works f...

Recently, the debate related to corruption charges against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and some of his cabinet colleagues seems to have become so heated that critical documents relevant to it caught fire at the Privatisation Commission (PC) building. According to reports, a mysterious fire broke out Friday on the second floor of the PC building where very important documents related to privatised national entities had been stored. It gutted records, equipment and furniture. It was the second incident of a mysterious fire at the Shaheed-e-Millat Secretariat in five years in which sensitive documents were destroyed. Our government seems to have acquired abilities that would make Stephen King’s horrific Charlie (of Firestarter fame), who could conjure up fires just by thinking about them, seem like a cute Barbie doll. Or maybe the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) executives with offices on that floor spend too much time gassing. If the presence of Karachi Electric Supply Corporatio...

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” — Martin Luther King, Jr. The news of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s killing in a military operation sent a chill down my spine as I started to think of all the repercussions this tragedy could unfold. Switching on my television set and watching images of Akbar Bugti flash as news of his death was being broadcast, tears filled my eyes. Although I was sad about Bugti’s death, these tears were not for him solely; they were more for Pakistan’s future. These were not just tears of mourning; they were tears of outrage, as well – outrage at the so-called leaders who have not learned any lessons from the 1971 debacle and are bent on repeating the same mistakes again and again. Worse, they blame ‘foreign hands’ when they themselves are responsible for each and every fiasco in the history of Pakistan. R...

A wave of terror swept through the entire city of Lahore when a bomb exploded in Gulberg’s busy Liberty Market on Tuesday, injuring four people. Reportedly, the device had been planted between two cars parked outside a shoe store when it went off at about 7:35 pm. According to reports, the device was home-made and was packed with 1.5 kg or 2 kg of explosives. The bomb disposal squad has taken the pieces of the bomb into possession for further investigation. The market, which usually remains open till late night, closed down minutes after the explosion. Understandably, traders whose shops were damaged did not leave the place till late night. This blast is a blatant reminder for the people of Pakistan about the tumultuous situation the country is in today. Given the circumstances of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s death and the outrage it has caused all over the country, especially in Balochistan, the security in all the major cities of Pakistan was set on red alert, including Lahore. But this ...

“By Allah, it is not poverty that I fear upon you, but I fear that the world (materialistic things) will be spread before you as it was spread before the nations that preceded you, and you will compete with one another (resulting) in the world (materialistic things) destroying you as it destroyed them” — hadith of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Pakistan is a country where the cultural heritage and traditions reflect centuries old patriarchy. The males dominate every field and do not give any public space to women, be it cultural or religious. Wherever the religion suits them, they apply it but when the religion talks about giving rights to women, most of the males cling to the cultural values that obviously support them instead of the women folk. Marriage is one such subject where traditional customs are espoused instead of following the religious ones. The Islamic wedding procedure is extremely simple and favours both the bride and groom. It makes it easy for both the male and the female t...

I was out on the road on August 14 this year and I witnessed young boys sporting the Pakistani flag as bandanas, shouting out loud, “Pakistan Zindabad ” (Long live Pakistan). For some odd reason, I did not feel like celebrating. In fact, I did not feel anything. Why? I guess it was because these people were celebrating freedom, while I thought to myself, “What freedom?” We are not free people, we should not be celebrating ‘freedom’. And we have no right to celebrate this day because we have not done justice to this country and its ideology. We have let down those who fought for our freedom. The likes of Jinnah and Iqbal must be turning in their graves at the present condition of Pakistan. Jinnah fought to create a democratic, tolerant Muslim nation, while Iqbal wanted the new generation to break free from archaic theological thinking. In his presidential address to the All India Muslim Conference meeting held in March 1932, Allama Iqbal said, “The grandeur of our Deen [religion] is ly...

Even though the Israeli army stepped up its withdrawal from the region and handed over some of its positions to the advancing Lebanese army, ambiguity remains in the air. The Lebanese are not saying anything about Hezbollah’s disarmament, while Israel’s pullout plan is also vague. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said completion of the Israeli pullout depended on the presence of both the Lebanese army and an international force. Meanwhile Hezbollah has said that it will continue to fight Israel so long as the Israeli forces are on Lebanese soil. But it seems this ceasefire is still holding generally despite some Israeli-Hezbollah skirmishes in its early days. Although US President George Bush has claimed that the month-long Lebanon crisis had ended with Hezbollah’s defeat, the facts on the ground indicate otherwise. The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was obliged to admit “shortcomings” in the month-old operation in Lebanon. His admission was made in a fiery Knesset session, whi...

“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values. Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one” — Ann Oakley. Indulging in illusions in today’s world is a recipe for disaster. The countries with a Muslim majority are all encircled by the world’s greatest myth, a myth that has been doing the rounds for countless years: the myth of a Muslim Ummah . In a letter published in the Gulf News , a letter writer says, “The soul of the Muslim Ummah is dead. How else can one explain the apathy of the Muslims to the plight of the Palestinians? They are being starved into submission, and we sit idly by marvelling at the next high-rise and ogling the opulence of Dubai” (‘The soul is dead’, A. Zayd, May 13...

‘Kandlelight King Khitaab ’ This is to announce an editor’s reward of a lifetime subscription of The Post , and the title of 'Kandlelight King' to the scientist who invents a television set that operates solely on candlelight. In the words of our editor, “ Kasam se , load-shedding ho gayi hai Kahaani ghar ghar ki. Aik waqt tha jab bijli thi Kabhi sautan, Kabhi saheli. Ab to Kayamat aa gayi hai! Aise chalta raha tou kya hoga Kumkum ka ?!” It is also hereby announced that the employees of The Post have pooled in a sum of $ 100,000 to the award, to restore their editor to his much needed Wapda-deprived Ektaa Kapoor-induced stupor. Humour aside, the gravity of the issue of electric failures cannot be reduced to merely missing one’s favourite TV programmes. Such petty issues are nothing as compared to the wide gamut of real world losses that various people are suffering on a daily basis due to the inadequacy of electricity supply. Load shedding is on the rise with each passing d...

Open a newspaper – any newspaper around the world – the news of Israeli aggression is splashed all over. Although the Western press is undoubtedly favouring Israel, but the facts on the ground speak for themselves. It all started when a 19-year old Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit was abducted by Palestinian militants during a raid on an Israeli post near Gaza on June 25, 2006. The kidnapping was in retaliation for Israel’s arrest raid in Gaza on June 24, where Israeli forces detained two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who the army said were Hamas militants. On June 27, Israel launched a massive attack on the Gaza Strip. What started from the Gaza Strip spilled into the West Bank and then entered into another country, Lebanon. At the recent G-8 summit in Russia, the following statement was released by the members: “We, the leaders of the G-8, meeting in St Petersburg, categorically denounce terrorist attacks worldwide and condemn in the strongest terms those who perpetrate these ...

If a natural disaster like the October 8 earthquake occurs, one feels helpless and gradually comes to terms with it, thinking that it was the will of God and man could not have prevented it. But when a man-made disaster takes place, it is obvious that one would be outraged. Words cannot describe my initial feelings of sorrow and then utter outrage at the recent bomb explosions in the suburban commuter trains in Mumbai, India, at rush hour. More than 200 people have died, while hundreds lay injured, and who knows how many of these injured will succumb to their wounds. These people were the victims of terrorism – a menace that plagues the entire world today. The American Heritage Dictionary defines terrorism as: “The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organised group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.” The terrorists’ targets are mostly civilian...

If your death leaves a hole in someone’s heart, a void that cannot be filled with the passage of time, only then have you truly lived. The literary genius Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi was one such man. He passed away on July 10, leaving behind a vacuum in Pakistani literary circles that can never be filled, because he represented so much to so many people. He made a monumental contribution to Urdu literature. One of the most senior literary figures in the subcontinent, Qasmi sahib devoted his entire life to fighting many metaphorical illnesses. He firmly believed in his own ethos and fought for the emancipation of the masses. A staunch warrior against oppression, his courage inspired many. Not only do literary circles mourn the icon’s death, people all over Pakistan grieve the end of an era. In a career spanning almost 70 years, he published some 50 books and distinguished himself as a seasoned poet, writer, critic and journalist. Qasmi sahib was the recipient of Pakistan Academy of Letters’ l...

“The facts fairly and honestly presented; truth will take care of itself” — William Allen White. There was a time in my life when I had given up on reading newspapers or watching the news channels. The reason was that every media report, whether it was in the newspapers or on the news channels, had nothing but dismal news. But what I did not realise then was that if the media does not highlight such news, how would we ever come to know about such events? This was reality, not fiction. Our society is in dire need of one profession that actually documents reality, and journalism is one such profession. “The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” said American journalist Finley Peter Dunne at the beginning of the 20th century. The basic role of a journalist is to bring to attention the events that inflict injustice on the public, create awareness and hope of a time when truth shall prevail. Journalism is the power of suggestion. If an event takes pl...

“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform. Those who are really in earnest are willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathies with despised ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences” — Susan B. Anthony. Since its inception, Pakistan has had one bad ruler after the other – whether it be military or civilian rulers – but certainly the worst period in Pakistan’s history was General Ziaul Haq’s regime. Pakistan’s history bears out the fact that atrocities in the name of religion have taken place over the years, and continue due to the ignorance of the masses. On December 2, 1978, on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra calendar to enforce the Islamic system in Pakistan, in a nationwide address, General Zia accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam saying, “Many a ruler did what they pleased in the na...