Morning..

I wade through the nights, every single one of them. I wander through the piles of thoughts floating in my head. Thoughts of my future. Thoughts of my past. And of course how can we forget the place that we are currently in.

I am so engrossed in them, that life carries on, and my thoughts become more or less second nature. Well actually carrying life on with the thoughts working in the background becomes second nature, but you get the gist of it. I hit all the hours, I talk, I think, I write at times. At times I just transport my thought and interaction process to another place, another dimension. At times I lose myself in fiction of television. The fiction of Hollywood. The characters they create to look like they are right out of the closet of your own soul. Their problems are right up your alley. It’s all so, hell, I’ll say it, it’s all so comforting at times. Magical almost in this day and age of fast moving emotional roller coasters and people like me who can’t sleep thus accelerating that roller coaster.

Anyway. What I describe over here is pretty much what happens almost every night. There are exceptions of course, say when I am extremely so dead tired, that the rarity does occur and I do fall asleep at a reasonable hour by my standards.

But since that’s not the regular case, it’s pretty much a botched up mess head in the night. I lay awake, with my music in my ears, with my thoughts in my mind, and with my dreams, in my eyes. Dreams, nightmares, unrealized fears. The paranoia does of course build itself up from such activities of the night. My second nature.

The clock ticks ticks ticks, and reaches, 1 Am, then 2 Am. And so and so forth till at least 4 to 5 Am. And the wee early hours of the morning are spent alone. In my own little escape world. In my room. A time of day when I am undisturbed. Unquestioned. Left to my own little existence.  My salvation for the day.

And so it goes till it’s morning…..and I wake up after the spirits of the night in me keep me awake and keep me company, to take up the day ahead. To swell all that’s there, so as to come back to my salvation at night, into the morning. The morning that’s my peace time. The wee hours of AM.

Writing on the wall….

I keep on walking.
I keep reading the writing on the wall.
I keep looking.
I keep hearing the sounds of a call.

This life is so complex.
Every turning leading anew.
This time we say we own it
But it keeps on slipping through

I wish for, a Holy Truth, a miracle come from you
I wish for, a spirit free, of all that’s black and blue…

Election Fever ‘08 – Pakistan: And we head to a new end

It’s noon the next day, and the results have almost finished. Still a few constituencies left, but at this point in time no one can deny the facts. Nawaz Shariff has swept through Punjab. The PPP has taken up all of the sympathy votes they could gather. And now the PML-Q has been shown the door by the nation. The ‘Free and Fair’ elections I doubt will be challenged now, even if anyone does stumble upon undeniable proof of rigging. Why? Because the ones who were crying have already won. MQM has once again emerged victorios in its city. Karachi… will always be under the Kite.

The PPP as predicted , has the lead in the National Assembly. But not by a long margin. PML-N isn’t far behind. We are not looking at a single party government. We are looking at another coalition. But this time it’s a coalition of those party’s which lost to the Kingmaker’s party in the last elections. The king himself is indeed in a spot. With voices ‘Impeach the president’ and ‘restore the judges pre Nov 3rd ‘ coming from both the camps, it is a big concern as to how they will co-exist.

It seems that the 8 year period of his absence, made the support for him fonder for when he returned, and now that he has, the supporters are galvanized. They have outperformed every prediction given by every analyst towards them. As the day progresses, Mr. 10 % ( my bad, now it must be atleast 50% ) and Mr Shariff will have all the focus on themselves. Who will be the next Prime Minister ? What’s going to be their stance with President Musharraf now that they have actually won ? I mean it sounds all good when you are in the rebelion to say that you will impeach the president, but will it be actually viable to put yet another destabilizing move upon the country.

I think it’s high time that the myraids are set aside. I can’t expect all the main players, the leaders to suddenly become angels. They will still be corrupt. And under different circumstances I would have cursed that PPP and PML-N won. But alas, given all that has happened, I can’t be suprised. And actually any other result would have spelt turmoil. Actually the leaders of all the parties are corrupt. Not a single clean fish. What I ask of them is for stability. I ask them to be as humane and as decent as they can muster themselves up to be to think about the nation rather then their already oversized wallets and bank accounts.

The results as they stand at the moment, as I hear it of GEO News. PPP has 89 seats in the NA and PML-N  has 65 seats with Q league on 37. Their will be a coalition government. In Sindh, PPP has enough seats to make a provinical government on their own. I was hoping that would not be the case, becasue honestly, in the last 5 years, at least given MQM’s work, that they would be in a position to form a coalition government with PPP in Sindh. Punjab, again Coalition government led by PML-N. Balochistan, the same with PML-Q. And NWFP is ANP. These are the results as I heard them at 1.31 PM.

The elections have gone so far without incidence. Without widespread violence or trouble. And it is my hope that this remains a constant. The parties continue to show some form of renewed maturity. The past is the past. One has to look to the future. Whoever becomes the Prime Minister, I hope they take us to a more stable time and more progressive time.

I congratulate the winning parties. I conragulate the will of the people. And I urge for a better tomorrow. Inshallah Pakistan will see a brighter tomorrow. Ameen.

Election Fever ‘08 – Pakistan Votes

The election fever is starting to get into higher gear after a day of relatively peaceful voting. The day passed without any widespread incidents, but with a few reported incidents which are part and parcel sadly. However, more or less a day without incident, which is a good thing. Now , at 10 at night , the results are pouring in. Apart from a couple of seats, a 100% results have not come in. In fact not even 50% of a lot of seats have not come in as yet. But it’s all so very interesting still.

I remember the elections of the yesteryears. This one being the first one in which I had the ability to vote ( yes .. i am young ). It was an interesting experience to be a part of the electoral process. However, as I earlier said, the elections of the yesteryears had a different feel to it altogether. The elections of the 90’s were those in which we were hooked to PTV, with Mr. Naeem Bukhari with his smiling 32s providing the results and commentary on the ongoing process. The various skits that used to come on. It used to have a festive feel to it, regardless of the fact that both the governments of the 90’s were dismissed from the office. This election, people are, as another writer in today’s DAWN Newspaper has also observed, has been a more of a cautios affair. There isn’t the same celebratory feeling that used to be there in previous elections. People are in fear for their life. As always we are prepared for a war of words after the results, it’s part and parcel of all elections. But this time, we must also be vary of violence. The Kingmaker’s party is not exactly there. So anything which will upset the AGGRIEVED party and it will be chaos.

But like I said, so far, so smooth. The results which are coming in at the moment, have as expected shown a lot of popularity for PPP in Sindh. PML-Q as expected is not really on the map, so much so that even Sheikh Rasheed, is trailing in his ‘halqa’, something which is extremely shocking. The Shariff revolution is turning on in Punjab. And at this time, the chant which was echoing a few months back when Nawaz Shariff tried to return to the country for the first time back in August comes to mind again. ‘Nawaz Shariff Aawai aaway!!!’

The way everything is going right now, I sense that PML-N will indeed emerge the powerhouse in Punjab. PML-Q is out the door. Although I must admit I honestly thought that Punjab just might see a split between the 3, PML-Q , PML – N and PPP. But as things are going, ‘Nawaz Shariff Aawai Aaway’ seems to hold some mettle of it’s own. The other areas are showing things more or less the same as predicted. Balochistan has seen one Provincial Seat being won by ANP. There have also been one or 2 NA seats that have been won by PPP and an Independent candidate.

But it’s just 10 at night, it’s still a long way to go. There are still a hell of a lot of votes to come so no clear cut speculation can be made as well. My suggestion, heat some popcorn, crack open the bottle of coke, and keep tuned in to the news. To all the office going people, I suggest you make sure till about 2 in the night that certain parties in certain cities are not upset by the results before they actually decide to go ahead with going to work tomorrow.

Pakistani intelligentsia’s problem: It prefers cynicism to nationalism.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The problem with Pervez Musharraf is that he wants his people to be as patriotic as the Turks and Iranians and, more recently, the Indians. But the Pakistani intelligentsia’s problem is the same as sixty years ago: It prefers cynicism to nationalism. That’s what the spat between the Pakistani president and a Pakistani journalist at a British think tank really comes down to.

Critics are calling on President Musharraf to apologize to Mr. Mohammad Ziauddin, a senior editor with the Pakistani Dawn newspaper, for calling him anti-Pakistani and questioning his patriotism.
At first glance, the journalist is vindicated. He simply asked Mr. Musharraf why he was trying to convince his western audience of the professionalism of the Pakistani security institutions when recently a wanted terrorist slipped away from the custody of Pakistani police. The President’s view went something like this, ‘Why a Pakistani journalist is asking me this question that embarrasses Pakistan , in London , in front of a British audience at a British think tank, when not a single European journalist posed this question to the Pakistani president throughout his nine-day visit?’ So, who is right? Mr. Ziauddin or Mr. Musharraf?
You will hardly find Turks or Iranians who wash their dirty laundry in the bright glare of world cameras the way Pakistanis do, and, to be more precise, the way Pakistani politicians and media do.
Even exiled Iranian liberals, who disagree with the mullahs in Tehran , calibrate their criticism when it becomes too focused on Iran . The Turks just won’t hear it against their country. The Israelis are as protective about Israel as a jealous wife, which is surprising because cynics tease Israel by saying it has so many ethnicities it can’t be a nation.  Indians are a good example too. India has been anxiously building up its nationalism over the past decade in order to bolster its claim to a military superpower role. Since there is no precedence for Indian nationalism in the strict sense of the word, New Delhi has turned to its film industry and expensive PR advertisements on CNN to prop up a newfound sense of patriotism.
Pakistanis have not met a single Indian visitor to Pakistan who would be willing to speak against India on any issue on Pakistani soil. This is impressive since tens of delegations of Indian professionals and activists, from all shades of Indian opinion, have visited Pakistan over the past four years as part of the peace dialogue.
In contrast, members of Pakistani delegations visiting India during the same period have given scores of interviews criticizing their own homeland for everything under the sun. Our own hero, Mr. Imran Khan, recently selected an Indian city, Mumbai, as a venue for a huge press conference where he accused Pakistani military and government of assassinating Benazir Bhutto. If his choice was not intentional, it certainly was in bad taste. There are millions of U.S. citizens of Chinese descent, disconnected from mainland China for three or four generations. But even during the height of Sino-American political tensions, I have not heard or seen a single U.S. citizen of Chinese descent agreeing to write or speak against China in the same way that other American commentators do. Out of more than a billion Chinese, hardly any Chinese in the West is ready to form a political association to work against China ’s interests. There have been a few dissidents but they never had an impact. In Pakistan , ordinary Pakistanis have no problem with Pakistani nationalism. The real problem lies with the intelligentsia, mainly journalists and politicians. In six decades of Independence , the Pakistani intelligentsia has failed to build and evolve a sense of Pakistani nationalism. This failure becomes clearer when compared to China , Israel and Turkey , where politicians, journalists and thinkers led the nation in building and consolidating their own nationalist identities.
The Pakistani intelligentsia has always justified its lack of interest in a Pakistani nationalism by pointing out that Pakistan consists of several ethnicities and languages and cannot be united on a single nationalist platform. Of course, this is a brazen excuse.  Pakistani thinkers, journalists, and politicians have either been preoccupied by communism and socialism or simply held back by incompetence to ever think about Pakistani nationalism. (What I keep telling you of the specific cartel, their covert anti state activities, and rewards for carrying them out, etc.)

This is why it is understandable that in the seconds before he actually stepped up to the microphone to ask his question, Mr. Ziauddin never thought for a second whether his question is ‘good or bad for Pakistan .’
He never for a second thought to himself, ‘Well, it is good that nine days in Europe and nobody questioned the President on the escaped terrorist. Musharraf is defending the Pakistani record and the audience appears to be genuinely listening. I oppose Musharraf, but here, in London , he is the President of my country. I won’t question the competence of Pakistani security institutions before a foreign audience.’
Would Mr. Ziauddin have been wrong if he restrained himself in this way? Many Israelis disagree with Israel ’s policy of killing innocent civilians during conflict. But so far no Israeli journalist has embarrassed the Israeli president and prime minister this way on their many foreign tours. Many Indians disapprove of the systematic Indian atrocities in Kashmir . But how many Indian journalists have confronted their leaders with this fact on foreign soil? A western journalist will not understand this mindset. That is why I am not very bothered by what the British media has written about this spat between our President and one of our senior journalists. Politics in Europe have evolved so much that patriotism and nationalism have been rendered obsolete, at least at the official level. But, for God’s sake, this is a country under attack. Pakistan has enemies even when we are not involved in Kashmir or Afghanistan . Pakistan ’s detractors are bent on proving to a global audience that this country is a rotten apple and it’s okay if we invade it.
We need to prove this is not the case, even as we deal with our internal problems. That’s what our President, whether you like him or not, was doing in Europe . Was that too much for a senior journalist like Mr. Ziauddin to understand? This is why President Musharraf owes an apology to no one. It is time someone took a stand for Pakistani nationalism.

 

Pakistan at cross roads – Another view Point

We are going through difficult times. It is only through our collective wisdom that we can mitigate the enormity of the crises facing us. Traditionally, and in the historical perspective, whenever we have allowed emotions or egos to have the better of us, the country has suffered.

 Whether it is Ayub’s removal in 1968,Bhuttos removal in 1977 ,removal of Junejo Govt. by Zia,removal of Benazir by Farooq Leghari ,removal of Nawaz Sharif/Sajjad All Shah by Ghulam Ishaq or the current ongoing process which has yet to see its culmination, the reality is that destabilizing movements have never brought positive results.

What did not exist before and is now appearing as a huge monster is extremism and sectarianism, the fangs of which have killed so many through suicide and militant attacks. It has thus become increasingly more important that the country should remain internally stable.

 Extremism is the worst enemy of the country. Unfortunately, the only solution to that are democracy, economic empowerment and education.   China is one of the few examples where one party system has flourished but that is because economic empowerment has been given priority in China. The results have appeared, there after several decades.

In the context of Pakistan and its interrupted path to democracy, frequent references are made to Burma or Zimbabwe, the inference being to military rule. Neither military rule nor one party system is the solution to our problems. We have our own history. What will work is our own indigenous solution to our political requirements based on the ground realities existing at the time and need for pragmatism so as to have stable transition and harmony amongst the various stakeholders. Are we heading in that direction? The answer is NO.

Yes, if we let corrupt and shallow politicians come into power repeatedly, followed by the Military, there is a danger of landing in that direction.

 Comparisons of Pakistan’s problems are made with India. Comparing democracy in Pakistan with India’s democracy is not realistic. We are not India .We cannot be India with Militants/extremists, Afghanistan, Waziristan and Kashmir breathing down our necks. Furthermore our political evolution has its own dynamics starting from the day Pakistan became independent. One need not go into that. There has to be an end to this useless comparison of tomatoes and apples.

Many in this country, because of their disillusionment with the political parties and desire for economic progress feel strongly that democracy strictly on the pattern of that practiced in the Western world may take some more time to mature. In the meantime others are willing to promote a Quasi Democracy if economic progress and stability is guaranteed. China’s, one party system, is quoted as an example where continuity and stability have ensured consistent economic progress. Stability is therefore a prerequisite.

In hindsight it seems that all those judges who gave judgments for the sake of maintaining stability and continuity on the basis of the much talked about Doctrine of Necessity acted so that the Country does not plunge into anarchy. Decisions and discussions on some of the recent events affecting national security like Lal Masjid ,Hudood debate and Waziristan could have been handled more carefully by the media and the judiciary.

An independent Judiciary need not be at the cost of disharmony amongst the pillars of the State. As it is, confidence in the Courts is more pronounced amongst the elite groups who are involved in power play and the lawyer’s community. People who have been harshly treated because of delayed justice and non finalization of cases in a reasonable time are very disillusioned and thus do not want to take a high profile position in the lawyers vs. executive battle.  Some feel that the courts have overused the freedom acquired by them or at any rate gave an impression to the executive and the legislature that absolute power corrupts .How is that different from an autocratic rule.

The role of the media in nation building is important. Media is there to promote debates and airing different points of view but none of it should be at the cost of national harmony, unity and peace. The media may not like to believe this, the fact is that just too much politicization of issues was taking place and the nation was getting highly polarized. What has been achieved through this approach is something which is self evident. The media needs to do some soul searching.

 It is somewhat disconcerting to hear Politicians and newspapers exhorting people to come to the streets” .That causes loss of economic activity. How much the poor suffer because of these strikes is unfathomed, but yet these leaders are determined to create chaos. The sole objective is to change Musharraf through violent means, just, when this country needs peace and tranquility, not selfish power plays. Why can’t a change be brought about in more democratic ways? Quite like other democratic countries whose example we quote but often forget that most of the truly democratic countries of the world do not resort to violent politics as frequently as we do. They also do not have family hold on politics.

Extremely arrogant and autocratic minds have been the hallmark of our democratic leaders. We see the same faces and the same methods with the same lackeys to step on the most favorite bandwagon. This is repeated year after year and election after election. Hence, the reluctance of people to suffer because of the leaders who forget their agendas and promises.

 Democracy is supposed to provide an even playing field which presently does not exist for all classes and segments of the society. Can the civil society or the middle class participate in elections? We have been giving this argument about democracy for decades but we remain where we are. Interruptions in the political system are made the scapegoats for bad governance but no effort is made for a self analysis.

 Democracy has to come. It cannot be stopped .But it requires patience and demonstration of will. Civilized ways of bringing about a change has to be the goal.

Those in favor of a smooth transition were convinced that we were heading towards elections. President Musharraf could have been democratically changed by the opposition of the time, after the new assemblies had come into power.
 Destabilizing the country has always been counter productive. We tried to do this in Ayub’s time and what was the result? We have been doing it repeatedly.

We must remember that Benazir was dismissed by Farooq Leghari  not by a military man.Nawaz was dismissed by Ghulam Ishaq.He was not a military man either. That is a reflection of lack of political maturity and to put the blame entirely on the Army will not be helpful.

 Before the promulgation of emergency the role of the Army was being progressively reduced and except for Gen Musharraf, the Army was mostly not involved in day to day affairs. This notwithstanding, abuses were being hurled against the Army. We forgot that a civilian set up was also in place with PM ,Shoukat Aziz and the horde of politicians who were previously either with Benazir or Nawaz.

 We had elections. An assembly came in to power and the legislators were there for five years. Like it or not that is the elected lot. It may be pertinent to mention that some politicians who are striving to mobilize street power barely have support .In any case they should test their strength through the electorate. .

What should be done now? There is a need to work for free and transparent elections and more than that, all parties and candidates must participate so as to increase their genuine political influence.
Why castigate Musharraf supporters who consider him to be more level headed than others on the political scene? Isn’t it true? Those who do not agree with this have the right to disagree but they must route it through genuine democratic channels.

Even the detractors, except the diehards admit that the country has definitely inched forward, be it on the foreign policy and the economic front. That is important. Progress and prosperity is relative to history, the environment, the surroundings and time.

As for the lawyers and the judges, their efforts are not doubted but they are part of the milieu. Not any different from anyone else in the society. Some lawyers adopted fascist means against fellow lawyers. How can that be defended. A correction towards civilized behavior is required. Reasons for emergency cited, releasing the Lal Masjid terrorists or the missing persons being given more importance than a lot of other issues affecting the ordinary litigants. No State can run if the Judiciary is, raising high profile issues that impact the pillars of the State only.Nawaz Sharif was similarly destabilized.

 The poor are lacking the motivation to join the struggle or come to the streets because they know that their problems will continue to be ignored. They are sick of self glorifying movements and hypocrisy. They are aware that the elite are largely insulated from the kind of injustices meted out to the ordinary people whose problems remain unresolved in the Courts for decades. The ordinary person is suffering because of highly delayed justice. There are countless examples.
Keeping our history in perspective, we should have gone for a smooth transition. President Musharraf could have been removed politically and not in the manner being attempted. This approach is not a win- win situation. It was bound to bring a backlash.

 How do we justify Nawaz/Imran and Benazir ganging up against Pesident Musharraf. Later there was the talk of a deal. This was a time when all stakeholders should have got together to bring about an orderly transition rather than through agitation politics. Has that ever worked for the better? What were they trying in the London moot. Nawaz was ready to apologize for instituting cases against Benazir,if she cooperates against Musharraf. They wanted also a one point condemnation of specific political parties. Why? Is that a democratic strategy?
They disagree when Musharraf offers the same package to Benazir, ostensibly for reconciliation. Corruption suddenly becomes relevant. Why the contradictions.

 Now, the moment they see the reconciliation efforts not working, she is being invited back to their fold. Corruption charges disappear once again. What do we expect from this directionless politics?

More anarchy is just what we do not want. Can we afford that?

These questions beg answers but certainly the whole thing is not healthy for the promotion of principled politics and democracy. A rethinking for the sake of peace, harmony and stability in our beloved country is required by all stakeholders.

Bliss…

I wonder at times about the fortitudes of bliss. It’s a wonderful thing this bliss. It brings along with it a countless, unmountable and unassailable amount of joy and happiness. One which is truly unmatched by any other emotion. Nor anger, nor hate, nor sadness, nor anxiety can overcome this feeling of bliss. Mind you, it’s obviously ruled over by the ‘forbidden organ’ or rather the heart. (I just like calling it the forbidden organ)

The source of this bliss is almost always your significant other. That one person who can make your heart go ‘Boom Boom’. And that’s when you understand the magnitude of the word love. That’s when the feeling truly sets in beyond just saying it because you truly feel right about someone. It goes beyond waking up to their ‘morning’ person and still liking them. I believe bliss is like this over whelming medicine, which makes the word go round. But of course this world can’t just keep going round and round. There are of course other emotions which are also necessary. Man cannot survive on bliss or love alone. That is not however what is at debate here. Here it is simply being pointed out what the virtues, the positives, the joys are that are brought by love and by bliss.

When you are in Bliss, you find yourself doing some of the most unusual things. Unusual by you yourself. Not something that you would have thought yourself of doing in maybe even a million years. You find yourself constantly thinking about the source of your bliss. And in the case of that source being a person, you find yourself constantly wanting to be with them. You want the world to stop around the two of you. You want in fact to give the world to him/her. They mean everything to you. You want to be everything to them.

You think ‘I feel bliss. And I love it.’ It’s the most wonderful thing to happen to any human being. And it’s not the bliss of being in love. It’s the bliss of being with that someone. That someone who is so special to you. It’s truly amazing. You are lost in her thoughts and her thoughts alone. She is the strength you need for almost everything. She is the one who can make you feel so comfortable with even the most uncomfortable things to you that it’s not even funny. She even has the power to make something that you hated so much, feel beautiful. She is, bliss, simply put.