HIDING BEHIND THE PAST

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/10/27/hiding-behind-the-past/

• Plays dealing with present issues are needed

The Turkish television serial Ertugrul: Resurrection has a large viewership, it is immensely popular in several countries. The series has English subtitles so it can be understood by non-Turkish speakers. Unlike the show itself, the subtitles are poor: tough warriors are regularly called ‘niece’ by their uncles, and felicity termed as velocity, and many other errors. But oh well. The superb production and acting, excellent choreography, meticulous sets, and a gripping story more than make up for it, and– a huge relief– it is full of confident women who work alongside with men, women who are not weepy, clingy, shrieky or die-away.

Ertugrul, a real person in the 13th century and a hero in the annals of Turkish/Islamic history, was the son of Suleyman Shah, the leader of the Kayi tribe of Orghuz Turks. Along with his tribe he came up against the Templars.

Our Prime Minister Imran Khan has said he would like to have the play dubbed into Urdu so that non-English speaking people in this country can watch it too and exult in the glories of their past as Muslims.

Muslims did have a glorious past, in a few places not as glorious as we would like to believe, in others even quite inglorious. But it is easy to gild what no longer exists and use it to divert people’s attention from the present. Politicians are therefore consistently keen to refer to said glorious past, towards events unconnected with current issues, so that the woefully little– or even the wrong that is being done in the here and now can pass unnoticed in the hankering for a resurrection.

Pakistan’s PM should, instead of glorifying the past yet again– and good as this series is, look to stress the value of plays that focus on the present and its issues, something other than marriage and nasty in-laws, something more constructive, from which people can learn, a kind of a show and tell.

And we need plays that speak to us about the ubiquitous misuse of the religious card, that sickening use to which Islam is put in this country, a tactic that benefits no one

For example, there could be plays with themes such as what comprises justice. The story could demonstrate just why certain laws such as the blasphemy law are a travesty of justice, and that justice delayed is justice denied, as in the case of the young man Junaid Hafeez. He has been accused of blasphemy, but his case is not being addressed after Rashid Rahman of the HRCP, the one person who dared to fight on his behalf, was gunned down. Junaid has been in solitary confinement since 2014.

There could be plays about the real meaning of honour, about how honour most emphatically does not mean killing people for marrying partners of their own choice, such as the couple hanged in Kalat recently for that very reason. Earlier this year a man was shot in Baluchistan in the name of ‘honour,’ and several people also this year in Karachi.

There could be a movie about power and what it means; with a mocking reference to the use of power to oppress as in the case of Dr Hisham, the provincial health minister in KP, whose guards beat up a surgeon at the Khyber Teaching Hospital. Doctors in that province are on strike to protest against the event, and because the police will not register an FIR against the minister.

There could be plays too about what happens in the event of a war, and a nuclear war in particular, to make it clear to a chest-thumping public on either side that chucking nukes at each other is no way to settle disputes, it is no trivial matter and will solve nothing, only because no one will survive a nuclear war. No one on either side.

We need plays with strong women as central characters, as role models to this downtrodden segment of society which supports their own suppression by perpetuating the myth that to be weak and languishing is to be feminine.

We need plays that speak of government and its institutions, and how different branches of government work best when they stick to their own sphere, instead of interfering in what does not lie within their remit. Inspiration can be drawn from army chiefs who deal with the country’s economy or confer with leaders of the business community.

Definitely, we need a play that would talk about the thing called a constitution and why ruling by means of arbitrary means such as ordinances and decrees is a slap on the face of democracy. That play could be called ‘Taaleem-e-Balighan’.

And we need plays that speak to us about the ubiquitous misuse of the religious card, that sickening use to which Islam is put in this country, a tactic that benefits no one.

WHO SUFFERS FOR POLITICIANS' INEQUITIES?

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/10/12/who-suffers-for-politicians-inequities/

• What will the Maulana’s march achieve?

What exactly is an ‘Azadi March’, which Maulana F plans to organize on 31 October at D-Chowk in Islamabad? Until today the march was meant to be held on the 27th, but it has been rescheduled, leaving the 27th free to express solidarity with Occupied Kashmir with other parties. Finding himself forced to change the dates, the Maulana has justified it by saying it gives more time for people to arrive at the venue.

The Maulana’s expressed purpose for the Azadi march is to express his disapproval against the present government and turf it out, for which he has cited Articles 16 and 17, segments of the Constitution that deal with Freedom of Assembly and Association respectively.

It is an almost amusing example of the way words and ideas are used by politicians to their benefit. Quoting the Constitution of course is supposed to give legitimacy to the march. The common man does not understand such things, but knows that the ‘manshoor’ is something important. So, Constitution quoted.

The maulana per se in all his regalia is of course meant to appeal to the public. A man of God, regardless of the fact that he had connections with the Taliban who are grossly un-Islamic. He is also a man who says he would like to impose Sharia law, and retain the monstrous blasphemy law in Pakistan, but of course those are further examples of catchwords in this country. According to right-wing thought both the Taliban and the blasphemy law are supposed to be sanctioned by Islam. As for the Sharia law, God only knows what that is, since no two individuals are likely to agree on the others’ version. What’s more, since right-wing alliances preclude liberal support, the Maulana has also allied himself with various secular parties–0 ‘liberal’ and ‘secular’, such debauched words in the public arena.

What is the Maulana’s march supposed to achieve? He would like to oust the present government. Why? Because he says the elections that brought in the PTI were rigged.

At the end of such rallies, it is those who conducted it who should be slapped with the bill. And what’s more, they ought to be made to pay. Why should the poor people suffer for their politicians’ inequities?

Really the exercise is because the Maulana has been trying very hard for a long time to become the PM himself.

What will the march achieve? Well, what did the previous such march achieve?

In 2014 the PTI organized another Azadi march, also called the Tsunami March. Its demands then were much the same as the Maulana’s demands now, to get rid of the sitting government, which the PTI accused of rigging the elections.

The rally started in Lahore and went on to Gujranwala, Kharian, and arrived two days later at Zero Point in Islamabad. Protesters were also stationed outside the Supreme court of the country, and it was said that judges were trapped inside.

Meantime Imran Khan took up his position outside Parliament Building and said he would wait for Nawaz Sharif’s resignation there, and then go on to the PM’s house. In short, ‘kick him out, and bring me in.’

On that march, several people were injured, and in the protests in the capital city itself more than 500 people were injured.

The Chief of Army Staff was called in to mediate, although this was a civilian political crisis, not war. How constitutional was that?

And this is what happened in Islamabad alone. Protests also took place in other cities.

All these politicians claim to support democracy, although no democracy supports the forcible removal by violent means of a sitting government.

Schools were closed in 2014, as were government offices, and the police was accommodated in the schools.

According to one estimate the country lost around Rs 800 million as a result of the disruption caused by those marches. According to another the losses were much more than that at about Rs 610 billion. What was our annual expenditure the previous fiscal year– about Rs 475 billion?

Points that appear to have bypassed our leaders is that people are injured when such protests occur and sometimes lives are lost.

The economy is badly hit when businesses do not open and much more often are unable to open. No country can afford such losses. Pakistan– you wonder if they know it– is a poor country and cannot afford such things.

The way towards success is to pull the nation together, not to create dissension.

The way to get a sitting government out is to fight it in an election. All such ‘Azadi’ marches are likely to shake off in the long run is democracy, and democracy, however fragile it may be, is important.

If an election is seen as rigged, it is the election commission that should be examined, and its shortcomings addressed.

The Constitution does guarantee right of assembly. It is up to the leaders themselves therefore to show some maturity and consideration for the people they wish to lead. Sadly, they, none of them, appear to possess either maturity or consideration.

At the end of such rallies, it is those who conducted it who should be slapped with the bill. And what’s more, they ought to be made to pay. Why should the poor people suffer for their politicians’ inequities?

SHOULD WAR CRIMES NOT BE INVESTIGATED?

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/10/05/should-war-crimes-not-be-investigated/

• Does the PM know what is going on?

The Prime Minister’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly was good as speeches by our leaders go. It addressed some important issues, was well laid out, and delivered with conviction. But it contained several inconsistencies that took one’s breath away. Such as the rather plaintive “But one country cannot do anything” (meaning ‘everything’), “this has to be a combined effort of the world”– when speaking about climate change and the PTI’s efforts to mitigate its effects, and how the PTI government had planted billions of trees in KP.

The PM must remember that countries are judged by their overall performance. The world does not care about what the latest government has achieved. And really, what has this government achieved, other than killing the economy and strangling the media?

So, suddenly the authorities in Pakistan woke up to the fact that the country must live up to the image of having done something. There followed a commotion to clean up Karachi– which it has needed for the past many years, and the sudden clampdown on plastic bags– which was also long overdue.

The Mall in Lahore, once a peaceful road, is now best avoided as it is so often the scene of protests and riots. The latest protest was staged by those involved in the manufacture of plastic bags, furious because the ban on the use of plastic bags is to lead to the loss of a million jobs in eight thousand factories in Punjab alone.

While the move to end the use of non-degradable bags is laudable, the arbitrary way it has been done– entirely in keeping with many of this government’s moves– is not laudable at all. Like other arbitrary orders, this one too is likely to be rescinded at some stage, or else ignored. Like the M-tag for motorways, like the sudden clampdown on not using a seatbelt, like the directives in schools and universities. A similar attempt to end the use of plastic bags by the previous government never made it. But in the meantime, this time around, a million people in Punjab are to lose their jobs. Where is the planning that would provide them with alternatives?

Probably the truest part of the PM’s speech was: “There are radical fringes in every society, but the basis of ALL religion is compassion and justice.” Yes, that is true. But this was followed by “I hear such strange things about Islam– that it is against women and minorities.”

Yes, the world has a responsibility towards Kashmir. It must urge India to stop the atrocities there. It is good the PM stressed that. The alternative is, as the AFP reports, a nuclear war which could kill a 100 million

The PM is right, Islam is not against women and minorities. So how then do we explain the persecution of Hazaras, Ahmadis and Shias by mainstream Muslims in this country who almost always get away with it, and the ‘honour’ killings of women? Who is allowing this to happen? Are those ‘“some persons in the West who provoked Muslims” mentioned in the speech, to blame? Are those “some persons” also responsible for the incarceration of Aasia Bibi, for the forced conversions, and for the burning alive in an industrial kiln of Shama and her husband Shahzad Masih? Are they responsible for the young Christian men who have been disappearing from Youhanabad? Because last year their families alleged that 24 young men were picked up from Youhanabad by the police.

Who is responsible for the Ahmadis, Hazaras and Shias who are harassed in this country while the rest flee elsewhere for their lives when they can?

Although compassion is undoubtedly there in Islam, in all religions, where is it in this country and why are there no consequences for most of the people who commit these crimes?

Why were there no consequences for Captain Safdar, for example, when he made a speech in the National Assembly in 2017 saying that Ahmadis should not be recruited into the Army because of their beliefs, and nor should the Physics Department of Quaid e Azam University be named after Abdus Salam for the same reason? No political party or member of Parliament condemned Safdar for that speech at the time.

According to an AFP report a year ago, UN-mandated investigators said they had “reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law.” Many of these violations may amount to “war crimes”, the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to take part in hostilities.”

Yet, last month, Pakistan said that the UN should not be investigating human rights violations in Yemen. Could that possibly be because its allies may have committed war crimes? Is Pakistan holding back because it cannot do without Saudi aid?

Why is the government not protesting the persecution of Uighur Muslims in China? Is it because of the advantages accruing from CPEC?

All races and people commit such crimes, yes, but that fact does not make ours any more palatable.

Yes, the world has a responsibility towards Kashmir. It must urge India to stop the atrocities there. It is good the PM stressed that. The alternative is, as the AFP reports, a nuclear war which could kill a 100 million.

Still, at the end of the day Imran Khan’s speech leaves you wondering if our Prime Minister is indeed blissfully unaware of the problems that beset Pakistan. Does he even think it is his boot that spurs the horse?