CHILDHOOD IMMUNISATION

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/05/05/childhood-immunisation/

As medical knowledge currently stands, it is clear that immunisation protects the immunised person, and society, from the spread of infectious diseases. Immunisation is, therefore, beneficial and important. One of the greatest disservices done to Pakistan was by the man Shakil Afridi who called himself a doctor yet conducted a fake hepatitis vaccine programme in Abbottabad in collusion with the CIA, the aim of which was to flush out Osama bin Laden then in hiding in that area. Afridi gave credence to the anti-vaxxers’ suspicion of vaccinations, by associating immunisation campaigns with what is vaguely and ominously termed ‘foreign agendas’, or attempts by outside forces to manipulate snd harm the people of this country. As always, when there is anything important at stake involved, our ultra-religious brethren used this fear and they stand solidly against vaccinations and vaccinators. They are responsible for the illness and suffering of countless children and their families, and the death of many vaccinators doing their job.

Educators should also make sure that students know how dangerous childhood diseases can be. This should be taught to science and humanities students alike, since the children of today are the parents of tomorrow and will one day have to decide whether or not to vaccinate their child

As a result, during the course of the most recent polio campaign, after a violent mob burnt down a government health facility, and a polio vaccinator died – the latest of many in the past, the federal government suspended the campaign, at least for the present.

Polio is still to be routinely found in Pakistan (as well as in Afghanistan and Nigeria). The matter cannot be ignored. So, what is to be done?

One could make vaccinations mandatory and protect the vaccinators by more stringent means, such as calling in the army to provide the protection. Or one could educate and persuade the anti-vaxxers to change their minds.

Mandates and bans have never proven to be the solution. To quote a passage from a Harry Potter novel, when the headmistress banned the students from reading Harry’s interview, Hermione says: “Don’t you see? If she could have done one thing to make absolutely sure that every single person in the school will read your interview, it was banning it!” And she was right. By the end of the day, although the printed copy of the interview was nowhere to be seen, every single student was quoting it.

Mandates set people’s backs up, create a following for the thing being forbidden– just because, and generate further violence. Ten protestors dying following riots and ten children of disease, the result is the same.

Mandatory vaccination was first attempted in the UK in the 19th century but was later abandoned. In today’s world, when people are considerably more resistant to anything smacking of State intrusion, even in Pakistan, it would not have been a popular move.

In France, up until last year just 70 percent of the population was vaccinated.  Early in 2018, 11 childhood vaccines have been made compulsory. The penalty for infringement is that the unvaccinated child is barred from creche, nursery, school or summer camp, public or private. The move would not have a leg to stand on in Pakistan, where the bulk of children do not attend nursery, school or summer camp, public or private. In France, there is also the threat of fine and imprisonment, but that was theoretical, and the French government was expected to increase monitoring last year. The exceptions were for children whose parents could produce a written medical exemption. In Pakistan where every medical form can be obtained for a price, this is not a solution either.

The only remaining option appears to be awareness by means of campaigns and education. It generally boils down to that. It is a long-term measure but really, the only one. The government might give a mind to if it has any to spare after its petty brawls.

There is an obvious difference in the two segments of society: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Children who have had MMR and polio vaccinations for example do not get Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Polio. Those who have not been vaccinated, do.  This is one gap that can be bridged without a large financial outlay. Creative, well designed campaigns to highlight this fact and bring it to people’s conscious notice can be conducted, routinely, exhaustively.

Vaccinations should come with incentives. Health centres should BE very well protected, and should possess a pleasant environment for children and attractive facilities for parents of vaccinated children only, such as a meeting place with the occasional screening of free movies, free teas, and so on.

Schools much teach how disease occurs, show students bacteria under microscopes, and provide information on these bacteria can be destroyed. At present, science students in government colleges are quite unfamiliar with microscopes, and some have never even seen a magnifying glass. Educators should also make sure that students know how dangerous childhood diseases can be. This should be taught to science and humanities students alike, since the children of today are the parents of tomorrow and will one day have to decide whether or not to vaccinate their child.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT GO WITH IT

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/28/the-responsibilities-that-go-with-it/

One angle to events such as the horrific tragedy, the massacre in Sri Lanka is that the people apparently responsible for the murders call themselves ‘Muslim’ or ‘Islamic’, the same as you and I do, and we should resent that. We feel murderers should not be allowed to use that label for themselves. On the other hand, given their understanding of the subject, they probably wouldn’t want us to call ourselves Muslim.
Who’s to judge?
We all have our own definitions of things and are as convinced that we are right and the other wrong as the ‘other side’ is of the reverse. The matter, therefore, should be out of our jurisdiction, which means that we may hold an opinion on a given case but should not be able to enforce it legally. For those of us who believe in a divine authority, such matters are for Him to judge alone. We know where this is headed, and we also know that declaring Ahmadis non-Muslim was a political move, meant to satisfy extremist views. We know too, that it has achieved nothing beyond grief and violence.

The responsibilities that go with calling this country the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or simply with considering ourselves Muslim, do not appear to have sunk in

Isn’t it time, when the brain has become the most prolific organ of all, when human scientific achievements are so mindboggling, when implants are turning thought to speech, when we have actually seen a black hole for the first time, when a severe immune-deficiency disorder can be cured by means of gene therapy… for us to use our brains to reason out some of the conundrums supposedly stemming from religion? Such as the strange question to be found on the Pakistani passport form, probably the only country other than India to demand an applicant’s religious affiliation. There is probably a similar question on the Saudi passport, I wouldn’t know. After all, the male citizens in that country can even deny their family members the right to travel if the family member happens to be female.
Here is an extract from an application for a Pakistani passport. This declaration may be found at the end of the form:
(sic) DECLARATION IN CASE OF MUSLIM. I, s/d/w/of — aged adult Muslim, resident of — hereby solemnly declare that: a) I am a Muslim and believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last of the prophets b) I do not recognise any person who claims to the prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Muhammad (peace be upon him) or recognise such a claimant as prophet or a religious reformer as a Muslim c) I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani to be an impostor nabi and also consider his followers whether belonging to the Lahori or Qadiani group, to be NON-MUSLIM.
…………………………………….
No segment of society should be tagged in such a way, but that is a different matter. The question here is to identify what these questions achieve on the form. If someone holds a different set of beliefs, specifically those who believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be a nabi, are they to be treated differently in some way? Denied education? Denied loans? Healthcare?
What if the person signing this document believes quite differently to what he/she declares, how is it to be proved?
Can we deny our citizens the right to travel based on their religious affiliation? If not, what is the point of that question on the passport for? If it is for the purpose of statistical record, this question should be in the census form instead, since only a small segment of the population of Pakistan possesses a passport.
Once again, who’s to judge who is Muslim and who is not? Are extremists and people who murder innocent civilians Muslim? Yet these are the people being sheltered in this country, it has been admitted. These people are allowed to stage protests and shut down roads, whereas others, peaceful nationals who happen to hold different views about some religious matters, are hounded. If this is Islam, it is unrecognisable as such.
The responsibilities that go with calling this country the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or simply with considering ourselves Muslim, do not appear to have sunk in. This name makes… or should make us more inclusive, more humane, much more averse to violence, and very much more rational. That it is the reverse is the result of a lack of education, and a lack of humane instinct.

THIS PERPETUALLY BURNING BUILDING

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/21/this-perpetually-burning-building/

On April 15th at around 16.30 GMT, a fire broke out under the wooden roof of the 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral, one of France’s most iconic buildings. The spire and the roof collapsed, but the main structure including two bell towers, and the artifacts inside the cathedral, were saved.

Since then, all in the space of a couple of days, French billionaires, organisations and citizens have pledged almost €900 million in donations to rebuild the cathedral. Imagine what they could achieve if they pledged instead to solve the greater issues facing the world Hunger, lack of medical care, illiteracy…the list goes on.

Speaking generally of the people of this world, Tennessee Williams said, “We live in a perpetually burning building.”

Yes, we do. And in Pakistan, the roof caved in when the first martial law was declared in 1958. The main spire collapsed further damaging the roof, when the country split into two with such cruel violence, in 1971. The scaffolding of the burning building, composed of millions of people, can be seen through the hole in the roof, and the falling embers make it a precarious place to live. People continue living here though, because they have nowhere else to go. And the fire keeps burning because the smoke is useful to shield mainly those who claim to help but aim to hurt.

It is Pakistan’s philanthropists, those with hearts of gold, who have made the place liveable. There are many such people, only some are mentioned below.

There are many organisations, to all of whom the people of this country owe a debt of gratitude. Those responsible for them are the country’s most influential people, because rather than generating hope, they actually make it come true. Although hope is useful and one cannot live without it, help in time of need is what we need most

Abdul Sattar Edhi started work as a pedlar in Karachi and then became an agent selling cloth in the wholesale market. After a few years of this work, the Memon community to which he belonged helped him to set up his first free dispensary, and then the Edhi Trust and Edhi Foundation were born which– with the help of Edhi’s wife Bilquis, established maternity homes, the largest fleet of ambulances in the world, orphanages, food kitchens, women’s shelters, clinics and nursing training institutions. Help is provided indiscriminately by the Edhi Foundation to whoever needs it.

In 2014, two years before Edhi’s death, his Foundation was robbed of £400,000 in cash. The Edhi Foundation and Edhi sahib himself have also often been targeted by Pakistan’s extremist groups.

Dr Adeebul Hasan Rizvi graduated from Dow Medical College in 1968. He worked in the UK for a while, then returned to Pakistan and set up a small urology ward at the Civil Hospital in Karachi in 1970, which became the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT). It has since grown to be Pakistan’s largest Urology and Transplantation Institute. Dr Rizvi is the President of the Transplant Society of Pakistan. In 2003 he led a team of surgeons to perform the country’s first liver transplant.

Treatment at SIUT is totally free for everyone because the founder believes that access to quality healthcare with dignity and compassion is every person’s right. Over a thousand patients are treated for free at the Institute, and to date it has been responsible for 5878 transplants, and about 970 dialyses take place every day.

In 2001 there was a plot to murder Dr Rizvi, which was foiled.

Ruth Pfau, who has been called Pakistan’s Mother Teresa, was a German whose home was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. She escaped to West Germany and studied medicine, becoming a doctor. She converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun in 1953. Her Order sent her to India from where she came to Pakistan. She decided to spend her life here battling leprosy, and she did.

Ruth Pfau ran the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi, which was later expanded to a larger institution and rehabilitation Centre for leprosy patients. Currently, along with the head office in Karachi, the centre has expanded to 157 health centres all over the country.

There are many other people who make it possible for the people of this country to exist. Ramzan Chhipa, who owns the Chhipa Welfare Association that runs a large fleet of ambulances in Karachi, second only to that run countrywide by the Edhi Foundation. There is the Aurat Foundation and the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), the Ansar Burney Trust and Dar-ul-Sakun for people with disabilities who could not otherwise afford care. And the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Imran Khan’s greatest achievement to date.

There are many more organisations, small and large, to all of whom the people of this country owe a debt of gratitude. Those who are responsible for them are the country’s most influential people of all the years that Pakistan has been in existence, because rather than generating hope, they actually make it come true. Although hope is useful and one cannot live without it, help in time of need is what we need most.

As for the rest of us, we need to find out who lies behind the smoke, and why the smoke is allowed to shield them before we can put out the flames that are burning this country down to the ground.

POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK?

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/14/pot-calling-the-kettle-black-2/

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has demanded that Britain should apologise for the 1919 Jalianwala Bagh massacre, and the 1943 Bengal famine. Oh, and as an addendum he has also demanded that it return to Pakistan the Kohinoor Diamond taken in 1849.

It is not certain where the Koh-i-Noor diamond first came from. It was probably mined in Golconda, present day Andhra Pradesh.

Babar wrote about it in the Babar Nama, saying it was acquired by Alauddin Khalji of Delhi from the Kakatiya Dynasty of Southern India at the beginning of the 14th century. Babar himself acquired it as tribute in 1526 following the Battle of Panipat.

The Koh-i-Noor was taken from the Mughals by Nadir Shah of Persia when he invaded Delhi in 1739. he might have been the first person to call it ‘Koh-i-Noor’, or ‘Mountain of Light’ in Persian. When he died in 1747 and his empire collapsed, the gem went to his grandson who gave it to Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan. One of Ahmad Shah’s descendants Shuja Shah, the self-proclaimed King of Afghanistan, fled to the Punjab in 1813, and lost the diamond to his host Ranjit Singh.

You wish members of the Pakistan government would stop embarrassing its people each time they open their mouths. You wish too that one’s leaders would do what they are supposed to do and stop fishing for popular ra-rah by means of such asides which have nothing to do with what they were elected for

In 1849 the Kingdom of Punjab was taken over by the British. Article III of the Treaty of Lahore signed then ceded the diamond to Queen Victoria, not as a personal gift to her, as the Governor General Dalhousie had it presented by Ranjit Singh’s son to the East India Company, which presented it to the Queen as a spoil of war. It– or rather its segments, since it has since been cut into several pieces– can now be found in the various crowns belonging to the Queens of England.

There are therefore many claimants. India first demanded the British return it at the time of Independence in 1947, and then again in 1953 and 2000. In 1976 Pakistan asked for its return, and in 2000 the Taliban claimed it as Afghanistan’s legitimate property.

The British Government rejected all these claims, saying that the diamond was legally obtained by the British under the terms of the last Treaty of Lahore. Which is what they will say again in response to Fawad Chaudhry’s demands, if they bother to respond.

Yes, the British government ought to have apologised for that shameful part of its history that is Jallianwala. That they have not, will forever stand against them.

To ask for an apology for the famine of Bengal though is nothing less than gross cheek and gall when the demand comes from Pakistan, and if I were a citizen of Bangladesh, I would say so. As a member of the human race, I do say so.

The famine of Bengal took the lives of between two to three million Bengalis, due to starvation, malaria and other diseases.

When the Japanese occupied Burma, modern day Myanmar, the British were afraid that they would advance into India via Bengal. To prevent this, the British ordered the stocks of paddy (unmilled rice) and other food products to be destroyed along the coastal areas of the Bengal. The British Army also confiscated or destroyed all boats large enough for ten or more persons, belonging to the local people who relied on these boats for fishing, and transport of commercial goods, seeds and other equipment. Rice and fish are the staple diet of the people of Bengal who lost both at this time. No recompense was provided and no food rations, and a famine set in.

Pakistan was formed after that in 1948. The people of Bengal had a majority over the people in the Western wing, yet the capital and the government was always in the hands of the West. Various such things led to the separation of East Pakistan from the West and the birth of Bangladesh, but not before what has been gross excesses committed by the West against its eastern wing, although both sides suffered fatalities at the hands of each other and neither is willing to accept the figures presented by the other. The death of civilians killed in Bangladesh as a result of the war has been called genocide, because they lie anywhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women are said to have been raped.

According to the Pakistani journalist Anthony Mascarenhas writing in 1971 for the British Sunday Times (Mascarenhas was once the editor of Karachi’s Morning News): “I saw Hindus hunted from village to village and door to door, shot off-hand. I have heard the screams of men bludgeoned to death in the compound of the Circuit House in Comilla. I have seen truckloads of other human targets and those who had the humanity to try to help them hauled off ‘for disposal’ under the cover of darkness and curfew.”

For this Pakistan is responsible. Can Pakistan in all conscience point fingers at someone else for doing similar things?

You wonder if the gentleman making demands for an apology from Britain is aware of the history behind the events he speaks of, and the events that took place afterwards? You wish members of the Pakistan government would stop embarrassing its people each time they open their mouths. You wish too that one’s leaders would do what they are supposed to do and stop fishing for popular ra-rah by means of such asides which have nothing to do with what they were elected for. There is the small issue of increasing Press censorship that the Chaudhry is probably trying to muffle under such rhetoric. His tactics might work since the public is easily diverted by such macho calls for justice, but the events that took place in Pakistan’s eastern wing will always be remembered by anyone with half a conscience.

CODDIWOMPLING: Travelling purposefully towards a vague destination

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/07/coddiwompling-travelling-purposefully-towards-a-vague-destination/

Back in 1896 the American Supreme Court ruled that so long as public facilities were the same for whites and the rest, it was okay to segregate the two. ‘Separate but Equal,’ was the term used. Because of that ruling, segregation was sanctioned, legally, constitutionally. This is how matters stood for about 60 years by which time there were aggressive moves to challenge these laws. Then, a gentleman called Oliver Brown filed a suit against the Board of Education in Kansas questioning why his daughter was unable to attend all-white schools. He said that not only were the white schools better, but that segregation violated the ‘equal protection’ clause of the 14th Amendment in the US Constitution.

By 1954 Earl Warren had been appointed as new Chief Justice to the US Supreme Court, and he succeeded in bringing about… no, not a dam fund… but an extremely progressive verdict, a unanimous one at that, against segregation.

It took considerable skill and effort to achieve this, because racism was not as yet politically incorrect and so there was little pressure to be otherwise, in fact there was quite a lot of pressure to continue being racist. The only opposing pressure was that exerted by reason and conscience. But the case made it through the court, proving that when something is considered worthwhile it is possible to resist pressure and make it happen.

Is it by dividing a nation along religious lines, or any other lines, that unity is sought?

Because of this landmark decision, when you and I visit the USA today, despite the doubtless racism which exists there and everywhere else including Pakistan, except among thinking individuals, we are able to use the same bathrooms, schools, buses and so on, as the white population. No need to use rang gora karnay wali creams.

Back in September last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Atif Mian to the Economic Advisory Council. But following pressure by extremist right-wing groups that appointment was rescinded and Mian resigned. The reason for taking back the appointment as we know was that Mian belongs to the Ahmaddiya community. That is old news. What is current is that now that the economy of Pakistan is in such dire straits that that old matter insists on coming to mind, not that it should ever have been allowed to leave it.

It is probable that Mian, who has previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago and is currently a professor of economics at Princeton University, serving as the director of the Julius Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance, would have done a much better job because he knew finance and economics. With him as advisor, perhaps this coddiwompling government would have been able to steer the economy into safer waters instead of making confident noises about doing so, and pretending it has a direction and an economic policy.

But who would have done a better job and who has not, and in fact the economy itself is a secondary matter. The important point is, why did this incident involving Atif Mian ever happen? Not until such things never happen again should this matter be put on the back shelf.

The dismissal of Atif Mian cuts at the roots of this country’s existence. The government ought to have been challenged in court when Mian was dismissed because that action shattered the Constitution. Because such discrimination is not what an ‘Islamic’ Republic should indulge in. Where was our reason, religious sentiment and conscience at the time? Why do extremist right-wing political parties carry the day with such sickening regularity?

According to the Constitution of Pakistan it is only the President and Prime Minister who are required to be defined as Muslim. All other posts in government are open to followers of other religions.

The dismissal of an eminently qualified candidate on such grounds had not a leg to stand on.

Following the event Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that the decision was taken because the government wished to maintain unity. The man is wrong, plain wrong.

Is it by dividing a nation along religious lines, or any other lines, that unity is sought? Remember 1971 when Pakistan refused to hand over government to its elected representatives in its East Wing because we did not want the kalay bhookay Bengalis to rule over us? Did that decision unify Pakistan or split it?

The past has a way of coming back to bite you, and in our case now, deservedly so.

THE 'UN-ISLAMIC' PUNCH

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/03/31/the-un-islamic-punch/

An answer to a question on Quora regarding the best punch in boxing says: ‘As a generalisation, a right cross will suit many taller people, and a right hook many who are short at the weight they compete at. But whatever gets the best results, then that’s your best punch, no matter what else applies.’

This definition applies well to ‘un-Islamic’, the punch that hits the hardest. No matter what else applies (or does not apply), that word will always get results.

A petition for removing a humorous advertisement that says a woman can hire a Careem taxi to run away from her wedding has been filed in the (Lahore) High Court, claiming the advertisement violates Section 31 of the Pakistan Constitution.

In other words, the petition claims the advertisement is ‘un-Islamic’.

Section 31 speaks of the ‘Islamic way of life’, and says that:

1: Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually and collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

There is more, but that is irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

Let’s not even touch the question of humour which is what Careem strove to apply, of whether or not running away is a fundamental requirement of a sane and happy life, or about whether or not it is allowed in religion. It is fatiguing even to contemplate such discussions.

What we can discuss is marriage.

Is marriage necessarily the only option for a woman in Pakistan or elsewhere? In Pakistan is it the best option? Is marriage defined as the subjugation of one party or complete power over one by the other? Is being married a synonym for losing all rights to a decent human existence? And if marriage fails, is it okay to leave it, all other things considered?

It is time to stop using Islam as a weapon. Islam is first and foremost a guide towards a life of happiness– for all of us, not for half the society, to be employed with consent and not by force. It’s time we understood that and acted accordingly

The most recent relevant news that has come to light is of the woman who was beaten, and apparently made to dance nude in front of his colleagues by her husband. When she went to the police for help, they asked her for money instead of providing protection. No surprises.

Given the option, leaving her marriage would probably have been the least demeaning option for Asma, the lady above, except that this case coming to light exposes many other similar cases. Such as an even more recent case in Peshawar where the wife was allegedly subjected to similar treatment by the husband.

These are not isolated cases. The Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace and Security Index studies 153 countries to obtain a ranking of women’s security in those countries. It is horrifying to find the Islamic Republic of Pakistan almost at the bottom of that list, above only Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria.

Is this state of affairs Islamic? Is it right? Does it not violate Section 31? Is this status quo what we are trying to protect? Must a woman remain in a marriage that steals her dignity, ends her happiness and her life?

How about the forced conversions followed by marriage that have been taking place for years in Pakistan? They came into the limelight suddenly most recently when the Prime Minister spoke against them. Is it Islamic to force a woman to change her religion and then marry her against her will to someone?

Is it Islamic to marry off underage girls to old men? To marry off women without their consent? To mistreat them, and torture them, and provide no redress? Is it Islamic to use a wife as free labour? As a sex slave?

How did a petition against a harmless advertisement skip the queue the way it has when all these other cases should be taking up what space there is?

It is time men in Pakistan took their heads out of the sexual nosebag to seriously examine their own priorities.

Eve-teasing, that charming South Asian euphemism for harassing women in public, is a daily occurrence for every woman in Pakistan, regardless of age, clothing, place or time. Perhaps we should examine– before we take anything else into account– how closely this conforms to Section 31. Would you say this practice ‘individually and collectively, enables women to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah’?

Let us look at ‘honour’ killings, where men are able to kill and get away with killing women of their family for marrying someone of their own choice. One such killing occurred just the other day in Karachi when a man allegedly killed his sister and brother-in-law for that reason. It happens all the time.

If the LHC has any sense it will allow the Careem advertisement to remain, with its blessings, if not with to provide viewers with a laugh, then as a warning. Women, after all, are human as well. Or aren’t they?

It is time to stop using Islam as a weapon. Islam is first and foremost a guide towards a life of happiness– for all of us, not for half the society, to be employed with consent and not by force. It’s time we understood that and acted accordingly.

THE POWER OF SYMBOLISM

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/02/25/the-power-of-symbolism/

People appear to be divided between two opposing camps, one that believes there is eternal glory in store for those who give up their lives in war.

The other says there is no glory in war, and that it produces no heroes; that glory comes from actions that prevent war, that heroes are the ones who implement these actions.

It is hard to believe in the absoluteness of either view, surely there is something in between? Something that says that those who die in war – if they die knowing that they die for a greater cause, something that would save lives and make this a better world, such persons only are heroes. Which means there would be little glory in killing your enemy and being killed by him if he – for example – spat on you (Hazrat Ali).

Whether there is eternal glory is known only to Him who is able to grant it. What is sure is that such heroism is not to be aspired to over and above peace on earth, and each of us must do all in our power to make that peace a reality, and refuse to be impressed when they are just words in the mouths of people who seek to gain power via that peace, or that war. And that is what is happening these days with the PM across the border expressing anger at the violence in Pulwama, and the PM on this side protesting his dedication to peace. While it is clear that with elections coming up soon in India, across the border is spouting election rhetoric and depending on the drums of war to beat up support, you do wish that PM Khan’s protestations were genuine. Or let us assume they are, but what is being done to live up to them?

The suicide bomber whose act of detonating 350 kilos of explosives that killed 44 Indian soldiers was a resident of Indian Held Kashmir. It was probably the highhandedness of Indian troops in his homeland that compelled him to do what he did.

But the group taking ‘credit’ for the attack, Jaesh-e-Mohammad, which has links to Al-Qaeda, a group that previously functioned under another name, is based in Pakistan. Their leader Masood Azhar is a resident of this country. The attack in Pulwama is not the first they have been implicated in. Yet the group runs mosques and seminaries here. The goverment of Punjab sealed one mosque seminary complex in Bahawalpur following the attack, another such complex was similarly sealed by the Counter Terrorism Department in Sialkot. Surely, the government of Pakistan, previous and current ought to have made it a matter of priority to shut these down earlier. Much earlier.

The ceremony would be funny if it were not imbued with patriotism, when it is perceived as impressive, even though all it is is high/goose-marching men who raise their legs above their noses, wearing starched turras on their turbans, who stomp their feet and shout and glare at each other

There are other things that could be done. Some are symbolic. Note the ‘symbolic’ all by itself, unqualified by ‘only’ or ‘just’. Symbolism is powerful. One of these things is the Wagah Border Flag Ceremony, which began in the late 1950s, the flag lowering ceremony on either side of the border which is framed as an entertainment geared to tourists who come to view the sight of the Pakistan Rangers on this side and the Indian Border Security Force on that, recreating the pomp and ceremony of a battlefield — because only tourists and overzealous patriots who believe there is eternal glory in store for those who give up their lives in war can imagine a battlefield as possessing pomp and ceremony.

The ceremony would be funny if it were not imbued with patriotism, when it is perceived as impressive, even though all it is is high/goose-marching men who raise their legs above their noses, wearing starched turras on their turbans, who stomp their feet and shout and glare at each other for almost an hour, recreating the two countries’ warlike attitude and contempt for each other.

I cannot speak for the Hindu set of beliefs, but Muslims believe in the power of symbolism, in the power of acts such as bowing five times a day leading to a genuine submission to Allah. Is it not amazing then that if peace were ever sought between the two nations, Pakistan at least should not have tried to replace this pantomime with something less aggressive? Something that would suggest peace to its people, and congeniality, rather than war and animosity?