Protests, Strikes And Death

Look at the newspapers today and what meets the eye is same old themes of pain, gain, insensitivity, death, hunger, strikes and drones. These days all the news revolve around these painful but powerfully throbbing with life motif- though ironic that most of them are directly or indirectly related to death - the grim reaper that is the harbinger of lethal sadness.


The saddest is the death of several Afghan civilians at the hands of NATO. This war on terror has claimed so many innocent lives that it has turned out to terrorise a huge population both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We very dearly and sincerely condole our Afghan brothers and sisters and pray for the bereaved families who have tonnes of heartache to go through to be able to live it out.


Then comes the sad fact that the hunger-protest of the Teachers's Association of Balochistan has entred into its seventeenth day with a few of them had to be taken to hospital since their conditioned worsened. But what is glaringly shameful is that the government has neither shown any remorse nor offered any words of kindness. 

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US will not be "gouged" by Pakistan on the price it says it will charge for overland deliveries. In connection to this whatever has happened during the last two weeks is weird to many. Looking from that side the Pakistan government appeared very week and ready to give in to the pressure from the NATO. President Zardari was expected to announce the opening of NATO supply routes while in Chicago. Everybody was incensed back in Pakistan and huge protests had been planned especially by the Defense Of Pakistan Council which had to be cancelled when the President did not go forth with the announcement. Why he did this is something that only he can tell. But one thing is for sure that not making this announcement has brought a hiatus in all the angry voices that have been raging on against The People's Party.


The break that came between 'alliance' of Pakistan and USA has deepened with the sentencing of the doctor who helped capture Usama Bin Ladin. The court that issued the sentence obviously saw it is as a treachery to Pakistan and the Constitution. But all this has not in the least been able to heal the wounds caused by the killing of the twenty-four soldiers at the hands of NATO Forces that was the second incident owing to which the relations of the two countries plunged to the lowest.


Now the news that both the Tehreek-e Insaf and the Muslim League (N) plan to go to the Supreme Court against the ruling out of the PM's disqualification by the Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza.


There are so many wars going on in Pakistan - war between the Pakistan and the USA governments on the price of NATO supply routes, war between the Pakistan government and the Teachers' Association in Balochistan, war between the Pakistan government and the judiciary, war between the Pakistan government and the masses about power shortage in the country and huge scale of unannounced 'load-shedding' and last but not the least war between the Pakistan government and the different political parties especially the Tehreek-e Insaf and the PML(N).


And the most shocking thing midst all this chaos is that neither the President nor the Prime Minister is seen utter a word of consolation to the people of Pakistan about the poverty, power shortage and the other injustices going on around the country. On the contrary Mr Gilani is seen speaking most of the time 'about' constitution. He has been reduced to defending his own position regardless of whatever happens in the country.

Shazia Aapa

Ah.......! I am still unable to digest the fact that she is not in this world now. This makes me think how she would be feeling. Or is there no feeling after death? Which I think is not right since I take the position that the religion does. I know that my worldly mind cannot capture the essence of life up there still I just cannot stop myself thinking again and again. How people 'live' after they have died, after they have left for a completely different system of galaxies. Where there is only love, only beauty, only milky-white beings, only sweetness, only LIFE, only true knowledge, only sacredness, only honey-and-milk rivers and above all only ALLAH!

Wo jahan kesa ho ga jahan Allah ka Arsh maujood hai! (How sacred will be the place where Allah's Arsh is!)

It is so strange that one moment someone is here, in flesh and blood, throbbing with life and zest, laughing, crying, speaking... and the next moment that same person has gone. Gone forever! Disappeared into the distance that is trillions of light years from us earthlings. O God! And there is a time when we have to stand answerable to Him. Thinking of this shatters my being!

Kash k me na hota ya koi janwar hota, ya paharr hota ya jheel hota, ya roshni hota, ya phool hota, ya chahay andhera ya kanta he hota. Kam az kam hisab to na dena parrta! Mujh main quwwat hoti to me apnay aap ko rate k karorron zarron main tabdeel kr k na janay kahan kahan urra deta. Lkn afsos k us gharri se phir bhi bacha nahin ja sakta. (Would that I was nothing, or an animal or a mountain or a lake or light or a flower or at most darkness or a thorn. This way I would not be held answerable to Him. If I could do it I would decompose myself in billions of granules and scatter them all over the universe. But even that cannot help me escape Judgement!)

Coming back to the dear aapa, I chatted with her only once. She was here in the UK in a certain hospital in Manchester. I think she said she was better. Then we could not chat again for well over a month. And then I found some of her messages on my profile at FK. I replied to them and AM STILL WAITING FOR A REPLY BACK! It does not seem to be coming for years on end.

My heart prays for her!