In the Realm of Darkness

‘A mad man’s ravings, for example, are absurd in relation to the situation in which he finds himself, but not in relation to his madness.’

Jean-Paul Sartre

Another fatwa has been issued against Sherry Rehman by the imam of Sultan Masjid, which declares her a non-Muslim & demands death sentence. In fact a pamphlet has also been published by another clergy man & it has been distributed. However, the iman of Sultan Masjid denies issuing any fatwa whatsoever. Even Tanzeem-e-Islami (TI) said that the organization hasn’t issued & distributed pamphlets against Sherry Rehman.

However, it’s ironic that Muslims are not supposed to called another Muslim kafir or non-Muslim, but it happens quite religiously.

The only pamphlet that has been issued so far is about Tahafus-e-Namoos-e-Risalat & they admit distributing that pamphlet & it’s available on their website. They believe that the PPP government has hurt the feelings of the people by tabling the bill to amend the Blasphemy law through its MNA Sherry Rehman.

However, the MNA said, ‘We are all Muslims, & you can’t be a Muslim without protecting the Prophet (PBUH)’s sanctity.’ These people have not read what exactly being scribbled in the bill.

Anyhow, recently Salman Taseer has been assassinated for raising his voice. 500 lawyers are willing to defend Qadri who is also making YouTube videos in jail & ironically, Salman Taseer’s wife cannot find a single criminal lawyer. I wonder who would be the judge. Even judges & lawyers in these cases are mostly killed by fanatics.

Moreover, 70 pages were created in support of Qadri, but they have been pulled down by FB.

Aasia Bibi has been crying like anything & she said, ‘I know that everything that has happened is because of me. I know in my heart of hearts, that person came here & he sacrificed his life for me.’ Both Aasia & her husband were happy after meeting Salman Taseer. They thought Aasia would be pardoned & set free. He had been the only governor in the history of Pakistan who visited an innocent victim in jail & for that press conference, one community was so much hurt that they thought killing him would be the best option.

Pakistan has become a violent & intolerant state. Anyone who dares to fight for the right cause is killed. We can’t expect much of people who passed fatwas against Mr. Jinnah & called him kafir. They can’t respect anyone. They can only impose their views & when they come across anyone who wouldn’t listen to them, they hate him & issue fatwas.

The common man is left with no other choice but to keep his mouth shut or leave this country. I don’t see any hope. We’re doomed for sure. Speaking up against such laws is dangerous. Even the influential people are not spared. Going on a jahid is far more tough in this age, cause we don’t wage jahid in the battle field anymore.

It’s beyond me to comprehend as to why Muslims are invariably weighing the faith of another Muslim.

‘And on earth are signs for those who have Faith with certainty. And also in your ownselves. Will you not then see?

Surah Adh-Dhariyat

&

‘And indeed We have put forth every kind of example in this Quran, for mankind. But, man is ever more quarrelsome than anything.’

Surah Al-Kahf

God is the only being who has the right to judge us & yet we have creatures playing god everywhere.

What will become of Pakistan?

How do we fight intolerance when even the influential people like Salman Taseer are killed for taking a stand? He had 27 bullet marks on his body. How could anyone survive this kind of attack? Yesterday I couldn’t get why the other personnel of Elite Guard didn’t shoot at the culprit but now we know that all of them have been arrested, cause they were aware of this plan. Qadri couldn’t have assassinated Salman Taseer if his colleagues were not involved.

On top of it, he had no remorse for murdering Salman Taseer. It has been reported that this man was removed from the Punjab Police Special Branch 3 years ago for having extremist views. And yet he was one of the guards of the governor when he had been receiving threats from the fanatics. Isn’t it ironic that a man who was supposed to protect the Punjab Governor actually assassinated him in front of other guards!

More than the culprit, it’s the people having biased views, clerics & other characters who instigate lunatics. It’s the fanatical mindset of people, which sadly cannot be changed. Salman Taseer only called it a black law & for having this view, fatwas were issued against him. This man is dead for helping out Asia Bibi who is falsely accused. Salman Taseer couldn’t have blotted out the law. He only protested against it. He only spoke against the applicability of the law, which is misused by many. He only expressed his viewpoint & he had been assassinated in the name of religion. I’m so sorry to say but this country has no future. If a fearless, bold politician speaks against a man-made law, people get hurt & kill him. There is no hope. It’s bullshit as long as we live, there is hope.

If the falsely accused are acquitted by the court of law, someone out there kills that person. Judges who have passed judgment in favor of the accused have been killed. Lawyers & anyone who sides with them are killed. Thanks to Zia-ul-Haq, countless innocent men & women have landed in jail due to these inhuman laws. And those who protest are also killed. What happened yesterday was the most high profile killing of a courageous politician!

The bottom line is: we shouldn’t protest against evil done by mortals in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Buddha was right that it is your mind that creates this world & if your mind is filled with hatred, naturally the world you create is nothing but a Valcone which is ready to erupt at any moment; such people can only commit hate crimes & kill people by giving justification that they have done it in the name of religion. As I see it religion has only become a source of discrimination by misguided who think they are 100 % right & they have the right to kill just anyone who is not as crazy as them.

Even though it’s clearly written in the Quran:

“O believers, look after your own souls. He who is astray cannot hurt you, if you are rightly guarded.’

&

"Thou guidest not whom thou likest, but God guides whom He wills & knows very well those that are guided."

Yet anyone who holds a different view is labeled a threat to religion.

This is another Quranic verse & everything is quite explicit in it but you have to have an open mind to understand it:

“There is a party of the People of the Book yearn to make you go astray; yet none they make to astray, except themselves, but they are not aware.”

Surah Imran

And of course the million dollar question is: who are these people?

A Huge Loss

The death of Salman Taseer is a huge loss & I don’t have words to express my grief. I don’t think Punjab would ever have a Governor like him again. It’s saddening that he has been assassinated by a fanatic who was none other than his own security guard. And the reason for killing him is all the more frustrating. We are indeed a very intolerant society & this has been the height of insanity.

I think Salman Taseer was a brave Pakistani. He was speaking against an inhuman law. Whatever he said was not wrong. How could you hate someone for having such views? But we have people in our country who just hate you for holding these views & they don’t even think while killing you.

Blasphemy law is such a sensitive topic that no one should say anything on it. I do not understand why such a bad law is still on the statute book. This law is open to abuse & there was no such law in the days of Holy Prophet (PBUH). It was created by the British to protect minorities, but when Pakistan came into being, there was just no need to have that law, cause Muslims were not in minority & then Zia-ul-Haq later on exploited it totally & today innocent people are paying the price. And if someone takes up a stand against it that person is killed in broad day light.

On Friday, Sardar Abad made an announcement that anyone who kills Salman Taseer will be awarded 2 crores. Maulanas as usual were passing fatwas against him & they instigated people & see what has happened. I’m sure they are people out there who must be very happy. But it wouldn’t change the fact that Salman Taseer was fighting for justice & the right cause, & in the process, he was murdered.

Clerics have this habit of instigating people & it’s not just illiterate folks who are being provoked…even the educated clan believes in such things. I lost 3 friends, because of my views & I’m not sorry for that. There’s a limit in friendship & they crossed it. All 3 of them were educated women, & yet they were extremely intolerant. They couldn’t stand my views. I can have any kind of opinion. I don’t need to follow the clan. I’m not answerable to my friends for taking side with those who commit suicide or are gays or sluts for whatever reason. Although 2 of them were Jews & 1 Muslim, but I’m sorry to say, they were not any different from this guard. That guard only pulled the trigger. These women go around poisoning ears & somebody else will pull the trigger.

The situation in this country will not change. Those who speak or protest against inhuman laws will always be taken as being influenced by the West & they are the enemies of religion. In the name of religion, people commit hate crimes & this is the biggest sin. No one has given you the right to take someone’s life just because he has a different stand. Baat sun tou lo before passing your judgment. Nearly everyone in our part of the world thinks he has the birthright to judge others & weigh their faith in a balance.

It was just too much for closed minds when Salman Taseer called Blasphemy law Kaala qanoon & so a mad man decided to end his life.

Salman Taseer was really a loyal Pakistani & we’re utterly devastated that such a person had been killed. May his soul rest in peace!

It is what it is

I was writing a comment on Nadzy's posts but the comment was becoming too long so I am writing a post, which is below.

We are living in a society which is insensitive and cold. We are extremely harsh about things that do not concern us. Anything that happens in our life is the most important thing in the whole world. This is how the Pakistani nation has become irrespective of how much they boast about their culture, religion and up bringing.

It is our country where gender inequality prevails in general. It is here that people are buried or burnt alive. We see people beating boys with sticks. Women are made to walk naked. We can not even distinguish between the right and wrong leadership. Materialism prevails. We still are controlled by hatred towards religious sects and political parties. We forget what we learn. We don't have respect for humanity in general. And animal welfare is a joke to the common man. We don't believe in individualism. We follow one another and that's how we proceed ahead. Thus, we are lost as a nation...together with pride.

Though I feel, it is useless to talk about such people so strongly because they are the way they are. And it is up to them to what degree they choose to be caring or uncaring about things other than their own lives. It is however, cheap when people proudly display how inhuman they are :)

Similarly, I do think, that perhaps you may think very strongly about one thing and it is not necessary others around you would feel that way. It is natural.

I agree I am very vocal about the flaws that exist in my country. I don't believe in hiding them either. There is no point in talking about flaws that exist in other countries, when we are at fault ourselves. Though I don't think writing something on our blog can change our flawed structure, system or closed mentality. It only shows that we are lost and somewhere, somehow we ourselves, our ancestors and our leadership are all responsible for it. The intolerance you hate, persists because this is nurtured in a flawed society for decades. And now is the time that everything has become a mess, too huge to be ignored. Nevertheless, those who are lost are still lost!

I'd still hope that hope remains. And that correction will be made if just a few people realize how they can be unlike the badness around them. This is the only way change can occur.

Insensitivity & Intolerance

Yesterday I was wondering as to what is the height of insensitivity & intolerance. Which reminded me of the rotten line: the sky is the limit. But in this case, the sky is, certainly, not the limit; such things go beyond that.

Lately I’ve observed that some educated people are also questioning the innocence of Muneeb & Mughees. Then we have cold writers & they don’t want people to get surprised, cause things have always been so in Pakistan.

A number of times I have written on illegitimate kids & how such infants are killed in Pakistan, but not even once any Muslim has bothered to comment on such topics. The suffering of unwanted infants & animals actually mean nothing to anyone.

I have even mentioned cases of suicide, incest & rape. People responded, but not like humans. One guy went mad on that annoying blognetwork. He thought I was spreading lies about Muslims…although I didn’t even mention Muslims anywhere. Rape & incest are crimes that happen everywhere. He couldn’t help telling us that bad things only happen to bad women.

When I wrote on suicide, a so-called friend sent me this email that she felt very strongly about suicide, cause 2 teenagers committed suicide in her family & she wanted to comment. In her comments which were more like lecture-cum-preaching, she wrote that those boys were selfish & had weak faith & I shouldn’t use the word victim for such people. You can’t expect much of a society which is hell bent on judging the faith of people. And yes I’m a little biased & shallow; I can’t stay friends with shitheads.

There was a subordinate of my father…he was a very selfless man. In his youth, his elder bro died & he looked after the kids of his brother. He didn’t marry anyone. He even got the daughters of his bro married at the right time, which even some real parents do not have the time to think about in the 1^st place & the daughters grow old before their time (that particular so-called friend of mine didn't think staying single is a problem either). This man committed suicide.

Now I think if there is a problem then it’s with the people around the victims. It’s with everyone in the vicinity who could have done something to save a life, but didn’t. It’s with everyone who later on judges the victims. It’s a very lonely world & people do get hurt so much so that they end up taking their own lives. Mental illness is a serious problem. We need to understand it with an open mind rather than judge the patients who kill themselves.

Lately I mentioned a case in which a woman was gang-raped, then murdered & buried by 2 criminals. When I wrote it, we didn’t know that the woman was abducted; in fact, it was reported that she had an affair with one criminal, she left her home for her lover. A gentleman left a comment that he held the woman responsible for what happened as it was her fault.

When I was in uni, a girl died in an accident & students were discussing that it was her fault. Why was she standing like that in the bus? And we need 4 or 5 people to die like this…then things might change.

At the same time, I also know people who can’t help bitching about Shias, Ahmedis, & Jews. Few days ago, a gentleman said to me that it’s even a sin to talk to Ahmedis. Many think it’s okay to kill Ahmedis.

How could you possibly look down on others without possibly having a good look at yourself? You can’t even tell such people: stop judging others, start judging yourself. They are such undeveloped minds. None of us is an angel. We’re all sinners. You may project yourself as someone very nice, but it won’t alter the fact. God can very well judge all of us. Only he is in the position to do so.