Open up your mind and your potential reaches infinity…

Archive for the ‘Pakistan’ Category

CHILEAN MINE FIASCO— PAKISTAN STYLE


Written by Agha Mehr Gul.
The rescue of the Chilean miners trapped 600 feet below the earth for almost 70 days was really dramatic. Life still has value in some countries.
It got me thinking, what the situation might have been had these miners been Pakistanis…..
To start off, of the 30 odd miners, half of them would have been killed within the first 48 hours by the other half over arguments as to who among them was responsible for the collapse of the mine. And if rescue did come, they would be pulling each other down to be the first one out!
Meanwhile, on the surface…
Rehman Malik would have announced within the first few moments of the incident that all the miners were dead, only to retract his statement later.
Zardari would have flown abroad to muster diplomatic support from France and be enjoying life wining and dining in his chateau.
The Prime Minster could have come out with his usual statement that if such an incident had taken place, he was not aware of it, but such things happen everywhere, his govt just Inherited Old practices of mines collapsing…..
Nawaz Sharif would first join hands with the PPP in saving the lives of the miners and then turn against his “bhai” alleging that this was a plot to gain votes.
Imran Khan would be blaming the Americans and then Pak Army for the collapse of the mine.
Altaf Hussain would want the government to hand over the rescue operation to the army.
Ejaz Butt would be trying to figure out who would lead the rescue team.
A Geo reporter would be the first person to reach the miners.
Hamid Mir would have uncovered corruption and mismanagement of funds allocated to the rescue plan.
Iftkhar Chaudhry would take a suo motto and then launch an investigation to find out if any of the miners had benefited from the NRO.
The police would try to stop the miners lawyers from reaching the site, resulting in a clash and “the law” of the country would beat the crap out of each other.
And while the rescue shuttle, which would probably be a rusted barrel tied with a worn out rope being pulled (remember it’s load shedding time) by an old undernourished overworked donkey with flies on his wounds, is lowered into the ground, an American drone bombs the place, killing not only the miners but their families as well. US govt would announce, Mission accomplished. Saying, Militants who were trying to dig their way into Europe before swimming to the USA were happily all killed!!!The World led by David Cameron and UN would applaud the US action.
Rehman Malik : “The miners were already dead before the drone

30,NOVEMBER 2010

Category:

Humour, International, Pakistan

RAIN OF LOVE


Category:

Music, Pakistan, Politics

MY CITY DROWNS IN BLOOD


Published in the Aye Karachi Magazine, May 2011.

Written to mourn the nameless individuals gunned down in Karachi in the name of  ‘target killings’…

When in 2010

I saw now and then
Innocent beings killed
With liters of blood spilled
As the city drowned in flood
From the target killed’s blood
As the poor and nameless
Became targets of the shameless
And as I stood childishly sobbing
With pain so agonizing, so throbbing
For it put Humanity to shame
I gave that year a name
‘The Bloody year’

And now in 2011

I look up to Heaven
I beg and pray
That killers stay away
But my prayers go unheard
As the killers stay undeterred
The leaders stay unstirred
Peace remains blurred
The killings go on unabated
Gosh, they could have waited
For some days to pass
Before corpses they amass
But no, they have no patience
In blood is drowned their conscience
As the days pass more
Who knows what’s in store
And I shiver with dread
For the months that lay ahead.
I wonder what name will I give to this year?

Ilmana Fasih

14 Jan 2011

Category:

MY POETRY, Pakistan, Poetry, Politics, Published

THE STORY OF QAUMI TARANA.


About three months after the demise of Quaid-e Azam, the need for a National Anthem started to be felt. In December 1948, a National Anthem Committee(NAC) was formed which was chaired by a bueaurocrat Sheikh Mohammed Ikram. It had included some politicians but prominently there were three members—Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla, Hafeez Jallundhari and Abdur Rab Nishtar. The committee never reached on any consensus until early 1950s.

(What makes me scratch my head is that if we presume for a minute that Azad’s anthem wasn’t the correct claim, why then did it not occur to Quaid e Azam to ask for a National Anthem in his lifetime. Why did it have to be left to the ‘visionaries’ only after his demise, to form a National Anthem Committee. Or probably I scratch my scalp because I itch for no valid reason).

In 1950, to be exact on March 1, the Shah of Iran was to visit Pakistan— and a panic rushed along the corridors of the government to come up with ‘some’ music to be played on his arrival. The NAC was asked to ‘urgently’ come up with an anthem in a few days. It wasn’t entirely unjustified as they had been sitting and bickering on the committee for over 15 months with no concrete results likely even in the foreseeable future.

The chairman of the Committee then, Fazlur Rehman, the Federal Minister of Education acted very ‘democratically’ and sent invitations to numerous poets and musicians for their entries. Several entries did come in, but the NAC members found them all ‘unsuitable’.

Then true to the spirit of “necessity being the mother of invention”, the NAC agreed on a piece of composition by Chagla as suitable and presented it for formal approval. Hence Chagla assisted by the Pakistan Navy Band gave his written music notes a sound. Even till then there was only a ‘tune’ and the ‘words ‘were missing.

The music, much to the relief of the government, was played on the arrival of Shah Of Iran.
(Clever of them. As if the Iranian Monarch would have understood the lyrics in Urdu anyways. I probably would have done the same in their place!).

Again the same instrumental national anthem was played for Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan when he paid a state visit to the United States in May 1950, apparently after being persuaded to snap ties with the Soviet Union and set the course of Pakistan’s foreign policy towards closer ties with the West. (But that’s besides the point at the moment. I shouldn’t be talking of irrelevant issues here, right? )

Of course when Iranians didn’t get the missing lyrics how would Americans—so they too were presented just the instrumental anthem. The Musical Composition took a deep sigh of relief when in August 1950 it became the legitimate “composition’ of Pakistan National Anthem after being officially approved.

But the music composition had to live with the ‘single status’ without it’s beloved lyrics until 1954 when the lyrics by Hafeez Jallundhury and the music by Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla were finally wedded together to live happily ever after…

The National Anthem which we know now as “Pak Sar Zameen Shadbaad” was first officially played on Radio Pakistan on 13 August 1954, almost seven years after the birth of Pakistan. Official approval was announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on August 16, 1954.

Tragically the composer Chagla had, however, died in 1953, before the new national anthem was officially adopted. He did not live long enough to see who his baby ‘music composition’ chose as it’s beloved ‘lyrics’.

In 1955, a chorus of 15 singers from Pakistan under the lead of Ahmed Rushdi recorded the National Anthem, to be officially played for Pakistan.

Indeed, all’s well that ends well.

Ilmana Fasih
16 October 2009.

Category:

Pakistan, Politics

UFF YE CRICKET


Cricket ho ya cricketers, nahin ab koi maza
Ye khelte kam hain, kaat te zyada hain sazaa
Kabhi ball tempering ka ilzaam jhelte hain
Kabhi spot fixing ke baad match khelte hain
Match jeetna to jaise bhool hi gaye
Shayad hi in mein se koi school bhi gaye
Poor ka poora 16 ka squad hai kam aqal
Afsos na koi ek bhi inmein hai khush shakl
Soorat na thee to seerat hi achee rakhtey
Fans na sahee, khuda ko to khush kartey
…
Din to cricket ne the dekhe 20-25 saal beete
Jab test match to kya World Cup the jeete
Woh tabahi battings Zaheer ya Majid khan ki
Ya zaalim ballings Sarfaraz Nawaz  aur Imran ki
Majid jo ball ko boundary pe karta that hit
Stadium ki saari larkiyaan jaati thi mar- mit
Zaheer bhi kya ball ka hard hooker tha
Aur uspe kya ‘be-spectacled’ looker tha.
Imran ki to khair baat hi niraali thi
Balling to thee hi, shakl bhi jamali thi
Aur woh Miandad bhi kya sheh tha
Ata that jab pitch par, jeetna to tayy tha.
Kya tha un dinon cricket dekhne ka maza
Ab to match dekhna bhi lagta hai ek saza.

Ilmana Fasih

20 October 2010

Category:

Cricket, Humour, MY POETRY, Pakistan, Poetry

AS LIFE GOES CHEAP, LIVING GETS EXPENSIVE


Watching a news bulletin in Sep 2010 is no less than watching a World War II movie fron 1940s. Statistics of just the past few days go as:
-72 migrant workers killed in Mexico near US border
-Over 50 killed in Quetta in a procession
-35 killed by a suicide bombing in Lahore
-Sixteen killed in Darfur
-Nine killed in Kandahar
-Six people set ablaze in Barbados
-Four killed in bomb blast in Hebron
They may look a micronumber considering the 6 billion who call Mother Earth their home..
Many more precious lives are lost through natures’ fury . But that is another story although the onus of outraging the mother nature too lies on us .
Death is inevitable but a human life succumbing to the barbarism of another fellow human being is an abominable act. Isn’t this a trait uniquely attributed to us the “human” beings. Rarely do we hear of ferocious lions killing other lions, or elephants stampeding elephants in the frenzy of the ‘mast’. I feel ashamed of being a homo sapien.
It would be rude but true to say, probably those who departed were ‘blessed’ , keeping in view the billions who lead desperate, hungry lives and die a hundred deaths each day out of hunger or humiliation. One out of every 6 (i.e.1.02 billion)people don’t get enough food to stay healthy or lead an active life.
Surfing through the website of the World Food Program is a journey through the chamber of horrors. Facts appear like hammer blows over one’s skull, strong enough to stun the brain. Truly representing heartless clan of human beings, I sail through the fact sheet ,alive and breathing, reading :
*Almost one billion people suffer regularly from hunger, mostly being women and children-equal to the population of the US, Canada and EU together.
*97% of them being in developing countries.
*65% of the world’s hungry live in seven countries— India, China, DR Congo, Bangladesh , Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
*Malnutrition prevents children from reaching their full cognitive and developmental potential.
*One child dies every six seconds from hunger and related causes.
*More people die of hunger every year than AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined.
And then, today a news flashes on an international channel:
”The UN has called an urgent meeting on rising global food prices in an attempt to head off a repeat of the 2008 crisis that sparked riots around the world.”
Russia, the world’s third largest grower of wheat ,extends a ban on wheat exports next year. In a knee jerk wheat prices in the world rise, biggest monthly rise in 37 years. In June itself UN had warned that the prices will rise by 40% in the next decade due to increases biofuel demands. How will the above stats take shape in future is a scary thought.
If the news shakes a ‘little’ me, it must have thrown the Nobel Laureate ‘The Banker of the Poor’ Dr Mohammed Yunus into a convulsion. A reincarnation of an angel on this earth, he believes “Poverty is unnecessary “ and attributes it to the lack of the political will. On narrating his life journey towards the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, he had said:
“I went to the bank and proposed that they lend money to the poor people. The bankers almost fell over. They explained to me that the bank cannot lend money to poor people because these people are not creditworthy. Today, if you look at financial systems around the globe, more than half the population of the world – out of six billion people, more than three billion – do not qualify to take out a loan from a bank. This is a shame.”
Hail the top brains in banking and corporate world for making this world “a heaven” for the rich and “a hell” for the poor. Yes, these ‘achievers’ are honest men, human life is indeed a cheap commodity with a high maintenance cost.
Dr Yunus dreams to create Poverty Museums.
We need to clone more Yunuses to make it possible.
Each one of us can live a micron of Yunus within us to make it possible simply by thinking about the millions who sleep hungry each night and persevere to not llet a grain end up in the garbage bag. It isn’t asking a lot.
I wish he was Hercules.
Can he live his dream?
I wish he does……

ILMANA FASIH
4 September 2010

Category:

Pakistan, Politics, Social Issues

LET’S NOT LET ‘EM FIX THIS GAME


Jaagte raho…
Days ago the water was still. Yesterday I saw some ripples. Today there are waves in it. And tomorrow it’s getting ready to turn into a whirl pool. The whirl pool which will suck with it the very cause of it.
I sit half way accross the globe from 9 pm tp 2 am glued to my TV watching the channel whose name rhymes with the name of our favourite enemy. The news ,the news analysis, the debate, the talk show—all one after the other, with a burning desire in the heart that today will give a pleasant surprise .For months on, each time I switched the TV off at 2 am-dejected and disappointed.
However, yesterday night was different. Somewhat different.
Though the opening news of the Lahore carnage was as painful as the numerous other such news we have been hearing and watching for the past few years. The scenes of incident couldn’t be watched with a dry eye. They were soul shaking. Each time one hears such blasts, one goes through the de ja vu feeling one got on losing a family member. And am not exaggerating.
Initially, program after program I felt the same monotonous rut until came the music of the last talk show at 1 am. It changed my day. The anchor was going through a camp at the suburb of our largest port city where IDPs from the Shaheed Bhutto’s home town are settled. A beautifully organised tent city is lined up. Each settler interviewed showered prayers and no complaints on our “Billo’s” philanthropist cum singer cum ex lecturer. They hug him, embrace him, bless him for making them live a dignified life in this tent city. When asked repeatedly whether they would want to go back home after the floods recede—majority refuse without a pause. Not because they got spoilt by the luxuries of a tent house and two decent meals ,but because they feel home here. They feel they have found a saviour in him.Their dignities restored. Their being a “human being” feeling restored.
Not one but all of them one after the other utter,”Why should we go back? What do we have there? As we go empty handed into the ruins, the Wadera will load us with the loans bonding our subsequent generations repay it forever. We feel safe and cared here.” It’s sad they are rejoicing the displacement from their homes, from their fields where they ploughed. They have lost all in kind only to get their dignities back which had been missing since their time immemorial. And remember they came from the land of the current rulers.
Its touching to see the humility with which their new wadera goes from tent to tent ,dawn till dusk asking them if they were fine. I have failed to find an appropriate adjective to the humility with which he was accompanying the anchor. Avoiding to look up to the camera hiding his wet eyes. The gentility personified. I salute this man!
I also salute all those other known or not so known “humans” who are turning their nights into days to help the humanity –here as well as anywhere on the globe. The hour flies away and the anchor bids “Khuda Hafiz”.
I turn to my laptop to check the status and to shut it down and sleep. My eye catches a glimpse of a video link. It says” Must watch this video clip”.It is barely a 54 seconds video but it beautifully sums up the history of 64 years of a Feudal Nation:
Pet bhar amir shadbad,
Bhal maran ghareeb kanda yaad.
Asif nu bangle aali shan,
Dubai ,Pakistan.
Pak sar zameen ka nizaam,
Amir tar amir ,mui awam.
And it goes on……………..
Unfortunate! It is a parody of our National Anthem, but not even one word of it is a lie or an exaggeration. I click it neither once nor twice, but again and again till I lose the count. Each time I hear, it rings bells in my ears.
I can smell it .Yes I can smell the change coming.
It isn’t too far. We don’t have to wait another life to see it.
We don’t even have to wait another year to see it, I am sure.
We are starting to wake up. We are standing up.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lets all see the light getting brighter each second.
Lets not sleep until we exit the tunnel.
We don’t have miles to go –it’s just round the corner.
Yes, FEUDALISM is getting ready to be caught out at the slips, let not any bookie, “in here” or “out there” fix the game to drop the catch. Let no “Butts” amongst us get sold out.
Beware and stay awake…….

ILMANA FASIH
3 September 2010

Category:

Pakistan, Politics

LET’S NOT LET ‘EM FIX THIS GAME


Jaagte raho…

Days ago the water was still. Yesterday I saw some ripples. Today there are waves in it. And tomorrow it’s getting ready to turn into a whirl pool. The whirl pool which will suck with it the very cause of it.
I sit half way accross the globe from 9 pm tp 2 am glued to my TV watching the channel whose name rhymes with the name of our favourite enemy. The news ,the news analysis, the debate, the talk show—all one after the other, with a burning desire in the heart that today will give a pleasant surprise .For months on, each time I switched the TV off at 2 am-dejected and disappointed.
However, yesterday night was different. Somewhat different.
Though the opening news of the Lahore carnage was as painful as the numerous other such news we have been hearing and watching for the past few years. The scenes of incident couldn’t be watched with a dry eye. They were soul shaking. Each time one hears such blasts, one goes through the de ja vu feeling one got on losing a family member. And am not exaggerating.
Initially, program after program I felt the same monotonous rut until came the music of the last talk show at 1 am. It changed my day. The anchor was going through a camp at the suburb of our largest port city where IDPs from the Shaheed Bhutto’s home town are settled. A beautifully organised tent city is lined up. Each settler interviewed showered prayers and no complaints on our “Billo’s” philanthropist cum singer cum ex lecturer. They hug him, embrace him, bless him for making them live a dignified life in this tent city. When asked repeatedly whether they would want to go back home after the floods recede—majority refuse without a pause. Not because they got spoilt by the luxuries of a tent house and two decent meals ,but because they feel home here. They feel they have found a saviour in him.Their dignities restored. Their being a “human being” feeling restored.
Not one but all of them one after the other utter,”Why should we go back? What do we have there? As we go empty handed into the ruins, the Wadera will load us with the loans bonding our subsequent generations repay it forever. We feel safe and cared here.” It’s sad they are rejoicing the displacement from their homes, from their fields where they ploughed. They have lost all in kind only to get their dignities back which had been missing since their time immemorial. And remember they came from the land of the current rulers.
Its touching to see the humility with which their new wadera goes from tent to tent ,dawn till dusk asking them if they were fine. I have failed to find an appropriate adjective to the humility with which he was accompanying the anchor. Avoiding to look up to the camera hiding his wet eyes. The gentility personified. I salute this man!
I also salute all those other known or not so known “humans” who are turning their nights into days to help the humanity –here as well as anywhere on the globe. The hour flies away and the anchor bids “Khuda Hafiz”.
I turn to my laptop to check the status and to shut it down and sleep. My eye catches a glimpse of a video link. It says” Must watch this video clip”.It is barely a 54 seconds video but it beautifully sums up the history of 64 years of a Feudal Nation:
Pet bhar amir shadbad,
Bhal maran ghareeb kanda yaad.
Asif nu bangle aali shan,
Dubai ,Pakistan.
Pak sar zameen ka nizaam,
Amir tar amir ,mui awam.
And it goes on……………..
Unfortunate! It is a parody of our National Anthem, but not even one word of it is a lie or an exaggeration. I click it neither once nor twice, but again and again till I lose the count. Each time I hear, it rings bells in my ears.
I can smell it .Yes I can smell the change coming.
It isn’t too far. We don’t have to wait another life to see it.
We don’t even have to wait another year to see it, I am sure.
We are starting to wake up. We are standing up.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lets all see the light getting brighter each second.
Lets not sleep until we exit the tunnel.
We don’t have miles to go –it’s just round the corner.
Yes, FEUDALISM is getting ready to be caught out at the slips, let not any bookie, “in here” or “out there” fix the game to drop the catch. Let no “Butts” amongst us get sold out.
Beware and stay awake…….

ILMANA FASIH
3 September 2010

Category:

Pakistan, Politics, Social Issues

LORD NAZIR ON LADY DEMOCRACY


Food for thought…
While browsing through the FB home page my eyes get attracted to the word DEMOCRACY flashing through the dawn blog page. Being the first and “favourite”(just a wild guess) child of political scientist parents I was weaned on words like Democracy, Aristotle, Plato, Socialism, Marx ,…… and the list goes on. When girls of my age were enjoying Mills and Boons I was bombarded with these terms at home. The after effects of this “child abuse” remain on my psyche till date. I click the mouse to check that it was an article by Lord Nazir saying :
”Give Pakistan the democracy it deserves”.
The Lord from across the seven seas that he is, he means every word of it. I read through the article not once but twice, imagining that I missed the real message the first time. He did mention of tackling corruption, democratic system in practice not just words, our politicians plundering the country and stacking it into most expensive barcodes in Britain. Indeed, he wasn’t exaggerating any of that stuff. He was kind enough to do the straight talk,
“This is the time, when Pakistan is embroiled in the chaos of the floods, to give power to civilians and help them run local services as part of a solid democratic political system. This bottom-up approach will encourage Pakistanis to be self-sufficient as well as learn to trust their political leadership again. But the buck stops at the door of the politicians who have to win the respect and confidence of the poor Pakistani public who are fast losing faith in their motives and the practices of these politicians are not helping the cause of the democracy.”
However, what was noticeable was the mention of Z*****(this is fb censor not mine) four times in the article. He even mentions the terms Mr.10%, corruption, Murtaza Bhutto murde, most expensive post codes in Britain—all these terms which are synonymous with this censored word that begins with a capital “z”.
My eyes were searching for the mention of other names of the ranks of Z. He did not even hint at the leader of the ‘friendly opposition’ or the Lord of Lahore when wrapping up corrupt politicians. There was a reason for it .He is a Lord of “House of Lords” in Britain and out there they do not mix business with friendships. He is not a hardcore desi like me who spares no chances to glorify a friend in writings when he deserves just a passing mention. Yes, he does not believe in nepotism. Poor Z, since he wasn’t his best friend, he had to take all the blame alone.
As one reader said and I agree the article was, high on theory and low on substance especially, when it was coming from the first Pakistani in the House of Lords.
As always, on dawn blog, I enjoy the reader’s comments more than the articles themselves. A lot of our compatriots registered their sincere takes on the issue. Few of them hilarious, some encouraging, but a lot of them sad keeping into mind the lack of trust they have in this magic word called “democracy”. Some of the illustrious in-depth explanations were too complicated and codified for my feeble grey matter to decipher. I wish I could understand what they wanted to say just to get the pulse of our compatriots. There were myriad of comments and I copy paste some:
*The definition of democracy which this ruling elite is giving to Pakistan is becoming a curse for the people unfortunately.
*no to zardari’s democracy.
*Democracy in pakistan is just a dream that we have since 63 years. I have not seen ever in my life in my country during my 26 year age.
*I never saw democracy in Pakistan.

*Pakistan need democracy as well as good leadership who could be able to restore good governance. Improve the economy .Do not depend of loans…….
Pretty valid arguments especially coming from 26 year olds or so.
Some sounded different or angry and some confused:
*i personally think we don’t deserve democracy.

*We r the people who don’t deserve democracy and we can’t adopt dis even we have given a chance.
*The establishment of Khilafat via the revolution of the masses is the solution to all our problems.
*American system of democracy is the best for India and Pakistan.
*im not saying martial law is the answer, I m saying..we don’t deserve to be given power…
*we need an honest dictator to rule us…….
*Now lets Play the new debate, really it’s like a TOM & JERRY Show! every one is proving that he/she is the best. You peoples cannot change this Ethnic Mind State.
*Regardless democratic or undemocratic, lead by a honest and a fair leader, regardless in or without uniform.

I do not mean to judge each of these comments. We all reserve the right to have our opinions. However it is heart aching to read how we under estimate ourselves by saying we don’t deserve democracy.
Just holding elections and selecting (and not electing) the representatives from the Feudal Lords isn’t democracy. These so called “people’s representatives” are Feudal Lords disguising as politicians. The illiterate and ignorant voters are merely their pawns. Since we have the pawn mindset we think we do not deserve democracy or accept this sham democracy as the only answer.
Few of us talk of whip lashing military rule as the answer being naïve that military is meant to be on our “borders” and not in the “centre”.
For Lady Democracy to arrive and thrive amongst us we need to provide her with the accessories she adores—education and tolerance.
Sadly we haven’t yet tasted true democracy to know how sweet it tastes.
Hope we get to taste it someone day….

ILMANA FASIH
1 Sep 2010

Category:

Pakistan, Politics

OF HUNGER, HOMELESSNESS AND DESPERATION


Food for thought…

“There is a triple threat unfolding as this crisis widens and deepens. People have lost seeds, crops and their incomes leaving them vulnerable to hunger, homelessness and desperation – the situation is extremely critical. We urgently need continued and strengthened commitment to the people of Pakistan in this time of crisis.” says Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of World Food Programme.

She accompanies Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF to see first hand the scale of the current needs in Pakistan.
Millions of hectares of farmland lay inundated as far as the eye can see. Just overnight, the lush green fields turn into stinky swamps. They transform into breeding grounds for mosquitoes causing malaria and dengue, and into culture-medium for Cholera, Typhoid and Hepatitis.Who knew that it was not just the droughts that bring thirst and hunger?

We had presumed that rampant corruption, frequent suicide bombs, lawlessness and sky rocketing inflation had already seen its zenith prior to these killer monsoons. Who knew this was just the beginning of the misery?

Children and infants under five are the most vulnerable and first to be affected in any disaster, followed by pregnant and nursing mothers. The National Nutritional Survey statistics for Malnutrition rates (general) and Stunting rates (in children) were already alarmingly high at 13% and 36.8% respectively. Where will these statistics reach now, is nobody’s guess.

The UNICEF and WFP with numerous other local and foreign organisations have come forth to feed the hungry through energy dense and vitamin fortified Ready to Use Supplement Food (RUSF). The fliers with instructions are handed out but to many of our unlettered women they appear to be Greek and Latin. Only if these women could read the manuals to know that they are to be consumed several times a day and not all at once to get the optimum benefit.

The Chief Executives of these phantom organisations roam around fearlessly not as trekkers but as saviours to the millions, while our own local Chief Executives stay within their fortresses saving their skins. But they do speak up occasionally. It is we the feeble minded who do not get the spirit of their lip service.

When the PM talks of NGOs consuming 50% of the aid—he said it in good will. Messed up that our psyches are, we deliberately twisted his words. If the aid would go to one of his likes, even the rest 50% would also vanish into thin air. Our myopic eyes missed this hint in his wink and the naughty smile, when he uttered these golden words. Poor him.

The detective minds amongst us can even attempt to uncover a hidden American agenda behind these floods. No, I am not joking. We did so during the earthquake and some of us suspected it in tsunami too .

And it is certainly not a divine punishment either. Allah does not punish the innocent when the culprits sail scot free.
This is the blessed month of Ramadan. We fast to learn self restraint and to feel for the less fortunate among us. How can we devour table full Iftars when 20 million of our compatriots go hungry, homeless and desperate.

Ramadan also reminds us of the importance of a collective responsibility as mankind. It is time to think collectively as a nation and as humanity at large. Ramadan is a month of alms giving too. Allah specifies the minimum that we are obliged to pay to the needy. He does not prescribe an upper limit.

Let us open our hearts and minds.
Let us have a guilt free Ramadan this year.
Close your eyes and think….

ILMANA FASIH
31 August 201

Category:

Pakistan, Politics, Social Issues