Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Politics For Fools..A Citizen's Perspective.

Pakistan has faced the biggest floods in modern history. The world seems ignorant of the devastating impact of the dire consequences, bleak future and dark, grim reality that awaits like an ugly Mephistopheles in the lurch behind. The political circle of fools continues spinning incessantly, throwing spits of blood, gory and putrid. The citizenry trudges along, heavy with economic burden, with emaciated bodies and sore, shoeless feet. Like a Picasso image, so etched in memory or like a Sartre opening paragraph from Iron in the Soul.


Is there dignity in the way citizenry is treated? We are but ignorant fools. We the poor, burdened emaciated citizens. As the thick, poisonous , tentacles of the ivies of treachery and deciept spread around us, we the fools, pretend not to notice. The shrill laughter of the decieptful  beauracrats, politicians, smugglers, religious gangsters, murderers, tricksters, fuedals and their sycphantic lepors and parasitic servants continues to bleed us  incessantly.http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/plo0090l.jpg
They think we are fools but we see with our Heart's eyes, with our soul's purity. Yes we do see.
We see how the fools have been playing silly politics by showing you and me category where it should have been us. In Karachi, in Hyderabad, in Sindh. We have been playing irrelevant politics where we should have been working on the field , with the people, among the people in Punjab but where the party head of the popular government has totally become irrelevant whereas his younger brother has taken on all uniforms on one man role for this day and age. We have been playing dormant, intellectually and socially in Baluchistan where the Booted Elite has tied our hands and nailed our feet. Where our so-called friendly fools have turned our economic progress into a war for freedom.
Alas the people have to rise. Alas the  people have to be given free and fair chance to lead their lives with dignity and egalitarian values. We , the citizens have to demand our basic rights to health, education , employment, freedom to worship, and dignity of labor.
The wily, slippery, street smart head of our state does manage to steer the ship along turbulent, choppy waters, with politics of inclusion but he has not been manouevering before. So , this does seem an experiment. but do we have a choice? There will be no state left if we do not let the rooster rule. We have to bear the brunt till completion of term. The mad media may shout, churm, and froth at its wide open mouth. We have to tolerate the role of being the corn in the cobmill for another few years. but the world moves fast. The idiotic, bigotted, demigods, with Draculine facies and Medusian minds from across and inside our borders continue to prey on our childrens' flesh and bones.

So will the ruling elite of extremely questionable intelligence and character be fair now and not fight uselessly over irrelevant issues and just work to improve the bad, bad, condition of its citizens. If there are no citizens , there will be no state. A big kick on your big fat asses.
Dr Meher Zaidi , the writer with her Moro flood region patients.

We want health, education, dignity of existence, food and right to choose life.

The floods 2010 washed and slapped across our fat faces the state of chronic malnutrition, hunger , bordering on starvation of our common man, woman and children.


This is how the common Pakistani man really looks like, if you take his torn and tattered clothes off.
The Pakistani Muslim reality that the Soapy, Vomitty, Media should continuously show. Its not the govt. DUMBOS its all of us.



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

My Broken Heart.Sindhi Health.



Mera dil tau hai sanam ashna 
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Mere dard-e dil- ke  O charagar
Ke huwee hai tujh ko yeh kab khabar
Mein yahan chupaye hoon bechargee
Tu hai bekhabar, O charagar
Mera dil kata
Mera dil bujha
Mera jism faqat 
  Misaal Qafas-e-sar
Aye bekhabar, aye bekhabar
Kahan khawab mere
Kahan khawahishain
Tau hai kab mujhe tatolta?
Mein hun nange sar
Sare rehguzar
Yeh saraab saje haen jo Sindh par
Woh mere wajood ke hain zalzale
Woh mere naseeb ke hain hosle
Jo faqat bane hain mera
Ek sada muqaddar
Aur yeh lutere, charagar
Jo bane mere hain hamsafar
Sare Soo-e Daar
Charadhain ge
Mujhe Muqtadar
Mere charagar
Mein yuheen paree
Rahe-rehguzar
Na hai charagar
Na koi safar
Bas ek khamosh
Bund aur safar
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Mein woh husn ki jo hun Marvi
Mein woh paak Mumal ki Ranui
Mein yuhee kharee hun
Is bund par
Sar-e rehguzar, nang sar
Aur kho gaya hai woh charagar
Kaheen dard mein, kaheen khawab mein
Yeh jo faasle hain beqadar
Kabhi khatam  hon
Na umeed kar
Yehi dhool mere naseeb ka
Banee sada Muqaddar
Mera nang sar
Mera dil bujha
Aur yeh aas bhi hai ab toot chukee
 Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein.
Bas aik lamha-e besabar
Bas aik Umeed-e Besehar
Meri sookhi aankh 
Ka khusk motee
Tau dekh le 
Aye charagar
Tujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Tera dil tau hai sanam ashna 
Tujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Tau hai Muqtadar
Par O charagar
Tau hai bekhabar
Tau hai bekhabar.

********************
Charagar Ka Jawab

Mein hun bekhabar, yuheen charagar
Mera dil tau hai sanam ashna
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein

Mein khara yuheen is bund par
Sare rehguzar
Na jawab mere paas hai
Na hisaab mere paas hai
Na zulf ka aseer hun
Na jaam-e dastgir hun
Mera dil tau hai sanam aashna
mujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Mein tau aseer  apne wajood ka
Meri puhanch  bas meri Quba
Yeh jo zindagi ka hai silsila 
Mein isee ka hee ab aseer hun
Mere raat din hein ek saraab
Mere jid juhd ek faraib
Mein hun bekhabar hisaab se
Mein hun behaya , na hun basharam
Mein tau juhl ka hee aseer hun
Mein tau zulm ba qafas-e zameer hun
Mere silseley hein bare bure
Tau jo dekh le 
Tau jaan le
Mujhe kiya mile ga namaz mein

Yeh jo jaal hein phailaaye huwe
Mei ne apne wajud ke faraib se
Diye hein taqwiyat yeh faraib ko
Mere zulm-e laazawal ko
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Mere haj, zakaat aur silsile
Yeh tere wajood- naheef ka
Karte hein aujhal silsila
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein

Mere but bhi aur, mere jaam aur
Mera kaaba aur,  Shyaam aur
Mujhe kiya milega namaz mein
Mein hun bekhabar
Hisaab se
Magar ab theher O nang-e sar
Mujhe aati hai 
Khushboo-sar
sar-e daar se
Tu jo Nooh ki malook hai
Tu jo Moosa ki  hai hamsafar
Shayad tera bhi hai koi Khuda
 Muqtadar, Muqtadar
Woh kitaab hai utaarta
Woh bhaag hai sanwarta
Woh hai Muqtadar
Woh hai Muqtadar
Mein kaarobar sameit loon
Joh hai Jabal-e Shar
Mein shayad nijaat pa bhi loon
Mujhe kuch mile ga namaz mein
Tere hosle jo hain beqadar
Kaheen unka bhi kamal ho
Usee sajda-e nasooh mein
Mere zulm ka bhi hisaab ho
Teri aankh ka woh moti
Ho mera zareeai hisaab 
Aye Muqtadar
Aye nang sar
Teri thokaron ke hisaab mein
Mera dil hai ab bujha huwa
Mein hun Muqtadar ke saamne
Mera sar hai ab jhuka huwa.

Translation :
Alas my heart is an idol worshipper
Woe, what my namaz
O my dream maker
O my problem -solver
O my physician
O my Landlord
O my politician
O my ruler
Whence did thou know of my helplessness
O whence did thou know of my destitution
O whence did thou know of my hunger
O whence did thou know of my lost dreams
You are unaware
Alas you do not know
That my heart is broken into numerous shattered pieces
That my heart is bleeding from deep, deep cuts
It is smouldering, sorrowful, 
My weakened body, my hungry existence is just a parody
of life , of existence
O unaware, O unaware.
Where are my dreams, thou should ask
Where are my desires?
Ah, but whence do thou search my heart?
whence do thou probe my dreams?
I am wihout a shade
In this incessant sun
On the pathway
Shelterless, eternally
Landless, eternally.
Yes I follow the mirage of Sindh
Dusty, parched
Dreamless!

Those are the earthquakes of my existence
Those are the courage of my fate
That are my fate only
Eternally
Only
And these are the looters
And these are the dream-makers
False, false
Oh,so false!

These are my Humsafar
They will but hang me on the death hanger
My worldly lords, my dream makers

My abandoned existence on the dusty path
No solace, no helper
This quiet existence , no journey to a dream
 I lie, I lie abandoned.
Alas what solace in prayers will my wretched self get?
Or  will  it? 
Or is this my only hope
Yes my only lifeline is this link to God
 Otherwise ?
I, the beautiful pure Marvi
Stand alone on the Bund
Without scarf, without hope
And lost is my dream- maker
In some faraway dream.
Will these unassailble distances lessen
Do not hope
This dust is but my fate
In this land
My open head and my broken heart
My hope is also gone, lost
What will I get in prayers
Only a fleeting moment of joy?
Only a dark long night of unredeempt hope
And the dry, lustreless pearl of my eye
Is tearless
 Do you see it, O my dream-maker?
What will you get in namaz.
You are but powerful
But O dream-maker you are unaware

The Dream-maker's Answer

Lo and behold I am but an ignorant fool
Pretender, helper, dream-maker
My heart is but an abode of false idols
Here I stand on the bund
On this dusty path
I have no answer to your forlorn queries
Alas I have no accountability
I am not an ardent lover of your sweet, sickly face
O, Marvi
Neither does my heady wine flows for your parched lips
O Marvandi
My heart is but a den of idle idols
What use prayers for me
I am but a prisoner of my  false, fake existence
I can only concerned with my bodily comforts
I am but a prisoner of this intricate worldly life
Alas, my days and nights are
But a mirage
My strife and effort a false pretense
I am oblivious of repentance
I am but shameless
I am but a slave to ignorance
I keep my conscience in a cage, entrapped
Imprisoned
Lest it becomes free
My life's intricacies are despicable
I keep them hidden from your eyes
Lest you see them
 Lest the ugly truth be revealed
Huh, what will I get in prayers!
And these nets that I spread for trapping
By my fake existential being
These enhance and strengthen the falsehood
My tyrannical prowess
Huh, What will I get in prayers!
My Hajj, zakat and other silsile
Hide your emaciated existence
From the eyes of the world
Huh; what will I get in prayers!

My idols are different
My wine is but a different flavor
My Kaaba different
My Shiyam different
What will I get in prayers?
I am but ignorant
Of the ultimate accountability
But behold 
Wait O uncovered
I do hear the news
I do smell the smell of accountability
From the site of the hangman's place
Yes you are the wretched poor follower of Noah
Yes you are the journey partner of Moses
Yes you do have a God
Powerful, Almighty
He that sends down the books
He that adorns your ways
He is the powerful
He is the Almighty

Wait
let me pack my business
That which is a mountain of evil
Maybe I can find redemption
Maybe I get something in prayer
Your strengths unbound
They should be rewarded
This eternal prostration of redemption
May lead me to freedom from sin
Your dry eyed pearl
should be enough for my redemption
O ,that with uncovered head
O powerful
In your feet I lie
For salvation
My heart is smoldering now
I am in the presence of the powerful 
My head is bowed in front of the Almighty.
















Wednesday, September 8, 2010

What the Floods Revealed in Sindh : Politics, Progress, Governance.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/755/guns-and-poppies-in-sindh/

As I wrote the article on the Drug/ Wadera nexus that is destroying Sindh, the floods that washed almost half the area in Sindh and especially the same areas that I mentioned were notorious for poppy cultivation, so many truths about life  in Sindh are coming to light. Some issues I will discuss here.
The areas of Dadu, Shahdadkot, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Jacobabad, are notorious for the dacoities and kidnappings if you are travelling by road. Almost all these areas are no go if you travel without armed escort or local wadera or overlords' cover. The only way to reach or do anything in these areas is by contact with the local overlord or Wadera who also is usually the elected politician. Almost all the people who get elected to seats in provincial and national assemblies are sons, daughters and wives of these overlords. The entire area is owned by these people and the cities are mere extensions of their jaagirs as became clear in the  massive flooding of the entire town of Khairpur Naathan Shah. The elected representative who goes by the name of Imran Leghari and who is supposedly the son of some Zafar Leghari , a supposedly respectable PPP stalwart of yesteryears, came on Sindh television and other Sindhi channels again & again complaining that his town was drowning and the administration was doing nothing and all his crops and lands were drowned. The fact of the matter is that these so called elected representatives, the jaagirdaars and Waderas of Sindh were enjoying almost Pharoahnic power  of Biblical proportions where they not only enjoyed enormous crop wealth but also all the money from taxpayers plus all the development funds plus the various mafia businesses and drug/ poppy cultivation businesses that were the new wave of making enormous money in Sindh.I must add to this the businesses of kidnapping, car thefts and other smuggling like human smuggling.
 All the Kaccha land was bieng ocupied by these drug mafia, who are not foreignours but waderas of the same areas.  I hav efrequently visited the "Bela" areas and Kaccha areas in the past for medical and social work so I am well aware of the demographics and the geography.
What had Mr. Imran Leghari, though young in his years done to devise any plan for protection, evacuation, logistics and preparedness of Khirpur Nathan Shah residents in case any disaster fell upon its residents? What had he planned in case a fire engulfed the market? What had he planned in case an epidemic hit the area? Nothing. He is just talking non-sense blaming other people for these woes. All his concious life he has just been acting like a Prince himself, illiterate, unkind, lording over his subjects. All this has become apparent in total lack of relief and rescue when an entire city which has so much businessmen in its fold was drowned helplessly overnight. This kind of lethargic behaviour is apparent in all towns of Sindh where local communities like business community, agricultural community etc have no citizens development or rotary clubs. All over Sindh there is little or no community behaviour of philanthrophic oversight and citizen participation. The vestiges of local governments which would have cultivated some grassroots participation were abolished by the Wadera/ Elitist/ Politician nexus. This is not negative criticism. This is a fact.
While the Thori bund breaches were taking their toll on other lands the waters re- routed their wrath and like God's wrath they hit this town. Had Mr. Imran Zafar Leghari, the crowned prince alias 'Elected Representative' of Khairpur Nathan Shah had truely and informedly, uncorruptly worked, planned for his people, he would have not appeared so helpless like a poor Sindhi Karo-Karid woman and said that oh the administration failed and we were only helped by army and maybe some by Zulfikar Mirza. There are still several thousands who are sitting shelterless, foodless, helpless, in scorching heat and dust in open areas in Sindh because they are poor. There are still several thousands of the "Riyaya" of these lordly 'Princes" who are helpless, naked and hungry in the parched lands of Sindh, and who do not have "relations" with these waderas and fuedals , who do not have three houses, one in Karachi, one in Hyderabad and one in native town, and who do not have 50 lakh, blackened windowed, air conditioned cars for comfortable travel, frequent raping of underage  girls inside these vehicles ,even in Defence areas of Karachi,(as most of their Karachi houses are in Defence), frequent carrying of murdered people in these vehicles as they are never, ever checked, especially with a party flag displayed.
The thiefs and dacoits are very active looting the flood affectees, their properties and whatever is left in their homes. The Sindh television anchor Mr Manzoor asked as to how they were so active with boats whereas the evacuation was so slow and limited. The answer is simple. The dacoits and theives with boats were always there . They are residing in Sindh towns, Bela and Kaccha areas. They are supported by the local overlords and they are ignored by the administaration and police. By the way the police is insufficient in numbers, corrupt and its lower staff behaves like servants of the local powerful.The non-Sindhi officers who are posted get transferred after a short term on the whims of the local fuedal.
Majority of these so called elected representatives are riding on the backs of the fame of the now dead leaders and are using their names to show or legitimise their claim to power through ballot. Due to complete lack of choice and also illiteracy and poverty, the masses in Sindh have no way of knowing who else to elect. The tragedy is that these younger lot instead of educating themselves , coming down from their occupied 'thrones' and understanding the political economy of a modern state and politics, are whiling away time. The state of Pakistan is bieng termed a "failed state" not becuase it means to finish off its existence but to bring about improvement on its indices on governance, development, corruption, social sectors and justice.
To survive in the modern world the state's apparatus has to be competitive in its thinking, educated and aware in modern statecraft, world politics and the challenges of economy locally and of the world. Unless the people who are aware enough of modern statecraft, economic and political issues are governing Pakistan , we can never come out of this swamp like situation we are in. It is high time that the Pakistan Peoples Party and other political parties in Sindh (and I am specifically addressing the Nationalist parties as they are worst in their political behaviour and obligations to the peopel) understand this fact.[The in-humanitarian behaviour of the so-called Nationalist parties and Sindh Nationalist Party (Mumtaz Bhutto) was seen as they made the flood affectees stay in non-government camps and the people were neither registered and have to suffer because the govt. aid apparatus does not operate there and whatever little help they can get will not be given to them].
The era of dynastic politics is over. It has to be over. If the younger Bhuttos have to think to compete in governance they have to understand that in order to exist on the map, Pakistan, especially Sindh has to come out of "Lordly" politicians and devolve power to the grass roots and they have to find support from eductaed, informed, proactive, honest, middle classes. I think they do exist in Sindh. I am sure that they exist in Sindh. The Sindhi politician has to undergo a major behaviour change for the better and ultimately best or else perish.