The Brave New Politics Of The Middle East.

As one Arab despotic dictator comes tumbling down one after the other, a new dawn is breaking all over the Middle East. A dawn of truth and the brave new world that will strive for justice, a new life of egalitarian values, a life of equal opportunities.Gone are the days of totalitarian regimes. Gone are the days of injustice and hegemony.

The winds of change are blowing hard all over middle East. The US has failed in its strategy of strategic interference.Even if this was as US planned, the quiet truth of awakening has dawned on the oppressed nations of the Middle East. So what is the implication in this even for Israel. Two things  need to be discussed in this context. As the politics of the Middle East change within two months, so will Israel have to fast pacedly change its non-cooperation and rigid Zionist stance. The spectre of Zionism will have to be tempered down. It is no longer relevant in the Brave New Middle East. As the tyrants like Hosni Mubarak, Ben Ali, and now the totally nuts Gaddafi fall like dominoes, Israel cannot stand alone as a Zionist nation. Its whole existential philosophy has to be rewritten. Are the Israelis listening?

Gone are the days of conspiracies, covert operations, injustice to back the existence of a state and a nation. It all has to be out in the open. It has to be clear as black and white. The times of grey areas are gone. Look at Bahrain. People are demanding change of the Sunni regime and franchise to the populace . It is not Shia/Sunni divisive politics. It is the politics for egalitarian , equal opportunity values.Bahrain is changing. It has changed.

Thank God the politics of change in the Middle East is Secular. It is definitely egalitarian. Now the groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbollah, Islamic jihad will also have to redefine and redesign its entire revolutionary, snatching political space, even violently sometimes, political and social policies. These groups and others will also have to garb the secular, egalitarian political mantel that is now the the new fashion attire of the Middle Eastern youth. I know that truth will always prevail. As a new awakening warms the hearts of all those in the Middle East, the West will have to also support these brave new leaders. The West has to realize that what truly beautiful age the Middle East is entering. Instead of political and social conspiracies, it has to support the true awakening. It has to facilitate the economic and social enterprise. Mr Cameroon's visit to Egypt with meetings with all leaders and people except the Muslim Brotherhood defines that how slow he is still to understand the change that is taking place in Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood has taken some 30%  of the votes in Egypt. It is a vote bank that  is not to be ignored. The youth has risen. Its politics and stance is secular, hungry for egalitarian society. No groups can survive on conspiracy and emotional politics. Middle East is Muslim but then this is no Muslim awakening nor Islamic politics. Non-Muslims need not fear this New Awakening.

The Hamas in the Middle East will also have to change its stance for a better solution to the Palestinian problem. They have to understand that egalitarian values which they are striving for are a desire of  people of all religions.I t is not the Islam they are serving. All people want justice and equal opportunity. The Israeli state and its people will also have to change their Zionist stance to survive in the New Middle East. Hamas must change now too.

As the winds of change blow over the Brave New Middle East, the truth is writ large on its oily rich sands. gone are the days of despotic dictators who snatched all the oil wealth away from the people , with the help of the West who helped them to fuel their own economic, technological and social progress and sat like serpents over the oil wealth of their people. The winds of true freedom are here blowing hard and fast.

As the crazy old , haggard Gaddafi screams, squirts and shouts, threatening his own people with death and extermination, looking like a sick dog that whimpers before dying, the specter of exploitation, dictatorship and force falls down.

Iran's long holding clergy politics will also have to wake up. The green revolution is also there to stay. That awakening has reached its doors knocking hard and persistently.

It is time for these winds of change to enter the Indian subcontinent too.

Sajni by Jal Band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W31LlujrB08

The Hidden People of Waziristan.

As I work at my welfare clinic for poor people, an eye opening experience happens. When one reads it in a newspaper or sees it as a news item on television screen the news of people killed in drone attacks, houses broken by bombing become just images of far away places that you can not relate to. The faces of the women and children are never seen.These unfortunate people are the hidden people of  Waziristan. Life in this once beautiful area was apparently peaceful. Everyone knows that the Afghan Jihad destroyed the peace in Pakistan. Zia ul Haq favored the US and opened Pakistan to all sorts of militants or would be militants. Osama Bin Laden came with tons of money given to stoke up the fires of Jihad in a hitherto peaceful land, burning the quiet serene peacful statue of love and ancient wisdom. Peshawar and Swat were ancient Buddhist towns. The nearby Taxila University , a symbol of a old and prestigious culture. All this I had read in books and and seen destroyed in front of my eyes.But today as clear, sparkling teardrops fell like diamonds so precious from the blue, blue eyes of a retired havaldar, tall ,handsome but now weak due to poverty and more because of  sorrow, I realized that this tragedy of immense proportions is not just a news item or an article in the newspaper.I realized that it is neither a strategy nor a policy nor a lifeline for Pakistan to keep the dollars coming in to feed our forever sick economy. Nor is it a Midas Golden touch to keep the parasitic elite and the corrupt sycophants forever in power. Nor is it a small price we pay for someone else's war on terror.
It was the truth of agony, the pain of longing to go back to their beloved towns. To run and plough their own fields. To drink the pure water of their springs. To watch their children play happily . To love and kiss their women in peace.
The dawn of reality of the hidden women and children hit me hard. Like tons of ice cold slapped on my face.
The ugliness of my made up face started showing in my mirror of false vanity. These women and children are displaced from their homes.They are dispersed in small shanty town slum homes in crowded cities like Karachi and Peshawar and others. They live with their poor relatives who are mere laborers or chowkidars and have families of their own. They have left their homes with one dress on their bodies. Now they have no homes. They have no food. They have no medicines. In these ugly shanty slums they are just the shadows from Waziristan , forgotten, uncared for, despised, degraded and never helped.
Their few male counterparts for many are widows and orphans are trying to feed them along with their own families. The government has forgotten them, the religious pretenders and hypocrites have forgotten them and the media and the people have forgotten them. Ironically he and many like him have served the army for ages. They are the hidden people of Waziristan. These women and children. There is no Watan card for them. There is no Government support for them. The humanitarian agencies do not enlist them for they are the lowliest on the rung for humanitarian help. Who will take their stand. Who will voice for their grieviences and rights. Who will champion their cause.Who will stand up for the women and children of Waziristan. The diamond tears shone bright in the blue , blue eyes of the handsome Chowkidar in a navy blue impeccable American jacket and I bowed my head in shame. He gave me blessings for a few measly medicines that I gave him but I have hope of redemption. Perhaps he saw the deep true love in my heart. Please help the women and children of Waziristan. Please help them wherever you find them . They are near you , in the shanty slums. Give them money, clothes, medicines and food. Above all give  them Love . All you can. Let the light of love and dignity shine back on their faces.

Pakistan Happenings: January 2011.

Lahore Shah Alam market blaze with 11 buildings almost coming down, no means to extinguish fires, many millions of rupees market goods burnt including cosmetics and other inflammable material reflects on the behavior and the absolutely lawless and non-chalant behaviour of the Pakistani society.There were no fire extinguishers and alarms. The civil defense laws of keeping fire extinguishers and alarms at all public places and buildings even if present is neither applied nor respected. This reflects on the businessmen, the building owners and the Lahore administration. All are corrupt to the core. Even if a fire inspector comes for inspection , they are given some bribe and they never come back again. There is substandard often stolen electric connections and wiring.The buildings fell down because substandard construction both in terms of design and material was done. It was a miracle that it survived the earthquake that had come a few days earlier. There is no proper exit either in the market or the buildings. The Moon Market fires also did not teach a lesson to these people. The society in general is degenerating. There is no semblance of civilized  civic behavior. It seems that the Pakistani small businessman or trader does not feel responsible. Despite storing massive amounts of highly inflammable material in this wholesale market they had no arrangement for extinguishing the fires.
 http://meer-mehernewspappar.blogspot.com/2009/12/moon-market-lahore-mayhem.html

Incidences of violence are increasing rapidly in Punjab. It seems that the police has a shortage of staff and means to address these issues. They maybe low on their priority. The violence against women ,specifically seems to be on the increase. The four year old little girl who was raped and then buried alive to die and the other little girl raped and body left in an isolated place shows that children are so much at risk in the Punjab towns and villages. The parents are helpless and devastated. It is scary. The Punjab government shows complacency in finding justice to such victims and their families. This kind of scary indifference speaks volumes of the inefficiency and the mindset of the Punjab government to address governance and rule of law issues in this day and age. They are running the province in typical Choudary style of the last century. Even the police that is mainly illiterate seems to be having a backward mindset.Doing away with local government has really reinforced the ancient style of governance which has reflected in failure and utter breakdown of law and order.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhawa many more girls schools are blown. It seems that the little education that was being provided is in doldrums. The people in areas where the army operation is taking place are suffering heavily with displacement, poverty and death and this is not even reported in popular media.The most affected groups are the vulnerable women , children and old people who now have no homes, food, jobs or work.They have been living in other towns and cities especially Karachi burdening their already poor relatives. I am seeing cases of severe malnutrition, anemia and anxiety, depression cases; especially women from these populations. The sad part is that there is no help for them as neither government nor any religious organization recognizes their problems or helps them.The only girls college for the entire Orakzai agency was blown up by the militants on 10th February.Some sort of help for these students has to be given by the government urgently.

In Sindh , the girls college in a major town has been forcibly converted to a granary storage area and fertilizer godown by the Sindh government for the flood victims.Previously these schools and colleges were made refugee camps. All the girls are sitting in old broken area. The government is oblivious to the girl's problems. There are no lady doctors for population in Sindh where the health conditions are cave like especially post floods. The Sindh government and politicians are having it too good in Blackened window AC adorned latest SUVs and their second homes in Hyderabad and Defence, Karachi where the ambiance is so surreal and fantastic.All villages and towns that were flood affected present a picture of devastation where the citizens are aghast with what to do. In Thatta as reported by a  senior journalist the young girls do not have enough clothes to hide their bodies.This is the stark truth which the government is avoiding.
Since the removal of the Karachi mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal, the roads of Karachi are getting broken, sewage is being mishandled, chlorination of Karachi water is stopped and it seems that this largest megapolis is deliberately being made uninhabitable and destroyed to punish the population that votes for Muttahida Qaumi Movement by the Pakistan Peoples Party. This kind of revenge politics will not do and will really destroy PPP goodwill.
Overall the month of January shows that the real issues in Pakistan are not being handled properly and the citizens are really suffering. Governance has reached its lowest and it seems there is no light on the horizon in the near future. A change in government will not help at all as all is rotten in our crate of tomatoes.

The World Is A Spin:Pakistan, Afghanistan, U.S Foreign Policy Crises.

What did the US attack on post 9/11 attack on Afghanistan achieve? No clear answer? There is one! It started a clean up though late, slow, messy and entangled of the massive dirt that was left post "Jihad" Afghanistan and Pakistan of the 80's. Neither the cleanup is complete nor is it easy. What is the deadline? Only time will tell.
So let us start with the initial US "dirtying " our clean and tolerant country with its smart ideas of inserting and cooking up th "Jihadi" dish with our deranged CO(late) and all the Osama bin Ladens and other fools in Peshawar which became a city with dollars, guns, foreigners and criminals of all creed and color to boost up the so called "Mujahideen" to chase the Soviets out. Post Soviet departure and US  flaccid interest in that Pakistan, all the little monsters , snakes in religious garbs who could only sustain their venomenous existence through clandestine operations and funding started spreading their fangs and tentacles into the "dis-educated" "poor" Pakistani society where least literate children started to learn the "Fazail" or the advantages of "Jihad". This meant any other race, colour, country or religion. So much so that the sectarian divisions which in Islam are naturally many were not tolerated and were included in the enemy list.So the religious ethnic intolerance reared its ugly head again and by this time the Afghan Taleban and the foreignours who were given built up religious sanctuaries in FATA and NWFP, and whose ideology was a particular Sunni sect became more organised and powerful. Poor Pakistani government! At this time it was again led by a dictatorial army general who after all could not cut its own feet, hence the Taleban(Pakistan & Afghan ) with their criminal networks continued to grow/ the Punjab factions of the militants also managed to strengthened under the Musharraf era who continued to fool Mr. Bush and his entire government with his antics of cooperation. Post Musharraf regime when the elected government came into power and Mr Zardari who was previously named Mr 10 % managed to disentangle the web somehow and ordered a kind of crackdown in areas such as Swat because both the army and the US wanted it too, the Nizame Adal farce was seen by all.
Two years later and some of the militant setups cleared in Pakistan, the Pakistani forces and government are facing the internal terrorist attacks and because the civilian casualties are so many and difficult to prevent with these resources this effort may take a long time. the militant organizations have done a clever move. They are now organizing themselves into a political force and are  using the Aasiya Bibi blasphemy  case and the "Khatame Nabuwat" (The last prophet seal). This is  a clever move as the larger segment of the Punjab population is sensitive to these issues. The already in the fold religious parties and right wing parties like the Jamaate Islami and the Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz) will be backing these issues. The slippery JUI-F will blackmail the government for their own monetary interests. If the militants gain political sympathy and vote which they will , the issues of the nuclear arsenal falling in the hands of the terrorist will come true.The Pakistan Army has a very crucial role to play here. Its not Obama or the US war it has to fight. It is Pakistan's war. It is high time that it took its heroic role this time and came out of the post Zia entangled mess clean.
The floods have devastated the economy. It is not that the government of PPP is corrupt. It is that the entire nation is corrupt. So add to it the victory of terrorists in politics and this scene is a bigger nightmare for the West than the Al Qaeda, if there is any big network left. Add to it the primitive Afghan Taleban gaining control in Afghanistan  and nuclear arsenal what option is left? We do not want a nuclear attack on a region that is so densely populated with big nations like India and China in the neighborhood but with the conservatives already in one of the houses and Mr Obama's popularity wavering , who knows what the US may finally opt for?

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Bill Implementation In Pakistan.

http://meer-mehernewspappar.blogspot.com/2010/07/sexual-harassment-in-workplace-case-of.html
In the above mentioned blog post I had written about the girl student nurse rape case at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center , Karachi . This case is also facing a lot of hurdles as the culprit is is continuously applying influence to avert serious procedural trial but due ti intense public, NGO and international pressure there is slow progress on the case. The Sindh courts have entered the case for trial and some sessions have taken place. The lawyers following this case both voluntarily and as representatives go regularly for the hearings in which often the culprit is not present. It is a sad irony that this doctor was a medico-legal officer at the JPMC and therefore in many cases he has to appear as giving evidence. How can fair and clear evidence be given in cases where the medico-legal officer himself is so corrupt and criminal minded.
The Sexual harassment in the workplace bill that was passed in Pakistan  in 2009 had to be implemented in all government and other institutions, media houses, educational institutions and private corporations and offices. Initially it was to be started in larger government institutions. No report has been made public as to what organizations have actually done any work in implementation. no general work plan for the implementation has been given.
A news item "Legislation on anti-sexual harassment " in Dawn newspaper dated 2-12-2010 on page two national has given the details of how PEMRA, Pakistan electronic media authority has asked media agencies to comply with this law.The National implementation Watch Committee which comprises the National Commission on the Status of Women and civil society groups, government, private sector and media personnel , is overlooking the procedural nitty gritty of the implementation. I did a television program  last year on the implementation of this bill but I have seen very few programs on media to spread this awareness. There is need to frequently air such programs and also cover cases widely as soon as they are reported, including their progress.Dr Fouzia Saeed who is the chairperson, according to Dawn report has said that 36 out of the 44 ministries in federal Government have implemented the legislation.The State Bank has also issued notice to all banks in public and private sector to adopt this law.
Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA) in Pakistan has given the details and also the code of conduct for download for the organizations. http://www.aasha.org.pk/ . As they have worked incessantly for the framing, passing and implementation of this law, their efforts are commendable.
Only through creating continuous awareness about this law, its implementation in each and every workplace in Pakistan will the safe and free environment for work will be created. It is a difficult road but not unachievable goal. It is also close to the Pakistani cultural and religious ethos.

Of Sexy Wikileaks, Unholy Alliances and Steroidal Muscle.

The too old Saudi King who may be soon replaced by his Prince.

There is a saying in Urdu "Hathee ke daant dikhane ke aur aur khane ke aur" meaning tha the elephant tusks are only cermonial. So it seems that the now Wikileaks that seem so sexually promising and then impotently disappointing appear to be. Rafia Zakaria, the sister of Fareed Zakaria and daughter of Rafique Zakaria is so right in her latest Dawn newspaper artcle. Says she that "for all the breathless agony that followed the revelations, the cables themselves provided little to substantiate the claims of a catastrophe that had accompanied their release." ( HTTP://WWW.DAWN.COM/  ). I am however neither excited of the "revelations" nor so fond of repeating that the now "B" grade geo network is running a the ticker news continuously on its strange and unethical television channel. So who cares that sitting army head is happy to act behind the scenes. Who damn cares that the previous ambassador who by the way had a ? CIA background was assured by the prime minister of a complete action in Bajaur. I can almost visualize the Geo network as a sick monster with spit and fake blood dripping from its mouth when  writing anti-US newstickers.What would be the result if no action was taken.
 By the way wasn't Bajaur a den of people who were training to destroy all those Pakistanis who differed like Barelvis, Shias, liberals etc  with the help of Muslim foreigners and some say Indian agents and  Deobandi Taleban style aka Shemzai alias Islamist in Afghan Taliban style ( pretending to be Pakistani) terrorists? So who funded the initial set up? And why is there a howl albiet a wounded stray dog like about King Abdullah asking favors of the US to eliminate so and so. Where do the petro-dollars come from when the Pakistani national beggars (not the present elected government) and in 1980 the Ziaists who fuc****d up Peshawar and the entire NWFP, its generation with guns, militancy, wrong religious pumping, if not  from Saudi Arabia.saudis will use their influence all over the world and why not? Why do you think that the Ghostly Osama Bin Laden has a big bone of contention with the Saudi family? Oh its not the US alone naked in this unholy bath and alliance. Its all of us dearies, Pakistanis, hypocrites and all. A country where the Sunnis have united to kill or hang a poor old Christian Aasiya Bibi in revenge for Aafiya Siddiqui though the Islamic justice system is entirely different and where forgiveness is loved by Allah and even the prophet of Islam was very careful in declaring a verdict as seen b the example of  a woman who wanted adultery punishment to escape the wrath of the punishment of fire in the afterlife. A tooth for tooth means hang Aasiya Bibi. Poor governor Salmaan Taseer who is declared an infidel expelled from the circle of Islam by small time tellevision and halwa eating Sunni power groups created by the Ziaist and the good old Saudis and US back in the eighties. Look at my luck! Instead of writing and praising the beautiful movie "Dirty Dancing" I have to write this. So the Sunniist with ample bellies, their new slick, sexy videos on the various tv channels with body movements, face expression good enough to drive any fully veiled, burqa lady and the quietly accepted in Pakistani society homosexuals crazy, declare the poor Christian Aasiya bibi with children who was uptill now living respectfully in the sexy Punjab, has been suddenly declared blasphemous. This is our kind of Pakistani, Islamic national Wikileaks. Aah poor me. Self pity, confusion. So the custodian of the Kaaba Sharif made to look like a monster? Asking Iran's nuclear facilities to be attacked by the US? Tch! Tch!
Such a shock for the halwa eating, always dreaming erotica Pakistanis! But then the agricultural, down to earth Ahmedinejad is slyer , yes, sharper. He doesnt believe in conspiracy theories. Look how conveniently he forgot the Holocaust? Although the Zionist state of Israel is the result of the "Awakening". Says he that this is a trick to make the neighbours and brothers enemies.
I see the entire sexy Wikileaks Saga almost like the one thousand and one nights in an entirely different light. The US may appear to look stern and squirmish but the entire spotlight has shifted from Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda to well so many other issues.
Take for instance China getting bored of North Korea behaving like a spoilt child. now that is news! China always wanted to be the regional Bully. How can it give this major role to any one else. How convenient that there are no major Wikileaks about India as yet. Let the good people read the 2500 documents while I listen to Amir Khusro songs in Raag Bagheshwari and keep on helping the poor, women, children and sick in Pakistan.

The weak looking Wiki Leaker Assuange.

By the way the US should not bother to punish the weak, unsexy looking Assuange who looks like he had malnutrition, calcium deficiency , is definitely not the horny, testerone filled, assaulty type. US should drive him over into Pakistan where just for bieng white, of uncertain religious leanings he will be thoroughly buggered, given asylum, used all over by everybody and if not converted to a certain kind of Islam maybe bombed to smithereens or implicated in a crime he never committed. Alternatively he maybe given princely treatment but still buggered and forgiven for a rape that he committed, made a hero of because it was of a White, ?Christian? female in the US.Sexy stories from the Wikileaks continue meanwhile ...slurp...slurp! Spit.