As the nation slowly starts to recover from the events of the past month, we are once again faced with strife and unrest within the country…a fatal attack in Swat a sure reminder.
Its hard to comprehend what has happened…it is no doubt a great tragedy. Though the implementation of the Lal Masjid operators was absolutely wrong, it has opened the eyes of a number of people. They realize that there is no reason for brothels, liqour stores, and other such instituions to exist in an Islamic society. And if they do, they should only be open to non-muslims and not to the liberal extremists of this country.
Continue reading ‘Picking up the Pieces…’
The startling event of the past week have left many Pakistanis wondering as to the future of our country and how to percieve this latest happening.
I have been reading the comments posted by our readers and they highlight the sharp contrast that exists in our society today.
Whereas some suggest that the best solution is to slaughter all the maulvis (a rather irrational one in my opinion), others feel that this is just another in a series of Government propoganda, and those are just a few.
Continue reading ‘A Time for Understanding & Tolerance’
“I have been given the authority over you, although I am not the best of you. If I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. Truth consists in loyalty and disregard for truth is treachery. The weak among you shall be strong in my eyes until I have secured his rights, if God wills it: and the strong among you shall be weak with me until I have wrested from him the rights of others, if God wills it. Obey me for so long as I obey God and His Messenger. But if I disobey God and His Messenger, you owe me no obedience. Arise from your prayer, God have mercy upon you!”
Continue reading ‘A True Leader…’
Published on June 15, 2007
in Society.
Poverty, in my opinion, is the curse that needs to be eradicated from this earth. Poverty is the worst form of oppression, suppression and exploitation. For a poor person it hardly matters what is happening around him. Survival is the only thing that he cares about. Nothing matters to him more than feeding himself and his family everyday. Poverty does not allow him to be part of his civil society, for he has no opportunity to think about the community at large. Poverty strips away a person’s dignity and gradually dehumanises him. Continue reading ‘Poverty: the worst form of oppression, suppression and exploitation’
By Anum Pasha
Imagine – two hearts devoted to love, two souls struggling to make ends meet in the economically abysmal-rut of this country, and amidst this all, the Pakistani law suddenly deciding their doom in jail. This is a three-year imprisonment in the Central Jail and the District Jail Faislabad. Somewhere in the middle of these four-cornered jails, many questions evoke the minds of the imprisoned – Is death better a calamity than the cage of the law? Is a three-year captivity more of a pain than that felt when one’s spirit abandons the corpse? Is severance from the beloved an affair proficient enough for a three-year-long endurance? The tragedy that befell Shumail Raj and Shahzina Tariq’s lives is one which has been reported on by the dailies and hence, I shall not take up more words to recite the nightmare yet again.
Continue reading ‘The National Pride?’
Some interesting facts and figures from a DAWN news report:
Here you go! We top something. However, its not something to be proud of. In Pakistan there are many different views (religious, cultural, humanistic, etc.) on whether it is right or wrong to execute convicted criminals, but personally I am of the view that it is unnecessary. From years of deterrence studies there is overwhelming evidence that death penalty is, at best, no more of a deterrent than a life sentence in prison. Many human rights organizations are trying to get it abolished, however, it might not be that easy. I know where I stand on this, but I am certain that the readers would be divided on this issue.
Continue reading ‘Pakistan tops death row league’
Published on April 26, 2007
in Society.
Parsis (or, more appropriately, Zoroastrians as Mr Cowasjee would say) might be decreasing in numbers, but they have not let go off their principles or their dedication and commitment to their community. With their highly developed sense of duty and responsibility towards community and country, they have added immeasurably to civil society in Karachi. Here is an article that talks about their contributions.
By Amna Rizvi
When one dreams of an ideal society where everyone is looked after by the community itself and not just the State alone; a society, where the privileged use their resources to provide for the poor and the unfortunate, one only needs to look at the Parsi community of Pakistan to see these principles at play. Of course the Parsis have their problems like any other community, but even so, they are very good at dealing with them, and when they can’t they simply make the best of what they have in hand.
Continue reading ‘Karachi’s invaluable Parsi connection’
Published on April 12, 2007
in Society.
I am putting up links to a documentary produced by VideoNation, The Nation magazine’s online video feature. The documentary is made by Sam Graham-Felsen, James Jacoby & Ali Sethi. Ali Sethi happens to be Najam Sethi (Editor Friday Times and Daily Times) and Jugnu Mohsin’s (Editor Friday Times) son.
The comment on the Nation’s website, next to the video, states:
As mounting instability in Pakistan challenges the authority of President Pervez Musharraf, VideoNation correspondents Sam Graham-Felsen, James Jacoby and Ali Sethi travel to Lahore to assess the troubled nation’s future through the eyes of students at both the progressive National College of Arts and Punjab University, where Islamic extremists hold sway.
It’s an interesting concept as the video shows the intersection from where two roads branch out. One goes to NCA and the other to Punjab University and it draws comparisons between the two. It focusses a lot on the fact that two institutions, literally facing each other, have such differently composed student bodies (one liberal, the other conservative) and that reflects on the wider political problems that the country faces and the two extremes that are developing.
Unfortunately, it is nothing more than a coincident combined with the fact that arts is not the kind of subject that those students coming from rural parts of Pakistan or religious backgrounds are particularly inclined towards. It is still not considered a ‘real’ man’s subject. The day arts becomes more acceptable to the religiopolitical parties they will start ruling the NCA as well. Not because they are greater in numbers, but because they have a louder voice. Anyway, watch the documentary and make up your own mind.
Continue reading ‘Documentary: The Intersection’
This is an old article, but is quite relevant to the often cited economic boom in Pakistan. It looks at the Pakistani economy from the point of view that we, at MicroPakistan, are trying to bring to light. The article scratches the surface of rhetoric about the positive macro-economic indicators and points towards the principle of social injustice that is visible on the streets of Pakistan today. At the end of the article I am posting a comment that was sent to me on an email forum. It argues, conversely, that even if there is a lag in the benefits filtering down to the people as a whole the ‘rising tides raises all boats on the sea’.
Symbols of troubled times
Kamila Hayat
The News, January 11, 2007
Along most major roads in Lahore and other cities, there are giant billboards advertising various products. The boards show happy, obviously prosperous people — joyfully enjoying new electronic gadgets or munching food items of various descriptions.
As the bitter-cold January evenings fall, with temperatures plummeting down to below freezing point, tiny fires can sometimes be seen lit under these towering boards. Around the weak flames in which scraps of wood and paper burn, small groups of people huddle — many inadequately dressed given the weather conditions.
They include the thousands of homeless people who live in every city, many having arrived from smaller towns or villages in a desperate search for work. Most among them will spend the night out of doors – along the pavements that run under the underpasses or under shop awnings. Some — particularly the old and the sick — will die, with the winter already having claimed 15 lives in the Punjab.
Continue reading ‘The Other Side of the Economic Boom in Pakistan by Kamila Hayat, The News’
