R O N I Nammar yasir’s personal blog

Ever heard of Murphy law of terrorism? It says; “If a suicide attack can take place, it will”. Especially if the province is Punjab and the interior minister is Rana Sanaullah, probability of a terror attack maximizes. But it would be unfair to other law enforcers (intelligence agencies in particular) if the entire credit of incompetence, criminal negligence and corruption goes to the PML-N minister. After all he’s not the only one who allowed sectarian violence to prosper and flourish under the protected umbrella of law enforcement. Pakistani courts, military agencies, police and rangers for the past many years made sure not to catch any terrorist who is linked to sectarianism and if someone ever gets caught, they are back on the streets on the basis of lack of evidence, political influence or for reasons that we don’t like to discuss in public.

Prime example is the escape of four Jundullah militants from police custody in June, who were being tried for the deadly Ashoura attack earlier in Karachi. The government later on blamed the police for the security lapse (how convenient). After the Ashoura incident, series of sectarian attacks took place in including the attack on a bus full of women and children who were on their way to attend moharram procession. Sectarianism in Karachi didn’t stop there, there hasn’t been a month when sectarian killing didn’t take place leaving many innocent civilians shot dead. Brothers Shahzad Raza and Asif Raza belong to one of the many families who lost their loved ones in sectarian violence.

Now I am aware that this country is going through the toughest times in its 60 years of history, everyday there is a new story which leaves us shocked, distressed and dispirited. We opt to detach ourselves from every incident unless it’s personal. We indulge in discussions that revolve around on how these terror attacks are CIA funded or a reaction of Muslims that are disgruntled by the US presence in Iraq, Aghanistan and Pakistan. Religious clerics who can actually talk some sense into the trigging hands and stop them from killing fellow Pakistanis, conveniently shy away by taking no responsibility at all. But then religious clerics who went out of the way to condemn terrorism (Dr. Sarfaraz Naeemi) paid the price for their patriotism.

So the question arises where we go from here? We can blame Black Water and call it a reaction of drone attacks because we don’t want to take any responsibility for our religious intolerance that has been there before USA was discovered. Or we can adopt the easy way and ban the religious processions because ideologically speaking we don’t have anything to do with it and every blast brings strong graphics on the screens which kind of spoils our mood. Or we can condemn these attacks and ask the victims to stay calm because that’s what they do best after every attack.

With ongoing terrorism it’s kind of hard to keep track of who died for what reason but with every innocent death, Pakistan dies a little. With every lost life, the flame of what remains to be called hope diminishes. And this will continue to happen, unless we decide enough is enough!

In the end I would like to share the TED talk of Pakistani documentarian Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy whose allowing us to look inside a school of suicide bombers:

Popularity: 1% [?]

If you are a regular follower of the Pakistani blogosphere and main stream media, chances are that you might have come across these three stories (fake degree scandal, fox calling Pakistan pornistan and a heartbreaking rape incident of a nursing student). It’s amazing how the three stories that appear completely different to each other are one way or the other correlated.

Starting off with the fox news story, which claims that Pakistan tops the google chart when it comes to ‘Sexy Searches’ (Though personally speaking I find nothing sexy about horse sex). Frankly speaking the standard of journalism Fox News is infamous for, its special love for Pakistan and the Muslim world over the years and Google’s disassociation with the fox story takes away our special internet achievement. But I am sure folks around the world might have a good laugh on the story and our sexy (pervert is the correct word) nature. But does it take away the fact; that some of us actually make these searches or watch porn of similar genre (scary thought)? I think not, it actually signifies another attribute of our hypocritical nature. Like banning facebook, youtube and even Wikipedia but no such order against porn sites, I wonder why?

The Second story that continues to receive maximum media coverage is the fake degree scandal. The scandal reaffirms the value of education in our society and (lack of intellect) in our ruling class. Despite they invest millions in their election campaigns; the only investment they ever made in education department was acquiring a fake degree. Those who follow the budget speech every summer are aware of Governments annual spending on education (conveniently 3% or less of the total). It pretty much explains the literacy rate of this country. Not only that our rulers want us to remain illiterate, majority of us have hardly made any sincere efforts in getting quality or any education for that matter. Fact!

Last and the most heart breaking story is the tragic rape incident of a trainee nurse. I sadly witnessed the news when it first aired on a local channel. It was an exclusive video clip where the poor rape victim (rape survivor hopefully) was being brought to the hospital ward for treatment. In a 30 second video clip the cameraman found his professional obligation in zooming into rape victim’s wounded face and other injuries apparent on her body. It was the most painful sight ever; I wonder why the media squad present on the scene didn’t feel the same? The appalling coverage didn’t end here, every day onwards there is a video clip of the injured rape victim on every Pakistani channel. By now every Pakistani recognizes her face. The only object that sometime protects her from the embarrassment is her oxygen mask. Allegedly there are doctors who raped her and the hospital administration that ignored her genuine harassment complaints, now the same administration fails to protect her from unwanted visitors and media coverage.

The society where we live in, its A-Ok if the name or face of a rape victim is made public. Everyone knows that Mukhtara Mai or Dr. Shazia was raped but nobody can recall the faces or even names of the offenders who carried out this inhuman act. Deep down the perversion that we all embrace, negates the severity of a crime like rape. The lack of education that we all are so proud of, disregards the inhumanity in broadcasting rape victims while getting medical treatment. But God forbid if it happens to a member of your family, will you still allow it to broadcast?

Popularity: 13% [?]

2007 was a revolutionary year in the history of Pakistan. The power dynamics of the country shifted from three A’s (Allah, America and Army) to three J’s (Judiciary, Journalism and Jeneral). Oops! Did I write JENERAL? (Aaah.. the Sana Ullah Mastikhel syndrome!). Anyways, we all know what happened. The progressive General became a dictator overnight; black cameras aired and glorified every move the men in black (lawyers and judges) made. The entertainment shows lost their ratings and TV anchors became national celebrities. Politicians also claimed their cut in the transaction by declaring their long lost love for democracy. Three years later; Pakistan has democracy (translation: a President without uniform). Judiciary is free (the power to ban internet but not terrorism) and a media that doesn’t pay taxes (read).

In the first half of its tenure the democratic Govt. of PPP turned out to be exactly like their previous Governments (corrupt, incompetent and vision less) but only worse. The Govt. that failed to deliver started losing its credibility, as a result media took the moral and commercial liberty of showing how bad the politicians are when it comes to ruling this country. In the mean while Iftikhar Choudary’s Judiciary who already had a bone to pick with Zardari (on his hindrance for restoring judges) also developed a taste for popular decisions and what else can make people happy than watching their failed leaders penalized. Benefiting from Zaradari Inc. failures, PML-N emerged as Pakistan’s last hope. Things were going honky dory until a conflict of interest started to affect the tag team.

The way things are going it’s very possible that the no. of fake graduates in the assemblies are going to outnumber the real graduates. But a point of view could be; why over hype a situation when we have issues like terrorism, corruption, inflation and power to solve. Fake degree cases were queued to the same courts in the last Govt. but these judges chose not to take any action, so why now? Similarly, media fails to acknowledge any criticism that comes their way. Even two times Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif despite his past record with Army General’s is ready to bend down for a change and kick out his party members just to mend ways with media.

The Right thing to do:

• Political parties with MNA’s and MPA’s holding fake degrees should immediately dismiss them from their party membership and set an example for forgery crimes
• Judiciary should show equal enthusiasm while solving paid cases
• Media should understand the difference between criticism and ridicule

Politics, Judiciary and Media are the three pillars of any democratic and modern society. If these entities actually aim to see REAL democracy in the country, they should learn to coexist.

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A friend from the US visited Pakistan last summer, like all Pakistanis working in America he shared quite a few interesting stories related to the cumbersome visa processes every Pakistani endures in order to experience the Pakistani dream of living and working in America. One of his story sparked an interesting debate and lead me to a moment of self reflection.

The story goes like this, Candidate ‘A’ applied for the US visa. During his interview (investigation sounds more appropriate) the interviewer (let’s call him ‘Dirty Harry’ to add a little spice) while scanning through candidate A’s visa application Dirty Harry asked some questions that came as a surprise to Candidate A. It goes like this:

Dirty Harry: Do you still live in the same apartment you mentioned in this document?

Candidate A: (Gulp) Yes sir.

Dirty Harry: Isn’t it the same location, where journalist Daniel Pearl was kept hostage?

Candidate A: Really? I have no idea.

Dirty Harry: I remember it from the movie.

Candidate A: Excuse me? :S

Dirty Harry: The Daniel Pearl movie, starring Angelina Jolie. Have you seen it?

Candidate A: No!

Turns out, that Dirty Harry was a Jolie fan and had seen the movie: Mighty Heart. He didn’t like the idea that candidate ‘A’ lives in the same apartment which was once used by Al-Qaeda for a popular crime. So what? if that was a very long time ago. So what? if Candidate A had nothing to do with the crime or Al-Qaeda. So what? if there are 500 or more flats in those apartments. Who would take such a risk, eh?

Who would take such a risk? My friend directed the question to us, as he completed the narration. My immediate reaction was; candidate A should have changed the name of his apartments if he knew about such a crime. It could have save him from the embarrassment. My friend snapped:

“Would you change the name of your country for a US Visa or your name because it’s a Muslim name?”

I was too embarrassed to answer that question. As I am writing this post today; some very upsetting information is making news all over the place. Some douche from Karachi allegedly tried to blow up Time Square, New York. Now thank God he failed in his attempt or else… Ok I don’t want to imagine what it could have caused us. Who would have pictured the present situation of the world and Pakistan in particular before 9/11. Even the mentioned incident will make the life of many Pakistanis living in the US quite difficult. Forget about the students and professionals who were aiming for the US visa.

The Pakistani tragedy is that we all are scrutinized for the crimes we never committed. Statically speaking more Pakistanis are the victim of terrorism than any American for that matter. Our army has been more effective against the Taliban than US and NATO forces combine in Afghanistan. US Govt. has more power to enforce their will on the Pakistani than the voters who elected the Govt. American drones fly in Pakistani air space, bomb down Pakistani houses and land safely on Pakistani bases. Still, our seriousness is questioned, our loyalty to the cause is inquired and our fate is decided on the basis of some Hollywood movie.

Popularity: 26% [?]

1998 was a very eventful year in the history of Pakistan. That year Pakistan became a “nuclear power”, same year Pakistani rock band Junoon was touring India. The year proved out to be doubly eventful for the rock band when a political statement from bands lead vocalist Ali Azmat got them banned in Pakistan. In his statement Ali condemned the nuclear tests by both countries and denounced the nuclear proliferation in Subcontinent.  Coming from a rock musician the statement sounded quite reasonable but Nawaz Sharifs previous administration took it quite gravely. The ministry of information of that time not only banned Junoon or popular music of any type but ensured that nobody appears on the national television wearing jeans (WTF?)

Looking back everything changed since 1998:

· Ali Azmat is bald now, Nawaz Sharif is not.

· Abdul Qadeer Khan, once our national hero is now (somewhat) controversial.

· North West Frontier Province has a new name.

· Jeans is no more the symbol of liberalism but expressing your love and admiration for the neighboring country (Hint: Aman ki *beep* Aasha) is now considered as liberal and highly fashionable. And by neighboring country I don’t mean Afghanistan here

But one thing that took the country by storm is Pakistan’s FREE mainstream media (cough *mafia* cough). Free media was General (retired) Musharraf’s only democratic gift to this country. The same gift took his beloved wardee and Government away from him (You too Hamid Brutus Meer?). Today, media is fast becoming the most powerful entity of this country. They freely exercise the power to change election results (Hint: NA 55 elections). They can take a non issue and make an elephant out of it and vice versa. But apart from the political circus, toppling of democratic or military governments, Pakistani media right now has the power to decide what is morally correct and what’s not which makes it more dangerous than it used to be back in the military days of Zia.

Back in the day, it was mandatory for any actress appearing on the national TV to wear Dopatta on her head. Apart from the Government, self appointed moral police (Jamat e Islami and other religious parties) were out there forcing their version of Sharia on very Pakistani soul. Even today, one can easily witness Taliban apologist journos and TV anchors defending terrorism by labeling it a reaction of military attack. But when it comes to commercial interests ; where is media’s moral or religious stand? For the past two and a half week every Pakistani news channel is acting like a gossip girl. Glorifying a love affair and portraying it as a matter of national security.

We all have witnessed the TV anchors crying their hearts out on how President Zardari is harboring all the Presidential powers and not sharing it with the Prime Minister as he should. How he is no different from the military dictator Musharraf when it comes to balance of power. But what happened when the amendment took place?  Sania / Malik scandal made headlines and the historic bill got minimal air time. There is no age rating on any of the the TV programs, which means that an individual of any age group can view any TV program despite from its impact on their minds.

I might sound like a right winger here but do you think that its morally okay to glamorize a scandal where a young man secretly marries than divorces a woman whom he met on the internet for a tennis star who appears more attractive than the first girl? And not only glamorizing the scandal but showcasing every dirty aspect of this crappy affair which involves abortion, betrayal, moral and ethical corruption? Has any responsible media person ever realized, that for the lust of high channel rating they are exposing young minds to moral corruption. There is not a sing quiz show or educational program on any of the popular channels. Educationists and entrepreneurs who make achievements dont make TV appearences or headlines. There is no positive news or image to follow for these young kids. The popular source of information for Pakistani teenagers are these TV channels where the only national achievement that takes maximum air time is a lousy celebrity scandal.

I wonder why Jamat e Islami or TTP didn’t say a word against this absurd media behavior, why not a  single moral fatwa was issued? Why no news channel was threatened for playing Indian movie songs in the middle of a news bulletin. Where is Jamat e Islami and their moral police? Where is Taliban when you need them?!

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