Bureaucracy is always right!

You are severely punished in the education system for being wrong. Being wrong is so wrong that it defines if you can survive or not. You learn you cannot be wrong no matter what. You even learn to hide your flaws and mistakes and flaunt over your triumphs.

You get 20 something years of conditioning in the education system for avoiding being wrong.

After this conditioning when you join the private sector, market forces punish you for being wrong so it's not possible for the wrong to survive there ...

BUT if you join public sector, you now rarely get punishment for being wrong, but rather you can punish others for not obeying with your wrong designs. 

So, you don't correct yourself rather force the public into complying with your wrong ... it's time for some vengeance!!!

The anti encroachment drives and it's modus operandi, many of the lockdown measures since last one year or so are recent examples here ... 

There need to be a way for the public to punish the bureaucracy for being wrong.

There is also a dire need for the education system to be overhauled to teach people that it's alright to be wrong, but it's also necessary to correct their mistakes ...

Sectarian or ethnic violence as an externalization of a crisis in self-image

Jungian psychologists like Alice Miller and Lionel Corbett argue that the unconscious negativity we have for our own being is eventually projected onto others, if it is too much then it may turn into violence as well. It’s a kind of escape goat tactic played out by our ego as a defense mechanism. The ego finds it too hard to direct the violence toward oneself, and easier toward something or someone else as soon as it finds an excuse. 

Jungians argue that this externalization of hate and violence is at the root of ethnic and sectarian violence as well. A class of people who are economically improvised, not entertained well by the higher classes, may raise their children also while being under a lot of stress. The silent message ‘you are a burden’ maybe internalized for life by children being raised in such environments, despite the parents did their best in their limited capacity. The message is then reverberated by the society when such children grow up. 

Religion then comes to the rescue. A class of people which was otherwise rejected, is welcomed by religion. Religion thus can be a powerful transformative force to recover from a self-image crisis. But some religious demagogues use it to manipulate the insecurities of the improvised classes. The demagogues do not help transform the self-hate into self-respect, rather used the hate as a means to unite the disciples against an opponent. The hate rather is integrated into the identity of the disciple; ‘I hate therefore I am’. 

The demagogue may not be a popular religious figure, rather a secular politician who use this hate against an ethnic group. The opponents on both sides can keep projecting their internal hate onto the other, turning it into a vicious cycle. 

Often the state uses one group against the other to achieve some ends beyond the comprehension of the common public. Karachi for example has been a victim of such rivalries for many decades. When one or both opponents use religion to justify their projection of hate onto the other, it turns into sectarian violence. The recent violence in Lahore against the state and general public maybe evaluated in the same context.  

Since righteousness of one’s actions as a Muslim depends on the correctness of one’s intentions; therefore It is a critical moment of self-reflections for the initiators of violence of recent protests in Lahore to evaluate that if they turned violent against their fellow citizens who also adhere to the same faith, because they love Prophet s.a.w, or if they were projecting their internal animosities towards an opponent while using love for Prophet as an excuse to justify their projections. What if on the Day of Judgement, it turns out the loss of life and property they caused in the name of the love of Prophet s.a.w was an act carried out in pure selfish-interest to avoid the pain of self-hatred. There could have been many peaceful alternatives of staging protest or convey the pain caused by the insult to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w by some Frenchman.  

The reader might wonder, if the root of the conflicts as explained above is true, then how the self-hate may be cured. Again, the handiest tool available for the society is religion. Religion gives the message that all are acceptable in front of thy Lord, if they abstain from certain acts, be patient, and more so if they are poor then the rewards for their patience and steadfastness is many folds, while the affluence of the affluent class is a test against which one will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement. 

However, as Prophet s.a.w himself said that poverty can also take one towards apostasy, and it is easier for demagogues to exploit the poor, so any honest and unconditional poverty elevation initiatives or measures to advance socioeconomic justice by state or non-state actors, may help revive the self-respect of the pauper as well. Little wonder, why Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, got a noble peace prize, instead of a noble prize of economics. In Pakistan also many interest free alternatives operating to elevate poverty, may also have a positive impact in transforming the self-image of a class of people, and eventually achieve a more peaceful society. 

Our Higher Education System is Broken - Do You Agree (Part 1)

By Farhan Noor

The purpose of this white paper is to fully convince the reader that our current Higher Education System is broken and therefore doesn’t work, especially not in this 21st century.

If, after reading this white paper, you remain unconvinced then I would have failed in my task.

I have presented overwhelming evidence—both logical and scientific in nature—to make what I see as a compelling case.

And have concluded with a request to government policymakers, university administrators, instructors, and students to convince others of the same. After all, the first step towards improvement is deep understanding and sincere acknowledgement of the problem statement itself; the solution comes later.

Dissecting Secular Liberalism

By Uzair Saroya

Amidst the multifarious political and social philosophies that are in practice all around the world, secularism and liberalism stand out as the most fiercely advocated ones. They derive their legitimacy mainly from the fact that the nations which have adopted these ideas as their national policy have prospered and progressed, and those which have failed to do so are in ruins. We are here to examine the validity of these claims, and in the process know about the roots of these philosophies. The main purpose of this article is to make sense of these ideas from a perspective of an average man living in the south-east of Asia (where religion still holds sway over masses).

If we start from the beginning, as I mostly like to do, we find that there are two dominant narratives that can help us understand the present socio-political paradigms of our world. One is the narrative of Semitic Religions, and the other is the ‘modern scientific narrative’. These two are opposite and contradictory, but both of them have more or less equal explanatory power (depending on the preconceived notions of the observer/reader).

6 Reasons why Parliamentarian Democracy is Incoherent with Islam

1. Application of Sharia law subjected to approval of Parliament: This means the very existence of Sharia law contradicts with the nature of democracy, as when there is sharia law then why parliament would have the authority to approve it. If its parliament, who is supposed to decide through majorities opinion then it is not too hard to understand whose judgment is supreme. So what an Islamic Democracy would mean? If it means that no law will be made in contradiction with Quran and Sunnah, then the law makers and their interpreters must have qualified Ulema-e-Kiram, this include all MPAs (for both parliament and provincial assemblies) and all high level judges of high and supreme courts, instead of elected representatives. Instead of majority’s opinion, weight of opinion should be mattered. But the contrary happens. For development matters, there can be separate structure, which allocates funds on need basis and doesn’t necessarily be made of elected members. Technocratic setup can be its alternative. The eye of law enforcement bodies can help keep things transparent rather. But this is not democracy we are talking about; this is different kind of a setup, something close to what we see in China, or at least in a presidential system.

Ajj ka Musalman

- Courtesy Aftab Saeed

Redefining Democracy

Note: I wrote this article for Teeth Maestro Blog in April 2009, however even today it's still as relevant as it was in 2009, perhaps even more...

The crippling economy, hostile neighbors, devastated judiciary, shamelessly stubborn and confused government, and a shattering socio-cultural fabric is fueling an outcry that ‘enough is enough’. The Question of “how to bring the change”, how to steer away from the pitfall very much visible ahead? Was never before so hot as it is today. However Despite all the discussions, debates, conferences, and seminars so far any practical and feasible solution seems more Utopian then realistic. Some talk about revolution to be the ultimate solution, some talk about strengthen of democracy, few even back the idea of dictatorship on an assumption that we were better off during the Musharaf's regime, some also talk about Islamization and Implementation of Khalifat, or independence of judiciary etc. however all these discussion and supposed solutions starts and end around the question of ‘what the change should be’ instead of the a bigger issues of ‘how, who and when’, even if there is an agreement on ‘What’.

The Industry of Women Rights (Part 1)

By Editor Critic Magazine

Discrimination of and abuse against women comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Pakistan has its own market as exemplified in honor-killings, acid-attacks, the usurious dowry system, and the act of disinheritance. Champions of women’s rights do not champion against these particular varieties of dehumanizing acts simply on case of it being dehumanizing per se, but rather, because, honor-killing is hardly a business venture. Understand that we are all products of this capitalist economic system, and mentality, which regards anything and everything marketable as long as it is profitable, including rights, or as in this case: women’s rights. If not, then, according to Noam Chomsky, why is marijuana illegal but tobacco not, when research and evidence over-emphatically proves the latter to be deadlier?

Answer: because marijuana plant can be grown by anyone anywhere even indoors making it a no-business a no-show. Likewise—though hard-to-digest—honor-killings in Pakistan and elsewhere are condemned simply because not that we should as a matter of principle, or maybe it is, but basically because it is hard to make a business out of it. Again, if not, then why this deafening hoo-hah against honor-killings on the one hand and murderous silence on the business of prostitution and depiction of sexually objectified imageries notably those “adult” programs that run on Cable TV and those readily available pirated DVDs at movie outlets, on the other? Why this double-standard? Is it perhaps somehow ok to see a woman pole and lap dance naked for a man and prostitute for a living than to be killed in the name of so-called dignity and honor? No, the reason being that honor-killing is our marijuana and prostitution and pornography, our tobacco!

Down with the Ostrich's Strategy

This post isn't about the Ostriches, it's about how Pakistan is deluding itself from the external threats, without realizing the consequences. Allow me to explain:

When you are sick, there are generally two reasons, (a) something unwanted from the outside has entered into your body inasmuch quantity you can't handle, like germs, virus or something unhygienic and/or (b) the immune system in your body is weak enough to handle germs attack or whatever.

Now if you are to put the blame on any of the two then which one would it be? Both perhaps, and to cure completely you need to take medication to improve on both aspects. You would also want to keep yourself away from the germs or stay in a sanitized environment to improve speedy recovery; and after recovery work on to improve our immune system so as to reduce the risk of getting sick the next time.

Don't get Married, says Media

Indian movies, TV commercials, TV dramas (Indian, Pakistani and Turkish) etc. are all giving a very clear message to young blood of the nation, that if you don't have a girl friend, your life sucks... it’s interesting to compare the theme of dramas coming on various TV channels during prime time and the ads which comes in between... the story in dramas shows horrifying, painful situation, full of miseries post marriage scenario; on the contrary the TV commercials mostly presents a very colorful and enchanting relationship of a boy & girl who are of course not married... they play, dance, giggle, and do all kind of fun whereas the characters in dramas are shown to be in real trouble, crying most of the time with a intensely depressing background music... the subliminal message received is clear... "Don't get married as life before it is full of fun, enjoyment and joyful pleasures, not after that"...

The Undemocratic Path toward Democracy?

Note: The argument in this post will axiomatically assume that democracy is liberal in nature, as illiberal democracy has no place in the international political scenario. The respective set of axioms is itself contestable and incoherent; however this would be explained separately in another post. 

Democracy requires a homogenous society, where each individual is wise & morally strong enough to make unbiased choices keeping in view the wider implications of his decisions in future. Homogenousity is the key, particularly at intellectual and ideological level as otherwise democracy can only divide a nation into many small ethnic, racial or sectarian fragments, and this happens in a violent fashion as witnessed in various placed in the world in last few decades. Another key ingredient is the economic stability, as otherwise economically deprived class is vulnerable enough to be manipulated. For details check Robert D. Kaplan 'Was democracy just a moment' published in The Atlantic, and later in his book ‘The Coming Anarchy’. Pakistan is just another case in point, where a technocratic government can better manage the state of the affairs of the country, suggests Kaplan.

Pakistani Media, Stop Glamorizing and Highlighting Crime

There is substantial evidence which confirms that crime when highlighted in the media leads to more crime, as it triggers the angry or desperate people, and some of them actually make attempts of actually committing the crime ...

For example, in Pakistan, since the first news about a child committing suicide due to bad grades and pressure of studies was highlighted in the media and was given exclusive coverage, many similar cases of suicide has followed among children of similar age since then... simply because the coverage of first instance allowed many other teenagers to imagine the same. 

The Illusion of Connectivity in a Digitally Connected World

By Omar Javaid

Technology is not value neutral; it has a taseer (urdu) and influences the user independent of how user uses it. Consider the example of any famous sport car versus a Suzuki pickup, if you sit in the former, then the machine will tempt you to drive it fast, how? Is it alive? No, but it has been constructed for that purpose and subsequently will influence the psyche of the user in a unique way. Take smart phone for example, it is designed to connect you on the go, i.e. its designer has assumed or imagined a distinct kind of a lifestyle in which that phone is supposed to fit and service. Now assume your life style isn't like that, and you are not a frequent user of a smart phone, however once you have got it in your hand, that phone will force you to transform your lifestyle to make it compatible with the phone or get rid of the phone itself. But you won’t get rid of it as you have spent a substantial amount of money to buy it (in Pakistan a low end smart phone is around Rs. 15,000), or someone has gifted it to you… over and above it is beautifully designed, responsive, and helpful in many ways also. Now imagine that phone was initially designed for a person who didn't had time to spend with his family, friends and he wanted to be connected with all his professional contacts for commercial reasons... The cell phone will therefore stays with you and will influence you to transform your life in a way in which its most efficient utilization is made possible, i.e. in a life style where most of your friends and family members are rather connected online, the time saved would be spent elsewhere.

Code of Conduct for Social Media Campaigners

From leaked video of Seth Riaz talkshow conducted by Mubashir Lucman & Meher Bukhari, to highlighting the crisis in Burma and Gaza; from questioning the authenticity of claims of OBL assassination, and Malala assassination attempt, to exposing the duality of USAID agenda; from broadcasting news about some militant gangs cum political parties to exposing the hypocrisy and double standards of various TV Channels and Anchors; from reminding public about the anniversaries of great personalities from our past, to highlighting the efforts and contribution of many patriotic social figures. You name it, every miss fire or silence of main stream media is picked up, questioned, criticized, ridiculed, discredited by the social media campaigners in Pakistan. But it also has some shortcomings which needs to be overcome in order to increase its effectiveness, these are:

The Murder of Motherhood

Baba meree mama kahan hain? (Dad, where is my mother)

Beta mam apne kam se gae'n hain abhi ati hain... (son she is gone for some work, she will be back soon)...

My 3yr old son often asks this question when her mother, who is a house wife, goes outside for a couple of hours to attend a language class once in a week. The emotions in the question are unexplainable. If I put myself into his place, i would ask in such a way when i would feel that a part of me has gone missing. Parents, specially mothers, make their children feel complete, particularly when they are young, whereas in their absence children feel a terrible sense of insecurity and void within and around themselve (see Stephan R. Covey's 7 Habits of highly effective families and M. Scott Peck's a Road Less Travelled). This I witnessed as well in a young girl, classmate of my son, who had begun to behave aggressively to an abnormal level, to express her frustration which she feel in the absence of her mother, who goes to her job from 9am-5pm, particularly after the maternity leave which she took due to the birth of her 2nd child. This young girl had developed a violent behavior toward her new born son as well.

Ways to Ride a Dead Horse (Bureaucracy)

The tribal wisdom of the Plains Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount." However, in government more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
And, of course...
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position

These are various ways to ride a dead horse, which of it is applied by your state?

Courtesy: Aftab Saeed

Sponsored BrainWashing

Come on dudes, its a sponsored media, it private enterprise to maximize its bottom-line, its objective is first and foremost, like any other private corporation, is to maximize profits, which depends on the money it receives from other corporations in lieu of promotional campaigns or advertisements, which depends on how much viewership it has ... so what do you expect it is going to upheld the neutrality principle? How much they would get if they remain neutral? Come on there is no rocket science here Media gets the money to convince its audience or public to hold some kind of opinions beneficial for those who paid for it ... let it be buying a particular type of product or changing ones perception or even beliefs 'Parhne likne-e-ke siwa Pakistan ka Matlab Kiya' in lieu of USAID funding ... I mean what difference is there really is in a prostitute, a private entertainer ... perhaps not much, perhaps its intellectual prostitution is at its best ... but who cares about moral values, when Money become everything ...

Adultery not a Crime, UN

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-138344-
Adultery-is-not-a-crime-UN

For all those who attempts to find similarity in modern conception of human rights, and that of Islam. Also for all those who expects a this modern conception to respect their rights defined by their religion. What we need to understand is, the foundation of this modern conception of human rights is grounded in human rationality which rejects anything unless it is rationally and empirically verified to have a worldly benefit. This approach toward knowledge is limited as not everything, particularly in the domain of social sciences cannot be explained completely through rational and empirical analysis. Religious doctrines focus on the same social domains of life and provides a methodology with rewards in hereafter for those who comply. This doesn't make any sense from the rational perspective, and the claims about hereafter cannot be tested empirically. Therefore it is senseless to accept this modern way of thinking to understand the standards of religion. Those who will do so, will only get furstrated.

Domination of Social Scientific Discourse as a Threat to the Survival of Islam

This is a snapshot of a 3-day workshop conducted by Dr. Wahab Suri which he delivered in Sahiwal, Pakistan. This workshop was about the Domination of Social Scientific Discourse over Muslim world and its implication on the Survival of Islam. Dr. Suri explained how knowledge base of western world is making it irrelevant for Muslim societies, who have adopted a westernised system of governance of society and market, to look into religion for solution of the problems which are specific to the adopted system. If the social scientific discourse matures at any point in future, it will make it irrelevant for the the public to ask from religion the important questions of life. 

The Women Rights Hoax

By Omar Javaid

Both men and women are living together since the very beginning of history, they have lived and survived in equal proportions throughout, and even today their proportions in the world population of around 7 billion is almost equal[i]. This makes a curious mind eventually asks after looking at the present day mantras from women empowerment and liberation, that how come womankind has survived since thousands of years in equal proportions, despite all the supposed atrocities, oppressions, and wrath of men's domination, if there is any? 

There can be multiple answers to this question: 

1) If the hypothesis of men being 'brutally against women's wellbeing' is correct then definitely we can assume that she has the capacity to survive those hardships as otherwise her percentage in population must have been significantly lower than that of men, which eventually would have increased her importance or value due to scarcity but more men would be left without partners which would have in turn caused frustration, rage and subsequent conflicts and disturbance in the society. If the hypothesis of men being brutal 'in relative terms' is false then we should ask what really the fuss is all about?

2) If the birth ratios of men would have been less than women, which is not really the case in reality[ii]  then we could have assume that men's brutal attitude actually serves a noble purpose rather, i.e. to balance out the proportions among the population of both genders, as otherwise there would have been more women than men on the planet, their value would also have decreased due to abundance; and an even larger number of women would have left without partners (read husbands), 'an even larger' because survivability of male is lesser then women, to be very precise 1.07 male births are there for each female birth but while the babies turn into adults, the ratio is reduced to 1.01 males per female[iii].

So what the fuss is really all about, let us then find out ...