LOU DEKHU DHARNA JARI HAI!

Dedicated to multiple sit-ins across the world in solidarity with Hazara Town sit-in. The world will not forget how even after recurring, unprecedented attacks, the persecuted community remained non-violent and instigated a spontaneous movement against religious extremism. 

The poem was recited a month ago, when we sat in Islamabad to show solidarity with Alam-dar road sit-in. 

Shaitan pey larzaa tari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

Tum apnay amal chuka baithay
Dekhu ab apnee bari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

BumbarooN sey hum dartey naheen
Jitna maaro, hum martay naheen
Iss khoon ki qeemat bhari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

Yeh haath humaray seenoN par
Laanat hai tum bay-deenoN par
Aik azm yeh matam daari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

Hatt jao, dekhu baaz aao
Abaa’ key amal na dohrao
Pher aglee lash tumhari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

Taghoot key ayee pairo-karooN
ab saamnay aakey waar karu
Ab jagi qoum yeh sari hai
Lou dekhu dharna jari hai

Talwar banay ga apna qalam
Na khouf koi na koi alam
Emaan ju hum-pay taari hai
LOU DEKHU DHARNA JARI HAI!

- Unknown

 

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Pakistan’s Youth Bulge: Gift or a Curse?

First published in South Asia Global Affairs magazine

The youth of Pakistan is a force full of vitality and enthusiasm. However, if consistently distanced and belittled, it could lose its energy and become a liability rather than an asset.

The ways of the world have changed;
The tune is new, instruments have changed;
Free your mind from mental slavery;
Make the young, masters of the old.
– Alama Iqbal

Today, every 40th person in this world is a Pakistani. Some 68% of the country’s population is below the age of 25, making youth an important factor in an increasingly fragile society. In fact, Pakistan’s youth alone could constitute the world’s 12th largest country. Such statistics signify the importance of young people in Pakistan; a valuable yet troublesome bulge that will indeed continue to be visible well into the mid 2020s.

The youth is often considered to be an optimistic constituent, with dreams and guided by fervor and hope. However, in Pakistan, while the numbers are high, negativity prevails. One need not go far as this trend has permeated local news channels, dominates newspaper headlines and features prominently in conversations at the mass level on any local, regional or national issue.

Education is hard to attain for most of them, health facilities are scarce and economic and social justice is simply not available for the majority. Inflation is slowly squeezing the lower and middle classes, electricity has become a luxury commodity, CNG and petrol pumps are often not operational and hunger and poverty cripple an already desperate and discontented society. In the midst of all of this, the ugly head of corruption rears itself.

Adding salt to the wound is the all-powerful threat of extremism, which is rapidly permeating an unstable economy and shaky society. Extremism is evident in recurring incidences of religious, ethnic and social intolerance. Terrorism has left more than 40,000 dead in the last decade and the Pakistani society still struggles to challenge the radical narrative, in word and spirit.

Despite the thousands of challenges Pakistan faces, this dominant section of the population, namely youth, can serve as a trump card for the future success of the country since more than 105 million people, nearly two-thirds of the entire population, comprises youth.

This section of society can become a game-changer for Pakistan and the entire region. However, if their voice is ignored and their issues not addressed, it will not be long before their despondency turns into sheer hopelessness and transforms into a mass revolt. While much hope can be placed in the youth of Pakistan, they are still nothing more than a wild card. Depending on the conditions, this huge cohort of young people can prove to be a challenge as well, either leading to conflict and violence or opening the window to new opportunities

It is critical to remember though, that the existing youth bulge grew up in troubling times and is living in even more testing circumstances. The elders of their society were not able to broaden their world-view, empower the young with the mental faculty to look for errors within and consequently be a part of the solution, rather than becoming a part of the problem.

Every mistake made was instantly blamed on a foreign conspiracy, cementing the ‘victim’ mentality. The consequent identity crisis was never subjected to an intellectual and vibrant discourse to pave the way for an ideological coherence. The youth is essentially a victim of societal trend that undermines young talent, ignores its voice in national discourse and fails to understand that in their individual and collective lives, they might not want the kind of future their elders may want them to have. Never being able to cultivate a role in their communities, the youth has never had the opportunity to hone its leadership potential and become the future stakeholders in Pakistan.

Battling this clash of generations, the youth of the country, equipped with technological advancements, is ready to break free and work towards a more prosperous and evolving society. Traveling across Pakistan and working for the Pakistan Youth Alliance has unveiled for this writer the struggle that Pakistani youth are (unknowingly) engaged in. This perhaps is the first step towards Pakistan’s empowered youth involved in the decision-making process of its communities, cities, provinces and, subsequently, the country.

In many ways, the youth of Pakistan is in a desperate search for ways to improve the lives of 190 million people and find common ground between different segments of Pakistani society. The youth today is more vocal, critical and aware of its circumstances such as debating false nationalism or questioning the role of intelligence agencies. The youth has risen as an important player in Pakistan and has played a pivotal role in the democratic history of Pakistan. Swarming on to streets the youth today debates rigid theological interpretations and politicization of religion, illustrating pluralistic tendencies in the masses.

Scores of youth-centric organizations have sprung up and most major political parties have vibrant youth wings that in 2010 and 2011, bravely battled adverse weather conditions to deliver relief to victims of floods.

The diversity that Pakistan boasts of from Karachi to Khyber, the resilience that the Pakistani nation illustrates and the untested sea of youth potential that Pakistan asserts, makes one a strong believer in a ‘better’ future of Pakistan.

But this cannot be done in isolation. The older generation needs to broaden opportunities for the young to develop the human capital through knowledge and advice. By giving the youth an active role in the collective lives of neighborhoods, communities and the society at large, all generations can work together towards a more prosperous Pakistan.

It is up to the current stakeholders of Pakistan and the Pakistani system whether it wants to engage with and consider this youth bulge a ‘gift’ or turn its back on an opportunity that may transform into a ‘curse’, ready to rear its ugly head sooner than later.

Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi  is the founder of the Pakistan Youth Alliance, CEC at Khudi Pakistan and  community lead at Hosh Media.

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Pakistan’s youth fight forces of history

First published: Al Jazeera English [for series of docu-films on youth activism in 08 countries, called 'activate'. Ours airs on 25th oct, at 1030 GMT 

I grew up in a country enshrouded in uncertainty, being taught a distorted version of history as part of a school curriculum that incited religious hatred. It was a country that endorsed almost anything, social or political, in the name of religion; where state organs coloured geo-strategic shifts in ‘holy’ flavour; where the intelligentsia fathered militant organisations; where the right-leaning media propagated conspiracy theories; and where public sentiment sanctioned militancy by calling for intervention beyond borders.

How can I forget the banners hanging in the main marketplaces of Pakistan calling out for ‘Jihad’ against whomsoever they deemed an ’infidel’? I grew up listening to the clerics for whom every other sect within Islam was heretical, to news of attacks on shrines, mosques and religious festivals, to dictators who extended their stay in office for personal gain – with corruption plaguing every walk of life, mob mentality justifying acts of violence and the judiciary serving selective justice.

I grew up in a country battling wars, natural disasters, corruption, religious and social intolerance, disease, poverty, illiteracy and ideological perplexity. But it was also a very resilient environment. I cannot name any other country that has faced such multi-faceted problems with such intensity. If we were not struggling to infest democratic norms and a culture of peace and mutual coexistence, we were battling the biggest humanitarian crisis in all of modern history.

But there would not be opportunity if it were not for crisis. The future is what we make of the present; and the past offers us an opportunity to learn from our errors. Realising the individual’s importance in the collective life of a neighbourhood, city, province, country and, consequently, as a global citizen is the defining moment that instigates ‘change’.

Change is within, however concealed by incompetence and naivety. Trying to ‘be the change’ turned me and some of my friends into activists who battled dictatorship and media blackouts, who stood up against extremism amid threats and insecurities, who were chased around and harassed by the very agencies that should have protected us, who rallied for peace when the masses were victims of war-mongering, who have reached out to more than 70,000 displaced families with material relief. Much of the time, these amazing youngsters have been pro-active rather than re-active in their activism.

Unprecedented acknowledgements by the United Nations, the government of Pakistan or by international media outlets are no milestones when compared to the fact that what started as a Facebook group in 2007 as the result of a few exuberant young minds now gives a voice to thousands.

More than 100 million aged under 24, a youth bulge unparalleled in the world, cannot be made a liability. This is the future of Pakistan and the future of a region in which one-fifth of humanity dwells. Turning crisis into opportunity will mean transforming 65 per cent of the population of Pakistan into pro-active citizens agreeing to disagree peacefully; making them realise their potential as individuals and then as a collective force to be reckoned with.

Some believe that Pakistan’s prospects have dimmed over the past few years and that there is no hope. But we believe that only stormy weather makes good sailors and only the most vigorous of rubs polishes the best of gems.

Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi can be found on twitter and facebook and is the founder and chair of the Pakistan Youth Alliance.

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Together We Shall Win: On 30th March, 2011 tum bhi ek deep jala dena!

Came across this amazing page, made by an amazing friend. Copy-pasting here:

For decades, we have seen our countries drowned in hatred, negativity and animosity for each other. Many of us lucky enough to have friends from across the border, have often wondered why.

30th March 2011 marks one of the biggest sporting events in the history of South Asia. It’s a great delight that the subcontinent has half the chance of Winning the ICC 2011 World Cup!

Today two friends from Pakistan have promised their two Indian buddies to support their team in the final if it wins the semi. They’ll do the same for Pakistan! . Whatever happens in the semi-final, this World Cup has to come to the Indian Subcontinent, and we will ALL cheer Together!

Friends from both sides of the border, join us in this pledge of solidarity, this honest gesture of love and peace. It’s time to throw the negativity aside and demonstrate compassion and kinship that transcends boundaries.

Let’s enjoy the Semi-Final on March 30th 2011, support our teams to the fullest, and ensure that it would be just the beginning to a grand finale.

For Together We All Shall Win!~Long live cricket and cross border friendship!

 

Show your support by inviting your friends, and on Twitter by including #TWSW and http://tinyurl.com/Indo-Pak-Peace in your tweets!

Let cricket, love, peace and mutual co-existance be the winner on 30th March, 2011

Apnay aangan mae nafrat ki,
Yeh jalti aag bujha dena.

Ham pyar ki, shammaiN Layae haiN
Tum bhi aik deep jala dena.

Jo khet jala voh apna tha
Jo khoon baha voh bhi apna tha

Jo kuch bhi huva achcha na huva
Ab waqt hy oosko bhula dena
Ham hath hawa ke bhaijaingay
Khushbu Lahore ki mitti ki

Tum bhi Ravi ki lahron per
Dilli ke phool baha dena

Apnay ghar ki diwaron ko
Uncha karna sab ka haq hy

Lekin jo diwarain dil mae haiN
Voh sari aaj gira dena

Voh pyar bhala kab rukta hy
Diwaron se talvaron sae

Ham dur sae hath hila daingay
Tum dur sae hi muska dena !!

Khush-hal raho dilshad raho
Tum phoolo phalo aabad raho

Ham tum ko duaayaiN daitay hain
Tum bhi ham ko yeh duaa dena

Yeh pyar khuda bhagwan bhi hy
Yeh pyar hi Masjid Mandir hy

Jo sabaq sikhayae nafrat ka
Voh Masjid Mandir dha dena !!

Lahore 21.03.2001

There was a happy occasion of meeting of two sides of nationals at Lahore on 21.03.2001. Indian delegation was represented by The Servant of the people Society also known as Lok Sevak Mandal. The founder of this Lok Sevak Mandal was Lala Lajpatrai in 1921

One of the Pakistani Doctor Khalid Javed had written a poem in love and affection for the people of both the country. He then requested Mr Satyapalji the group leader to convey his message to the people of India, the true feelings of Pakistanis for Indians. On his return to India Mr Satyapalji had published this poem in several Indian Newspapers. This poem was appeared in Gujarat Samachasr London on 24.01.2004 submitted by Shree Chandubhai Matani Leicester

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Everybody does not love Raymond

First published in The Islamabad Dateline on 24.02.2010

Raymond Davis has been on the front-page of newspapers for quite sometime now. He will remain to be, till the parties involved extract their ulterior motives out of the issue and us, the ignorant sheep will dance to the tune of the shepherd, as planned.

The British newspaper that broke the news of Raymond being a CIA spy quotes: The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press and other media outlets reported for the first time that Davis is a CIA employee. They said they had been aware of his status but kept it under wraps at the request of US officials

The American media outlets, who cry about “freedom of press” every now and then, only gathered the audacity to report the same after London-based newspaper had broken the story.

American media’s mum-ness and Pakistani media’s hue and cry over Raymond Davis’s CIA links puts a big question mark on freedom of press, both here and in the US.

Youth all over Pakistan are disgruntled and angry over Raymond Davis. Protests are being planned out throughout the country, and if set free, the government will find it hard to control the street agitation. But some important points to be considered before coming out on streets:

Do we seriously think the mighty Intelligensia of Pakistan was un-aware of Raymond Davis and others working within our borders?  I mean, a British newspaper is more ‘intelligent’ than the agencies that need to be checking exactly the likes of Raymond? Are we sharing Intelligence and receiving billions of dollars for signed contracts and only way to make those who become a nuisance, flee is by creating public backlash by orchestrating such drama, on the street?  Do we think that our boys are not monitoring diplomats, and that too of Raymond’s history and profile?

More puzzling is the Raymond’s link with banned terrorist outfits and his potential link to drone strikes. America is striking Taliban with drone attacks, but their top spy in the country has links with Taliban and has been visiting them quiet often? The riddle is yet to be fully solved, one wonders if it ever will be solved as American media still had the guts to acknowledge it with-held information, our media still cries of being “free”.

We are living in troubling times of wars between intelligence agencies and our collective energies need to be directed at finding common grounds in rallying for democracy, in trying to infest democratic norms in our society, in working for freedom of judiciary and media, in rallying against extremism and in finding peace within, before aspiring to have peace outside.

Let us not be carried away by “spy-games” as not everybody loves Raymond, in that world.

Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi is an aeronautical engineer by force, an activist by mind, a wanderer by soul & a lover by heart.

Geo News released today: Davis row creates rift between ISI, CIA

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‘Everyone wants to be the Prime Minister’

Ansaf Kareem at Stanford University (Political Science Deptt)  did his thesis on Pakistani civil society post lawyers movement under the aegis of ” Civil Society In Transition: Pakistan & The Lawyers Movement”

He quotes me in chapter 5 as:

Chapter Five: Obstacles to Sustaining Civil Society and Deepening Democracy

“The Problem with Pakistan is that everyone wants to be a Prime Minister…”
-­‐Ali Zaidi,
Founder of the Pakistan Youth Alliance

Entire thesis can read by downloading the PDF file

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A Victim Of Love: Atiya

Atiya is a young married woman from tribal areas, living in Peshawar. Coming from the tribal background means some family norms need to be adopted. She did not want to adopt them, or she was too carried away, fantasizing love stories that she rebelled against her family.

She wanted to marry this man, her family did not approve of him, she felt there was no choice but to rebel and rebel she did – She married him against her family’s wishes. Life seemed different before she was married to him, for the love story seemed perfect. The odds against them meant the couple’s bond was worth it. She had to materialize the love story and live with the love of her life.

She broke off from her family, and moved in with him. He changed. He was not the same man after marrying her. One fine day, he left her – with no contacts to connect and no where to be found. She hoped he would return, but he had left for good. She had no money and the rented shelter was to be evacuated. Once again, she had to make a choice – to go back to parents or live on streets?

She knew how it was to live on streets, she had seen it. She preferred her distraught family. She went back thinking her blood would welcome her back, but that was not the case. The moment she entered her parents house, and told her family of the ordeal – that the man for whom she rebelled with them, and according to her father, disgraced them in the whole society had ditched her, her father died of shock.

The family was in disarray and disbelief, they had seen too much of pain lately. They refused to keep her and asked her to leave “her” house. She got on a train to Rawalpindi, not knowing where she would go and what will happen with her.

She heard me on a radio show 4 weeks ago, and she had saved my number, for even then, things started looking murky.

She had enough credit on her phone to call me. I was shocked and lost, did not know what to do. I was not in Islamabad, and my family had gone to Gujranwala as a relative died. She cried of death and how she would give herself under the train, for she saw no reason to live.

I had not dealt with such a matter previously, of course. I tried contacting women rights NGO’s/Groups to get her picked up from train-station and take her to a safe house, at least for the night. No one seemed to help. Big names of women rights activism hung up on me and the corporate world of human rights activism, once again exposed its shallowness to me (I have had some bad experiences previously too).

I contacted around 12 such NGO’s who were running facilities for shelter-less women, but some of them said it was too late, as they close at 5 PM and others simply said bye! I will not name them here, as I do not want to hurt the cause, that they seem to propagate, as whatever the case be, they are helping women in need & I am no one to hurt the greater good they are doing, but it was shameful! I had apprised them of the situation, that she has suicidal tendencies and she will not last long, as she does not have a place to go, and the more she is exposed to the cruel world, she will be inclined to take her life, but stupid reasons of ‘our facility closes at 5 PM’ (as if after 5 PM no woman can go shelter-less), ‘we are already helping women’, ‘we cannot take such cases without guardians approval’ (as if no woman can run from her house in rebellion) echoed from every corner.

She was already on the train, which was about to hit Rawalpindi station in 20-30 minutes. After getting no timely response from top notch women’s rights activists, I had no choice but to contact my friends in the political sphere and Benazir Bhutto Shaheed’s Crisis Cell told me to get her transported to their facility. The only place where they were ‘ready’ to provide shelter, to a woman who had lost a husband, a father, a family in very short span of time, and who had no place to live.

She is kept in special treatment unit there, because of her mental health and suicidal tendencies, with no contact with the outer world, not even on phone, and tomorrow we will try to get her shifted to a better facility.

My years of experience in activism have taught me a lesson, never to contact children’s rights group when a child is in imminent danger and never to contact a women rights facility when a woman is in danger.

I am thankful to Sana Saleem, Beena Sarwar, Maham Ali and Samar Minallah for their timely responses and their help, when I had lost it.

Her ordeal continues, I shall keep you updated. For the women reading this, try to understand there is no love purer that your parents, and to the men reading this, we need to make an example out of our breed who treat human beings like tissue papers. For the parents reading this, please do not let your child go away when he/she has no place to go. For the ‘corporate’ human rights activists/groups, you can only help when media boasts your image and the money, on which you live, gets multiplied when media is there to ‘cover’ your heroics.

- Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

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The Facebook Controversy: DW Germany

Many articles were published in Indian press, regarding Facebook ban. One such article which was published in Hindustan Times, Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle mentions my words regarding the facebook-ban-dilemma. The reporter or the source has mistakenly mentioned myself as Ali Shah (I dont mind that name either , in reverence to the Bullah Baadshah). The article is cross-posted below.

Some things need to be kept in mind regarding the facebook/internet blockade, every blogger/activist/journalist and citizen of Pakistan who is voicing out to get the ban lifted, is not in favour of the degrading campaign carried out by some ignorants. We, like every Muslim brother and sister, feel despised by the slanderous campaign carried out some “average” cartoonist, who made it to the headlines worldwide. Freedom of Speech and hate-speech collide at times, and one needs to understand the difference between the two before throwing tanturms and hurting feelings of billions of human beings. One cannot cry “bomb” in a hospital, disrupt peace and then say its my freedom of speech, because everything has a limit in this temporal abode. One cannot start a campaign saying “Lets draw XYZ’s Mom” and then link to Freedom of Speech, because someone’s feeling will get hurt – And here, Prophet (p) is held in reverence by 1/5th of humanity, who consider him (p) more closer to themselves than their parents.

Facebook should have dealt with the matter more effeciently, and instead of judging “why” feelings of billions were getting hurt, it should have paid heed to the millions of abuse-reports it was getting. I have already written a blog-post regarding this (facebook or bias-book). However, we must also understand that facebook was not the campaign itself, banning the entire facebook was not wise, as it gave the “average” cartoonist and slanderous campaign the hype it yearned for, and started for – we must have instead sent an official complaint to Facebook HQ’s or used our foreign diplomats to pressurize facebook to take the page down, and had it not paid heed, we should have blocked the blasphemous groups/pages instead of banning the entire domain.

Why? Because Facebook has hundreds of pro-Islam pages (one such page, run by friend Abbasi has over 270,000 members) propagating the real message of Islam to the West, communicating with world in this global village, hundreds of charities, social welfare organizations, online blood donation groups, civil and human rights activists group and women/child-abuse initiatives use facebook to propagate their message and very effeciently. My organization (Pakistan Youth Alliance) has raised over 7,500,000 PKR using facebook and helped IDP’s, orphans, disabled, needy and juveniles. (read link mentioning PYA’s social work using facebook, see this interview with Dawn News and hear Naveen Naqvi mentioning how we used facebook to help IDP’s, also see this link to see MSN News’s report about how we used facebook to carry out a campaign against the dictator Musharraf, also read this report in Newsline Magazine, under the aegis of “The Facebook Revolution” mentioning us regarding facebook and activism).

So the gist of what I am trying to say is – A knife can be used to cut apples and cut throats, TV can be used to disberse information/education or destroy a childs mind, facebook/youtube/twitter/Flickr/Yahoo/Gmail/Hotmail and others can be used to start blasmphemous campaigns and at the same time, can be utilized for good causes. Are knives banned because someone cut a throat with it? Is TV banned because of one or two “bad” programs ? Why facebook, youtube, flickr and twitter were banned  then? Does banning help stopping the campaign or propagates it more? Is closing your eyes from an approaching danger a solution or digs in more holes? The campaign initially started with facebook and now is everywhere on the www, the minds behind the campaign exactly wanted that. Hiding from reality doesnt change reality – things are not simply black and white. There are issues to discuss and realities to be matched with eloquence, so there should be a discussion between opposing parties and eyes must not be closed.

This explanation was necesarry before re-posting the articles published in Indian press and elsewhere (DW Germany, BBC World, Radio FM 99) regarding my stance.

Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicile and Indian Express:

Raza Rumi cross-posted a message by  Ali, who wrote: “They have banned the entire Facebook domain in Pakistan (and) barred Blackberry services for one ignorant rant? They have burnt the entire village for one bad guy and we must stand up to it”.

Articles:

Hindustan Times : Pakistan’s e-space abuzz after Facebook, Twitter ban

Deccan Chronicile: After Facebook and Youtube, Pakistan blocks Twitter, Blackberry

Indian Express: Pakistan Seethes on Twitter, Blackberry Ban.

DW Germany:

Calls for free speech

But there were also other opinions. Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi,  from Islamabad, started a Facebook group against the ban, called “Protect Online Speech in Pakistan”.

“Facebook is used by many Pakistanis for good causes, too. There are many pro-Islam pages on Facebook, with members in millions. A friend of mine is running such a page, and he is spreading a positive message about Islam towards the world. Similarly, I myself and my friends have done a lot of good work on Facebook, helping people, helping humanity. So you cannot burn the entire village for one bad guy!”

Article: DW Germany: Reaction to Pakistan’s Facebook ban

- Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

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DW Germany: Reaction to Pakistan’s Facebook ban

It was a radio show, and some criticial points were missed while extracting this print report from my talk, however, here it is:

Pakistani authorities extended their ban on the popular social networking site Facebook on Thursday to other internet sites that showed “blasphemous caricatures”, as the foreign ministry spokesman put it.

Access to YouTube and Wikipedia was also restricted, and BlackBerry services were suspended throughout the country. A court in Lahore had ruled on Wednesday that Facebook should be blocked in Pakistan for failing to remove a page that invited entries to a competition to draw pictures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Many students support ban

Facebook is very popular in Pakistan, with between two and three million users. But outside Hamdard University in Islamabad on Thursday, many students supported the ban. Many Muslims believe that any pictorial representation of the Prophet is sacrilegious. One female student said it’s normal that people are not tolerant when it comes to religious matters, “especially on our prophet. So whatever the government has done, I must say: Thumbs up!”

Another student adds: “It’s ok that they closed it. But Pakistan should open its own community website, which all the Pakistanis can use.”

Calls for free speech

But there were also other opinions. Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi, an engineer from Islamabad, started a Facebook group against the ban, called “Protect Online Speech in Pakistan”.

“Facebook is used by many Pakistanis for good causes, too. There are many pro-Islam pages on Facebook, with members in millions. A friend of mine is running such a page, and he is spreading a positive message about Islam towards the world. Similarly, I myself and my friends have done a lot of good work on Facebook, helping people, helping humanity. So you cannot burn the entire village for one bad guy!” 

Facebook had been targeted because a user had launched a page supporting the “Draw Mohammed Day” on May 20. The idea for such a day was originally floated by a Seattle cartoonist who was upset about threats by a Muslim group to her colleagues, the makers of the animated sitcom “South Park” in the US.

Protests draw more attention

Kalsoom Lakhani, a Pakistani blogger based in Washington DC, thought continuing a spiral of protests and counter-protests was counterproductive.”The irony of it all is that there is so much hatred out there in the blogosphere, on Facebook, in the cyberworld. But I think the more anger the ‘Draw Mohammed Day’ created, the more outrage it sparked, the more publicity it got as a result. So this is kind of a self-enforcing phenonemon.”

Equal treatment demanded

Most Pakistani users seemed to agree that Facebook should have dealt with the matter in a different way. Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi said, “Facebook’s policy on abuse is very biased, I feel. For example, I protested against General Musharraf during his emergency rule, when he banned the media and all that. I created a page. It had around 10,000 members, and it was banned. I e-mailed Facebook, and they said that because your page is spreading hatred and being abusive, we are removing it. I said: OK! But this time, of course millions of Muslims around the world were reporting this page, but Facebook was not taking it down!”

Facebook, which is based in Palo Alto, California, has expressed disappointment about being banned in Pakistan “without warning”, but stood by its policies in a statement to AFP news agency.

 Source: DW, Germany  (Deutcshe Welle)     

 

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Internet Blockade & Urban Middle Class Youth

On Wednesday 19th May 2010, the Lahore High Court, famous for acting as a “moral brigade” rather than judiciary, once again passed a strange order to ban Facebook across Pakistan on a petition of Muslim Lawyers Forum. The demand for blocking of the social media site came after it refused to remove certain pages displaying Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons.

This order was passed against the request of the government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that controversial pages of Facebook were already being blocked and there was no reason to block entire social media website which has over 2 million Pakistani users.

Few months back Lahore High Court took suo-moto notice of album of a popular female singer and declared her songs to be ‘vulgar’. This was followed by Chief Justice Lahore High Court’s remarks that Hindus were financing the terrorism in Pakistan which attracted protests from Hindu minority of Pakistan. This mixing of religion in to matters of state is opposite to the judgment of the Bangladesh’s Supreme Court which imposed ban on religious parties to take part in politics.

The court order to ban entire social media site is not only unreasonable but amounts to restrict the freedom of expression of which judiciary is a guardian. It also reflects the mindset and strong inclination of present superior judiciary towards right wing religious fundamentalist groups which can easily get ‘desired justice’.

JI, a religious fanatic group which is strong supporter of present judiciary and was successful to get its members recruited in superior judiciary after restoration of Chief Justice is organizing the protests to ban all ‘Western Infidel’ websites including Facebook,Google, YouTube and Twitter etc. The wish for a ‘stone age’ as termed by Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi, a youth leader. The Islamic Lawyer forum which filed the petition to block Facebook itself is a lawyers wing of JI fanatics.

The most interesting fall out of the court order is the strong reaction of Pakistani urban middle class youth, which widely uses Facebook for social interaction. The same youth was the most active supporter of movement for restoration of present judiciary. They are demanding from the government to immediately lift the blockage of Facebook website.

One of the protesters and an active blogger/civil society activist Dr. Awab Alvi writes ; “As members of civil society and professionals who depend on social media networks for our daily communications, we demand the immediate restoration of Facebook and an end to Internet censorship by the Government of Pakistan”.

But if government does lifts the ban on this demands, it will be disobeying the court orders.

Should not it be a protest against judiciary instead which has allied itself with religious fanatics and is acting as ‘Moral Brigade’ rather than an institution to dispense justice?

Historically religious groups in Pakistan have been providing support to military dictators and been associated with intelligence agencies to bring down the elected governments. After removal of Pervez Musharaf, the military establishment decided not to interfere directly in political issues. Certain sections of establishment and religious groups which are eager to remove present regime have associated themselves with judiciary.

Many critics blame that Lawyers movement which was initiated by lawyers and civil society was later hijacked by PMLN, PTI and JI and judiciary is under strong influence of right wing fundamentalist groups. The recent recruitments in superior judiciary are also being criticized as being from a certain ‘mind set’ and comprise of judges from certain political and religious parties.

As the conflict between PPP government and Judiciary is becoming intense, the judiciary is gathering the support of religious groups. Recently Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the former head of JI announced to get SC judgments implemented through ‘street power’. Yeah, now judiciary needs religious goons to get its orders implemented – though no suo-moto by good Chief Justice asking Mr. Qazi that who appointed him the ‘bailiff’ of SC!

In order to retain the support of religious fundamentalist groups, judiciary would have to deliver more judgments like ban on Facebook as per fanatics demands. This seems to be just the beaning as the demands of religious fanatics would not anything less than turning Pakistani society in to Taliban style Emirates.

As Supreme Court declared in its recent judgment to be custodian of imaginary ‘basic features’ of constitution of Pakistan and judging the righteousness of elected representatives, closer cooperation between fundamentalist and judiciary is inevitable. The top leaders of lawyer’s movement like Ali Ahmad Kurd are openly confessing that this is not the judiciary for what we struggled.

But where do the Urban middle class youth, which worked tirelessly for restoration of judiciary fits in this whole set up? Would they be able to digest the fanatic’s demands? They do not want to loose the freedom of expression and reject the ban on Facebook. They do not want court of Qazi to ban their favorite singer but they are demanding from government to lift the blockage of social media site.

Protesting against government while the ban is ordered by a ‘holly lordship’ of Lahore High Court is sign of their confusion.

In fact they are still unable to accept the fact that Lawyers movement was hijacked by right wing fundamentalist groups and present judiciary is composed of and an ally of religious fanatics. The fact they should have been realized when Supreme Court slept over the so called ‘Missing Persons’ issue, 12th May probe and countless other slogans raised during lawyers movements.

The only hope which still keeps them away from straight away protesting against ‘moral policing’ of judiciary and its partial judgments and instead make the government a scapegoat is that one day judiciary will boot “evil” Zardari out from his office. But what they are unable to understand is that it wont be possible unless a strong alliance of religious fanatics is there to support judiciary. As has been a custom when we underwent the military dictatorship – judicial dictatorship wont work differently.

What will be the cost of that alliance doesn’t need Einstein to figure out – and that is civil society itself. More influence of religious fanatics will hurt these urban middle class youth, who are not willing to compromise on their liberties but confused and unable to face the reality.

Can the civil society and urban middle class youth be part of the Mullah-Judiciary alliance against PPP government? They must ask themselves. It is up to them to decide whether they want an other repeat of notorious Ziaist era when general associated religious fanatics in power game. The Mullah-Judiciary alliance is going to be much more disastrous for civil society than what we have experienced in past.

Ahmad Nadeem Gehla

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