Homo Sapiens

When I was young, my family used to grow wheat every year and store some of the grain in silos for our household use. The rest was sold in the marker. About 2-3 times every year, my mother would have our grain silos emptied and all the grain was laid out in the sun to dry and to kill any unwanted insects that can potentially destroy the stores. Birds would fly in and eat some of the grains but once a bird was full it would not come again. Neither would they fight each other over this unexpected bounty nor would they bring bags to store away all of it for later use. This behavior is so unlike us "civilized" humans, isn't it? We fight each other to have control of all the resources we find. Animals usually don't kill one of their kind. A Bird would not have huge stores for itself while others of its own kind would be dying of hunger at the same time. I think that birds would not fight over differences in their relgious ideoligies and skin color. Are we really more civil than animals?

A poem dedicated to Gul-Makai

Gul Makai is the pen-name of Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year old girl from Mingora, Pakistan who was shot twice allegedly by the Taliban for speaking out against them and in favor of promoting education for girls in Pakistan. At the time of writing this poem, she struggles for her life in a hospital.

In this land of ours, there is a penalty for speaking out
You are punished if you try to breath-in fresh air
You are reprimanded for thinking beyond the walls of this prison
But don't be frightened O' little angel!
Don't think that you're alone
Don't stop breathing!
For it is only because of your thoughts and your words
That all of us are able to breathe!

(October, 2012)

(گل مکئی کے نام)
یہاں بولنے کی سزا ملتی ہے
اس گھٹن سے نکل کر
سانس لینے کی سزا ملتی ہے
اس قفس کے باہر
سوچنے کی سزا ملتی ہے
!لیکن تم گھبراؤ مت ننھی جان
یہ مت سمجھو کہ تم اکیلی ہو
!سانس لینا مت چھوڈو
کہ تمہارے سوچنے ہی سے تو'
تمہارے بولنے سے ہی تو
!!ہم سب سانس لیتے ہیں
(افسر)

The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.

If you think about it -- every one of us can be made to belong to a minority group in Pakistan even when you feel that you are in majority. For example, you can belong to Sunni Islam -- the faith to which most Pakistanis adhere to but then this group can be fragmented on the basis of sects (Wahabis, Barelvis...), regions (Lahoris, Karachiites...), castes (Rajputs, Maliks...), family history (Muhajirs, ...), language (Punjabi, Potohari, Pahari...), financial status and so on. Moreover, most of us belonging to a particular group just because we were born into it -- so I see this as no achievement and nothing to be overly proud about. So if you are thinking about remaining silent over how minorities are being treated in Pakistan because they are, well, minorities, there can be a time in which you (or I) can be cast as a minority and subjected to social injustice and misconduct by the 'majority'.
In the words of Martin Niemöller about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group:
"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me."
I see the same happening in my Pakistan.
History has a habit of repeating itself when no lessons are learnt from it. Have we forgotten the threat of persecution, social and economic injustice that muslim minority of the subcontinent faced in a post-British-rule India that led to the creation of the country in which we are now treating our minorities in a way we couldn't even bear to think of being treated ourselves. Still not convinced -- Remember the Urdu-Hindi language riots in which Hindi being the language of the majority in pre-parition India was being forced on the minority Urdu-speaking community and when we got independence we forced Urdu on our Bengali brothers and this led to the creation of the "world mother-language day" by the UN and played a major role in the separation of East Pakistan to Bangladesh. So if we continue the trend of oppressing minorities we are bound to succumb ourselves to the monster that we are creating either by actively participating in it or being silent about it.
We are far behind the rest of the world in almost every measure of civilization -- be it science and technology or social sciences, living standard or visits to the library. Our natural resources, which aren't in plenty anyways, will run out one day. What we need to focus on is developing a concrete foundation for our human resource and minorities (religious and otherwise) can play a major role in it. Pakistani examples include, Dr. Abdus Salam, Cecil Chaudhry, Eric G. Hall, Sharbat Ali Changezi and many more. The recent burning of more than 125 houses belonging to Christians in Lahore by a mob of ~7000 due to the allegations about blasphemy against prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) by a single member of the Christian community reflects our tolerance and how weak the state of Pakistan is in protecting its citizens. Even worse, according to Dawn news reports, is the fact that the accused and the complainant had quarrelled under the influence of liquor on March 7, but the latter painted it as a case of blasphemy. Reports say that the mob consisted of muslims. I am pretty sure that the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would not have liked this as he (peace be upon him), instead of being angry at an old lady who used to throw trash on him out of hatred for him, cared for her when he got to know that she had become sick. Some people say that muslims are being oppressed in places like Burma, Palestine, Kashmir and no one talks about them. I think, we being muslims and Pakistanis, should raise our standards and clean our own house of terrorism and oppression of minorities first instead of engaging in a self-glorified Lahori crusade against the weak and become an example for the rest of the world to see.

The road next to the wall

I can see your shadows dancing on the wall
the wall smiles back
proud, happy, changing color as it feels your touch
Reflecting, Radiating, Rejoicing
And Reminding me of the touch I could always feel
soft, sweet, warm!
But just as the light changes
times moved
Taking away those shadows
And burying me in the wall!
Now I feel nothing
No shadows
I do see a cracked road
weathered by wind and water!
On its belly of cold earth
its skin of tar
Into the horizon
in search of the lost light
with tears in its pot holes,
Should I travel?

My sacrifice!

My sacrifice!

The sparkle of your eyes, the effect it has on me
The yearning of my heart to beat
The feeling of the touch of your soft arms around me
The thought of sliding my hands on your cheek
My wish of touching the softness of your lips
My need of holding the colors of the horizon after a sunset
The tenderness of floating in a vast blue sea
I will sacrifice them all, for you!

ظلمت شب میں تیری آنکھوں کی چمک
میرے دل میں دھڑکنے کی تڑپ
تیری گداز باہوں میں بسنے کا خیال
بیاض رخ یار کے ورق پلٹنے کا تصّور
جنبش شبنم لالہ کو چھونے کی خواہش
سرخی افق کو تھامنے کی ضرورت
نیلگوں سمندر میں آزادی کا احساس
سب قربان' اک تیرے لئے!

Let's Look!

Let's Look!

Come! Let's look beyond these hand-crafted Gods of ours

Let's look beyond our deities of color and language

'Their' tears, 'Their' smiles are the same, same as 'ours'

If we just look beyond what 'we' have sentenced 'them' to

If its hard to look at that then

Let's just look inside ourselves!

آؤ اپنے بناے ان دیوتاؤں سے اوپردیکھیں 

اپنے  رنگ زبان کے خداؤں سے اوپردیکھیں 

انکےآنسوبھی وہی ہیں'مسکراہٹیں بھی وہی 

گرانکو اپنی دی سزاؤں سے اوپر دیکھیں 

اوپر دیکھنا اور سوچنا اگر مشکل ہے توآؤ افسر 

اپنے اندر' دوسروں کی قضاؤں سے اوپر دیکھیں