Why Pakistan has to wait for it's Tahrir moment?

Recent political situation in Pakistan has given hopes to leaders and public of a Tahrir like revolution in Pakistan. In my view, that's a distant dream, far from reality at the moment.

First, the energies of the protesters were focused against one enemy and one demand - Hosni Mubarik and new leadership. In Pakistan, the fight against status-quo is not against one figure/department/political party; it's against the whole system. In the current scenario, it is difficult to separate party affiliations and prejudice from people and to bring them to one demand; to create unity among diversity.

Secondly, unfortunately, unlike Egypt, face of Chief Executive changes in Pakistan; at times with delay but it does happen through elections or coups, regularly. Egyptians suffered from the hands of Hosni for good three decades, and their frustration helped them to remove him from the reigns of power. We are suffering for more than six decades, in our case, the tormentor gets changed again and again. This makes it real difficult to give a face to our enemy; makes it impossible to identify the enemy. That's why conspiracy theories and evolution of our thinking, from time to time, has led to confusion in identifying the enemy - sometimes we blame the army, politicians, bureaucrats and/or the general public even.

What we need to understand is that our enemy # 1 is the mismanagement in governance which is the root cause to all of our problems - sectarianism, inflation, unemployment, terrorism, crime, rape, non development of infrastructure , education, corruption and health.

We need to stand against it, we have to demand reform in politics, judiciary, bureaucracy, military and in ourselves. We need to stop choosing the lesser evil, we have to stop compromising.

To get rid of our Chaing Kai Sheks, King Louis XVI, Musharrafs, Mubaraks, Ben Alis - we need to stand united against those who are evil by choice; not by mistake.

Balochistan: a case of social injustice.

A child in Loralai, Balochistan.

It might have been reported several times in the last six decades that there is an education crisis in Balochistan through various advocacy and human rights organizations, NGOs and even through government statistics. Over the years, the fact has become obvious that low literacy rate is the root cause for all the crises the province is engulfed with. The question is why all stakeholders have turned deaf? Stakeholders include the government at the center and province; it includes people like you and me who are based in developed urban centers.


As per the economic survey of Pakistan of 2009-2010, the literacy rate of Balochistan is hovering at 45% and the gender parity index (GPI) is 0.38 i.e. is the ratio of female enrollment to male enrollment. A GPI of more than one indicates that, in proportion to every male in the school, there is more than one female. So, you can see how critical the situation is in the province, especially for females. Additionally, the basic infrastructure at government schools is also in a wretched condition. 681 schools are without buildings, 7,689 are without boundary walls, 4197 are without drinking water facilities, 8,425 are without latrines, and 9,806 are without electricity.

The most critical gap is the lack of quality teachers and for this issue one party cannot be held as a scapegoat. The government has been unable to train quality teachers and Aghaz-e-Haqooq Balochistan has just given jobs with hefty salaries to teachers who barely qualify to be called one; cock eyed amongst the blind to be brutally honest. Moreover, only the rare honest ones give quality time to their students while the rest prefer to reach home before their duty hours are over. Most of them just spent a couple of hours at school and head back to their shells depriving ‘the future’ of a better future. Teachers are nothing less than guides; and if we are going to have such guides for our children, especially those in Balochistan, then only God can save Pakistan.

To control the backlash and the concerns of the Balochi people, the government was speedy in offering jobs to the unemployed youth in Balochistan and since education was a major concern several jobs were given in this particular field. But, due to hasty planning and non-existent monitoring and evaluation system, we look forward to a Messiah to descend and stop the carnage of education by the hands of government and the opportunists who are not performing their duties properly. A catastrophe which could have been easily avoided.

The above facts and figures are extremely worrying, considering the fact the population of Balochistan is approximately 1/3^rd of Karachi. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light will not fade away only if we all start working with pure intentions – karma has its own unique way of handling issues. The change we dream about will not come out if we do not break the chains which tie us and come out of the cage (shells) we live in i.e. our comfort zones; our drawing rooms. Yes, debate is necessary, but taking instant and sensible actions is imperative.

Honestly speaking, even if an honest political and administrative is established, the revolution will not come overnight; especially considering the fact the internal and external debts of this country cross a 100 billion dollars. The solution lies in the hands of the Balochi people, you and me. The Balochis (which includes 45% Pakhtuns living in the province) have to instill the feelings of honesty in their teachers so that they perform their duties properly and have to make sure they also send their daughters to schools. In the meantime, you and me have to rally around in order to provide them the resources which can help them and the government to build basic infrastructures which will make a facility eligible to be called a 'school'. We have to step up and show our support so that the students can gain education comfortably because the economic situation in Pakistan will not allow to fix the budgetary issues related to education all of a sudden; we need to self-generate the resources required to restore sanity into the education system of Balochistan.

We accuse that the government indulges in luxuries; come to think of it, aren’t they from us and quite similar to us? No? Well, if ‘no’ is the case do remember constructing a boundary wall is less than the price of the latest 15” Macbook Pro, providing a drinking facility to 200 people costs less than the registration you pay in order to get your new Honda Civic registered with government authorities in Islamabad and constructing latrines sufficient for 50 students costs less than a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

No matter how corrupt our system and politicians are, but we cannot be oblivious in pushing them in a corner. Putting our leaders, our servants in real terms, in constant pressure will surely make them perform well. But, as emphasized earlier, the change has to start within us - the ordinary people, if we want to see it reciprocating in the masses and eventually in our leaders/system of governance. This is the only solution to exterminate illiteracy in one of the oldest civilization of the world – Balochistan.

Actions speak louder than words.

STEP UP, PAKISTAN!

Pedal for Peace: Journey towards Change and Hope

Pedal for Peace Team: Mohsin Saadat, Laeeq Ahmad, Natheer Moaid, Zain Sadullah, Mohsin Ejaz, Imran Khan and Abdul Basit

After seeing the destruction floods had caused last year and working to provide solutions factually every day till December 2010, life came to a pause, for a while. I was working for a UK based charity then and rescue and relief work was an everyday job. That pause proved to be the catalyst which gave birth to Pedal for Peace. It took me out of the oblivions of the world I was living in and trying to serve. It took me to the one which really mattered – the world where only I existed with The One who reins my life.

That little pause in my life taught me once again, if I had not heard it before, that change begins from within and would not reproduce in the outside world until the process is completed successfully within. I came back to Pakistan three years back after spending 23 years in UAE, the country where I was born in. After going through some hardships and being deprived of some basic fundamental rights in my birth country, I knew the ultimate goal of my life was to help those who I can with my time and resources; seeing someone suffering was too challenging to eyewitness anymore. In the process, I learnt humility is the key to success which eventually eliminated “I” and all what I was ever blessed with or later on was a blessing and a push forward by Allah towards the purpose of life He has decided for me to execute. But, I am no superman and I do get indulged in the materialistic world on and off which tries to plug me into a world of deceit and selfishness, reluctantly and unconsciously.

I was fortunate to get a full time job in the non-profit sector as soon as I came back which provided me the opportunity to serve and interact with thousands of people deprived due to the socio-economic situation, man-made and natural disasters. After observing the situation for more than two and a half years I realized it was not tents, clean water, food, shelters and livelihood which people needed. Peace was the ultimate need and demand; the things mentioned above were just the means to keep them alive to see their dream materialize and to become manifest.

As soon as I came out of the pause, I knew that if I want to achieve something for myself and for the people I have to care for, it just could not be a materialistic desire, it had to be a need and I knew that peace was the ultimate need. So, I decided that I would cycle from Islamabad to Lahore to kick start the change process. It was very tough in the beginning as nobody was ready to support, especially emotionally. There was a solid resistance at my home, especially from the side of my mother, my ultimate strength.

But, eventually, things started to roll. I started to discuss the idea with friends and organizations I knew. They wanted to become a part of it and wanted to pedal for peace; the idea just clicked with everyone right away. As of today, we have 4 non-profit organizations - Akhuwat, Taaleem Foundation, Essakhel Foundation & Human Relief Foundation - supporting Pedal for Peace to achieve what it has set out for. Seven more cyclists have joined this activity and the way the number is increasing, I am not sure how many would be there in the first week of January 2012 when we will set out from Faisal Masjid towards Minar-e-Pakistan. My family and especially my mother has now become a staunch supporter, she knows what it means to me and the rest.

Through our activity, we want to support those causes which we consider necessary in uplifting our community from the dearth of everything which is required to live our lives with sanity. Firstly, we want to support the education and basic needs of 25 orphans for a year at least. Secondly, to promote the need of health centers in rural areas, we are asking people to support in order to make an eye hospital in the deprived sub district of Isakhel in Mianwali.  Moreover, we want to revolutionize the education system in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan where literacy rate hovers around 48%. We want to build e-learning centers and libraries in districts engulfed with unrest and crises, such as Mastung, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Pishin, Loralai, Zhob and Killa Saifullah. These steps are small and just might help three to four thousand people; but our intention is to make everyone realize that such steps have to be taken by the fortunate on a much larger scale regularly to make lives peaceful for those who are less fortunate.

The cyclists will go through a lot of challenges; from cold weather and security issues to health concerns and injuries, to name a few. But, what matters is the intention we all have set ourselves out for i.e. to achieve serenity within us so that we are able to witness the same outside, one day. Let the change begin.

Balochistan: the land of diversity

Rasheed Lala

I arrived on 14^th April 2011 to Balochistan for an extensive trip to monitor the schools run by Taaleem Foundation where I work as the General Manager. After going through numerous scans at the Islamabad Airport, oh sorry… Benazir Bhutto International Airport, luckily the flight left on time and reached on time. Apart from a little turbulence during the flight, it was a comfortable ride.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has improved its service though one of the air hostesses to serve us was surely the age of my aunt, I am not telling which one. I am not against old air hostesses, in fact, they are better because of their motherly appearance. Yeah, I know I am joking…

As soon as I reached Quetta, I was received warmly by the person who is going to accompany me through the rough terrains of Balochistan for a month – my driver. He has been the driver for one of our school vehicles in Balochistan for the past 12 years and surely is a veteran in his field. He drives a ’82 Toyota Hilux. You have guessed it right, that is the vehicle which is going to take me around in Balochistan.

The journey has already begun and I have already visited one of the most peaceful districts in Balochistan, if not Pakistan – District Pishin – which is just 50 kilometers away from Quetta.

This is my third visit to Balochistan in the past 9 months. I went to attend a wedding in Gadani, one of the biggest ship-breaking ports of Pakistan. I saw the Baloch culture and thoroughly enjoyed the wedding. Though, the sentiments against the people outside the province were quite dominant, but the hospitality and warmth I received over there actually proves it so wrong. From what I have understood, they are just against the trouble makers and then there are some troublemakers within their communities who try to capitalize on the situation to spread a wild fear into the minds of the travellers to achieve their goals which only time will tell are right or wrong.

The second visit was an extensive one too, more because I travelled more than 1000 kilometers; I have lost count, where 50 % of the time there was no road, so it was not an easy trip physically. But for the eyes, it was a treat to see the culture, the rough and serene mountains and of course for the stomach it was an excellent treat – I am in love with the Balochi food. 

When I say “Baloch” or “Balochi”, it also includes the 40 % Pakthun population residing in the area. For me, or I should say to make it easy, the people in Balochistan are Balochi. It does not matter the two cultures are diverse, but they belong to the same land even though the amalgamation between Balochistan and British Balochistan was done under the supervision of the British.

Coming back to Islamabad, my family, relatives and friends always ask this question when I leave for Balochistan - “Are you sure you want to go?” – The answer has always been positive. I believe no one should be afraid to travel to Balochistan if they have a 24 hour security guard with them. Haha…not funny! No matter what, the people outside the province should not stop coming to Balochistan. It needs travellers and tourists to bring a boom to its ailing markets – though the road underneath the office I am sitting right now is hustling and bustling with buyers and consumers. In addition, there is a huge need of developmental work to be carried out by nonprofit organizations to bring economic growth on par with the other provinces in order to eliminate the feelings of being deprived developing in the people.

Anyways, as always, whenever I start to write I easily cross 500 words before coming to the point or to the climax, I know it is a drag but bear with me please because there is so much to say and express that I can write all day and night long. Khair…. I reached Pishin through Kuchlak within 1 hour from Quetta with one of the warmest personalities I have come across in my life – Rasheed Lala, my driver who received me at the airport.

Heard the typical life story of a driver on my way to Pishin; yes, he used to drive a ten wheeler but love and marriage bend him and made his heart soft, that is why he drives a robust four wheeler which is 28 years old to spend quality time with family. What an irony! But, Pathans are so tough that it is not actually. He drives 35 kms from home to work, even when it is – 15 degree Celsius.

I had already sketched a picture of Pishin which proved to be so wrong when I reached over there. It is just like any other city in Punjab, it looks like the cities which come on the way to Lahore from the GT Road, something like Dina. Dominated by twin storeys, the area and the people did not look like aliens; neither did the atmosphere felt like I was in Mars.

Once again, I was warmly welcomed by the people over there and in fact they were waiting for their alien to arrive. But, I guess both the parties surprised each other, the hosts with their hospitality and I did due to my knowledge about the Pakhtun culture and environment. Thanks to my friend Zain Sadullah Khan who gave me a book to read, which I read during my flight – The Pathans by Ghani Khan – I was able to add more into my knowledge about the Pathans and certainly one point that a Pathan can be a warrior, a lover and a poet at the same time. In short, we all absorbed very well into the new environment created by my arrival.

I read out several stories from the hadith mentioned in the Translated Quran I was given by a person several years back at a dhaba where I used to smoke, drink tea and have fun with friends all night long. It surely transformed me and I always take it along to my trips so that I am able to help someone from it, I am sure it has to transform anyone in the world… yes even George Bush and Pamela Anderson if they give a thought!

The students at Pishin shocked me, they are intelligent and they try harder than other kids only if you gain their trust. So, all I had to do was to crack some jokes in the beginning of the session and it was all good since then. The English in the translated Quran is sometimes not even easy for adults to understand but the students did a good job in understanding the story and learning the moral of the stories i.e. not to lie, work hard, be focused and believe that there is only one God whose name is Allah.

The kids were fascinated by the alien they saw who was wearing Junaid Jamshed Kurtas and fashionable dress pants to work. Off and on they came to say ‘hi’ and ‘Salam’. It was different for them and they liked seeing the alien traveller in their school.

Moving on to the local food now; the most important part of my trip for sure. I tried some local delicacies such as the “Roash” that is how they say roast, no “T” in the Pashto people speak in Balochistan. I also tried the so called Chinese cuisine which is surely better than what the Chinese eat and cook in China. The next day which was yesterday and a Sunday, I was invited for a lunch, a big lunch which filled my belly so much up that I chose to have a sandwich at lunch today. That was not it. I always thought the tea they sell at the dhaba I used to sit in at the night religiously everyday had the best tea in the world; I was so wrong, Pishin has the best tea and it costs 20 rupees unlike the 10 rupee cup of tea we get in our cities, they surely deserve to charge extra for it.

Climax:

There were two incidents which shook me and threw me into the wilderness of my mind. Rasheed Lala was astonished when I explained him about Bluetooth technology and google maps. He felt a bit scared when I told him that I always know that where my employees are through the google maps technology. To throw him off the guard completely, I showed him the roof of the CMH hospital in Loralai, he knew that nobody can escape from this young and cunning “Afsar”.

I guess he thought that the days are not far when I am going to clip a gadget on him to keep a track on him. I could see his eyes popping out and there was a deep silence in the room. Rasheed Lala lost in amazement and I was trying to control my laughter and tears. For sure it was sad to see one generation of Balochistan so far of the latest happenings of the world and the progress it has made. But, I kept myself happy in thinking that this is what makes Rasheed Lala live his life like a child even at the age of 47.

The second shocker I got when on the second day I was served Briyani. Briyani in Balochistan? I know Briyani originated from the Iranis at the same time it was discovered in India but Indian Briyani in Balochistan? Something was fishy and I was sure an Indian agent was around and I found her. Khala, works for our school and originally belongs from Bangalore and moved to Pakistan with her Pakhtun husband when she was 17, but she did not lost her touch at cooking Indian food. It was easy for me to guess the food had an Indian touch because I was born in UAE which is flooded with Indian and Pakistanis.

What brought me to tears and shook me vehemently was when I asked about her parents, she said:

“Mein taaees chobis saal se nai gai maa baap ke paas…. Maa udhar roti hai aur mein idhar…”

(I have not gone to India for the past 23-24 years… My mother cries over there and I cry over here…)

When I asked her why did not she go, she said:

“Paisa”

(Money – a devil for those who have more wants than they earn…)

And I asked myself “why did I ask her?”….

Anti-Climax:

When Silence is overcome by love, it turns into a song,

When a song becomes obstinate, it turns into a noise,

When a thought is sure of itself it turns into a word,

When a word feels like dancing, it turns into music,

And when music goes dreaming it turns into silence,

Silence is the beginning, Silence the end….

(Lewanae Falsafi – a young poet who has published nothing though he has written much – From “The Pathans” by Ghani Khan)

Zain, Thank you for the book once again....

More about diversity and religious tolerance in the next blog...

NGO Cooperation: Need of the hour...

First Published in Focal Point, Issue 1: http://www.enterfocalpoint.com/focalpoint/?p=169

For the past five years especially, Pakistan has gone through frequent man-made and natural disasters. From the earthquake of 2005 to the recent floods, and from the early operations in Bajaur to the recent ones of Waziristan, the growth of the country has taken a serious jolt which has hampered its economic, social and technological growth. Moreover, constant political instability has increased corruption, mishandling of important institutions and is pushing more and more people towards poverty. All the aforesaid created the validation for international and local organizations to come forward and assist this country which is going through crisis every other day.

Throughout the history of Pakistan, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) existed but were better known as voluntary organizations in the early days. After 1970, an upsurge was recorded when the Marital Law Government expounded its policy of social work and welfare. But the real upsurge was witnessed in the last decade where numerous organizations have started their operations in Pakistan and disaster after disaster has prolonged their stay. In a publication of UNDP in 2001, number of non government organizations was suggested to be from 8,000 to 16,000. If non-registered NGOs are added to registered ones, number of Pakistani NGOs could be anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000.

Considering the number of organizations working in Pakistan, the growth of the economy and the society has not been as positive as one might expect. The inflation rate has gone up from 3.90 % in 2003 to 13.60 in 2009-10. Moreover, the debt has also increased from US $ 33 billion in 2004 to more than US $ 50 billion and is still on the rise. The unemployment rate also shows a grim state of affairs. The unemployment rate has increased from 7.8% in 2003 to 14 % now. All these indicators usually raise some eye brows because a positive impact of NGOs is hard to find.It is necessary to keep in mind, that if NGOs would not have intervened regularly from 1947 till date, indicators could have been worse.  But, as there are a lot of macroeconomic reasons associated with the downfall in the economy of the country, it is time that NGOs regroup themselves and do a SWOT analysis on the industry they are associated with instead of doing it on the country’s various economic and social sectors and institutions. The number of NGOs in Pakistan certainly should have uplifted the economy of the 25th largest economy of the world – in terms of purchasing power – towards prosperity earlier.

Mr. Saleem Ranjha, Director of Akhuwat Microfinance Network  one of the largest interest-free microfinance network in Pakistan  expressed his thoughts on the issue of limited success by NGOs. He told us, “Lack of mutual cooperation between organizations and other institutions is the main reason for Pakistan not being able to change its condition. Mutual cooperation would open doors which will welcome exchange of technical skills and funding and believe me, sky is the limit if we change the current practices of working in isolation and without coordination”.

He also added, “The first step has to be that organizations should work with a pure intention to help the most deprived through the most cost-effective way and keeping a check on the quality of service delivery. Most importantly, mutual cooperation between organizations and government is the need of the hour and is the key towards success and I strongly believe that Muslim charities especially, should learn from the actions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and implement it in order to get blessings from Allah (SWT) and to make life easier for the deprived instead of concentrating on covering their overheads”.

Hence, the major reason for NGOs not being able to achieve what they could have, other than the failures of the government in terms of political, economic, social and technological factors, is primarily due to limited mutual cooperation between NGOs with each other and with the government. Some critics accuse that due to specialization in the industry, the greater impact was not achieved i.e.  NGOs have got divided into the following four sectors:

• - Advocacy and lobbying
• - Policy issues and debates
• - Emergency relief and rehabilitation
• - Implementation of development programs

But those critics fail to understand that specialization and disintegration has played a vital role in getting more output and skilled workers in this field just like it has done in any other field. The real problem as mentioned before is that there is a need for every organization to come forward and cooperate with each other. The first point to realize is that the work of one NGO does not make it alien or superior to another NGO working in a different field. In simpler terms, the nature between NGOs is as complementary in nature as the relationship between petrol and a car – one can be the driving force while the another one can be the one who capitalizes and complements the driving force in order to achieve the greater good, mutually.

For example, usually advocacy and lobbying, and emergency relief and rehabilitation are two industries within the NGOs sub sectors which are thought to be poles apart. But, some recent amalgamation between the two has brought rewarding results. For instance, advocacy and lobbying created the path for relief and rehabilitation agencies to help out the flood survivors more easily. This was done by pressurizing and persuading the government to lift the rule of acquiring a no-objection certificate prior to relief work and relaxation in the visa rules where international humanitarian workers were given visas on arrival. Numerous partnerships like these are taking place regularly now and an increase in the frequency of it will surely generate greater positive results for which the people are waiting for a long time.

Organizations working in the sector of policy making and debates can prove essential in imparting knowledge to NGOs related to other sub sectors. Likewise, if organizations from different sub sectors intend to work together, the policy sector can help immensely in drafting safe practices; the advocacy sector can pressurize stakeholders in implementing it and the development sector can carry out its program with more ease and efficiency. If the chemistry works out well between the different sub-sectors, the end product would always be successful and sustainable.

Usually, organizations repudiate to collaborate with each other on the basis of having a difference between their vision and those of other organizations. The only thing organizations need to comprehend is that the greater idea of all organizations is to help the humanity and boost their standards from meager to optimum (at least) without discriminating each other in terms of color, race, religion, ethnicity and creed. If all the organizations start believing in this supreme dogma; it will be the universal similarity which can bring all the stakeholders together.

The incorporation between different sub sectors and the NGO industry with the government will open new doors and bring infinite advantages:

Firstly, funding in to this industry will increase immensely. Donors will feel more confident to rally around the industry which helps the community to become sustainable because better cooperation between the members of the NGO industry would show better and improved results.

Secondly, it would encourage the corporate sector to fund the industry as well. All profit making companies produce goods or services in order to generate increased profits. Sustainability in their progress can only be insured if the society grows on par with the growth of the corporate sector. Therefore, they would be compelled to carry out their corporate social responsibility through the NGO sector.

Thirdly, if organizations start sitting together with stakeholders from all walks of life it will help to fix a lot of economic and social indicators. Usually, the priority is health or education as it should be because we lag behind in these fields compared to other developing countries. But, usually through their activities, NGOs at times forget to insure that the investment they are doing in the lives of the beneficiaries should be a productive investment instead of being consumptive. For instance, an NGO may provide soft loans to the needy people, but due to the lack of checks and balances, these loans are used to purchase dowry instead of becoming a beacon to increase the livelihood of a household.

Fourthly, the collaboration between NGOs would be able to eliminate the concept of duplication. Throughout the history of charitable organizations working in Pakistan, the biggest impasse for all of them has been to identify those beneficiaries who have not received relief or aid from any other organization. The reason to eliminate replication is significant because in a time of crisis aid is limited and the effort should reach all. Therefore, to reach the maximum number of people and those most deprived, many organizations prefer to help those who have not received aid at all.

Almost all organizations spend a lot of resources and effort to cross the logistical and social barriers to reach the affected sites; in the end they habitually find that the type of relief they are offering is also being offered by several others in the same region. At times, due to the pressure from the donors and the competition between the organizations, organizations succumb to the pressure and launch their activities in a hub which is already populated with a lot of social/welfare organizations. This attitude neglects other people in need and other divisions organizations need to focus on.

We do not need to go far to search for examples. For a long period of time during the recent floods, the focus was on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), especially at Nowshera and Charsadda when the destruction in Southern Punjab and Sindh was creating havoc. Moreover, the focus was also on providing relief through food. The type of instant and effective intervention by aid agencies in the KPK province is hard to find in other provinces.

There are several reasons for it: one being that the province is near the capital of Pakistan and the NGO industry. But, it does not give organizations the leverage to over hoard relief items into this region only because it is accessible to them. There have been several reports where food was over supplied and I have personally been told by the flood survivors as early in the month of September, that they were more interested to receive aid in terms of medical facilities and reconstruction. Similar cases were also reported throughout the country where flood survivors had food supplies for more than two-three months with them in stock.

The healthy signal is that NGOs have realized that without any mutual cooperation, they would not be able to realize the ultimate goal which is to fortify the community and economic conditions of the people in a dignified method.

Organizations have started to combine forces with each other; in order to get accredited by different code of conducts which demand the signatory to believe in coordination with other stakeholders rather than functioning in seclusion.

Memberships of such code of conducts help organizations to accumulate funds easily as donors fancy ‘members’ with their ideal. Recent examples of forums and clusters making positive changes have been observed in Pakistan and are the following: UN OCHA, Muslim Charities Forum UK & the OIC Forum.

Hence, the need for mutual cooperation between organizations and government for all intents and purposes is required to lift the society and prevent it from other man-made and natural disasters. There is a saturation point to everything which exists; thus the need to converge into one focal point is the need of the hour or else there is a huge probability that the recurrence of disasters might ram the country and its people towards extreme poverty and unvarying failure.

All you wanted to know about the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan!

The 1956 constitution was established by Chaudary Muhammad Ali on 23rd March, 1956. Here is all you wanted to know about the 1956 Constitution:

1. Provincial government system was constructed and the authority holder was the governor of the particular province who would pick the provincial assembly and would be the decisive power in the province. Every province was considered as a separate entity with separate assembly. The membership of the assembly would rely on the population of the province. 

2. In order to maintain and sustain the policy of the state, few leading set of rules were made to ease down the matters nationally and internationally. These included the adherence to UNO Charter, to develop intimate relations with Islamic countries, rights of minorities were protected, promotion of education, freedom of judiciary etc.
   
   
3. Supreme Court was in the centre and provincial courts were introduced through this constitution. Courts were free in respect to the functioning of judicial matters. The Supreme Court was the leading institution that was to solve government issues, facilitated law imposition, understand constitution and elevate appeal against any high court decision.
   
   
4. During the emergency, the powers were reserved to the centre. The centre was the only one allowed to impose emergency in case of any foreign invasion or internal disturbances inside the provinces. The Governor was to be given charge but according to the directives shared and ordered by the centre. 

5. The Constitution was Islamic in nature hence it was declared that Pakistan is an Islamic Republic for the first time in the country. No law is supposed to go against the religion of Islamabad and the people living in the country were to abide living according to Islamic values, ethics and morals.
   
   
6. It was a written constitution. Moreover, the Constitution has 234 articles and 5 chapters, therefore, it was quite detailed in nature. Interestingly, United Kingdom has an unwritten constitution. 

7. Veto power was given and amendments could be made in the constitution through a 2/3 majority. Thus, it was surely a flexible constitution. 

8. Languages were clearly defined in the constitution. The two national languages were Urdu and Bangali while English was named as the official language;
   
   
9. Pakistan was declared as a federation in the Constitution. It had two provinces which were East and West Pakistan. Each province had separate government which was allowed freely to manage the affairs under their jurisdiction. The imperative sectors were under the centre in order to sustain unity and the writ of the state. President was the head of federation in the 1956 constitution;
   
   
10. Parliamentary form of government was practiced in the country and according to which, the President was the head of the state while the prime minister was the executive of the state.
    
    
11. The form of the government was unitary. One chamber legislature was designed according to the constitution of 1956. The chamber was enabled as the National Assembly which had 300 members. The term of the chamber was fixed to 5 years but could be discharged before time under some circumstances.

People were given their basic rights and the government was bound to not to blemish those rights. If any government was to spoil people's right, the Supreme Court was authorized to reject the government's act and provide justice to the general public.

There are two things to understand from this:

1. 1973 constitution was not the first one bringing up such basic issues and rights into the constitution of Pakistan
2. Secondly, action speaks louder than words; we need to learn how to implement and respect the law of the land... 

Let's change ourselves; its time we hurt ourselves....

From the outlook, the people of this country seem all energized and ready to pulverize their enemies at any given day. All this energy can be witnessed in stadiums; especially cricket stadiums, and surely between a Pakistan-India match. Or at social media networks such as facebook, twitter or at any ailing website with a discussion board. You will here chants of “Allah O Akbar” after every other comment; subsequently you will hear enlightened modernists pleading “cyber moulvis” to keep religion away from state. In short, we have started a civil cyber Jihad with each other, and yes the Zionists are laughing – this is for those who love conspiracy theories.

But that energy is a false glimpse of our personalities. In reality, we are exactly similar to our leaders, especially the current lot we have. They lie, we lie. They lie they are not paying bribes to lawyers at District bars, and you will hear the enlightened modernists defending Pakistan is a secular country every other day, a country where there is literally a mosque every 1 kilometer, 50-60% are Barelwis or Sufis, 20 odd percent are Deobands and Shias and 5-10 % are Jihadis and extremely fundamentalist, but this chap is right because he thinks he is never wrong 1500 kilometers away from home and reality. They loot and plunder, we are even better than them. They are eating up the national exchequer as termites vanish up our trees, and we do the same in our day to day lives with others and ourselves. The manufacturer uses sub-standard material to produce stuff, the wholesalers and retailers sell sub-standard stuff as “A” grade products, the vagabond has got a dish antenna at home but steals money in the morning by emotionally blackmailing public and the “cyber moulvi” chants “Allah O Akbar” and passes an online fatwa that the heads of all the non Muslims should be chopped off forgetting The First Charter at Medina, Agreement of Hudabiyah and the settlements between the warring forces of Sallahudeen Ayubi and the Crusaders. 

We even get punished the same way our leaders do. They die untimely, they go to jails and they live miserable personal lives. We die on the streets, we are harassed by police and we snatch away the smiles of our loved ones from their faces, with one ferocious stare. Still, we do not discover because we are not permitted to. Our ego stops us, it re assures us that we are never wrong. This inner voice capitalizes from the situation and makes us its slave. 

Another problem we have is that we want to say what we want to and we cannot stop ourselves, especially we love to speak out of turn and we love to answer back without listening to what the other person is saying; the ego tells you “I am winning”. When it comes to practical steps and taking moral stands, we back out; ego starts finding ways. We try to escape and find scapegoats to rescue us; to rescue us from the big claims we make in our mosques, on our blogs, in our columns or in our “shout box” at Millat Facebook which is uniting 1.57 billion Muslims; uniting 1.57 billion non-mahrams with each other and creating feelings of love and lust between brothers and sisters – height of hypocrisy.

Do not feel offended of what has been said above. It is a reality and when it strikes; it strikes hard, and it hurts too, it hurts your ego and makes it weak at the same time; so it is good don’t worry. It is a reality you have refused to listen to, in fact it is your ego which does not want to listen this. Ego has to listen now and there is no escaping now: we are hypocrites, we are liars and we run our day to day lives the most unethical ways. So stop cursing Zardari for even the plate you broke during dinner today, the country and the fate for the misfortunes born due to your fornication with the adulteress ego of yours. We have to learn that there is no harm in accepting a mistake and learning from it. The best step we can take is that we begin realizing our mistakes; surely that would be the first step towards self-realization i.e. there is no justification for a wrong, a wrong is always wrong.

We really need to mend our ways and if we do it we will create some sensation and the world would be looking at us in awe. The last time we did it, we came from behind in 1857 to take away Pakistan from the jaws of the Imperialist superpowers and our Hindu neighbors in 1947.The weapon which has always protected this country is the passion of its inhabitants; their love for God, for country, their families and their wives is second to none. Do not let it rust!

So, the key is in your hand – just have to eliminate hypocrisy, lies and unethical attitude present in our personal/professional lives without more ado. It is very effortless to attain the lock, look around yourselves and take the step to change the life of the one who is staring at you in hope that you will change his life i.e. your lock, change his life. All he needs is a pat on the back, support and logical knowledge; all you need to unlock is to achieve success and peace in your heart. The peace you will feel it soon if you try, you will witness your heart expanding and you will know that nothing can stop you now; the expansion would be a feeling you would have never felt before, the expansion will slowly kill your ego and transform it into selfless characteristic. The transitions are hard but achievable; once you start seeing selflessly you will see the one staring in hope at you and that day you will know that there is a reason for everything, and the reason was written before your existence.

Many see themselves staring at themselves; few see it through the eyes and experiences of other.

Let’s unlock ourselves, let’s bring change within ourselves to create a positive change outside, let’s start serving to lead & leading to serve.

Let’s redefine this world as a midway stop between us and our eternal success. 

We hesitate....

Hesitation has been the principal dilemma for the country I belong to. I have witnessed that in all walks of existence here. We take way too much time to make a choice, the big ones and even for the not so central ones. The shoddiest thing happens after we take a choice, we start to doubt it.

Lets start whacking the media and public favorites first – the politicians. It’s so extraordinarily easy to prove the above mentioned hypothesis on them. I believe they have made my situation so easy that even if I don’t mention the evidence, it would not matter, truly. But, I am all indebted to them for helping me out to keep this short. “Chew over” all the actions this government has done since the beginning of their tenures – from judiciary crisis, handling of the Benazir assassination case, to electricity and other flops, the government has made sure to make a mess of every decision they have taken. That certainly does not mean the previous set-ups were good, all belong to the same gang who has vowed to sink and drown us with them. If you glance at other public sectors, you would probably find the hypothesis so true that it might make you actually ill.

But, the state of affairs is not much poles apart in other sectors as well. Look at corporate, retail, whole-sale businesses and most of our industries – they have become quite hesitant too. Some are hesitant to make investments, while some lack the basics of entrepreneurship – risk taking and trusting on nature. That is the sole reason for the financial system to reach to an illusionary point of saturation, in fact there is a more lot to come, explore and take benefit from.

The fact is that the situation is not much different at our homes either. Decision making in household is the toughest nut to crack because every member wishes to be the head of the family. There is only one head in the family and the rest have their authorities for which they are responsible – who tag on this ruling, are surely flourishing. But, sorrowfully, the old father wants to be the head though he is too old to run daily affairs; the wife’s craving is the same too, and the 21^st century has given her a reason: “I earn too!” this is not a joke, this panorama is played at every house everyday. The worse is when little kids come forward and share their 2 cents. It is always advisable to assist the Man of the house, but its better not to get into his shoes, because for some it will be too tight while for some it will be way too big.

We just don’t trust anyone, not even ourselves. If we did, we would have at least developed the habit of accepting our mistakes. But, when things go wide of the mark, we know we just need to find some scapegoats and alibis to escape! The best work out which can help everyone to avoid this tight spot is to pursue those who have been thriving in private and professional lives by hook and not crook.

Moreover, as you observe the media bashing up the ones they love to on talk shows, and you start making a perception that these politicians are responsible for all the problems in this country and even your homes, just twirl your face in the mirror and see if you are any different from them.

If you think I have been ruthless, then why and how:-

1. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his people were so brilliant and successful that even the Jews desired to do trade with Muslims in those days?
2. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his partners turned Pakistan into a reality;
3. …….

For those who have understood their fault without the mentioning of the third question, start being positive.

For those who did not get the under-lying message: Are we serving the leaders of our times to become so dull and unsuccessful ourselves so much so that we achieve in turning our every reality into a dream?

Accept your mistake, stop hesitating and start thinking – you have no other choice.

Thank you Nationalist Folks!

Well, today I was thinking that I would shut down this blog for good because I was unable to write for a long time. Call it a mind-block or whatever, ideas refused to come inside my mind. But thanks to some nationalist folks, I am back on track!

Well this is what happened. As you all must be knowing, Facebook has become a medium to voice your opinion (no matter how obscene or stupid it is, people would still click "Like" to any dumb stuff). Be it through status updates or using the notes section. (I prefer the status updates, people who write "notes" on facebook go Nuts! They dont stop! You dont trust me...hmmm...then check this out :
http://www.facebook.com/#/notes/pervez-musharraf/answering-your-top-3-questions/203110039338

(This guy will never stop)

So, today late in the afternoon, I saw a friend who is die-hard fan of Zardari posting out status updates about CJ being biased, "Urdu Media" trying to divide the country and that Zardari has been targeted because he is a Sindhi. And I was like "WT.....?"

There on, my mind started to work. I started to think that for so many days Balochis and Sindhis have been crying on media that they have been neglected and people from other nations have brought misery for them. Some Baloch leaders ask for a seperate state while the Sindhis are making "topi days" and some of them are saying that if Courts and Media dont stop targetting Zardari, then history of 1971 would repeat itself.

I was like "hmmmm....i know this is all wrong, but I have to prove it".

So I did this little research :-

List of The Presidents of Pakistan

Iskander Mirza : Born in Bengal
Ayub Khan : Born in NWFP (Non Pushto speaking Pushtoon)... See More
Yahya Khan : Pathan (Born in Chakwal)
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto : Sindhi
Fazal Ilahi Chaudary : Punjabi (was just a figurehead after the implementation of 73 constitution)
General Zia : Born in Jalandhar, British India (Okay, you can call him a Punjabi)
Ghulam Ishaq Khan : Pathan
Farooq Leghari : Baloch (born in Punjab)
Rafiq Tarar : Punjabi
Pervez Musharraf : Born in India (Delhi)
Asif Ali Zardari : Sindhi Balochi

So my stats say:
Sindhis had 2 Presidents
NWFP had 3 Presidents
Baloch had 1 President
Punjabis had 3
Bengalis had 1

List of the Prime Ministers of Pakistan

Liaqat Ali Khan : Punjabi
Khawaja Nazimuddin : Bengali
Mohd Ali Bogra : Bengali
Chaudary Muhammad Ali : Punjabi
Hussain Shaheed Suhrwardy : Bengali
Ibrahim Ismaeil Chundrigar : Urdu Speaking
Feroz Khan Noon : Punjabi
Nurul Amin : Bengali
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto : Sindhi
Muhammad Khan Junejo : Sindhi
Benazir Bhutto : Sindhi
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi : Sindhi
Nawaz Sharif : Punjabi
Zafrullah Khan Jamali : Balochi
Chaudary Shujaat Hussain : Punjabi
Shaukat Aziz : Karachi (I guess Urdu speaking)
Yousuf Raza Gillani : Punjabi

Sindh and Urdu Speaking were 5
Punjabis had 5
NWFP had none
Balochis had 1
Bengalis had 3

My study concluded that in total, Punjabis had 8 leaders who reached the highest offices, Sindhis & Urdu Speaking 7, Pashtoons 3, Baloch 2, and Bengalis 4!

So, it proved one thing that almost everyone got a good shot at the highest offices. Look at the Bengalis they had four leaders on the top, still they left us because Mr. Bhutto did not want a Bengali leading him.

"Hey Bengali brothers, come back to us we will sandwich India...hahahaha...what do you guys say?"

"Hmm....dint even hear a single word...anyways enjoy and Happy Independence from Us!"

Well, the crux of the story is that Nationalism is a good thing if it remains in its limits i.e. we just start calling ourselves Pakistanis. That's all we need to do.Period.

If it goes out of bounds, then you will hear opinions like those of my Sindhi friend and Baloch seperatist leaders and in a worse case scenario incidents like "The creation of Bangladesh" would take place.

So, I think I am very good at giving advice for free. So, the solution I see to stop seperatist feelings is that we all should stop saying that "I am Sindhi/Punjabi/Pathani/Balochi/Khochi/Naughty". Find the common ground which unites us (I suggest Islam can be a common ground as we all are muslims - No, I am not a Moulvi..dont believe I am one cause I have a beard!) and stay united!

Well, I know some will find the material I have typed offensive. Sorry dudes, but this is what reality is. It bites.