Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Incompetent team PTI
Saturday, 23 November 2019
Weekend Recommendation - Diriliş: Ertuğrul
May God speed you
May the sun not burn your skin
May the rain not make your soul cold
May stones be away from your foot
Go like water,
And come back to your tent like water
A prayer line from dignified romance between Ertugrul Bey & Halime Sultan.
Dilliris Ertugrul is addictive for good reasons. A far less interested and cynical viewer like the scribe went on a binge. Allah's name is mentioned in every second dialogue which is a true reflection of our culture. It is the genesis of resurrection of Islam in pre-renaissance era. A piece of proud Turk history and a piece of art. Resurrection series will not disappoint you when in the age of fictional super heroes, you get to exprience real heroes no matter how much dramatization has taken the better of reality. We have grown up watching Hollywood 'truths' which were much worse.
Spiritual sprinkling of Ibne Arabi Andalusi add value to the settings.
Muslim culture's strengths were never made more visible on TV screens as this series. That is the kind of production decent Muslims yearn to see. It has a bit of everything viz drama, adventure, action, history, spiritual angling, cultural richness of Muslim Turks, loyalty, betrayal and last but not the least, a dignified romance. Subtitle reading could be a bother but worth every bit.
This would be fun. Find time to watch this series with kids & family.
Blessed weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSCHrDLjlO9sZk6iLEAuE0w
Monday, 18 November 2019
Good politics is what we need
There is so much rumor mongering in political circus and media is their mouthpiece. Their job is to keep you divided and keep building false image of political gods keeping them relevant. And politics is a game of hate because it is so easy to sell hate. So media politicians alliance successfully keeps us confused, curious and hateful. Last thing you expect from them is truth. So lets try and cut through the noise what actually none of them are trying to tell us.
Army is not taking control, it is just trying to keep mandate of the people to where it belongs.
Realistically speaking, stereotyping in politics is history along with stereotypes. The only good change is that the old political model is creaking under the weight of its failings. NS, Zardari & Maulana brand of politics has no future Whereas, PTI is here to stay. We might wanna look for a fresh & better alternative of PTI because existing opposition is no opposition at all. Opposition with its baggage & poor decision making is fighting for a face saving exit. Do they have the guts to out maneuver Imran Khan? If they could, they would have but that's not happening.
Does that bother me what happens to corrupt politicians and who will do the opposition instead? Not at all. I don't care just like them when they didn't care about Pakistan & rest of us in their four decade long reign. They invested in mafias & reaping the returns, fait accompli. What bothers me is that there is no opposition to politically challenge PTI's misgovernance, economic mess and poor team.
And for (some) courts, News Virgina's headline, 'Pakistani courts are bitches of the riches', might not change their approach towards their noble profession yet an overarching one liner. Needs no further comment.
By being politically charged partisans we are missing on mobilizing ourselves politically and bringing in a fresh political force. Good politics has changed the fate of many nations. Good politics is what we need.
Only Allah knows the whole Truth.
Saturday, 16 November 2019
Misguided victory sign
Sunday, 10 November 2019
Rabi ul Awal Mubarak
This Rabi ul Awal, let's cherish being Muslims. What is so great being a Muslim or why we continue to be Muslims? There are some really cool provisions in this religion e.g. we don't have to be perfect and as long as we are playing our roles, that's all we are expected to do. It has no conflict with achieving excellence in everything we do. Its just that, since perfection is out of question, it saves us exhaustive pursuance of being perfect.
It is so logical to have placed an Ideal Man (Peace & Blessings be upon Him) to allow the rest space for being anything below perfect. Sometimes, you may use your imperfection 'Privilege Card' & be imperfect for the love of the life because we are the only creatures who has been taught how to seek forgiveness by The Teacher swt himself whenever & however we falter. The way out for conscious & inadvertent mistakes or failings is one sincere call of forgiveness and you are clean.
Perfection was not a simple bestowing. There were no preconditions for selection it had phases. The preparation for receiving Quran through open heart surgery in the desert at Haleema Sadia's. Then that defiance of time & space (beginning of which is still an unresolved mystery for science) when He (PBUH) sat on his space craft (Burraq) presumably traveled through a black hole where time froze & space became irrelevant. And then the moment of truth which thumped seal of perfection on His (PBUH) human self, that One on One meeting up there. He PBUH had to be perfect because He PBUH is the only human who saw perfection in person.
Here we must thank scientific advancements in the west which supplement our belief system through their continuous push for excellence. Our generation of late 20th Century was born in times of intellectual inquiries based on logic and sense perception. Science bolstered our beliefs further by explaining Quran to us much better than Ulema of tafseer for examole first three verses of Al Najm settle the issue of black holes.
So this model of Perfect Super Being (Allah swt) & Perfect Human Being (Prophet PBUH) as role model explained through a flawless Manual (Al Quran) makes much better sense & absorbs many 'isms' like theism, idealism and so on. It is so cool to be a Muslim in any age and time and our time is no different only if we endeavour to bring it up to the speed with modern times. Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal stands out to be the only reformer in religious thought in past five centuries. We need more of these.
Only Allah Knows the whole Truth.
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
The Flip Side - Note 2
11 May 2013, General Elections NA-235 Sanghar II, a presiding officer called on my cell and reported massive rigging. As per constitution/ election rules, I asked him to requisition Army to move in as he had powers of Magistrate Grade I. He replied, 'Sir, you will leave after election duty and reporting this matter officially will endanger my family's lives'. Note that as per elections terms agreed by all political parties, Army had to stay outside the polling station and that was where the match was fixed.
Cometh General Elections 2018, Army was given access to inside of polling stations after unanimous consent of all political parties. Naturally, it minimized chances of rigging inside polling stations. Consequently, unfavorable result for traditionally strong political entities who 'managed' election in past four decades because they were well entrenched in the system and their cariographers were anything but inept. Now, for face saving exit of grand opposition from Azadi March/ dharna, as an excuse of their political failings and loss in elections, these low lives are blaming Army for engineering last elections. Army doesn't do anything else wrong including floods, quakes, disaster relief, resettlement & rehab of displaced, development works in far-flung areas of GB, Kashmir, KPK & Blochistan except when its role conflicts with vested interets of political thugs. An anti Army narrative just continues to sell well among stented minds & parasites of status quo. Whereas, last general elections, PPP got more seats in Sindh & Noon nearly made govt in Punjab. For poor conduct of three dictatorships & shameful meddling of three odd intelligence heads in entire history, scapegoating Army for all their shenanigans by some politicians is despicable to say the least.
For Army, it shall continue its pursuit of excellence & that is the best answer to baseless propaganda. Already the difference & distance in terms of professionalism & institutional strength from the other state institutions is beyond comprehensible capacity of these pea sized brains.