I am a young Chinar tree

I am a young Chinar tree. In August, I draw my blood-red from hues of nature and not from innocent blood. Blood is your sport. I don't even have blood in me. But as nature's sentinel when I see it, I have to report. Standing in the middle of nature's wonder, as I look around, the captivating beauty of Kashmir brings involuntary blush which you see as red in my leaves. My sensuous red is fading under unbearable gun smoke and resulting mourns of mothers & screams of kids. For centuries, my ancestors have seen these Pheran robed people of Kashmir, struggling for a breath of 'free air'. Rest of you can breath that free air but they can't. Even laws of the wild don't usurp the right to free air. I don't understand your discriminatory laws. Besides adding to the beauty of the land, I discharge fresh breathing air every day without discriination of dharam and ideology of those who inhale it. I don't ask for color or creed of inhahlers before letting a part of me to reach your lungs. I don't understand your biases. Don't confuse me with your sense of everything. Don't confuse me with your knowledge of the world. I will not buy your shady logics for I come from the flora of a Valley you call heaven. Heaven is not meant to endure sufferings of earthlings. Heaven dwellers are the special ones but you have revoked their special status. These Pheran robed heaven dewellers have sufferers alot. I may not be able to change your mind but as duty bound sentinel, I will stand as witness to atrocities of some & inaction of others.
I am just a young Chinar tree in the Valley.

Kashmir: What next?

There is discomfort over Kashmir situation; particularly on what next? We might have to objectively look at what India & Pakistan are doing, what they can do & worst case scenario (if things spiral out of control).

For the moment, just start paying tax & that is the best you can do for Kashmir Cause, specially Mullahs who have a feel for business in brewing situation. State should handle Kashmir with open mind. There is resentment inside India both among opposition & liberal literate Indians who are for certain a minority. Fanatic nationalist are not only in numbers, they are riding a high tide of hate augmented by extremist religious beliefs and fantasy of Mahabharta. Like ours, religious bigotry is easy to sell in India as well. But the direction is less ideological more political in nature.Modi's political game hinges on fuelling Hindu extremism & in doing so inciting nationalistic jingoism. It already got him second term despite failures & amateurish policies. Extremism & jingoism feeds on hatred. It sells fast & produces results in a society of nearly 300 million illiterate adults, enough votes to win elections. And their media dances only on war tunes. No where in the world media is as hysteric as India. Like ours, media is also a sold out. But political polarization in India on current Kashmir situation has left them no choice but to share opposition's disaporoval of it. Our greatest advantage is that abolishing special status of Kashmir & annexing Ladakh has put India in an internal political quandary. India is not united. There is word that indian Supreme Court may annul the legislation but when it comes to Dharam, ISC has repeatedly failed to keep its judicial integrity particularly when Indian Muslims are at the receiving end.

On foregn front, India is being exposed and incidentally, we have an active FO & a proactive FM. Seek them out on every forum. Yes, it didn't make any difference in past 72 years but this time we are taking no prisoners.

Those in hurry for war should take a deep breath. I'm also suggesting the same with an overarching domestic and foreign ploicy imperatives along with exploiting internal Indian discord on the issue even if we have to go till the bitter end. 

Celebrating this 14 August as Kashmir Banay Ga Pakistan Day sends a strong signal across. PM deciding to spend Azadi Day at AJK also gets two thumps up. Whether situation spirals out of conrol or not nation must look united. Opposition political parties in Pakistan are crippled, so if anyone is worried that opposition not being on board  makes any difference they are wasting their time. Opposition had one wise move to gain any political mileage in given situation i.e to stand with the Govt on this sensitive issue but their desperation is letting them down. Does it matter if Maraym Nawaz is behind the bars, she still can make substandard leadership calls from there. Likewise, Bilawal with Zardari's baggage is a dummy.

Those disapproving Govt Tweets as limiting the war to social media should understand, social media is the battleground. We have to dig in there as well. We must out maneuver Indians on social media. Our job is easy, just share the truth in the face of Indian lies blatant lies & propaganda of normalcy in Kashmir & elsewhere. Tweets like appeal to Sikhs & Punjabi soldiers not to take part in atrocities against Kashmiris can be effective. 

This time we should not need Mullahs at the front line of Kashmir issue. State should take the bull by the horns on every front. 

Time is ripe to fuel ethnic/ separatist movements in India. Situation in Kashmir demands we up the ante from moral support to next level, they deserve it. They have been wrapping their fallen in Sabz Hilali. What kind of loyalty is that? More than political, I guess its ideological.When political goals fall within the ambit of Islamic ideology, its like an elephant in the room. Its not just the reality to deal with but an obilgation to fulfill. 

So basically its Modi's pathetic short term political gimmickry versus Kashmiris' ideological struggle. Kashmiris already outweigh Modi's politics. 

Probability of things spiraling out of control is low. We might expect some adventurism from Modi Mindset in last year in office, not in first. Pakistan should remain proactive on exploiting Indian vulnerabilities and extremely vigilant to react with force where needed. One calculated move like 27 February air combat feat & Indian bubble will bust.

There is an opportunity in every challenge, we need to seize this opportunity and use it to our advantage. 

Only Allah knows the whole Truth.

Eid ul Adha Mubarak

Thoughts on this Eid ul Adha were triggered by a thoughtful quote picture suggesting that real sacrifice took place in the conversation between the Father (Ibrahim AS) & the Son (Ismail AS), the Ram was just the redemption. And like we have reduced the spirit of so many things to rituals, we do 'sacrifice' animals every 10 Zil Hajj but seems to have forgotten the conversation which gave birth to this great Islamic tradition.  Allah swt didn't need blood of Ismail AS nor does he need the blood of billions of animals sacrificed in keeping this tradition alive. He swt just wants to benefit us by remembering the story of two peerless Men (AS) in human history. In those glorious moments, Father & Son (AS) set the standards of 'Belief', 'Sacrifice' & 'Obedience' & no wonder if any tradition that needs to be kept alive & cherished for the rest of the time, it had to be this unparalleled readiness of sacrificial father & unconditional submission of the son to the will of Allah. Since Quran is the epitome of perfect speech, in few precise words, The Owner of Heavens & Earth has taken us to the greatest sacrifice scene in His Kingdom between Mina & Jamraat where that (somewhat forgotten) conversation took place:
Allah SWT said:

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْىَ قَالَ يٰبُنَىَّ إِنِّىٓ أَرٰى فِى الْمَنَامِ أَنِّىٓ أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرٰى  ۚ قَالَ يٰٓأَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ  ۖ سَتَجِدُنِىٓ إِنْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصّٰبِرِينَ
"And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think. He said, O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast."
(QS. As-Saaffaat 37: Verse 102)

Revisiting this amazing moment may add some value to our sacrifice. Bearings have to be correct to keep the direction right. Qurbani at Eid ul Adha is not just a ritual or bakra selfie fest or a social show off, it is commemoration of unprecedented sacrifice, so loved by Allah that we celebrate it every year for a good reason.
May we keep the spirit of this tradition alive.
May Allah accept our sacrifice. Ameen
Eid ul Adha Mubarak

Senate Circus

Replacing one Baloch with another was apparently a balancing act but it turned into a horrendous circus act by the political thugs. Except some political face saving there was nothing in it. Equation of Senate was otherwise due to change in favor of the govt in next turn over. So for few months putting a Chairman Senate was a move made in despration which reflects political bankruptcy of opposition.
In retrospect, instead of fretting about loss in Senate, political thugs should have darned the hole in political process i.e secret ballot when they were in power to do that in past four decades. Despite their protracted tag team rule over this country, thugs in opposition looked small in front of thugs in power. Politics is among the noblest of professions but our politicians have turned it in to pooh. To Govt coalition, those brave fourteen are روشن ضمیر and for combined opposition they are ضمیر پروش. Truly, an insult to party based politics, as PM put it in his 'victory' Tweet, but its quite naive of him as he is Chief Executive of the country & he is pretending nothing has happened or at least he has nothing to do with shady Senate circus. Whereas, his big mouthpieces are celebrating this as their greatest success. Our messy politics just got messier.
Anyway, way forward would be that all these political thugs should immediately legislate this secret ballot out of Senate election process. However, they will keep harping about dishonesty of fourteen or their miraculous enlightenment between show of hands in favor of the motion & casting the secret vote behind the curtain.
But they wouldn't change the law of secret ballot. They just love bickering because its easy & they abhor legislation because it takes some doing.
Politics today has achieved her highest low.

Discover Pakistan with Umar Ahsan

Meet Umar Ahsan an accomplished creature of the wild. A discoverer.A survivor. A past soldier. A PhD in Brain Development Program. A daredevil of MM Alam family. He runs MM Alam Discovery Foundation in Karachi & runs wild into Karakoram, Himaliyas, plains, deserts & coastline of Pakistan.
In a brief meeting with this dynamic package called Umar Ahsan, I was convinced to share his work with you. 

Last year, he discovered highest lake in Pakistan, at 15,641 feet altitude in Skardu, Ghanche naming it Paristan Lake.

Also discovered a new peak naming it Weasel Peak at 21000 feet after spending a night in a cave also inhabited by feisty weasel. Discovery of this amazing animal weasel also goes to his credit.

This year, he discovered three lakes at higher altitude than Paristan Lake bagging honor & record of discovering, four highest lakes in a country. These include:
1. 17,0,77 Feet, Highest Lake, MM Alam Lake

2. 16,390 Feet, 2nd Highest, Lalak Jan Lake

3. 15,983 Feet, 3rd Highest, Omar Ahsan Lake.

After so much of work, did he not deserve to keep a lake to his name? 

But what really struck me was his passion & love for Pakistan. This is a brilliant equation. Pakistan is the most amazing land on God's earth, it deserves to be loved with this kind of passion and nothing less. Besides, acknowledgement of Umar Ahsan's inspiring work, we need to chip in with our bit.

Death: Loss of 21 grams or else?

Flight of soul is just a loss of 21 grams or else?We can disagree whether its realism or pessimism to talk about death on any given day let alone this humid weekend. But we cannot disagree that death is the only reality of life. Some would argue that life is so beautiful, so cherish it till death do us apart. But time stands like a monster which was born with a bang & will end with a bang; yet only a relative term. For as long as time existed & may exist, in relation with origin of life, the total existence of a septuagenarian homo sapien sounds ridiculous & pointless unless we are able to correctly identify purpose of our sojourn on earth. In this purview, death is bigger than life. Billions of years before & billions after our brief seventy years on earth, death rules. Death seems to have an upper hand over life ironically on the issue of longevity. In the analogy of life like a flowing river, if death is evaporation then reincarnation starts to make some sense but its farfetched, fictitious and felonious. However, river culminating at the ocean where droplets of melting glaciers, morning dew, springs & brooks, sweet wells & sour saline reservoirs; all return home. Ostensibly, death is divorce of soul from body, in real, homecoming. Divorce is niether desireable nor smooth but legal. So its not divorce rather homecoming which should come about as seamless fusion. And it doesn't end there. From here on, its perpetual life; an answer to unanswered human quest for eternal life via alchemy, holy grail etc

The only thing we could ask for is smooth transition from this to next world because transition is inevitable but the question remains would it be smooth? The answer depends totally on how we lived.
We have experienced life & we know death because its the distance between The Creator & the creation. He keeps creatures humble by guaranteeing them death. So we can say that we know death; its when life ceases. But we what we are not familiar with is the transitory phase from life to death. Transition is not the same for each individual, it cannot be the same. Humans die from the embryonic state to few minutes & hours after birth to as long as Centenarians & counting. The death exprience of each human being has to be different from another because in cosmic settings every human is a unique entity. His sense of self never grows old, only his body grows old. This sense of self is totally unique set of preprogrammed instructions, all written within the range of his freewill. What a master stroke !!!
It is only but logical that transitory phase of each individual will vary for its uniqueness. The better the quality of soul the smoother the transition from this to next world.
For as beautiful as life is, it deserves to be cherished but then it also deserves a smooth transition & a brilliant follow up till eternity. This sounds like a perfect plan not just physical loss of 21 grams. 
Only Allah knows the whole Truth.

Last word on Cricket World Cup

It was probably the most exciting ODI ever & a fitting finale. Cricket won for the most part  but its rules lost. In the hindsight, very harsh & unfair to Kiwis.
241=241 tie
15=15 not tie
Match won/lost by Zero runs. Ridiculous, to say the least. 
Deciding World Cup on number of tournament boundaries is totally absurd if that was the case they should have decided it by the end of  England's innings instead of going into Super Over. Its a One Day knock out game, it must be decided on the day on the performance of the day not on anything achieved on any other day niether run rate nor boundaries. For solution, one option could be that if the scores are tied after Super Over, share trophy & equally distribute the reward money. Both deserved to keep it for two yrs each. There might be even better solution to this problem but it seems that current set of rules have robbed New Zealand of its share of glory which it deserved no less than England. Take nothing away from England, they battled really hard till the last moment. In 27 May 2019 blog entry, England was dubbed my favorite team for championship but the final match itself belonged nothing less to New Zealand.
As the excitement of the match is receding; preposterous rules, shady umpiring and cruelty of luck against Kiwis is picking up.
In retrospect, English lifted the Trophy but Kiwis are the real Champions. There is something about this little island nation of less than 4.8 million; dignity & composure. Whether Kane Williamsons or Jacinda Ardern, they carry themselves with enormous amount of dignity & undeterred composure.
#respect