2011
11.06
11.06
Lets do the Bakatronix!
Bakatron.com
2010
05.20
05.20
I’m not a fan of ”oppression of free speech” but I’m also not a fan of offending people either.
The ‘Draw Muhammad’ day event on Facebook has escalated out of hand. I don’t know what the initiators of this day were thinking; but if it was to protect the freedom of speech of South Park’s creators, that was borderline retarded given that they would also offend a sixth of the world’s population in the process. The 200th episode of south park depicted various religious leaders and the Prophet Muhammad was depicted in a bear suit. The creators of South Park were threatened because of this. In a response to these threats, a Facebook event was created.
According to their office page:
“We are not trying to slander the average muslim , it’s not a muslim/islam hatepage. We simply want to show the extremists that threaten to harm people because of their Mohammed depictions, that we’re not afraid of them. That they can’t take away our right to freedom of speech by trying to scare us to silence.”
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everybody-Draw-Mohammed-Day/121369914543425 )
Now what I’m going to do is show you the number of viewers of South Park’s 200th episode.
See how many people who watched the 200th episode of South Park? 3.3 million? It’s probably their highest rated episode in years. This graph does not account for all the people who illegally downloaded the episode since I don’t have access to these statistics but you can make them up and tack them on for your own intellectual amusement.
In order to protect the South Park’s creators’ rights to entertain under the guiseof ‘free speech’ , they’ve offended a whopping 1.2 billion people.
There will be the odd muslim or so that will not have been offended by this, and also accounting for the people who don’t have access and would not have heard about this at all; so we’ll assume the number of people offended as 1.1 billion.
For fun I’m going to make the graph 3D just to give you a better idea of scale.
This Facebook event was started by a so called cartoonist. See I’m a cartoonist as well. I’m just as much of a satirist and a storyteller as much as any other real cartoonist. There are few things that I know.
Being an artist is understanding that what we have is a gift and we’re to use that wisely. To simply use it to prove a point and in the process offending another’s religious views and feelings is abusing it.
There’s freedom of speech and then there is license to be offend.
There’s a lot of things that you can attack, criticize, insult, satirize, plagiarize, but you have to be very careful with another person’s religion. There are plenty of things that you can debate in Islam – for example the Hijab – it’s something that’s debated by Muslims amongst themselves. Depiction of the Prophets is expressly forbidden and this law is sacred.
It’s like going out and telling a Jewish friend that ‘hey the holocaust didn’t happen and I just wanted you to know that!’ Now some people might call me a bigot or a racist, but the holocaust did happen, it was a horrible event that scarred humanity forever and I would be a complete asshole and totally insensitive to the millions of Jews around the world (not to mention the guy who probably won’t be my friend anymore).
Offending over a billion people just because you want to believe in so called free speech is selfish and irresponsible. You live in a world where opinion in Ethiopia matters as much as opinion in Hoboken. We live in a world which now has no boundaries thanks to the internet. There may be limitations of border control but there is no such thing regulating thought and feeling – and expressing it has no limitations.
I can get on my phone on Ayer’s Rock and comment on a YouTube video, send an e-mail, post pictures of myself for everyone else to comment on Facebook. Information is freely exchanged like never before, faster than the speed of thought, terabytes of information is exchanged globally within just a few hours – this world is like nothing ever before.
And because there are that many more ways to communicate and spread hate, and that too instantly across the world, people in the public view (hell any person who posts anything on the web) has that much more responsibility to be just a smidgen more respectful of other’s religions and know the difference between defending freedom of speech or any other right and offending and disrespecting another’s religion, race and whatnot.
Know the fine line between an intellectual argument & being a sophist buffoon.
Having said all this about the creators of this event, a word or two has to be said about the over-the-top reaction. Yes we as Muslims should react to and oppose this Facebook event. But it has to be done in a civilized and responsible manner. Banning Facebook is not the way to do it. Reacting this way is just feeding into their opinions about Muslim extremists. With Pakistan government going ahead with the decision to ban Facebook will just feed the frenzy and the proponents of free speech get another bone to chew on and say “look we were right – these extremists are against freedom of speech”. By such an over the top negative reaction we are simply making their argument stronger. A moderate and rational response would have shown the wold that we are the civilized party that is not going nutso over something and it’s the other side that is being unreasonable. But as always Pakistan is so good at punching itself in the face.
2010
04.14
04.14
Taken from http://momers.tumblr.com/post/520037601/the-sobering-experience-of-a-fellow-fulbrighter
A reward for coming back
When will the Balochs stop being victims of the Pakistani paramilitary forces?
Torture and kidnap of Balochs in Balochistan by the Pakistani law enforcement, especially the paramilitary forces, has become very common practice since the last few years. They kidnap us, arrest us on false charges, torture us, brutally murder us and then throw us away. Many of us are still missing. The reasons behind these incidents are because we are Baloch by ethnic and we are continuously demanding for our rights and identity. This mistreatment happens to Baloch at all level; rich and poor educated and uneducated.
On April 8, 2010 I also had to go through the torture process by the paramilitary forces in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. It happened when I left my hometown, Noshki, about 120km from Quetta. When we entered Quetta, the time was about 09.00 pm, and the van was stopped a couple of times by the paramilitary. Each time the same questions were asked: where is the van coming from and what’s in your bag? Each time the driver and passengers told them that we came from Noshki, and I had to tell them my bag carried “one laptop and two pairs of cloths”.
After the van dropped us off at its final destination, I had to catch a riskhaw (a three wheel taxi) to go to the place where I was supposed to spend the night. On the way, I was again stopped several times and the same questions were asked and my reply was the same. And I was asked to get off from the rickshaw and open my bag to prove that I was telling the truth. I really got sick and tired of zipping and unzipping the bag. Therefore, I left my bag opened. Moreover, their rude behavior towards me was torturing, annoying and made me nervous. And I feel that I have entered a different or an occupied territory.
When I was almost reaching my destination, I was again stopped by the forces, and had to suffer the same process. This time I told them: This is what I have in my bag and you can check it but I am not going to open it for you. You are welcome to do it yourself. The solider did not like my words and started to shout at me while threatened to punish in a way that I have never thought of. I responded and asked him to let me speak to his officer as I found his behavior offensive.
When he did not return immediately, I went to look for him to sort out the problem so that I could leave. When I found him, I overheard him tell his officer not to release me as he wanted to teach me a lesson; that I was trying to be smart. By now I knew things were going to get messy. They were not allowing me to leave and making me wait long hours became a mental torture to me; and I was forced to stand at the road side. So I asked to see their senior officer. They told he would arrive soon and that they have decided what to do with me. I was mentally prepared to face the consequences of my action and I recalled all that I have heard from other Balochs who had been brutally treated; their stories are true.
A few minutes later, the major arrived in a red Toyota four-wheel pickup, with gunmen, followed by a one-door pickup full of armed men. The latter welcomed the major, after which they called for me. The major, who looks like a ‘practising Muslim” with long beard, greeted me and asked for my name. His name was Asim, according to his nametag. I started the conversation in English, where he told me that his men had lodged a complained against me.
I replied “Major, it is good that they have someone to listen to them. To whom and where should I complain about their rude behaviors that I faced since I entered this city”.
We went further and discussed what the issue was. I told him that I was carrying my laptop and clothes in this bag that I have zipped and unzipped it several times since I have entered the city.
I said: “I have just told your solider the same and if he wanted to check he is welcomed but I am not going to open it for him because I am tired”.
“He has taken my words as an insult because he is in uniform,” I told the major.
The major said that his men were standing there for civilian’s security and they were called by the provincial government. I replied “We appreciate what you people are doing but it does not mean that you have to get on our nerves. We also get tired of being disrespected in the name of security”.
Furthermore, I told him that I have not seen any improvement in the situation despite an increase of torture cases against us. Asked again for my Identity card to double check and asked me where I work. I replied I was jobless, just came to the city to buy some stuff and will return home tomorrow; and that was a fact.
His people started to search my bag and within a second or two without opening the other pockets they showed Asim a piece of marijuana rapped in a plastic. Well, I was already prepared to face all this when they were discussing among themselves about teaching me a lesson. After showing it to the major, he asked if indeed I was carrying the drug.
I replied “I am really sorry to say that you haven’t heard a single word that I have been telling you. Let me repeat it for you: this bag has been unzipped several times at different check posts and this time I did not protest nor show them the bag. But I asked them to do it themselves. I said I was not going to open it for them”.
I added “At the other posts, no one found such stuff in my bag although they searched every part of it, but at this post they found this piece of rubbish in my bag without opening and searching every pocket of it. And for your information, I have never smoked in my life and nor I am a drug addict or a dealer carrying a couple of grams marijuana to make an earning”.
I continued telling the major this was really childish, that I had heard all this before and seen it in the movies, and that it was good that I was seeing it in real life. For awhile, I thought the major has realized that his men had chosen the wrong tactic to take revenge on me.
When he asked his men why they did this to me, they replied that they were prepared to swear on the Holy Quran that they have not kept the marijuana. This sentence of theirs upset me a lot and I lost my temper.
I told them “Look at yourselves you bastards with long beards on your faces; you want to prove that you are practicing Muslims but in reality you are worse than the Satan (devil).You guys are ready to swear on the Holy Book. Do you ever know the importance of the Quran”?
The major interrupted and tried to calm me down by telling me that I am “an educated person” and such language did not suit me. I told him that I am being rewarded already for being a highly educated person in this society.
“For almost two hours you guys have kept me on hold and mentally tortured me and tried to prove that I am a drug dealer,” I told him.
People started to gather around but the paramilitary forces moved them away and prohibited them from crowding the area. Now I was completely mentally prepared to go in the depth of it to find out till what extend these so called “life saver or protector” of this country will do with me.
The major asked for my closed friends contact numbers which I refused to give because I did not want to get them involved in this trouble. I gave him my elder brother’s contact number. I told the major that he was not in the city so do not worry him. He dialed my brother’s number and moved ahead. After a minute or so, my brother called me saying that someone by the name of Asim had called him and said that “Khalid had an accident and he is suffering from serious head injuries”.
I could feel the fear in his voice and that he was trying to find out if everything was okay with me. I told him the whole story and he asked me why this guy told him a lie. I went to Asim to find out and this time his gunmen did not allow me to go near him but still I persisted and asked him why he lied to my brother?
Asim asked me if I wanted him to tell my elder brother the truth – which I had been caught carrying illegal drugs. Now I felt the change of tone in his voice, which made me aware that I was talking to a “MAJOR”.
I told him that this may be a truth that was created by his people but not for my brother.
“If you do not know who I am, my brother and my people know me and my family very well. They will not believe your nonsense story,” I added.
He ordered his gunmen to take me to the police station and launch an FIR (First Investigation Report). I responded by saying it was a mistake for me to think he was an educated person.
“You are worse than your gunmen. You have proved to me that you are bias, Balochistan is an occupied state by Pakistan and you guys have sworn to torture the innocent Balochs in the name of security,” I said.
Now I had to face the knocking of his solider. All of them wanted to take part in beating me and to prove to their boss how loyal they are to him. They wanted to handcuff me but I did not allow them. They dragged me to their pickup and moved to the police station to launch the FIR. I entered into the room before them. When the officer on duty saw me spotting a French cut, carrying a laptop bag on my shoulder and wearing neat clothes, he stood up to welcome me and to find out how he can help. When he found the paramilitary guys behind me, he changed his mind because he realized that they have brought in another victim and he cannot interfere in their work. If ordered, he has to do what they asked him to although they are from different departments. In the FIR they wanted to mention that drugs were found on me; that I have abused Pakistan; I have misbehaved with the officers in uniforms and snatched the tags on their shoulders, which they did themselves to prove me guilty. There were a lot of other allegations.
I realized that they thought I may be a doctor by profession when I heard them telling the officer on duty that this guy does not know what type of doctors we are. He will soon find out after the FIR was launched and he was admitted to the orthopedic ward of the hospital.
Suddenly a friend of mine, a lawyer by profession entered the room and saw me sitting on the bench. We were both surprised to see each other because the last time we met was in a farewell party arranged by all my friends before I left for States for my Masters under the Fulbright Scholarship in 2006. He was there to release his client and when he saw the paramilitary forces he just kept silent for a few seconds and said to me in Balochi (language) “Khalid, I just pray for the day to come soon when we are no longer their victims”.
He requested the senior police officer, who had earlier entered the room and prepared pen and paper without listening to me, not to launch the FIR. My friend told me he would handle everything and I have only to listen to him. In our culture when we authorize someone, we are bound to follow the decision he makes. After an argument which lasted for an hour or more in a separate room between my friend and the paramilitary forces, my friend requested me to apologize to them. One of them later demanded that I should bend down on my knees and beg for forgiveness and then only they will accept my apology. Another session continued to remove this demand.
He told me that as a friend, he did not want to embarrass me in front of them. He said he knew all the “dirty games” they played with the Balochs, which was why he did not want to hand me over me to them; not at any cost; not because of the physical or mental torture I was suppose to go through but just because he did not want to lose another Baloch.
Later, I said to one of the lower ranking officers named Aslam, who spotted a trim mustache and long beard: I just want to about you guys who go along with your major; you are pretending to be practicing Muslims by your outer looks but are you ready to swear on the Holy Quran that you have not kept the marijuana in the bag?
In response he gave me a wicked smile. My friend dropped me at home at around 02.00am and asked me to forget the incident. It would not be easy for me to forget it because I will see this happening every day and whenever I see someone being insulted at the roadside by these people it will remind me of the episode.
I do not want to be bias like Major Asim. But the questions will always occur in my mind
Why are they the only ones who could feel insulted, not us?
Why did the major lie to my brother?
Why did the major support his people despite knowing that they had kept the drug?
And why did not the major play a neutral role in this whole incident?
When I studied in America, never have I blamed the Americans for treating me as a third class citizen, but in reality we, the Balochs are treated as a third class citizens on our own land. I have travelled around the world including United States and United Kingdom but I have never been treated in such a disrespectful manner, neither at the immigration nor by their citizens. I have travelled to different cities of states and not a single day I was stopped by any law enforcement agency to prove my identity nor have I been asked to check my bag. While in Washington DC when carrying out my research, I had to cross the Senate, Supreme Court and Capitol Hill buildings in order to get to the Congress Library but not even a single day have I been stopped but in my own land I have being asked ten times in one single hour to prove my identity.
I have been analyzing Balochistan’s situation very closely and it seems to me that the Pakistani forces do not care whether we are educated or illiterate. All they want to do is prove to us that they are more powerful than us, and that our territory has been occupied by them.
It seems, we cannot ask for our rights and seek justice for our people because we are their slaves. If we do, it means that we are insulting them, and this is something they simply cannot bear. Kidnapping, torturing and murdering of innocent Balochs have proven that the gun is more powerful than knowledge or education; they will continue to control us with the power of guns. For them, every single Baloch who fights for his rights is considered to be an Indian agent, and must be dealt with urgently.
It clicked in my mind that if a Major, with an obscure features can back his people who lie, an act which neither Islam nor education allows, then why should not we support our people who are fighting for the rights of the Baloch nation?
Why should not we pay the highest respect for the people who have lost their lives for this cause? Why should not we participate in demonstrations demanding for the whereabouts of the missing Baloch\s? And why should not we motivate the youth to fight for their rights? Because fighting for justice is what Islam and education teaches us.
I urge all Balochs sitting in parliament to wake up immediately and fight for the rights of Baloch instead of being a puppet of the Pakistani law enforcement agencies and its establishment.
FYI: I’m not a fullbrighter – the person who i took this off , is.
When will the Balochs stop being victims of the Pakistani paramilitary forces?
Torture and kidnap of Balochs in Balochistan by the Pakistani law enforcement, especially the paramilitary forces, has become very common practice since the last few years. They kidnap us, arrest us on false charges, torture us, brutally murder us and then throw us away. Many of us are still missing. The reasons behind these incidents are because we are Baloch by ethnic and we are continuously demanding for our rights and identity. This mistreatment happens to Baloch at all level; rich and poor educated and uneducated.
On April 8, 2010 I also had to go through the torture process by the paramilitary forces in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. It happened when I left my hometown, Noshki, about 120km from Quetta. When we entered Quetta, the time was about 09.00 pm, and the van was stopped a couple of times by the paramilitary. Each time the same questions were asked: where is the van coming from and what’s in your bag? Each time the driver and passengers told them that we came from Noshki, and I had to tell them my bag carried “one laptop and two pairs of cloths”.
After the van dropped us off at its final destination, I had to catch a riskhaw (a three wheel taxi) to go to the place where I was supposed to spend the night. On the way, I was again stopped several times and the same questions were asked and my reply was the same. And I was asked to get off from the rickshaw and open my bag to prove that I was telling the truth. I really got sick and tired of zipping and unzipping the bag. Therefore, I left my bag opened. Moreover, their rude behavior towards me was torturing, annoying and made me nervous. And I feel that I have entered a different or an occupied territory.
When I was almost reaching my destination, I was again stopped by the forces, and had to suffer the same process. This time I told them: This is what I have in my bag and you can check it but I am not going to open it for you. You are welcome to do it yourself. The solider did not like my words and started to shout at me while threatened to punish in a way that I have never thought of. I responded and asked him to let me speak to his officer as I found his behavior offensive.
When he did not return immediately, I went to look for him to sort out the problem so that I could leave. When I found him, I overheard him tell his officer not to release me as he wanted to teach me a lesson; that I was trying to be smart. By now I knew things were going to get messy. They were not allowing me to leave and making me wait long hours became a mental torture to me; and I was forced to stand at the road side. So I asked to see their senior officer. They told he would arrive soon and that they have decided what to do with me. I was mentally prepared to face the consequences of my action and I recalled all that I have heard from other Balochs who had been brutally treated; their stories are true.
A few minutes later, the major arrived in a red Toyota four-wheel pickup, with gunmen, followed by a one-door pickup full of armed men. The latter welcomed the major, after which they called for me. The major, who looks like a ‘practising Muslim” with long beard, greeted me and asked for my name. His name was Asim, according to his nametag. I started the conversation in English, where he told me that his men had lodged a complained against me.
I replied “Major, it is good that they have someone to listen to them. To whom and where should I complain about their rude behaviors that I faced since I entered this city”.
We went further and discussed what the issue was. I told him that I was carrying my laptop and clothes in this bag that I have zipped and unzipped it several times since I have entered the city.
I said: “I have just told your solider the same and if he wanted to check he is welcomed but I am not going to open it for him because I am tired”.
“He has taken my words as an insult because he is in uniform,” I told the major.
The major said that his men were standing there for civilian’s security and they were called by the provincial government. I replied “We appreciate what you people are doing but it does not mean that you have to get on our nerves. We also get tired of being disrespected in the name of security”.
Furthermore, I told him that I have not seen any improvement in the situation despite an increase of torture cases against us. Asked again for my Identity card to double check and asked me where I work. I replied I was jobless, just came to the city to buy some stuff and will return home tomorrow; and that was a fact.
His people started to search my bag and within a second or two without opening the other pockets they showed Asim a piece of marijuana rapped in a plastic. Well, I was already prepared to face all this when they were discussing among themselves about teaching me a lesson. After showing it to the major, he asked if indeed I was carrying the drug.
I replied “I am really sorry to say that you haven’t heard a single word that I have been telling you. Let me repeat it for you: this bag has been unzipped several times at different check posts and this time I did not protest nor show them the bag. But I asked them to do it themselves. I said I was not going to open it for them”.
I added “At the other posts, no one found such stuff in my bag although they searched every part of it, but at this post they found this piece of rubbish in my bag without opening and searching every pocket of it. And for your information, I have never smoked in my life and nor I am a drug addict or a dealer carrying a couple of grams marijuana to make an earning”.
I continued telling the major this was really childish, that I had heard all this before and seen it in the movies, and that it was good that I was seeing it in real life. For awhile, I thought the major has realized that his men had chosen the wrong tactic to take revenge on me.
When he asked his men why they did this to me, they replied that they were prepared to swear on the Holy Quran that they have not kept the marijuana. This sentence of theirs upset me a lot and I lost my temper.
I told them “Look at yourselves you bastards with long beards on your faces; you want to prove that you are practicing Muslims but in reality you are worse than the Satan (devil).You guys are ready to swear on the Holy Book. Do you ever know the importance of the Quran”?
The major interrupted and tried to calm me down by telling me that I am “an educated person” and such language did not suit me. I told him that I am being rewarded already for being a highly educated person in this society.
“For almost two hours you guys have kept me on hold and mentally tortured me and tried to prove that I am a drug dealer,” I told him.
People started to gather around but the paramilitary forces moved them away and prohibited them from crowding the area. Now I was completely mentally prepared to go in the depth of it to find out till what extend these so called “life saver or protector” of this country will do with me.
The major asked for my closed friends contact numbers which I refused to give because I did not want to get them involved in this trouble. I gave him my elder brother’s contact number. I told the major that he was not in the city so do not worry him. He dialed my brother’s number and moved ahead. After a minute or so, my brother called me saying that someone by the name of Asim had called him and said that “Khalid had an accident and he is suffering from serious head injuries”.
I could feel the fear in his voice and that he was trying to find out if everything was okay with me. I told him the whole story and he asked me why this guy told him a lie. I went to Asim to find out and this time his gunmen did not allow me to go near him but still I persisted and asked him why he lied to my brother?
Asim asked me if I wanted him to tell my elder brother the truth – which I had been caught carrying illegal drugs. Now I felt the change of tone in his voice, which made me aware that I was talking to a “MAJOR”.
I told him that this may be a truth that was created by his people but not for my brother.
“If you do not know who I am, my brother and my people know me and my family very well. They will not believe your nonsense story,” I added.
He ordered his gunmen to take me to the police station and launch an FIR (First Investigation Report). I responded by saying it was a mistake for me to think he was an educated person.
“You are worse than your gunmen. You have proved to me that you are bias, Balochistan is an occupied state by Pakistan and you guys have sworn to torture the innocent Balochs in the name of security,” I said.
Now I had to face the knocking of his solider. All of them wanted to take part in beating me and to prove to their boss how loyal they are to him. They wanted to handcuff me but I did not allow them. They dragged me to their pickup and moved to the police station to launch the FIR. I entered into the room before them. When the officer on duty saw me spotting a French cut, carrying a laptop bag on my shoulder and wearing neat clothes, he stood up to welcome me and to find out how he can help. When he found the paramilitary guys behind me, he changed his mind because he realized that they have brought in another victim and he cannot interfere in their work. If ordered, he has to do what they asked him to although they are from different departments. In the FIR they wanted to mention that drugs were found on me; that I have abused Pakistan; I have misbehaved with the officers in uniforms and snatched the tags on their shoulders, which they did themselves to prove me guilty. There were a lot of other allegations.
I realized that they thought I may be a doctor by profession when I heard them telling the officer on duty that this guy does not know what type of doctors we are. He will soon find out after the FIR was launched and he was admitted to the orthopedic ward of the hospital.
Suddenly a friend of mine, a lawyer by profession entered the room and saw me sitting on the bench. We were both surprised to see each other because the last time we met was in a farewell party arranged by all my friends before I left for States for my Masters under the Fulbright Scholarship in 2006. He was there to release his client and when he saw the paramilitary forces he just kept silent for a few seconds and said to me in Balochi (language) “Khalid, I just pray for the day to come soon when we are no longer their victims”.
He requested the senior police officer, who had earlier entered the room and prepared pen and paper without listening to me, not to launch the FIR. My friend told me he would handle everything and I have only to listen to him. In our culture when we authorize someone, we are bound to follow the decision he makes. After an argument which lasted for an hour or more in a separate room between my friend and the paramilitary forces, my friend requested me to apologize to them. One of them later demanded that I should bend down on my knees and beg for forgiveness and then only they will accept my apology. Another session continued to remove this demand.
He told me that as a friend, he did not want to embarrass me in front of them. He said he knew all the “dirty games” they played with the Balochs, which was why he did not want to hand me over me to them; not at any cost; not because of the physical or mental torture I was suppose to go through but just because he did not want to lose another Baloch.
Later, I said to one of the lower ranking officers named Aslam, who spotted a trim mustache and long beard: I just want to about you guys who go along with your major; you are pretending to be practicing Muslims by your outer looks but are you ready to swear on the Holy Quran that you have not kept the marijuana in the bag?
In response he gave me a wicked smile. My friend dropped me at home at around 02.00am and asked me to forget the incident. It would not be easy for me to forget it because I will see this happening every day and whenever I see someone being insulted at the roadside by these people it will remind me of the episode.
I do not want to be bias like Major Asim. But the questions will always occur in my mind
Why are they the only ones who could feel insulted, not us?
Why did the major lie to my brother?
Why did the major support his people despite knowing that they had kept the drug?
And why did not the major play a neutral role in this whole incident?
When I studied in America, never have I blamed the Americans for treating me as a third class citizen, but in reality we, the Balochs are treated as a third class citizens on our own land. I have travelled around the world including United States and United Kingdom but I have never been treated in such a disrespectful manner, neither at the immigration nor by their citizens. I have travelled to different cities of states and not a single day I was stopped by any law enforcement agency to prove my identity nor have I been asked to check my bag. While in Washington DC when carrying out my research, I had to cross the Senate, Supreme Court and Capitol Hill buildings in order to get to the Congress Library but not even a single day have I been stopped but in my own land I have being asked ten times in one single hour to prove my identity.
I have been analyzing Balochistan’s situation very closely and it seems to me that the Pakistani forces do not care whether we are educated or illiterate. All they want to do is prove to us that they are more powerful than us, and that our territory has been occupied by them.
It seems, we cannot ask for our rights and seek justice for our people because we are their slaves. If we do, it means that we are insulting them, and this is something they simply cannot bear. Kidnapping, torturing and murdering of innocent Balochs have proven that the gun is more powerful than knowledge or education; they will continue to control us with the power of guns. For them, every single Baloch who fights for his rights is considered to be an Indian agent, and must be dealt with urgently.
It clicked in my mind that if a Major, with an obscure features can back his people who lie, an act which neither Islam nor education allows, then why should not we support our people who are fighting for the rights of the Baloch nation?
Why should not we pay the highest respect for the people who have lost their lives for this cause? Why should not we participate in demonstrations demanding for the whereabouts of the missing Baloch\s? And why should not we motivate the youth to fight for their rights? Because fighting for justice is what Islam and education teaches us.
I urge all Balochs sitting in parliament to wake up immediately and fight for the rights of Baloch instead of being a puppet of the Pakistani law enforcement agencies and its establishment.
2010
03.03
03.03
i really hate whats happenning to the world right now and i just dont mean politically…
…it’s the damned earthquakes. i’m shocked at whats happenned in haiti and chile and more or less smaller sized earthquakes that we’ve been experiencing in pakistan.
apparently the planet earth has experienced 350 earthquakes alone in the past week
i’m an earthquake survivor – at least thats what you can say from a technical stand point. you see – i lived in the building opposite of margalla towers when it collapsed in the big earthquake of 2005. at the time i was bed ridden with a back problem and hobbling on a stick praying that my building wouldnt not crash on me as well…
i can tell you that for a long time after that i couldnt handle being still… that the aftershocks that went on for a month gave me motion anxiety. that for years afterwards i couldnt handle watching my friends at in a play because i felt that my chair was shaking.
of course… i had it better than most who survived an earthquake. a lot of people lost their families, their homes and their most dearest belongings. i got away with a bit of chronic motion anxiety and temporary homelessness.
i have very strange dreams – theyre mostly about experiencing a natural disaster – about going on a journey with a group of people and finding a new place or haven to live in because our homes have been destroyed. maybe it’s a side effect of the earthquake in 2005 but its been going on longer than that.
maybe we are going to experience a 2012 movie type situation. maybe the world is ending and even rightfully so. the logical bit of me feels that well… it is illogical. the bit of me that goes off hunches feel likewise…
… this could quite possible be the beginning of something far bigger.
2010
02.27
02.27
I am seriously not looking to putting up our worst season since 1978. I’ve been a fan for over twenty-five years and I’m finding it harder and harder. I know this is a rebuilding year and that we will probably be playoff-worthy in three years…
I just hope this works out.
I will truly miss Roy ‘Doc’ Halladay. He is my all time favorite basbeball player and it’s painful to see him pitching for the Phillies… but I guess I will have to bear. I will be rooting for the Phillies as my NL team like I normally do – theyre a working class team and play hard.
I just hope, like all jays fans that he will reach the playoffs with the Phillies. He wins the world series with them and comes back to the Jays once we’re competitive again.
Wishful thinking and all that…
Doc in his new uniform
blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
