Some Alarming Fragments of Political and Social Realities

By:  Dr. Maqsood Jafri (New York)

The poet of nature, William Wordsworth, regarded his inspirational and mystical vision as the chosen task that satisfied his soul by creative activity in the moments of tranquility. The truthful commitment with humanity and liberty is a prophetic mission. The world is suffering from chaos only because of non-conformist thinkers, who misguide the nations for their petty interests. Pakistan is suffering because of selfish and visionless civil and military bureaucrats, sectarian clerics, capitalist politicians, and feudal lords. We need the leadership of middle class with commitment to save the country. Similarly, we see that the whole world is under the stone wall of misapprehensions, discriminations, discrepancies, disdain, and dismay. It is only because of the unjust, inhumane, irrational, insipid, and insinuating attitude of the people at the helm of affairs. Let us discuss a few points of political and social relevance and importance.

(a): The Imminent Threat of Martial Law

There is news that Mian Nawaz Sharif, the president of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), warned on Tuesday that a military coup would not be acceptable as it would further deteriorate the political situation in the country.  It is a healthy statement promoting the cause of democracy in Pakistan. It must be appreciated. But his political opponents blame him to be right hand of the late Martial Law administrator General Zia-ul-Haq who was a callous ruler and brought Pakistan to the brink of disaster.  Now Mian Sahib has become the victim of another military dictator General Pervez Musharraf; hence, he learned a lesson to oppose the military rule. I think there is nothing bad in it. Whenever you find the right path, follow it. The other question is why Mian Nawaz Sharif is all out to topple down the democratic government of Pakistan Peoples' Party. The simple answer is that he wants to become the next Prime Minister and is always finding fault or fetching loopholes to finish the government of the PPP. His critics say that he went to the Supreme Court against Mr. Hussain Haqqani, the former ambassador of Pakistan in the USA in a memo gate scandal just to involve President Asif Ali Zardari.  They further question that when he was the prime minister, he had sent his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif to America to request the American government to stop the Pakistan army from imposing martial law in Pakistan.  He himself had visited President Clinton and complained against the role of Pakistan ISI and the generals in the government policies. Was that treason? If that was not treason, then how is it that a letter written by an American citizen Munsoor Ijaz, whose authenticity and credibility are dubious and there is no solid proof of the involvement of Hussain Haqqani, is harassed. Besides, the question arises as to why Mian Sahib and other political leaders keep on expressing whims on the imminent martial law threat. The simple answer is that the military dictators of Pakistan take constitution a worthless piece of paper as General Zia-ul-Haque used to say that he can tear the constitution and throw it in the dustbin. Recently, the Secretary Defense of Pakistan wrote a note to the Supreme Court admitting that the army and the ISI are not under the control of Defense Ministry. The Prime Minister Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani, on the floor of the House, said that the state within the state will not be accepted. This shows the resentment of the politicians and public of Pakistan against the generals and ISI of Pakistan. This trend is highly hazardous for the stability of Pakistan. The army of Pakistan and the military intelligence agencies are very dear to us as they are potent and powerful institutions. But they must work under the government rules. Their independent policies can harm the country. No decision should be taken without the consent of the parliament. The parliament is the most superior institution. The ISI and army should be directly under the Defense Ministry. No government agency can be permitted to act independently. The Prime Minister is the chief executive and all institutions are under him.

(b): The Pakistan senate had passed a bill in favor of the women.

Domestic violence is a curse and is found in all countries. It needs to be eradicated. Senator Neelofar Bukhtiar presented the bill, and it was unanimously passed by the senate. It is a very healthy and positive step. Some points were highlighted in this bill such as marriage within the Quran, the rite of wani, the law of inheritance and domestic violence. I would suggest that the marriage age should also be discussed, and the law should be passed that the difference of the ages between the bride and the bride groom should not be more than five years. It is generally noted that some rich people and religious clerics marry young girls in old age and spoil the lives of these girls. Besides, we must protest as a moderate nation against the mistreatment of the women in Saudi Arabia in the name of Islam. It is a health sign that in some of the Arab countries like Dubai, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria and Abu Dhahbi, the ladies are educated and free to work and have free choice of marriage. In Saudi Arabia, the ladies are not even permitted to drive cars. They are not permitted to marry without the permission of their parents. Sometimes the parents sell their young daughters to rich old sheikhs and violate human rights. It must stop, and the ladies must be given equal rights and opportunities to live freely and honorably.

(c): The Eloquence of Lady Lanren Booth

Lady Lanren Booth is the sister-in law of Mr. Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Britain. Once, Tony Blair, in the gust of frenzy, had declared that Islam needed to be eliminated. On the tragedy of 9/11 in America, the then President of the USA, Mr. George Bush, had also said that the crusades had re-started. The whole Muslim world had condemned the atrocious act of some hardliners and expressed deep sorrow and grief on this human tragedy. But the immature and religiously frantic maniacs like neo-cons thoughtlessly started blaming the Muslims all over the world as terrorists. This is not the age of crusades. This is the age of reason. Bertrand Russell was much disturbed on the mentality of the religious hardliners. At a place he writes that ours is the age of reason, not the age of religion. I am sorry to say that he had no understanding of Islam. Islam bases on reason. It is a natural and rational religion. It has been distorted by sectarian clerics and Muslim monarchs. It needs re-interpretation. It needs reconstruction. Dr. Iqbal named his book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Qutb Shaheed of Egypt also named one of his books Islam: A Misunderstood Religion. Many people, like Tony Blair, are very anxious to eliminate Islam, but the mysterious hand of nature played its' role, and Tony Blair's sister-in-law Ms. Lanren Booth went to Qum, Iran, and studied Islam and converted. It is said that now Tony Blair has also started studying Islam. The other day, I heard the speech of Laren Booth on internet. She was addressing a big gathering in London in a meeting arranged by Al-Quds on the issue of Palestine. She was wearing a scarf and very passionately and eloquently condemned the state terrorism of Israel. She appealed to the world to take serious notice of the atrocities of the Israeli army being perpetrated on the defenseless Palestinians. She chanted the slogan, "No Justice, No Peace."  Thrice she repeated this slogan with gush and gusto. Her commitment to the genuine cause of the Palestinians moved the masses. I wish there should be peace in the Middle East and let the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims live peacefully in the region as humans like the holy family of God and all have the right to live. I also believe in the slogan chanted by her, "No Justice, No Peace."