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Sunday, June 06, 2010
Masood Hasan
The Goddess of Despair and Despondency has taken up permanent residence in this 63-year-old-country which lurches from crisis to crisis every single minute of the day. She has spread her shroud of death over this land and watches from afar as we implode within and impale without on poisoned spears that inject venom into our cancer-ridden system-less systems. It is so clear now that we do not need any enemies. No one could do a better job than us on ourselves.
Surely amongst the countrys metros, Lahore must particularly occupy a throne of shame for first allowing the bloodiest carnage one can remember and then the well-perfected act of passing the blame, looking perplexed and all the while ensuring that no one is held responsible. Were they to do that, the skies would cave in and which government wants that? So, as per script, while the government bluffed its way through another set of well-honed lies, the great custodians of law and order were the last to arrive on the scene an inexplicable hour and a half despite frantic calls from the trapped people who continued to beg the fast asleep 1122s and 15s and then waited in growing panic for succor to arrive. Any succor. When it did, the shameless Punjab Police then let off a volley of gunfire to celebrate their victory setting in motion more panic amongst the survivors and the wounded. What victory indeed? In another country where human beings live they would have been charged and dismissed. Not here.
It is always Open Season on the Ahmedis since we warped our constitution in 1973 to please those who have never been loyal to Pakistan and who the Quaid warned us about. But hear the dripping virtue from their mouths and you would think you are in the presence of divine beings. Divinity has not touched their dark souls and to think that all this happens in the nagri of Lahores patron saint, Data Ganj Baksh! Horrors. No, that kind man is no part of this city now. The patron saint of Lahore is St. Hypocrisy and the more of it, the better. It is also a shame that not a single shutter went down, not a single shop closed, not a single procession appeared. A candle light vigil brought out about a 100. The sad fact is that for most Lahoris and for that matter most Pakistanis, the elimination of this minority sect is good news indeed. No tears for them because they are evil and determined to destroy the pristine citadel of Islam. And it is not the uneducated yobs whose point of view scares you. On this issue it is the supposedly educated and liberated urbanites whose understanding and knowledge of this issue is pathetic and whose views are disturbingly myopic.
In spite of the lies, the callous indifference and a cowardly and petrified leadership all across the land, this carnage has shaken some people to the core not many I agree but quite a few who now are convinced more and more that this is no country to live in. One particularly feels sad for the younger Pakistanis, half-bigoted or not, who cannot stomach the violence, the hatred, the lawlessness and the brutality of men in whose heart no kindness ever resides it is these youngsters who have been robbed of their great carefree years. They are inundated with countless stories of violence, torture and all that is beastly in man and they cannot handle it. There is widespread talk of getting out of this hellhole and going anywhere. Even Chad looks promising. What kind of a country this has become and worse, what kind of people have we become?
We are no longer willing or able to agree to disagree and know only one way to settle any dispute by the gun. A client and lawyer have differences and the client waits an hour and a half then shoots his lawyer and throws a handful of grenades as he sails out in Lahores High Court. We used to take files and affidavits to lawyers, not weapons. What happened? When the state itself legalises killing, what do you expect? Little Bo Peep? When the state, without a debate or without even a semblance of the peoples opinion, decides it has the right to ban 800 websites and make us the laughing stock of the world, it just does so. Never mind a local court does not have the authority to pass such a decree and never mind there was a proper and effective way to nail this insult no we had to go round the bend and if we didnt, we wouldnt be what we have become. There was a time and not too long ago when the sight of a gun was a curiosity. The presence and display of huge arsenals evokes no distress any more. Our reaction to acts of terror is to heavily reinforce those areas already hit, till another area is hit.
With visionary thinking like this guiding the likes of Malik Sahib formerly from Sialkot, we dont have a hope in hell. Everyday we are all made to go through loops, obstacle courses laid out on every road where you squeeze past jutting edges, watched by men who have guns and the look of someone after a particularly heavy meal (or drug). What are they going to detect? They couldnt even spot an elephant carrying a cannon between its tusks, so what terrorists are they hoping to nab? It might be interesting to learn how many terrorists have been intercepted and caught at these comical road blocks. No prizes for guessing, unless they regard all motorcyclists terrorists because those are held up as SOP and it is as comical as the astounding revelation that the recent killers originated from Muridke and here I was stupidly thinking Muridke was famous for growing turnips.
Nothing can ever efface the pain the Ahmedi community feels. They have been at the receiving end all these years but this latest assault has raised the persecution to a new level. If there is such deafening silence from the brute majority and its brutish leaders, with or without beards, why dont we simply get rid of them, the Christians, the Hindus, the Ismailis, the Sikhs, the Bahais and whoever else is on the fringe? Get rid of the Shias too. What good have they done for Pakistan? And let us please stop kidding ourselves. We are not peace-loving, we are not tolerant, we are not filled with the milk of human kindness.
There is a blackness in our souls that is spreading and unless we take stock of it and more importantly take a good look at the mirror, we will lurch on mindlessly full of anger and fury. Pakistan, the good country that it was, has been plundered and raped beyond belief. It is not the country our fathers and mothers made. It is a cruel parody of what it could have been. We have no money, no infrastructure, no power, no law, no order, no discipline, no education, no nothing. Just about everyone lives on US$2 other than a minor few who suck us like vampires. Faujis or civilians both are the same monsters. Why have we become like this? Maybe we should ask Dorian Grey.
The writer is a Lahore-based columnist. Email: masoodhasan66@gmail.com
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Masood Hasan
The Goddess of Despair and Despondency has taken up permanent residence in this 63-year-old-country which lurches from crisis to crisis every single minute of the day. She has spread her shroud of death over this land and watches from afar as we implode within and impale without on poisoned spears that inject venom into our cancer-ridden system-less systems. It is so clear now that we do not need any enemies. No one could do a better job than us on ourselves.
Surely amongst the countrys metros, Lahore must particularly occupy a throne of shame for first allowing the bloodiest carnage one can remember and then the well-perfected act of passing the blame, looking perplexed and all the while ensuring that no one is held responsible. Were they to do that, the skies would cave in and which government wants that? So, as per script, while the government bluffed its way through another set of well-honed lies, the great custodians of law and order were the last to arrive on the scene an inexplicable hour and a half despite frantic calls from the trapped people who continued to beg the fast asleep 1122s and 15s and then waited in growing panic for succor to arrive. Any succor. When it did, the shameless Punjab Police then let off a volley of gunfire to celebrate their victory setting in motion more panic amongst the survivors and the wounded. What victory indeed? In another country where human beings live they would have been charged and dismissed. Not here.
It is always Open Season on the Ahmedis since we warped our constitution in 1973 to please those who have never been loyal to Pakistan and who the Quaid warned us about. But hear the dripping virtue from their mouths and you would think you are in the presence of divine beings. Divinity has not touched their dark souls and to think that all this happens in the nagri of Lahores patron saint, Data Ganj Baksh! Horrors. No, that kind man is no part of this city now. The patron saint of Lahore is St. Hypocrisy and the more of it, the better. It is also a shame that not a single shutter went down, not a single shop closed, not a single procession appeared. A candle light vigil brought out about a 100. The sad fact is that for most Lahoris and for that matter most Pakistanis, the elimination of this minority sect is good news indeed. No tears for them because they are evil and determined to destroy the pristine citadel of Islam. And it is not the uneducated yobs whose point of view scares you. On this issue it is the supposedly educated and liberated urbanites whose understanding and knowledge of this issue is pathetic and whose views are disturbingly myopic.
In spite of the lies, the callous indifference and a cowardly and petrified leadership all across the land, this carnage has shaken some people to the core not many I agree but quite a few who now are convinced more and more that this is no country to live in. One particularly feels sad for the younger Pakistanis, half-bigoted or not, who cannot stomach the violence, the hatred, the lawlessness and the brutality of men in whose heart no kindness ever resides it is these youngsters who have been robbed of their great carefree years. They are inundated with countless stories of violence, torture and all that is beastly in man and they cannot handle it. There is widespread talk of getting out of this hellhole and going anywhere. Even Chad looks promising. What kind of a country this has become and worse, what kind of people have we become?
We are no longer willing or able to agree to disagree and know only one way to settle any dispute by the gun. A client and lawyer have differences and the client waits an hour and a half then shoots his lawyer and throws a handful of grenades as he sails out in Lahores High Court. We used to take files and affidavits to lawyers, not weapons. What happened? When the state itself legalises killing, what do you expect? Little Bo Peep? When the state, without a debate or without even a semblance of the peoples opinion, decides it has the right to ban 800 websites and make us the laughing stock of the world, it just does so. Never mind a local court does not have the authority to pass such a decree and never mind there was a proper and effective way to nail this insult no we had to go round the bend and if we didnt, we wouldnt be what we have become. There was a time and not too long ago when the sight of a gun was a curiosity. The presence and display of huge arsenals evokes no distress any more. Our reaction to acts of terror is to heavily reinforce those areas already hit, till another area is hit.
With visionary thinking like this guiding the likes of Malik Sahib formerly from Sialkot, we dont have a hope in hell. Everyday we are all made to go through loops, obstacle courses laid out on every road where you squeeze past jutting edges, watched by men who have guns and the look of someone after a particularly heavy meal (or drug). What are they going to detect? They couldnt even spot an elephant carrying a cannon between its tusks, so what terrorists are they hoping to nab? It might be interesting to learn how many terrorists have been intercepted and caught at these comical road blocks. No prizes for guessing, unless they regard all motorcyclists terrorists because those are held up as SOP and it is as comical as the astounding revelation that the recent killers originated from Muridke and here I was stupidly thinking Muridke was famous for growing turnips.
Nothing can ever efface the pain the Ahmedi community feels. They have been at the receiving end all these years but this latest assault has raised the persecution to a new level. If there is such deafening silence from the brute majority and its brutish leaders, with or without beards, why dont we simply get rid of them, the Christians, the Hindus, the Ismailis, the Sikhs, the Bahais and whoever else is on the fringe? Get rid of the Shias too. What good have they done for Pakistan? And let us please stop kidding ourselves. We are not peace-loving, we are not tolerant, we are not filled with the milk of human kindness.
There is a blackness in our souls that is spreading and unless we take stock of it and more importantly take a good look at the mirror, we will lurch on mindlessly full of anger and fury. Pakistan, the good country that it was, has been plundered and raped beyond belief. It is not the country our fathers and mothers made. It is a cruel parody of what it could have been. We have no money, no infrastructure, no power, no law, no order, no discipline, no education, no nothing. Just about everyone lives on US$2 other than a minor few who suck us like vampires. Faujis or civilians both are the same monsters. Why have we become like this? Maybe we should ask Dorian Grey.
The writer is a Lahore-based columnist. Email: masoodhasan66@gmail.com
