Aik Hain Hum Aur Aik Hai Pakistan!

WE are ONE and so is PAKISTAN !

Last night, I was coming back from market; It was a Saturday night, and oddly, streets were empty, the small food shops were deserted, bakeries abandoned even the beggars were out of sight. We stopped at a tandoor to get some naans for dinner. Unusually, the lights were dimmed and the Tandoor seemed closed. As our taxi stopped, I noticed 3 shadowy figures move hesitantly. They wore prayer caps and had tasbeeh in their hands; they seemed alarmed with our presence.

When our driver returned with Naans, he told us that the shop owner is Phakhtoon; they are so terrified with latest incidents of Phakhtoon killings that they have camouflaged themselves in the gloomy darkness of the shop and prayed to find solace and to be secure!

A sharp twinge traveled deep into my heart. We keep on hearing such news, but witnessing the reality was awfully agonizing. News is not always false its not always aggrandized. Our own people are not sensing protection within their own domains. Our streets are no longer an extension of our homes. They have become corridors of crime.

We have always been one.. We have always been Pakistanis. Then what happened? Did we fell asleep and became ignorant of what has been happening in the background? Or we were well aware of noiseless movements, those invisible objects being re assembled.. We did hear those whispers but were not able to make out the meanings. We did notice those changes but that dint affect us, and how could it when we already had so many other things to worry about.

These thoughts invaded my mind. I could hear the classic national song “Sindh, Sarhad, Punjab Baluchistan…Aik hian hum aur aik hai Pakistan” and could see all those childhood memories of school assemblies, in which four students enthusiastically represented four provinces and lovingly hugged each other under Pakistani Flag... Just like brothers.

At least that’s what we saw and felt as children but will our children be chanting the same song? Will they still have same four friends to inspire them? Or will they see one shooting all three one after the other and then painting the green and white flag his own?

I am not trying to portray the worst picture here. But I think it’s about time that we should open our eyes and ears and confront the reality.

If we don’t want those four buddies to kill each other, we must notice those extras, unwanted characters on the stage; some are behind that curtain at the back… who are whispering in the ears of the friends, who are trying to edit the script. They are going to ruin the show! As soon as one of the friends is left behind, as soon as their strength weakens, these characters are going to stab him as well. They will shredder the flag and now the stage will be their own along with the silent, stunned audience; us!

Let’s wake up! Let’s pull that curtain down! Lets unmask those faces! Let’s rise up and swamp the stage, push those uninvited characters off the stage. Encircle those young brothers and let them be ONE!

~ Zahra

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For the Sake of Welfare

Rumbling train, trembling walls and shivering floors, were the few things that I noticed when I reached a private welfare school here in Karachi.

It was a fine morning; my heart was filled with excitement to visit a welfare center along with a group of O level students who wanted to spend a day for others. Sadly that feeling withered away as we reached the venue.

A slim door opened into a narrow, congested and a ceiling-less corridor. Right beside the door was a confine bathroom with a dented door. Facing it was a huge blue drum with a tap attached, beneath that an empty paint bucket was placed. On my right was a tall rack stacked with little dusty chappals. Some dead plants added to the depressing ambiance. 

As I took few steps inwards, it was heart rendering to see a whole row of tiny chairs with broken seats arranged adjacent to a wall. Classes were being conducted in room with partially covered ceiling and with walls encrusted with dust; students were settled on floor mats.

On one side of the picture was a tear jerking sight of innocent kids with little, bare feet, muddled hair, inconsistently uniformed and variably placed in classes without chairs, space and even without a proper roof and on the other hand was the discourteous attitude of the principal with volunteers who went to help them out. Well, I rather not go there.

Principal’s filled to capacity workplace, served multiple purposes. Besides being an office, it was a library, store room, dining room and even acted as a staff room. One door opened into a classroom, the other one into a small passage that could be called an exit. This passage was divided by a curtain into half; on the other side of the curtain was a filthy, fetid bathroom.

 While talking to the teachers, I made some astonishing discoveries. The teachers there had to go through a series of 2-3 year Urdu pronunciation program before they could teach students of KG! According to one senior and the most qualified teacher, she had to spend 2 years just to work on Urdu pronunciation and it was a tough course!

My heart sank and I felt I was sitting in an adobe whose base was so vulnerable, pillars too brittle; I felt the roof will rumble down anytime taking all of us with it.

Every second that I spent there made my heart heavier, partially, to see melancholy of young people; primarily, because misery was being imposed on them.

My pption of the scenario was at polarity with the common point of view. I was raged to observe that such welfare organizations are just portraying these chaste children as a symbol of misfortune, for me the organization it self was disparage in the name of “welfare”. It is no more than bandwagon.

I fail to understand the purpose of useless, broken chairs placed at the entrance when they have low desks and floor mats for the class. I can not comprehend the logic behind Urdu pronunciation course as compulsory for teachers of kindergarten. I can not grasp the purpose of such institutions. I can not foresight the future of students of such schools.

 If an organization is so impoverished and penniless, why in the world they open tens of branches all over the city with same pitiable conditions? Wont it be better to have only one center but with standards of education and teaching? A safe and pleasing place with uplifting milieu... There is no point of such schools if they can not provide something better for the kids.

I urge the government to fortify the educational standards and I request such welfare organizations to have an infrastructure and not to initiate such projects if you are already broke. It is a good thing for all of us to give something to others; every one should contribute, but let’s not embark on something with a hope to get funds.Please don’t play with the lives of these kids. They are going to so called schools but are they really learning anything? What ever people contribute dose it affect kid’s live at all? 

Let’s taste the bitter truth. It dose not!

                                           

Reactions | We Care

Writing for ireport became quite adventurous when I posted my first report without expecting the reaction.

With in few minutes of posting, Christina Zdanowicz from CNN emailed and latter called to ask few questions about the post “We Care”. The call ended up quite long. She wanted to know why I wrote this report and how was Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks.

I told her that I read Indian reactions on irport.com and it hurts to see such abhorrence for Muslims and especially Pakistanis in their hearts. I just wanted to portray what whole of Pakistan is feeling about it.

We were in shock and disturbed even terrified that Karachi could be attacked like that too. In short the discussion got quit lengthy. Christina also said that “we care” was the only response they got from Pakistan!

She asked for permissions for using my report on CNN. Within an hour CNN.com published my ireport. It was an exciting experience for me to see for my first and totally unplanned report to be the highest rated, most viewed, most shared and with highest number of comments for two days!

The comments how ever, were mostly from Indians. Every few were the encouraging one. It was dispiriting to see two or three Pakistanis participating in the discussion. There was no one to respond to the all harsh comments that we were getting from Indians.

During this eye opening experience, a Canadian also posted a reply. He was 40 and his grandparents were British. He said that he is friends with both Pakistanis and Indians and have nothing against both. He even said that he read about British history and was too angry at his ancestors that why would they steel the jewels from the sub continent. And he actually apologized for the acts of his ancestors!

I will always remember the innocence and originality with which he wrote that. And I guess that’s what we need to do!

Let’s move on.

We Care!

This is a voice from Pakistan, where we are in pain for the unnecessary loss of precious lives of Indians in recent Mumbai attacks.

Everyone here is shocked. We have been watching news and praying for the quick end of terror wave in India constantly as even our families and friends live there. It's been like this since ever. We have cultural inheritance and a sincere love for each other.

But it hurts to see Pakistan being blamed without any evidence and being threatened by Indian press, government and the army. It's another debate that why the Indian government and the intelligence agencies failed to track this plot down and how did these terrorist managed to get the ammo.

We as Pakistanis have suffered the most even before the war against terror started. Horrific memories of 1995 terror attacks are still fresh in our minds and they continued after that with different intensities. Currently we are fighting against militant groups within our country. Our bazaars, public places, government buildings, citizens in general are being targeted since many years now.

These terrorists are neither Pakistani nor Muslims; in fact they even drift away from the category of humans. No nation suffered from terror attacks like we have.

We stand with India in this time of crisis and it would be heartening if they would too.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-155418