Taleem ne jin ka kuch nahi bigara ~ Episode 2

With the Election Day looming ahead, with just one day to go before the so-called Big Day, round table conference in office has become the norm. Normally it starts with discussing the "Paid Political Advertisments" which adorn the TV screens every 15 minutes or so and proceeds to serious political discussions. But today, the discussion got so serious, that I actually raised my voice literally (aka shouted) and finally left the discussion because I got just too angry for my liking. Anger that may spill over and poison friendships.

I am, no doubt, a completely unpolitical and completely emotional person.

I may have no prove for anything. And there may be a million things wrong with my country, but I love it nonetheless. And I don't like anyone uttering a single word against it. Yet, on the other hand, I don't like people blaming America or India or Afghanistan or Iran or Iraq or, for that matter, Timbuktu for what has gone wrong with Pakistan.

I am not history savvy. I don't know politics. But I have the brains to understand and comprehend that any more violence, one other bomb blast, even if it lands outside of Pakistan premises is not going to solve any problem. Violence is NOT the solution. But the amazing thing is that, we, who call ourselves, parhay-likhay, are the ones suggesting it. Haven't we had enough blood loss? Haven't we had enough terror?

How can bomb be the solution to anything?

I am not asking to surrender if you are attacked. But why initiate the attack?

And, in any case, loss of innocent people is loss of humanity. And loss of humanity is loss for everyone, not just a single country or a nation.

I was countered by the argument that it is the foreign powers that have sown the seeds of "firqa waariyat" in us. I ask. Are we really that dumb? How come we watered the seeds and let it grow enough so that now we all sit under the shade of a tree which can only give poisonous fruits.

Till this point I argued. But what made me leave the discussion altogether is when it turned to a point when people started giving out unproven facts.

Osama never existed.
It was America.
It was India.
That blast was because of them.
That year was full of violence because of that party.

I believe that we should not speak about things we have no prove for. Who are we to say anything?

Are we sin-less? Do we claim to know things and understand people without meeting them?

These are the same group of people who claim, whenever Pakistan losses a match, that the match was fixed.

Maybe we have seen enough conspiracy movies to come to believe that behind everything there is a conspiracy. And maybe there is. But notice the usage of MAYBE. We are no ones to make any claims about others.

Moreover, I hate the over confidences with which people predict the result of elections. Again, who are we? How do we know the future?

A little change in the tone and structure of sentence can change the meaning.

If someone is very knowledgeable and considers himself an analyst of elite category, he is welcome to make predictions. But it should be just that; predictions. And NOT statements. And predictions start with phrases like "I think", "I understand". Not "I know", "I know", "I KNOW".

And again, these are the people who claim that there is no future for Pakistan.

If you can't be positive, please don't. But at least let others be positive.

If you can do no good, please don't. But at least let others do good.

A request to everyone; vote for anyone you like. But pray that Allah chooses the leader who will be the best for our Pakistan. We really do need a good leader now, don't we? But we can't know for sure who will be the best for us.

Don't say Imran Khan should come now. Or MQM will be the savior for Karachi. Pray that whoever comes is the best for the ENTIRE country, not just Karachi, not just a single city, because that is “firqa-waariyat” again, pray for the whole country, pray for Pakistan.

So, today, in Jumma Prayers, let's pray that may Allah give us the best leader. Ameen.