There has been urging from the Islamic world and even less domestically for Pakistan to recognize the newly independent state of Kosovo. But as also quite known, countries like Serbia and others in Europe would not approve of such a move.
This could affect our strategic relationship in the West much like the way we had to be careful when dealing with the Northern Cyprus issue in order to save our relations with Greece and the EU. So far it has been successful by Pakistan not recognizing Northern Cyprus.
The same was true in the case of Libya when the Pakistani government was openly hesitant on weather to maintain it's diplomatic relations to the Gaddafi regime or weather to take the side of the new rulers who were at that time rebels due to Gaddafi and his forces being in much control of Libya.
We were urged to recognize the new Libyan regime and from what I read, the Libyan embassy in Islamabad even voluntarily raised the new regime's flag signalling they were ready to accept their most likely new leaders.
But still Pakistan hesitated. Then a few weeks later, the rebels became victorious. Gaddafi was killed and the will of the Libyan people prevailed. That was the right time and until then Pakistan kept a neutral stance. NATO and the EU had recognized the new regime the whole time, but Pakistan waited until the time was just ripe and it worked just fine.
The same example must be learned in regards to Kosovo. Pakistan must reject pressure from both the Balkan and Eastern European countries as well as the Islamic world. If any UN resolution is cast on the recognition of Kosovo, Pakistan must abstain. Only until a compromise between both sides in favor of and against an independent Kosovo is realized, Pakistan should not pick sides.
Though I do favor Pakistan not being involved in affairs that do not concern it, there are still a few interests to protect and strategic alliances to be made/maintained; hence any sort of premature move could have difficult consequences.
Pakistan can start by learning from the Libyan conflict for a "right time" to recognize or not recognize Kosovo.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Spending our foreign aid the right way
I'm not referring to the foreign aid we receive and are supposed to use on development. I'm referring to the foreign we give to other countries and people when needed.
We as a country have a strange history of giving foreign aid to countries in need. Sometimes it is out of sympathy or sometimes it is a desperate bid to paint a positive image of our country. We have clearly done this the wrong way and seem to continue to do it this way.
Take for example the recent earthquake in Haiti. Pakistan sent both aid and support teams consisting of doctors, aid workers etc. What has Haiti done for us? It is not that I oppose giving aid to those in need, but shouldn't countries that helped us come first? Is not your obligation as a country or even as an individual to first help those who have helped you in your time of need?
So what were we doing when European countries suffered from floods more than once in the past ten years? Europe has given Pakistan millions, perhaps billions of dollars of aid this past decade.
Aside from our people residing in these countries contributing aid and volunteering to help, Pakistan officially never provided any as far as I know. And if we didn't my best guess is that it was on the basis that we are a poor country and can't afford to spare much money.
But strangely enough we gave aid to Haiti, provided three million dollars to the Palestinian Authority in early 2006. Today we waste goodness knows how many millions of dollars on building universities and hospitals in Afghanistan in a failed bid to win popularity there and to counter Indian influence there.
How long does it take our government and people to learn from history to the present day? Afghans have hated us since our independence because they refuse to accept the Durand Line.
Because of this they have attempted to wage several wars against us in an effort to "take back" what they wrongly perceive as theirs. We have hosted the largest Afghan population living abroad for more than twenty years and our image hasn't changed the slightest bit amongst them. Instead we suffer from the problem caused by these refugees.
Even if not for a common alliance with India on the basis of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Afghans will never show the least bit of gratitude to Pakistanis.
Instead of wasting millions of dollars on countries that could not and/or did not help us, we should have spent this on helping Europe when dealing with floods themselves or any other natural disaster.
Not only would it have given us an image in Europe besides being a beggar nation so dependent on their charity, but also a reliable partner in Asia. One that not only returns the favor in times of need, but also a useful country to trade with and invest in.
We gave aid to Turkey and China in times of need because they are our closest allies. In these cases we are right to do so considering they have done much for us, especially in times of need. Iran is not considered an ally, nor is it a trustworthy neighbor, but we also remember to return help when in need.
Imagine what we could have achieved by spending the same amounts we waste on Afghanistan or other countries that give us nothing useful in return. If we were a rich and strong country that could afford to help any other country in need, then by all means I would welcome that, but we are not so we have to be careful how we spend our aid.
We are sadly an overpopulated, impoverished third world country with a limited budget. Even when richer countries than us like the Russian Federation suffered what was possibly the worst set of heat waves in it's recorded history, causing terrible destruction and taking thousands of lives.
But regardless of all this, it sent aid to Pakistan which was suffering from devastating floods at the same time.
Above: A freighter version of a Boeing 747-400 owned by Air Bridge Cargo delivering aid to Pakistan on behalf of the Russian government. Click on images to enlarge.
I really hate to think this plane(s) flew back empty. This was all despite the Russian Federation in grave problems at the time and receiving aid itself from other countries. If only we had been more sensible, we could have donated some simple products that we produce such as medical instruments or any other equipment we could spare from fire proof suits to oxygen masks since we ourselves were not suffering from massive fires or heatwaves at the time. The plane's return flight would not have been an empty one had we done this.
Not sending aid to those who helped us several times in the past while spending/wasting aid on those who never helped us is not only bad gesture, but also morally puts us in dept to those who have.
As for Afghanistan, we don't need to waste out money to "improve" our already tainted image in that country. Granted we have our own interests in Afghanistan to fend off political partnerships and installations planted there by our enemies as well as making future preparations to use that country as a trade route between Pakistan and Central Asia, we are going about this the wrong way.
Should Afghanistan bother us or try to blackmail us in the future with the help of another country, we can fight fire with fire. And if the Afghans threaten to cut us off from Central Asia, we can place an embargo that will be much more damaging for that landlocked country.
I also doubt Central Asian states will be happy of being cut off from the outside world due to Afghanistan's stubbornness and will probably impose an embargo on Afghanistan well. This will further isolate Afghanistan even more till it decides to be reasonable again.
We have to realize that we are the country with the advantage, not Afghanistan. We are a nuclear power, not Afghanistan. We have access to open sea, not Afghanistan.
We do not need to bribe the Afghans with wasted charity to stop them from playing their dirty political proxy games against us. All we need to show them is we turn the tables on them, and we did so in the past.
Our reckless policy of wasting what precious money we can spare to satisfy our obsession of Islamic Ummah or some other useless cause sadly cannot be reversed. But it can serve as a good lesson for returning help to those who did it for us in the past. That is what Islam encourages.
Is it not a contradiction that we call ourselves Muslims but do not live by basic Islamic principles of returning help to those who have given it to us? Instead we divert help to those who simply share this belief as "fellow Muslims" but don't live by it.
We call ourselves Muslim, the Muslims we help for the sake of being Muslims or at least calling themselves Muslim, but we are unwilling to live up by our Islamic principles by not giving aid to countries we owe; hence we contradict ourselves by playing the religious card and not spending our foreign aid the way we should be.
We as a country have a strange history of giving foreign aid to countries in need. Sometimes it is out of sympathy or sometimes it is a desperate bid to paint a positive image of our country. We have clearly done this the wrong way and seem to continue to do it this way.
Take for example the recent earthquake in Haiti. Pakistan sent both aid and support teams consisting of doctors, aid workers etc. What has Haiti done for us? It is not that I oppose giving aid to those in need, but shouldn't countries that helped us come first? Is not your obligation as a country or even as an individual to first help those who have helped you in your time of need?
So what were we doing when European countries suffered from floods more than once in the past ten years? Europe has given Pakistan millions, perhaps billions of dollars of aid this past decade.
Aside from our people residing in these countries contributing aid and volunteering to help, Pakistan officially never provided any as far as I know. And if we didn't my best guess is that it was on the basis that we are a poor country and can't afford to spare much money.
But strangely enough we gave aid to Haiti, provided three million dollars to the Palestinian Authority in early 2006. Today we waste goodness knows how many millions of dollars on building universities and hospitals in Afghanistan in a failed bid to win popularity there and to counter Indian influence there.
How long does it take our government and people to learn from history to the present day? Afghans have hated us since our independence because they refuse to accept the Durand Line.
Because of this they have attempted to wage several wars against us in an effort to "take back" what they wrongly perceive as theirs. We have hosted the largest Afghan population living abroad for more than twenty years and our image hasn't changed the slightest bit amongst them. Instead we suffer from the problem caused by these refugees.
Even if not for a common alliance with India on the basis of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Afghans will never show the least bit of gratitude to Pakistanis.
Instead of wasting millions of dollars on countries that could not and/or did not help us, we should have spent this on helping Europe when dealing with floods themselves or any other natural disaster.
Not only would it have given us an image in Europe besides being a beggar nation so dependent on their charity, but also a reliable partner in Asia. One that not only returns the favor in times of need, but also a useful country to trade with and invest in.
We gave aid to Turkey and China in times of need because they are our closest allies. In these cases we are right to do so considering they have done much for us, especially in times of need. Iran is not considered an ally, nor is it a trustworthy neighbor, but we also remember to return help when in need.
Imagine what we could have achieved by spending the same amounts we waste on Afghanistan or other countries that give us nothing useful in return. If we were a rich and strong country that could afford to help any other country in need, then by all means I would welcome that, but we are not so we have to be careful how we spend our aid.
We are sadly an overpopulated, impoverished third world country with a limited budget. Even when richer countries than us like the Russian Federation suffered what was possibly the worst set of heat waves in it's recorded history, causing terrible destruction and taking thousands of lives.
But regardless of all this, it sent aid to Pakistan which was suffering from devastating floods at the same time.
Above: A freighter version of a Boeing 747-400 owned by Air Bridge Cargo delivering aid to Pakistan on behalf of the Russian government. Click on images to enlarge.
I really hate to think this plane(s) flew back empty. This was all despite the Russian Federation in grave problems at the time and receiving aid itself from other countries. If only we had been more sensible, we could have donated some simple products that we produce such as medical instruments or any other equipment we could spare from fire proof suits to oxygen masks since we ourselves were not suffering from massive fires or heatwaves at the time. The plane's return flight would not have been an empty one had we done this.
Not sending aid to those who helped us several times in the past while spending/wasting aid on those who never helped us is not only bad gesture, but also morally puts us in dept to those who have.
As for Afghanistan, we don't need to waste out money to "improve" our already tainted image in that country. Granted we have our own interests in Afghanistan to fend off political partnerships and installations planted there by our enemies as well as making future preparations to use that country as a trade route between Pakistan and Central Asia, we are going about this the wrong way.
Should Afghanistan bother us or try to blackmail us in the future with the help of another country, we can fight fire with fire. And if the Afghans threaten to cut us off from Central Asia, we can place an embargo that will be much more damaging for that landlocked country.
I also doubt Central Asian states will be happy of being cut off from the outside world due to Afghanistan's stubbornness and will probably impose an embargo on Afghanistan well. This will further isolate Afghanistan even more till it decides to be reasonable again.
We have to realize that we are the country with the advantage, not Afghanistan. We are a nuclear power, not Afghanistan. We have access to open sea, not Afghanistan.
We do not need to bribe the Afghans with wasted charity to stop them from playing their dirty political proxy games against us. All we need to show them is we turn the tables on them, and we did so in the past.
Our reckless policy of wasting what precious money we can spare to satisfy our obsession of Islamic Ummah or some other useless cause sadly cannot be reversed. But it can serve as a good lesson for returning help to those who did it for us in the past. That is what Islam encourages.
Is it not a contradiction that we call ourselves Muslims but do not live by basic Islamic principles of returning help to those who have given it to us? Instead we divert help to those who simply share this belief as "fellow Muslims" but don't live by it.
We call ourselves Muslim, the Muslims we help for the sake of being Muslims or at least calling themselves Muslim, but we are unwilling to live up by our Islamic principles by not giving aid to countries we owe; hence we contradict ourselves by playing the religious card and not spending our foreign aid the way we should be.
Monday, October 31, 2011
CIA on recruitment spree in Pakistan
On my previous posts on the Raymond Davis affair, I claimed that Davis and other armed Americans in Pakistan are getting their weapons and equipment with the help of Afghan spies on both sides of the Durand line. Click the link to read the full news clip:
CIA on recruitment spree in Pakistan
CIA on recruitment spree in Pakistan
Friday, October 14, 2011
Why did Raymond Davis shoot two men in Lahore?
This is probably my forth post on Raymond Davis. Who thought we'd see him again in the news ever since he's been long gone away from Pakistan? My reason for posting is his actions are now once again in focus, but this time over an assault charge in the USA. He is due to make his next court appearance in December but meantime more detailed reports have stated that he went into an aggressive behavior against a fifty year old man over a parking dispute. He's been accused of fracturing the victim's face. Reports claimed the victim's wife and two little girls were in the car, his little girls screaming out of fear when Davis assaulted and screamed at him. I don't know how true that is but I did see the victim speaking to a news agency and his face bruised with injuries.
Then the latest reports reveal that Davis has been told by the judge to go through an anger management program and has been banned from carrying weapons in the state of Colorado. The victim and his family along with most witnesses claim Davis behaved aggressively. Some witnesses who seem to have appeared late to the scene claim he hadn't seen Davis throw a single punch at Jeff Maes. Below is a report of the incident after it first happened:
US court indicts Raymond Davis
The judges decision combined with all these claims takes us back to the important question of why Davis acted so recklessly in Lahore by shooting two Pakistani men in an open street on broad daylight.
There were many differing guesses as to why he did it:
-The men were ISI agents. This was the most popular claim though I still see no evidence of this and showed my reasons in another post on the whole affair.
-The men were robbers trying to rob him. This was first made by Davis and then repeated by the American diplomatic mission to Pakistan and was aided by the Pakistani fifth column. This was all rejected by a detailed police report on the incident which revealed Davis shot the victims in the back.
Also according to witnesses Davis had shot the second victim while he attempted to run away from the scene.
It is known that one of the victims Faizan Haider was carrying a pistol and this fact was used as an effort to defend Davis by the American diplomatic mission as well as the fifth columnist Irfan Husain.
But police investigation also revealed that it was a registered weapon and acquired by Haider due to being witness to a crime. In fact he was just returning from court when he was shot dead by Davis.
-Davis killed the two men out of misunderstanding. This was my reason and probably now seems more valid that the rest. Davis claimed the two men were following him. I had maintained the whole time that their path coincided with Davis' which gave him the false impression that they were following him.
When he saw Faizan Haider's gun, he thought he was right and fired out of fear for being attacked.
-Another not so well known reason is that Davis fired to divert attention and let the CIA car escape that was carrying important material which also killed Ibadur Rahman.
This should not be ruled out as it is a tactical move.
But if it was not, then we are left with the other more known reasons. My reason seems strongest now after this incident of aggressive behavior. It shows Davis tends to respond to threats and misunderstandings violently.
His misunderstanding in Lahore is what most likely revealed the CIA's covert operations after he was arrested. After all which secret agent would shoot two people in broad daylight in a crowded street?
Unless the last reason is correct I believe it was his own aggressive behavior that caused him to shoot Faizan Haider and his friend Fahim. This parking lot fight and the judge's order to take anger management reveals his violent nature.
We may learn more in the coming days if more reports of his trial emerge.
Then the latest reports reveal that Davis has been told by the judge to go through an anger management program and has been banned from carrying weapons in the state of Colorado. The victim and his family along with most witnesses claim Davis behaved aggressively. Some witnesses who seem to have appeared late to the scene claim he hadn't seen Davis throw a single punch at Jeff Maes. Below is a report of the incident after it first happened:
US court indicts Raymond Davis
The judges decision combined with all these claims takes us back to the important question of why Davis acted so recklessly in Lahore by shooting two Pakistani men in an open street on broad daylight.
There were many differing guesses as to why he did it:
-The men were ISI agents. This was the most popular claim though I still see no evidence of this and showed my reasons in another post on the whole affair.
-The men were robbers trying to rob him. This was first made by Davis and then repeated by the American diplomatic mission to Pakistan and was aided by the Pakistani fifth column. This was all rejected by a detailed police report on the incident which revealed Davis shot the victims in the back.
Also according to witnesses Davis had shot the second victim while he attempted to run away from the scene.
It is known that one of the victims Faizan Haider was carrying a pistol and this fact was used as an effort to defend Davis by the American diplomatic mission as well as the fifth columnist Irfan Husain.
But police investigation also revealed that it was a registered weapon and acquired by Haider due to being witness to a crime. In fact he was just returning from court when he was shot dead by Davis.
-Davis killed the two men out of misunderstanding. This was my reason and probably now seems more valid that the rest. Davis claimed the two men were following him. I had maintained the whole time that their path coincided with Davis' which gave him the false impression that they were following him.
When he saw Faizan Haider's gun, he thought he was right and fired out of fear for being attacked.
-Another not so well known reason is that Davis fired to divert attention and let the CIA car escape that was carrying important material which also killed Ibadur Rahman.
This should not be ruled out as it is a tactical move.
But if it was not, then we are left with the other more known reasons. My reason seems strongest now after this incident of aggressive behavior. It shows Davis tends to respond to threats and misunderstandings violently.
His misunderstanding in Lahore is what most likely revealed the CIA's covert operations after he was arrested. After all which secret agent would shoot two people in broad daylight in a crowded street?
Unless the last reason is correct I believe it was his own aggressive behavior that caused him to shoot Faizan Haider and his friend Fahim. This parking lot fight and the judge's order to take anger management reveals his violent nature.
We may learn more in the coming days if more reports of his trial emerge.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Should Bollywood be banned in Pakistan?
Many socially and politically conscious Pakistanis have expressed disapproval of Bollywood and called for it's complete ban in Pakistan.
Bollywood is known for it's anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam propaganda. From what I've read is that Bollywood was officially banned in Pakistan decades ago and the only availability of it is on Indian channels and in the form of piracy.
Bollywood and it's anti-Pakistan themes are also popular amongst the Muhajir community who have an attachment to India.
Throughout Pakistani video and music stores pirated Bollywood music, movies and dramas can be found. This is what anti-Bollywood Pakistanis need to take into consideration before calling for it's complete ban. All the Bollywood movies, dramas and music that are bought and sold in Pakistan do not give profit to those involved in producing these songs, dramas and movies.
All revenue from the sales go to the people who illegally copy and sell them. We would be taking away a large amount of contribution to our economy.
The piracy of Bollywood movies does not help the enemy, only gives them massive losses.
I know that some can argue it is not much of a loss considering Bollywood keeps on growing both in popularity as well as financially.
But I still do not believe that banning the movie industry will solve the problem.
Most likely the piracy companies will only turn to stealing Pakistani dramas and movies which will hurt our already weak movie industry even more. We would suffer economic losses.
These are all my arguments in favor of allowing Bollywood movies to be sold in Pakistan. But it does not mean that I approve of all the anti-Pakistan propaganda many Bollywood films/shows and possibly songs contain.
Because of this I believe in an alternate idea than to those who call for their complete ban. Since piracy of Bollywood generates large sums of profit for Pakistan but nothing for India, I would be against their complete banning but instead have them censored. Any Bollywood film that contains historic revisionism or political propaganda should be banned while leaving out those movies that have no such content.
I have no problems with banning Indian channels in Pakistan since banning them will give no revenue to those who wish to use them to spread anti-Pakistan propaganda.
I believe the availability of Bollywood in Pakistan should be restricted to pirated CDs and DVDs.
And as already mentioned it should be restricted to movies that don't contain anti-Pakistan propaganda. Even better would be to allow movies/shows containing anti-Pakistan propaganda to be sold but have the propaganda content from them removed.
All this will bring benefits to the Pakistani economy and create losses for anti-Pakistan producers in India.
So to answer the question of weather Bollywood should be banned in Pakistan is no but instead to restrict it's distribution in our country.
Bollywood is known for it's anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam propaganda. From what I've read is that Bollywood was officially banned in Pakistan decades ago and the only availability of it is on Indian channels and in the form of piracy.
Bollywood and it's anti-Pakistan themes are also popular amongst the Muhajir community who have an attachment to India.
Throughout Pakistani video and music stores pirated Bollywood music, movies and dramas can be found. This is what anti-Bollywood Pakistanis need to take into consideration before calling for it's complete ban. All the Bollywood movies, dramas and music that are bought and sold in Pakistan do not give profit to those involved in producing these songs, dramas and movies.
All revenue from the sales go to the people who illegally copy and sell them. We would be taking away a large amount of contribution to our economy.
The piracy of Bollywood movies does not help the enemy, only gives them massive losses.
I know that some can argue it is not much of a loss considering Bollywood keeps on growing both in popularity as well as financially.
But I still do not believe that banning the movie industry will solve the problem.
Most likely the piracy companies will only turn to stealing Pakistani dramas and movies which will hurt our already weak movie industry even more. We would suffer economic losses.
These are all my arguments in favor of allowing Bollywood movies to be sold in Pakistan. But it does not mean that I approve of all the anti-Pakistan propaganda many Bollywood films/shows and possibly songs contain.
Because of this I believe in an alternate idea than to those who call for their complete ban. Since piracy of Bollywood generates large sums of profit for Pakistan but nothing for India, I would be against their complete banning but instead have them censored. Any Bollywood film that contains historic revisionism or political propaganda should be banned while leaving out those movies that have no such content.
I have no problems with banning Indian channels in Pakistan since banning them will give no revenue to those who wish to use them to spread anti-Pakistan propaganda.
I believe the availability of Bollywood in Pakistan should be restricted to pirated CDs and DVDs.
And as already mentioned it should be restricted to movies that don't contain anti-Pakistan propaganda. Even better would be to allow movies/shows containing anti-Pakistan propaganda to be sold but have the propaganda content from them removed.
All this will bring benefits to the Pakistani economy and create losses for anti-Pakistan producers in India.
So to answer the question of weather Bollywood should be banned in Pakistan is no but instead to restrict it's distribution in our country.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Pakistan needs a new and more effective national anthem
Pakistan's national anthem is one strange anthem that lacks passion and patriotism. For one it is in an old, outdated, Persian influenced dialect of Urdu that Pakistanis do not understand save for a few words.
Because of this the anthem has been ridiculed and mocked by many. Due to it's Persian influence, it is propagated by many to be in the Persian/Farsi language when that is clearly not the case. Even though there are national anthems of countries that the majority of the population does not understand, it doesn't mean Pakistan needs such a useless national anthem.
Not only are most of the words incomprehensible and meaningless to the country's unity, but the rhythm of the national anthem is also weak and does not hold a sense of patriotism.
Pakistan is a country that currently lacks unity and struggles with ethnic tension as well as political and religious divides. A powerful national anthem is one that contain two main important components:
1) A strong theme that is acceptable to all it's citizens. It must have ideologies that speak in favor of progress, unity and similar ideas that appeals to the entire population free of discrimination in any area be it religion, ethnicity or any other.
2) It must have a powerful rhythm. A rhythm is equally important to the self-respect and patriotism of a country by it's people. Many national anthems are weak in this respect and that includes Pakistan's current national anthem. I find patriotic songs are even more popular amongst Pakistanis than is the national anthem.
A new national anthem should be created fitting both categories and inclusive of all our main ethnic groups. If it is not inclusive of all our religions, then religion should be left out since Pakistan was meant to be a secular state.
An even more preferable and suitable national anthem would be one that encourages our unity as a predominantly Indo-Iranic people be it Baloch, Pakhtun (Iranic), Sindhi, Punjabi (Indo-Aryan) or Kashmiri (Dardic).
Such an anthem would significantly contribute to the feeling of patriotism towards our country and common ancestry as Indo-Iranic peoples. It should be made available and singable in all our country's spoken languages. A day should come when our new national anthem is created and finalized and set to be played on our independence anniversary on fourteenth August.
The current national anthem does not suit the needs of a country and lacks the main components a powerful and patriotic national anthem needs to promote unity and pride amongst the people.
I look forward to the day this useless anthem is scratched out in favor of a new and effective national anthem.
Below are examples of national anthems (note that some of these are not officially in use) that are strongly patriotic if one searches their lyrics. These are examples we need to learn from in order to come up with our new national anthem for it would be disaster if a new anthem is a failure like the current one:
Because of this the anthem has been ridiculed and mocked by many. Due to it's Persian influence, it is propagated by many to be in the Persian/Farsi language when that is clearly not the case. Even though there are national anthems of countries that the majority of the population does not understand, it doesn't mean Pakistan needs such a useless national anthem.
Not only are most of the words incomprehensible and meaningless to the country's unity, but the rhythm of the national anthem is also weak and does not hold a sense of patriotism.
Pakistan is a country that currently lacks unity and struggles with ethnic tension as well as political and religious divides. A powerful national anthem is one that contain two main important components:
1) A strong theme that is acceptable to all it's citizens. It must have ideologies that speak in favor of progress, unity and similar ideas that appeals to the entire population free of discrimination in any area be it religion, ethnicity or any other.
2) It must have a powerful rhythm. A rhythm is equally important to the self-respect and patriotism of a country by it's people. Many national anthems are weak in this respect and that includes Pakistan's current national anthem. I find patriotic songs are even more popular amongst Pakistanis than is the national anthem.
A new national anthem should be created fitting both categories and inclusive of all our main ethnic groups. If it is not inclusive of all our religions, then religion should be left out since Pakistan was meant to be a secular state.
An even more preferable and suitable national anthem would be one that encourages our unity as a predominantly Indo-Iranic people be it Baloch, Pakhtun (Iranic), Sindhi, Punjabi (Indo-Aryan) or Kashmiri (Dardic).
Such an anthem would significantly contribute to the feeling of patriotism towards our country and common ancestry as Indo-Iranic peoples. It should be made available and singable in all our country's spoken languages. A day should come when our new national anthem is created and finalized and set to be played on our independence anniversary on fourteenth August.
The current national anthem does not suit the needs of a country and lacks the main components a powerful and patriotic national anthem needs to promote unity and pride amongst the people.
I look forward to the day this useless anthem is scratched out in favor of a new and effective national anthem.
Below are examples of national anthems (note that some of these are not officially in use) that are strongly patriotic if one searches their lyrics. These are examples we need to learn from in order to come up with our new national anthem for it would be disaster if a new anthem is a failure like the current one:
ISI "harassing" Pakistani expatriates?
A few months back I found news articles from the American press about the ISI monitoring and allegedly "harassing" Baloch separatists hiding in America.
Unfortunately I am unable to locate and link these but wish to do so as soon as I find them. But regardless my memory on their message is quite clear. America and the West have always had their set of double standards when dealing with fugitives and separatists.
Even their covert operations around the world by their intelligence agencies is perfectly normal because to them it's dealing with terrorism and they have the full rights to do whatever they please to suit their interest.
After all that is what the American government has stated repeatedly that they will do whatever it takes to protect American lives. They usually state this when confronted on civilian casualties and other collateral damage.
When there are Al-Queda terrorists suspected of hiding in a certain country, either it is bombed and invaded or American intelligence agencies are dispatched to target these suspects. These operation are done with no regards to international law.
Even the European side has it's share of hypocrisy when dealing with Basque separatists or Irish Republican Army (IRA) members. They must be found and caught at all costs according to European governments.
Readers may not know, but there are plentiful Baloch and Sindhi separatist organizations in Western countries, some with close ties to the Indian intelligence and to the Afghan government.
There was even a case of the Pakistani government seeking extrication of a Baloch separatist leader from the Swiss government.
That case is still pending. But of course when Western governments need to go hunting for fugitives, they step up their extradition cases. And if not valid, they dispatch their spies to become the judges, jury and executioners.
If a fugitive wanted by the West is in a country that refuses to extradite him/her, that country is "guilty" of "harboring terrorism."
So why is it then that when Pakistan is dealing with separatists; especially those acquainted with it's traditional enemies -India and Afghanistan- that it is not entitled to track down these individuals? Also given that Western countries do not simply extradite criminals wanted by the countries they left.
They host them on "humanitarian grounds" and claim that they are "persecuted" in their home countries. In many cases this is true. But what happens when proven criminals such as Altaf Hussain run abroad and claim asylum to escape justice in their home countries?
Even amongst advocates of greater autonomy for the Pakistani provinces are brutally abducted, tortured and killed. But why is it that when Western governments and intelligence agencies behave like this, it is perfectly normal and justified in the name of protecting sovereignty?
So why is it any different when the Pakistani ISI is seeking out Baloch separatists working on behest of the Indian and Afghan governments and threaten the integrity of Pakistan? Plus it is unlikely America has agreed to extradite them otherwise there would be no place for them in America.
So since America does not extradite people wanted in other countries but insists other countries give it such a courtesy, what is the big deal about the ISI tracking these fugitives which the US media describes as "harassing?" Add to that the CIA has a history of illegal covert operations to target alleged terrorists.
The ISI is doing the same in this case. But because the ISI is doing it, it is dubbed by the hypocrite American media as "harassment."
Especially when it was clearly mentioned in those reports that the alleged "victims" were Baloch separatists.
There's little doubt in my mind that the ISI was doing what it was supposed to and that is protecting the sovereignty of Pakistan. They are going about this wrong way. They need to dismantle such activities through negotiations and should turn to military tactics only as a last resort. But because it was the ISI doing this to pro-Indian/Afghan Baloch separatists and not the CIA doing this to Al-Qaeda operatives, it is "harassment" at least according to the US propaganda media.
One has to remember that many Baloch and Sindhi organizations, though not all, have this same set of double standards and hypocrisy. When they get help from the Indian government or the Afghan Mellat, they try to justify it.
But when the Pakistani ISI gives the same support to ethnic and religious minorities in India and Afghanistan, they dub it as "supporting terrorists."
In this case until we can carefully study the cases of the ISI "harassing" Indian/Afghan backed Baloch separatists hiding in America, it should be interpreted as protecting Pakistan's sovereignty from those seen as dangerous obstacles to the country's harmony and not some innocent victims as anti-Pakistan lobbies around the world depict it as.
Unfortunately I am unable to locate and link these but wish to do so as soon as I find them. But regardless my memory on their message is quite clear. America and the West have always had their set of double standards when dealing with fugitives and separatists.
Even their covert operations around the world by their intelligence agencies is perfectly normal because to them it's dealing with terrorism and they have the full rights to do whatever they please to suit their interest.
After all that is what the American government has stated repeatedly that they will do whatever it takes to protect American lives. They usually state this when confronted on civilian casualties and other collateral damage.
When there are Al-Queda terrorists suspected of hiding in a certain country, either it is bombed and invaded or American intelligence agencies are dispatched to target these suspects. These operation are done with no regards to international law.
Even the European side has it's share of hypocrisy when dealing with Basque separatists or Irish Republican Army (IRA) members. They must be found and caught at all costs according to European governments.
Readers may not know, but there are plentiful Baloch and Sindhi separatist organizations in Western countries, some with close ties to the Indian intelligence and to the Afghan government.
There was even a case of the Pakistani government seeking extrication of a Baloch separatist leader from the Swiss government.
That case is still pending. But of course when Western governments need to go hunting for fugitives, they step up their extradition cases. And if not valid, they dispatch their spies to become the judges, jury and executioners.
If a fugitive wanted by the West is in a country that refuses to extradite him/her, that country is "guilty" of "harboring terrorism."
So why is it then that when Pakistan is dealing with separatists; especially those acquainted with it's traditional enemies -India and Afghanistan- that it is not entitled to track down these individuals? Also given that Western countries do not simply extradite criminals wanted by the countries they left.
They host them on "humanitarian grounds" and claim that they are "persecuted" in their home countries. In many cases this is true. But what happens when proven criminals such as Altaf Hussain run abroad and claim asylum to escape justice in their home countries?
Even amongst advocates of greater autonomy for the Pakistani provinces are brutally abducted, tortured and killed. But why is it that when Western governments and intelligence agencies behave like this, it is perfectly normal and justified in the name of protecting sovereignty?
So why is it any different when the Pakistani ISI is seeking out Baloch separatists working on behest of the Indian and Afghan governments and threaten the integrity of Pakistan? Plus it is unlikely America has agreed to extradite them otherwise there would be no place for them in America.
So since America does not extradite people wanted in other countries but insists other countries give it such a courtesy, what is the big deal about the ISI tracking these fugitives which the US media describes as "harassing?" Add to that the CIA has a history of illegal covert operations to target alleged terrorists.
The ISI is doing the same in this case. But because the ISI is doing it, it is dubbed by the hypocrite American media as "harassment."
Especially when it was clearly mentioned in those reports that the alleged "victims" were Baloch separatists.
There's little doubt in my mind that the ISI was doing what it was supposed to and that is protecting the sovereignty of Pakistan. They are going about this wrong way. They need to dismantle such activities through negotiations and should turn to military tactics only as a last resort. But because it was the ISI doing this to pro-Indian/Afghan Baloch separatists and not the CIA doing this to Al-Qaeda operatives, it is "harassment" at least according to the US propaganda media.
One has to remember that many Baloch and Sindhi organizations, though not all, have this same set of double standards and hypocrisy. When they get help from the Indian government or the Afghan Mellat, they try to justify it.
But when the Pakistani ISI gives the same support to ethnic and religious minorities in India and Afghanistan, they dub it as "supporting terrorists."
In this case until we can carefully study the cases of the ISI "harassing" Indian/Afghan backed Baloch separatists hiding in America, it should be interpreted as protecting Pakistan's sovereignty from those seen as dangerous obstacles to the country's harmony and not some innocent victims as anti-Pakistan lobbies around the world depict it as.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
India's 2008 space probe launch and what Pakistan's response should be
As we all know in 2008, India launched a space probe to the moon giving much pride and joy to the Indian people. Perhaps for the duration of the launch and journey it helped distract them from the realities of their country.
There are some Pakistanis who also suffer from false pride in things such as having an advanced air force or something else that does not entirely benefit the country despite the pride it gives.
Heck I myself suffered from pride in having a strong military and other things that distracted me from the realities of my country.
The space launch and other things like that are what blinds many Indians especially those in the elite class from the miserable conditions of their country and incites them with this false pride and ignorance to the fact that their country is the opposite of what they want to believe it is.
There were a few reactions from the Pakistani side to follow in pursuit. No doubt in my mind that many from the Muhajir community were thrilled to hear of their ethnic brethren across the border showing the Pakistanis (mainly Punjabis) competition.
As mentioned, some reactions from Pakistanis were hopes that Pakistan may follow in a similar space launch in the near future. This is where my concerns arise and my purpose of this post to disagree. The Indians are in no position to spare an average amount of 79 million dollars in purchasing rockets from the Russian Federation when they are the world's leader in poverty, HIV and hunger.
All the money it invests in unnecessary things to impress the world would be much more useful when invested into population control. Already by mid century the country is expected to reach two billion people at the growth rate it is at.
Instead of trying to match India pride for pride, Pakistan needs to be more wise and not waste it's precious budget into such foolishness. Let's face it. Doing what India did in 2008 or at other times won't change the fact that we are an impoverished third world country ourselves. Nor will it fool other people around the world from the reality of what we are.
Already we waste plenty of our budget on our military. It is not that I oppose maintaining our defense given that we are in a dangerous region of hostile neighbors and also live in a dangerous time era.
It's the overspending of money on things like military housing and VIP transportation that does not really contribute to defense.
Pakistan should not take such kinds of steps in wasting money on projects for the sake of preserving a positive image. No image can be more positive than being a safe, stable and most importantly sustainable country.
Just because the Indians are behaving foolishly and trying to distract the world from their worst conditions by taking pot shots at Somali pirates or sending rockets to the moon does not mean Pakistan has to waste it's money and resources doing the same.
Pakistan actually could create a better impression of itself by diverting money into population reduction and enhancing natural ecosystems instead of importing foreign technology and parading it as if we built it ourselves. That would actually make us look cheap at least to those who know our country's conditions.
Both the government and people of Pakistan need to snap out of their ignorance and refuse to drop to the level of the Brahman elites of India who pride themselves in trying to impress and deceive the rest of the world from what they really are.
This means Pakistan should have no such childish aims or ambitions on investing in projects that really do us no good. Simply exploring the moon will not benefit our country or take care of our problems whereas investing in population reduction and environmental and educational reforms will.
Below is a video that partially discusses India's space probe launch and anti-piracy activities in the Indian ocean:
Friday, September 16, 2011
America should satisfy Pakistan's trade needs if it is so concerned about keeping it's enemies under sanctions.
Recently the American government has raised concerns about Pakistan's upcoming gas pipeline deal with Iran to meet it's energy needs.
Iran has for a long time been facing sanctions from America and the West ever since the 1979 revolution and the sanctions have been increased with the support of the EU due to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
The Americans are naive and arrogant to believe that countries outside of the G8 will go about their sanction agenda. When the USA sanctioned Pakistan over it's testing of nuclear weapons in 1998, it somehow expected the same from China.
China was not part of the joint bid to put sanctions on Pakistan and hurt it's own economy just to satisfy America and neither will Pakistan right now sacrifice it's energy needs for the same reason.
Pakistan is not part of the G8 nor is it under any oath to be a part of any joint sanction program against any country sanctioned by the EU/US/G8 etc.
It is not that I wish to be supportive of Iran's government or many of it's people who have a deep rooted hatred towards Pakistanis.
I am just concerned about the interests of Pakistan and at America's arrogance to think Pakistan should sacrifice it's energy needs just to please them.
Also it is again necessary to mention that Pakistan would not need to import energy resources had it's population stayed at a sustainable number. It is a terrible tragedy that even with all the resources we have to sustain our country, we exploited them by not keeping our overpopulation crisis in check and only continue to let it grow.
If America really wants to stay committed to sanctioning Iran by all countries, it should provide any country that is trading with a sanctioned enemy an alternate solution.
In the case of Pakistan America should seek an alternate and sustainable energy supply for Pakistan. How it should be done is America's sole problem.
It can either broker a deal with Saudi Arabia or another Gulf Arab state to supply the extra energy to Pakistan at lower costs with America paying to make up for the discount prices. Whichever the best solution would be is America's worry as I mentioned, not Pakistan's.
This is something for the American government to plan for and discuss a solution to present Pakistan with before dictating it's terms of trade to other countries.
Iran has for a long time been facing sanctions from America and the West ever since the 1979 revolution and the sanctions have been increased with the support of the EU due to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
The Americans are naive and arrogant to believe that countries outside of the G8 will go about their sanction agenda. When the USA sanctioned Pakistan over it's testing of nuclear weapons in 1998, it somehow expected the same from China.
China was not part of the joint bid to put sanctions on Pakistan and hurt it's own economy just to satisfy America and neither will Pakistan right now sacrifice it's energy needs for the same reason.
Pakistan is not part of the G8 nor is it under any oath to be a part of any joint sanction program against any country sanctioned by the EU/US/G8 etc.
It is not that I wish to be supportive of Iran's government or many of it's people who have a deep rooted hatred towards Pakistanis.
I am just concerned about the interests of Pakistan and at America's arrogance to think Pakistan should sacrifice it's energy needs just to please them.
Also it is again necessary to mention that Pakistan would not need to import energy resources had it's population stayed at a sustainable number. It is a terrible tragedy that even with all the resources we have to sustain our country, we exploited them by not keeping our overpopulation crisis in check and only continue to let it grow.
If America really wants to stay committed to sanctioning Iran by all countries, it should provide any country that is trading with a sanctioned enemy an alternate solution.
In the case of Pakistan America should seek an alternate and sustainable energy supply for Pakistan. How it should be done is America's sole problem.
It can either broker a deal with Saudi Arabia or another Gulf Arab state to supply the extra energy to Pakistan at lower costs with America paying to make up for the discount prices. Whichever the best solution would be is America's worry as I mentioned, not Pakistan's.
This is something for the American government to plan for and discuss a solution to present Pakistan with before dictating it's terms of trade to other countries.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
My thoughts on the killing of Asfar Shah by Pakistani rangers in June
Most people already saw what happened on video where rangers were reported to have killed an unarmed civilian in Karachi in cold blood. I saw the actual video clip on YouTube, not the version edited by news agencies and I'm not going to embed it in the post in compliance with blogger's terms of service.
I also had a discussion about it while chatting on the phone with one of my friends. It appears the public opinion is on the side of the victim and his family and totally against the rangers- with good reasoning but not entirely.
As mentioned I saw the entire video and also worthy of mentioning is that it's probably the first time I've seen a human being gunned down. Judging from the video, I concluded that both the victim and the shooting ranger were at fault.
Everyone seemed to be focused that the ranger fired at the victim when he was unarmed and seemed to pose no threat. I partially agree, especially that even after unnecessarily shooting him once he fired a second time.
But nobody focused on the fact that the victim refused to comply with the rangers orders and surrender. When they repeatedly raised their guns at him and told him to stay away from them, he continuously rushed towards them.
Nobody takes into consideration that he was accused of being a thief. Weather true or not, arresting a suspect usually requires at least one armed personnel in case the suspect poses a threat.
So already under the impression that he was a thief, the rangers kept their guard but instead of using his common sense and at least keeping his distance, the victim kept trying to snatch one of the rangers' guns. He was warned multiple times and even physically pushed back to keep him at a safe distance which he refused and continued to try and snatch the gun.
Whichever country such kind of an incident takes place in, a suspect who tries to resist arrest and trying to physically disarm a law enforcement personnel will be treated with additional suspicion by resisting.
In some countries resisting arrest is considered a crime and a suspect can be additionally charged for that. And if the law enforcing officer fires after more than one warning, he/she may not be held accountable for shooting the suspect.
That was the fault of Mr Asfar Shah. He should have at least kept a distance as he was ordered to if not keep his hands raised and be searched, questioned and then released when no evidence can be found to launch a case against him.
That was his fault. The fault of the ranger was using excessive force. For his own good he should have fired a warning shot before actually shooting the victim.
And even if he was justified under the law of shooting in possible self-defense because the victim would not keep his distance even after being warned, he still fired a second shot unnecessarily.
He is clearly guilty of using excessive force and added to that it was the rangers' responsibility for getting him medical aid as ensuring public safety is their job.
The courts decision to punish the rangers is quite justified after it is clear excessive force was used and the victim was left to die.
But the public as usual only saw the entire incident with the rangers as the aggressors while completely disregarding the fact that the victim was partially to blame for the shooting. As usual the public placed the entire blame on the rangers. This is actually part of the public greater game of always blaming everything on the government.
Conclusively I am in favor of punishing the rangers for such a misconduct but I wished to point out the facts that partially led to the victim's tragic death.
I also had a discussion about it while chatting on the phone with one of my friends. It appears the public opinion is on the side of the victim and his family and totally against the rangers- with good reasoning but not entirely.
As mentioned I saw the entire video and also worthy of mentioning is that it's probably the first time I've seen a human being gunned down. Judging from the video, I concluded that both the victim and the shooting ranger were at fault.
Everyone seemed to be focused that the ranger fired at the victim when he was unarmed and seemed to pose no threat. I partially agree, especially that even after unnecessarily shooting him once he fired a second time.
But nobody focused on the fact that the victim refused to comply with the rangers orders and surrender. When they repeatedly raised their guns at him and told him to stay away from them, he continuously rushed towards them.
Nobody takes into consideration that he was accused of being a thief. Weather true or not, arresting a suspect usually requires at least one armed personnel in case the suspect poses a threat.
So already under the impression that he was a thief, the rangers kept their guard but instead of using his common sense and at least keeping his distance, the victim kept trying to snatch one of the rangers' guns. He was warned multiple times and even physically pushed back to keep him at a safe distance which he refused and continued to try and snatch the gun.
Whichever country such kind of an incident takes place in, a suspect who tries to resist arrest and trying to physically disarm a law enforcement personnel will be treated with additional suspicion by resisting.
In some countries resisting arrest is considered a crime and a suspect can be additionally charged for that. And if the law enforcing officer fires after more than one warning, he/she may not be held accountable for shooting the suspect.
That was the fault of Mr Asfar Shah. He should have at least kept a distance as he was ordered to if not keep his hands raised and be searched, questioned and then released when no evidence can be found to launch a case against him.
That was his fault. The fault of the ranger was using excessive force. For his own good he should have fired a warning shot before actually shooting the victim.
And even if he was justified under the law of shooting in possible self-defense because the victim would not keep his distance even after being warned, he still fired a second shot unnecessarily.
He is clearly guilty of using excessive force and added to that it was the rangers' responsibility for getting him medical aid as ensuring public safety is their job.
The courts decision to punish the rangers is quite justified after it is clear excessive force was used and the victim was left to die.
But the public as usual only saw the entire incident with the rangers as the aggressors while completely disregarding the fact that the victim was partially to blame for the shooting. As usual the public placed the entire blame on the rangers. This is actually part of the public greater game of always blaming everything on the government.
Conclusively I am in favor of punishing the rangers for such a misconduct but I wished to point out the facts that partially led to the victim's tragic death.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Why I oppose lifting visa requirements and restrictions by India and Pakistan on each other's citizens
I've read and heard quite a few times of complaints by people on how many families got separated during the so-called "partition" of "India."
Amongst Pakistani citizens I've heard it mostly coming from Muhajirs who migrated from different parts of modern-day India. Amongst Indians, it's just about everyone since many Indians see Pakistan as a missing organ of "greater India" or the mythical "Bharatavarsha," not to mention all the Sikhs and "Hindus" who migrated out of Pakistan at the time of independence.
Both the non-Muslims who left the country and those Muhajirs who came to Pakistan claimed to have escaped persecution. If they were really being persecuted, why go back to the country they were being persecuted in?
The call for the right to cross the border free of restrictions has mainly been due to wanting to see their relatives who did or did not migrate.
The call to lift the visa restrictions poses serious problems for both countries. Pakistan long suspects RAW agents of infiltrating into it's borders and their close links to terrorist groups such as the MQM and rebels in Balochistan. Though I do not firmly believe it, I cannot rule out the possibility. Knowing reports coming out of the Pakistani government and media on suspicious foreigners; especially Americans, I have little doubt that the RAW has it's own set of activities in the country.
India for it's part has a history of blaming the Pakistani government and ISI for domestic terrorism in the country by Kashmiri insurgents and local religious terrorists, including Sikhs, Muslims and "Hindus."
Weather true or not, Indian citizens cannot be waving their government's warmongering flag and then calling for the ease of visa restrictions. Both countries have put the visa restrictions for good reasons.
And as we know, the Muhajirs on the Pakistani side are asking for the restriction to be removed so they can visit their relatives and their relatives visit Pakistan with ease. Such people on both sides feel that the country functions around them. How can you claim persecution as an excuse for immigrating out of one country and then suddenly wishing to go back? Are you not afraid of being persecuted again?
As I wrote in my previous posts on the Muhajirs, I don't buy their persecution stories. There may be truth to some riots/attacks by both sides, but highly exaggerated. How else does one explain the majority of Muslims who stayed back in India?
I'm also tired of hearing and reading the claims "we left for Islam" and "we left for the sake of Pakistan."
Everyone claims they sacrificed for the sake of India or Pakistan by immigrating. If you chose to leave, you did so at your own discretion. You've made the 'sacrifice' you feel relentlessly heroic about. No point complaining about it now.
Why should the whole country put it's security at risk just because you want your family members to visit you without restriction?
Most importantly why did you "sacrifice" your life in the opposite country if you're suddenly so keen to visit back and forth without restriction? Clearly there is no sacrifice in any of this if you suddenly want to back and complain about the restrictions.
If the Pakistani government can put restrictions on Americans, including diplomats, why would they suddenly ease visa restrictions and movements on Indian visitors to Pakistan?
Those in India and Pakistan who want to cross the border without restriction may as well permanently go since they seem to be keen on the other country and seemed to have suddenly lost their fear of persecution, not to mention they won't have to face restrictions if they can apply for and be granted permanent citizenship.
Pakistan has a good reason for restricting Indian nationals for visiting especially at this current situation in combating terrorism and I'm sure the Indian side has it's own reasons for the same restrictions on Pakistani nationals.
As for marriages between citizens of the two countries, they must decide which country to settle in as couples or choose a third neutral country.
If Muslims in India immigrated to Pakistan, they did so by their own free will and the same is true for non-Muslims who left Pakistan so it is time they lived with their decision and stop complaining.
Amongst Pakistani citizens I've heard it mostly coming from Muhajirs who migrated from different parts of modern-day India. Amongst Indians, it's just about everyone since many Indians see Pakistan as a missing organ of "greater India" or the mythical "Bharatavarsha," not to mention all the Sikhs and "Hindus" who migrated out of Pakistan at the time of independence.
Both the non-Muslims who left the country and those Muhajirs who came to Pakistan claimed to have escaped persecution. If they were really being persecuted, why go back to the country they were being persecuted in?
The call for the right to cross the border free of restrictions has mainly been due to wanting to see their relatives who did or did not migrate.
The call to lift the visa restrictions poses serious problems for both countries. Pakistan long suspects RAW agents of infiltrating into it's borders and their close links to terrorist groups such as the MQM and rebels in Balochistan. Though I do not firmly believe it, I cannot rule out the possibility. Knowing reports coming out of the Pakistani government and media on suspicious foreigners; especially Americans, I have little doubt that the RAW has it's own set of activities in the country.
India for it's part has a history of blaming the Pakistani government and ISI for domestic terrorism in the country by Kashmiri insurgents and local religious terrorists, including Sikhs, Muslims and "Hindus."
Weather true or not, Indian citizens cannot be waving their government's warmongering flag and then calling for the ease of visa restrictions. Both countries have put the visa restrictions for good reasons.
And as we know, the Muhajirs on the Pakistani side are asking for the restriction to be removed so they can visit their relatives and their relatives visit Pakistan with ease. Such people on both sides feel that the country functions around them. How can you claim persecution as an excuse for immigrating out of one country and then suddenly wishing to go back? Are you not afraid of being persecuted again?
As I wrote in my previous posts on the Muhajirs, I don't buy their persecution stories. There may be truth to some riots/attacks by both sides, but highly exaggerated. How else does one explain the majority of Muslims who stayed back in India?
I'm also tired of hearing and reading the claims "we left for Islam" and "we left for the sake of Pakistan."
Everyone claims they sacrificed for the sake of India or Pakistan by immigrating. If you chose to leave, you did so at your own discretion. You've made the 'sacrifice' you feel relentlessly heroic about. No point complaining about it now.
Why should the whole country put it's security at risk just because you want your family members to visit you without restriction?
Most importantly why did you "sacrifice" your life in the opposite country if you're suddenly so keen to visit back and forth without restriction? Clearly there is no sacrifice in any of this if you suddenly want to back and complain about the restrictions.
If the Pakistani government can put restrictions on Americans, including diplomats, why would they suddenly ease visa restrictions and movements on Indian visitors to Pakistan?
Those in India and Pakistan who want to cross the border without restriction may as well permanently go since they seem to be keen on the other country and seemed to have suddenly lost their fear of persecution, not to mention they won't have to face restrictions if they can apply for and be granted permanent citizenship.
Pakistan has a good reason for restricting Indian nationals for visiting especially at this current situation in combating terrorism and I'm sure the Indian side has it's own reasons for the same restrictions on Pakistani nationals.
As for marriages between citizens of the two countries, they must decide which country to settle in as couples or choose a third neutral country.
If Muslims in India immigrated to Pakistan, they did so by their own free will and the same is true for non-Muslims who left Pakistan so it is time they lived with their decision and stop complaining.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Militants kill 'US spy' in N Waziristan
Another of many countless cases of Afghans caught assisting US covert operations which I clearly discussed several times in my posts on Raymond Davis
Read full article in the link:
Militants kill 'US spy' in N Waziristan
Read full article in the link:
Militants kill 'US spy' in N Waziristan
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Why I think the death sentence should unconditionally be enforced in Pakistan
I want to share a story with readers that took place in the summer of 2001.
My younger paternal cousin had a house maid for many years working for his parents. Her name was Mariam. She took care of my cousin since he was an infant.
Mariam was hired again to work at their house when they would visit Karachi from America.
During their stay in 2001, Mariam ran into difficulties with her husband George (both were from Christian backgrounds).
My cousin would tell me about the days Mariam would come running to their house with injuries sometimes bleeding with George chasing her from not far behind.
Even I myself would see the injuries he inflicted upon her. But the worst came one day when my housekeeper came to my room telling me how Mariam had been killed by George that morning.
Further details of the murder were given to me by Mariam's family. Mariam was stabbed to death by George at a bus stop.
A nearby truck of (possibly construction or delivering construction items) workers stopped to help but it was too late. George was grabbed and handed over to a nearby police patrol. Later he was put on trial under Islamic Sharia law.
The court found him guilty of deliberate murder and put his fate in the decision of Mariam's family.
According to sharia law in Pakistan, a person guilty of murder is to face the death sentence unless the victim's family forgives him/her.
Then came along Jamaat-i-Islami. They offered to free George provided he joined them.
Sheila, Mariam's mother was promised a sum of eighty thousand Pakistani rupees by Jamaat-i-Islami for pardoning George and was offered fifty thousand rupees in advance.
Sheila pardoned George and accepted the money. Next, George was released, converted to Islam and recruited by Jamaat-I-Islami.
Imagine the killing machine Jamaat could create out of a madman like George. Now imagine if the court didn't need Mariam's family's permission to put him to death. This could have prevented him from being used by Jamaat for their militant activities.
This could prevent many thousands, perhaps millions of murderers from escaping and being a threat to society. Worse, more and more people like George could be recruited by illegal gangs and militant organizations.
This not only applies to murderers, but others who have similar inhumane, barbaric practices.
I recently saw a movie on human trafficking. More specifically, it was about young women from poorer countries abducted by gangs and leased for prostitution. Though the movie was fictional, it's plot is based on true daily events.
The movie itself was very realistic and showed the misery and terror these innocent young women faced; even worse than death.
But even when rescued, these women lived in fear of their captors; one was even assassinated to prevent her from giving the police information about their whereabouts.
In regards to Pakistan, I've read on cases of young girls being held captive and leased for prostitution. This is a common problem especially in undeveloped third world countries. Imagine if such criminals were simply put to death for their inhumane practices.
Their victims would not then have to live under the threat and fear of their oppressors returning.
In Pakistan as in many other Muslim countries, there are countless cases of individuals having their hands chopped off by the law for stealing. Yet I read cases of people who bury women alive, who trade in drugs, commit rape and child abuse all getting jail sentences instead.
Another case was in 2004 of mullahs throwing acid in a boy's face, permanently blinding him. All these mentioned peoples were sentenced to life in prison instead of being put to death.
My point is that if people who commit minor crimes like theft can be given such harsh punishments, why are such dangerous people like murderers, violent gangsters, rapists etc. given only prison sentences?
In my opinion jail sentences should only apply to those who commit minor crimes such as theft, fraud, false alarms, corruption etc.
It is also in my opinion that the death sentence should not be used as a punishment, but rather a means to protect society. It should not apply to only those that have committed murder, but also to those who inflict severe cruelty onto others or those have attempted murder.
From what I was told, the penalty in Malaysia for trafficking or possessing illegal drugs is death.
Pakistan being a country full of dangerous people should impose the death sentence unconditionally to reduce the number of crime rates and to cut down on it's massive population.
Also, the death sentence can prevent the jails in Pakistan from overflowing and save plenty of money and resources from being wasted to keep criminals alive.
A few months back, about two men were convicted for amputating a woman's ears and nose. They were found guilty and sentenced to suffer the same fate.
Imagine the extra amount spent on giving the amputated men special care in prison due to their disability. Now imagine if they were simply put to death, the state would save a lot of tax money instead of keeping them alive.
All people guilty of doing things harmful to their society including human and drug trafficking, committing murder, plotting murder, committing or promoting violence, inciting hatred should be put to death if found guilty.
Not only will the death sentence prevent criminals from continuing their actions, but will also discourage other people with similar intentions from carrying out their own crimes.
In 2008 the Pakistani government headed by Zardari legalized the death sentence for cyber terrorism. This again is all the more reason to make it applicable and unconditional for the other crimes that I have mentioned.
Even child abusers who rape children, sell/trade child pornography or arrange marriages for underage minors should face the death sentence. Children and women are amongst the most vulnerable victims of crime in Pakistan.
I believe killers should have at least half of their belongings given to the families of their victims as compensation automatically after being proven guilty of their crime and before being put to death. The other half of their belongings can be passed on to their own family members as normal inheritance.
With the death sentence enforced, it will also significantly reduce the workload for law enforcement organizations which struggle to fight crime in a highly populated country like Pakistan.
My younger paternal cousin had a house maid for many years working for his parents. Her name was Mariam. She took care of my cousin since he was an infant.
Mariam was hired again to work at their house when they would visit Karachi from America.
During their stay in 2001, Mariam ran into difficulties with her husband George (both were from Christian backgrounds).
My cousin would tell me about the days Mariam would come running to their house with injuries sometimes bleeding with George chasing her from not far behind.
Even I myself would see the injuries he inflicted upon her. But the worst came one day when my housekeeper came to my room telling me how Mariam had been killed by George that morning.
Further details of the murder were given to me by Mariam's family. Mariam was stabbed to death by George at a bus stop.
A nearby truck of (possibly construction or delivering construction items) workers stopped to help but it was too late. George was grabbed and handed over to a nearby police patrol. Later he was put on trial under Islamic Sharia law.
The court found him guilty of deliberate murder and put his fate in the decision of Mariam's family.
According to sharia law in Pakistan, a person guilty of murder is to face the death sentence unless the victim's family forgives him/her.
Then came along Jamaat-i-Islami. They offered to free George provided he joined them.
Sheila, Mariam's mother was promised a sum of eighty thousand Pakistani rupees by Jamaat-i-Islami for pardoning George and was offered fifty thousand rupees in advance.
Sheila pardoned George and accepted the money. Next, George was released, converted to Islam and recruited by Jamaat-I-Islami.
Imagine the killing machine Jamaat could create out of a madman like George. Now imagine if the court didn't need Mariam's family's permission to put him to death. This could have prevented him from being used by Jamaat for their militant activities.
This could prevent many thousands, perhaps millions of murderers from escaping and being a threat to society. Worse, more and more people like George could be recruited by illegal gangs and militant organizations.
This not only applies to murderers, but others who have similar inhumane, barbaric practices.
I recently saw a movie on human trafficking. More specifically, it was about young women from poorer countries abducted by gangs and leased for prostitution. Though the movie was fictional, it's plot is based on true daily events.
The movie itself was very realistic and showed the misery and terror these innocent young women faced; even worse than death.
But even when rescued, these women lived in fear of their captors; one was even assassinated to prevent her from giving the police information about their whereabouts.
In regards to Pakistan, I've read on cases of young girls being held captive and leased for prostitution. This is a common problem especially in undeveloped third world countries. Imagine if such criminals were simply put to death for their inhumane practices.
Their victims would not then have to live under the threat and fear of their oppressors returning.
In Pakistan as in many other Muslim countries, there are countless cases of individuals having their hands chopped off by the law for stealing. Yet I read cases of people who bury women alive, who trade in drugs, commit rape and child abuse all getting jail sentences instead.
Another case was in 2004 of mullahs throwing acid in a boy's face, permanently blinding him. All these mentioned peoples were sentenced to life in prison instead of being put to death.
My point is that if people who commit minor crimes like theft can be given such harsh punishments, why are such dangerous people like murderers, violent gangsters, rapists etc. given only prison sentences?
In my opinion jail sentences should only apply to those who commit minor crimes such as theft, fraud, false alarms, corruption etc.
It is also in my opinion that the death sentence should not be used as a punishment, but rather a means to protect society. It should not apply to only those that have committed murder, but also to those who inflict severe cruelty onto others or those have attempted murder.
From what I was told, the penalty in Malaysia for trafficking or possessing illegal drugs is death.
Pakistan being a country full of dangerous people should impose the death sentence unconditionally to reduce the number of crime rates and to cut down on it's massive population.
Also, the death sentence can prevent the jails in Pakistan from overflowing and save plenty of money and resources from being wasted to keep criminals alive.
A few months back, about two men were convicted for amputating a woman's ears and nose. They were found guilty and sentenced to suffer the same fate.
Imagine the extra amount spent on giving the amputated men special care in prison due to their disability. Now imagine if they were simply put to death, the state would save a lot of tax money instead of keeping them alive.
All people guilty of doing things harmful to their society including human and drug trafficking, committing murder, plotting murder, committing or promoting violence, inciting hatred should be put to death if found guilty.
Not only will the death sentence prevent criminals from continuing their actions, but will also discourage other people with similar intentions from carrying out their own crimes.
In 2008 the Pakistani government headed by Zardari legalized the death sentence for cyber terrorism. This again is all the more reason to make it applicable and unconditional for the other crimes that I have mentioned.
Even child abusers who rape children, sell/trade child pornography or arrange marriages for underage minors should face the death sentence. Children and women are amongst the most vulnerable victims of crime in Pakistan.
I believe killers should have at least half of their belongings given to the families of their victims as compensation automatically after being proven guilty of their crime and before being put to death. The other half of their belongings can be passed on to their own family members as normal inheritance.
With the death sentence enforced, it will also significantly reduce the workload for law enforcement organizations which struggle to fight crime in a highly populated country like Pakistan.
Why I think Islam cannot be the unifying factor for Pakistan
Author's note: This is a re-post of an older post that was already in this blog. Reason for re-posting was post title and url not matching. I apologize to readers and followers who have already read this.
Many people (particularly Pan-Islamist Pakistanis) press the argument that since Pakistan is a multi-lingual country and to a certain degree multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, that it will not survive as a single state unless Islam is enforced as the unifying factor.
This argument is absurd and seriously flawed.
There are a lot of Muslim and non-Muslim countries that are multi-lingual and multi-ethnic and they have managed to survive without any religion as a unifying factor. In some cases most notably in Britain, religion is one of the key dividing factors between the Germanic English and the Celtic Irish aside from slight difference in ethnicity.
The same can be said for Pakistan, with rival Shia-Sunni conflicts tearing up the country's religious infrastructure.
The same can be said for India, in which religion has contributed to the country's inter-conflicts such as those between "Hindus" and Sikhs or "Hindus" and Muslims or "Hindus" and Christians.
Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and the north African Arab states are all multi-lingual and Islam has definitely not contributed to their unity. Neither have their governments tried to use Islam as a common unifying factor. In the case of Iran, it has just led to more tensions between the Shia majority and Sunni minority.
The same again can be said in the case of Pakistan. With the Shia minorities resisting Sunni-state control.
Other arguments have also been laid in favor of embedding religion into the state rule such as:
-The Bangladeshis abandoned the Pakistani state because they saw themselves as Bangladeshis first then as Muslims.
-Pakistan was founded as a separate homeland for the Muslims if not Islam why not become a part of India?
To answer the first argument, the reason why the Bangladeshis chose to gain independence from Pakistan was not because of their alleged un-Islamic sentiments, but because they felt they were being cheated (as do many ethnic minorities of Pakistan today) along linguistic and cultural rights. They resented Urdu (or Undri) being the national language at the expense of their native Bengali.
In addition their political rights as Pakistani citizens were neglected such as the lack of presence of Bengalis in the Pakistani military.
The tension between the Bengalis and the Pakistani state reached a climax when the victory of the Awami league in the elections was not respected.
After all this unfair treatment, the Bengalis revolted. It had nothing to do with their preference of ethnicity over religion.
Additionally Bengalis are much more different to the rest of Pakistan culturally, geographically and racially. Not that it makes them "inferior" or "less worthy" but it makes no sense in being once state especially with a giant enemy in between always adding more to the problem.
To answer to the question if not for Islam why 'create' Pakistan in the first place?
This question is based on a lot of misconceptions. Firstly the Pakistan region or the Indus region was never a 'part' of a country called "India" which never really existed.
The name "India" was brought by the British to Southern Asia and imposed into the local population. It was the British who unified this multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic region into one single state.
Even today this country calling itself "India" has no common identity be it linguistic, racial, cultural or religion.
The nation of Pakistan has existed for at least nine thousand years from what records show . The Indus valley Civilization spread over most of Pakistan. It's nationhood can be evident even further as it's main cities spread over various provinces of the country as the map above shows.
Indeed Pakistan is a very unique country for it's region and most of the world. It's people lived share a common ancestry and lived together for thousands of years. They speak closely related languages almost all belonging to the Indo-Iranic subfamily of Indo-European. In addition they have caucasianoid skulls and common R1A genetic markers (with Kashmiris having the highest percentage of R1A genes) all evidence of a common ancestry.
The same cannot be said for other country's in the region such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and especially India.
India is one of the last countries in the world to see itself as a single-identity state. It's people do not have a common language family. The main language families in India are Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian- all unrelated to one another as far as linguists can tell.
The people today known as "Indians" are also racially diverse. Though they have mostly Caucasoid skulls like Pakistanis, a large and very significant percentage of the have Mongoloid skulls particularly in the north Eastern areas. Also Australoid skulls can be found in the southern areas of the country.
So to conclude it all, "Indians" are no more of a people than "Americans" or "Canadians."
Coming back to the myth of Islam being the unifying factor- it is clearly false. The people of Pakistan lived together for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Islam. They share a common ancestry as do the languages they speak today.
As stated in an earlier post, even the non-Indo-European speaking populations; the Hunza, the Brahuis, the Baltistanis do not stand out much genetically.
This is more than enough reason to unify the country without bringing in religion.
If Islam is everything what Pakistan is about why was Jinnah then a secular man?
The answer comes back to the same conclusion, Islam is not a unifying factor for Pakistan or it's identity.
Let's also not forget the British opposed the idea of Pakistan becoming an independent state, contrary to what is falsely preached by many.
The British wanted a single puppet state that they could use as a proxy in the region as opposed to having to deal with multiple states.
There are differences between Pakistani tribes and ethnicities. This is the process of evolution. Cultures, races, languages evolve due to independence from one another. But the similarities are far greater than the differences.
But those who blindly chant that Balochis, Sindhis, Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Kashmiris are all different are illiterate in the fields of linguistics, anthropology and race and should not be taken seriously.
Mistrust exists between Pakistani ethnicities due to political imbalance which is wrongly dominated by the Punjabi population. It is not because one is slightly culturally and linguistically different from the other.
And it's these imbalances that should be dealt with through justice, not by highlighting minor differences between Pakistani ethnicities or imposing religion on the state and the masses.
Many people (particularly Pan-Islamist Pakistanis) press the argument that since Pakistan is a multi-lingual country and to a certain degree multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, that it will not survive as a single state unless Islam is enforced as the unifying factor.This argument is absurd and seriously flawed.
There are a lot of Muslim and non-Muslim countries that are multi-lingual and multi-ethnic and they have managed to survive without any religion as a unifying factor. In some cases most notably in Britain, religion is one of the key dividing factors between the Germanic English and the Celtic Irish aside from slight difference in ethnicity.
The same can be said for Pakistan, with rival Shia-Sunni conflicts tearing up the country's religious infrastructure.
The same can be said for India, in which religion has contributed to the country's inter-conflicts such as those between "Hindus" and Sikhs or "Hindus" and Muslims or "Hindus" and Christians.
Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey and the north African Arab states are all multi-lingual and Islam has definitely not contributed to their unity. Neither have their governments tried to use Islam as a common unifying factor. In the case of Iran, it has just led to more tensions between the Shia majority and Sunni minority.
The same again can be said in the case of Pakistan. With the Shia minorities resisting Sunni-state control.
Other arguments have also been laid in favor of embedding religion into the state rule such as:
-The Bangladeshis abandoned the Pakistani state because they saw themselves as Bangladeshis first then as Muslims.
-Pakistan was founded as a separate homeland for the Muslims if not Islam why not become a part of India?
To answer the first argument, the reason why the Bangladeshis chose to gain independence from Pakistan was not because of their alleged un-Islamic sentiments, but because they felt they were being cheated (as do many ethnic minorities of Pakistan today) along linguistic and cultural rights. They resented Urdu (or Undri) being the national language at the expense of their native Bengali.
In addition their political rights as Pakistani citizens were neglected such as the lack of presence of Bengalis in the Pakistani military.
The tension between the Bengalis and the Pakistani state reached a climax when the victory of the Awami league in the elections was not respected.
After all this unfair treatment, the Bengalis revolted. It had nothing to do with their preference of ethnicity over religion.
Additionally Bengalis are much more different to the rest of Pakistan culturally, geographically and racially. Not that it makes them "inferior" or "less worthy" but it makes no sense in being once state especially with a giant enemy in between always adding more to the problem.
To answer to the question if not for Islam why 'create' Pakistan in the first place?
This question is based on a lot of misconceptions. Firstly the Pakistan region or the Indus region was never a 'part' of a country called "India" which never really existed.
The name "India" was brought by the British to Southern Asia and imposed into the local population. It was the British who unified this multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic region into one single state.
Even today this country calling itself "India" has no common identity be it linguistic, racial, cultural or religion.
The nation of Pakistan has existed for at least nine thousand years from what records show . The Indus valley Civilization spread over most of Pakistan. It's nationhood can be evident even further as it's main cities spread over various provinces of the country as the map above shows.
Indeed Pakistan is a very unique country for it's region and most of the world. It's people lived share a common ancestry and lived together for thousands of years. They speak closely related languages almost all belonging to the Indo-Iranic subfamily of Indo-European. In addition they have caucasianoid skulls and common R1A genetic markers (with Kashmiris having the highest percentage of R1A genes) all evidence of a common ancestry.
The same cannot be said for other country's in the region such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and especially India.
India is one of the last countries in the world to see itself as a single-identity state. It's people do not have a common language family. The main language families in India are Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian- all unrelated to one another as far as linguists can tell.
The people today known as "Indians" are also racially diverse. Though they have mostly Caucasoid skulls like Pakistanis, a large and very significant percentage of the have Mongoloid skulls particularly in the north Eastern areas. Also Australoid skulls can be found in the southern areas of the country.
So to conclude it all, "Indians" are no more of a people than "Americans" or "Canadians."
Coming back to the myth of Islam being the unifying factor- it is clearly false. The people of Pakistan lived together for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Islam. They share a common ancestry as do the languages they speak today.
As stated in an earlier post, even the non-Indo-European speaking populations; the Hunza, the Brahuis, the Baltistanis do not stand out much genetically.
This is more than enough reason to unify the country without bringing in religion.
If Islam is everything what Pakistan is about why was Jinnah then a secular man?
The answer comes back to the same conclusion, Islam is not a unifying factor for Pakistan or it's identity.
Let's also not forget the British opposed the idea of Pakistan becoming an independent state, contrary to what is falsely preached by many.
The British wanted a single puppet state that they could use as a proxy in the region as opposed to having to deal with multiple states.
There are differences between Pakistani tribes and ethnicities. This is the process of evolution. Cultures, races, languages evolve due to independence from one another. But the similarities are far greater than the differences.
But those who blindly chant that Balochis, Sindhis, Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Kashmiris are all different are illiterate in the fields of linguistics, anthropology and race and should not be taken seriously.
Mistrust exists between Pakistani ethnicities due to political imbalance which is wrongly dominated by the Punjabi population. It is not because one is slightly culturally and linguistically different from the other.
And it's these imbalances that should be dealt with through justice, not by highlighting minor differences between Pakistani ethnicities or imposing religion on the state and the masses.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Pakistan's corrupt and treacherous Muhajir upper class
Author's note: I am of multiple ethnicities, including Muhajir ethnicities. So before even attempting to accuse me of prejudice all this should be taken into account. This is another post on ethnic politics in Pakistan but mostly focuses on Pakistan's Muhajir population.
Most politically aware Pakistanis know by now that most of our country's media is acting as a traitor and is dominated by Pakistan's best known fifth columnists that I pointed out in my other posts.
But what most people don't mention when discussing the fifth column of Pakistan and their dirty agenda is the ethnic backgrounds of both the well known and not so well known fifth columnists.
This problem of anti-Pakistan propaganda and promotion of self-hatred towards Pakistan is not just persistent in the treacherous Pakistani media, but also in regular life where one comes across a certain group of people who complain about everything in Pakistan like no other and always compare it to the "better" aspects of India.
They make the most absurd comparisons between the two countries from Air India's in-flight services to that of Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA). From animal conservation laws in both countries to religious extremism.
Most of these comparisons are again drawn out of nowhere and again whether in the media or in regular life conversations, these particular people never miss a chance to badmouth Pakistan and compare it to India by pulling out half-truths.
Only recently did my search to identify these people lead me to a certain group of corrupt elites in the upper class and some in the upper middle class.
More recently did my search narrow down even further to establish a pattern that these groups and individuals consist entirely of Muhajirs.
As my other post and this article's origins section explains, the Muhajirs are not a single ethnic group as commonly perceived.
They come from all over India including Gujarat, New Delhi, Hyderabad Deccan, Utter Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and other parts of the subcontinent. This is one main commonality and also they mainly speak Urdu as a language of intercommunication. But their strongest commonality outside language, religion and foreign ancestry is their politics, mentality and social structure in Pakistani society.
The Muhajir upper class is what comes into focus when the questions of who are Pakistan's treacherous fifth columnists and what motivates them arise.
Most of Pakistan's Muhajir upper class are the biggest critics of Pakistani society and are the ones we see in the fifth column media as well as regular life. They complain about Pakistan like no other. Even Sindhi and Baloch nationalists do not compare to these upper class Muhajirs when complaining everything about and inside Pakistan.
What's most ironic in the majority of their complaints and criticisms of Pakistan is that they are actually describing their own Muhajir middle class as well as their own faults which they also blame on Pakistan.
I and many others like myself can provide countless examples of such, but they obviously all cannot be covered in the post so I'll mention only a few and the most significant ones.
I was once watching independence day celebrations on TV back in the summer of 2005 which were taking place at the Quaid-i-Azam's Mazar in Karachi.
It was there that an upper class Muhajir spoke up in Urdu that we have as a country have a lot to feel bad about because during independence we have almost entirely ethnically cleansed religious minorities whereas in India a Sikh has become a prime minister.
What he was referring to was the atrocities committed by the Muhajirs against non-Muslims upon their arrival into Pakistan, particularly Karachi and the rest of Sindh.
But instead of pointing out this as the dirty work of the Muhajirs, he like many upper class Muhajirs decided to blame it on the Pakistani people.
Another case was when a Muhajir friend of one of my parents stayed at our house when visiting North America.
When helping her with her baggage during her departure from our house, I noticed that she had a PIA tag on her bag. I asked her how she enjoyed her flight on PIA (PIA has great in-flight service, especially on North American routes), she immediately went into a long lecture on how she hated it and how the religious Pakistanis blocked the aisles during prayers and flooded the bathrooms just to clean themselves before the prayers.
She went on and on about how she was ashamed of Pakistan and being born in Karachi and that she was planning on giving up her Pakistani citizenship.
There are two things in this example that upper class Muhajirs normally complain about, but again label them as Pakistani faults instead of Muhajir faults.
One is the religious extremists on the flight who made it unpleasant. Most Pakistanis and others familiar with Pakistan know for a fact that middle class and even some upper class Muhajirs are the most religiously extreme people in the country. They take religion to such an extreme even more so than the Arabs do.
The Muhajir upper class in the media and even in regular life frequently complain on how extreme their middle class is. But while describing their middle class and their extremism, the Muhajir upper class calls them "Pakistanis" instead of specifically calling them Muhajirs.
Even the Muhajir fifth columnists who spread anti-Pakistan propaganda in the media constantly describe these radical middle class Muhajirs and their barbaric interpretation of Islam.
They complain on how religious "Pakistanis" are and blame Zia Ul-Haq and the Pakistani military for radicalizing these "Pakistanis."
But never do these upper class Muhajirs dare give a brief insight or even dare mention the ethnic backgrounds of these ultra-radical "Pakistanis."
While it's true that there are religious extremists in Pakistan's indigenous ethnic groups, particularly middle and lower class Punjabis, Pakhtuns and Kashmiris, it still does not compare much to the kind of religious extremism of the Muhajir middle and lower classes.
The other point in that case of my parent's frustrated Muhajir friend I wanted to touch upon was her shame in being born in Karachi.
The Muhajirs regularly put down and complain about Karachi and use it as an example to highlight the failures of Pakistan. None of these upper class Muhajirs stop to think and ask themselves who governed the city since independence till present day? Muhajirs. These are amongst the countless cases of upper class Muhajirs blaming their faults on the Pakistani people and society.
Whenever criticizing Pakistan and "Pakistanis," they are actually describing their own neglect on the city they control and their fellow backward lower and middle class Muhajirs.
These are the very same upper class Muhajirs who have infested Pakistan's media and try to pin their faults onto the people of Pakistan.
Pakistan's most active and best known fifth columnists Pervez Hoodbhoy, Ahmed Rashid, Asma Jahangir, Ayesha Jalal, Irfan Husain, Najam Sethi, Tarek Fatah and Dr Farrukh Saleem are all Muhajirs even if some of them might be partially Pakistani. These people only write columns and make public speeches and commentaries that fit two main categories:
Blaming and accusing Pakistan for all global unrest and trying to always prove India is a "better" country than Pakistan.
Whenever they write about India's imaginary superiority, they do so from a rich person's perspective.
They constantly ravage on and on about India's billionaires and stay silent to the fact that India is the poorest country in the world. And I'm not trying to be negative towards India or Indian people, but simply stating a fact. Most of the Indian population live in some of the worst conditions a human being could ever live in. Northern India alone has more poor people than the entire continent of Africa!
Add to that it has half the entire world's hungry population and largest population of people carrying aids and HIV. Is this the kind of country we want to make Pakistan?
But all of this is deliberately ignored by the Muhajir upper class. They only talk about the success of the rich in India and stay silent on the country being at the bottom of the world in almost every other field. When claiming that Muslims in India are "more successful," they are referring to those two or three rich, successful Muslims in industries like Bollywood.
They are not referring to those millions of Indian Muslims living in poverty and suffering from discrimination. Those millions of poor and middle class Muslims in India don't even exist for all our Muhajir upper class cares.
This is why it's important to re-interpret the message that the Muhajir upper class is trying to convey and the message is quite clear when re-interpreted. That they (the Muhajir upper class) would live in wealth and success despite the rest of the country lying in ruins and it's people living in absolute poverty.
If one were to take the Muhajir claim that India is a "better country" than Pakistan literally, it would not make sense at all. The statistics of the two countries shows quite the opposite.
But when looking at the rich elites of India that the Muhajirs are obsessed about, their situation is the opposite to the rest of the country's population. The power they hold over Indian society, both with the help of the caste system and their financial power, they rule over it like kings and queens.
This is the kind of financial and political power many in the Muhajir upper class desire for. Such ambitions are nothing short of dreams. Such influence was available to them in Pakistan before the Punjabi dominated military's rise to ultimate power.
This is the reason behind their constant condemnation of Pakistan's military which does not share it's powers with others.
This again is a requirement of having to re-interpret the Muhajir upper class's claim that India is a "more free and democratic country."
What they are trying to imply in this case is that they could enjoy the taste of full political and financial power without always having the annoying military coming in the way.
In India the balance of power between the military and civilian elites is shared. The military in India enjoys the same privileges as the Pakistani military does with huge financial sums going into their budget as well as enjoying free defense housing in India's main cities.
The main difference between the Indian military and their Pakistani counterparts is that they have never ousted an Indian civilian government and the reason is that various Indian governments have had the same agenda as the military such as BJP warmongers ready to occupy the whole of Kashmir and go to war with China over land disputes.
In Pakistan the politicians and the military have not exactly been on the same agenda. The politicians would prefer to see the taxpayer's money go into their own pockets instead of the military's budget, not because they are committed to peace in the region or anything of that sort.
The fact that the Indian military has never had the need to oust a civilian government in India is a cause of joy for the Muhajir upper class who feel their dreams have been shattered by Pakistan's armed forces.
This is why the Muhajir controlled media of Pakistan touts India to be a "more democratic" country than Pakistan.
Again, what they are trying to imply is that they would benefit from wealth and power had Pakistan been more like India.
The Muhajir upper class has despised Pakistan's military ever since it reduced their influence over Pakistani society under General Zia Ul-Haq.
This fifth columnist anti-Pakistan propaganda media is their only 'weapon' against the military and the people of Pakistan.
While discussing Pakistan's treacherous Muhajir controlled media, I recently learned something interesting from a friend of one of my parents, whom I was recently employed with, about the Pakistani Muhajir controlled media.
He told me that during his youth which was the 1960s and 1970s, the very same Muhajir controlled media used to preach hatred against "Hindus" and non-Muslims.
Another irony in a whole series of ironies concerning the corrupt hypocrite Muhajir upper class.
Perhaps because in the first few decades of independence, their Brahman relatives in India refused to share their power with them that they decided to spur hatred against them. Then slowly when the Brahman upper caste decided to incorporate a few Muslim proxies into their house of wealth, the Muhajir upper class decided India and the Brahmans aren't so bad for Muslims after all, especially for rich Muslims like themselves.
And when the Punjabi dominated military decides to no longer share it's power with them, what better time for the Muhajir upper class to change their propaganda war from being against non-Muslim "infidels" to the Pakistani state that shattered their dreams of living complete in wealth and feudalism.
Perhaps it is no coincidence during 1980s that saw the replacement of Muhajir hegemony in Pakistani society to that of Punjabis is also the decade that Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy is said to have turned into the country's leading fifth columnist upon his return from America where he received his university education.
Prior to that it is claimed that he would actually defend Pakistan in his political commentaries and publications, though I don't know how true that is.
Perhaps it is also no coincidence that the MQM came into existence as an organization serving Muhajir interests before eventually renaming itself the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement.
While mentioning the MQM, it is worthy to note that most of the Westernized Muhajir upper class does not associate itself with this organization. Most upper class Muhajirs don't stand for a common sense of "Muhajirhood" but rather their own individual ethnicities and cultures.
The so-called "partition of India and Pakistan" is another lie invented by the upper caste Brahmans of India and echoed by Pakistan's Muhajir upper class.
Not surprisingly, it is the Muhajir upper class and upper middle class who today are the biggest champions in Pakistan of the false claim that Indians and Pakistanis are "the same people."
When Muhajirs claim Pakistanis and Indians being "the same," they are actually referring to themselves.
Many of them in public life and the media discuss relentlessly on their trips to India and how they could never differentiate between the people living there and themselves.
This is the level of ignorance that they live in. They must think the other ethnic groups of Pakistan and their languages and cultures simply don't exist. All those millions of Balochis, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Kashmiris and others don't exist for them, much like all those millions of poor Muslims living in the slums of Mumbai and New Delhi don't exist to them either.
These upper class Muhajirs also complain about how so many Western tourists visit India, but not Pakistan and try to play on this fact to depict India as a "better country."
The reason is because the Muhajirs, like the Brahman upper caste of India live in worship of white people, particularly Westerners.
In India Westerns feel very welcomed despite their description of the horrible conditions that India is in. Even a Dutch diplomat once wrote how New Delhi was the worst capital he'd ever served in. Regardless, despite the terrible conditions and poor infrastructure compared to cities like Lahore, Islamabad or Sialkot, Westerners feel more secure and welcomed in India than they do in Pakistan where they are regarded with suspicion.
Upper class pro-Western/Indian Muhajirs also make no notice of the many Chinese visitors that come to Pakistan. This is because the Chinese are not regarded with the same superiority by them as Westerners are.
I for one could not care any less if foreigners visit my country or not. It is not as important as having a developed and sustainable country, which sadly neither India or Pakistan are.
Sure it would be nice to have foreign guests who would like to learn about our country and culture(s), but is it really that important or is it the Muhajir upper class living in their typical Western worship again?
Today even the Bangladeshis have become a favorite for Pakistan's Muhajir upper class and their media.
Perhaps this is because the Muhajirs in Bangladesh have been forgiven for their crimes in aiding the Pakistani military in their mass murder of Bengali civilians and have also been accepted into Bangladeshi society.
So today another fault of the Muhajirs which was inciting the 1971 war by refusing Bengali or any other language equal statues to Urdu, they choose to shift the entire blame onto the military of Pakistan and also want to send the Pakistani people into a guilt trip for the 1971 war.
Also the Muhajir propaganda machine seems to today be hell bent on depicting Bangladesh and it's people as "better" and more sophisticated compared to Pakistan and it's people.
This false belief persists in many arrogant and fascist Bangladeshis and is now today aided by the Muhajir controlled media.
While Bangladesh is depicted by the Muhajirs as a "better country," the Muhajirs have allowed the Sindh province to become a dumping ground for millions of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
How much more self-contradictory can one get? On the one side claiming Bangladeshis are "smarter" and "better" and on the other side turning Pakistan, particularly Sindh into a dumping ground for Bangladeshi and Afghan immigrants.
It also takes us back to my earlier claim that wealth and power is what the Muhajir upper class is all about.
Because the Bangladeshi people have decided to give their relatives influential roles in Bangladeshi society, the upper class Muhajirs have decided that Bangladesh is a "better country" than Pakistan because it's people will share their wealth and power with them; whereas in Pakistan the main political and economic powers are mainly restricted to the Punjabi dominated military.
The growth of the Indian economy suddenly seems to fill the Muhajir upper class with false pride. When one tries to point out to an average upper class Muhajir the fact that India's poverty exceeds that of Africa's entire poverty or even puts forward statistical facts that prove India is the opposite of what they try to depict it as, the three usual replies one gets from the upper class Muhajir is:
"But they have one of the fastest growing economies" or "I didn't know that" when answering to the fact that India has so many poor people. The third typical answer is that they will get up and walk away from the conversation, knowing they cannot deny the facts.
I've experienced the first two most of the time, one of my Pakhtun friends has experienced the third.
It again calls for an interpretation of what the upper class Muhajirs are trying to state. And that is that they would be the beneficiaries like their Brahman relatives regardless of how poor and undeveloped the country is.
Today much of the Muhajir upper class has become nothing more than an outpost of the Indian government in Pakistan. They have become the mouthpiece of the Indian government in Pakistan and our Muhajir fifth column led by Pervez Hoodbhoy aid the Indian propaganda machine against Pakistan.
Many Indian news agencies are known for publishing false, but isolated reports about what happens in Pakistan and what Pakistan does. Sometimes it is even the opposite of what actually happens.
Weather it is deliberately misquoting Western politicians and military leaders on Pakistan, or any quote or case that seems to work in favor of India but against Pakistan, it's noticeable that only Indian news agencies report these. Such reports only weaken the credibility of these ridiculous Indian news agencies.
One great example was a photograph from an Israeli raid in the Palestinian territories that was taken by an Indian news outlet and depicted as the 2009 Lahore police academy attack.
It was an epic failure as the Israeli vehicle in the picture had Hebrew writing on it when the Indian media was trying to depict it as a Pakistani Police vehicle.
When Pakistan was close to bankruptcy a few years ago, our leaders went to China to appeal for economic assistance. The Chinese government responded that it could not guarantee it's help since China was facing a severe economic crisis itself.
This was again twisted around by the Indian media and misquoted that China simply rejected Pakistan's appeal. Such lies and propaganda are published by the Indian media on an almost daily basis. Such fictitious material again comes out of only the Indian propaganda media and it's Muhajir assistants in Pakistan.
Another great example was when Pakistan cracked down against Uighur insurgents wanted by the Chinese government which was later condemned by the World Uighur Congress for doing so. It was only the Indian media that drew out the false report that China had asked Pakistan to "stop 'supporting' Uighur terrorists."
This claim was repeated by no other than Pakistan's second most senior fifth columnist Ahmed Rashid when he wrote an article alleging that Pakistan "has no friends in the region."
In our cries against America for violating our sovereignty, we have never stopped even once to protest against the Brahman upper caste of India and their Muhajir relatives for the same violations. The Muhajir upper class have literally turned major portions of our country into Indian colonies.
Never did we Pakistanis even once publicly ask ourselves why we freely gave away our sovereignty to these pro-Indian Muhajirs who behave nothing more than an outpost of the Indian government in Pakistan.
This should pose as an important question to many in the Punjabi elite class, especially the military and civil bureaucracy who have used these Muhajirs for generations as political puppets to control the other ethnic groups of Pakistan opposed to Punjabi hegemony.
While the fifth column makes treacherous claims against Pakistan in their articles, TV seminars, lectures and other publications, they do it anywhere they please weather in India, the West or in the very heart of Pakistan.
There are also Sindhi and Baloch nationalists who spur similar propaganda against Pakistan, but for the wrong reasons. I had written before against Sindhis and Balochis jumping on the Muhajir bandwagon in always blaming the Pakistani military and ISI for everything wrong that happens to them.
While the Baloch and the Sindhi nationalists are right to oppose the Pakistani military's brutal tactics and exploitation of their lands and people, they are wrong to turn to the Muhajir upper class.
Even before and after the military's rise to power in Pakistan before reducing Muhajir control over the country, the military was still exploiting the Sindhi and Baloch populations.
Also what Sindhi and Baloch nationalists seem to have forgotten is these upper class Muhajirs are against the Punjabi dominated military for two reasons.
One is they wish to be the feudal lords of Pakistan instead of the Punjabi elite class, including the military.
Secondly, the blame that the Muhajir upper class is trying to shift onto the military such as the atrocities in 1971 is part of their tactic of always blaming their faults onto Pakistanis. It does not matter if it is the Punjabi military or some other.
The Muhajir upper class had the responsibility of investing in education for their middle and lowers classes and investing in Karachi's infrastructure since they were in control of the city, but they did not. Today they are stuck with a terribly unclean, undeveloped city and a middle/lower class of Muhajirs, most of whom are semi-literate religious fanatics.
But as usual, they choose to blame the insanity of their fanatical middle and lower classes onto the people of Pakistan by calling these middle/lower class Muhajirs "Pakistanis."
Karachi, the city they have ruled since independence that could have turned into a successful port city like Dubai, New York or Istanbul. Instead the Muhajirs lay it to waste and today it's ruined state is used by the Muhajir upper class to try and defame Pakistan.
Instead of investing their money into education, infrastructure, health care and other areas of development, they kept much of their wealth to themselves.
This was their very reason for coming to Pakistan. They came to satisfy their own greed.
It's not to suggest that all Muhajirs are like that, but the majority of them in the upper class are.
The claim that they came to Pakistan as a result of persecution seems rather far fetched now since there are many more Muslims who stayed in India than those who left. Their claims of persecution also today seem even more dubious when many upper class Muhajirs live in regret for immigrating to Pakistan and they also seem to be so bent on trying to depict India as some sort of "paradise."
It is also interesting how the Muhajirs use Karachi's pitiful condition to put down Pakistan and it's people.
Many of them ravage on how they visited London or New York or Paris or Kuala Lampur or Istanbul or some other city and how it was much more civilized compared to Karachi. The upper class Muhajirs seem to live in a bubble and that bubble is Karachi.
Never do these treacherous upper class Muhajirs dare compare these cities to Lahore or Islamabad. To them those cities and the successes of Pakistan is simply unthinkable.
I wondered for a long time why Muhajirs are so silent on the achievements of Pakistan while exaggerating or at times even blatantly lying about India's imaginary advantages over Pakistan and soon the answer became more clearer to me.
Most of the technological achievements and best educational facilities in Pakistan are in the Punjab province. Though it might be true that they sometimes use stolen Balochi and Sindhi resources, the fact is the Punjabi elite class, both military and civilian, are behind the most technological achievements in South Asia.
Weather it is in advanced technology or infrastructure, the Punjabi elite class is behind the majority of these. Knowing the grudge the Muhajir upper class has had towards the Punjabi elite class, particularly the military for overpowering them, the Muhajir upper class would never want to openly admit their advancement in any field. This is also because they for the most part are incapable of producing anything sophisticated themselves.
The Muhajir upper class are in fact quite the opposite and Karachi's terrible condition is living proof of that. They are simply a continuation of the Indian population as I keep stating. Ruining and destroying everything in their path. And as already mentioned, they blame this on the Pakistani people.
Today Karachi looks like nothing more than an Indian city. Overpopulated, polluted, lacking in even basic infrastructure, a dumping ground for illegal immigrants. Most Punjabi towns and cities are also not very developed, but much more so when compared to Karachi. Islamabad is a completely developed city and so are parts of Lahore. Sialkot is another city that seems to be on it's way to development.
Many would again argue that it is due to Punjab stealing resources from the other provinces. This is partially true, but I also feel the main reason is the Punjabis were wise not to let the Muhajirs invade their province. They do suffer a bit from East Punjabi Muhajirs, but it still hasn't turned Punjab into a Muhajir stronghold the way Karachi and other parts of Sindh have.
Even defense housing authority in Karachi is more developed than other parts of the city. It is partially because it is located at the edge of the city where there is less population but I also feel it's because it was set up by the Punjabi military.
So in a bid to hide their jealousy over the Punjabis and their advantages, the Muhajir controlled media in Pakistan covers up all sorts of developments in Pakistan weather they are in science, infrastructure, education, health care or any other.
However, any small 'development' in India hits the front pages of the Muhajir controlled media for ages. They continue to be talked about and deliberately exaggerated until the Muhajirs are convinced the Pakistani public will never forget that their Brahman relatives are "more advanced" than the Punjabis and the rest of the Pakistani population.
Weather it is the subway system in New Delhi or some other small development, the Muhajir upper class shines with false pride for ages and exaggerates this development while deliberately ignoring the fact that despite having a subway system, New Delhi is a terribly developed city and national capital in comparison to Islamabad.
The Muhajir upper class have long touted to the Pakistani people that India has a history of ingeniously building it's technology, mainly the time period that covered the Cold War era; whereas Pakistan imported everything.
As everything else the Muhajir upper class touts about India, I find this claim to be equally dubious. Throughout it's history the Indian aviation industry imported civil airliners, mainly from Boeing and Airbus which are both American and European firms.
This is true for just about every airline industry in the world with Boeing and Airbus being the two main suppliers of aircraft, especially in the medium and long haul sector.
So if India was building everything indigenously during the Cold War era, what explains the induction of foreign made Boeings and Airbuses in it's airline industry? Air India was one of the first customers of the Boeing 747 which first came out in the 1960s. Then there's also the case of massive arms imports from the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union was India's closest ally and biggest weapons supplier throughout the Cold War. Even India's nuclear weapons program is known to have had Soviet involvement.
Again how exactly does this all fit the Muhajir claim that India was building everything indigenously?
And as already discussed even today when some technology is built in India, it is often exaggerated as "entirely indigenous" by the Indians and the upper class Muhajirs. Whenever an "Indian car" or "Indian helicopter" or "Indian fridge" is made, it haunts the Pakistani media and is exaggerated or at times it being Indian at all is entirely a lie.
I've come to suspect that all these supposed "Indian" cars, fridges, helicopters and other technologies are imported from abroad but assembled in India under license. India has a long history of importing foreign technology and assembling them under license. Them being put together in India somehow gives Brahman Indians and their brotherly upper class Muhajirs the belief that they automatically become "Indian inventions."
Pakistan also has a history of assembling submarines, tanks and planes, but it is well known they are not Pakistani inventions. For example the French designed Augusta submarine has been imported and assembled in Pakistan's shipyards, but never depicted as a "Pakistani submarine" as far as I can remember.
Most of these technologies are also built under license from Pakistan.
Even the JF-17 Thunder designed jointly by China and Pakistan is nothing much to be proud of until both countries can independently build key components of the plane.
But other than that Pakistanis don't claim to be behind the invention of these imported technologies the way Indians and the upper class Muhajirs restlessly lie about imported fridges from Japan or technology imported from elsewhere and simply assembled in India as "indigenously made by India."
There are also joint aircraft production projects by aeronautical firms in India. One particular project is the development of a short haul jet aircraft that seats about a hundred people. The current name for this plane is "Indian Regional Jet." According to sources that I've come across, this plane will be powered by American built engines and will use American avionics.
But I don't expect the Indian media or the Muhajir controlled media in Pakistan to make a note of this. Once this plane enters production, the first reaction from the Muhajir upper class will be barking that India can make planes and that Pakistan can't build anything.
As everything else, they will lie about how "indigenous" this plane is while continuing to cover up every technological advancement of Pakistan, which again the Punjabis are mostly behind.
The video below best explains what I have been discussing all along:
Another very noticeable thing about these hypocritical Muhajirs for a Pakistani living abroad is while they choose to depict India and Bangladesh as shinning paradises, none of them actually bother to go and live in those countries.
All the Muhajirs I meet abroad or those I hear leaving Pakistan out of hatred for our country, they all settle in Western countries and obtain British, Canadian, American and other Western citizenships.
Even with their foreign passports, none of them actually bother to apply for an Indian visa and move into a mud shack or apartment building in the slums of Bombay, Dhaka or New Delhi.
I have yet to meet or at least hear/read of a single Muhajir who would move to what they would call "paradise on Earth."
Instead as I just mentioned, they choose to live in the West or even more hypocritically, they settle in the developed cities of Punjab. Most of Pakistan's leading fifth columnists are ironically settled in Punjab of all places on Earth. Pervez Hoodbhoy lives in Islamabad. So does Asma Jahangir and Dr Farrukh Saleem.
Najam Sethi and Ahmed Rashid reside in Lahore. Ayesha Jalal lives in the USA the last time I checked. Irfan Husain has spent a great deal of his life in Punjab and in Europe where he is now permanently settled in.
Instead of residing in the filth infested slums of India or Bangladesh or even Karachi which they are mostly responsible for ruining, they hypocritically prefer to comfort themselves with all the advanced infrastructure built by the Punjabis.
The list of ironies only grows bigger.
This to me only proves their envy of Punjabis and the rest of the Pakistani population of their advancement over themselves.
This advancement is what creates such insecurity amongst the upper class Muhajirs that they deliberately hide/ignore all the advancements of Pakistan but exaggerate all the positive but insignificant things about Indians and Bangladeshis.
A new trend about the upper class Muhajirs that my attention has recently been drawn towards is their objection to Pakistan's alliance with China.
I had noticed for at least a few years that the Indian Brahmans are actually trying to reach out towards China and speak highly of that country, though I don't see a mutual interest coming from the Chinese side.
Some of the Indian Brahmans have actually gone as far as to blame Pakistan as the obstacle that comes between them and China.
The Indian ruling class must be naive to think their border disputes that have infuriated Beijing have anything in the slightest to do with Pakistan.
Even the 1962 war between India and China had no involvement from the Pakistani side as far as anyone can prove. In fact India's harboring of the Dali Lama and vocal support for Tibet's secession has only further angered China and strengthened ties with Pakistan and gained a common Chinese stand on the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan's strategic position, it's role in fighting militancy, including Uighur separatist militancy, and decades of common interests and mutual trust have made it a close and reliable ally for China.
The alliance has left India in a cold spot. This has upset the Brahmans who detest the decreasing ties with China while Pakistan's relations with China have only grown stronger.
This has also terribly dismayed the Muhajir upper class in Pakistan who cannot stand to see their relatives across the border loose out in all of this.
Over the past few months I've seen a sudden surge of columns coming out of the Muhajirs in the Pakistani media trying to cast doubt on Pakistan's alliance with China, claiming China only cares about it's interest and will abandon Pakistan if it no longer has anything beneficial to gain from Pakistan.
Irfan Husain has claimed that had it not been for a common enmity with India, China would have no interest in Pakistan. He and all the upper class Muhajirs must think all the decades of trade, investments and exchange of aid during crucial times and Pakistan's refusal to be used as a base for Uighur militancy and other fields of partnership have anything at all to do with India.
Ahmed Rashid as mentioned repeats the Indian media's claim that Pakistan has been "supporting" Uighur separatism though no other media claimed such nonsense.
Other Muhajir columnists have touted that Pakistan 'needs' India and must co-operate with India. Of course they must be deaf like the Indian government to constantly ignore Pakistan's repeated calls for co-operation and negotiations.
What these pro-Indian upper class Muhajirs also don't realize is that there's a difference between simple common interests and trust. Pakistan and China not only share common interests, but have developed trust for one another after at least fifty years of friendship. Why else do they think all those cultural events held by Chinese and Pakistani people if not to celebrate brotherly ties between the two countries?
China and Pakistan's friendship may have started out from having a common enemy, but today the two countries have many common interests and goals which have nothing to do with having India as a common enemy.
The Muhajirs are clearly upset to see their host country in conflict with their beloved home country. They are also frustrated that China has shown no interest in mutually returning the friendship offered by their Brahman relatives and has only further strengthened it's alliance with Pakistan.
They are upset about their beloved India being left out of the Chinese-Pakistani club.
These are the reasons behind those idiotic columns the Muhajir media has recently been promoting to the Pakistani population.
The Muhajir upper class in Pakistan are clearly a frustrated and power hungry people who have not changed from their caste system ways even after their forefathers' conversion to Islam from caste based Brahmanism.
They are not taken seriously anywhere in Pakistan. For at least thirty years they have been publishing anti-Pakistan propaganda which has gone ignored by much of the Pakistani population.
While they have a large audience amongst the classes of their own kind (remember middle and lower class Muhajirs are mostly different), they are mostly ignored by the rest of the population. They and their sentiments are nothing more than a pathetic joke.
But the problem occurs when they try to depict themselves as Pakistanis in the eyes of the rest of the world. All the books, articles, documentaries, websites and other forms of media they use to promote propaganda against Pakistan and the anti-Pakistan seminars they hold/attend worldwide, they do so while falsely presenting themselves as Pakistanis. Weather it is in India or the West, they appear themselves to be Pakistanis who hate their country and publicly denounce it.
Even Pervez Hoodbhoy's ongoing pro-Indian propaganda is depicted by the Indian media as "India through the eyes of a Pakistani."
The middle class Muhajirs are also not very helpful in this case either and only add more to the problem by further defaming Pakistan. Whenever middle class Muhajirs engage in religious extremism and terrorism abroad, their Pakistani citizenship creates all sorts of false assumptions about Pakistan.
Since most people from outside of Pakistan are unaware of the fact that Muhajirs are mostly distinct from the rest of the Pakistani population, they are mistaken for Pakistanis due to their Pakistani citizenship. And since these middle class Muhajirs have Pakistani passports, any kind of terrorist or similar act they carry out gives foreigners the impression that Pakistanis are extremists.
They are unaware that Pakistan's population is generally more peaceful and tolerant compared to the Muhajir middle class.
And whenever a middle class Muhajir does do something crazy abroad, an upper class Muhajir fifth columnist runs do his/her desk to write another propaganda thesis on how extremist "Pakistanis" are.
Even abroad amongst "South Asian" community organizations consisting of mostly Indian, Bangladeshi and Muhajir expatriates, it's the Muhajir expatriates who depict themselves as "Pakistanis" and make themselves appear as representatives of Pakistan.
Amongst these "South Asian" community organizations, there are many newspapers and similar media outlets which publish Indian propaganda against Pakistan and try to appear as if they represent the collective "South Asian" point of view. Such media outlets are endorsed by these expatriate Muhajirs.
Even when terrorist attacks occur in India and elsewhere in the world, the Indians and other enemies of Pakistan turn to the Muhajir fifth column once again to aid them in their propaganda against the Pakistani military and the ISI.
And once again these Muhajirs jump to blame the Pakistani state while presenting themselves as Pakistanis to help anti-Pakistan lobbies worldwide in convincing people that even Pakistanis support the idea that Pakistan is behind these terrorist attacks.
This is the problem that simply ignoring these frustrated upper class Muhajirs poses.
This is also why I feel all those outspoken against Pakistan's fifth column need to take into account the backgrounds of the leading fifth columnists and the need to re-interpret their message.
Another pathetic joke in this whole matter are the laughable Sindhis. Sindhis have a history of blaming all their problems on the Punjabis and their Muhajir puppets. Ironically though, Sindhis mimic the Muhajirs in almost everything they say and do.
If one comes across a typical middle class Sindhi from an urban part of Sindh such as Karachi or Hyderabad, he behaves just like a middle class Muhajir, poised with religious extremism and bigotry.
An upper class Sindhi also from an urban part of Sindh often imitates upper class Muhajirs on the other hand.
All while condemning the Muhajirs for all their injustice against them, they mimic the Muhajirs in their love for India and the West. Even when these supposed "Sindhi nationalists" claim they want independence or at least greater autonomy for Sindh, they mimic the Muhajirs in condemning the so-called "partition."
The huge contradiction is if Sindhis think their province is suffering from being a part of a country of 170 to 180 million people, what beneficiaries do they see in becoming part of a country of one billion people??
The Sindhis are an extremely confused people misguided by their feudal landlords and corrupt leaders in the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) as well as their "saints."
They constantly imitate people around them much like parrots who repeat only what they hear. The Sindhi people overall lack any critical or independent thinking.
This is even acknowledged by many educated Sindhis themselves who criticize the Sindhi people and leaders for touting Sindh to be the center of civilization and everyone else's achievements to be simply stolen from Sindhi knowledge and enlightenment.
The Muhajir upper class's condemnation of the army and ISI's inhumane actions in Bangladesh and Balochistan has sent these so-called "Sindhi nationalists" wild with joy. For this they have been trying even harder to fit in politically with the Muhajir upper class.
The Sindhis are naive to think the Muhajir upper class will condemn the Punjabi dominated bureaucracy's reckless and selfish policies in Sindh just because they condemned it in Bangladesh and Balochistan.
Once again the Muhajirs despise the Pakistani military and the ISI for dis-empowering them and replacing them as the feudal lords of Pakistan, not because they stand for human rights or anything of that sort.
Also partially because the Muhajir upper class benefited from Sindh's exploitation and still do as opposed Bangladesh and Balochistan. In Karachi the upper class Muhajirs were given plenty of property as "compensation" for leaving behind their properties and belongings in India. In rural Sindh many Muhajir Nawabs gained land at the expense of Sindhi peasants.
Many of these Nawabs also get free monthly payments from the government at the expense of the Pakistani taxpayers.
This is why the Muhajir upper class will not condemn the exploitation of Sindh and it's local population the way they condemn the government and military's conduct in Bangladesh during early 1970s and presently in Balochistan.
And even if the Muhajir upper class does so, they will still not be as vocal about it as they are in regards to Bangladesh and Balochistan.
I have Pakistani friends of all major ethnicities. Weather they are Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Baloch, Kashmiris and more independent minded Sindhis. And despite their political differences amongst one another regarding ethnicity and provincial equality, they all seem to share a distaste for the Muhajir upper class and their hypocrisy.
They all seem to share the same sentiments that if the Muhajirs really love India, they should move back there and leave Pakistan for good. Before I could not find myself in anymore agreement with them. But now I find myself in disagreement with this notion. The problem is that if the Muhajirs are moved back to India or wherever they came from, it will not mend the damage they have inflicted on Pakistan.
This is why I believe they should suffer the consequences of all problems they created which is what they complain about so much today more than anyone else in Pakistan. Except of course they choose to blame it on the Pakistani people collectively instead of taking the shame upon themselves.
If the Muhajirs are given the choice to return to India by the Indian government and people, it should not be done without imposing a huge departure taxation on them. The taxation should then be spent on repairing all the damages they have caused.
I seriously doubt they will choose to simply leave for India. They have far too many assets in Pakistan. Whether in property or finance or political power, they have plenty of it and they don't to want to give it all up. They want more and detest the military for holding most of the financial and political power, which is why they claim Pakistan to have been a 'part' of India and call for the so-called "partition" to be reversed.
They want to hold on to all their assets and properties in Pakistan while being able to travel freely over to India and back without any restrictions.
As for the middle class Muhajirs, I doubt their desire to depart even more so. For them Pakistan is a safe heaven where they can practice their extreme brand of Islam and torment non-Muslims as well as one another along Shia-Sunni differences.
This will not be possible in India where they would be a minority and where Brahmans get to do most of the tormenting against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Dalits and others.
It is sad but clear the Muhajir upper class have no positive intentions towards Pakistan or any country. Like the Brahmans of India, wealth and power are the only things they seem to care about.
Their influence in Pakistan has been overall negative. For decades they remained "patriotic" towards Pakistan and loyal to their extreme brand of Islam until the Punjabization of the military and civilian bureaucracy turned them into pseudo-secularists and Indophiles.
People who have condemned the pro-Indian, pro-Western Muhajir fifth column have often termed it the liberal lynch mob. I call it the Muhajir lynch mob.
The conditions of the country saw deterioration under their rule and what we see much of today in Sindh is a result of that.
This is not to suggest military is a much better of a ruling entity than the Muhajir upper class. The military remains an equal domestic threat to Pakistan as does the Muhajir upper class.
Today the military acts like a cancer, slowly destroying Pakistan from within. With their exploitation of Pakistan and their brutal tactics in dealing with political opposition has only fueled more ethnic tensions and separatism in the country.
Already under General Zia Ul-Haq it destroyed the country's possibly last hopes of progress by lifting the birth control programs, sending Pakistan's population into a skyrocketing growth rate and adding towards a hundred million more people in less than three decades.
Islamitization of the Pakistani population and the empowering of religious fundamentalists in Pakistan is another curse right from the military.
Even within the military there is suspicion in between the ranks with rumors of generals fearing their commanders and intelligence outfits are plotting against them. The intelligence and commanders have the same fears of the generals plotting to dismiss them. It's as if the cancer has turned so deadly that it is infecting itself inside out.
Many educated upper class Punjabis also see the military for what it has become. With no regards to the laws, including constitutional laws and their other crimes against the country, they have played an enormous role in slowing down progress.
General Kayani might be trying to reverse all of that, but the damage is so severe that his efforts may take decades before there is improvement.
But regardless of all that, there's a difference between living under military rule and Muhajir rule, which is why I prefer the military to the Muhajir upper class. Under Muhajir rule everything degenerates and becomes an utter mess.
While the military builds towns, cities, businesses, cantonments for it's own selfish ambitions, it gives some benefits to the population. The military defense housing areas in Karachi for example provide decent roads and infrastructure compared to the urban Muhajir areas with leaking sewers, muddy roads etc.
Even the building of this infrastructure and private businesses provides jobs and opportunities to the ordinary people.
The Muhajir upper class seems to be nowhere as close as competitive. And as I wrote the military acts like a cancer, destroying the country from within but still at a slow pace, which still gives us time to save it before it goes into complete chaos.
Muhajir rule gives us no such opportunity or collateral beneficiary that military rule does and has been almost entirely negative on Pakistani society.
Conclusion:
The purpose of this post is not to depict all Muhajirs as bad, weather in the middle class, upper class or any other class. There are many educated Muhajirs who are sincere to their country and have done much for Pakistan.
Nor is the aim of this post to depict Muhajirs as one ethnic group. As already mentioned more than once before, the Muhajirs consist of multiple ethnicities that immigrated to Pakistan from other parts of the subcontinent during independence.
They include many Kashmiris as well who fled Indian controlled Kashmir, yet their attitude is shockingly the same as most other upper class Muhajirs. These "Kashmiri Muhajirs" have also taken it upon themselves to speak on behalf of the entire Kashmiri population or try to represent them.
They project their opinions as much when their opinions are the exact opposite of most Kashmiris.
Then there are also many Pakistanis from the upper class whom are only partially Muhajir (such as myself), yet their Muhajir side speaks louder than their Pakistani side. This in most usual cases is due to being inspired by their Muhajir parents/guardians, friends, peers and/or relatives.
There are many of such people amongst Pakistan's fifth column. Also the belief that Pakistan would be free of it's current problems had it not been for the upper class Muhajirs and their savage-like, ultra-religious medieval middle class is untrue.
The Muhajir upper class was exploiting Pakistan from day one. They perhaps had their dirty plans for the country in the works from even before independence. Though I have yet to confirm it's truth, I've heard claims that Liaquat Ali Khan planned on reserving property in Karachi strictly only for Muhajirs as "compensation" for leaving behind their land properties and other belongings upon leaving their home territories for Pakistan.
Jinnah rejected such a proposal terming it as discrimination against the local Sindhis.
If what I heard is true, it proves the upper class Muhajirs were ready to exploit Pakistan and it's people from day one. But as I mentioned above, it wouldn't mean Pakistan would be free of it's current problems even without the Muhajirs.
Despite their corruption and exploitation of Pakistan, the country was still relatively advanced and enjoyed a good environment, a safe society and a simplistic way of life.
All this was due to the fact that Pakistan had a sustainable population until around the 1970s.
Corruption in Pakistan weather on the part of the Muhajirs or the Punjabi dominated military would have had a much less harm on the country had the population stayed at a sustainable number. But at the same time the Muhajir upper class does nothing to help the situation. They have only made things worse for Pakistan from day one. Corruption combined with overpopulation has had devastating effects on the country.
Pakistan would no doubt be a much better off country had it not been for the Muhajir upper class, but not entirely free of it's problems for the reasons I explained.
Tarek Fatah, while not a resident of Pakistan is still paraded as a Pakistani despite his recent affirming the fact that he is Indian born and that his family migrated from East Punjab in 1947.
Him residing outside Pakistan and abandoning his Pakistani citizenship makes him slightly different from other Muhajir fifth columnists, though he clearly is one of them.
Irfan Husain is also a complicated personality to understand. At some times his writings make a lot of sense, at other times they display the same message as the rest of the Muhajir fifth column.
Nevertheless, his sentiments have put him in the same category as the rest of the leading Muhajir fifth columnists.
And even amongst the Muhajir middle class there exist many peaceful, tolerant and like minded people who are not extremist in any way. In fact they are strongly patriotic towards Pakistan, the country they were born and raised in and which they call their home.
It's the corrupt pro-Indian/Western Muhajirs who give all other Muhajirs a bad name and only help isolate them from Pakistani society.
The purpose of this post is to rather point out that it is no coincidence that all the anti-Pakistan crooks in the media and even amongst the expatriates happen to have Indian roots, even if partially.
All Muhajirs might not be traitors to Pakistan, but almost all traitors to Pakistan are Muhajirs.
So the next time you see anti-Pakistan propaganda coming out of the Pakistani media weather in Pakistan or amongst the expatriate community or some over-excitement about India and Bangladesh's imaginary advancements and superiority over Pakistan or that all South Asians are "the same," do a family background check on the individual(s) behind such propaganda and I'll guarantee at least one side of their family history will take you to Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad Deccan, Calcutta, East Punjab or some other part of the subcontinent.
Post update: Here is a recent quote from one of my Sindhi relatives on his attendance to Ayesha Jalal's lectures:
Most politically aware Pakistanis know by now that most of our country's media is acting as a traitor and is dominated by Pakistan's best known fifth columnists that I pointed out in my other posts.
But what most people don't mention when discussing the fifth column of Pakistan and their dirty agenda is the ethnic backgrounds of both the well known and not so well known fifth columnists.
This problem of anti-Pakistan propaganda and promotion of self-hatred towards Pakistan is not just persistent in the treacherous Pakistani media, but also in regular life where one comes across a certain group of people who complain about everything in Pakistan like no other and always compare it to the "better" aspects of India.
They make the most absurd comparisons between the two countries from Air India's in-flight services to that of Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA). From animal conservation laws in both countries to religious extremism.
Most of these comparisons are again drawn out of nowhere and again whether in the media or in regular life conversations, these particular people never miss a chance to badmouth Pakistan and compare it to India by pulling out half-truths.
Only recently did my search to identify these people lead me to a certain group of corrupt elites in the upper class and some in the upper middle class.
More recently did my search narrow down even further to establish a pattern that these groups and individuals consist entirely of Muhajirs.
As my other post and this article's origins section explains, the Muhajirs are not a single ethnic group as commonly perceived.
They come from all over India including Gujarat, New Delhi, Hyderabad Deccan, Utter Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and other parts of the subcontinent. This is one main commonality and also they mainly speak Urdu as a language of intercommunication. But their strongest commonality outside language, religion and foreign ancestry is their politics, mentality and social structure in Pakistani society.
The Muhajir upper class is what comes into focus when the questions of who are Pakistan's treacherous fifth columnists and what motivates them arise.
Most of Pakistan's Muhajir upper class are the biggest critics of Pakistani society and are the ones we see in the fifth column media as well as regular life. They complain about Pakistan like no other. Even Sindhi and Baloch nationalists do not compare to these upper class Muhajirs when complaining everything about and inside Pakistan.
What's most ironic in the majority of their complaints and criticisms of Pakistan is that they are actually describing their own Muhajir middle class as well as their own faults which they also blame on Pakistan.
I and many others like myself can provide countless examples of such, but they obviously all cannot be covered in the post so I'll mention only a few and the most significant ones.
I was once watching independence day celebrations on TV back in the summer of 2005 which were taking place at the Quaid-i-Azam's Mazar in Karachi.
It was there that an upper class Muhajir spoke up in Urdu that we have as a country have a lot to feel bad about because during independence we have almost entirely ethnically cleansed religious minorities whereas in India a Sikh has become a prime minister.
What he was referring to was the atrocities committed by the Muhajirs against non-Muslims upon their arrival into Pakistan, particularly Karachi and the rest of Sindh.
But instead of pointing out this as the dirty work of the Muhajirs, he like many upper class Muhajirs decided to blame it on the Pakistani people.
Another case was when a Muhajir friend of one of my parents stayed at our house when visiting North America.
When helping her with her baggage during her departure from our house, I noticed that she had a PIA tag on her bag. I asked her how she enjoyed her flight on PIA (PIA has great in-flight service, especially on North American routes), she immediately went into a long lecture on how she hated it and how the religious Pakistanis blocked the aisles during prayers and flooded the bathrooms just to clean themselves before the prayers.
She went on and on about how she was ashamed of Pakistan and being born in Karachi and that she was planning on giving up her Pakistani citizenship.
There are two things in this example that upper class Muhajirs normally complain about, but again label them as Pakistani faults instead of Muhajir faults.
One is the religious extremists on the flight who made it unpleasant. Most Pakistanis and others familiar with Pakistan know for a fact that middle class and even some upper class Muhajirs are the most religiously extreme people in the country. They take religion to such an extreme even more so than the Arabs do.
The Muhajir upper class in the media and even in regular life frequently complain on how extreme their middle class is. But while describing their middle class and their extremism, the Muhajir upper class calls them "Pakistanis" instead of specifically calling them Muhajirs.
Even the Muhajir fifth columnists who spread anti-Pakistan propaganda in the media constantly describe these radical middle class Muhajirs and their barbaric interpretation of Islam.
They complain on how religious "Pakistanis" are and blame Zia Ul-Haq and the Pakistani military for radicalizing these "Pakistanis."
But never do these upper class Muhajirs dare give a brief insight or even dare mention the ethnic backgrounds of these ultra-radical "Pakistanis."
While it's true that there are religious extremists in Pakistan's indigenous ethnic groups, particularly middle and lower class Punjabis, Pakhtuns and Kashmiris, it still does not compare much to the kind of religious extremism of the Muhajir middle and lower classes.
The other point in that case of my parent's frustrated Muhajir friend I wanted to touch upon was her shame in being born in Karachi.
The Muhajirs regularly put down and complain about Karachi and use it as an example to highlight the failures of Pakistan. None of these upper class Muhajirs stop to think and ask themselves who governed the city since independence till present day? Muhajirs. These are amongst the countless cases of upper class Muhajirs blaming their faults on the Pakistani people and society.
Whenever criticizing Pakistan and "Pakistanis," they are actually describing their own neglect on the city they control and their fellow backward lower and middle class Muhajirs.
These are the very same upper class Muhajirs who have infested Pakistan's media and try to pin their faults onto the people of Pakistan.
Pakistan's most active and best known fifth columnists Pervez Hoodbhoy, Ahmed Rashid, Asma Jahangir, Ayesha Jalal, Irfan Husain, Najam Sethi, Tarek Fatah and Dr Farrukh Saleem are all Muhajirs even if some of them might be partially Pakistani. These people only write columns and make public speeches and commentaries that fit two main categories:
Blaming and accusing Pakistan for all global unrest and trying to always prove India is a "better" country than Pakistan.
Whenever they write about India's imaginary superiority, they do so from a rich person's perspective.
They constantly ravage on and on about India's billionaires and stay silent to the fact that India is the poorest country in the world. And I'm not trying to be negative towards India or Indian people, but simply stating a fact. Most of the Indian population live in some of the worst conditions a human being could ever live in. Northern India alone has more poor people than the entire continent of Africa!
Add to that it has half the entire world's hungry population and largest population of people carrying aids and HIV. Is this the kind of country we want to make Pakistan?
But all of this is deliberately ignored by the Muhajir upper class. They only talk about the success of the rich in India and stay silent on the country being at the bottom of the world in almost every other field. When claiming that Muslims in India are "more successful," they are referring to those two or three rich, successful Muslims in industries like Bollywood.
They are not referring to those millions of Indian Muslims living in poverty and suffering from discrimination. Those millions of poor and middle class Muslims in India don't even exist for all our Muhajir upper class cares.
This is why it's important to re-interpret the message that the Muhajir upper class is trying to convey and the message is quite clear when re-interpreted. That they (the Muhajir upper class) would live in wealth and success despite the rest of the country lying in ruins and it's people living in absolute poverty.
If one were to take the Muhajir claim that India is a "better country" than Pakistan literally, it would not make sense at all. The statistics of the two countries shows quite the opposite.
But when looking at the rich elites of India that the Muhajirs are obsessed about, their situation is the opposite to the rest of the country's population. The power they hold over Indian society, both with the help of the caste system and their financial power, they rule over it like kings and queens.
This is the kind of financial and political power many in the Muhajir upper class desire for. Such ambitions are nothing short of dreams. Such influence was available to them in Pakistan before the Punjabi dominated military's rise to ultimate power.
This is the reason behind their constant condemnation of Pakistan's military which does not share it's powers with others.
This again is a requirement of having to re-interpret the Muhajir upper class's claim that India is a "more free and democratic country."
What they are trying to imply in this case is that they could enjoy the taste of full political and financial power without always having the annoying military coming in the way.
In India the balance of power between the military and civilian elites is shared. The military in India enjoys the same privileges as the Pakistani military does with huge financial sums going into their budget as well as enjoying free defense housing in India's main cities.
The main difference between the Indian military and their Pakistani counterparts is that they have never ousted an Indian civilian government and the reason is that various Indian governments have had the same agenda as the military such as BJP warmongers ready to occupy the whole of Kashmir and go to war with China over land disputes.
In Pakistan the politicians and the military have not exactly been on the same agenda. The politicians would prefer to see the taxpayer's money go into their own pockets instead of the military's budget, not because they are committed to peace in the region or anything of that sort.
The fact that the Indian military has never had the need to oust a civilian government in India is a cause of joy for the Muhajir upper class who feel their dreams have been shattered by Pakistan's armed forces.
This is why the Muhajir controlled media of Pakistan touts India to be a "more democratic" country than Pakistan.
Again, what they are trying to imply is that they would benefit from wealth and power had Pakistan been more like India.
The Muhajir upper class has despised Pakistan's military ever since it reduced their influence over Pakistani society under General Zia Ul-Haq.
This fifth columnist anti-Pakistan propaganda media is their only 'weapon' against the military and the people of Pakistan.
While discussing Pakistan's treacherous Muhajir controlled media, I recently learned something interesting from a friend of one of my parents, whom I was recently employed with, about the Pakistani Muhajir controlled media.
He told me that during his youth which was the 1960s and 1970s, the very same Muhajir controlled media used to preach hatred against "Hindus" and non-Muslims.
Another irony in a whole series of ironies concerning the corrupt hypocrite Muhajir upper class.
Perhaps because in the first few decades of independence, their Brahman relatives in India refused to share their power with them that they decided to spur hatred against them. Then slowly when the Brahman upper caste decided to incorporate a few Muslim proxies into their house of wealth, the Muhajir upper class decided India and the Brahmans aren't so bad for Muslims after all, especially for rich Muslims like themselves.
And when the Punjabi dominated military decides to no longer share it's power with them, what better time for the Muhajir upper class to change their propaganda war from being against non-Muslim "infidels" to the Pakistani state that shattered their dreams of living complete in wealth and feudalism.
Perhaps it is no coincidence during 1980s that saw the replacement of Muhajir hegemony in Pakistani society to that of Punjabis is also the decade that Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy is said to have turned into the country's leading fifth columnist upon his return from America where he received his university education.
Prior to that it is claimed that he would actually defend Pakistan in his political commentaries and publications, though I don't know how true that is.
Perhaps it is also no coincidence that the MQM came into existence as an organization serving Muhajir interests before eventually renaming itself the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement.
While mentioning the MQM, it is worthy to note that most of the Westernized Muhajir upper class does not associate itself with this organization. Most upper class Muhajirs don't stand for a common sense of "Muhajirhood" but rather their own individual ethnicities and cultures.
The so-called "partition of India and Pakistan" is another lie invented by the upper caste Brahmans of India and echoed by Pakistan's Muhajir upper class.
Not surprisingly, it is the Muhajir upper class and upper middle class who today are the biggest champions in Pakistan of the false claim that Indians and Pakistanis are "the same people."
When Muhajirs claim Pakistanis and Indians being "the same," they are actually referring to themselves.
Many of them in public life and the media discuss relentlessly on their trips to India and how they could never differentiate between the people living there and themselves.
This is the level of ignorance that they live in. They must think the other ethnic groups of Pakistan and their languages and cultures simply don't exist. All those millions of Balochis, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Kashmiris and others don't exist for them, much like all those millions of poor Muslims living in the slums of Mumbai and New Delhi don't exist to them either.
These upper class Muhajirs also complain about how so many Western tourists visit India, but not Pakistan and try to play on this fact to depict India as a "better country."
The reason is because the Muhajirs, like the Brahman upper caste of India live in worship of white people, particularly Westerners.
In India Westerns feel very welcomed despite their description of the horrible conditions that India is in. Even a Dutch diplomat once wrote how New Delhi was the worst capital he'd ever served in. Regardless, despite the terrible conditions and poor infrastructure compared to cities like Lahore, Islamabad or Sialkot, Westerners feel more secure and welcomed in India than they do in Pakistan where they are regarded with suspicion.
Upper class pro-Western/Indian Muhajirs also make no notice of the many Chinese visitors that come to Pakistan. This is because the Chinese are not regarded with the same superiority by them as Westerners are.
I for one could not care any less if foreigners visit my country or not. It is not as important as having a developed and sustainable country, which sadly neither India or Pakistan are.
Sure it would be nice to have foreign guests who would like to learn about our country and culture(s), but is it really that important or is it the Muhajir upper class living in their typical Western worship again?
Today even the Bangladeshis have become a favorite for Pakistan's Muhajir upper class and their media.
Perhaps this is because the Muhajirs in Bangladesh have been forgiven for their crimes in aiding the Pakistani military in their mass murder of Bengali civilians and have also been accepted into Bangladeshi society.
So today another fault of the Muhajirs which was inciting the 1971 war by refusing Bengali or any other language equal statues to Urdu, they choose to shift the entire blame onto the military of Pakistan and also want to send the Pakistani people into a guilt trip for the 1971 war.
Also the Muhajir propaganda machine seems to today be hell bent on depicting Bangladesh and it's people as "better" and more sophisticated compared to Pakistan and it's people.
This false belief persists in many arrogant and fascist Bangladeshis and is now today aided by the Muhajir controlled media.
While Bangladesh is depicted by the Muhajirs as a "better country," the Muhajirs have allowed the Sindh province to become a dumping ground for millions of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
How much more self-contradictory can one get? On the one side claiming Bangladeshis are "smarter" and "better" and on the other side turning Pakistan, particularly Sindh into a dumping ground for Bangladeshi and Afghan immigrants.
It also takes us back to my earlier claim that wealth and power is what the Muhajir upper class is all about.
Because the Bangladeshi people have decided to give their relatives influential roles in Bangladeshi society, the upper class Muhajirs have decided that Bangladesh is a "better country" than Pakistan because it's people will share their wealth and power with them; whereas in Pakistan the main political and economic powers are mainly restricted to the Punjabi dominated military.
The growth of the Indian economy suddenly seems to fill the Muhajir upper class with false pride. When one tries to point out to an average upper class Muhajir the fact that India's poverty exceeds that of Africa's entire poverty or even puts forward statistical facts that prove India is the opposite of what they try to depict it as, the three usual replies one gets from the upper class Muhajir is:
"But they have one of the fastest growing economies" or "I didn't know that" when answering to the fact that India has so many poor people. The third typical answer is that they will get up and walk away from the conversation, knowing they cannot deny the facts.
I've experienced the first two most of the time, one of my Pakhtun friends has experienced the third.
It again calls for an interpretation of what the upper class Muhajirs are trying to state. And that is that they would be the beneficiaries like their Brahman relatives regardless of how poor and undeveloped the country is.
Today much of the Muhajir upper class has become nothing more than an outpost of the Indian government in Pakistan. They have become the mouthpiece of the Indian government in Pakistan and our Muhajir fifth column led by Pervez Hoodbhoy aid the Indian propaganda machine against Pakistan.
Many Indian news agencies are known for publishing false, but isolated reports about what happens in Pakistan and what Pakistan does. Sometimes it is even the opposite of what actually happens.
Weather it is deliberately misquoting Western politicians and military leaders on Pakistan, or any quote or case that seems to work in favor of India but against Pakistan, it's noticeable that only Indian news agencies report these. Such reports only weaken the credibility of these ridiculous Indian news agencies.
One great example was a photograph from an Israeli raid in the Palestinian territories that was taken by an Indian news outlet and depicted as the 2009 Lahore police academy attack.
It was an epic failure as the Israeli vehicle in the picture had Hebrew writing on it when the Indian media was trying to depict it as a Pakistani Police vehicle.
When Pakistan was close to bankruptcy a few years ago, our leaders went to China to appeal for economic assistance. The Chinese government responded that it could not guarantee it's help since China was facing a severe economic crisis itself.
This was again twisted around by the Indian media and misquoted that China simply rejected Pakistan's appeal. Such lies and propaganda are published by the Indian media on an almost daily basis. Such fictitious material again comes out of only the Indian propaganda media and it's Muhajir assistants in Pakistan.
Another great example was when Pakistan cracked down against Uighur insurgents wanted by the Chinese government which was later condemned by the World Uighur Congress for doing so. It was only the Indian media that drew out the false report that China had asked Pakistan to "stop 'supporting' Uighur terrorists."
This claim was repeated by no other than Pakistan's second most senior fifth columnist Ahmed Rashid when he wrote an article alleging that Pakistan "has no friends in the region."
In our cries against America for violating our sovereignty, we have never stopped even once to protest against the Brahman upper caste of India and their Muhajir relatives for the same violations. The Muhajir upper class have literally turned major portions of our country into Indian colonies.
Never did we Pakistanis even once publicly ask ourselves why we freely gave away our sovereignty to these pro-Indian Muhajirs who behave nothing more than an outpost of the Indian government in Pakistan.
This should pose as an important question to many in the Punjabi elite class, especially the military and civil bureaucracy who have used these Muhajirs for generations as political puppets to control the other ethnic groups of Pakistan opposed to Punjabi hegemony.
While the fifth column makes treacherous claims against Pakistan in their articles, TV seminars, lectures and other publications, they do it anywhere they please weather in India, the West or in the very heart of Pakistan.
There are also Sindhi and Baloch nationalists who spur similar propaganda against Pakistan, but for the wrong reasons. I had written before against Sindhis and Balochis jumping on the Muhajir bandwagon in always blaming the Pakistani military and ISI for everything wrong that happens to them.
While the Baloch and the Sindhi nationalists are right to oppose the Pakistani military's brutal tactics and exploitation of their lands and people, they are wrong to turn to the Muhajir upper class.
Even before and after the military's rise to power in Pakistan before reducing Muhajir control over the country, the military was still exploiting the Sindhi and Baloch populations.
Also what Sindhi and Baloch nationalists seem to have forgotten is these upper class Muhajirs are against the Punjabi dominated military for two reasons.
One is they wish to be the feudal lords of Pakistan instead of the Punjabi elite class, including the military.
Secondly, the blame that the Muhajir upper class is trying to shift onto the military such as the atrocities in 1971 is part of their tactic of always blaming their faults onto Pakistanis. It does not matter if it is the Punjabi military or some other.
The Muhajir upper class had the responsibility of investing in education for their middle and lowers classes and investing in Karachi's infrastructure since they were in control of the city, but they did not. Today they are stuck with a terribly unclean, undeveloped city and a middle/lower class of Muhajirs, most of whom are semi-literate religious fanatics.
But as usual, they choose to blame the insanity of their fanatical middle and lower classes onto the people of Pakistan by calling these middle/lower class Muhajirs "Pakistanis."
Karachi, the city they have ruled since independence that could have turned into a successful port city like Dubai, New York or Istanbul. Instead the Muhajirs lay it to waste and today it's ruined state is used by the Muhajir upper class to try and defame Pakistan.
Instead of investing their money into education, infrastructure, health care and other areas of development, they kept much of their wealth to themselves.
This was their very reason for coming to Pakistan. They came to satisfy their own greed.
It's not to suggest that all Muhajirs are like that, but the majority of them in the upper class are.
The claim that they came to Pakistan as a result of persecution seems rather far fetched now since there are many more Muslims who stayed in India than those who left. Their claims of persecution also today seem even more dubious when many upper class Muhajirs live in regret for immigrating to Pakistan and they also seem to be so bent on trying to depict India as some sort of "paradise."
It is also interesting how the Muhajirs use Karachi's pitiful condition to put down Pakistan and it's people.
Many of them ravage on how they visited London or New York or Paris or Kuala Lampur or Istanbul or some other city and how it was much more civilized compared to Karachi. The upper class Muhajirs seem to live in a bubble and that bubble is Karachi.
Never do these treacherous upper class Muhajirs dare compare these cities to Lahore or Islamabad. To them those cities and the successes of Pakistan is simply unthinkable.
I wondered for a long time why Muhajirs are so silent on the achievements of Pakistan while exaggerating or at times even blatantly lying about India's imaginary advantages over Pakistan and soon the answer became more clearer to me.
Most of the technological achievements and best educational facilities in Pakistan are in the Punjab province. Though it might be true that they sometimes use stolen Balochi and Sindhi resources, the fact is the Punjabi elite class, both military and civilian, are behind the most technological achievements in South Asia.
Weather it is in advanced technology or infrastructure, the Punjabi elite class is behind the majority of these. Knowing the grudge the Muhajir upper class has had towards the Punjabi elite class, particularly the military for overpowering them, the Muhajir upper class would never want to openly admit their advancement in any field. This is also because they for the most part are incapable of producing anything sophisticated themselves.
The Muhajir upper class are in fact quite the opposite and Karachi's terrible condition is living proof of that. They are simply a continuation of the Indian population as I keep stating. Ruining and destroying everything in their path. And as already mentioned, they blame this on the Pakistani people.
Today Karachi looks like nothing more than an Indian city. Overpopulated, polluted, lacking in even basic infrastructure, a dumping ground for illegal immigrants. Most Punjabi towns and cities are also not very developed, but much more so when compared to Karachi. Islamabad is a completely developed city and so are parts of Lahore. Sialkot is another city that seems to be on it's way to development.
Many would again argue that it is due to Punjab stealing resources from the other provinces. This is partially true, but I also feel the main reason is the Punjabis were wise not to let the Muhajirs invade their province. They do suffer a bit from East Punjabi Muhajirs, but it still hasn't turned Punjab into a Muhajir stronghold the way Karachi and other parts of Sindh have.
Even defense housing authority in Karachi is more developed than other parts of the city. It is partially because it is located at the edge of the city where there is less population but I also feel it's because it was set up by the Punjabi military.
So in a bid to hide their jealousy over the Punjabis and their advantages, the Muhajir controlled media in Pakistan covers up all sorts of developments in Pakistan weather they are in science, infrastructure, education, health care or any other.
However, any small 'development' in India hits the front pages of the Muhajir controlled media for ages. They continue to be talked about and deliberately exaggerated until the Muhajirs are convinced the Pakistani public will never forget that their Brahman relatives are "more advanced" than the Punjabis and the rest of the Pakistani population.
Weather it is the subway system in New Delhi or some other small development, the Muhajir upper class shines with false pride for ages and exaggerates this development while deliberately ignoring the fact that despite having a subway system, New Delhi is a terribly developed city and national capital in comparison to Islamabad.
The Muhajir upper class have long touted to the Pakistani people that India has a history of ingeniously building it's technology, mainly the time period that covered the Cold War era; whereas Pakistan imported everything.
As everything else the Muhajir upper class touts about India, I find this claim to be equally dubious. Throughout it's history the Indian aviation industry imported civil airliners, mainly from Boeing and Airbus which are both American and European firms.
This is true for just about every airline industry in the world with Boeing and Airbus being the two main suppliers of aircraft, especially in the medium and long haul sector.
So if India was building everything indigenously during the Cold War era, what explains the induction of foreign made Boeings and Airbuses in it's airline industry? Air India was one of the first customers of the Boeing 747 which first came out in the 1960s. Then there's also the case of massive arms imports from the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union was India's closest ally and biggest weapons supplier throughout the Cold War. Even India's nuclear weapons program is known to have had Soviet involvement.
Again how exactly does this all fit the Muhajir claim that India was building everything indigenously?
And as already discussed even today when some technology is built in India, it is often exaggerated as "entirely indigenous" by the Indians and the upper class Muhajirs. Whenever an "Indian car" or "Indian helicopter" or "Indian fridge" is made, it haunts the Pakistani media and is exaggerated or at times it being Indian at all is entirely a lie.
I've come to suspect that all these supposed "Indian" cars, fridges, helicopters and other technologies are imported from abroad but assembled in India under license. India has a long history of importing foreign technology and assembling them under license. Them being put together in India somehow gives Brahman Indians and their brotherly upper class Muhajirs the belief that they automatically become "Indian inventions."
Pakistan also has a history of assembling submarines, tanks and planes, but it is well known they are not Pakistani inventions. For example the French designed Augusta submarine has been imported and assembled in Pakistan's shipyards, but never depicted as a "Pakistani submarine" as far as I can remember.
Most of these technologies are also built under license from Pakistan.
Even the JF-17 Thunder designed jointly by China and Pakistan is nothing much to be proud of until both countries can independently build key components of the plane.
But other than that Pakistanis don't claim to be behind the invention of these imported technologies the way Indians and the upper class Muhajirs restlessly lie about imported fridges from Japan or technology imported from elsewhere and simply assembled in India as "indigenously made by India."
There are also joint aircraft production projects by aeronautical firms in India. One particular project is the development of a short haul jet aircraft that seats about a hundred people. The current name for this plane is "Indian Regional Jet." According to sources that I've come across, this plane will be powered by American built engines and will use American avionics.
But I don't expect the Indian media or the Muhajir controlled media in Pakistan to make a note of this. Once this plane enters production, the first reaction from the Muhajir upper class will be barking that India can make planes and that Pakistan can't build anything.
As everything else, they will lie about how "indigenous" this plane is while continuing to cover up every technological advancement of Pakistan, which again the Punjabis are mostly behind.
The video below best explains what I have been discussing all along:
Another very noticeable thing about these hypocritical Muhajirs for a Pakistani living abroad is while they choose to depict India and Bangladesh as shinning paradises, none of them actually bother to go and live in those countries.
All the Muhajirs I meet abroad or those I hear leaving Pakistan out of hatred for our country, they all settle in Western countries and obtain British, Canadian, American and other Western citizenships.
Even with their foreign passports, none of them actually bother to apply for an Indian visa and move into a mud shack or apartment building in the slums of Bombay, Dhaka or New Delhi.
I have yet to meet or at least hear/read of a single Muhajir who would move to what they would call "paradise on Earth."
Instead as I just mentioned, they choose to live in the West or even more hypocritically, they settle in the developed cities of Punjab. Most of Pakistan's leading fifth columnists are ironically settled in Punjab of all places on Earth. Pervez Hoodbhoy lives in Islamabad. So does Asma Jahangir and Dr Farrukh Saleem.
Najam Sethi and Ahmed Rashid reside in Lahore. Ayesha Jalal lives in the USA the last time I checked. Irfan Husain has spent a great deal of his life in Punjab and in Europe where he is now permanently settled in.
Instead of residing in the filth infested slums of India or Bangladesh or even Karachi which they are mostly responsible for ruining, they hypocritically prefer to comfort themselves with all the advanced infrastructure built by the Punjabis.
The list of ironies only grows bigger.
This to me only proves their envy of Punjabis and the rest of the Pakistani population of their advancement over themselves.
This advancement is what creates such insecurity amongst the upper class Muhajirs that they deliberately hide/ignore all the advancements of Pakistan but exaggerate all the positive but insignificant things about Indians and Bangladeshis.
A new trend about the upper class Muhajirs that my attention has recently been drawn towards is their objection to Pakistan's alliance with China.
I had noticed for at least a few years that the Indian Brahmans are actually trying to reach out towards China and speak highly of that country, though I don't see a mutual interest coming from the Chinese side.
Some of the Indian Brahmans have actually gone as far as to blame Pakistan as the obstacle that comes between them and China.
The Indian ruling class must be naive to think their border disputes that have infuriated Beijing have anything in the slightest to do with Pakistan.
Even the 1962 war between India and China had no involvement from the Pakistani side as far as anyone can prove. In fact India's harboring of the Dali Lama and vocal support for Tibet's secession has only further angered China and strengthened ties with Pakistan and gained a common Chinese stand on the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan's strategic position, it's role in fighting militancy, including Uighur separatist militancy, and decades of common interests and mutual trust have made it a close and reliable ally for China.
The alliance has left India in a cold spot. This has upset the Brahmans who detest the decreasing ties with China while Pakistan's relations with China have only grown stronger.
This has also terribly dismayed the Muhajir upper class in Pakistan who cannot stand to see their relatives across the border loose out in all of this.
Over the past few months I've seen a sudden surge of columns coming out of the Muhajirs in the Pakistani media trying to cast doubt on Pakistan's alliance with China, claiming China only cares about it's interest and will abandon Pakistan if it no longer has anything beneficial to gain from Pakistan.
Irfan Husain has claimed that had it not been for a common enmity with India, China would have no interest in Pakistan. He and all the upper class Muhajirs must think all the decades of trade, investments and exchange of aid during crucial times and Pakistan's refusal to be used as a base for Uighur militancy and other fields of partnership have anything at all to do with India.
Ahmed Rashid as mentioned repeats the Indian media's claim that Pakistan has been "supporting" Uighur separatism though no other media claimed such nonsense.
Other Muhajir columnists have touted that Pakistan 'needs' India and must co-operate with India. Of course they must be deaf like the Indian government to constantly ignore Pakistan's repeated calls for co-operation and negotiations.
What these pro-Indian upper class Muhajirs also don't realize is that there's a difference between simple common interests and trust. Pakistan and China not only share common interests, but have developed trust for one another after at least fifty years of friendship. Why else do they think all those cultural events held by Chinese and Pakistani people if not to celebrate brotherly ties between the two countries?
China and Pakistan's friendship may have started out from having a common enemy, but today the two countries have many common interests and goals which have nothing to do with having India as a common enemy.
The Muhajirs are clearly upset to see their host country in conflict with their beloved home country. They are also frustrated that China has shown no interest in mutually returning the friendship offered by their Brahman relatives and has only further strengthened it's alliance with Pakistan.
They are upset about their beloved India being left out of the Chinese-Pakistani club.
These are the reasons behind those idiotic columns the Muhajir media has recently been promoting to the Pakistani population.
The Muhajir upper class in Pakistan are clearly a frustrated and power hungry people who have not changed from their caste system ways even after their forefathers' conversion to Islam from caste based Brahmanism.
They are not taken seriously anywhere in Pakistan. For at least thirty years they have been publishing anti-Pakistan propaganda which has gone ignored by much of the Pakistani population.
While they have a large audience amongst the classes of their own kind (remember middle and lower class Muhajirs are mostly different), they are mostly ignored by the rest of the population. They and their sentiments are nothing more than a pathetic joke.
But the problem occurs when they try to depict themselves as Pakistanis in the eyes of the rest of the world. All the books, articles, documentaries, websites and other forms of media they use to promote propaganda against Pakistan and the anti-Pakistan seminars they hold/attend worldwide, they do so while falsely presenting themselves as Pakistanis. Weather it is in India or the West, they appear themselves to be Pakistanis who hate their country and publicly denounce it.
Even Pervez Hoodbhoy's ongoing pro-Indian propaganda is depicted by the Indian media as "India through the eyes of a Pakistani."
The middle class Muhajirs are also not very helpful in this case either and only add more to the problem by further defaming Pakistan. Whenever middle class Muhajirs engage in religious extremism and terrorism abroad, their Pakistani citizenship creates all sorts of false assumptions about Pakistan.
Since most people from outside of Pakistan are unaware of the fact that Muhajirs are mostly distinct from the rest of the Pakistani population, they are mistaken for Pakistanis due to their Pakistani citizenship. And since these middle class Muhajirs have Pakistani passports, any kind of terrorist or similar act they carry out gives foreigners the impression that Pakistanis are extremists.
They are unaware that Pakistan's population is generally more peaceful and tolerant compared to the Muhajir middle class.
And whenever a middle class Muhajir does do something crazy abroad, an upper class Muhajir fifth columnist runs do his/her desk to write another propaganda thesis on how extremist "Pakistanis" are.
Even abroad amongst "South Asian" community organizations consisting of mostly Indian, Bangladeshi and Muhajir expatriates, it's the Muhajir expatriates who depict themselves as "Pakistanis" and make themselves appear as representatives of Pakistan.
Amongst these "South Asian" community organizations, there are many newspapers and similar media outlets which publish Indian propaganda against Pakistan and try to appear as if they represent the collective "South Asian" point of view. Such media outlets are endorsed by these expatriate Muhajirs.
Even when terrorist attacks occur in India and elsewhere in the world, the Indians and other enemies of Pakistan turn to the Muhajir fifth column once again to aid them in their propaganda against the Pakistani military and the ISI.
And once again these Muhajirs jump to blame the Pakistani state while presenting themselves as Pakistanis to help anti-Pakistan lobbies worldwide in convincing people that even Pakistanis support the idea that Pakistan is behind these terrorist attacks.
This is the problem that simply ignoring these frustrated upper class Muhajirs poses.
This is also why I feel all those outspoken against Pakistan's fifth column need to take into account the backgrounds of the leading fifth columnists and the need to re-interpret their message.
Another pathetic joke in this whole matter are the laughable Sindhis. Sindhis have a history of blaming all their problems on the Punjabis and their Muhajir puppets. Ironically though, Sindhis mimic the Muhajirs in almost everything they say and do.
If one comes across a typical middle class Sindhi from an urban part of Sindh such as Karachi or Hyderabad, he behaves just like a middle class Muhajir, poised with religious extremism and bigotry.
An upper class Sindhi also from an urban part of Sindh often imitates upper class Muhajirs on the other hand.
All while condemning the Muhajirs for all their injustice against them, they mimic the Muhajirs in their love for India and the West. Even when these supposed "Sindhi nationalists" claim they want independence or at least greater autonomy for Sindh, they mimic the Muhajirs in condemning the so-called "partition."
The huge contradiction is if Sindhis think their province is suffering from being a part of a country of 170 to 180 million people, what beneficiaries do they see in becoming part of a country of one billion people??
The Sindhis are an extremely confused people misguided by their feudal landlords and corrupt leaders in the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) as well as their "saints."
They constantly imitate people around them much like parrots who repeat only what they hear. The Sindhi people overall lack any critical or independent thinking.
This is even acknowledged by many educated Sindhis themselves who criticize the Sindhi people and leaders for touting Sindh to be the center of civilization and everyone else's achievements to be simply stolen from Sindhi knowledge and enlightenment.
The Muhajir upper class's condemnation of the army and ISI's inhumane actions in Bangladesh and Balochistan has sent these so-called "Sindhi nationalists" wild with joy. For this they have been trying even harder to fit in politically with the Muhajir upper class.
The Sindhis are naive to think the Muhajir upper class will condemn the Punjabi dominated bureaucracy's reckless and selfish policies in Sindh just because they condemned it in Bangladesh and Balochistan.
Once again the Muhajirs despise the Pakistani military and the ISI for dis-empowering them and replacing them as the feudal lords of Pakistan, not because they stand for human rights or anything of that sort.
Also partially because the Muhajir upper class benefited from Sindh's exploitation and still do as opposed Bangladesh and Balochistan. In Karachi the upper class Muhajirs were given plenty of property as "compensation" for leaving behind their properties and belongings in India. In rural Sindh many Muhajir Nawabs gained land at the expense of Sindhi peasants.
Many of these Nawabs also get free monthly payments from the government at the expense of the Pakistani taxpayers.
This is why the Muhajir upper class will not condemn the exploitation of Sindh and it's local population the way they condemn the government and military's conduct in Bangladesh during early 1970s and presently in Balochistan.
And even if the Muhajir upper class does so, they will still not be as vocal about it as they are in regards to Bangladesh and Balochistan.
I have Pakistani friends of all major ethnicities. Weather they are Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Baloch, Kashmiris and more independent minded Sindhis. And despite their political differences amongst one another regarding ethnicity and provincial equality, they all seem to share a distaste for the Muhajir upper class and their hypocrisy.
They all seem to share the same sentiments that if the Muhajirs really love India, they should move back there and leave Pakistan for good. Before I could not find myself in anymore agreement with them. But now I find myself in disagreement with this notion. The problem is that if the Muhajirs are moved back to India or wherever they came from, it will not mend the damage they have inflicted on Pakistan.
This is why I believe they should suffer the consequences of all problems they created which is what they complain about so much today more than anyone else in Pakistan. Except of course they choose to blame it on the Pakistani people collectively instead of taking the shame upon themselves.
If the Muhajirs are given the choice to return to India by the Indian government and people, it should not be done without imposing a huge departure taxation on them. The taxation should then be spent on repairing all the damages they have caused.
I seriously doubt they will choose to simply leave for India. They have far too many assets in Pakistan. Whether in property or finance or political power, they have plenty of it and they don't to want to give it all up. They want more and detest the military for holding most of the financial and political power, which is why they claim Pakistan to have been a 'part' of India and call for the so-called "partition" to be reversed.
They want to hold on to all their assets and properties in Pakistan while being able to travel freely over to India and back without any restrictions.
As for the middle class Muhajirs, I doubt their desire to depart even more so. For them Pakistan is a safe heaven where they can practice their extreme brand of Islam and torment non-Muslims as well as one another along Shia-Sunni differences.
This will not be possible in India where they would be a minority and where Brahmans get to do most of the tormenting against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Dalits and others.
It is sad but clear the Muhajir upper class have no positive intentions towards Pakistan or any country. Like the Brahmans of India, wealth and power are the only things they seem to care about.
Their influence in Pakistan has been overall negative. For decades they remained "patriotic" towards Pakistan and loyal to their extreme brand of Islam until the Punjabization of the military and civilian bureaucracy turned them into pseudo-secularists and Indophiles.
People who have condemned the pro-Indian, pro-Western Muhajir fifth column have often termed it the liberal lynch mob. I call it the Muhajir lynch mob.
The conditions of the country saw deterioration under their rule and what we see much of today in Sindh is a result of that.
This is not to suggest military is a much better of a ruling entity than the Muhajir upper class. The military remains an equal domestic threat to Pakistan as does the Muhajir upper class.
Today the military acts like a cancer, slowly destroying Pakistan from within. With their exploitation of Pakistan and their brutal tactics in dealing with political opposition has only fueled more ethnic tensions and separatism in the country.
Already under General Zia Ul-Haq it destroyed the country's possibly last hopes of progress by lifting the birth control programs, sending Pakistan's population into a skyrocketing growth rate and adding towards a hundred million more people in less than three decades.
Islamitization of the Pakistani population and the empowering of religious fundamentalists in Pakistan is another curse right from the military.
Even within the military there is suspicion in between the ranks with rumors of generals fearing their commanders and intelligence outfits are plotting against them. The intelligence and commanders have the same fears of the generals plotting to dismiss them. It's as if the cancer has turned so deadly that it is infecting itself inside out.
Many educated upper class Punjabis also see the military for what it has become. With no regards to the laws, including constitutional laws and their other crimes against the country, they have played an enormous role in slowing down progress.
General Kayani might be trying to reverse all of that, but the damage is so severe that his efforts may take decades before there is improvement.
But regardless of all that, there's a difference between living under military rule and Muhajir rule, which is why I prefer the military to the Muhajir upper class. Under Muhajir rule everything degenerates and becomes an utter mess.
While the military builds towns, cities, businesses, cantonments for it's own selfish ambitions, it gives some benefits to the population. The military defense housing areas in Karachi for example provide decent roads and infrastructure compared to the urban Muhajir areas with leaking sewers, muddy roads etc.
Even the building of this infrastructure and private businesses provides jobs and opportunities to the ordinary people.
The Muhajir upper class seems to be nowhere as close as competitive. And as I wrote the military acts like a cancer, destroying the country from within but still at a slow pace, which still gives us time to save it before it goes into complete chaos.
Muhajir rule gives us no such opportunity or collateral beneficiary that military rule does and has been almost entirely negative on Pakistani society.
Conclusion:
The purpose of this post is not to depict all Muhajirs as bad, weather in the middle class, upper class or any other class. There are many educated Muhajirs who are sincere to their country and have done much for Pakistan.
Nor is the aim of this post to depict Muhajirs as one ethnic group. As already mentioned more than once before, the Muhajirs consist of multiple ethnicities that immigrated to Pakistan from other parts of the subcontinent during independence.
They include many Kashmiris as well who fled Indian controlled Kashmir, yet their attitude is shockingly the same as most other upper class Muhajirs. These "Kashmiri Muhajirs" have also taken it upon themselves to speak on behalf of the entire Kashmiri population or try to represent them.
They project their opinions as much when their opinions are the exact opposite of most Kashmiris.
Then there are also many Pakistanis from the upper class whom are only partially Muhajir (such as myself), yet their Muhajir side speaks louder than their Pakistani side. This in most usual cases is due to being inspired by their Muhajir parents/guardians, friends, peers and/or relatives.
There are many of such people amongst Pakistan's fifth column. Also the belief that Pakistan would be free of it's current problems had it not been for the upper class Muhajirs and their savage-like, ultra-religious medieval middle class is untrue.
The Muhajir upper class was exploiting Pakistan from day one. They perhaps had their dirty plans for the country in the works from even before independence. Though I have yet to confirm it's truth, I've heard claims that Liaquat Ali Khan planned on reserving property in Karachi strictly only for Muhajirs as "compensation" for leaving behind their land properties and other belongings upon leaving their home territories for Pakistan.
Jinnah rejected such a proposal terming it as discrimination against the local Sindhis.
If what I heard is true, it proves the upper class Muhajirs were ready to exploit Pakistan and it's people from day one. But as I mentioned above, it wouldn't mean Pakistan would be free of it's current problems even without the Muhajirs.
Despite their corruption and exploitation of Pakistan, the country was still relatively advanced and enjoyed a good environment, a safe society and a simplistic way of life.
All this was due to the fact that Pakistan had a sustainable population until around the 1970s.
Corruption in Pakistan weather on the part of the Muhajirs or the Punjabi dominated military would have had a much less harm on the country had the population stayed at a sustainable number. But at the same time the Muhajir upper class does nothing to help the situation. They have only made things worse for Pakistan from day one. Corruption combined with overpopulation has had devastating effects on the country.
Pakistan would no doubt be a much better off country had it not been for the Muhajir upper class, but not entirely free of it's problems for the reasons I explained.
Tarek Fatah, while not a resident of Pakistan is still paraded as a Pakistani despite his recent affirming the fact that he is Indian born and that his family migrated from East Punjab in 1947.
Him residing outside Pakistan and abandoning his Pakistani citizenship makes him slightly different from other Muhajir fifth columnists, though he clearly is one of them.
Irfan Husain is also a complicated personality to understand. At some times his writings make a lot of sense, at other times they display the same message as the rest of the Muhajir fifth column.
Nevertheless, his sentiments have put him in the same category as the rest of the leading Muhajir fifth columnists.
And even amongst the Muhajir middle class there exist many peaceful, tolerant and like minded people who are not extremist in any way. In fact they are strongly patriotic towards Pakistan, the country they were born and raised in and which they call their home.
It's the corrupt pro-Indian/Western Muhajirs who give all other Muhajirs a bad name and only help isolate them from Pakistani society.
The purpose of this post is to rather point out that it is no coincidence that all the anti-Pakistan crooks in the media and even amongst the expatriates happen to have Indian roots, even if partially.
All Muhajirs might not be traitors to Pakistan, but almost all traitors to Pakistan are Muhajirs.
So the next time you see anti-Pakistan propaganda coming out of the Pakistani media weather in Pakistan or amongst the expatriate community or some over-excitement about India and Bangladesh's imaginary advancements and superiority over Pakistan or that all South Asians are "the same," do a family background check on the individual(s) behind such propaganda and I'll guarantee at least one side of their family history will take you to Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad Deccan, Calcutta, East Punjab or some other part of the subcontinent.
Post update: Here is a recent quote from one of my Sindhi relatives on his attendance to Ayesha Jalal's lectures:
"she is full of herself ...very arrogant ...i was there....i just asked her one question : as historian to confirm that israel and pakistan were both the only 2 religioon based states to be established in 20th century ....she went defensive almost balisstic ....educated liberal /progressive mujjus very nervous these days ...big identity crisis looming"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)