Shh... Don't tell the Taliban

While contradicting statements keep coming, it's not that difficult to make out the actual story behind Osama's death.

Let's analyze the story at hand. The following are a few key points we're told:

1. Osama lived nearby the Pakistan Military Academy for years where every nook and cranny is cleared.

2. ISI, rated among the top intelligence agencies in the world didn't have any clue of his presence in such an area.

3. Four combat helicopters entered the Pakistan airspace up till the PMA (about 300 km assuming they came from the Afghan border) and Pakistan didn't have any idea.

4. There was a 40 minutes' operation near the PMA and still, Pakistan didn't have any idea until after they left.

5. All this happened while PAF didn't have any idea, though with all their state-of-the-art technological equipment, their response time to an airspace violation is 5 minutes.

6. The government, army and ISI, all made public statements/ apologies about their ignorance.

The response in Pakistan:

1. Confusion and insult for the majority.
   
2. Protests, funerals and tears by some religious parties.
3. Terrible threats by the Taliban to attack Pakistan in every way.

Now, I'd like to bring to your attention a tweet of a journalist in the Guardian.
"Pak diplomat just told me: we have to play to our people's sensitivities. of course we were involved but we can't admit it"

Add that to the possibility that we were told about our involvement and imagine what the response would have been. I rest my case.

The Accursed Child

In this modern era where cell phones and Botox change our lifestyles, our thinking is still not much different from the dark ages.

If you browse through any Urdu newspaper to the classified section, you might come across an ad that says "بیٹا" (son) in a big font. If you read, it says "Insha-Allah beta ho ga" (God-willing, it'll be a son). Not just in the newspaper, these people have started sending spam text messages like "Boy or girl, choice is yours". Staring us in the face, this is a gruesome reality that tells us our thinking has not evolved at all.

The stigma attached to the birth of a female child is undeniable in our society. No matter which class you belong to, every family (with both father and mother) wants their next child to be a son. Men go as far as marrying multiple wives just because they believe a particular woman is "meant" only to bear girls. So much so, that I once heard a woman respond to the news of a female birth as "Oho! Kuch nahi hota" (Oho! It's okay). For all those protesting against the honor killings of women in the rural areas, I ask the question, why do you ignore those lamenting the birth of girls in the first place in the urban areas?

One of the major reasons for this stigma, which again no one talks about, is the tradition of dowry. This tradition is in direct contrast to the teachings of Islam which in fact make it obligatory for the groom to pay the bride upon marriage in the form of Mahr. The moment a girl is born, the first thought in her father's mind is about her dowry, not her name. I have seen well-educated and noble families sending lists of articles they wanted as dowry with a bride. A family, on average, spends more than one million rupees ($11,700) to marry their daughter off. This is in sharp contrast to the generally accepted limit of Mahr, which is one month's salary of the husband. And even that is spared "willfully" by the bride. Furthermore, Mahr is often mistaken as an amount that is to be given upon dissolution of marriage. Ergo, the following consequences.

In the major cities, among the 1210 infants found dead in 2010 by Edhi Foundation, 9 out of 10 were female.

Even though the ratio of male: female is 1 male/ female upon birth, it rises to 1.06 males/ female for the ages 0-14 years.

Along with this, we hear stories of both blatant murders and increasing burning "accidents" right after marriage.

All said and done, the future is still a big question mark. Such thinking and associated traditions are engraved deeply in our minds generation after generation. As long as the stigma attached to the female child is there, it'll show our immaturity as humans, let alone as a nation.

Are we human, or are we doctors?

A recent study has shown that doctors have stomachs, reproductive organs and families. This is an outrage and will not be tolerated by the government.

I am a medical student in a government hospital. I am witness to the doctor-government saga and would like to share the facts which lie behind the propagandas of both the doctors and the government.

Firstly, this is not a protest. This is a breaking point. The doctors have been protesting for many many years and the government paid little, if any, attention. The facts underlying this event are actually beyond the comprehension of anybody who has not been to the wards of the hospital but I will try my best to explain them.

The wards:
The patients outnumber the beds in such a way that there are upto 3 patients on one bed at times. The paramedics and nurses are understaffed. But there is an ample number of doctors which I'll explain why.

The dysfunctional system:
The first question in a medical student's life is where he'd work after MBBS. This is not a joke. An estimated 1500 doctors leave Pakistan every year to work abroad. This year, 5000 post-graduate trainees are estimated to leave. This is not a small number. These are the cream of the doctors attracted by different countries including the Gulf, US, UK and Australia. These doctors do not return. The few who do, are appointed professors, who then start private practice for the elite. They are mere parasites with no intentions of "helping humanity". The doctors who work hard for decades in government hospitals hardly get any professors' posts and hence, not that good private practice either.
The junior doctors suffer the most. There are about 30-40 house officers in every ward among which only 8 are paid and the rest are unpaid. These are doctors who have studied for five years without any social life and now getting Rs 18,000 as house officers, ie if they're lucky enough to get the paid job. After a year of house job, they start their fellowship for which they have to appear in the FCPS part I (Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons). About 12,000 graduates appear in all disciplines in FCPS-I and 250 are declared successful. These 250 then apply to the hospitals for fellowships. At a given time, 10 or more post-graduate trainees are to be present in a ward. Among these only 8 are paid at Rs 16-22,000. After 4 years of training, they are supposed to leave the hospital and appear in FCPS part II which is the toughest exam in the medical field. The few who manage to pass it and have a strong backing from someone of power, are hired as Registrars in government hospitals at a pay of Rs 30,000. Here on, their pay increases on yearly increments and their seniority increases on political backing.
Now, a doctor of the age of 35 (if he aced every exam in first attempt), is earning Rs 30,000. With that money, he has to run a family. During the past 15 years, he has spent his days and nights in hospitals and served patients for 10 years. As a house officers he has worked non-stop shifts of 36 hours. Side-by-side, a matric-pass driver is earning 35,000 in a government office. The bank the doctor goes to to collect his pay has a security guard earning more than the doctor. If he goes to get a car on lease, the bank tells him his monthly salary needs to be at least 40,000. If you do not understand the injustice here, there is no point of carrying on.

The conflict:
Towards the later part of the strike, the government agreed to increase the salaries of the young doctors (house officers and trainees) to Rs 28,000 and Rs 44,000. This was injustice to the senior doctors who in this scenario would be earning about as much as house officers and lesser than the trainees. This was unacceptable to the doctors and hence they refused.
Currently, the Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors are running the hospitals. Out of respect, the Senior Registrars are visiting to help their seniors and the patients from time to time but not on a regular basis.

The future:
The doctors have handed over their resignations. There is no point in a compromise on their side because they have better options elsewhere (even as a driver or a police constable). They would now be looking for alternative jobs eg private hospitals which pay enough money for a doctor to make ends meet. Others would apply abroad where their talent is appreciated (in the US, a trainee earns about Rs 300,000). The government is running out of options to run the hospitals. They are hiring house officers as medical officers (equivalent of trainee without FCPS-I).

While people play the blame-game, the general public is suffering. It is easy to blame the doctors but for that you'd be denying them basic human rights. They have the right to work or resign. If the government is not able to give attractive packages to the doctors while they enjoy in mansions, the doctors cannot be blamed for looking for a way to make ends meet for their families. They have compromised for years, blackmailed emotionally not to do anything lest patients will suffer. But now they have reached a breaking point and given up.

Famous Last Words

"I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. I wanted to open the dump valves on oil tankers and smother all the French beaches I'd never see. I wanted to breathe smoke." [Fight Club]

This is not a match preview. This is not a statistics lecture. This is not Navjot Singh Sidhu predicting how many times Malinga will kiss the ball. These are the words of a desperate cricket fan who is about to lose his mind.
It's a few hours before semi-final starts. It's been called a lot of things; "The greatest match ever", "The mother of all finals", "The showdown" and what not. Though exciting, these words don't explain half of it. The aforementioned quote from Fight Club on the other hand, explains it pretty well.

It's been almost a week since the semi-final was decided and the anxiety is still the same. My hands still shake, I sleep thinking about it, I wake up thinking about it. I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown. To sum it up, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on porn if I tried. Yes, it's that bad. And this blogpost is just to vent it out before it gets to me.

First things first. For fuck's sake, stop making this about Munni, Sheila or any of your Bollywood divas. This is cricket, not a fucking gambling game where you put women on the line. Apart from being utterly retarded, it's sexist. And if you need that to be pointed out, you're retarded anyway. As Sir Asif Shah clearly tells us, cricket is about these things and these things only:



"It's a bat of dee cup.
It's a ball of dee cup.
It's a pad of dee cup.
It's a gloves of dee cup.
It's a wicket of dee cup.
It's a pitch of dee cup.
It's a ground of dee cup.
It's a sound of dee cup."

Did he say girls/ women? 'nuff said.

On a serious note though, the team wasn't worth the quarters, let alone the semis. I say this for a number of reasons which all cricket lovers understand. The way Afridi has led this team to the semis is nothing short of extraordinary. To be honest, this team has impressed me more than I expected. As Kamran Abbassi wrote, anything the players achieve from here (when they qualified for the quarters) on in is a bonus. I believed that and I still do.

Until recently, I believed winning is all that matters. But what this team has gone through (and it still is as shown by Rehman Malik's brain explosion), winning seems too much to ask. It's not out of their capability but it becomes improbable after such a series of mindfucks. So, I will watch this match for a few reasons. Firstly, take a look at this video at 0:42, 1:34 and 1:47-



I want to watch this difference of celebration upon personal and national achievements.
I want to watch Afridi roar upon taking a breathtaking catch.
I want to watch Shoaib Akhtar demonstrate how weak Indian timber is.
I want to watch Shoaib Akhtar dive to save a boundary and show a finger to the camera.
I want to watch Umar Gul's thunderbolts fracture feet, bats and wickets.
I want to watch Saeed Ajmal's doosra that leaves the batsman stunned in the middle.
I want to watch our batsman show the Indians that it's the custom-made pitches that make their batsmen heroes.
Hence, the quote from Fight Club.

They do this, they win. And there's no question of me hating them.
Go tigers!

The Dear Departed...

Sanwal Javed- Son, brother, angel. (15th May 1990 - 19th February 2011)

Verily, He has sent us. And to Him shall we return.

There are a few people too good for this world, Sanwal Javed was one of them.
He was born with cystic fibrosis, which is a congenital defect concerning all secretions of the body. It is an incurable disease with a low life expectancy. But with the support and love of his family, he was able to live for more than 20 years. He developed acute lymphoblastic leukemia recently which did response to chemotherapy but the resulting suppression of his immune system caused a lethal infection. He stayed in an ICU in Canada for a few days until he left us for his final abode.

It's hard to describe someone like him. Cystic fibrosis patients are very prone to infections so he seldom came to Pakistan. I met him only about 10-15 times but you needed to meet him only once to love him. He was the incarnation of "See no evil, do no evil". A soul as pure as his, could not be that of a human. He was an angel. The only reason I could think of why the Divine decreed so is that God loved him more than we did.

May you rest in Heaven eternally.

Revisiting "Ghazi Ilmdin Shaheed"

Until recently, I was confused about the action of "Ghazi Ilmdin Shaheed". But now, I'm not.

The following article is a result of my own research and the lack of answers to the three lines of argument I will present. I might be wrong but I have the right to have an opinion. Feel free to disagree and debate but don't take it as an insult.

1. Death penalty for blasphemy:
It has been stated/ proved on multiple accounts that the death penalty for blasphemy is not justified in the Quran. I confirmed this with my research and I'll narrate just two verses to prove my point:

"when ye hear the signs of Allah held in defiance and ridicule, ye are not to sit with them unless they turn to a different theme: if ye did, ye would be like them. For Allah will collect the hypocrites and those who defy faith - all in Hell" (Quran 4:140)

"...but indeed they uttered blasphemy,...If they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil ways), Allah will punish them..."(Quran 9:74)

We know from our readings of the Quran that punishments are told every time with a crime (which is not there on this occasion). Secondly, the verse also refers to hypocrites i.e. Muslims with weak faith. Hence, not only will Allah punish blasphemy Himself but even hypocrites will be dealt by Him.

As for Ahadith, we know that accounts of both death penalty and forgiveness exist. But we also know that a Hadith is never absolute i.e. it can be out of context. A particular account is narrated by an observer which is not always and never completely done in context. We are told what happened, but we are not (and perhaps cannot be) told exactly why it happened. In other words, Ahadith fall into hearsay evidence.

Now, we have three choices:
a) Allah, telling us to leave the issue to Him, in the Quran.
b) Hearsay evidence of forgiveness for blasphemy.
c) Hearsay evidence of death penalty for blasphemy.

Unfortunately, our right wing chose (and still chooses) the third one.

2. Imam Abu-Hanifa on blasphemy:
I personally do not believe in the teachings of a particular Imam, I believe in Muslim unity. But because the majority of Pakistanis follow Imam Abu-Hanifa, I'd like to share his view on blasphemy.
In simple words, he believes a non-Muslim cannot be given death penalty for blasphemy. The latter will always have such views, expressed or unexpressed. He can be punished under certain laws of the Islamic state but death penalty cannot be imposed.
This was followed by the British Empire when Raaj Pal was sentenced two years in prison under IPC 295-A for publishing the blasphemous book, originally written by an anonymous writer.
It's ironic how the British followed Imam Abu-Hanifa but the Muslims at that time did not.
Detailed answer here in Urdu.

3. Muslims under non-Muslim rule:
At that time, Muslims were under the rule of the British. Muslims were a minority in the United India. As minorities, it is the Islamic duty of Muslims to follow the law of the land (which in this case was pluralist and not anti-Islamic in anyway). The social contract with the government was meant to be followed as a religious obligation. When Raaj Pal was sentenced to prison, it was the Islamic and moral duty of the Muslims to accept the decision of the court. Thus, they went against Islam by taking the law in their own hands. It does not fall into Jihad either because firstly, Jihad is against a nation, not a person. Secondly, blasphemy does not fall in the prerequisites of Jihad.

It is often suggested that since Jinnah was a lawyer of Ilmdin, he approved of his action. This stance is ludicrous. Jinnah was a lawyer, bound by his duty to defend him. The argument can be comprehensively answered by the statement Jinnah made in the Assembly on September 11, 1929: “If my constituency is so backward as to disapprove of a measure like this then I say, the clearest duty on my part would be to say to my constituency, ‘you had better ask somebody else to represent you’.”

Here, I would like to clarify that the purpose of this article is not to insult Ilmdin. A crime consists of two parts- a malicious intent and an act. It's obvious that there wasn't any malicious intent, rather the love of the Prophet (PBUH). The malicious intent lies in those baseless teachings that instigate youngsters like Ilmdin and tell them that (God-forbid) the highest level of love for the Prophet (PBUH) is to kill someone in his name.
Unlike many people who will read this, I do not call anybody (in this case, Ilmdin) a Murtid (apostate) or a Kafir (infidel). Kindly refrain from calling me one too for having a particular opinion.

Empty Promises

We, as Pakistanis, never consider politicians reliable. We never expect our leaders to deliver and by default, we don't care. But I just discovered how expecting change and not getting it hurts.

I study in Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore. When I first got admitted, it was an unknown entity. But in the last couple of years, our new Principal, Prof Dr Javed Akram gave it a new identity and made it much more than a medical college. Here is an analysis of everything that was done and everything that has been left as such or mishandled.

What he did:
1. New gates were installed with beautiful pillars around them.
2. A new market was made in a vacant space.
3. Brought a lot of media attention to the college through many workshops.
4. Did good name to the college by holding international conferences.
5. Brought new sponsors to the college (now even the directions' boards are sponsored by Warid).
6. Opened new departments in the hospital (Jinnah Hospital) and the college (e.g. a new post-mortem lab; previously Lahore had only one that was in KEMU).
7. Ensured diplomatic relationships with every group in the college.

These are a few of the very positive steps which won the hearts of everybody. But let's not get lost here.

What was not/ wrongly done:
1. I'm in my fourth year and I am yet to come across a single toilet in the Boys' Hostel whose flush works. Yes, it's that bad.
2. In his first address, he talked about how sad it was that the Boys' Gym had become a storehouse for old furniture and everybody had to play in the Girls' gym. It has been two years and guess what, not only is the Boys' Gym the same but the Girls' gym has now become a storehouse as well. A few days back, I gathered a few juniors to help me make some space in the Girls' gym.
3. Last year, he inaugurated new common rooms for the students. And yep, now they are storehouses too.
4. He made a new waste processing facility but the majority of the garbage is still set on fire in different areas of the college. I once woke in the hostel in suffocation because someone had set fire to garbage outside the window of the room I was sleeping in. Smoke can kill, you know.
5. He has made a Professor in charge of student affairs who is supposed to listen to and solve students' problems but so far, there has been only listening and promising but no solutions.

What it looks like:
If we analyze, the positive steps taken have been just to bring attention and investment in the college but no real solutions have been provided to the problems of the college. The principal come from a political family. His brothers include Parvaiz Malik and Malik Qayyum.
Though he was very popular in the early days, his popularity is now decreasing for being too diplomatic and being too concerned with the media and less with the college.

But that is what everybody else thinks, I just need a gym to play.

Here are a few pictures I took:

The fires:

The current status of the Boys' gym:



The Girls' gym before the voluntary cleanup:

And after: