Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Hum Ghulam Ibne Ghulam Hain
(We are slaves, children of slaves)
Free Judges imprisoned at their homes and we debate the technicalities of Judicial activism. Why?
They were giving us a ray of hope!
Media curbed and we think they went too far. Why?
They were showing us our real (shameless) face!
Senior Lawyers arrested, tortured and beaten up with bricks and we condemn their strikes for producing troubles for the judicial system. Why?
They believe in their dignity that we have never enjoyed!
Students arrested, baton charged, tear shelled under the "restored constitution" and we tell them to be productive in their "education". Why?
They don't want to be trained to be slaves like us!
Women beaten up by packs of state terrorists and we debate their dress. Why?
Their courage embarrasses us!
A politician takes a principled stance and we call him a "bad" politician. Why?
We've forgotten what principles mean!
Our own protectors conquer us, enslave us, but we sing their songs, shine their shoes. Why?
We don't want to be free!
Yes. We are slaves. Slavery is our mother and slavery is our father. We belong to the family of cowardice. We belong to the race of men who prefer 100 days of slavery over one day of freedom. There are species in the world who eat their children but we are far worse. We sell our children's freedom for a momentary comfort. We sell our sisters' pride, our mothers' prayers, our brothers' courage, our forefathers' sacrifices, our souls; for the stability of our cage. For the chance to increase our price, to market our product - our cowardice, our criminal silence - so that the next Pharoah will like to buy us. So that the next Satan will like to hire us. We become tools for the Gods of lies and oppression so that they wouldn't hurt us. Their tools to kill people. Their team to enslave life. Their shadow to dim the light. Their soldiers to destroy hope.
But in the process, what do we get? at what price? We get to live another day in the cage? We get to lie another night in the jail? We get to wait for the Messiah?
No, we don't deserve a messiah. For no messiah can heal the people who have sold their souls to the devil. No liberator can set the eternal slaves free. There is no hope for us. There is no future for us. There are no seventy-two virgins waiting for us in the heavens; for the people who are being plundered today will hold us accountable on the day of judgment. For the crime of Cowardice that encourages the Dictators, Silence that helps the Pharoahs and the death of ideals that invites the Vultures.
No, there's no future for us, unless! Unless, we take charge of our destiny. Unless we revive our principles. Unless we learn to sacrifice our bad today for a better tomorrow. Unless we stand up for ourselves. But until that time comes, "Hum Ghulam Ibne Ghulam hain", and our progeny will suffer the same fate!
Jin Ka Deen Perawee-e-Kizb-o-Ria Hay unko
Himmat-e-Kufr milay, Jurr'at-e-Tehqeeq Milay
Jin Kay Sar Muntazir-e-Taigh-e-Jifa Hain unko
Dast-e-Qatil ko jhatak denay ki taufeeq milay
Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, Poker, Snow-white’s Whirling Rings of Cigarette Smoke – Going Crazy
Looking around, we found street after street blockaded. In the vast leafy and quit streets of DHA, polices blockades, manned by policemen in riot gear, presented a very depressing sight. The regime’s PR team is doing a pathetic job. They are not giving us any excuse to believe their claim that the emergency has been lifted. With riot police blockading posh neighborhoods, what kind of a fool will believe that things are back to normal. I asked a senior-sounding police officer standing at one of the barricades about where Justice Sharif’s residence was. He pointed to a street. We went in there and then further until we found another blockade, then another. The policeman was a liar. He had standing right at the opening of Justice Sharif’s street while misguiding me. In any case, I asked the policemen at the other barricade about whether they were there to prevent Justice sahib from coming out. They nodded. At least, they weren’t lying this time. I had a brief chat with them. Then, I walked into another street. I greeted a man just walking past me and asked him how he felt about what was being done to his neighbor Justice Sharif. “It’s wrong, of course.” he said angrily, resuming, “How can there be two views about this?” Then, he went away. After that, I waylaid a middle-aged woman engaged in what appeared to be her daily morning walk, and asked her the same question.
Her expression was part vacant, part melancholic, a queer mixture. She answered, after a pause: “It’s your fault; you the younger generation”. She repeated this again and again. I felt as if wanted to agree with her, adding “You too, ma’am” By this time, I ran into a young reporter from ARY. I said salam and told him that I has was there for the same reason as he was. He told me to go to the Caltex petrol pump nearby, where I would found others of my sort.
We drove out to the Caltex petrol station. There was no one there. I tried calling up some lawyers. One of them told me to call later because his plane was just landing in Lahore or Karachi. The other one told me that it was the Lahore Bar President who would know what was to be done now. Nonetheless, by that time, we could see black coats on the other side of the road. My friend had a class to attend, so he left.
More lawyers gathered until there were around fifty. Then, we walked as a rally, passing through a few streets of Defence Housing Authority, chanting slogans like “yeh general, colonel bay ghayret”, we made our way to the first blockade. The lawyers were quick to push the police and, after some resistance, managed to cross the first barbed wire. That moment, I felt very elated. Just yesterday, at a Students’ rally, the police had been much harder to negotiate with. Today, we had pushed them, at least one bit.
The next blockade, however, was harder. We tried very hard but the police refused to budge. Ultimately all we could make them concede was to allow just a few Lawyer leaders and a few media people to go and present the bouquet that the lawyers had brought for Justice Sharif. All this while, the lawyers kept making a lot of noise, and kept pushing and shoving, but weren’t allowed in. Who says the Judges are free to move?
By that time, despite frantic messaging, only four SAC members were there, while six or seven Jamiat Talaba representatives had also joined in. The Jamiat Talaba members were quite noticeable for their aggressive manner of dealing with the police. Ultimately, however, despite the students’ insistence, no student was allowed to go and meet Justice Sharif.
After a while, Justice Sharif’s son came and addressed the gathering from the other side of the blockade. He conveyed the Honorable judge’s message for the lawyers and civil society at large: Assault against the judiciary will be resisted by the deposed judges, even if it demanded the sacrifice of lives. The judges appreciate the support everyone is showing and they plan to hold fast. Justice Sharif’s son agreed to accompany the lawyers to Aiwan e Adal and speak in lieu of his besieged father.
By that time, I too had to leave for a class. I ran back all the way to LUMS. It took just five minutes or so. Back in LUMS, life was going on just as usual. As I passed a bench, crammed by quite a few guys and girls, dressed up in the latest fashionable western wear brands, I could overhear talk of poker. Poker, I thought, deserved a lot of attention. It’s all about poker, isn’t it.
Near the PDC, basking in the sunlight, a tall, slender, snow-white girl with long flowing ash-brown locks was sitting, smoking a cigarette, holding it between her long, thin, white, soft-looking fingers. She could not have been blowing ring with cigarette smoke, but it looked as though she did. Later, she was rolling something silver between her palms, completely absorbed in her task. For a moment, I thought she was rolling a joint, although at second thoughts, I dismissed the suspicion – you couldn’t do it so publicly. On any ordinary day, she would have looked so irresistibly beautiful. But that moment, smoking in that superbly insular frame of mind, she looked sickly.
I looked at her, and the people back at the bench, and all the merry crowd in between them and I thought about Munshi Prim Chand and his short story about Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Lucknow. One day, out of nowhere, British soldiers came in, passed by a few absorbed chess players, arrested the Nawab, dragged him through the streets passing by the chess player again, and went away. A lot of things that Muslim India had been proud of, went away with him, never to return. The chess-players, in their insular frame of mind, they did not so much as notice. Is it all about chess? I thought about this and a lot of other things and then my head began swimming – that moment, everything around me looked very sickly.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
CJ (the real one) hits out at police action
(Is it still a surprise that Pakistanis love Honorable Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who was able to somehow get his message across even while being in house arrest and having very limited means of communication to the outside world. Without him it is really unclear who us Pakistanis should go to seek justice from.)
Source: TheNews
Deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has termed the police torture on peaceful protesters as 'barbaric act' of the government and reiterated his unflinching support to media, lawyers and civil society.
In a statement, Justice Chaudhry wondered on the government decision to make heavy deployment of police for excesses on law abiding citizens and to keep judges under arrest whereas internationally wanted men were escaping from police custody.
He made this statement in clear reference to the escape of high profile alleged terrorist Rashid Rauf, from Rawalpindi district court's premises. He said the police atrocities could not demoralize the brave nation battling against the authoritarian regime. Justice Chaudhry said he would stand with these people and reiterated his resolve to continue struggle for the supremacy of rule of law and restoration of the Constitution of Pakistan.
"We will fight till the last breath for supremacy of un-tampered constitution of 1973 and rule of law," he said. Torturing peaceful demonstrators is a barbaric act committed by police and other agencies, he said. Peaceful protest is right of every citizen of Pakistan as freedom of expression is enshrined under 1973 Constitution, he said.
Look at the state of condition within a week, a blast in Quetta, Nowshera and Kohat but the police and agencies are deputed to arrest women, torture students, lawyers and media men protesting for the rule of law, he said. It is highly deplorable act of government, which exposes its weakness and nervousness.
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Fellows in Prison, Day and Night and the Approach of Eid…
Amidst the darkness, another thought flashes. Why does the Quran repeatedly remind its reader of the recurring cycle of the moon, of days merging seamlessly into nights and nights merging into days. The Quran brings our mind to think about these and, over the centuries, the exegetes responded by penning volumes. Poets probed these phenomena in their own way. Even Kant, the rationalist German philosopher, felt that the starry heavens filled his mind with an ever new and increasing admiration and awe.
To me, tonight the heavens appear unusually dark, in more than one way. Whatever stars there are will be gone by the last hour, which draws nigh. Then, before the end, a new beginning must come. Every night, dawn manages to intervene just in time. I find this a comforting thought. There remains, however, this eternally dreaded possibility: what if the forces of darkness that loom large on this earth can capture these celestial luminaries and permanently blacken them out. That reminds me of Tolkien who, in his fantactic but profound imaginary world, deals beautifully with this thought.
In the bleak and deadening darkness of Mordor, Samwise Gamgee - that simple peasant hobbit, who despite his humble origins emerged as a figure of great moral and spiritual insight – beholds a single shining star. “The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” I dearly hope that before they vanish, the moon and the stars would provide our incarcerated friends with that same clear and cold assurance - that the Shadow is only a small and passing thing.
For others, the playful little growing moon now heralds the coming to blossom of Eid season. From afar, some of us can already smell the appetizing aroma of festive food and the pleasing fragrances that beautiful humans wear on happy occasions. Beleaguered judges and lawyers still stand defiant against the encroaching oppression of an increasingly authoritarian state; some face the imminent threat of eviction from their homes this Eid; even worse, they face the very real prospect of being forgotten by the nation for which they sacrificed their careers. They and our companions, in the loneliness of their cells, can neither see the moon nor smell the merriment and gaiety of Eid as it approaches.
In the borderless vastness of Arafat, pilgrims will soon gather to importune their Lord, and be remembered of the ultimate reckoning that shall befall all, without exception. Let us bear witness with them, as Prophet Abraham witnessed before us, at great peril to his life that ultimate power belongs to Allah alone, and to no human, no matter how powerful and mighty. Let us join them as we pray for the coming of better days, the return of a spring of justice, human dignity and freedom. Let us pray for strength and courage enough to tear apart the walls of injustice that surround us and our friends in these testing times.
How brutal was police in Islamabad ... Shame on Musharraf
By: Sammad
I apologize for not being able to write more details or in better language. Have 2 fractured fingers and back got real bad thrashing. I am still amongst the luckier ones. We still don't have details on the number but many got beaten up with cracked skulls, bleeding noses, and in broken bones. Many are still in jail and the whereabouts of a few are still unknown.
Our peaceful rally was once again stormed by the police. After being beaten up thrice by these policemen students had brought sticks for their own self defense. We were first charged at when we were trying to go to the CJ's house to show solidarity. Due to the traffic on the street and our numbers (about 1000 protesters with 200 odd with flags) we retaliated and got the police running back.
The second time they charged at us on the orders of ASP Nasir Aftab the students were able to push the police back. Nasir Aftab himself was seen beating up women on which a few students beat him up. He was eventually sent to a hospital after a special ambulance came to take the injured policemen. Please note that when one of the female students tried to go the ambulance to get her brother taken to the hospital she was charged on by 6 policemen. We have no news of her whereabouts as of this point.
Once the police failed to stop the students from going to the CJ's house an armored vehicle fired 30 odd tear gas shells. One shell hit a lawyer and exploded on his leg. He fainted there and was rushed to the hospital in a cab. The police also fired rubber bullets and pelted stones as well. Because of the tear gas people dispersed and riot police in their gas masks charged at us. The students were already in terrible condition due to the tear gas and the police showed no concern for the injured lying on the ground. They became easy targets and were beaten up indiscriminately.
Even with all this, a group of 50 students still made it to the CJ's house. They were eventually surrounded by 600 odd policemen who treated them terribly even after they were already handing themselves over to the authorities. There were numerous arrests made and many different news papers are reporting different numbers. At the time of writing this report the female prisoners have been released and the males were charged under so many different offenses that it was difficult to keep track.
The two bullies responsible for today's action are:
Nasir Aftab: 0300-8505563
Kamran Cheema: 9261163
The students urge you all to call these bullies and tell them about your sentiments. One student said she had no one to go to for justice. Had the CJ been there he would have taken a suo moto notice against these policemen but without him there was no one to go to for help. She said this while being unable to move after the beating she got from the police and waiting for help from somewhere.
Please forward this to everyone and let the world know that students of Pakistan will not be affected by these minor skirmishes. They may have broken bones and aching bodies but their spirit is alive and will fight till our heroes are restored.
You can google news search Islamabad Protest Tear gas to find out more.
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