Who is my next Leader?

Imran Khan's rally on Sunday was a big success. Its success seems more magnified because of its unpredictability; few people (the political fortune-tellers), expected PTI to attract this many people and gather so much support. The fact that Imran Khan has always had youth's support is well-known but no one expected these potential voters to actually come out to show their acknowledgement and support so clearly. The enthusiasm of the crowd was unnerving and revitalising at the same time. The time has come, it seems, for Imran Khan to reap the fruits of his 16 years' struggle. He is finally being recognised as a political entity. But does this recognition really make him a politician? This question is constantly being raised by many people.

True, Imran Khan has many thinking minds as his supporters. That is, undoubtedly, his strength. But how long will he be able to hold them in? He has many goals, but few political ways to achieve them. Imran Khan's personality answers many questions about his strategies in future. He is an honest person who is inexcusably blunt and straightforward. This attribute alone ensures that he has a lot of public interest. But how much political support will he gather in order to satisfy the needs of his voters and work in the interest simultaneously? His blunt criticism is capable of warding off many important political supporters who are already itching to join him. It's an open reality that Imran Khan needs all this support that is being offered to him since he has no experienced candidates who can represent his party on different forums and team work is rarely seen. One can only hope for Imran Khan to be diplomatic.

Most of the policies, which he discussed in his rally, were too simplified. This implies that Imran Khan has not yet been successful in carving out more focused, centralised goals out of his vague ideologies which he has discussed countless times on different occasions. His take on America, his counter-terrorism policy, his anti-corruption movements, criticism on present government etc. have been heard several times with little editions in his speech and no changes in his tone. This, by no means, imply that the man is devoid of a vision. He can see his future clearly, but the measures he'll take to get there are still vague. His determination and abilities, however, prove him to be trustworthy. He has achieved goals which were thought to be impossible, like winning the cricket world cup, building Shaukat Khanum Hospital etc. Running a country is different from building a hospital or playing cricket, of course, but these achievements potray him as a determined, ambitious man who can give up anything to get what he has set his eyes on, in this case the welfare of Pakistan. I haven't seen any political leader playing Pakistan's national anthem in their rally, or addressing the whole nation while discussing their strategy instead of one province or ethnicity. No political party ever puts up images of Jinnah or Iqbal while they declare themselves leaders of Pakistan. Imran Khan is the first in a long time to take care of these subtleties. His plans are for Pakistan, not Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, KP or FATA. He is not trying to divide the country while dividing his policies for every sector of the population. Instead, he is formulating his strategies such that they lead to the unity of all provinces. This is what most of the masses have been waiting for: a leader who recognises them as Pakistanis instead of associating their identities with their religion, province or ethical background.

There have been more criticism on Imran Khan, he has faced more accusations and all has been done to defame him. Still, I think he should be supported for the sake of this country. We have tried trusting the polished, experienced politicians. What have we got? Crisis on every level of every sector. I don't think there can be any harm in trying to trust a well-proven administrator who is educated unlike most of our politicians, clean of corruption charges and is determined and devoted to his cause. Who knows, we might even gain something. A person who has pulled the middle-class thinking minds out of their houses can be expected to 'do more' in the sole interest of this country. Whether he is a politician or not, Imran Khan is, without a doubt, a charismatic leader who have the power to make people follow him unconditionally.

(These opinions are solely those of the writer which she has formulated after listening and reading different analysis etc. These opinions, therefore, might be derived but are surely not copied. Thank you.)

Tolerating Intolerance

(I'm posting it really late because I was hoping it'll get published somewhere else. But I suppose newspapers, nowadays, don't have any taste LOL. They'll publish completely nonsensical articles but not that of the future pioneer of journalism! ME! Anyway that was a sour loser's speech, stop laughing and read on, thanks.) 

When I decided to attend this seminar, I wasn't really interested in the concept behind its topic. I only wanted to go because I thought that it'll be a different experience, and the fact that my classmates were also planning to show up strengthened my resolve to attend 'No Tolerance for Intolerance'. For me it was just another talk-talk seminar where speakers repeat what we hear all the time. But suprisingly, the discussion actually led me to form new opinions as I disagreed with the views of more than one speakers.

Sheema Kermani, Hina Khuaja Bayat, Ghazi Salahuddin, Faheem Siddiqui, Uzma Alkarim and Ruhana Iqbal attended as speakers and each gave their own version of the topic. What really ticked me off was Faheem Siddiqui's claim that intolerance often leads to solutions of problems as well. So far it's not disputable. Tolerating injustice doesn't lead us anywhere and at that point protest becomes important. But he said that the fact that media encouraged the masses to protest on streets and burn tires, ensuring them that their protest will be covered is what made the government listen to their demands. He supported the idea of violent protests. And the great Sheema Kermani followed him saying that she believed in armed struggle and protest and that burning cars, tires etc. is completely justified. Moments before the same woman was talking about civilised societies and how our society is not one of them. Seriously? She believes that asking someone about their religion is uncivilised and ill-mannered. But burning other people's property is not? With pioneers like these, no wonder our society is going wayward.

I'm not trying to imply that protesting is wrong. But there are other, peaceful ways of protest and they are practiced by civilised societies and get noticed as well. Which part of the world doesn't protest? But rarely have I heard that they smashed someone's car or burnt flags or tires or blocked traffic for long hours(I'm talking about 'civilised societies' here). On way to achieve something, we lose so much more. So many people lose what they achieved after years of hard work  and saving. Miss Kermani might think it's justified because nothing of this sort has ever happened to her. I don't think she considered the feelings of the people who are deprived of their most precious assets in one blow. How is a middle-class, honest and hard working man responsible if the government is performing poorly or if there is no electricity at your place? Aren't there any other ways to convey your frustration? Most of the people who come out on the roads chanting against the government are people who cast votes. Why vote for such corrupt people in the first place? The said speakers told us that intolerance is good. I wish they could tell us how to display it as well.

When they saw that none of their elders aren't doing the job they ought to be doing, they decided to take up the responsibility themselves. It didn't really start off as a social movement; they were inspired by a few other pages and decided to make one page of their own. But what had started out as a joke has matured into a movement, uniting thousands of people at home and abroad.

KarachiTips, a Facebook page created by three innovative individuals: Baakh Nusrat, Mohammad Abdullah and Bilal Khan, has made thousands realise the beauty of the city they live in. Their one-line tips literally describe the daily life of Karachi in a comical and light-hearted manner. The page, which was launched on June 2 had hit 10,000 fans by june 9th. In 4 months the page has crossed 22,000 fans. The tips touch every thing from the unique life style, to the socio-political situation of the city of lights. Anyone who lives or has lived in Karachi can relate to these one-liners; anyone who has never been to the city of lights can get to know this hub of various ethnicities. In an era of confusion, where we all look for reasons to fight, these tips make us accept and laugh our differences off as we realise that we all face the same problems and think the same way.

The reason I'm writing is this is not their promotion. To be frank, they don't need it now. They've been invited to several radio shows, social events and have been featured in many blogs in their early days. They've already launched their t-shirts and other such merchandise successfully. So they are past the 'promotion-needed' stage.  I just think that, being a blogger from Karachi, I think it is important to highlight the fact that such awesome people exist here in this awesome city. People who highlight the light and good aspects of Karachi life. People who bring others together.

OUR FATE

My laziness has been stopping me from writing on many subjects on which I wanted to write badly. One of these subjects was the past significance of day before yesterday for Pakistan, for the world.

9/11/2001. A day which changed the fate of the whole world. Half of the deaths which took place after 9/11 were due to the war ensued after the unfortunate incident when innocent people were slaughtered and blood was shed like water. Indeed, the past decade has been horrible for thousands of families who lost their family members because of no reason, either they were killed or were kept under custody for a crime they never committed.

But for us, the Pakistanis, 9/11 means more than the incident which took place ten years ago and for which we are still paying the price even though they've killed the culprit. This day truly changed the fate of Pakistan 63 years ago. The death anniversary of our founder shook the nation and I think we still havent recovered from the shock of losing, not only our founder, but our motivation, our self-respect, pride and honesty and love for our country. Even before 9/11/2001, I don't remember our media paying any tribute to Jinnah, I don't remember any special memorial ceremony being conducted in schools, community centres etc. And after 9/11, there was no way we could talk about anything else but the twin towers' destruction. I mean how can we forget our white lords? Jinnah is long gone, what is he in front of the towers which converted into dust and rubble miles away. I don't want or mean to be insensitive. I do feel for people who lost their lives, I do sympathise with the families of the deceased and I appreciate their compassion and will to fight the forces which killed their beloved. But for me my country and its triumphs and its loses are more important than any other country's misfortunes. And I don't think this is wrong. Don't the Americans feel the same way? For them the lives of the Americans come first, for them the lives of other humans are not of much importance and they don't mind wiping these lives away if it stands in the way of their justice.

This day is and should be important to us but for different and more relevant reasons. Instead of replaying the video footage of twin towers repeatedly, it should be about our martyrs and the death of our founder, how he sacrificed his career, health and everything for this country and its people. This is what we should be remembering instead of following the foreign media which calls us terrorist even though we are fighting their war. May be if we try to remember the fortunes and misfortunes of our nation for once, we might be able to escape their oppression, only partially if not completely.