Red Shi’ism (the religion of martyrdom) vs. Black Shi’ism (the religion of mourning)
By: Dr. Ali Shariati

Islam is a religion which made its appearance in the history of mankind with the cry of “No!” from Mohammad (PBUH), the heir of Abraham, the manifestation of the religion of the Unity of God and the oneness of mankind; a “No” which begins with the cry of “Unity”, a cry which Islam reiterated when confronted with aristocracy and compromise.

Shi’ism is the Islam which differentiates itself and selects its direction in the history of Islam with the “No” of the great Ali, the heir of Mohammad and the manifestation of the Islam of Justice and Truth, a “No” which he gives to the Council for the Election of the Caliph, in answer to Abdul Rahman, who was the manifestation of Islamic aristocracy and compromise. This “No”, up until pre-Safavid times, is recognized as part of the Shi’ite movement in the history of Islam, an indication of the social and political role of a group who are the followers of Ali, known for their association with the kindness of the family of the Prophet. It is a movement based upon the Qoran and the Traditions; not the Qoran and the traditions as proclaimed by the dynasties of the Omayyids, Abbasids, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Mongols and Timurids, but the ones proclaimed by the family of Mohammad.

The history of Islam follows a strange path; a path in which gangsters and ruffians from the Arab, Persian, Turk, Tartar and Mongol dynasties all enjoyed the right to the leadership of the Moslem community and to the caliphate of the Prophet of Islam, to the exclusion of the family of the Prophet and the rightful Imams of Islam. And Shi’ism begins with a “No”; a “No” which opposes the path chosen by history, and rebels against history. It rebels against a history which, in the name of the Qoran, Kings and Caesars, follows the path of ignorance, and in the name of tradition, sacrifices those brought up in the house of the Qoran and the Traditions!

Shi’ites do not accept the path chosen by history. They deny the leaders who ruled the muslims throughout history and deceived the majority of the people through their succession to the Prophet, and then by their supposed support of Islam and fight against paganism. Shi’ites turn their backs on the opulent mosques and magnificent palaces of the Caliphs of Islam and turn to the lonely, mud house of Fatima. Shi’ites, who represent the oppressed, justice-seeking class in the Caliphate system, find in this house whatever and whoever they have been seeking:-

Fatima:
the heir of the Prophet, the manifestation of the “rights of the oppressed” and, at the same time, the symbol of the first objection, a strong and clear embodiment of the “seeking of justice”. In the ruling system, these are the cries and slogans of subject nations and oppressed classes.

Ali:
the manifestation of a justice which serves the oppressed, a sublime embodiment of the Truth who is sacrificed on the altar of inhuman regimes, and which lies hidden in the layers of the formal religion of the rulers.

Hassan:
the manifestation of the last resistance of the garrison of “Imamate Islam”, who confronts the first garrison of “Islamic Rule”.

Hussein:
bears witness to those who have been martyred by the oppressors throughout history, heir of all the leaders fighting for freedom and equality and the seekers of justice, from Adam to himself, forever the messenger of martyrdom, the manifestation of bloody revolution.

Zeinab:
bears witness to all of the defenseless prisoners in the system of executioners, and is the messenger left after martyrdom, and the manifestation of the message of revolution.

Shi’ites take their slogans from the embodiment of the tribulations and hopes of the masses of the oppressed. Aware of the rulers, and in rebellion against them, they cry out:-

“Seek the leadership of Ali and flee from the leadership of cruelty. Choose Imamate, and stamp ‘cancelled,’ ‘disbelief’ and ‘dispossession’ upon the forehead of the Caliphate.

Choose justice, and overthrow the system of paradox and discrimination in ownership.

Choose the principle of being ready to protest against the existing conditions, where the ruling government, religious leaders and aristocracy try to show that everything is in accordance with the Will of God, the Divine Law and the satisfaction of God and his creatures. Such things, to the ruling government, included their conquests, their plundering of mosques, associations, schools, gifts, trusts, and charities and the observance of religious ceremonies and practices.

Choose religious leadership for the central organization of the movement.

Choose the concept of imitation of your betters so as to properly organize your energies and bring order, discipline and direction.

Choose the viceregency of the Imam so as to have a responsible leader.

Give a share of the funds to provide for the socio-political struggle, for educational foundations and for teaching, in a system where all religious funds are forcibly collected by the government acting as a government of the Law.

Choose mourning, to continue the constant historical struggle of the Shi’ites against usurpers, treachery, cruelty, and the sources of fraud, lying and degeneration, and especially to keep alive the memories of the martyrs.

Remember Ashura, to humiliate the ruling group who call themselves the inheritors of the traditions of the Prophet, for the remembrance of it will prove that they are the inheritors of the killers and murderers of the Prophet’s family. It will show you a path of action, and provide an answer to the recurring question “What should be done?”. It will help you to decide on the best agenda for the struggle against the rule of tyranny. It will avoid allegiance to cruelty. It will provide a pattern for the unbroken continuity of history. It will declare an unending struggle between the inheritors of Adam and the inheritors of the devil. Ashura reminds us of the teaching of the eternal fact that the present version of Islam (in1972), is a criminal Islam in the dress of tradition, and that the real Islam is the hidden Islam, hidden in the red cloak of martyrdom.

And finally, concealment; creating a clever camouflage for the organization, and its activities, affiliations, leadership, personalities and plans, to protect the leadership, people and groups from being harrassed by the rulers of the day and from the hard-heartedness of the religious organisation associated with them, who might either slander the Shi’ite movement through excommunication and rouse the ignorant masses against them, or destroy it through persecutions, or weaken it through wholesale murders, imprisonment and deportations, and thus to create the best conditions for the struggle and its continuation; to practice, carefully, the principle of secrecy, and maintain the distinctive conditions of an underground movement.”

We can see that for over eight centuries (until the Safavid era), Alavite Shi’ism was more than just a revolutionary movement in history which opposed all the autocratic and class-conscious regimes of the Omayyid and Abbasid caliphates and the kingships of the Ghaznavids, the Seljuks, the Mongols, the Timurids and the two Khanids, who had made the government version of the Sunni School their official religion, and it waged a secret struggle of ideas and action. Like a revolutionary party, Shi’ism had a well-organized, informed, deep-rooted and well-defined ideology, with clear-cut and definite slogans and a disciplined and well-groomed organization. It led the deprived and oppressed masses in their movements for freedom and for seeking justice. It is considered to have been the rallying-point for the demands, distress, and rebellions of the intellectuals seeking to gain their rights, and for the masses in search of justice.

Because of this, throughout history, as the power of the rulers grew, the difficulties, injustice, dispossessions, and the denial of the rights of the people, and the exploitation of the farmers, increased. Inequality became more pronounced because of the system of aristocracy, class-inequalities, brain-washing, ideological prejudices, the connection between the theologians and the temporal rulers, the poverty and privation of the masses, and the power and wealth of the rulers. When this occurred, the Shi’ite front became stronger, the basic slogans of the movement more powerful, and the struggle of the Shi’ites more intense and more important. It changed from a School of thought, a way of study and religious sectarianism reserved for the intellectuals and the chosen few, to a way of correctly understanding Islam and the culture of the people of the house of the Prophet, when confronted by Greek philosophy and oriental Sufism, to a deep-rooted and revolutionary, socio-political movement of the masses, especially the rural masses. It caused greater fear among the autocratic rulers and the hypocritical religious bodies who rule the people in the name of the Sunni sect.

It is for this reason that the pseudo-intellectual and free-thinking rulers, at whose courts the Jews, Christians, Magians and even the materialists enjoy freedom, honor and influence, talk of the Shi’ites with such anger and vexation that a massacre of all of them would not quench the thirst of these rulers. They flay them alive, pass iron rods through their eyes, pull out their tongues and burn them alive. These are all current practices of the day. It reaches the point that the historians, theologians and even philosophers and men of piety of the court considered it to be part of their prayers to invent any false accusations, forgeries and falsified records that they could against the Shi’ites! It is in such circumstances that Sultan Mahmoud of Ghazni declares “I search the world over for a Shi’ite”. It is his government which sponsors the Sunni theological decree that marriage of a Moslem man with “people of the Book” i.e. Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, is legal, but it is illegal to marry a Shi’ite woman.

With the coming to power of the Seljuks, prejudices and bias become stronger against the world of thought and religion. From the social point of view, the feudal and guardianship system accentuates the degree of the exploitation of the masses, expecially the farmers, to an unbearable degree. In order to maintain the policies of the state, floggings and torture are necessary, resulting in the construction of many piles of skulls and eyes.

The religious body of the Sunni sect, which had from the beginning become ‘the government’s Islam’, becomes a conglomeration of the most debased and prejudiced beliefs and harsh rules. It turns into a tool for the justification of the inhuman ways of the rulers. It compromises with the autocratic regimes of the Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks and the Mongols. It becomes an opiate for the masses, and an instrument for murder to be used to prevent any thought or action that jeopardizes the interests of the strong and harms the landlords and feudal chiefs.

This is what causes Shi’ism, during this period, to appear as the fountainhead of the rebellion and the struggle of the downtrodden and oppressed masses, especially the rural people. It flourished wonderfully, in multiple facets, and in different directions, moderate or extreme, in the form of various movements of the masses against the powers of the day; movements like the terrorism of Hasan Sabbah, the communal living of the Qaramateh, the extremist cultural and religious beliefs of the Ghalat, and the rebellion for free-thinking of some of the Sufi sects of the revolutionary and Shi’ite School of thought, against the harsh prejudices and the souless, petrifying censorship of the theological and legal system attached to the ruling group. Finally, the intellectual, moderate and rich School of the Imamate, as the greatest flow of thought and culture, rebels when confronted by the religion and culture of the government.

The rousing call and the possibilities for learning in this School of thought are based upon the twin principles of imamate and justice. It produces the revolutionary cries of A’shura and the aggressive mobilization of the masses against existing conditions. It invites people to await the hidden Imam who is in occultation. It raises the critical problems of the ‘signs of appearance’ and the ‘end of time’. It keeps alive the hope of ‘redemption after martyrdom’. It promotes the idea of revenge and revolt, faith in the ultimate downfall of tyrants and the decrees of destiny against the ruling powers who dispense justice by the sword. It prepares all the oppressed and justice-seeking masses who are waiting to participate in the rebellion. In some towns like Kashan and Sabzevar, where the Shi’ites are strong, they saddle a white horse on Fridays, and all the people of the town, the protesting, disatisfied and expectant Shi’ites, follow the horse out of town, despite the opposition of the government and the ruling religion. They await redemption and freedom from tyranny, and the beginning of a rebellion. They discuss questions which cause fear among the ruling group.

During the first half of the eighth century, following the wholesale massacres of Ghengis Khan and Hulaku, when the rule of the Mongols had reduced the Iranian masses to submission, depression, humiliation and weakness; when the revenge of Ghengis Khan was law; when the sword and the hangman were enforcers of the law; when the Mongol Khans and nomads and the officers and chiefs of Mongol tribes each ruled as a feudal lord over various regions and estates, and had enslaved the peasants in the most cruel manner; when, in the towns as well, the men of religion were mostly in the service of the Mongol rulers, they called upon the masses to submit in the name of ‘the true Sunni religion’ to the pseudo-Moslem rulers who continued to be replicas of Ghengis Khan. They circumcised themselves only to please the religious sentiments of the Moslems, at the cost of the spread of the culture, faith, morality, society and of the very existence of the Moslems!

Some of the religious men, whose piety made them abstain from co-operating with the rulers and tyrants, had crept into the oblivion of piety in the monasteries of the Sufis, thereby indirectly becoming the means by which the path is paved for oppression and the ground is prepared for murder. They had left the people defenseless against the floggings of the Mongol executioners and robbers, and the fraudulent men of religion.

It is under these circumstances that a religious preacher sets out in search of the truth in the way that Salman did. Salman approaches all those with claims to religious faith. First he approaches the pious Balu to seek the path of salvation in his School of piety and freedom. There, he sees piety remaining silent against tyranny. What a shame! What heartlessness and selfishness, that a man should be surrounded by the screams of prisoners, the shouts of executioners, the poverty of the hungry, the whips of the cruel over the bodies of the helpless, and, instead of volunteering to defend them, that he should simply seek his own redemption and try to gain paradise for himself! Salman flees from this man in disgust and goes to Semnan to see Rukneddin Emad-od-Dowleh, whose piety and leadership in Sufi practices is well-known. He finds Sufi practices also, like piety, a means of escape from reality and responsibilities, turning away from the fate of the masses, and ignoring cruelty and tyranny. Salman finds the Sufi to have a tender heart, tender feelings and a sublime soul. But, how is it that the rivers of blood shed by the Mongols in this country, and that the decline threatening Islam and the masses of the people, do not in any way disturb the peace of his soul and the tenderness of his heart? Salman flees from him in hatred, and goes to the Sheikh ol-Islam, Imam Ghiasuddin Habibollah Hamavi in Bahrabad, to gain knowledge of the religious laws and the theology of the true Sunni sects from him, and to find his way back to the original spring of truth. Here, he sees a theology that discovers and discusses a thousand problems in bathroom etiquette, but has a total lack of any awareness of the evil destiny facing the nation.

Disgusted with all these robes of piety, and satisfied that these religious teachings are all the weavers of the clothes of piety to be worn on a body of oppression, then with a heart filled with hatred towards the cruel Mongol rulers, and reeling with pain because of the evil destiny of the Moslem masses, as a Moslem responsible for the people and knowledgeable about the times, and as a protestor against the existing system, having lost all faith in the sellers of religion, Sheikh Khalifeh chose the Islam of Ali, the School of protest and martyrdom.

In the dress of a simple darvish, he goes to Sabzevar as a lonely stranger, takes up residence in the great mosque of the town, and begins preaching there. This marks the beginning of the Sarbedaran liberation movement. He is a preacher who is in revolt against everything that teaches people to bow to ignorance and oppression, a revolt backed by a faith, a School of thought and a “Red” history: Shi’ism. Slowly, the deprived masses begin to understand, to find their way, and as a result, to become a threatening force. The official pseudo-clergy start their usual game of spreading rumors and then issuing religious decrees, and at last, calling for authorised murder, saying:-

“This Sheikh discusses worldly affairs in the mosque”,
“This Sheikh conjectures in the mosque and defiles the house of God”, and “This Sheikh confuses the religion of the people”.

The pseudo-clergy try to turn the people against him, and prepare the ground for his downfall. They help the Mongol ruler to take his life. They write to the Mongol ruler saying that the Sheikh has strayed from the true Sunni Religion, and is not prepared to repent and retract in spite of their best efforts. They say he is propagating worldly ideas in the mosque, and spreading the work of the protesters (Shi’ites)! They continue “His behaviour calls for the death penalty, and it is up to Sultan Saied to rid the religion of this pestilence”. The spreading of rumors and the rousing of people against him increases but the Sheikh’s call to understanding, faith and salvation, continues to attract the hearts of the deprived and suffering rural masses more and more to him. Until early one morning, when his admirers go as usual to see him, they see his dead body in the mosque.

After the Sheikh’s assassination, his disciple Sheikh Hasan Juri continues his work. He gives an immediate call to arms, organizes his disciples and goes underground. He starts roaming the towns and sowing the seeds of understanding and revolt wherever he goes, on the basis of Shi’ism. The minds of the people are prepared. The hearts of the enslaved masses are throbbing for revolt under the curtain of secrecy. One spark will be sufficient…

A nephew of the ruler enters the village of Baashteen, a village about thirty-six kilometers south of Sabzevar, as he normally does. With his followers, he enters the house of Abdul Razzaq, one of the pious and honourable villagers who is still reeling under the devastating influence of the religious propaganda of the ruler. The retinue asks the villagers for food, and are duly served. Then they ask for wine! For the villagers, who are Moslems and Shi’ites, who have been deeply influenced by the words of Sheikh Khalifeh, the bringing of wine for such rascals, and that, too, under compulsion, is too much. However, they serve it! The guests become intoxicated! They ask for women! This was the beginning of the explosion, very simple and rapid! The host goes to the people and calling the Shi’ite masses, exclaims that the Mongol ruler is asking for their women. What is their reply? They say “We are prepared to die rather than be so defiled! Our women for the enemy shall be our swords”. The result is inevitable. The masses have made up their minds. They kill the whole group at one attempt. As they know that there is no turning back, as they know that they have already chosen death, they stop wavering. The choice of death gives them such energy that their single village revolts against that bloodthirsty regime and is successful. The villagers overrun the town, fighting against the Mongol army and the decrees of the pseudo-clergy of the religion of the state. They are victorious. Their cry: “Salvation and Justice!” and “The destruction of the power of the ruling Mongols and the influence of the priests of the religion of the rulers and the big landowners of the ruling class”. The victims of the ignorance of the pseudo-clergy and the prisoners of the oppression of the Mongols continue joining the ranks of the rebels. Sabzevar becomes a center of power; like a fire that spreads through dry brush, the Shi’ite revolutionary guards, who enjoy the backing of the rural warriors and champions of the masses, and have the ideology of Sheikh Khalifeh and Sheikh Hasan and similar kinds of well-informed, righteous and missionary men of learning, engulf the whole of Khorasan and northern Iran and even inflame the south of the country. And for the first time, a revolutionary movement based on Alavite Shi’ism, against foreign domination, internal deceit, the power of the feudal lords and wealthy capitalists, had an armed uprising, led by peasants seven hundred years ago, under the banner of justice and the culture of martyrdom, for the salvation of the enslaved nation and the deprived masses.

And this is the last revolutionary wave of Alavite Shi’ism, Red Shi’ism, which continued for seven hundred years to be the flame of the spirit of revolution, the search for freedom, and justice, always inclining towards the common people and fighting relentlessly against oppression, ignorance and poverty.

A century later came the Safavids, and Shi’ism left the great mosque of the common people to become a next-door neighbor to the Palace of ‘Ali Qapu in the Royal Mosque.

Red Shi’ism changes to Black Shi’ism!

http://www.iranchamber.com/personalities/ashariati/works/red_black_shiism.php

As I listen to the two videos in Urdu appended below, they stand out more for the frustration and helplessness in the voice of both the speakers than their depiction of the dreadful state of affairs. The first video includes Faisal Raza Abidi, who talks about the recent incidents in Baluchistan including an attack on female students and then a hospital in Quetta, which was purported to target Shia girls and has been owned up as such by the LeJ. The second video features the MQM’s leader Haider Abbas Rizvi lamenting the fact how Shias are being identified and killed with utter impunity in Karachi. Mr Rizvi exposes the administration’s apathy by showing how the ECP allowed SSP’s Aurangzaib Farooqi to run in the election and to orchestrate an overtly sectarian campaign.

From Khyber to Karachi to Nokundi, Pakistan is being painted red with the blood of its sons and daughters. Fundo-Terrorism, Sectarian-terrorism, Narco-terrorism, Separatist-terrorism, Mafia-terrorism – you name it and we are not only self-sufficient but also endowed with great prowess to export. We saw its first startling manifestation in the wake of Pakistan’s dabbling into Afghan Jihad. Another facet was revealed when the overtly sectarian outfits like the SSP cropped up and started getting rid of those who they considered infidels. And finally, after NATO’s attack on Afghanistan following the 9/11, all hell broke loose. This depicts the trajectory of once peaceful Pakistan’s evolution into a nursery for organised terrorism as organised crime has almost entirely welded with terrorism.

Luckily we have not experienced anything like Nazi-sponsored Holocaust, Tutsis’ Genocide, or Pol Pot’s Bloodbath. The death toll at around 50,000 over ten years is also much less than the 100,000 killed in Syria in just over two years. This is owed to the generally pacifist culture of the subcontinent’s Indus and Ganges valleys, which has often found itself under siege from the barbarism descending from northwest of the subcontinent. However, the very fabric of this culture is being shred and unless we do something about it in earnest, we will not escape the wrath of a bigger catstrophe. It is very simple; our main enemy in the next few decades will be terrorism, with some other countries using the terrorist organisations as a front on our soil. Religion and sect are used as the cloak to hide the profane ambitions of the protagonists.                

Every part of Pakistan has been affected by militancy/terrorism during the last two decades. Even though Punjab has been relatively quiet on this front for the last many years, it too has witnessed a number of incidents of bombing the Sufi Shrines, attacking Shia and Ahmedi gatherings, and burning down Christian dwellings. The country has a number of militant organizations which, together with their splinter groups, number in hundreds. Most of these organisations are intertwined and have developed a formidable network spanning the entire national territory and many other countries.

Those who advocate placating the terrorists must know that in the world’s modern history talking people out of using violent means has rarely, if ever, resulted in peaceful endings. Even if a temporary lull is achieved, it only ends up being a precursor to bigger upheavals in future. On the other hand it may be tempting to think that a war against terrorism can be won by killing all the terrorists. In the real world, this naive plan doesn’t work. In Pakistan’s case too terrorism cannot be subjugated solely through mindless use of force but a few things must be understood by the nation as a whole.

One, terrorism cannot be effectively dealt with unless its origin and source of supply is understood and removed. For people to be pushed into war, to sacrifice their material, physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being for a cause determined by others, basic psychological processes have to be activated and manipulated towards this end by appealing to primitive loyalties and religious duty and by arousing deep passions. Madrassas and pulpit fulfil this role.

Two, terrorism is also a form of war – a war between the victims and the perpetrator. We need to fight our war.

Three, use of force must be decisive and resolute.

Four, terrorism costs only a fraction of traditional guerrilla warfare -in terms of finances, men, efforts, and material- and can easily self-finance itself through crime or donors over a protracted period of time.

Five, in most cases terrorism transforms into a self-perpetuating organism which has little real interest in peaceful resolution of the issue.

Terrorism can be defeated only through a combination of various means. Terrorists always look to driving a wedge between the people and the state. Every time the terrorists blow up innocent victims, like in Mardan yesterday, the actual goal is to erode people’s trust in the state. While terrorists and their backers use fiendishly clever strategies for eroding this trust and fomenting resentment and hatred, our politicians are clearly not of much help either in inspiring the populace to bond with the state. Terrorists are defeated in a society when the large majority of the community feel that they can trust the State to maintain law and order and to work for the common good. Then ordinary people will never apologise for the terrorists attacking the state or its citizens. Otherwise, terrorists can always find freedom of action and hiding places in a society where majority are not their sympathizers but are not willing to support the state either. When terrorists find no apologists and are viewed with dislike by the vast majority of the general public, then the war on terrorism has been won. Pakistan is looking up to its new government to gain the trust and cooperation of the politicians, security forces, state institutions, and general population to formulate a long-term coherent strategy to combat terrorism.

Is Nawaz Sharif up to it?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=482133628529050

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?v=482298605179219

Four US troops have been killed just hours after the US announced its willingness to meet with Taliban in Doha, Qatar and called on the Taliban to renounce violence, dropping a condemnation of Al-Qaeda as a precondition.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed four US troops in Afghanistan, just hours after Washington announced planned talks with the insurgents.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: “Last night two big rockets were launched at Bagram (air base) which hit the target. Four soldiers are dead and six others are wounded. The rockets caused a major fire.”

The attack came after it was revealed US representatives could meet with the Taliban in Doha within days after the Islamist group opened a “political office” in the Qatari city.

The new talks were authorized by Taliban leader Mohammed Omar and are due to begin in the Qatari capital on Thursday (20 June 2013). Senior officials from the US State Department and White House are expected to meet with a Taliban delegation.

The meeting will take place after Washington dropped its long-standing demand that Taliban leaders renounce al-Qaeda as a precondition for negotiations, according to the Telegraph. Given the USA’s decision to arm Al Qaeda dominated Wahhabi militants in Syria, it appears that the USA is now, once again, official sponsor of Wahhabi-Deobandi militancy worldwide from Afghanistan to Syria. Human rights activists have expressed concern that recognition of the Taliban without due assurance for the respect of democracy, women’s right, rights of ethnic, faith and sect minorities and political opponents may mean that Taliban’s era of extreme persecution of women and genocide of Shia Hazaras may revisit Afghanistan. Here’s a detailed list of Taliban’s atrocities during their government in Afghanistan: http://criticalppp.com/archives/5150

Four US soldiers were killed just hours after the announcement that peace talks were imminent. The Americans were hit by “indirect fire,” US officials said, from Taliban insurgents (Deobandi militants) at Bagram air base, located not far from Kabul, the location of the largest US military base in Afghanistan. On Tuesday NATO forces passed responsibility for the security of the entire country entirely to Afghan security forces.

After opening the “political bureau” in Doha alongside Qatari officials, Taliban representative Mohammed Naeem further told a news conference that the militant group hoped to secure good relations with Afghanistan’s neighbors.

Following the bilateral talks between US and Taliban representatives, the Islamist political movement is expected to meet with Karzai’s High Peace Council for follow up talks several days later.

Afghan President Karzai is under intense pressure from the USA and Saudi Arabia to recognize Taliban.

Speaking from the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, President Barack Obama commended Karzai for taking a courageous step towards peace, though he said the process would neither be easy nor quick. British Prime Minister David Cameron threw his support behind Washington’s decision to hold peace talks with the Taliban, echoing Obama’s sentiment that the process would be difficult.

Despite one top administration official calling the Taliban’s decision to open up an office in Doha a “milestone” on the road to ending the protracted conflict, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan was doubtful insurgents from the (Pakistan’s ISI-sponsored) Haqqani network would be amenable to peace.

“All I’ve seen of the Haqqani would make it hard for me to believe they were reconcilable,” General Joseph Dunford told Pentagon reporters via telephone from Kabul.

The Haqqani network of Deobandi militants, believed to be based in Pakistan’s restive tribal area and allied with the Taliban, pioneered suicide attacks in the country and is believed to be the most formidable anti-government force.

However, a US official said the Haqqanis would be represented by the Taliban delegation in Doha.

The announcement comes on the same day the US-led NATO coalition handed over nationwide security to Afghan forces. The White House had long sought to implement peace talks before the total US troop withdrawal slated for the end of 2014.

Political analyst and former Afghan MP, Daoud Sultanzoy told RT that the people of Afghanistan question whether the war was worth fighting if the Taliban is opening a political office, paving way for their taking over of Kabul by force in future. That doesn’t augur well for women, ethnic and religious minorities, and political opponents all of whom faced extreme persecution by Deobandi-dominated Taliban militants.

“So many people died, they lost their lives, the country has been in a state of war for so many years, so many troops from all over the world were here, so much money was spent. At the end of the day, today we are seeing a historic moment where the Taliban is announcing the opening of the office of the emirates of Afghanistan with a flag. The lingering question is what was this war fought for? What is going to happen after this? This is a very important turning point .And if the Americans sit with the Taliban on one hand they will be talking, on the other hand the people of Afghanistan will be dying. This is going to be a devastating situation for our nation.”

http://rt.com/news/taliban-usa-talks-qatar-884/

http://news.sky.com/story/1105274/afghanistan-taliban-admit-us-troop-attack

The Swiss law authorities also said that they had not received any new evidences against Pakistan’s president, sources added.

http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=105855

This news is a big blow to all Mummy-Daddy, Two Nation Loving, Taliban supporting Ghairatmands like me. Four score and seven years ago when Hussain Haqqani was still with us in the Jamaat Islami aka IJI, he and As per some reports, Nusrat Javed developed and popularized the Mr. 10 % label for Dictator Asifus Zardarius the First. The Lawyers Movement was supposed to hail in the era when we could finally supersede, oops interpret the Law to lynch PPP and Liberate Lashkar e Jhangvi – and Dr. Arsalan. During the Lawyers Movement Pinkos, Honda Civic Society, General Hamid Gul and Sipah Sahaba marched to restore the democratically elected Chaudhary Iftikhar. In this movement, we achieved the synthesis between Maudodi, Marx, Mao, Muawiya and Mandy Moore.

In this movement, we finally fused the legacy of Faiz and Jalib with the founder of Naya Pakistan, General Zia ul Hqa Shaheed.

These were the Glory Days, the Age of Yazeed, if you may.

We wept for the mythical Girl Martyrs of Lal Masjid and showered petals on Mumtaz Qadri. We achieved so much. Besides liberating and awarding Punjab Government Cash stipends to comrades Malik Ishaq, Hafiz Saeed, Lal Masjid, we also supported the business interests of Ibne Iftikhar aka Dr. Arsalan. We achieved so much but Zardari got away. Damn the Swiss for following legal procedures and precedents and that silly thing called the Law- something that our Qazi ul Qudha never took too seriously for consistent application. That being said, I don’t think we should ban Lindt or any Harami Hole-ridden paneer. We can curse the Swiss but still enjoy their products. The “Liberal scum” will call this hypocrisy but we can call it Ghairat. Now, lets get Hakeemullah Meshud on Speed dial for some talks

Well if you feel the subcontinent’s politicians monopolize stupidity, David Cameron says they have a duty to protect the Christians in Syria. Can someone tell him that back at the ranch the Christians are all staunchly behind Assad? It is not about how little he knows. It is how he is lying to his fellow countrymen. A respected former French Foreign Minister recently explained in a televised interview that Syria’s war was planned two years before the Arab Spring. {http://www.globalresearch.ca/former-french-foreign-minister-the-war-against-syria-was-planned-two-years-before-the-arab-spring/5339112}

Putin is demonstrating how to be a leader, maybe the West should take note, and China should consider changing their foreign policy and get more involved to stand up to the West’s hypocrisy. Putin refused to fall for Obama’s blatantly uncorroborated claims of chemical weapons use by the regime, ignoring chemical weapons use by rebels, ignoring outrages by the rebels including cannibalism on video and execution of children out of religious extremism, and a new surge of military support to one side just as talks are proposed.

One example is that at G8 Obama talked of reducing the violence and Putin insisted on stopping the violence. This dears, is all the difference. Are we going to look back in near future and admire the fact that –while we struggled to sort out the mess in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya- the US has managed to pull the world into yet another nauseating morass?

وطن عزیز پاکستان میں گزشتہ چند عشروں میں ستر ہزار سے زیادہ شہری جن میں سنی، شیعہ، احمدی، مسیحی، پولیس اور فوج کے افراد شامل ہیں تکفیری دیوبندی دہشت گرد گروہوں کے ہاتھوں شہید کیے جا چکے ہیں

پاکستانی اور بین الاقوامی میڈیا اس حقیقت کو چھپا رہا ہے کہ طالبان، سپاہ صحابہ عرف لشکر جھنگوی، جیش محمد، جنداللہ اور اس نوع کی دیگر تمام دہشت گرد تنظیمیں سو فی صد دیوبندی تنظیمیں ہیں جن میں ایک بھی سنی صوفی بریلوی شامل نہیں

ان تنظیموں کی مالی اور سیاسی امداد سعودی عرب اور خلیج کی دوسری وہابی ریاستیں اور وہابی ادارے کرتے ہیں جن کا مقصد پوری دنیا پر وہابی خلافت کا غلبہ قائم کرنا ہے پاکستان، افغانستان اور بھارت میں دیوبندی مکتب فکر کے لوگ وہابیوں کے قریب تر ہیں اور شیعہ مسلمانوں کو کافر اور سنی بریلوی مسلمانوں کو مشرک، قبر پرست اور بدعتی کہتے ہیں اسی وجہ سے دیوبندیوں کو نیم وہابی بھی کہا جاتا ہے

امریکہ کی یونیورسٹی آف پنسلوانیا کی تحقیق کے مطابق پاکستان میں ہونے والے پچانوے فیصد سے زیادہ دہشت گردی کی کاروائیوں میں دیوبندی مکتب فکر کے لوگ ملوث ہیں اگرچہ دیوبندوں کی عظیم اکثریت امن پسند مسلمان ہے لیکن دہشت گردوں کی عظیم اکثریت تکفیری دیوبندی ہے دوسرے لفظوں میں تمام دیوبندی دہشت گرد نہیں، لیکن تقریباً تمام دہشت گرد تکفیری دیوبندی ضرور ہیں – اس حقیقت کے پیچھے سعودی وہابی سرمایہ اور سیاست کار فرما ہے – ملاحظہ فرمائیں یونیورسٹی آف پنسلوانیا کی تحقیق

طالبان اور سپاہ صحابہ لشکر جھنگوی کی تکفیری دیوبندی شناخت اور ان کے وہابی سر پرستوں کو چھپانے کے لئے میڈیا میں ان کے حلیف تکفیری دیوبندی وہابی دہشت گردی کو غلط طور پر سنی شیعہ فرقہ وارانہ یا ایران سعودی جنگ کی آڑ میں چھپانے کی کوشش کرتے ہیں مقصد یہ ہے کہ پاکستان کے عوام دہشت گردوں کی اصلی شناخت کی طرف متوجہ نہ ہوں تاکہ انھیں اپنی دہشت گردی کرنے کا کھلا موقع میسر رہے

سوال یہ ہے کہ میڈیا پر بیٹھے اکثر تجزیہ نگار و سیاست دان دہشت گردی کو جب فرقہ وارانہ مسائل بنا کر پیش کرتے ہیں تو ساتھ میں کہتے ہیں کہ سعودی عرب و ایران کی آپس جنگ ہے اور ان دونوں ملکوں کی پراکسی-وار یہاں پاکستان میں لڑی جارہی ہے۔

کیا جنگ دو طرفین کے درمیان نہيں ہوتی؟ اور کیا دونوں جانب سے ایک دوسرے پر حملے نہیں کیے جارہے ہوتے ہيں؟

اگر یہ دہشت گردی فرقہ وارانہ جنگ ہی ہے تو یہاں دیوبندی وہابی تکفیریوں کی جانب سے تو ایک طویل عرصے سے ایسے بڑے بڑے اور ہولناک حملے کیے جارہے کہ اہل تشیع مسلمانوں کی مساجد، امام بارگاہوں اور رہائشی آبادیوں میں پورا بارود سے بھرا ٹرک دھماکے سے اڑا دیا جاۓ اور انسان تو کیا پوری کی پوری آہنی سلاخوں سے تیار شدہ عمارتیں بھی بوسیدہ کھنڈرات میں بدل جائيں۔۔ تو بالکل ایسے ہی حملے آج تک تکفیری دیوبندی پر رد عمل کے طور پر کبھی ہوۓ یا ماضی میں کبھی ہوۓ؟ حد تو یہ ہے کہ تکفیری وہابی دیوبندی تو کھلے عام ‘شیعہ کافر’ کے نعرے لگاتے ہیں کیا کبھی کسی شیعہ مسلمان، تنظیم یا علماء نے رد عمل میں دیوبندی وہابی پر کفر کا فتوی باندھا؟

کیا کبھی کسی سنی بریلوی یا احمدی نے بھی دیوبندیوں کے مدارس پر خودکش حملہ کیا – کیا کبھی سنی بریلوی، احمدی یا شیعہ نے بھی پاکستانی فوج کے لوگوں پر حملے کیے اور فوجی اہلکاروں کے گلے کاٹے؟

اگر ایران جیسا ملک جس کے ایک تربیت یافتہ گروہ ‘حزب اللہ’ کے آگے قابض صیہونی ریاست جیسی جدید فوج بھی شکست کھا گئ تو ان وہابی دیوبندی تکفیری گروہ سے ایران کے لیے جنگ کرنا کیا مشکل تھی؟ یہاں معاملہ تو یہ ہے کہ ابھی پاکستان کے اہل تشیع ملت نے ہی دفاع کا شرعی و فانونی حق رکھتے ہوۓ بھی وہابی دیوبندی تکفیری گروہ پر جوابی کاروائیاں نہیں کی ہیں اگرچہ اہل تشیع مسلمان اب اس ملک میں بالکل غیر محفوظ ہوچکے ہیں اور یہاں ان کی باقاعدہ نسل کشی کی جارہی ہے مگر صرف ملکی سلامتی کو مدنظر رکھتے ہوۓ ملت تشیع پاکستان صبر کا دامن ہاتھ میں تھامے ہوۓ ہے۔۔

دراصل تو یہ ساری دہشت گردی سعودی شاہی حکومت کی وجہ سے ہے۔۔ تمام وہابی دیوبندی تکفیری گروہوں اور مدرسوں کو سعودی شاہی حکومت کی اسلحہ سے لے کر مالی و ہر قسم کی معاونت حاصل ہے۔۔ یہ فرقہ وارانہ جنگ دو طرفہ نہیں بلکہ یک طرفہ ہے اور وہابی تکفیریوں نے نہ صرف اہل تشیع بلکہ دیگر اہلسنت مکاتب فکر پر بھی مسلسل یلغار کر رکھی ہے۔۔

کیا آپ نے کبھی غور کیا کہ پاکستان میں ہونے والی اکثر دہشت گردانہ کاروائیوں کا ذمہ دار کون ہے؟

کیا آپ نے غور کیا کہ سنی بریلوی مزاروں ، شیعہ امام بارگاہوں ، محرم کے جلوسوں، سنی و شیعہ مساجد، احمدی برادری، مسیحی برادری اور دوسرے بے گناہ پاکستانیوں کے خوں سے کس گروہ کے ہاتھ رنگے ہوۓ ہیں؟

کیا آپ نے غور کیا کہ کراچی میں سنی بریلوی سنی تحریک کی پوری قیادت کو نشتر پارک میں کس نے شہید کیا، عباس قادری، سلیم قادری ، لاہور میں مولانا سرفراز نعیمی کا خون کس نے کیا، ملتان کے سنی بریلوی عالم دین حامد سعید کاظمی کو قتل کرنے کی کوشش کس نے کی؟ دیوبندی علما میں مولانا حسن جان، مولانا نظام الدین شامزئی ، اہلحدیث عالم ڈاکٹر فاروق کو کس نے شہید کیا؟
کیا آپ نے غور کیا کہ لاہور میں احمدی مساجد پر نماز جمعہ کے دوران حملہ کر کے سو سے زیادہ بے گناہ احمدیوں کا خون کس نے بہایا؟

کیا آپ جانتے ہیں کہ لاہور میں داتا دربار ، کراچی میں عبداللہ شاہ غازی، پاکپتن میں بابا فرید اسلام آباد میں بری امام، پختونخواہ میں رحمان بابا اور دیگر اولیا الله کے مزاروں پر بے گناہ سنی بریلوی اور شیعہ مسلمانوں کو کس نے شہید کیا؟
کیا آپ جانتے ہیں کہ راولپنڈی میں آرمی ہیڈ کوارٹرز پر حلمہ کس گروہ نے کیا؟ لال مسجد اسلام آباد کو کس گروہ نے اسلحے اور دہشت گردی کا اڈہ بنایا وہ کونسا گروپ ہے جو بازاروں، دفاتر ، مساجد میں عام پاکستانیوں کا خوں بہانے میں مسرت محسوس کرتا ہے؟

کیا آپ جانتے ہیں کہ وہ کون سا گروہ ہے جو پاکستان کے دشمنوں کے ہاتھوں میں کھیل رہا ہے، پاکستان کے اندر اس کا کردار منافقوں، غداروں اور اندرونی دشمنوں جیسا ہے،
یقینی طور پر آپ جانتے ہیں کی ان تمام دہشت گردی کی کاروائیوں کی ذمہ داری نہایت بے شرمی سے طالبان، لشکر جھنگوی اور سپاہ صحابہ نے قبول کی ہے

یقینی طور پر آپ جانتے ہیں کہ طالبان اور سپاہ صحابہ تکفیری دیوبندی مسلمانوں کے گروہ ہیں جن میں ایک بھی سنی بریلوی، شیعہ، مسیحی یا احمدی شامل نہیں

آپ تمام پڑھنے والوں سے گزارش ہے کہ عموما سازشیں بننے والے، ہمارے ذہنوں کو مفلوج بناۓ رکھنا جانتے ہیں سوچنے کی قوت اسی لیے بڑی اہمیت کی حامل قرار پاتی ہے کیوں کہ غور و فکر کی صلاحیت کے باعث ہی انسان پیچیدہ معاملات کو صحیح طور پر سمجھ پاتا ہے

سیاسی شیعہ فیس بک سے ماخوذ مع ترامیم و اضافہ

شعبہ اردو و فارسی گلبرگہ یونیورسٹی گلبرگہ سے عبدالرب استاد کو پی ایچ ڈی کے اعزاز سے سرفراز کیا گیا۔ان کے مقالہ برائے پی ایچ ڈی کا عنوان ”حیدرقریشی- شخصیت اور ادبی جہات“تھا۔اس مقالہ کی تیاری میں ان کے گائیڈ ڈاکٹر حمید سہروردی پروفیسر وسابق صدر شعبہ اردو و فارسی گلبرگہ یونیورسٹی، گلبرگہ تھے۔13جون 2013ءکو وائیواکی تقریب ہوئی۔ایکسٹرنل ریفری کے طور پر سنٹرل یونیورسٹی حیدرآبادسے پروفیسرایم انورالدین تشریف لائے تھے،ڈاکٹر حمید سہروردی کے علاوہ گلبرگہ یونیورسٹی کے شعبہ اردو و فارسی کے سربراہ ایم اے حمید،شعبہ ہندی کی ہیڈ محترمہ پری ملا امبے کر،شعبہ مراٹھی کی ہیڈ وجیا تلنگ،کنٹرولر امتحانات پروفیسر ہلسے، پروفیسر وینکٹش کے۔ایس، پروفیسرشیواجی واگھمورے،ڈاکٹر افتخارالدین،ڈاکٹر غضنفر اقبال،ڈاکٹر کوثر فاطمہ،ڈاکٹر سید چندا حسینی ،اکبر فیروز خان،بھی تقریب میں موجود رہے۔ریسرچ اسکالرز میں سید عارف مرشد،شمیم ریحانہ،زرینہ چودھری،نویدہ سلطانہ،حامد رضا اور متعدد دیگر شامل تھے۔
پانچ ابواب پر مشتمل اس مقالہ کے ہر باب میں ذیلی ابواب شامل ہیں،ابواب کی ایک جھلک اس فہرست میں دیکھی جا سکتی ہے۔
باب اول : حیدرقریشی کی شخصیت اور سوانح ،۔۔۔۔باب دوم : جہت شعر ۔ غزل۔ نظم۔ماہیا،۔۔۔۔باب سوم : جہت نثر۔افسانہ ۔خاکہ ۔انشائیہ ۔ یادداشت۔سفرنامہ۔تحقیق و تنقید۔مضمون، ۔۔۔۔۔۔باب چہارم :جہت صحافت۔ جدید ادب کی ادارت۔ کالم نگاری ،
۔۔۔۔۔۔باب پنجم:حیدرقریشی مشاہیر کی نظر میں۔
اے۔4 سائز کے 327 صفحات پر مشتمل اس تحقیقی مقالہ میں 29 صفحات پر حیدر قریشی کی زندگی کے مختلف ادوار کی تصاویر بھی شامل کی گئی ہیں۔ حیدر قریشی کے والد کی تصویر سے شروع ہونے والا سیکشن حیدر قریشی کے بیٹے اور پوتے کے ساتھ تصویر پر مکمل ہوتا ہے۔تصاویر کے صفحات کو چھوڑ کر مقالہ 298 صفحات پر مشتمل ہے۔
ابتدا میں اپنے مقالہ کاانتہائی مختصر خلاصہ پیش کرنے کے بعدڈاکٹر عبدالرب استاد نے حاضرین کے علمی و ادبی سوالات کے جواب دئیے۔انہوںنے ماہیے میں حیدر قریشی کی نمایاں شناخت کے ساتھ دیگر اصناف میں ان کے ادبی کام کی اہمیت کو واضح کیا اور بتایا کہ ان کی ہر ادبی جہت ایک الگ پی ایچ ڈی کی سطح کی تحقیق کا تقاضا کرتی ہے۔تقریب کے جملہ شرکاءنے ڈاکٹر عبدالرب استاد کو اس تحقیقی کام کی تکمیل پر دلی مبارک باد دی۔
(بشارت احمد استاد)

Like well-bred Pakistanis, most PPP leaders are putting up a brave face and blaming local and international conspiracies for their horrific defeat in the recent elections. They were wiped out from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and Punjab. The two seats they managed to win in south Punjab were thanks to Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood, who crossed over only a few months back from the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional to PPP for the prized position of the Governor of Punjab.

The outcry about conspiracy is not without grounds. As I had stated in a column before the elections, this time the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad was made by the Taliban, who attacked the liberal parties and allowed the centre-right parties to carry out the election campaign in full blast. The PPP’s conspiracy theory is thus partially correct. But the entire blame cannot be placed on that. The PPP should take this defeat seriously and brainstorm on the real causes of the debacle. Introspection is in order.

In Sindh the PPP managed to retain more or less the 2008 position. The PPP leaders who claim that there was a major conspiracy against their party have no explanation why the ‘grand conspiracy’ did not work in Sindh. They are also shy to publicly admit that the margin of winning candidates shrank in 2013 as against the 2008 elections. Just a cursory look at the PPP National Assembly (NA) winners list shows that all those who won were big landlords except three: Ayaz Soomro, Khurshid Shah and Nauman Sheikh.

Now let’s look at the PPP elections statistics. In 2008, despite the strong sympathy wave stemming from Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the PPP did not get a simple majority. It polled 10.66 million votes out of over 35 million total votes cast. This gave it 91 seats in the direct elections, and added with the reserved seats for women and minorities, it bagged 125 NA seats, which gave it a position to cobble a coalition government. In the 2013 elections, the PPP polled 6.91 million votes out of 46 million total votes cast. It lost 3.75 million votes compared to the 2008 polls. This slashed the PPP’s NA seats in the direct election from 91 to just 32 seats. Of the PPP’s total votes, 46 percent were polled in Sindh and 35 percent in Punjab.

On the other hand, the PML-N polled 14.87 million votes in 2013 as against just 6.8 million in 2008, scoring a massive increase of eight million votes. But over 76 percent of the PML-N votes belonged to Punjab. It was followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), which bagged 7.67 million votes, out of which 64.54 percent belonged to Punjab and 13 percent to KP. The PTI polled 0.776 million votes more than the PPP but it bagged 28 NA seats.

Now keeping these statistics in mind, it seems that the general forecast before the elections that if the voters’ turnout would be higher, the PPP would lose its position was right. In this election, 46 million votes were cast, which were 11 million more than in the 2008 elections. The PPP strategists and many analysts, I must confess including myself, were of the view that the PTI would cut into the PML-N vote, but it seems the PTI was benefited by the higher voter turnout. The PPP failed to get a share of the increase in voters’ turnout and lost almost 35 percent of its vote bank. The PML-N and PTI were the major beneficiaries of the increase in registered votes to 86 million in 2013 from the last election’s 81 million. The loss of over three million voters should be a rude awakening for PPP strategists, if they have any. Why the debacle?

The PPP carried a heavy baggage of incumbency and was complacent. It believed till the last moment that its leader Asif Zardari would pull out some clever trick and they would sail out as winners in a triangular fight. Some even claimed that property tycoon Malik Riaz had contributed to Imran Khan hoping he would divide the PML-N votes. What the PPP ignored was that it was entering elections with the five-year record of poor governance and unbridled corruption. It had to bear the brunt of many external factors that were either inherited by it or were beyond its control.

The biggest shortcoming of the PPP, analysts believe, is that there was no leader to lead its election campaign. Zardari did not allow any credible PPP leader to emerge, relying heavily on his sister Faryal Talpur and the corrupt prime ministers he crowned. The charisma of Ms Bhutto was no more, and the sympathy vote that the party got after her assassination had dissipated. Most of the old guard are found saying, “It is no more Bhutto’s party, it is Zardari’s party.”

Much of the PPP government’s energy was consumed in the battle between the various institutions vying for supremacy over parliament. But the party could have gained more space if it had kept itself away from corruption and cronyism. All along the PPP stood on weak moral ground. True, other institutions that were destabilising its government also do not have shining records, but their image was not as stained as that of the PPP. This tussle for more power between the institutions of the state, i.e. the executive, judiciary and parliament, did not let the system that was in its infancy stabilise.

The PPP-led government inherited the dangerous geo-strategic policy set by Pakistan’s military rulers. This embroiled the country in regional disputes with devastating social, economic and political consequences. The coalition government’s attempt to build relations with India was sabotaged by the agencies and their jihadi outfits. Nawaz Sharif’s efforts were torpedoed by launching the Kargil operation. Zardari’s efforts were checkmated by the Mumbai massacre by the jihadis.

The country continued to suffer from the terrorist activities of the jihadi groups and the ruthless mismanagement of Balochistan’s nationalist movement by the agencies. This not only resulted in the killing of thousands of people, it seriously damaged Pakistan’s economic growth. The PPP government failed to take the national security policy and the Balochistan policy back from GHQ. But it was held responsible for its failure.

However, politically the PPP government claimed some big achievements. It helped the bloodless ouster of a military general by the politicians. A great leap forward was taken towards transfer of power and resources from the Centre to the provinces through the 18th Amendment and the NFC Award, something we could not do for 64 years. Arbitrary presidential powers to oust an elected government and dissolve the Assemblies were taken away. Press freedom, which some people use to show their disappointment with democracy, is an integral part of the same democracy. Parliament, whose basic function is to legislate, passed 134 laws and most of them with the consensus of the opposition. More women rights bills were passed during the PPP’s tenure than ever before. This was not a small feat, but the voters were not impressed. The PPP leadership failed to explain the benefits of these measures to them.

On the governance side the government proved inefficient. Major failures for which the PPP-led coalition government is criticised are: corruption, the energy crisis, increased unemployment, high inflation, low tax revenue collection, the public sector’s haemorrhaging impact on the economy, depreciation of the rupee against the dollar by 58 percent in five years, falling foreign direct investment, and low GDP growth. Painful prolonged load shedding of electricity and gas was at the top of most voters’ minds, particularly in Punjab. The PPP ministers failed miserably to resolve this problem, for which the voter punished them.

Low investment due to an unstable and insecure environment resulted in high unemployment and double digit inflation, which affected the PPP vote bank, as it had always claimed to be the party of the poor. Its leadership was banking on the BISP programme, which according to them helped 70 million poor families. They were expecting the recipients to vote for the PPP, but they did not.

The PPP leaders forget that many of its voters are disenchanted with the Zardari-style party management, and thus they did not come out to vote. The party was without a leader with mass appeal to motivate its voters. Their election strategy did not factor in the increase in voters and their age profile. Above all, the Bhutto-led PPP in 1970 had rallied the middle and lower middle classes in Punjab and the rural poor. Now the PML-N has the support of the small, medium and big businesses of Punjab, which continues to grow at a much faster pace than the national average. They changed the elections paradigm for an unorganised and leaderless PPP.

The writer can be reached at ayazbabar@gmail.com

اکیسویں صدی میں یہ فخر اور حیثیت بہت ہی کم ممالک کو حاصل رہ گئی ہے کہ وہاں طاقت کی مکمل  حکمرانی ہو اور جاگیرداری روایات پوری آن بان اور شان سے قائم قائم و دائم ہوں. یہ اتنا آسان کام نہیں ہے، اس کے لئے قوم کی اکثریت کو جاہل اور محتاج رکھنے کی جو بنیادی ضرورت ہے اس کو پورا کرنا اس دور میں اتنا آسان نہیں رہا جب  سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی اتنی ترقی کر چکی ہوں کہ دنیا سکڑتے سکڑتے آپ کی ہتھیلی میں آ سما رہی ہو، اس کے لئے یا تو بہت سارا تیل درکار ہے یا پھر مکمل پسماندگی. پاکستان جیسے ملک جو نہ تین میں ہوں نہ تیرہ میں ان میں  اعلیٰ طبقات کو بلا خوف و خطر کدکڑے لگاتے دیکھ کر افریقہ اور خلیج کے کئی ممالک یقیناً حسد کا شکار ہو جاتے ہونگے. بڑے بڑے بادشاہوں کا یہ حال دیکھا گیا ہے کہ اپنے محلوں سے اس لئے نہیں نکلتے کہ کیا پتا واپسی ہو بھی کہ نہیں، اور ہمارے ہاں کے بادشاہ زادے موت کی سزا پا کر بھی جیت کے نشان بناتے، ہنستے مسکراتے دیکھے جاتے ہیں.
 

اور ملکوں میں یہ حال ہے کہ شاہ کو ولی عہد پر اعتبار نہیں، بھائی بھائی سے خوف کھاتا ہے، عوام کو مستی سوجھ رہی ہے اور پتہ نہیں کون کون سی سپرنگ آ جا رہی ہیں، رات سونے جاتے ہیں تو یہ پتہ نہیں ہوتا کہ صبح مسند شاہی پے رونق افروز ہونگے یا جیل کی رونق میں اضافہ کریں گے، اسی فکر میں مبتلا رہتے ہیں کہ علاج کے بہانے کدھر کا رخ کریں اور ہمارے عزیز وطن میں راوی، ستلج، چناب، جہلم، سندھ، کابل حتیٰ کہ حب ندی بھی چین ہی چین لکھ رہے ہیں، جہاں چاہو بیس بچیس کلاشنکوف بردار محافظ ساتھ  لو، اور پجیرو اور دوسری بڑی بڑی گاڑیوں کا قافلہ بنا کر نکل جاؤ. پدر بزرگوار ہوں یا پسر نیاز مند یا دختر نیک اختر سب کے لئے اسمبلیوں میں جگہ ہے، قرضوں کے کھاتے کھلے ہیں، فیکٹریاں لگتی ہیں، بند ہوتی ہیں، کاروبار چل رہے ہیں بلکے اب تو انڈے مرغی اور دودھ پر بھی محلوں کی اجارہ داری ہے. زمینیں کھلی پڑی ہیں، صرف زمین ہی نہیں اس کے اوپر چھایا آسمان بھی جملہ حقوق سمیت انہی کا ہے اور اس کے نیچے موجود تمام چرند پرند اور انسان بھی بشمول سرکاری کارندوں کے جیسے تھانیدار، مختیار کار سب انہی کے افسران بکار خاص ہیں. اور شہری منظر نامہ بھی مختلف نہیں کہ یہاں بھی انہی کا راج ہے جو حلال، حرام ، صحیح ،غلط اور اس قسم کی مکروہات سے مکمل بے نیاز ہیں. اقربا پروری ، سفارش، رشوت، تعلقات کا ناجائز استعمال، قوت اور طاقت کا مظاہرہ، اپنے سے نیچے طبقات کی انا کو روز کچلنا، تمام سہولیات اپنے لئے میسر رکھنا اور عام  آدمی کو ترسانا؛ یہ اور ایسی کئی جاگیرداری روایات ہیں جو بلا تخصیص دیہی و شہری  ہمارے پورے معاشرے میں ہر طرف جاری و ساری ہیں

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 اگر اٹھارویں صدی کے کوئی مرحوم افسر یا زمیندار اگر آج زندہ ہو کر واپس آ جائیں تو ہر چند کہ ٹھٹک جائیں گے کہ ترقی تو بہر حال ہوئی ہے، ان کو واپس سیٹل ڈاؤن ہوتے ذرہ بھی تکلیف نہ ہوگی. دیکھیں نہ ہم نے موٹر وے تو بنا لی اور اس پر دیوو کی سروس بھی چلا لی، مگر ان محترم ہستیوں کا کچھ نہ کر سکے جو پانی نہ پلانے پر آج بھی تھپڑ لگا دیتی ہیں اور نہ ہی وہ تھانے والے بدلے جو کمی کمین کو اس کی اوقات یاد دلاتے ہوئے اندر کر دیتے ہیں. کل بھی اونچی پگڑیوں والے اپنے گھوڑوں کے سموں تلے عزتیں روندہ کرتے تھے آج بھی ہماری بہنیں راہ چلتے بڑی بڑی گاڑیوں میں اٹھا لی جاتی ہیں، بلکہ آج تو ان کی بے بسی کی فلمیں بنا کر آگے چلائی بھی جا رہی ہیں. پہلے ٹھگ  ہوتے تھے جو رہ چلتے مسافر کو لوٹ لیتے تھے اور اکثر جان سے مار دیتے تھے کہ ان کی روایت تھی، آج راہ چلتوں سے موبائل فون چھینے جاتے ہیں، گاڑیاں چھینی جاتی ہیں اور ذرہ سی مزاحمت پر آج بھی مظلوم جان سے ہاتھ دھو بیٹھتے ہیں

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یہ سب ہو رہا ہے مگر ایک مخصوص طبقہ اس سب سے بالا تر تمام وسائل پر حاوی ہے، اور بے فکر ہے. مسلم لیگ ہو یا پیپلز پارٹی یا پرویز مشرف، جو بھی ہو ان کو کوئی فرق نہیں پڑتا، ان کے مفادات کا تحفظ ہر حال میں یقینی ہے. ہمارا ملک اس  اعلیٰ طبقے کا ڈرائنگ روم ہے جو اپنی موج میں مصروف ہے. نچلے تمام طبقات کے لئے انتظام ہے کہ وہ کبھی ایک نہ ہو سکیں. مذہب، زبان، علاقائیت کی بنیاد پر منقسم عوام بہم دست و گریبان ہیں؛ لوگ چاہے مذہب کے نام پر لڑیں، چاہے زبان، علاقے اور نسل پر، مرتے  کاٹتے ایک دوسرے کو ہی ہیں. تقسیم در تقسیم کا شکار ہونے والے ان گدھوں کی طرح  ہیں جن میں سے کچھ پر کالی پٹیاں رنگ کر ان کو یہ یقین دلا دیا جائے کہ وہ زیبرہ ہیں. ان زیبروں  سے اور کچھ نہیں ہوتا تو ریزیڈنسی جلا دیتے ہیں، یہ نہیں دیکھتے کہ گوادر سے لے کر خنجراب تک جتنے لوگ بھی مفلسی، غربت، بھوک جہالت، بیماری کا شکار ہیں ان کا المیہ ان کی نسل، زبان، ذات، مذہب کچھ نہیں بلکہ طبقاتی نظام ہے. یہ نظام ویسے کا ویسا بنگلہ دیش میں بھی ہے، اتر پردیش، بہار  اور گجرات میں بھی، ہم نے کئی بار تقسیم ہو کر دیکھ لیا مگر اونچی پگڑی، تنی ہوئی گردنوں اور محلوں میں رہنے والے وہیں کے وہیں رہے، سوچنا یہ ہے کہ مزید تقسیم ہونا بہتر رہے گا یا اپنے  جیسے انسانوں کے ساتھ اتحاد ؟    

The presence of foreign fighters is causing real anxiety not only in Syria, but across the region and Europe, as Lyse Doucet reports for Newsnight

In the magnificent Ummayad mosque of Damascus, flags of two nations on different sides of a brutal war came together, in the hands of tearful mothers.

“I want to apologise to Syrian mothers,” wailed Latifa from Tunisia. “I didn’t know my son was coming here. We want to tell you our sons were brainwashed.”

Rows of grim-faced Syrian mothers clutched framed photographs of their young men, killed while fighting for President Assad’s forces.

Next to them sat Tunisian mothers, and fathers, in search of sons who travelled to Syria to join rebel forces, and ended up in prison.

In the mosque, under the glare of cameras, private grief was made public, and political.

‘Very big threat’

About 20 Tunisian parents travelled to Damascus on a trip initiated by Tunisian civil society activists; and taken up by Syrians who see an opportunity to try to get a growing number of foreign jihadists off the battlefield.

“More than 42 countries are now sending fighters to cause bloodshed in Syria,” declared Syrian-American industrialist Khaled Mahjoub, who is on a mission to take on Islamists he calls “Salafi Wahabis powered by petrodollars”.

As G8 leaders meet in Northern Ireland, a Syrian with close ties to President Assad’s family wants to capitalise on growing anxiety in Europe over what are believed to be hundreds of European jihadists now fighting in Syria.

“Europe today is having a new Pakistan on its border,” he warned in an interview in Damascus. “The real problem is the transit through Turkey and the incubation of all those foreign fighters coming from Europe who will be going back to Europe.”

That warning was echoed by a delegation of European Union politicians, mainly from far right parties, who also came to Damascus last week at the invitation of the Syrian government.

“If they come back to our country they will fight jihad not in Syria anymore but on European soil,” Belgian Senator Filip Dewinter told me when we met outside a police station targeted by a double suicide bombing only hours after they arrived.

“This is a very, very big threat for all European countries, not just for Belgium.”

Competing agendas

Jihadists from European countries – everywhere from Britain to Sweden – can be seen in videos uploaded to the internet, along with fighters from areas long seen as breeding grounds for militancy, including the tribal areas of Pakistan and Chechnya.

Mr Mahjoub’s dream of establishing a “transparent fast-track mechanism” to get fighters out of prisons and off the front lines is making slow progress with Tunisia which, like many Western and Arab countries, has cut diplomatic ties with Damascus.

Even this first test-case ran up against competing agendas.

For Tunisian lawyers, the main focus is due process for prisoners.

“We want to ensure a fair trial including the presence of defence lawyers,” explained Messaoud Romdhani, a Tunisian human rights activist.

Tunisians who played a role in their country’s peaceful uprising against an authoritarian ruler are wary of battle-hardened Islamists returning home. They accuse their own Islamist-led government of turning a blind eye to recruitment.

As lawyers from both sides met in a Damascus hotel to hammer out details of a joint communique, the Tunisians also argued for mention of the rights of all people to fight peacefully for democracy and human rights in an effort to distance themselves from a punishing war being waged by Syrian forces.

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad issued a statement saying Syria was ready to speed up the extradition of Tunisian prisoners “who entered Syria illegally and have not killed anyone”.

But there are conditions attached. Not only must foreign fighters be put on trial but legal action has to be taken against all those responsible for their recruitment.

War of words

Mr Mahjoub listed a long trail of alleged culprits that even included some Arabic language television channels.

Heartfelt apologies from Tunisian mothers appeared to come naturally but reports from the prison visits say many of their young sons refused to renounce their mission to fight Jihad on Syrian soil.

“I know my son. He wouldn’t kill anyone,” says Tunisian mother Latifa in Damascus

And this offer to the West to make common cause falls on deaf ears in most capitals.

“We are concerned about foreign fighters,” said one Western diplomat in the region. “But what about all the foreigners the Syrian government has enlisted?”

Forces now bolstering the Syrian government’s military might on the ground now include Lebanon’s Hezbollah moment, Iraq’s Mahdi army, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

That has not daunted the zeal of Mr Mahjoub whose own factory to build environmentally-friendly housing was destroyed by rebel fighters.

Using what he calls a moderate Sufi message, he calls for “the CO2 of hate to be replaced by the oxygen of love”.

At this week’s G8 meeting, leaders will speak a language of trying to find peace in Syria. But those pleas are eclipsed by their own war of words over a growing arms race in Syria.

Countries like Britain and France are widely expected to follow the United States in providing military assistance to what they call moderate opposition forces.

Russia is emphasising it will continue to honour its own defence contracts with Damascus, which include far more powerful weaponry.

In the Syrian capital, Tunisian mother Latifa pleads the innocence of her son Sami. “I know my son,” she cried. “He wouldn’t kill anyone.”

But as the toll in Syria climbs ever closer to 100,000 dead, this is a war that more and more fighters, from far and wide, are calling their own.

Source :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22941966