Board index ThePakPolitics ThinkTank - Political Analysis Falling Out of Love

Falling Out of Love

This is an academic discussion forum presenting information and analysis concerning current Pakistani and International political affairs.
Original thoughts expressed are most welcome. Please support us to maintain a healthy brainstorming atmosphere on this forum.
Thanks
Unread post Sat Feb 14, 2015 5:52 pm
There is no easier or commercially acceptable way of saying this but Pakistanis, as a nation, need to fall out of love urgently. It seems our literal belief in the blindness of love has led to some blinding consequences over the last many decades. We have been in love with a very concocted past, present and future; we have been looking up from the pit of self-deception claiming to be on top of a mountain. Our unconditional love has resulted in an unconditional surrender of some of the most fundamental liberties and values humans depend on for a dignified life punctuated by a dignified death.

The foremost liberty we need most for a meaningful life is to be able to think, process and criticise ideas; this is the only way to learn and grow. So it is hardly surprising that we are stunted in more than one way. Our compliance, deference, fatalism, propensity to tolerate incompetence and our acceptance of hereditary transfer of power and authority all point to our inability to fall out of love with a system that is essentially killing us.

Pakistan is going through an exceptional period of war; the real war in Pakistan is not the one fought with weapons but the one being fought on the economic, social and intellectual battlefields. Our war of blood and bullets is a physical manifestation of our real war - the war of ideas. I do not know if we are winning or losing our real war but let us get something straight; the price for of losing will be truly grim for those who wait quietly for a messiah to arrive. Love will most certainly not save the day. Every leader-type in Pakistan demands unconditional love of a population too wasted to think straight; underlying all these demands is a sinister agenda of self-interest; this is why we are told that love and loyalty are two sides of same coin. Love is in great demand today because it serves vested interests of politicians, mullahs, bureaucrats, military generals, media personalities and many more.

Altaf Hussain claims that he has the undying love and support of people of a city that die daily of gunshot wounds, neglect and incompetence. Altaf Bhai may well turn out to be a nice man in a parallel universe - one which is powered by paralysing fear and is completely devoid of criticism and culpablity but as things stand there are extremely serious allegations against Altaf in this universe. One often hears MQM leaders tell detractors and accuser to seek redress from courts but then we all know what happens to naughty people who take legal action against MQM; anyone remembers the the five defunct witnesses in the Wali Khan Baber case? So when JIT found MQM involved in the Baldia factory arson which resulted in the horrific deaths of 260 people; Pakistanis were yet again told to seek redress in courts! The strange thing is Mr Altaf Hussain lives happily in the UK inciting violence in Pakistan; how does that work?

In the UK, stripping people of their nationality happens fairly regularly and quietly; that is no secret at all. Teresa May, the British Home Secretary, has stripped people of their British passports for a hell lot less than what Altaf Hussain stands accused of but for some reason she is almost deliberately looking the other way. The hate speeches of Altaf Hussain are very much in public domain and Imran Khan even went as far as providing documentary against Altaf Hussain to Scotland Yard but we are faced with stony silence. This gives credence to the theory that Altaf Hussain and his MQM may be a vital strategic asset of Britain in Pakistan. He is able to provide the kind of leverage to Britain in Pakistan that the America can only dream of. In the long run Britain’s strategic interests will be damaged far more if it continues to stick to its vow of silence on Aftaf Hussain. It is important that Britain is not only an unwelcoming place for violent extortionists but it is also seen to be so by the public in Pakistan.

I have little doubt dogma and loyalty are important to many but my question is at what cost? This is a question we need to address individually and collectively. Nawaz Sharif, Zardari, Altaf Hussain, Falzu and Siraj ul Haq need to be sent a simple message by the people; we are no longer willing to be part of the grand epic of a thousand and one lies; and in the words of Faiz;

مجھ سے پہلی سی محبت میرے محبوب نہ مانگ

Today on the 14th of February, the greatest imperative for us is to somehow fall out of love; we need to stop loving all things shiny and miraculous, we need to desist from the adoration of politicians living and dead and most importantly we need to stop prostrating ourselves in front of Eros of unconditional love.

So who wants to fall out of love today?
@stingingnettle1
stingingnettle1@gmail.com

Unread post Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:46 am
Shimatoree Senior Moderator

Any impartial and open minded person if he exists at all in Pakistan would have no doubt in accepting the fact that all evils we face today are a direct result of the empowerment of those that claim their legitimacy from their religions of whatever kind.
The dominance of the Muslims in the Indian sub-continent and other countries(of the Muslim world) was based on continuous war, conquests,violent occupation, robbery , plunder, capture of immense wealth and all the political institutions have been based on
tyranny and slavery not only in the obvious political terms but also of intellectual and cultural terms in the most profound manner.

Today, not much has changed in Pakistan except perhaps a few voices in the wilderness can be heard with their timid and subdued lamentations.
The new robbers might sing different anthems and religions to justify their actions but the mindset of robbery and enslavement persists and will continue to persist.

It is not love that is the problem and never has been but the tyranny and enslavement.
Are the Slaves to blame too?
Of course they are but what else can they do ?

Is their suffering part of their Fate ?

Trying to stop the suffering.......are we tempering with Fate somehow and is that even Ethical thing to do.
Should we allow the suffering to continue.........and thus indirectly we inflict the suffering on it’s victims..............would That be ethical ?

Recently the Indian Supreme Court ruled that right to life also menas right to be free from suffering. The specific case involved a very old woman who is in a vegetative state and was being kept alive by modern medicine. The supreme court thus ruled that her artificial feedings could be stopped.
Her relatives, Devout Hindus refused and declared that it was her Fate which dictates that she shall suffer and no one must stop that suffering.

So are the Pakistanis destined to be subjected to the likes of Zardari, Nawaz Shareef, Altaf et Al................if the answer is No...........then why are they in the state that they are in.

Unread post Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:25 am
LifeH2O User avatar
Most Senior Member

Money can buy love and Altaf hussain and all not just understand that, they are doing it very well. We bow down to the people we love, and so we bow down to them when they land from skies, or when they directly speak to us from long distances.
Greed, the root of all curse, root of all evil.

Unread post Sun Feb 15, 2015 1:53 pm
Shimatoree sahib;

As they say in Arabic, 'maktoob' , it must be written! Perhaps you are right; the suffering is meant to be. Euthanasia may after all be interference in God's plans.

Tyranny and slavery is possible either if people are totally powerless and oppressed or they are in love with fate, their oppressor or inaction. The problem of falling in love is lot deeper than we think; we create the kind of love that cannot be questioned. The problem we have with IK is that people seem to be falling in love with him rather than examining dispassionately what he is saying and doing and whether it is possible to achieve the aims he proposes. When we create political or religious icons; we end up in a collective act of worship rather than a collect drive to act.

Pakistanis are in love with self-referential history and rhetoric; we confuse euphoria with some kind of probable prognostication so you must forgive them if the look, sound and behave quite confused. The problem with euphoria is - it dies down like the bubbles in your bath; you are left slushing around in dirty water.

I stand by our dire need to fall out of love; you can hardly wish for chocolate if you haven't got bread to feed your children.
@stingingnettle1
stingingnettle1@gmail.com

Unread post Sun Feb 15, 2015 2:03 pm
LifeH2O;

We bow a lot lower to people we fear; Altaf Hussain is clever; he sugar coats his tyranny with a thin film of love - that does not mean that the active ingredient in his 'philosophy' is love.

In order to break out of fear; the people of Karachi and Hyderabad need alternatives. The real challenge for any new political party or movement will be to provide a credible and workable alternative to the tyranny of Altaf Hussain. MQM has a strangle hold in Karachi simply because it 'deals' with any attempt at judicial scrutiny of its actions; but then you are rightly laughing because PPP and ANP does exactly the same. PTI has got an uphill struggle - talking about alternatives is a lot easier than providing them. Actions speak louder than words because they are a lot harder.

The removal of Altaf Hussain DOES NOT spell the end of all our woes in relation to Karachi; there is the a hell lot more wrong with Karachi. For the journey to begin it is the people of Karachi that must stand up and simply say; NO to coercion - that of course is wishful thinking.
@stingingnettle1
stingingnettle1@gmail.com



Return to ThePakPolitics ThinkTank - Political Analysis

cron