Protest at Numaish Chowrangi against the bomb blast in Mastung on Shiite pilgrims

Last night we attended the sit-in (known as “dharna” in Urdu) at Numaish against the violent killing in the bomb blasts in Mastung, Baluchistan on Tuesday 21^st January 2014 of Hazara Shiite pilgrims. I belonged to a different background and had never actually visited or participated in such sit-ins before and I was filled with anxiousness at how the protest would actually turn out to be.

When I reached Numaish Chowrangi (with my friend and former accountancy student Musawir and fellow Pi Studio member Hussain Zaidi), I was overawed that how non-violent means can actually put the government to a standstill. The protests showed that people still stand up for their rights, with countless women; children and men were gathered in a disciplined manner protesting against injustice.

Little girls holding placards and demanding justice for the victims of the Mastung blast

In the current attack on the Hazara Shiites, the entire bus carrying Shia pilgrim returning from Iran was blown away and 28 people were martyred and around 40 people were wounded. The Hazara community has been continually targeted by terrorists in Balochistan, thus countless innocent lives have been sadly lost. Yet, the terrorist attacks continue unabated in Pakistan. Innocent lives are being lost on a massive scale now.

We all must stand up and protect our nation against this maniacal wave of terrorism whose fires have spread to every corner of this country and have now permeated our daily lives. My heart cries out for sanity to return back to my beloved nation, where everyone can coexist in peace.

In the end I would like to pray for the martyrs of the Mastung attacks and other countless attacks recently, such as the one on our armed forces, the bomb blast in royal artillery bazaar in Rawalpindi, the bomb blasts in Peshawar. In the end I would like to leave all of you with the following words, over which we all should ponder:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Nelson Mandela

For the pictures of the protest please click here.

Inner conflicts

There is a conflict. A conflict of the heart and mind. A conflict of hope and reality. A conflict of who we are and what we have become. A conflict that engulfs family, friends and everything I have held closely to my heart.
This conflict is the conflict of money. The one soul ingredient which can destroy everything and anything which crosses its path. I am saddened by my country's economic system, which forces us to think about the basic necessities of life everyday. I am saddened and hurt that there is absolutely no safety net for people like me to fall back on.
What saddens me the most is that even though I stand up for my country, everybody else is right in their decision to migrate, in search of a better life for their families, so that the family does not need to struggle. I sincerely hope I can pass this economic challenge too.
I used to be a fun person eons ago. I had good friends or so I thought I did. Yet the brazen realities of life took their toll and one by one, the economic system took away all that I loved and cared for. Now it threatens my existence again in its unique and charming manner. But I will continue to fight and stand up just like I always have.
Maybe someday, people of our country can dream of a secure future. Maybe someday, our talent will not be washed away under the dredges of slavery. I will continue to try my best and work for this dream to come true, for I cannot bear to see my country's future generations engrossed in what we are currently busy in today, paying our bills and trying to survive.
Pakistan Zindabad!

To be or not to be

There comes a time in every man's life when he begins to ponder over various questions and issues that have bogged him down in his life until now. Thinking and pondering and creating an imaginary bubble seem to be the only source of solace.

What I have dreamt has started coming true, all the proverbs and philosophical works that I have read pertaining to mental strength and the power of grit and hard work are turning out to be true. Now I am wondering whether my rebellion was worth it and do I really want to live a different existence. My insides want me to fade away into oblivion and follow the rut which the rest of the world is following. Yet I am clinging on to hope, the hope for a better future, the hope for progress, the hope for freedom and the hope to be remembered.

I have been hurt in my life, left to rot at the whims of the unjust social system and also been downright broke quite a few times. Yet I have refused to surrender and bow down to the society. I have started testing how the system reacts to the stimuli which I instigate against it. Most of the times the results are ghastly and the psychological damage is permanent.

However, I have cleansed and improved my lens of perception through the cleaning power of pain, hurt and loss. The power of true love and the beauty of willpower have taught me many lessons in my journey. Yet the question within me remains that if I am ready to dive deep down into the tumultuous waters of my soul or that this mere shallow depth snorkeling was enough!