And they use religion as their masks...

Recently, I came across a status-update, at facebook, by a young girl named, Kiran Ashraf from Karachi. I seriously admire this girl, who went on to challenge, an all male crowd, despite being vulnurable. But this incident also provides, some points to ponder about our society. Here is an edited version of her story, as some of the sentences used, were in Urdu:

Kiran:  ''Among a crowd I saw a man today with a rope tightened around his neck and hands joined together begging for mercy. I couldn't see clearly but I saw another man standing really close. A bearded man of age with a prayer mark on his forehead, wearing decent clothes and uttering something. The first thought in my mind was that atleast there is, this respectable looking person present, who must be helping in sorting out the issue.

But out of my curiosity I went a little closer and to my utter horror, I saw the same pious looking man holding the end of the rope in his hands, gripping it tightly telling the man to move his shop out of the way because it was his space, his area. And the crowd, as always, was standing dumb doing nothing!! When I started to raise my voice against the brutality, I was told to mind my own business, as it was not something that a woman should interfere. Also, few people from the crowd declared, that the old man (perpetrator of the inhuman act) was more of a saint and an extremely respectable person. He had the right to teach a lesson to those, who created problems for him.       
And I was like, what kind of pious, religious man is he? What kind of message is he giving out that, if he appeared religious, he could treat a man like an animal? Even if that man on ground was at mistake, the other guy could have handled it in the right manner. Doesn't Islam teach tolerance? What would it take us to realize that?''
                                                                      ---------- 
This is not a story of  Talibaan struck, remote village from the Northern areas of Pakistan. But a tale, right of the biggest city - the only metropolis of our country - Karachi.

Again, many of you would say, this is nothing as compared to terrorism, torture and torment, the entire city of Karachi suffers from.

Let me be more specific, why this story held my attention. It made me visualize, how our entire nation suffers at the hands of such, so called religious people.

That one person, who had the rope around his neck was not just one man - but he represented our entire nation. How we are being held by our necks, by these Pharaohs, who walk on earth, as if they are gods. Only because they believe, they are practising their religion. Is religion not a personal thing between Almighty and a believer?  Is pride not a sin?

Our entire nation is suffering because of these pseudo religious people. Who distort, deform Islam for their personal motives. Who paint a wrong image our peaceful and respectable religion. They only use religion to as masks to unleash the beasts within their souls.

Note: And when I say Pseudo religious people, I do no intend to include maulanas / molvis or the real religious people or honest preachers of Islam. I respect them with all my heart. They are also victims of the kind of hypocrites, I refer to.

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html#dkPwU4sWqqeT6Afe.99

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html#dkPwU4sWqqeT6Afe.9

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html#dkPwU4sWqqeT6A

A living legend called Hammad Siddiqui.

If you are a blogger or a social media person, particularly a Pakistani one. But are not aware of, who Hammad Siddiqui is, then you are fishing in a plastic tub. It is enough to prove your limited knowledge and lack of experience, in this field.

In simple words, Mr. Hammad Siddiqui is the 'the greatest GURU of blogging in Pakistan' and a big gun in the world of social media. It was my good fortune, which brought me to know him.

Allow me to narrate the story. I had created a blog, back in 2008. But till 2012, could not even think of what to write about. So, it remained almost forgotten.

A very dear friend of mine, Masooma Sibtain, who is always full of ideas, motivating others to do something; noticed my habit of writing lengthy stories as my status updates at facebook and suggested me to use this talent for writing blogs. I opened blogspot.com just to check the possibilities and was surprised to rediscover the blog, I had created few years ago.

During the days, I was pondering, what to write about. At a gathering of friends, ladies started admiring my habit of taking pictures at the parties and uploading them on facebook. And started demanding that I should tag them.
 
One day, after a lunch by a dear friend Hania Shahid. When all the guests left. Only few of the friends were sitting in her lounge and discussing the popularity of my activities. Another lovely friend, Mahnaz Fareed Sheikh suggested that I should go ahead and do it, on a professional level. Her admiration and suggestions puffed me up. It was exactly the time, when I decided, what I was to do with my blog. A social butterfly that I was believed to be, there was nothing more convenient for me but to write about the social life of my city, Multan. As Mahnaz had also called me, ''our own version of GT (good times magazine)''. I decided to name my blog  FarihaMunirShahTimes. This is how, it all started.

Masooma was pleased to see me, coming up with this different kind of blogging idea. But could sense, I required proper guiding. For that, she suggested me to add Mr. Hammad Siddiqui on FB. That was a time, when I was extremely strict about not adding people, I knew nothing of in real life. So, I started observing his blogs at http://hammadsiddiquiblog.com instead of adding him. And believe me, it was an enchanting new world of learning for me. All of a sudden, I was reading, extremely motivating, exciting success stories of entrepreneurs. Tips about marketing, branding, etc, etc. I felt like a student of business studies, who was totally smitten by the subject. There, on the blog I noticed, link to Hammad's Twitter account and started following him. To my amazement, he followed back. But still, I could not gather courage to talk to him. One day, he asked his followers about, some auto-unfollow and I feared he may unfollow me as well. So I dared to speak to him and told him, Masooma had suggested me to seek help from him. He responded like a thorough gentleman, politely, respectfully. And immediately added me, among his list of pupils and started guiding me. Also, invited me to the blogging workshops, he conducted in Lahore, which further polished my skills and increased my knowledge as a blogger.

Ever since then, he is playing the role of a guide, a teacher, a mentor for me. It gives me immense joy, when people, who attend his workshops tell me, he uses my blog as an example (though, it is mainly to point out the flaws). Yet, I am so proud of it and thankful too.

It has been more than an year and a half of my contact with him through this social media. And the learning never stops in his company. He is an epitome of knowledge. An inspiration for many (young and old alike). Always ready and willing to help others. A wonderful friend. Extremely down to earth and decent man, who lives his life according to the religious values. But still, his good humored nature remains unharmed.

Now, after years of blogging and thousands of writings, he has finally moved on to getting his own book published.  Bootstrapping Your Career by Hammad Siddiqui, will be soon available in the market. Every day, renowned, national and international scholars are posting brilliant reviews about the book. Though, I do not stand on a pedestal, as high as others. But this is my humble effort to salute a gentleman, I hold great regards for.

Going through, the excerpts which are being posted on the facebook page of his book. I would like to comment that, though this book is believed to be useful for the professionals only. But actually, it has universal appeal.

Like the phrase quoted by Mr. Hammad Siddiqui, 'You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!', is not just applicable to the professional staff, of the corporate sector only. Even ordinary housewives, can get help from such tips, while hiring servants and maids.

At another point, he mentions. ''Do you know that Freelancing and working from home is becoming a career option now. You can choose from a wide variety of opportunities from content writing, receptionist for a doctor's clinic, order booking, telemarketing etc.'' 

Is it not something, we all like to know?..... And at the end, just to let u know, the flavor of his writing, I am adding another of his quotes,

'If you are employed and doing well, you may think you don’t need career advice, but most people need to grow fast and progress quickly. I am one of them and I want others to grow fast too. In most cases, greater growth is due to high level contacts and networking''.

So, my suggestion to all, who aspire to get to great heights in their lives, grab a copy of this book. Whether you wear boots, high heels or plain slippers, this book will definitely, guide you to jump into better shoes.

 



 










 

The best of times....

Once again; time has brought Pakistani nation at cross roads, where fate awaits their consent. The game of politics is on. Tried and tested politicians, after floor crossing and all, are being packed and redistributed, with different party labels.  Selfish people with selfish interests, feasting on national interests. Elections, just around the corner and people remain indecisive, whom to vote, whom not to vote.

And their confusion is justified. They have lost their trust in their political leaders. They have lost confidence in the power of their vote. And most serious of all, they have lost their faith in democracy.

Peoples party was always believed to be the only party, with a true vision of democracy. Boasting a promise of food, shelter, work and security for every citizen of Pakistan. During Benazir Bhutto's premiership, the party shook off, these responsibilities by blaming the untimely dismissal of their  government.

Same was the case with Muslim (Noon) league. People looked up towards them as rescuers. Cherished their take over, when Benazir government was sent home. But they returned with a vengeance. To chew off, whatever was ever done by PPP government and flag it as their own. Selfishly focusing on Lahore and upper Punjab. Nothing for the South Punjab. And totally ignored Balocistan, Sind and NWFP.

As far as declaration of Pakistan, a nuclear state is concerned. It was done as a reaction to India's nuclear tests. It was the need of the time and any government would have taken the step. If Mian Nawaz Sharif or his government claim the credit, they should honor India more, for providing them this opportunity. It was not his government, which had developed these arsenals. But a hard working team of scientists, which spent decades on developing that technology. Nawaz Sharif and his brother, mainly remained occupied in self projection and self promotion.

 This provided, a dictator like General Pervez a chance to take over. With him, came the war on terror. Which is still terrorizing our country. General Musharaf, proved another pathetic case of self gratification and self assertion.

The destruction, done to our country by this man, is irreparable. He had eight long years. If he wanted, he could get dams constructed to meet the energy challenge, but he went on for another idiotic option, the use of CNG in vehicles. Inviting another energy crisis, another great inconvenience; shortage of gas for household purposes. Not to forget, the same brought down the industrial life of our country, close to closure.

 Remember folks! Modernity or enlightening of minds occur with education and by improving the standard of living of the natives of a country. Not by encouraging them to take off their clothes and go dancing to earn a living or by legalizing prostitution. What he did was, of the similar kind. He remained engrossed, projecting to the world, he was a modern man. The president of Islamic republic of Pakistan kept us well entertained by his dancing, displaying his affection for dogs. And we seriously loved it, believing it to be his humility. Not realizing, the example that he set before us will be followed by the illiterate, ignorant masses in the worst possible, vulgar ways.

What kind of liberalism, modernity or enlightenment, it brought to womanhood in Pakistan? The image of an Islamic state was tarnished, by the stage dancers, who took over the roles of striptease. Many impoverished women were openly found roaming around streets, working as prostitutes. Youtube, dailymotion and similar video sites are replete with Pakistani-semi porn. As gift of liberalism and modernism by this visionary leader. And we lament that 'porn' is the most widely searched topic in our country. With the launch of characters like Veena Malik, we proved it to the world, given the opportunity, Pakistan can be the biggest supplier of porn too.

And now, we come to the biggest political supporters of Musharraf's government. Nothing could be more ironic than 'Jamaat-e-Islami' being a part of it. The massacre of Red mosque, took right under their noses. And all the hypocrites, who claim to be called 'maulanas', went into hibernation, till the victims of that massacre were disposed off. It was few days later, that they came out on streets to protest. When everything was over and they had no fears against being sinned against sinning.

The most disturbing element there was the fact, how an Islamic/educational institute was well supplied with arms and weapons? Why the government was sleeping and what were the intelligence agencies doing while the piles of weapons were being stocked at such a primary location. Whatever, the answers maybe, but more than the unworthiness of Musharaf, the incident proved the hypocrisy of the so called maulanas.

The latest five years of PPP government, were only continuation of the miseries imposed on the ordinary citizen. Load shedding, of gas and electricity, destroyed industrial life and life of an ordinary citizen of Pakistan. First time in our lives, we witnessed civil dictators, who told their starving nation to eat cakes.

The only good that we saw of this government was the development work in Multan. A historic city, which was ignored recognition and rights, under all the previous government. But the credit for the improvement of infra-structure of this city, goes to former Prime minister Mr.Yusuf Raza Gillani, only. The unfortunate part is that he was accused of favoritism for his native city. If Shahbaz Sharif, does the same for Lahore, it is justified but people of South Punjab are declared corrupt for doing the same for their own land.

Today, it gets frustrating to see, all such political parties and people, lined up for elections again. All the looters, apathetic, heartless rulers, who remained detached from the welfare of common man in their governance. How can they even dare to show their face again?

Zardari, who has already ousted the real Bhutto family, is bringing in his sisters and rest of family, sidelining his own son. Only using him, as legacy of Benazir to earn votes to strengthen his family. Nawaz Shari, Shahbaz Sharif, still cannot have enough of the government. The enlightened, the liberal, Musharaf is back, ready to play in the name of Islam this time. What a bright political future awaits us.

The only new thing, half of the country is excited about is Imran Khan and PTI. The excitement is only there, because, this man has yet, not been tried in the world of politics. Those who know him, know it well that he is too full of himself. His head is already full of his cricket victories. His arrogance is evident from the very fact that he considered it below him, to marry any ordinary Pakistani girl, but a British girl from aristocratic family. This proves, there sit somewhere in his head a king, like all our previous rulers.

After reading this, you may feel surprised that I, the writer of this blog always voted for his party, since its inception. But it always ended up in realization that my vote was lost. I have grown more skeptical  now. What guarantees are there, he can repair the damages done to our nation or to our country? He has found supporters among people like Javed Hashmi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who left their parties, because they were not being properly honored, there. They did not see room for their personal political growth in their own parties but discovered great space for their famous faces in PTI.

And all that I see in Imran Khan is, his ambition to become Prime Minister. Nothing else. He has remained an achiever and this is just another of his goals. I seriously wish, he may win and provide a change to Pakistan. But, what is beyond that? It is not a cricket match, that he leads his team to victory, bags the trophy of premiership and the game is over. The story of politics, starts after winning. It is Pakistan that he has to run, not Shaukat Khanam charity hospital. If  charity work is the criteria, than Mr. Abul Sattar Edhi, stands taller and boasts a  bigger stature than him. And what's more, the gentleman has never even claimed his right to rule, like Imran Khan does.

The political scene of Pakistan, could never get more confusing than it is now. It just makes me wonder. Is our country, ever going to see some good times in future, or should I get it inscribed on a truck, with a picture of General Zia-ul-Haq, and a quote 'those were the best of times'?