This is something that happens very often with many of us. When someone sees something wrong, uncivilised or unjust, that person becomes shocked, and the expression is accompanied with the phrase: "Is mulk par Allah raham karay." (God have mercy on this country). And thats it. The minute we turn our backs, all is forgotten. Why does that happen? Why don't we do something about that uncivilised, unjust act?
What we do, is not enough. What we do is condemn the act in our hearts and forget about it. What we do is the weakest form of struggle against evil. Therefore none of us should expect to defeat evil with such a weak offence. Many of us have this illusion that if we just sit around and do nothing, God will directly solve all the problems and eradicate all evil. We ask God to have mercy and then forget about it. Some of us may also become frustrated when nothing seems to change. It's because God is helping us without us realising it.
God has given us the power to put things into words, through speech and/or through writing. Both being very powerful means of communicating, spreading awareness and condemning evil openly (the former being a much more influential). But unfortunately none of us use this method of struggling against the wrongs and instead we prefer to choose the method which is weaker and what I believe, not helping us to solve any of the problems
Why do we keep waiting for God's direct help when He is already helping us? He has given us the power and the sign that it is our duty to use the strength, He has granted, properly to keep evil at bay.
"God does not change the condition of a nation until they, themselves are not ready to bring a change."
- M.S.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Educated People
In our country the literacy rate, according to the United Nations, is about 50%. Thus, there is a 50:50 ratio between the "literate" and the illiterate people. So theoretically the literate and illiterate people are to be blamed equally for the problems that come into being because of the people's power.
Lets see what really happens. The educated people of our country very conveniently blame the uneducated and illiterate masses for choosing (electing) the leaders who eventually prove to lead the country towards no good. We deem them responsible for the problems by pointing out their lack of knowledge and consciousness. But are the illiterate masses really the one to be blamed? This question is for all the educated people. What have we, the educated, done to undo the mistakes of the illiterate masses? What have we done to rectify the wrongs made by the "majority" of the uneducated people? And what have we done to improve their condition?
Hmm...a difficult question, eh? Its because educated people like us do not realise the need for our voices be heard. We wait until we, individually, are threatened and only then raise our voices (sometimes). By that time its usually a little too late. So why not, correct the mistakes made by our uneducated masses through awareness. Although they may be responsible for some of the problems, they are not to blame as much as we are. They are illiterate so they have a lesser degree of understanding of the true motives of the politicians. But we are literate, and moreover, many of us are also educated. We have full understanding of what they don't. So it becomes our responsibility to make the corrections.
"A man can get discouraged and can fail many times, but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying." - John Burroughs
So from now on, we must stop blaming the illiterate masses and blame ourselves. And before others start blaming us, we must make a move...
- M.S.
Lets see what really happens. The educated people of our country very conveniently blame the uneducated and illiterate masses for choosing (electing) the leaders who eventually prove to lead the country towards no good. We deem them responsible for the problems by pointing out their lack of knowledge and consciousness. But are the illiterate masses really the one to be blamed? This question is for all the educated people. What have we, the educated, done to undo the mistakes of the illiterate masses? What have we done to rectify the wrongs made by the "majority" of the uneducated people? And what have we done to improve their condition?
Hmm...a difficult question, eh? Its because educated people like us do not realise the need for our voices be heard. We wait until we, individually, are threatened and only then raise our voices (sometimes). By that time its usually a little too late. So why not, correct the mistakes made by our uneducated masses through awareness. Although they may be responsible for some of the problems, they are not to blame as much as we are. They are illiterate so they have a lesser degree of understanding of the true motives of the politicians. But we are literate, and moreover, many of us are also educated. We have full understanding of what they don't. So it becomes our responsibility to make the corrections.
"A man can get discouraged and can fail many times, but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying." - John Burroughs
So from now on, we must stop blaming the illiterate masses and blame ourselves. And before others start blaming us, we must make a move...
- M.S.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Right Decision?
Assalamualaikum.
I am a Muslim Pakistani. Several times before I have thought of starting a blog to express my views when I used to see something said or done against my religion or country but didn't do it. But this time I decided that the educated people of our country should speak up and finally created one. Let me tell you that I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't seen this post http://faisalqureshi.net/dont-let-the-internet-blackout-scare-you-keep-blogging-your-voices-matter/
This post was created by Faisal Qureshi, a person whom I see as a person trying to awaken the sleeping, educated youth of Pakistan.
"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today what I want to express my views about is the banning of Facebook and YouTube in Pakistan by government telecommunication authorities. A page was created on Facebook several weeks ago which promoted blasphemous content against Islam. Thus, Muslims from all over the world started criticising and reporting that page. Many took up a defensive attitude and defended their religion on that page. In view of the situation Pakistan's government telecommunication authorities decided to block Facebook as well as YouTube which had several videos promoting the same blasphemous content. What I ask: was it The Right Decision?
What these authorities did not realize was that banning Facebook and YouTube was never the solution to this matter. If we close our eyes to reality, it does not mean that others won't see it. By doing so, the authorities removed one of the most powerful sources the Muslims of Pakistan had to counter this page. If these sources weren't banned there is a good chance that the Muslims would have been able to counter this issue more effectively.
Please also note, that I am in no way supporting the blasphemous content. I believe racism and religious discrimination are one of the greatest crimes and people involved in such should be punished accordingly.
Presently this issue is mostly resolved but the telecommunication authorities still maintain the ban on Facebook and YouTube along with some other websites as well. Once again what these authorities don't understand is that putting a ban on Facebook not only disconnected Pakistan socially with all other countries, it also caused much difficulties for those using information technology as a source of earning. Those who used Facebook for advertising, for communication throughout the world, for educational purposes and for assisting their household jobs all faced losses. In addition programmers who were making custom applications for earning also faced much difficulty.
All in all, these social networking sites are not just to make friends because if used effectively, they promote the development of IT, open up new sources for income as well as creating awareness among people. Similar is the case with YouTube. YouTube in addition to being a very powerful video advertising source was also helping students living in Pakistan by providing education related videos. But now these students are deprived of such facilities.
Thus, by banning such sites the people of Pakistan are suffering. IT is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in Pakistan. It is providing employment opportunities to a large number of people. I urge the government telecommunication authorities to look into this matter and take appropriate steps to rectify it immediately. Because if this matter is ignored, Pakistan will face yet another sector becoming useless...and that being the IT sector. So, since the matter is now mostly resolved, shouldn't this ban be lifted? Or are there other reasons for banning such powerful sources of spreading the views of the people?
Since I don't have Facebook anymore I have lost one of the most powerful ways to express and spread my ideas. So I need the help of all of you to spread this message to everyone you know and create awareness among them. I would be glad if this is read by telecommunication authorities so that they realize the gravity of the situation and act with responsibility.
And once again I ask all of you, was it The Right Decision?
I am a Muslim Pakistani. Several times before I have thought of starting a blog to express my views when I used to see something said or done against my religion or country but didn't do it. But this time I decided that the educated people of our country should speak up and finally created one. Let me tell you that I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't seen this post http://faisalqureshi.net/dont-let-the-internet-blackout-scare-you-keep-blogging-your-voices-matter/
This post was created by Faisal Qureshi, a person whom I see as a person trying to awaken the sleeping, educated youth of Pakistan.
"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today what I want to express my views about is the banning of Facebook and YouTube in Pakistan by government telecommunication authorities. A page was created on Facebook several weeks ago which promoted blasphemous content against Islam. Thus, Muslims from all over the world started criticising and reporting that page. Many took up a defensive attitude and defended their religion on that page. In view of the situation Pakistan's government telecommunication authorities decided to block Facebook as well as YouTube which had several videos promoting the same blasphemous content. What I ask: was it The Right Decision?
What these authorities did not realize was that banning Facebook and YouTube was never the solution to this matter. If we close our eyes to reality, it does not mean that others won't see it. By doing so, the authorities removed one of the most powerful sources the Muslims of Pakistan had to counter this page. If these sources weren't banned there is a good chance that the Muslims would have been able to counter this issue more effectively.
Please also note, that I am in no way supporting the blasphemous content. I believe racism and religious discrimination are one of the greatest crimes and people involved in such should be punished accordingly.
Presently this issue is mostly resolved but the telecommunication authorities still maintain the ban on Facebook and YouTube along with some other websites as well. Once again what these authorities don't understand is that putting a ban on Facebook not only disconnected Pakistan socially with all other countries, it also caused much difficulties for those using information technology as a source of earning. Those who used Facebook for advertising, for communication throughout the world, for educational purposes and for assisting their household jobs all faced losses. In addition programmers who were making custom applications for earning also faced much difficulty.
All in all, these social networking sites are not just to make friends because if used effectively, they promote the development of IT, open up new sources for income as well as creating awareness among people. Similar is the case with YouTube. YouTube in addition to being a very powerful video advertising source was also helping students living in Pakistan by providing education related videos. But now these students are deprived of such facilities.
Thus, by banning such sites the people of Pakistan are suffering. IT is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in Pakistan. It is providing employment opportunities to a large number of people. I urge the government telecommunication authorities to look into this matter and take appropriate steps to rectify it immediately. Because if this matter is ignored, Pakistan will face yet another sector becoming useless...and that being the IT sector. So, since the matter is now mostly resolved, shouldn't this ban be lifted? Or are there other reasons for banning such powerful sources of spreading the views of the people?
Since I don't have Facebook anymore I have lost one of the most powerful ways to express and spread my ideas. So I need the help of all of you to spread this message to everyone you know and create awareness among them. I would be glad if this is read by telecommunication authorities so that they realize the gravity of the situation and act with responsibility.
And once again I ask all of you, was it The Right Decision?
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