Customized Public Transport

Custom decorated busses and trucks are a common sight on the streets of Pakistan. Drivers and owners of these busses spend a lot of money to have these decorations done.

Pakistan: Nation finds its soul !

“There is a real national mood change on the part of the Pakistani people that we are watching and obviously encouraged by"
– Hillary Rodham Clinton, at Senate Foreign Relations Committee, May 20, 2009.

What Mrs. Clinton is referring to are growing signs of Pakistanis showing support for their country and speaking out on the issues surrounding the country these days.

This phenomenon started with a large number of people started speaking out against government’s decision to sign an agreement with the Taliban. So huge was the response from people living in the country as well from Pakistani’s abroad that it prompted an immediate backtracking of government’s decision and prompting the army into action.

With the influx of internal refugees fleeing fighting, there was again an immediate response from the people showing support for these IDP’s. Now the relief collection camps have sprung up in every corner of Karachi with many people giving donations despite very grave economic conditions. The future is yet to show how well these IPD’s were rehabilitated in refugee camps but there seems to a genuine coordination amongst the various NGO’s working for the relief effort. The government announcement that it has so far registered 2.5 million people in refugee camps so far also shows its efforts in this gigantic task.

The media has also joined the nationalistic fervor with its increased coverage of the relief effort and by showing support for the army battling the Taliban.

The young generation seems to be at the spearhead of this “mood change” with increasing number of youngsters voicing their support for their country and feeling proud to be a Pakistani. Similar activity can also be noticed on social networking websites and blogs.

For the first time in Pakistan, a political party has hoisted Pakistan’s national flags instead of their own party flags on many intersections and traffic signals. And for the first time, a Chief Justice is pushing for reforms in the judiciary.

The forgotten Sufis of Pakistan

Shrines of Sufi saints can be found allover Pakistan. These Sufis are singularly credited for the spread of Islam in the sub-continent. Their teachings and poetry speak of love for mankind and of finding God among simple things in life. These Sufis, and not the great Muslim conquerors, are the primary source of inspiration for the millions of commoners who embraced Islam thus making Islam the second largest religion in the sub-continent.

Presently, the shrines of these great Sufis have become a place of superstition, exploitation and a place for drug users and beggars. By leaving these shrines to their keepers, who pass on their position to their next generation, these have become a place for the occult. These shrines have now become places where simple and illiterate people go to solve their problems by offering prayers to these Sufis and asking for their help but many of them are led to a path not subscribed by Islam.

There are many who link Sufism to spirituality while critics point out that it is not main stream Islam. But the fact remains that we have completely forgotten what these great people preached through teachings, personal behavior and through their simple poetry yet there are millions who throng these shrines and attend the annual celebrations.

The true Sufi spirit still lives on through the poetry of these great men, which is sung today by folk singes of Pakistan. Singers like Abida Parveen have taken this genre of music to new heights which is now well recognized allover the world. The Sufi music of Pakistan has inspired literally millions through the ages and has now inspired a whole new generation of artists like Mikaal Hasan Band. These budding artists are now taking the Sufi music into mainstream through fusion; combination of western instruments along with eastern classical singing.

Life and work of these men of peace needs our attention so that these shrines can be turned into places of inspiration and meditation for all. These shrines need to have libraries where proper research work can be carried out and thus making these places not a refuge for the drug addicts but a place for learning.

We, Pakistanis owe a lot to these Sufis and we still need to find meanings to the words these men of pace and men of God.

Demotix: giving voice to the silent

There'll be a time I hear tell

When all will be well

When God and man will be reconciled

But until men lose their chains

And righteousness reigns

Lord, protect my child
– Bob Dylan

It all started in when I read Pakistan governments’ decision to sign a deal with the Taliban in Swat early April. After reading the whole text of the agreement I felt as if a noose has been tied across my neck, literally. It was then that I decided to write and let my voice be heard in the chaos that was happening in Pakistan. I felt that the Taliban are just exploiting peoples’ problems to which the state has turned a blind eye for decades. So I wrote a letter explaining my opinion and emailed to some leading newspapers of Pakistan but nothing happened and I never saw anybody’s opinion remotely similar to mine although New York Times did run a similar story.

Not disheartened, I turned to the other option I had; the World Wide Web. But even there I felt alone when I learned that writing blog was not an answer to my problem. How would anyone find my blog and why would anybody take their time out to read what is written there. I then realized that I had run out of options.

In this desperation I stumbled across Demotix and when I read peoples stories there I realized that there is a whole world out there waiting to be heard and suddenly I was not alone. The idea behind Demotix is truly revolutionary; it promises to give a voice to people like myself, people who want to be heard, the people who are not willing to take things as they are, and the dreamers who would like to change this world for the better only for the sake of their children. There were many dreamers and revolutionaries before us who sincerely believed that this world will change for the better one day and who spent their whole life pursuing this dream. This rare breed is still not extinct; rather they feel empowered because of the web and specifically they have Demotix.

It is a very recent phenomena, which is not only restricted to the poor countries but in developed countries also, that increasing number of people feel that their respective governments or political parties are completely out of sync with peoples feelings, their problems and their issues. The best written example of this is the downfall of Republicans in America and there are countless other examples.

As the technology sets pace for globalization and the world becomes smaller, geographical boundaries will become meaningless and governments redundant. But while critics point so many evils of globalization but it is a fact that people from allover Asia particularly India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are increasingly raising their voices and it is indeed very surprising to learn that their issues are similar. This crossover of imaginary boundaries will continue at an increasing pace despite temporary setbacks.

What I want from my Demotix is a chance to empower all genres of journalism not only photo journalism, to write, be heard and to form a consensus in the form of input from my fellow writers.

I would like to end my first input to Demotix with the words of a true revolutionary, Bob Dylan when he says “I feel a change comin’ on”. I have no disagreement there; together we all will bring this change.