اگر صوبہ بلوچستان کے لیے بجٹ کا 17 فیصد تعلیم کے لیے مختص ہے تو اس کی کامل تحقیق اور مکمل تفصیلات عوام کے سامنے پیش کی جائیں
Monday, August 10, 2020
'Holy warrior' selfies: Pakistan teen feted for killing U.S. blasphemy suspect
Umar Farooq, Jibran Ahmad
Faisal Khan, a 15-year-old Pakistani, beams for selfies with lawyers and police. Thousands hail him in the streets as a “holy warrior.”
His claim to adulation? Allegedly gunning down in open court an American accused of blasphemy, a capital crime in this Islamic republic.
Khan is charged with murder, which also carries a death sentence. But while lawyers line up to defend him, the attorney for Tahir Naseem, the U.S. citizen, has gone into hiding.
The teen, according to officials and witnesses, got through three security checkpoints on his way into a courtroom in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on July 29, pulled out a pistol and fired multiple shots into Naseem, 57, at a bail hearing.
Naseem died on the spot, onlookers spattered with his blood.
His killing grabbed global headlines, put a fresh spotlight on Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and drew criticism from abroad, even as many in the country praised the shooter. The United States and human rights groups decried the killing and urged changes to Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes, among the harshest in the world.
Closer to home, Khan is a hero.
“It’s one of those cases where everyone wants to be his lawyer,” Inamullah Yusufzai, who represented Khan at his first court hearing last week, told Reuters. Yusufzai said lawyers from across Pakistan had called to defend Khan for free, to support what they see as the justified killing of a heretic.
The case has not reached the stage for Khan to enter a plea.
Thousands rallied, calling for Khan’s release. Delegations of well-wishers - lawyers, clerics, local politicians - have visited the Khan family home in Peshawar to congratulate the family. He has received messages of support from the Pakistani Taliban.
A selfie shot by Elite Force police guards in a van escorting Khan to court after his arrest was shared widely on social media. Wearing all white, the teen grins broadly. Several officers smile, one gives a thumbs-up.
A senior police official, who said the force had looked the photo, said it was authentic. Reuters could not independently confirm its authenticity.
Another selfie shows a crowd, some black-clad lawyers, escorting a beaming Khan into court.
BLASPHEMY
The U.S. State Department, in an unusually blunt statement, said Naseem “had been lured to Pakistan from his home in Illinois by individuals who then used Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to entrap him.”
It called on Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws and prosecuting Naseem’s killing.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says a special team is investigating the case and it “will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
But prosecuting Khan and any potential accomplices will be an immense challenge.
In blasphemy cases in Pakistan, “an accusation becomes a death sentence, whether carried out by the state or by mobs or vigilantes,” Omar Waraich, head of South Asia for Amnesty International, told Reuters.
The rights group said in a 2016 report, “Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often used against religious minorities and others who are the target of false accusations, while emboldening vigilantes prepared to threaten or kill the accused.”
In 2011, the governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, was killed by his own police guard for offering support to a Christian woman facing blasphemy charges. His killer was tried and awarded the death penalty, but not before thousands rallied for his release and rioted after he was executed.
SELF-STYLED ‘PROPHET’
Naseem was born in a village outside Peshawar but had long lived in the United States, according to clerics and locals who knew him.
He often visited his village, where he expressed views that “upset locals,” said Wajid Ali, a cleric who runs a seminary there.
Naseem’s statements landed him in prison several times, said Ali and another local who knew him Naseem. In those cases, they said, the intervention of locals, who believed Naseem was mentally unstable, got him released.
“On the internet, he kept saying things like, ‘I’m a messiah, or a prophet,’ and that caused great trouble in our village,” Ali said.
Naseem set up a website proclaiming himself a messiah, with a link for people to pledge allegiance to him. On LinkedIn, he described himself as “Jesus’s second coming, reviver, Prophet.”
His distance from Pakistan kept him safe, even as he reached out to its Islamic seminary students to preach his messianic call.
In 2018 one of those students convinced Naseem to travel to Pakistan, where they met at a Peshawar shopping mall, according to court documents seen by Reuters.
“He came thinking this student will believe him and others will join his call,” Ali said. “But the student had already told the police. They were standing nearby in plainclothes and they arrested him.”
Naseem was charged with denigrating the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad. Two years later, awaiting his bail hearing surrounded by police and lawyers, he was gunned down.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blasphemy-court/holy-warrior-selfies-pakistan-teen-feted-for-killing-u-s-blasphemy-suspect-idUSKCN255105
#Chaman Five Killed, 10 Injured as Blast Rocks Market in Pakistan's Balochistan Province
A powerful bomb blast at a market in a Pakistani town bordering Afghanistan on Monday killed at least five people and injured 10 others, police said.
The blast occurred at the Haji Nida market of Chaman town in Balochistan province, according to the police.
"Five people were killed and 10 others injured," police said.
Nobody claimed the responsibility of the attack.
Militants and separatists belonging to the banned outfits have stepped up terror attacks in Balochistan in recent weeks.
At least one person was killed and six others were injured after an explosion in Turbat bazaar on July 21.
Saudi Arabia pulls support for Pakistan as Kashmir tiff widens
By ADNAN AAMIR
Pakistan last week repaid a $1 billion Saudi loan that was called in after Pakistan began insisting that Saudi Arabia allow it to marshal the Islamic world's support on the Kashmir issue.
The $1 billion to repay the loan came from China in the form of another loan.
The original loan was a part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in November 2018, when Islamabad was struggling with a rapidly expanding trade deficit and declining foreign reserves. The package included $3 billion in loans and a $3.2 billion oil credit facility. Saudi Arabia at the time was something of a white knight, providing much-needed cash before the International Monetary Fund approved a $6 billion bailout in July 2019.
According to Pakistani media, the oil credit facility was suspended in May, with the Saudis later asking Pakistan to also repay the loan in full.
The countries' relations deteriorated quickly, beginning in February when Saudi Arabia turned down a request by Pakistan to convene a special meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Islamabad did not back down, demanding to use the OIC to pressure India on the Kashmir issue. It was then that Saudi Arabia decided to call in the loan.
The OIC is a group of 57 Muslim countries that is largely guided by Saudi Arabia.
India and Pakistan have been disputing claims over Kashmir since gaining their independence from Britain in 1947. Each of the neighbors controls parts of Kashmir, but they also have overlapping claims.
Since 1963, China has controlled the Aksai region of Kashmir. Lately, China has adopted an aggressive posture toward Kashmir that favors Pakistan. This has resulted in a number of border clashes, including ones with India that erupted May and June.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, has continued openly demanding that Saudi Arabia convene an OIC council meeting.
Last week in a TV interview, he said, "Today, I am telling the OIC to convene the meeting of the council of foreign ministers. If they cannot do it, then I will be compelled to ask the prime minister [Imran Khan] to call a meeting of Islamic countries [Iran, Turkey and Malaysia] that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir."
The latest developments have also cast doubt on the future of memorandums of understanding that call on Saudi Arabia to invest $20 billion in Pakistan; they were signed during Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's visit to Pakistan in February 2019.
The proposed investments include $10 billion in an oil refinery in Gwadar, a port city that because of its strategic location at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman has made it a focal point of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, itself a big part of China's much wider Belt and Road Initiative.
Experts believe Saudi Arabia is reluctant to become entangled in the efforts of Pakistan and China to contain India.
"Saudi Arabia is closely allied with the U.S., which may also be [applying behind-the-scenes pressure on] Saudi Arabia to stay away from Chinese initiatives," said Jeremy Garlick, an assistant professor with the Jan Masaryk Center for International Studies at the University of Economics in Prague.
Garlick is also the author of "The Impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative: From Asia to Europe."
"It is probably less risky for Saudi Arabia to withdraw its support for Pakistan than to stay in Gwadar," Garlick told the Nikkei Asian Review, "since Pakistan is so closely allied to China and both are forming a wedge against India."
James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore, believes close economic ties between the Saudis and India are driving the kingdom's change of heart toward Pakistan.
"Saudi Arabia has significant investments in India, which is also a major buyer of oil from the kingdom. Consequently, Riyadh has been less forthcoming to extend support to Pakistan's stance on Kashmir," Dorsey told Nikkei.
Other experts say the Saudis are on a diplomatic high wire and are sure to try to find a balance. "Saudi Arabia also needs Pakistan due to its proximity with Iran and being home to world's largest Shiite minority," Dorsey said. He added that the Saudis will try to do something on the issue of Kashmir to placate Pakistan but not go so far as to provoke India.
Experts believe the Saudis are not alone in exercising caution, that Beijing is also wary. "China needs Saudi oil," Garlick said, adding that it will "play a waiting game at this stage and try not to become involved in Middle Eastern politics for as long as possible."
Einar Tangen, an author and economic affairs commentator based in Beijing, maintains that China's approach to the Islamabad-Riyadh tiff is more practical than ideological. "China needs multiple land and sea routes to protect its economic interests," he told Nikkei, "hence regional divides will not serve China's interests."
Analysts fear the Islamabad-Riyadh spat will make Pakistan further reliant on Chinese loans. "With China, Pakistan has put all its eggs in one basket at this stage," Garlick said, adding that Pakistan has a difficult task ahead -- finding more allies.
#Pakistan #PPP #HaqZardariSachZardari - Asif Ali Zardari – always persecuted never prosecuted
By Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari
One of his first acts as the president was wilfully surrendering his presidential powers to Parliament thus restoring its supremacy. Previous dictators had usurped this power to dismiss elected governments through presidential ordinances. By doing so he became the first president in history to voluntarily give up his powers. His was a coalition government of consensus and reconciliation with monumental achievements like creating the first social safety net, The Benazir Income Support Programme, that empowered women in low income households. He promulgated the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan that devolved powers and funds to provinces allowing for more provincial autonomy and equitable distribution of resources. In the backdrop of the World Recession as well as the height of the war on terror, his appointed governor of Punjab was murdered in cold blood; his minister for minorities was assassinated. The threats could not be understated. His government was always treading on eggshells, as no democratic government before it, had ever been able to realise a full term in power.
Despite very serious reservations on the 2013 election, and lack of a level playing field for the Pakistan People’s Party, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari oversaw the transition of power from one democratically elected government to another. This process was intrinsic to the evolution of democracy in Pakistan.
The years leading up to the 2018 elections saw Pakistan slipping back to old ways. This time the face bearer was going to be Imran Khan. He led a campaign based on guile and gumption, election slogans of complete hyperbole and hysterical claims of repatriating 200 billion dollars of looted money stashed abroad by opposition leaders. This was well orchestrated chaos, politics not of policy but of person. Spewing hatred in public gatherings for the leaders of the last 10 years, bifurcation of the youth and fanning the flames of religious bigotry. The campaign slogans read that all aliments of Pakistan were due to their “corruption”. He spoke openly of his fanboy vision of a glorified Pakistan era under the military rule in the 60s and early 2000. The biggest irony is Pakistan has never had an uninterrupted period where democracy was allowed to flourish. What he was actually doing was creating a hatred for civilian rule. He was known for his lack of attendance in Parliament, deeming it as a wasteful exercise. Cursing even the very existence of the Prime Minister House like it was a personal property of Zardari or Sharif. This leaflet of propaganda was well backed, funded and sold to the masses. A direct repercussion of this were the corruption allegations brought against Asif Ali Zardari.
In the weeks before the 2018 general elections, a hysterical frenzy broke out on all media channels of corruption allegations against Asif Ali Zardari. The timing of it mirroring the likes of the Hilary Clinton email fiasco. On June 7, 2018, an FIR was registered by the Federal Investigation Agency questioning some private intra-banking transactions. The investigating FIA officer happened to be Najaf Mirza who facilitated Asif Ali Zardari’s torture during his previous incarceration and had an active pending FIR investigation on him. It became obvious very early on that this matter was more personal and against the person. In the following weeks, the matters brought against Asif Ali Zardari were suddenly elevated from the banking courts in Karachi, to the highest court of law – the Supreme Court in Islamabad due to “slackness in the progress of pending enquiries” on fake bank accounts. This was an unprecedented legal move where a pending enquiry on private intra-banking transactions was considered slack. The Supreme Court had overstretched its insight deeming it as a matter of fundamental rights thus exercising its suo motu powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
It is unfathomable to understand how slackness was a legal reason when the judicial and wrongful murder of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1979) and the case of the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto (2007) are still pending in our honourable courts for decades. I understand there may be benefits of judicial activism in cases of swift justice but for the first time we see our courts entering into a phase of judicial expediency with selected justice. On July 9th 2018, ten days after the suo motu notice, the Supreme Court ordered for both President Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur to be placed on the Exit Control List. This would be the start of curbing his human rights. Despite this, he was elected from his constituency on July 26, 2018 regardless of these blatant attempts to tarnish his campaign. Even the notion of him returning to Islamabad was bound to ruffle feathers. Election day was a complete debacle and deserves an entire chapter on the vast contraventions of the Election Act. Our Rangers went from securing polling booths to counting votes, in the absence of polling agents. They wanted my father out of the political scene but here he was elected by the people right back in the heart of the capital as an elected member of the National Assembly to defend what he had so carefully put together - the institution of democracy and supremacy of Parliament.
The morning the House gathered for the prime ministerial vote - arrest warrants were issued for Asif Ali Zardari. Instead of attending Parliament to vote, he was rushed to court for bail proceedings. Simultaneously, our prime minister began his maiden speech where he hurled direct threats, vowing to persecute and imprison his incumbents of the last 10 years. This would be exactly the course of events that followed. In the following months, several PTI top ranking ministers met privately with the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, where the government endorsed his call for collecting donations to build a dam. The same Chief Justice ordered to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with extra constitutional powers including members of the secret service (ISI) with the purpose to investigate the intra-banking transactions case alleging involvement of Asif Ali Zardari. Clearly this was not a matter of funding terrorism nor a matter of national security. It was just a gimmick of national propaganda and well orchestrated chaos.
The people of Pakistan would soon realise how the PTI government was never prepared for the job. It was a government with a vision completely misconstrued. They had set the nation on a course to nowhere. A government of oxymorons, clearly confused and absolutely useless. However, what they have mastered is a fascist form of government of slander and accusations against the opposition to divert attention from the relevant, curbing liberties and rights of the press and the people. During the JIT investigations, the PTI minister of information would repeatedly pre-empt legal developments on national television. There was no subtleness in their collusion. They wanted to undo what Asif Ali Zardari had done in his tenure, and destabilise the majority PPP government in Sindh. Therefore, they started openly denouncing the 18th Constitutional Amendment, questioning why funds had to be given to the provinces. This debate took place in tandem with carefully orchestrated corruption allegations against Sindh cabinet members. The speaker of the Sindh Assembly was suddenly arrested, without any probe or investigation, on frivolous charges of “assets beyond means”, and he still remains in custody.
On Dec 27th 2018, PTI leaders addressed a press conference announcing their intent to form their own government in Sindh. Hours later, a whole host of elected representatives from the PPP government in Sindh were placed on the Exit Control List including the Chairman of the party, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. There was not an iota of legal ground or justification – this was nothing short of dictatorship and the enforcement of a one party rule with all other leaders of opposition behind bars.
On January 7, 2019, the Supreme Court decided to move the findings of the JIT reports to the National Accountability Bureau in Rawalpindi and ordered them to take over the investigation. Not only was this absolutely unjustified, given that it was a jurisdictional leap across provinces but that NAB itself is a highly controversial entity. NAB is an investigative body set up by the military dictator Musharraf (who himself is an absconder and wanted man with swiss bank accounts, international properties but not a single investigation) wildly used as a tool to pressurise and coerce politicians and undermine and dismiss elected governments. They boast unbridled power with unaccounted deaths in their custody but have never been held answerable or accountable. The achievements of NAB is a tale of absolute shambles where instead of recovering money their misadventures have cost Pakistan’s exchequer billions. The public accounts committee and parliamentary procedures are undermined and bypassed with the existence of this extra constitutional body. In a completely unrelated series of events NAB have just inaugurated an art gallery in Quetta. The threshold today is, if you are with PTI you are given a clean chit by NAB and if you are on the other side of the aisle, you get persecuted.
Up until June 2019, Asif Ali Zardari was present and complicit for all JIT and NAB summons. In an outrageous power trip, he was arrested and sent to detention in a NAB cell on June 10th 2019. A medical examination arranged by NAB authorities at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology on the 13th of June discovered a depleted state of his health. After all he suffers from ailments brought on from his first 11 years of unjust incarceration and physical torture. The report conducted by Professor Maj Gen Azhar Mahmood Kayani revealed three coronary arteries are severely blocked. His blood sugar levels had been uncontrollable exasperating his daily condition. Despite all of this, the courts went ahead and sent him to Adiala Jail on judicial remand on August 16, 2019, where he still remains. He is being kept in a fenced off Class B 12x12 prison cell in complete isolation. The courts are even scrambling over a decision as to whether he should be allowed an air condition in his cell. Both his family and lawyers are denied access in complete violation of his human rights. Apart from being the former President of Pakistan, and a law abiding citizen, his pre-trial treatment is not only unwarranted but also criminally negligent with an intent to harm.
On August 29th media broke the news of his midnight shift from jail to a cardiac hospital. The next morning, my sister Aseefa rushed to the hospital to see him. She barely caught a glimpse of our ailing father when she was denied access and manhandled by police at the hospital gates despite brandishing her court orders in hand. The hospital doors were locked and barricaded – even patients were not permitted entry or exit. I must reiterate at this point, that this is a former president, not a terrorist or enemy state pilot and up till now no charges have been formally brought against him; the references are still pending investigation and the trial has yet to even begin. He was brisked back to Adiala Jail the very same day without even completing the required check-ups or obtaining a discharge form. No record of this visit has been shared with us or his lawyers till date. This was not the first time a court order was so unabashedly dismissed. We also had permission for Eid visitation but were denied the most basic of prison rights. I narrate these events to highlight the absurdity of what is taking place in Pakistan. PTI’s interior minister who served the same post under Musharraf is not only personally nominated accused in my mother’s assassination but has now been tasked to personally oversee the treatment being handed down to Asif Ali Zardari. Make no mistake about it, it is very clear that this fascist regime is after his life.
President Asif Ali Zardari never once objected to being investigated. As a matter of fact, he has been the single most scrutinised, investigated, persecuted, but never once convicted person in the history of Pakistan. Not a single conviction to date, despite spending 11 years in prison on falsified charges, he is now again sent to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi – the city where my mother was assassinated in 2007. My grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s crime was saying, “all power to the people” and he was sent to the gallows on trumped-up charges. My mother, Benazir Bhutto returned from exile to fulfil the dream of restoring democracy in Pakistan but she was assassinated for saying, “Democracy is the best Revenge”. My father, Asif Ali Zardari, resonated the slogan, “Jeay Bhutto”. His crime is that he managed to succeed in realising their vision of democracy in Pakistan. Now the intention is to break him, mentally, physically as he defies the new orders of power. Time will decide how he goes down but that time is not now.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/525846-asif-ali-zardari-always-persecuted-never-prosecuted
Sunday, August 9, 2020
اب بلاول آخری جمہوری امید
تحریر: نعیم مسعود
حقیقی جمہوریت کی طلب کو زندہ رکھنا بھی بہت بڑا کام ہے ورنہ مصلحتوں کی راہ اور اقتدار کی چاہ
یہ تاریخ وہ باب تو نہیں بھولی جب عمرانی دھرنے سے جمہوری در و دیوار لرز رہے تھے تو وہ زخمی اور نڈھال لوگ اٹھ کر ان ہاتھوں کو مضبوط کرنے پارلیمنٹ میں بیٹھ گئے جو ہاتھ کاری ضرب دینے میں پیش پیش تھے۔
چوہدری نثار علی خان کو روزانہ کی دلخراش پریس کانفرنسیں، خواجہ آصف کے تابڑ توڑ حملے، خواجہ سعد رفیق کی تیز دھار لفاظی، پرویز رشید کی طنزیہ نشتر زنی اور مشاہد اللہ خان کا شاعرانہ و عارفانہ گولہ و بارود کو پس پشت رکھ کر خورشید شاہ نے کسی اور کے بجائے پھر سے جمہوریت ہی کو پارلیمان میں کھڑے ہو کر چشم ما روشن دل ماشاد کہا تھا۔
خوف کے سائے جونہی فضا میں تحلیل ہوئے تو پھر سے نون لیگ نے کراچی تا کشمیر پیپلزپارٹی قیادت کو تختہ مشق بنانے میں دیر نہ کی۔ پھر جب بڑے میاں نے جی ٹی روڈ کی مسافت اختیار کی تو بھی پیپلزپارٹی جمہوریت کے نعرہ مستانہ کے ساتھ تھی۔ خیر دل مضطرب نے اسے کسی پر احسان نہ سمجھا جنہیں ادراک ہے ان کا یہ کہنا تھا پیپلزپارٹی نے جمہوریت پر اسٹینڈ لیا ہے ورنہ اہل قلم و قرطاس کو تو معلوم ہے کب کس نے کھانے میں شرکت ہی سے انکار کردیا۔
بچوں کو ہوسکتا ہے نہ معلوم ہو تاہم بڑوں کو معلوم ہے کہ پیپلزپارٹی نے تو نیب کے قصے کو تمام کرنے کا ارادہ بنایا تھا مگر کن کے امدادی فقدان کے سبب قانون سازی نہ ہوسکی!
پچھلے دنوں ہمارے بچپن سے شباب کے ہم عصروں تک نے کہا کہ آپ کے صریر خامہ سے بلاول بھٹو کی گونج ہے دیگر اپوزیشن کی کیوں نہیں؟ ہم نے کہا قطعی غافل نہیں : ’’اپوزیشن کی پولی پولی ڈھولکی احسن اقبال بھی بجا رہے ہیں مگر نون لیگ کی توانا اور بےخوف و خطر آواز محض شاہد خاقان عباسی ہی کی بازگشت ہے۔
روز چیلنج دینے والے شاہد خاقان عباسی کا ایک بھی چیلنج حکومت نے تاحال قبول نہیں کیا ، اسے کہتے ہیں اپوزیشن لیڈر‘‘ (14جون 2020) ۔۔۔ رہی بات مریم نواز شریف کی تو جب وہ اور اس کا ٹویٹر خاموش ہوگا ’’حکمت‘‘ کے پیرہن میں ہوگا کہ آنے والے وقتوں میں مخصوص سہاروں کو قابل استعمال بنانے کیلئے خاموشی ہزار نعمت ہے۔بلاول بولے گا تو بلاول کی بات تو ہوگی۔
پیپلزپارٹی کی خوبی ہی اس کا’’المیہ‘‘ ہے کہ قانون سازی میں یہ ماہر ہے، بات 1973کے آئین کی کریں یا 2010 کی 18ویں ترمیم کی، کچھ کیلئے یہ سب ناقابلِ برداشت ہے۔ پیپلزپارٹی جب کبھی 100 سیٹیں جیتنے کی پوزیشن میں ہو تو 50 جیت پاتی ہے کیونکہ مقابل کیلئے جو ہموار ریس ہوتی ہے اس کیلئے وہی رکاوٹوں کی دوڑ ہوا کرتی ہے۔
ہمیں جن پر ناز تھا وہ شاہد خاقان عباسی تھے لیکن پرویز رشید کی ووٹنگ کے حوالے جو اقوال عباسی سامنے آئے کہ’’ اُن سے استعفیٰ لے لینا چاہیے‘‘ ۔اس پر ہم اپنا تبصرہ فی الحال ’’محفوظ‘‘ ہی رکھتے ہیں کیونکہ 14 جون والے رشحات قلم کا ذائقہ بےمزہ ہو گا۔ جانے اسے قول و فعل کو تضاد کہیں یا لڑائی کے بعد والا مکا؟ اوپر سے ہمارے شیر ببر نے بھی کلیئر کردیا کہ وہ ’’مخلوق‘‘ والا بیانیہ ہمارا تھا ہی نہیں۔ اجی وہ ووٹ کو عزت دو والا بیانیہ تو آپ ہی کا تھا نا جس پر بلاول نے کھل کر نون لیگ کی حمایت کی۔
بلاول نے تین دن قبل پھر پارلیمنٹ کے مشترکہ اجلاس میں مریم کا تذکرہ یوں کیا ہے کہ’’ مودی کوئی واجپائی یا من موہن نہیں، یہ بُچر آف گجرات کے بعد بُچر آف کشمیر ہے، پلوامہ واقعے کے بعد بھی وزیراعظم کہتا ہے کہ مودی الیکشن جیتے گا تو مسئلہ کشمیر حل ہوگا، پلوامہ عمل کے بعد کہا کہ مل کر نماز پڑھیں گے جبکہ انہوں نے مریم نواز کو گرفتار کر کے مودی کی نقل کی‘‘۔
بلاول کی اس بات میں دم خم ہے اور پیغام بھی۔ گویا گلوبل اور لوکل چیلنجز تقاضا کررہے ہیں کہ رنجیدگیوں کی ڈگر چھوڑ کر سنجیدگیوں کی شاہراہ پر گامزن ہوا جائے مگر حکومتی اہلکار سنجیدگی کا دامن تھامیں تو ہی یہ سب ممکن ہے۔
دو باتیں رہ رہ کر دماغ ہر دستک دیتی ہیں: (1) ضروری ہے ملک میں نوجوان قیادت ہو مگر تاریخ اور کلچر سے آشنا، خواتین بھی میدان سیاست میں آئیں مگر انہیں اپنے حلقہ و شہر کا جغرافیہ معلوم ہو، یہ نہیں کہ سسٹم پر پیراسائیٹس ہوں۔ (2) جمہوریت ہی ریاست کا حسن ہے مگر ہم اہلِ حکم کو بھی ریاست کا رومانس سمجھتے ہیں۔
ان دونوں اہم باتوں پر غور یہ کہتا ہے نوجوان وہ نہیں جو ایک دن میں تین تین پیپر کا امتحان پاس کرلیں بلکہ وہ جو جوش کے برعکس ہوش اور ڈیجیٹل گلوبل ولج کی نزاکتوں اور تعصب سے پاک تحقیق کے علاوہ شبانہ روز محنت کے عادی ہوں۔ نیوزی لینڈ سے فن لینڈ اور کینیڈا تک کئی ممالک میں نوجوان اور جوان قیادت کا عمل قابل تحسین رہا۔
جمہوریت کو جمہوریت ہی کی کسوٹی پر رکھ کر دیکھیں گے تو انسانی حقوق کی پاسداری نظر آئے گی اگر جمہوریت کو انجینئرنگ اور ٹیکنالوجی کی لیبارٹریوں میں لے جائیں گے تو ممکن ہے اسے مکینیکل تو بنالیں مگر یہ بے رنگ، بے بو، بے ذائقہ اور بد روح ہو جائے گی۔ مایوسی کا یہ عالم ہے کہ ووٹ کو عزت دینے والے بھی تھک گئے اور یہ حکومت بھی وعدوں کے بالکل برعکس نکلی تاہم بلاول نے جس سنجیدگی اور وسیع القلبی سے 2018 سے جو پارلیمانی سفر شروع کیا ہےاگر وہ اپنے رخت سفر میں پارٹی تعلق سے ہٹ کر انسانی حقوق کی پاسداری، تعلیمی انس، امورصحت، آئین فہمی ، اسٹیٹس مین خوبی اور خالص جمہوری فکر کو لازمی حصہ بنائے رکھیں تو ملک و قوم انہیں جی آیاں نوں کہے بغیر نہیں رہ سکے گی!
#Pakistan - A single curriculum is no solution
It is a dark alley we are entering. I hope I am wrong but this is my honest opinion.
Now I come to what I find alarming: there is a greater burden of learning on all students; no incentive for critical thinking and an increase in intolerance, sectarianism and discrimination against religious minorities.
Let us look at the learning burden first. What children were taught at the maktab (the junior schools in the madarsa system), namely, Quran nazira (i.e reading without translation or memorising), will now be taught in all schools. In addition to that, the hadith, which was taught in the madrasa but not in the maktab, will also be taught.
Muslim children have always been taught reading of Holy Quran at their homes. So the basic change here is to transfer this obligation to the schools. Will this have any unintended consequences? Yes, it will increase memorisation since children will be asked to memorise the texts from both the Quran and the ahadith.
When parents teach children the Quran there are no examinations to test the children’s memory. Moreover, parents can space out the learning of the sacred texts over as many years as they think appropriate whereas the schools will allow no flexibility.
The ahadith were never memorised by children; now that they will be examined, it will be required. Lest anyone should imagine that only the children of secular schools will face this additional burden, I should add that the madrasa children will also suffer. If they take the matriculation and intermediate examinations, they will have to learn their own subjects besides mathematics, Urdu, English and general knowledge, including science.
The maktab ends at Class 8 and the Dars-i-Nizami starts with Oola (9th) followed by Sania (10th).The Arabic courses in the Oola and Sania alone include several medieval books on grammar: Mizan as Sarf, Munsha’ib, Nahw-i- Mir and so on.
Besides the traditional books, the children have to learn Arabic from more modern texts with emphasis on memorisation. If anyone thinks this will leave them sufficient time to tackle modern subjects also—and this makes me think of the overladen satchels of our children and the loads of homework they are given—I would politely ask that person to go study in a madrasa.
Another real-life aspect of the matter which the architects of this single curriculum never thought about is that it simply is not ‘single’ anyway. The children of religious minorities will still be taught other subjects during the time Muslim children are made to memorise what the teachers order. Whether what these children study is as difficult, as demanding and how they are taught is one problem.
I am most concerned with the ‘othering’ these children will be subjected to. Their class fellows will see them going out and will be told by insensitive teachers that they are ‘unbelievers’. Thus, the minorities will be further alienated and ostracised in our schools. There is already a study by the SDPI called, Connecting the Dots, which makes it clear that Hindu children are forced by teachers to study Islamic studies. Some teachers even taunt them calling them ‘idol worshippers’ and ‘kafir’ and so on. Will this discrimination be extended now to Christians, Sikhs and Ahmadis? Incidentally, the last mentioned religious minority revere the Quran as their holy book, so what will they study?
If the present trend of including large parts of madrasa education continues, another consequence of the policy of single curriculum in senior classes will be creating the potential for further religious polarisation. While there may be some sectarian undertones even in teaching up to Class 5, the senior classes will have more amplified versions of those.
The madaris teach refutation of other points of view (radd). Indeed, the debates (munazara) in all schools of thought—Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle Hadith, Shia, etc—teach students how to refute the beliefs of the other sects and sub-sects. So, at this stage, even the teaching of Islamic history (Jang-i-Jamal, for instance) and hadith will lead to controversies. Moreover, even if the exegesis of the Quran is not formally taught, the maulvis will refer to it and their interpretations of verses will vary.
Let me be blunt for a change: I think this pursuit of sameness in the name of equity and justice is a blunder; I think it has the potential to increase religious and sectarian controversy and increase intolerance: I think it will not help children become more gender-sensitive.
The traditional Sunni exegetes, the modernists (progressives) and the radical Islamists (among whom there are some militant groups) will interpret the same verses in different ways, leading to controversy. The Pakistan Army has already experienced this state of affairs when fighting the Taliban in what used to be the FATA. Initially, some of our soldiers got seduced by the militant interpretations they heard from radical Islamist preachers. Some even defected but the army succeeded in containing this tendency. Will we be able to control the preachers we recruit for our schools and colleges? Suppose some students prefer the more radical interpretations they hear or read?
The government claims that students will develop critical thinking. The instructional model of the madrasa system is based upon memorisation because the system is based on preservation and respect for the past and not on questioning. Modern science, on the other hand, is based on questioning the past not revering it; on critical thinking not on uncritical acceptance of authority. The two paradigms are based on different ways of responding to the world and if we want critical thinking to increase, then we would have to develop analytical skills and questioning. Will this aim be served by this large dose of memorisation and the basic premise of unquestioning acceptance of what the teacher tells us?
Yet another factor which nobody seems to have paid sufficient attention to is the huge influx of madrasa graduates in schools to teach Islamic studies. As it is, our society is critical of those who are different from the majority or the fashionable normative framework. Teachers of religion, no matter what sect they belong to, will probably be critical of girls who dress differently from what they prescribe. As they will operate in the name of the sacred, they will be difficult to refute or ignore.
Girls and women teachers will either be forced to change their lifestyle or bear the guilt of appearing as sinners. Indeed, with so many religious teachers in all institutions the very atmosphere of these institutions will change. We will have less tolerance for Western dresses, liberal ideas, religious minorities and even certain sects and sub-sects. So, how can we employ madrasa graduates? Well, they are specialists in theology and there are places for them in the mosque and seminary system. However, the state should not abandon poor children so that they are forced to study in the free madrasas. State schools should teach all children so that only those committed to a clerical life study the Dars-i-Nizami and graduate from a madrasa.
From a personal point of view, the whole thing is ironical for me because some of my work (Denizens of Alien Worlds, 2004 for instance) has been quoted in support of the present policy. What I was interested in was justice and equity, not sameness.
I had argued that all children, as far as possible, should be taught in their mother languages during the first three years of education. Then, I suggested, secular schools should teach English as a library language through the most innovative and interesting methods of instruction (play, drama, real-life dialogue, film, song, etc). However, the medium of instruction should be the language of wider communication (Urdu or maybe Sindhi in parts of Sindh).
Higher education, however, should be in English in all subjects. I also said that more liberal-humanist texts should be prepared in Urdu and that modern knowledge should be translated into it. My aim was to dilute the advantage rich people in English-medium schools have in South Asia. I also never envisaged that we should abandon English at the higher level as it is a world language. I did advocate making some core subjects the same. These were hygiene, basic preventive medicine, mental health, environment, human rights, women rights (anti-harassment sensitiveness) and world history.
I thought they should be taught to all students in Urdu supplanted with English videos and films. But the history and heroes of ethnic groups (Sindhi, Pashtun, Balochi, Punjabi, Seraiki, Urdu-speaking people, other ethnic and linguistic minorities etc.) would be different, not the same. I also suggested that, with schools not using English as a medium of instruction, the O- and A- level examinations will come to an end. I knew that the English-medium schools would be up in arms against my suggestion. I know now that none of the things I suggested, including an end to O- and A-level system, has been accepted in the new policy. To suggest that I recommended the idea of sameness in education is simply ignorance.
Let me be blunt for a change: I think this pursuit of sameness in the name of equity and justice is a blunder; I think it has the potential to increase religious and sectarian controversy and increase intolerance: I think it will not help children become more gender-sensitive or caring for the environment or aware of health issues. In short, it is a dark alley we are entering. I hope I am wrong but this is my honest opinion.
Islamic Republic Of Pakistan – The ‘White Part’ On The Green Pakistani Flag Is Fast Disappearing
Lower-caste Pakistani Hindus are often the victims of bonded labour. It was banished in 1992, but the practice is still widespread. The Global Slavery Index estimates that over three million Pakistanis live in debt bondage.
An article in the New York Times reported about he forced conversion of Hindu families in the Badin district of Sindh province in southern Pakistan especially during the pandemic times. Treated as second-class citizens, the Hindus of Pakistan are systemically victimized and experts fear that minorities could totally be wiped out from the Islamic Republic.Treated as second-class citizens in their own country, the Hindus of Pakistan are discriminated in almost every phase of their lives. Minorities have always been forced to convert in order to join the majority. With this, they try to escape discrimination and sectarian violence says NYT. Hindu community leaders say that the recent uptick in conversions has also been triggered by the economic crisis in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pakistan’s economy is on the brink of collapse and the pressure on the country’s minorities remains extremely high. The economy will contract by 1.3 percent in the 2020 fiscal year because of the pandemic, the World Bank predicts. It is estimated that up to 18 million of Pakistan’s 74 million jobs will be lost. The minorities will be hit the hardest. What we are seeking is social status, nothing else,” said Aslam Sheikh, whose name was Sawan Bheel until June 2020 before he turned to Islam. “These conversions are becoming very common in poor Hindu communities. There is nothing wrong with that, everyone helps the people of their faith, ” says Sheikh. Proselytizing Islamic clerics and welfare organizations add to the faith’s appeal, offering attractive incentives like jobs or land to poverty-stricken minority members if they convert to Islam. Sheikh’s family hopes to find support from, if not the wealthy Muslims, then at-least from Islamic foundations that have opened up in recent years, with the aim to luring more people towards Islam.
One of the clerics who has been spearheading the mission to erase the white colour from Pakistan’s flag (white colour in the Pakistan flag represents minorities) told NYT that he had more than 450 conversions to his credit and most of the converts were low-caste Hindus from Sindh Province. Demand was so great, he added, that his seminary had set up a separate department to guide the new converts and provide counsel in legal or financial matters.NYT writes that wealthy landlords deceive poor Hindus into subjugation by granting loans that can never be repaid. Unable to pay loans, they along with their families are put into forced labour. The women are often sexually exploited. The Islamic ‘welfare organizations’ rescues these people, releases them from bonded labour by paying off their debts, only if they convert to Islam.
Lower-caste Pakistani Hindus are often the victims of bonded labour. It was banished in 1992, but the practice is still widespread. The Global Slavery Index estimates that over three million Pakistanis live in debt bondage. The brutality against minorities in addition to the dreadful times we are living in — a vulnerable economy and the global pandemic — we may see a raft of people turning to Islam to stave off injustice or hunger or just to live to see another day, said Farahnaz Ispahani, a former Pakistani lawmaker.https://eurasiantimes.com/islamic-republic-of-pakistan-the-white-part-on-the-green-pakistani-flag-is-fast-disappearing/
Opinion: #Pakistan Must Engage With Israel to Save #Pakistani Lives
By Sumeera Asghar & RoyHassan F. Virk
What has Pakistan achieved from its perpetual boycott of Israel? What has it achieved for the Palestinians? Doesn’t logic demand a reassessment, not least when Israel can help save our economy and aid our survival?Pakistan’s foreign policy has been incoherent and inconsistent since its inception. It has suffered from a chasm between policy and strategy, xenophobic tendencies, domestic politics interfering negatively with the foreign policy process, and vice versa – including the unsettling influence of the military on civilian politics and the outsize impact of religious groups.
Policy-makers, rather than focusing on the policy process and the outcomes, serially succumb to socio-religious pressures, intensifying policy volatility, and that volatility, read as vulnerability, opens Pakistan up to manipulation by stronger world powers.
The result is that on the issues that Pakistan flags as central to its foreign policy principles – the Kashmir issue and the rights of Palestinians – Islamabad’s achievements have been barely discernible.
While Pakistan ventured into the marshlands of jihad – a tryst with international terrorism which began in the 1980s and brought home a perpetual religious radicalization, sectarianism and Kalashnikov culture that continues to this day – India was laying the ground for diplomatic ties with Israel, a process which sped up after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Around the same time, unrest began in Kashmir, and Pakistan became involved with a new aspect of the on/off conflict with India. Militants were strategically rerouted to Kashmir to keep India at bay.
In the 2000s, the second Palestinian intifada and a surge of terrorism in Pakistan coincided. Pakistan was pre-occupied; its engagement with the Israel-Palestine conflict was muted.Today, India and Israel have celebrated more than a quarter-century of official ties. Pakistan, which focused its domestic energies and diplomatic capital in fighting for the right to Palestinian and Kashmiri self-determination, won nothing. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been annexed by India. Israel is on the verge of annexing the West Bank.
All this begs the question: What has Pakistan achieved from its policy of a perpetual boycott of Israel? Doesn’t logic demand a reassessment, if there's nothing to show after all these decades of resentment and negligence? What about venturing out of a stagnant policy pool and into fresher waters? The choice of metaphor is not accidental. It is in the field of water, more specifically, water scarcity, that Pakistan’s obstinacy towards relations with Israel seem the most irresponsible. It would even be possible to say it threatens Pakistanis’ lives.
Currently, Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage, and it may become a water stress country in 2025, when (with an annual per capita availability of less than 1,000 cubic meters) fresh water becomes critically scarce. The International Monetary Fund ranks Pakistan as third among countries facing an acute water shortage. According to the World Economic Forum report, the biggest threat Pakistan faces, along with much of South Asia, is the water crisis.
Often unaware about the rate that groundwater is being depleted, and by what that will means for their livelihoods, Pakistanis have so far shown little concern about how they’re utilizing water.The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources has also warned about the gravity of the situation, reporting that Pakistan first touched the water stress line in 1990, crossed the water scarcity line in 2005, and is at the risk of a 30 million acre feet shortage in the years to come. Experts calculate that Pakistan will be the most water-stressed country in the region by 2040.
The implications for Pakistan’s economy when there is not enough water are dire for its 212 million people, and insufficiently recognized within the country. Nearly 20 percent of GDP is dependent on agriculture. Around 40 percent of the entire labor force is engaged in agriculture, including a full 67 percent of all working women. But Pakistan’s agriculture sector is infamously inefficient in regards to water use: 90 percent of the country’s water sources are directed towards farming, but a quarter of that water is lost through leaks and other irrigation failures.So how is water scarcity and Pakistan's foreign policy towards Israel connected? One of the key factors that have saved Israel, a country located in the relatively arid Middle East, from water scarcity and stress has been its development and adoption of technology in agriculture, based on the rigorous utilization of every drop of available water. Those advances range from national projects like desalination (converting seawater into drinking water), to state-assisted industries like agritech, to private sector enterprises specializing in drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation system, recycling graywater and advanced fertilization mechanisms and machinery. Israel has introduced bio-pesticides, bio-fertilizers, and AI in agriculture, including robots and sensors – to the extent that plants may soon be able to "talk" to humans to convey their requirements. Israel currently recycles 86 percent of its water, by far the highest rate in the world. Israel now manages to not only fulfill its own water demand but also exports its expertise to more than 150 countries, including some in the Arab world – except Palestine, which suffers from severe shortages.
Had Pakistan been able to access this panoply of technologies and best practice, agriculture could have increased its share of Pakistan’s GDP from 26 to 36-40 percent – simply by increased production and yield. If Pakistan could swallow using Israeli weapons during the 1980s Operation Cyclone, the CIA program arming the mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan, why can't it use Israeli technology for constructive purposes? Pakistan urgently needs assistance from agricultural scientists and experts to overhaul its existing outdated agricultural and water management systems, before it’s too late.
But is it really feasible to divorce politics from development aid and cooperation? Israel is almost self-sufficient in terms of agricultural products. Even with very little territory, it has always been a net exporter to countries with enormous areas under cultivation, such as India. Most of its agricultural machinery is produced domestically and not imported from China. Being based in Beijing, I've observed that in all the major universities and research institutes, there are Chinese-Israeli Cooperation Centers of Excellence in Biotechnology, agricultural development and innovation. China is Israel's third-largest trading partner globally and its largest trading partner in Asia. And China is one of the few countries in the world to have concurrently maintained warm relations with Israel, Palestine, and the Muslim world at large. As Pakistan lags behind in agricultural and scientific advancements, particularly in water and irrigation, it is high time for both countries to extend an olive branch to each other. As a country, we ses ourselves in a permanent competition with India – but India is already laps ahead in development cooperation with Israel. Pakistan has a lot of catching up to do.
Pakistan could also learn from Israel how to encourage civil society’s enthusiasm and respect for political and scientific realities. Israel celebrates its scientists and Nobel laureates. We call ours “foreign-funded agents.” Exactly this kind of conspiratorial disrespect led to the exile of Dr. Abdus Salam, the first and only Pakistani scientist to win the Nobel Prize.
China, our all-weather friend, invests in extensive agricultural research joint-ventures on with India. In Pakistan, Beijing’s priorities are infrastructure projects and luxury resorts in Pakistan. Is that difference sdue to radically different domestic priorities in India and Pakistan, or because a superpower invests according to the worth of its target states are? Until now, Pakistan has failed to be anything more than a 'frontline ally in the war against terror' or a 'massive construction site': it simply has not insisted on a focus on scientific and agricultural development. But there must be a better way.
Pakistan's exclusionary foreign policy towards Israel is based on its wrongdoings against Palestinian Muslims. But if that's the real reason, then why hasn't Pakistan boycotted America for its wrongdoings against the Muslim populations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, arming Israel against Hezbollah and PLO; why has it not boycotted India over wrongdoings in Gujarat and Kashmir?
If Egypt and Jordan, neighboring Muslim-majority states who’ve been directly affected countries by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, can make politico-economic deals with Israel for the good of their peoples, why can't Pakistan, which is far removed from the conflict?
Pakistan could do much more for the Palestinians if it does first what it needs to do for Pakistanis.
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-pakistan-must-engage-with-israel-to-save-pakistani-lives-1.9058526
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Saudis hold back oil to Pakistan after Qureshi’s nudge on Kashmir
BY IANS
Saudi Arabia has halted the provision of oil on loan for Pakistan after the Imran Khan government threatened to split the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) over Kashmir. Hit by a severe economic crisis, Pakistan had borrowed a $6.2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia in 2018.
The loan package included a provision under which Saudi Arabia granted Pakistan $3.2 billion worth of oil, a year on deferred payments.
Pakistani media on Saturday said that the provision meant for Islamabad expired two months ago and has not been renewed by Riyadh.
Instead, Islamabad has prematurely returned $1 billion Saudi loan, four months ahead of repayment period, The Express Tribune said quoting sources and Sajid Qazi, the spokesperson of the Petroleum Division.
Recently Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a talk show on a news channel had threatened that if the OIC headed by Saudi Arabia did not convene a foreign ministers’ meeting on Kashmir, Prime Minister Imran Khan would hold it on his own with his allies among the Islamic countries. “If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir…,” he had threatened on Ary news channel.
The OIC, the biggest bloc of Islamic countries in the world, has repeatedly declined Islamabad’s several requests to hold a meeting on Kashmir.
Since August 2019 when India revoked the special status of the Jammu and Kashmir state and brought it directly under the control of the Central government by bifurcating it into two Union Territories, the Imran Khan government has been seeking support of the 57-member OIC over the issue in Pakistan’s favor.
https://www.thekashmirmonitor.net/saudi-holds-back-oil-to-pak-after-qureshis-nudge-on-kashmir/
تعلیم بلوچستان کی ترجیح نہیں؟
بلوچستان میں اکثر دیہی علاقے ایسے ہیں جہاں آج بھی تعلیم کی طرف کوئی توجہ نہیں دی جاتی۔ بیشر علاقے ایسے ہیں جہاں سکول و کالجز سرے سے ہیں ہی نہیں۔
بہت کم ایسےاضلاع ہیں جہاں سیکنڈری سکول اور کالجز کی تعمیر پر توجہ دی گئی ہے۔ نتیجتا پرائمری سکول سے فراغت کے بعد بچوں کی تعلیم کا آگے کوئی مستقل نظام نہیں ہوتا ہے۔ پرائمری سکولز میں ایسے سیکڑوں سکول شمار کیے جاسکتے ہیں جو اساتذہ کی عدم توجہی، قابلیت کی کمی اور مناسب انتظامات نہ ہونے کی وجہ سے بند پڑے ہیں۔
جہاں سندھی اور پنجابی وڈیروں پر یہ سوالیہ نشان داغ دیا جاتا ہے کہ وڈیرے لوگوں کو تعلیم فراہم کرنے میں دلچسپی نہیں دکھاتے اور انہیں آگے بڑھنے سے روکتے ہیں، یا صوبائی حکومت اس معاملے میں کوئی حکت عملی تیار نہیں کرتی، وہیں صوبہ بلوچستان بھی انہیں محرومیوں کی وجہ سے اپنی نوجوان نسل کو تعلیم فراہم کرنے میں تاحال بری طرح ناکام ہے۔
کئی سکول ایسے ہیں جو محض ایک ہی کمرے پر مشتمل ہیں۔ اس معاملے میں اساتذہ کا تناسب قابل غور ہے۔ بلوچستان میں 10 ہزار کے قریب اساتذہ گھوسٹ ہیں جبکہ پورے بلوچستان میں اساتذہ کا شدید فقدان ہے۔ کئی مڈل سکولز تین سے چار استادوں پر ہی چل رہے ہیں اور کئی میں صرف ایک استاد تعلیمی عمل کو یقینی بنانے میں سرگرداں ہیں۔
ایسے والدین کی تعداد بہت ہی زیادہ ہیں جن کو یہ ادراک یا شعور تک نہیں ہے کہ وہ اپنی اولاد کو آنے والے زمانے کے اتار چڑھاؤ سے مقابلہ کرنے کے لیے تعلیم فراہم کریں۔ ایسے گھرانوں کی تعداد نہ ہونے کے برابر ہے جہاں والدین کو اپنے بچوں کی تعلیم کی کامل استطاعت ہو۔
تعلیم یافتہ نوجوانوں کی بیروزگاری دیکھ کر والدین بچپن ہی سے اپنے بچوں کو چھوٹے موٹے کاموں میں لگا کر ان کے مستقبل پر سوالیہ نشان لگا دیتے ہیں۔ اس سے شرحِ ناخواندگی میں دن بدن اضافہ ہوتا جا رہا ہے۔ ستائیس لاکھ میں سے انیس لاکھ بچے سکول نہیں جاتے ہیں۔ بلوچستان کے 36 فیصد سکولز میں پانی کا، 56 فیصد میں بجلی کا مسئلہ ہے اور 15 فیصد سکول بالکل بند پڑے ہیں۔
دوسری طرف جن طلبہ کو تعلیمی اداروں میں اعلی تعلیم حاصل کرنے کا موقع ملا ہے، انہیں کافی مشکلات کا سامنا ہے۔ رہائش گاہ کے مسئلے سے لے کر لائیبریریز یا پھر داخلوں میں میرٹ کے قتل تک کے جیسے امور انہیں علمی دنیا سے دور کرنے میں کردار ادا کر رہے ہیں۔ مجبورا نوجوان نسل تعلیمی اداروں میں کم اور احتجاجی دھرنوں میں زیادہ نظر آتے ہیں۔
حالیہ ایام میں یونیورسٹیز کی طرف سے آن لائن کلاسز کے انعقاد سے وہ طلبہ جن کے علاقوں میں انٹرنیٹ تک دستیاب نہیں، پریشان حال حکومت کی طرف نظریں لگا کر بیٹھے ہیں۔ وزیر اعلی صاحب کے نوٹس کے باوجود کوئی پیش رفت نظر نہیں آ رہی ہے۔ کب تک طلبہ اپنی تعلیمی سرگرمیوں کو ترک کر کے پریس کلب کے سامنے بیٹھے رہیں گے؟ یہ سوچنے کا مقام ہے کہ ہماری تعلیم یافتہ نسل کے قیمتی اوقات یا تو دھرنوں یا پھر ہڑتالوں کے نذر ہو رہے ہیں۔
کبھی ڈاکٹرز حقوق کی جنگ میں علاج سے ہاتھ اٹھا رہے ہیں تو کبھی وکلا پتھروں سے شہر کے امن پر سوالیہ نشان داغ رہے ہیں۔ تعلیم یافتہ اساتذہ اگر اپنی ملازمت چھوڑ کر بکریاں چرانے پر آمادہ ہو رہے ہیں تو لازما تعلیمی
نظام پر سوالیہ نشان اٹھنا کوئی عجیب بات نہیں ہے۔
جام حکومت کی تعلیمی ترجیحات کیا ہیں؟ شرح خواندگی کو بڑھانے کے لیے کیا حکمت عملی اختیار کی جا رہی ہے؟ صوبے کے لیے مالیاتی بجٹ اگرچہ 465 ارب روپے کا پیش کیا گیا ہے مگر تعلیم کے حوالے سے اس کے 17 فیصد کے دعوے کس طرح تعلیم کی تشنگی کو تکمیل دے پا رہے ہیں؟ کوئی ایسی حکمت عملی دکھائی نہیں دے رہی ہے جو سراپا احتجاج طلبہ یا پھر ان کے والدین کو مطمئن کر سکیں جو اپنے بچوں کا سنہرا مستقبل دیکھنا چاہتے ہیں۔ تاحال واضح یہی ہے کہ حکومت کی ترجیح میں تعلیمی سرگرمیاں ہرگز نہیں ہیں۔
اگر صوبہ بلوچستان کے لیے بجٹ کا 17 فیصد تعلیم کے لیے مختص ہے تو اس کی کامل تحقیق اور مکمل تفصیلات عوام کے سامنے پیش کی جائیں تاکہ نوجوان نسل کو کم سے کم یہ احساس ہو کہ ان کے مسائل پر حکومت کی نظر ہے۔
کونسی قوم ہوگی جو تعلیم سے اپنے بچوں کودور کرنا چاہے گی۔ آج جاپان اور فن لینڈ جیسے ممالک نے تعلیم کی فراہمی کے بعد ہی دنیا کے سامنے اپنی بہترین حیثیت پیش کی ہے۔ یہ کس قدر دکھ کی بات ہے کہ ہم بلوچستان کے حقوق کے نعرے تو بہت لگاتے ہیں، قومیت سے اپنی عقیدت کا اظہار تو بہت کرتے ہیں مگر تعلیم کے معاملے پر ایک ایسی خاموشی چھا جاتی ہے جس کا اثر نہ صرف بلوچستان کو آج کے دن کے لیے اندھیرے میں دھکیلے گا، بلکہ آنے والے دنوں میں لاکھوں مشکلات ہمارے سر پر لادھ دے گا۔
اس وقت سب سے اہم امر یہی ہے کہ بلوچستان کے لوگ تعلیم کی اہمیت جان کر اپنے بچوں کو سکولوں کی طرف لائیں۔ انہیں تعلیم کے زیور سے آرستہ کریں۔ انہیں حق اور سچ کے مابین تمیز کروا کر تعلیمی آگاہی فراہم کریں۔ حکومتی سطح پر ہو یا مخیر حضرات کی تعاون سے تعلیم کے لیے آسانیاں پیدا کرنے کی کوشش کریں تاکہ کسی نہ کسی صورت وہ تعلیم حاصل کرنے پر آمادہ ہوں۔ تعلیم کے لیے اپنی آواز بلند کریں، بلوچستان کو آپ کی اشد ضرورت ہے۔
Lesbian lovers and a boxer in a burqa: a new look for Pakistani TV
Aburqa-clad boxer, a high-society wedding planner and an ex-convict may sound more like the wish list for the next series of Big Brother, but they are just some of the characters in a groundbreaking new Pakistani drama show.
Dubbed “Lock, Stock and Four Smoking Burqas”, the series, called Churails, is the first made in Pakistan to feature a lesbian relationship. It was written and directed by British Pakistani film-maker Asim Abbasi, and tells the story of four women who start a detective agency to catch out cheating husbands, behind the facade of a burqa boutique.
“Churails is a story about women on the fringes of society,” said Abbasi. “In Pakistan, being a woman is the equivalent of being a sexual or ethnic minority because of the power dynamics of patriarchy. The series is very culturally specific, but also very universal.”
However, the series, which starts this week is more than just Desperate Housewives in hijabs. The smoking and swearing of the main characters has proved controversial, as has the tackling of issues such as child abuse and domestic violence, as well as same-sex relationships, which are illegal in Pakistan.
The title of the show literally translates to mean witches, but is more commonly used as an insult for rebellious women
“Because we are showing such a diverse range of women, it was important to show the entire spectrum of sexuality. It would have been wrong if they were all straight because not all women in Pakistan are straight,” said Abbasi, who is based in Leeds.
There is also a transgender character. “The reason the women open the detective agency is to level the playing field for everyone who identifies as a woman, so a transgender character who identifies as a woman should be included.”
He added: “The fact that she’s transgender is not addressed on the show and that is deliberate. It’s not that I was overlooking her identity or ashamed of it. It was to show the women coming to the agency were all equal.” The title of the show literally translates to mean witches, but is more commonly used as an insult for rebellious women. “The associations of women who don’t conform with witchcraft is a global phenomenon, but in Pakistan specifically, any woman who is sexually and emotionally liberated, who has the ability to be aggressive when threatened is called a churail. We are taking it as a badge of honour.”
Abbasi, who was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK as a teenager, was approached by Indian streaming service Zee5 to make the series, following the success of his debut film, Cake. “When people say this is not representative of our culture, what they mean is they don’t want to acknowledge these women exist in our society. What people think is vulgar today will not be considered vulgar in 10 years’ time. If we are going to change things, we as film-makers have to push boundaries.”
With TV dramas in Pakistan traditionally female-oriented, they tend to focus on domestic issues such as cheating husbands and hard-to-please in-laws. However, with Churails, Abbasi hopes to capture not only the young generation in Pakistan who are more influenced by Breaking Bad than Bollywood, but also global audiences who have more exposure to foreign TV shows thanks to streaming services.
You could say that Churails should have been made by a woman, but those opportunities aren’t there for women in Pakistan yet. I want to be an ally so their stories can be told
Asim Abassi
Actress Mehar Bano, 26, who plays a boxer, Zubaida, said: “The fact that we have moved on from pandering to a national audience and are now targeting a global market is a feat in itself. To initiate this with a show about women taking charge of their own lives, claiming their space and dismantling the patriarchal structures is outrageous and groundbreaking, especially for a country like Pakistan where female characters on local TV reinforce misogynist values.”
The launch of the series comes at a time when the representation of Asian women on British TV has been in the spotlight in shows such as the BBC’s A Suitable Boy, and Indian Matchmaking on Netflix, but for many it has not been as progressive as it could be, with critics saying they were regurgitating the same arranged marriage narratives.
“While we aren’t where we should be in terms of diversity, we have to start somewhere and adaptations are culturally rich,” said Abbasi. “You could say that Churails should have been made by a woman, but those opportunities aren’t there for women in Pakistan yet so I want to be an ally so their stories can be told.”
So at a time of A Suitable Boy, could a series about a group of unsuitable girls be the one that brings radical change to Asian representation on TV? “I hope so,” he said.
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