Pontification of Islam, Military Inc, Khal and Media.....

There are quite a few things worth discussion today. So let us start with them one by one.

The first thing that bothers me, and bothers me the most, is Pontification of Islam in the form of Imam-e-Kaba. The nude way in which the government (specially chaudharies and ijaz-ul-haq – son of barbadi-e-millat) has tried to exploit the religious sentiments of the people of Pakistan through this visit and has tried to use it as a diversion from the current crisis is shameful itself. More shameful is the weird way in which the Imam (2 rakat ka imam as was mentioned for such persona-less imams by Iqbal) has endorsed Musharaf regime. First and foremost Imam is not a relevant person to discuss issues of social and political importance for he is neither a statesman nor someone with sound intellectual base. Secondly, he is not even holy. The mere fact that he is Imam of Kaba (which by the way is a sacred place for us the Muslims) does not make him holy. Kaba even had imams appointed by the likes of Yazid and Sharif-e-Makkah. More so, he preaches a particular sect that is different from that of the majority of Muslims. Even more so, he is a parasite of a regime that is considered tyrant, usurper and injust not only by us the liberals but even by the most fundamental radicals.

Yet, the most dangerous dimension of this irresponsible act is its potential of being the first step towards the pontification of Islam and turning Islam into a religion where a central Pope like figure is whom we look to. Islam in its essence has no room for any such divine figure to whom to look to. It relies on a direct link between man and Allah. And so this attempt at pontification can lead to serious consequences where the usurpers and tyrants might try to crush the voices of decent with the backing of Islamic Pope. This in the long run will be even more dangerous a trend for the world than was the Jihad against infidel communists. And we must check it with all our might and force.

Second issue is Army’s intervention in polity. One thing becoming clearer with time is the fact that Army has raised its corporate stakes to a level where it will be very hard for it to voluntarily surrender its claim of running the country. Army’s sense of superiority or what is commonly called their superiority complex has always been there. The recent commercialization makes things even worse. The message coming out of the recent Corp. Commanders conference was unprecedented, yet at the same time, desperate. More importantly, in my personal opinion, the current lot of generals is the last one where you could find a few sane heads that could sense the ground realities and be wise to raise an alarm. Beyond that, I hardly see any sanity prevailing in the army officers; for the arrogance and corporate interests govern thoughts down below.

When the macho general is bulldozing whims of the people and all that has remained of institutions in his attempts to stick to power, we need some sane heads in Army to blow the warning whistle. And if this does not come from with in the Army then God forbid, we are heading towards anarchy, civil war and total destruction. When the macho General calls uniform his skin, some sane head in the Army needs to tell him that he should stop this nonsense and should take uniform professionally and not egoistically. A man wearing only his skin is actually naked. I knew the emperor is naked right from the word go; now even he has confessed.

Last issue is Czar’s repeated attempts at curbing the press freedom, freedom of expression and mass gatherings. Czar says that the media has been irresponsible for even the US media does not show the dead bodies and ours is showing them. Leaving aside the basic difference between the bodies of martyrs in the battle with enemy and the bodies of martyrs of the battle with state apparatus, I will like to point out that when CNN realized (the source General himself mentioned) that this war is going no where and was a misstep in the first place, it not only aired pictures of US soldiers being dragged on the streets of Faluja, it also aired Al-Qaeeda tapes showing Al-Qaeeda men targeting and killing US soldiers and then dragging their bodies – anyone watching CNN must have remembered that famous documentary and the criticism of White House on this. More importantly, even the decision not to show dead bodies of US soldiers earlier was that of Media outfits and not of PEMPRAS of US.

O Emperor, U R NAKED and SO IS UR HEAD, U R UNJUST and SO IS UR OPINION, U R A TYRANT and SO IS UR THINKING…… DEATH BE TO THE TYRANNY, DEATH BE TO THE USURPERS… LONG LIVE WILL OF THE PEOPLE….. LONG LIVE FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN….