My nerd score !

Ok I am not as nerdy as Hammad but still not bad.

Iqbal Teray Dais Ka Kia Haal Sunaoon

A very nice piece from Ameer-ul-Islam Hashmi.

A rare sight in Dubai !

A rare sight of the most busiest road in Dubai. Shiekh Zayed road was closed today (Jan-14-08) for the visit of US president. The government had to announce holiday in the state becuase of closed roads. I was’nt off becuase I was in Abu Dhabi

 

 

 

A usual afternoon on Shiekh Zayed Road.

 

Bill Gates Last Day @ Microsoft – CES 2008

Funny video from Bill Gates CES 2008 keynote about how his last would be like at Microsoft When he leaves in July 08.

Some Quotes from Martin Luther King

Some really amazing Quotes by Martin Luther King, we desparately need a revolutionist like him

1. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
   
2. Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
   
3. The time is always right to do what is right.
   
4. When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
   
5. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
   
6. Our scientific powers have outrun our spiritual powers; we have guided missiles and mis-guided men.
   
7. When evil men plot, good men must plan; when evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind; when evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love; where evil men will seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.
   
8. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
   
9. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
   
10. Throw us into jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence at midnight hour to beat us till we are half-dead, and we shall still love you. Be assured that we shall wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your hearts and conscience that we shall win you over in the process and our victory shall be a double victory.
    
11. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King

What happened to Pakistan of Jinnah ?

I wonder where we have lost Jinnah’s vision of pakistan, why many of us want to turn pakistan into a religious theocracy and some want it to be a country split by provinsialism. Maybe the powers that be have not let democracy flourish in this country from the very start and today many of us are looking for other answers.

It is my belief that survival of Pakistan lies only in being a modern democracy and this is eactly what Jinnah wanted pakistan to be. Some sayings of Jinnah which reflect his vision of Pakistan.

• In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. (Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America on Pakistan recorded February, 1948)

• No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live. (Speech at a meeting of the Muslim University Union, Aligarh March 10, 1944)

• Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days when there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. (Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947)

• The great majority of us are Muslims. We follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon him). We are members of the brotherhood of Islam in which all are equal in rights, dignity and self-respect. Consequently, we have a special and a very deep sense of unity. But make no mistake: Pakistan is not a theocracy or anything like it.” (Broadcast talk to the people of Australia recorded on 19th February, 1948)

• You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed –that has nothing to do with the business of the State. (Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947)

• We are now all Pakistanis–not Baluchis, Pathans, Sindhis, Bengalis, Punjabis and so on–and as Pakistanis we must feet behave and act, and we should be proud to be known as Pakistanis and nothing else. (Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on 15th June, 1948.)

• It naturally pains me to find the curse of provincialism holding sway over any section of Pakistan. Pakistan must be rid of this evil. (Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on 15th June, 1948.)

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jinnah

Update (Jan, 3rd 2007): Mudassir responded to this post on his Blog here.
My response to his post is below.

Dear Mudassir,

An excellent explanation and indeed I agree with whatever you have said. The post that I did earlier with Jinnah’s Quotes does not suggest anywhere that Pakistan should become a secular state and I don’t think Jinnah wanted that either.

I want to stress again the difference between a country having a “state religion” and a theocracy. Jinnah wanted the first one and this answers your question about the name “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”. In theocracy however, the religious incarnations/individuals/institutions dominate the civil government and play decisive role in working of the state. In theocracy you take control from the people and give them to a group of religious elite, which is even more destructive than dictatorship because they control the religious dogmas of the society which have always been more powerful than any other social or human values.

These religious elite when manipulated by power and politics play the most destructive role for any society as you have seen in case of Christian church and you are seeing now as the divisions and differences among the Muslims. (It does not matter who is doing it, USA/Neo-Cons etc, but we are getting manipulated pretty well)

The problems with having a theocracy are exactly the same that you have mentioned above in case of the Christian church. Don’t you see our mullanas and religious pundits moving in that direction (not all mullanas/molvies are like this but a large majority), the Taliban style Islam with suicide bombings, destroying temples and places of worship of other religions, destroying historic sites only if they bear some name or symbol of a religion other than Islam, denying women of even basic rights including basic medical care in most cases etc etc. (In other words they can drive the society in any direction with their interpretation of religion)

One of the main reasons for the western societies to isolate from their religions is inflexibility and the wrong interpretation over the centuries. Islam brought democracy 13 hundred years ago and even western scholars are amazed at the openness that Islam provides on various issues which make it the most practical religion, but unfortunately we see various religious scholars presenting an intolerant, crude and impractical version of Islam which is promoting religious hatred and differences and causing a bad name for the religion. This is why we are seeing more people even Muslims becoming more isolated from the religion.

So, given that ruling theocracy has played a disastrous role in the western history I stress that Pakistan should have Islam as a “State Religion” as it currently has and need not turn into a religious theocracy which a “small” group are trying to make of this country.