ATP: Inspiration Pakistan: Selflessness in Jaded Times

Reposting with permission.

Times in Pakistan are tough. Things were never great but they were never this bad either. There weren’t as many incidents ofviolence, so many hours of load shedding or such high prices of food and electricity. And in our fast paced downward spiral, we have lost our sense of being one nation. Its each man and woman for himself or herself. Its the only way to survive. And in the pursuit of survival we will lie, cheat, steal, trample on others, cut corners and take the low road as often as possible to get to destination mere survival.

And in this Darwinian quest for survival we have become jaded and sarcastic and conditioned to believe the worst about those around us. Idealism, morality, humanity - seem like hollow buzzwords - such noble sentiments having been beaten out of us by circumstance.  On those rare occasions, when we are confronted with selfless displays of courage and nationalism; we tend to scoff at them and dismiss them as either political rhetoric or utterly naive insanity.

But this story about Captain Najam Riaz made me stop in my jaded tracks and led me to believe that maybe there is hope for the future.

Economic Survey: VAT in Pakistan

The parliament has finally announced the budget for this year. Some analysts have already started calling it "the IMF-budget". Certainly, it can't be called the people's or the trader's budget. Even though it appears people-friendly (for example the 50% increase in the salaries of government employees) and has indicated increases in pensions, it does not bear any good news for a common man who may be a labourer or a farmer or working in a private institution. The failure of government to provide relief to masses has dwindled their confidence in system. 

Religious Intolerance

            

    On 29th May, Pakistanis were once again reminded of the religious intolerance prevalent in our societies. Only this one was more brutal. 

LAHORE: Gunmen attacked worshippers from the Ahmadi community in two worship places of Lahore on Friday, taking hostages and killing at least 70 people, officials said. - DAWN.COM

"War on Terrorism"

                            The so-called War on Terror has never been our war. Our people suffered when Musharraf decided to side with the Americans. Our people paid the price when American CIA started drone attacks. Pakistanis already loathed Bush because of this. And then came Obama.

Change has come, says Obama

But the change we Pakistanis wanted to see was nowhere. Our hopes were shattered when we ran our eyes over this

Obama: Yup, we're at war in Pakistan

Pakistan ka matlab kia La Ilaaha illa Allah

60 years ago, our forefathers started a struggle of independence against imperial forces. After long struggle during which hundreds of thousands lost their lives and millions left their homes , at last they succeeded and created a homeland of their own and named it Pakistan.

What was the reason behind all this effort? ISLAM! Islam was the only reason and the only objective Muslims were fighting for. They wanted to live their lives according to Islam in a state of their own where they can practice their religion freely. They wanted to create an exemplary Islamic state.