DILEMMA OF POOR HOUSE-WORKING CHILDREN IN PAKISTAN
I want to give my salute to Ms Shazia Zeeshan, Anchor-person of 92-News, on presenting a report in her program “Night Edition “on August 04, 2023, on the subject of a famous case of barbarous torture to an innocent 12-year-old girl named Rizwana which should be an eye-opener for all of us.
In the report, she was talking to the mother of the victim and she asked very good questions relating to the tragedy, and the facts which came to light from her questions to the mother and her answers to them were mind-blowing to me.
A 12-year-old innocent girl was made to care for all the children of the house and do the household chores of three storeys of the building all alone. At the same time, she was bodily beaten tortured and injured. Surprisingly the torture was committed both by the husband and wife of the house whereas the husband is a judge of law-court and the wife is a school teacher. She was staying in the workhouse for more than three months during which time she was not allowed to go home and see her parents. She was also not allowed to speak to her parents. This inhuman, barbarous and criminal act of employers of the child is of course downright condemnable. But this is one aspect of the matter. There is another aspect of the matter which I noticed and realized from the whole story. All this tyranny being committed to the child for several months was known to her parents, and how surprising that her parents, especially her mother, did not care to look into it, rescue her or make a complaint. In answer to a question, the mother simply said “It was our mistake”.
A similar case is the news we hear now and then that a child or several children were drowned in a pond or open gutterline and lost their lives while bathing in or playing near the pond, or while playing near the open gutterline. The parents of other children must be coming to know the tragic incidents but they do not care to protect their children and let them go and play near dangerous spots and get drowned again.
The crime of the employers of the innocent child is great but the crime of her parents is equally great, nay, its greater than the crime of her employers. The employers are not the parents of the child but the child is a sweetheart of her parents. The day of qiyama seems to be near.
I strongly feel that we should sympathize with our innocent small children and save them from the tyranny of these household employers and so-called “parents”.
I think it’s a dire need of the time to urge the government to take special notice of this tyrannical state of affairs and make special courts for such crimes where the cases can be finalized within a week or so and perpetrators awarded exemplary punishment. Simultaneously, the parents of the victim child should also be awarded punishment as they are also a part of the crime and may aptly be called “accomplices”. ~
At the same time, and more importantly, social media, social workers, public welfare organisations and all religious clerics should use all available means to educate the masses, particularly the poor lower class, to learn that it is the religious and moral duty of parents to take care of their children and protect them from hazards and dangers and from miscreants.
While the caste system has been officially outlawed in India, it continues to exist in various forms and significantly impacts social life and daily interactions. Despite legal prohibitions against caste-based discrimination, practices like untouchability and caste-based biases persist, affecting everything from marriage and employment to social interactions and access to resources
Indian liberalism is a historical myth that must be countered if we want to understand our society
We continue to believe that what is happening today is simply an aberration and long to return to a past that did not exist.
Mar 09, 2020 · 06:30 am
The last few years have been particularly noticeable for remembering dead and ageing parents. Not just any common garden variety ones, of course, but a very specific kind. These are the parents who, apparently, bequeathed a tolerant, liberal and non-majoritarian India to their children. They embraced religious diversity, resisted various forms of bigotry and promoted the values of constitutional morality. They instilled in their progeny the importance of imagining a post-colonial republic where differences of class, caste, religion and ethnicity would be unequivocally erased.
In media articles and social media outpourings, these parents – narrators of a tryst with destiny – are sorely missed. Over the past six years, everything that the immediate ancestors dreamt of has been, apparently, upturned. In around half a decade, centuries of Indian tolerance – the aforementioned parents being its clearest exemplars – has been wiped out.
The romance of Indian liberalism, fed by the ever-nourishing rivers of historical myth-making of recent origin, needs to be countered if we are ever to undertake the task of taking a good hard look at ourselves – and our parents. Liberal ancestor worship does not serve us well. It certainly does not allow for an understanding of the nature of Indian society either over the longue durèe or in the recent past.
The Good Muslim syndrome
The most fundamental aspect of our recent past is that our parents were not particularly committed to the values of religious tolerance that they are frequently credited with as a pre-Modi phenomenon. Their relationship with their Muslim co-citizens was premised on a specific set of circumstances.
Firstly, it had to do with Muslims “knowing their place”. Muslims were to act as mascots of Hindu India’s tolerant culture, rather than exercise an identity that might assert equality with members of the majority community. This was the condition of Hindu contextualism where “secular India” was deeply rooted in the values and public symbolism of Hinduism. Our public functions began (and still begin) with lighting lamps, ships were launched by breaking coconuts and we sang (and now sing with greater fervour) Sanskrit hymns at various national occasions as if these were areligious markers of post-colonial identity.
That is the world our parents grew up in and subscribed to: the “good Muslim” was the one who knew his or her place in a society marked by Hindu contextualism. Even Nehru, perhaps one of the very few who might have understood the meaning of genuine multiculturalism, was not able to counter these tendencies.
Eliding caste
Secondly, there was no India of our parent’s generation that seriously engaged with the caste question. Rather, if we have now come to believe that our parents decried casteism – and that its resurgence is linked to the break-down of their culture of liberalism – this is an entirely spurious view, nurtured by a very Indian culture of filial obligation.
Men and women of an earlier generation – the first and second generation of post-Independence parents – were as deeply casteist as their apparent antithetical contemporary counterparts. What was true of the earlier generation was that – like the Left parties – they pronounced that “in their circles” caste was not a problem.
There is a very common refrain among many now in their seventies and eighties that as school-going students, they had no idea about the caste of their fellow students. This does not, of course, prove that India of the 1950s and ’60s was not marked by caste hierarchies. Rather that in our parents’ generation, there was no occasion for encountering it as those among whom they moved were uniformly upper-caste. The comforts of caste-homogenous social circles ensured that there was no necessity of thinking about caste as a problem. This might only have been the case if different castes encountered each other in the same social milieu.
A soft bigotry
The fact of the matter is that neither was our parents’ time one of a golden age of tolerance and constitutional morality nor is it the case that we have now – in a space of six years! – dramatically changed. The first perspective is misplaced filial obligation and the second is a simplistic understanding of social and cultural change.
Our parents practised bigotry of a quiet sort, one that did not require the loud proclamations that are the norm now. Muslims and the lower castes knew their place and the structures of social and economic authority were not under threat. This does not necessarily translate into a tolerant generation. Rather, it was a generation whose attitudes towards religion and caste was never really tested.
The loud bigotry of our times is no great break from the past in terms of a dramatic change in attitudes – is it really possible that such changes can take place in such few years? Rather, it is the crumbling of the veneer of tolerance against those who once knew their place but no longer wish to accept that position.
The great problem with all this is that we continue to believe that what is happening today is simply an aberration and that we will, when the nightmare is over, return to the Utopia that was once ours. However, it isn’t possible to return to the past that was never there. It will only lead to an even darker future. And, filial affection is no antidote for it.
Casteism, the deeply ingrained social hierarchy in India, significantly influences its politics. Caste continues to be a factor in political mobilization, resource allocation, and access to power. While the caste system is officially outlawed, its legacy impacts political representation, particularly for Dalits and Adivasis, who face systemic discrimination and marginalization.
Caste as a Political Divide:
Caste identity can be a powerful tool for political mobilization, with parties often appealing to specific caste groups for support. This can lead to “caste politics,” where political strategies are heavily influenced by caste-based considerations, such as the allocation of political seats or the targeting of public policy initiatives.
Impact on Political Representation:
Lower castes, including Dalits and Adivasis, often face barriers to political participation, even with quotas and affirmative action policies. While these policies aim to ensure representation, caste-based discrimination can still impact their ability to access resources, influence, and power within political institutions.
Caste and Resource Allocation:
Caste can influence access to resources like land, education, and employment, which are crucial for economic and social advancement. This can perpetuate inequalities, as upper castes may have privileged access to these resources, while lower castes struggle to overcome social and economic barriers.
The Legacy of Colonialism:
The British Rajfurther entrenched caste distinctions through census classifications and policies, which had lasting consequences on social structures and political dynamics.
Changing Dynamics:
While the caste system is officially outlawed, its influence continues to shape political and social life. Some argue that the caste system is gradually fading as social mobility increases, but others contend that it remains a significant factor in political and social inequalities.
Yes, the Quran encourages and values rationality, urging believers to use their minds and reason to understand the world and God’s creation, as evidenced by verses that emphasize reflection and critical thinking. [1, 2, 3]
Emphasis on Reflection and Understanding: The Quran frequently encourages Muslims to ponder the signs of God in nature and the universe, suggesting that such reflection is a path to knowledge and understanding. [1, 2]
Importance of Critical Thinking: The Quran does not simply present a set of doctrines to be blindly accepted, but rather encourages believers to engage with the text and the world around them with critical thinking and reason. [1, 2, 3]
Verses like “How little you reflect” (A’raf 7:3) and “God sets those who do not use their reason in a mire of uncleanness” (Yunus 10:100) highlight the importance of using one’s intellect. [2]
The Quran also encourages people to examine the signs of God in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of day and night, and the provision of rain. [2]
Rationalism in Islamic Thought: The concept of using reason and logic to understand the world and God’s creation has been a significant feature of Islamic theological thought since its earliest times. [3]
The Role of “Aql”: In Islamic thought, “Aql” (the mind or intellect) is considered an important tool for understanding and interpreting revelation, and is seen as capable of performing both logical analysis and accepting revelation from God. [1]
Pakistan represents traces of compelling authoritarian tyranny, stupidity, political sinisterism of rooted insolence of lost wisdom and hopes for a navigational change. Despite the national elections, pains, horrors and degradation of the nation for change are distinctly visible on the screen.The nation is fraught with loss of time and opportunities for political change and sustainable future-making. The February 8, elections arranged by the Generals and the Judges produced no signs of systematic optimism that the nation will lose more when sadistic egoism and the authoritarian governance of the few have left nothing more to lose. A paradox of unforgivable systematic infested political corruption complemented by the ego of few Generals aligned with higher court judges to a new threshold of emerging disunity, military intervention in public affairs and favorite perversion of evil mongering claiming to serve the 240 million conscientious Pakistanis. Despite the PTI (independent) clear winning majority of the National Assembly seats, the reports spell out the hidden truth of Sharif brothers – the criminally indicted terrorists, thugs and money launderers to form the next government. What a shame – what a disgrace to conscientious new educated generations of Pakistanis. One wonders, what was the precarious reason to hold the national elections when the Generals and few Judges wanted the corrupt and morally and politically disgraced Sharfi brothers back to powerhouse? These were the same neo-colonial families of Bhuttos, Sharfis and Zardari produced by the previous Generals who stole 50 years of the national lifetime, wealth and opportunities for change to buy palaces in the UK, France and Spain and discredit the nation, its honor and standing in global affairs.
Do intelligent people learn words of wisdom even from the enemies? General PNK Choudry (former Chief of Staff of the Indian Armed Forces), who fought wars against Pakistan, narrated that if Pakistan had honest and intelligent leaders, they could have averted the 1971 surrender and defeat at Dakka- East Pakistan. I asked him how? He disclosed that ZA Bhutto had asked Mrs. Indira Gandhi (PM India) to help him become the next president of Pakistan; whereas Sheikh Mujib Rehman ( the elected majority leader) was more a Bengali nationalist aspiring to become the next leader of Pakistan. If the Pakistani had transferred the power to Sheikh Rehman, it would have been the right thing to do and he would not have survived more than a few months as all the official machinery was based in Islamabad. Mrs. Gandhi agreed to help Zalfikar Bhutto but the price was defeat and surrender of Pakistan, and Bhutto was a power maniac to become the unelected leader of Pakistan. Altaf Qureshi (“Skoot-e Dacca say Purdha Utha Hey” the Urdu Digest), narrated the historic facts: ‘General Yahya Khan stabbed the body of Pakistan and Bhutto did the same.’ Please see: “British Colonialism and how India and Pakistan Lost Freedom.” 2022. https://www.globalresearch.ca/british-colonialism-how-india-pakistan-lost-freedom/5765810Are we not seeing the same story being repeated again in Pakistan after more than 50 years?
Imran Khan, the PTI elected leader was ousted by the whim of a few generals aligned to the politically cursed Sharif family – is that the mental microscope of the military leaders to rejoin the dead political
entities? Under false and politically orchestrated impulses, Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 -14 years in jail on multiple bogus legal cases. Vengeful and paranoid Generals wanted to keep Khan and PTI out of power so nobody could question their wrong thinking and deceitful actions against the nation. The few generals under the Chief of the Staff Assem Munir have no sense of time and history as they are playing with the destiny of the Nation for which they have no moral or intellectual capacity, no right or legal mandate to do so. Most dreadful tragedies have infallibly resulted in victimizing the masses. Today, the nation is crippled with catastrophic events of insecurity, mismanagement and socioeconomic and political exploitation.
The Pakistani Generals are not the people of reasoning and open to listening and learning. Bhuttos, Zardari and Sharifs are not the people of honesty and leadership to rebuild the nation for its survival. They cannot realize the imperatives of hopes and expectations of the new generation of educated and morally and intellectually competent people. Future belongs to the new generation of educated people, not to the naive and obsolete Generals. They view “power” and “Pakistan” as their own property. The authoritarian leaders played with its destiny and future without being questioned. The Five military coups were stabbing the living body of Pakistan. They are the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. Please see “ Pakistan Confronts its future under betrayal of Generals.” 01/24 https://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2024/01/15/pakistan-confronts-its-future-under-betrayal-of-generals.php
Progressive Nations Produce and Enlist Educated People of New Generations to Make the Future
Progressive nations search for new-age educated and intelligent people of new ideas and integrity to build a sustainable future. Ironically, Pakistani neo-colonial systems have kept old and obsolete to run the country. Nations cease to exist when educated people of new generations who could have replaced the old and redundant guards leave the country and never return to build the nation. Young educated generations embark on migrating to Europe or America and never come back.
Today, the nation is crippled with catastrophic events of insecurity, non-productivity, mismanagement and socioeconomic and political exploitation. The Pakistani ruling elite and the Generals are not open to reason and accountability. They are engaged in systematic subversion of national freedom, security and future-making.They cannot realize the imperatives of hopes and expectations of a new generation of educated and morally and intellectually competent people. Future belongs to the new generation of educated people, not to the naive and obsolete Generals. They view “power” and “Pakistan” as their own property. They are the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things.
Although Imran Khan spoke of moral and intellectual values and nation-building, he did very little to support that agenda. Khan could have arranged evidence-based legal prosecution of Sharif brothers, Zardari and others for corruption, killings and stolen wealth but failed to do so. He did not kill anybody nor robbed any banks and political governance was infested with corrupt figures of the past. They never imagined–how the present and future generations will identify them? Please see by this author:“Pakistan Imperatives of Political Change for a Progressive Nation”2019; “Pakistan where Politics and Corruption are the Same” 2014; “Pakistan in Search of Freedom and Security”, Uncommon Thought Journal and Global Research: 10/20/22, and “Pakistan, Planned Political Chaos: Imran Khan a Victim of Hope for the Future”, Global Research: 11/06/2022; “Pakistan Striving for Its Soul.” 8/23 https://www.transcend.org/tms/2023/08/pakistan-striving-for-its-soul/
Tyranny of the Few Darkens the Future of Nation
The few Generals and Sharif brothers are egomaniacs with an overwhelming pathological urge for political power to distort and reject the will and aspirations of the people of Pakistan striving for political change. Tyranny is always powerless and transitory. Imran Khan and some 20k of his party supporters have been imprisoned under false pretext of political vengeance and to pave the way for another opening to the crime riddled Sharif family. What is the solution to the morally and intellectually sickening political culture of Pakistani politics? A reconstruction and overhaul of the law and justice system and non-intervention by the Generals into politics and transfer of political power to the majority elected leader and party. It is a long way to build a working democracy in Pakistan. If not, could the few Generals and top Judges be tried for violations of the Constitution, human rights, arrests of innocent masses and fake cases against Khan at the ICJ and ICC, the Hague? The possibility is there for accountability.
Pakistan needs an urgent navigational change but a few Generals and judges are part of the problem. Would they ever realize and learn having wrong thinking, wrong priorities and wrong actions? The current state of Pakistani affairs reflects a complete societal breakdown and march towards self-annihilation. Despite hollow claims of the Generals, no moral and ethical behavior is seen in the sudden and inexplicable plunge to human wickedness highlighting the affairs of the besieged nation. They would claim democracy at work when the majority winning party (PTI) is being blocked to form the next legitimate government and masses are outraged and oppose the Generals and Judges lacking respect, professional integrity and impartiality to serve the nation.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.
Pakistan: The Generals and Judges Who Betrayed the Nation – By Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.
Would the Generals and Judges Learn from History?
Pakistan exhibits a portrait of authoritarian anarchy, political mismanagement, injustice, and degradation in global affairs and an elusive imagination terrified by the challenges of a disdained future. Political paradox represents a delusional culture of authoritarian absolutism led by profligacy, malevolence and tormenting miseries of varied multitudes. The trajectory calls into question the roleplay, deception and betrayal by the few Generals and a few judges of the Supreme Court – either bribed or coerced, playing with destiny of the nation.Their sinister and unacknowledged motives have incapacitated the mainstream thinking hubs of the nation by using power beyond their position, capacity and authority to imprison Imran Khan, PTI leader under false pretext of politically geared cases to reinstate a thug, a killer and criminally indicted Sharif brothers back to the powerhouse. Are the same values common to the perpetrators of this crisis? The national election scheduled on February 8, is just a fraudulent stunt to claim success achieved at the cost of degeneration of new age people and destabilization of the country.
Pakistani Generals could be bought and sold at market places disclosed Bruce Riedel, Brooking Institute, USA (“Battle for the Soul of Pakistan” ), a former President Obama’s advisor on Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2009; is now repeated by President Joe Biden, “most dangerous nation in the world.”The few Generals under Assim Munir and the Chief Justice Qazi lack vision and characteristics and standards of equal justice, honesty and righteousness to demonstrate reason and strength to the nation.They are directly complicit in planning the fake elections. They could be held accountable for their wickedness and interventionist strategy to derail the stability and future of Pakistan.
Pakistan is fast becoming a dead-ended entity of moral, political and intellectual landscape. The Generals and aligned few judges appear to be monstrous shadows of wickedness to undo the national freedom, security and future of an Islamic and a democratic Pakistan. They lack intellectual and moral capacity to understand the implications of time and history as they were never part of the Pakistan National Freedom Movement led by Allama Mohammad Iqbal and Mohammad Ali Jinnah – Quaid-E-Azam. Their egoism and naive self-interest are the compelling factors to intervene in politics and destroy political freedom, security and nation-building goals.
Nation-building requires men of new ideas, innovative ideals and excellence from the new, educated and proactive generations of people. Progressive nations enlist young, educated and people of excellence to make the future happen. Not so, the new, educated and intelligent generations were stalled to any role-play in nation-building – while the Generals were active to conspire military coups and produced gangsters and so-called politicians Bhuttos, Sharifs, Zardari and thousands of others to govern the country against reasoned political governance. The Five military coups obliterated the moral, intellectual and political foundation of Pakistan leading to catastrophic disintegration of Pakistan in 1971.
Tyranny Unleashed by the Generals is Powerless and Absurd
Are the Generals waiting for another mishap of formative history? Please see“British Colonialism and How India and Pakistan Lost Freedom.” Global Research and Uncommon Thought Journal: 1/01/22. In “Pakistan Leaders or Criminals”, you will discover how Bhuttos, Zardari, Sharifs and General Musharaf – these thugs stole billions and billions to own properties in UK, France and Spain.They never imagined–how the present and future generations remember them? Please see by this author:“Pakistan Imperatives of Political Change for a Progressive Nation”2019;“Pakistan in Search of Freedom and Security”, Uncommon Thought Journal and Global Research: 10/20/22, and “Pakistan, Planned Political Chaos: Imran Khan a Victim of Hope for the Future”, Global Research: 11/06/2022; “Pakistan in Search of Its Soul.” Uncommon Thought Journal: 8/06/23
Imran Khan is a person of new ideas and ideals and the Pakistani masses view him with great deal of optimism and integrity and hope for political change, free of corruption paving opportunities for sustainable development and a better future. The neo-colonial agents feard him to imprison Khan under bogus accusations of corruption. please view “Pakistan Confronts its Future under Betrayal of Generals”,:Uncommon Thought Journal:1/15/2024
Tyranny is always powerless and transitory. Military dictates and absurd judgments lead to distorted propositions of conflicts and instability. Often when political conspirators cannot solve one set of problems, they come up with other naïve ideas to create more critical problems to distract the masses. What is the solution to the morally and intellectually sickening political culture of Pakistani politics? It needs a navigational change, new public institutions free of neo-colonial implanted culture, a New Constitution and new educated and honest leadership. History will judge the imposters by their actions, not by their claims to serve the nation. In summary, We the Conscientious People of Pakistan invite Urgent attention for a navigational change, equal participation of all the political parties to a fair, representative and just national elections, and reconstruction of a new political system of governance. Otherwise, February 8, national elections are a dress rehearsal for continued military rule and travesty of justice imposed upon the masses of Pakistan by the few against all:
1. Pakistan, its people and its future are NOT the sole property of a few Generals or the current Chief Justice.
2.The General’s insane ambitions and actions are the outcome of the briefing and dictate by the US political interests.
3. If bogus elections are held to bring the indicted criminals and money launderers – Nawaz Sharif family back to power as appears to be the case, there will be massive socioeconomic and political chaos, disruptions, street battles and bloodbath between the armed forces and common people.
4. The Generals and the judges do not plan economy, agriculture, education, moral and intellectual hubs, or build nations but people of knowledge, thinkers,visionary, specialists and young people of moral and intellectual integrity contribute for such a vital national agenda.
5. Pakistan’s socio-economic, political and strategic needs are not the task and mandates of the judges and the Generals – they are a misfit for such roleplays..
6. The few Generals and Judges are misusing the time and opportunities for individualistic agendas and creating appalling socio-economic and political misfortunes for the nation. We, the People of reason, remind them that they are not above the law and justice and could face public trial and even the firing squads for their treachery and dishonesty to the future of the nation.
7. There must be a free and fair national election inclusive of the PTI and its leadership. Pakistanis believe if a free election is held, Imran Khan will be the next legitimate elected leader of the country.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.
