Dealing with plain Jahalat

 

I probably am going to step on some toes, but it’s okay.

So this is probably something that most young people, or children in the family deal with, but isn’t it mind-numbing dealing with the rather oppressive and jahalati stuff that your families are bent on. Like based on your experience , beliefs or education you understand something and you want to move forward and act in a more logical way, at least in your head, but somehow some people always have a personal issue with your personal actions. And they often override your voice and try to demean and degrade the things you like and abuse you mentally like its nothing.

I think in desi families and societies, we sort of leave a blind eye to these incidents, because this kind of treatment mostly comes from people who have some sort of social or financial control over us. Like elders,parents, siblings, distant relatives, further relatives, neighbors, dead relatives, society, fictional characters, other countries- there is no end. And in lots of cases I understand that you have to compromise, and deal with problems.

But dealing with problems does not mean being okay with being publicly crucified. You marrying a guy should not mean having to let his family tell everyone your a dirty woman, or have them spread rumors about you being infertile. But that is abuse thousands of girls face and face with a push, nobody tells them its okay to refuse being treated like a slave in the house of the stranger she married. I mean where is the logic and accountability?

The girls family spends her whole life making them ashamed for existing, and reminding girls that they are a burden, and they keep shoving it down your back that the house of your parents is not your house, but your house is the house where your parents pay for in gold and jahaiz, just to have it kabzaad by her in-laws, and used to wed away her rude sister-in-laws. And how is that it is always these holier than thou children of shaitan that act all holy and proper, that feel like Allah will not let them in heaven if they dont ruin at least the life of three girls. Girls that no one is forcing to take-in, they find the girls themselves, they know what exactly they are marrying into-  Phir kya takleef hai in jahiloon ko. You can’t even call people jahil, because it turns into a ‘not all religious families’, ‘not all modern families’,’not all civilians’,’not all army’. It doesn’t matter. If you are going to do jahil stuff then you should be ready for people to call you what you are.

Adhay say zyada waqt tou maa baap hee aundoon key tarah apnay bachoon ko agg mein pehnk rahay hotain hain. I mean why would you interrupt the education of your olnly daughter, for a random rishta who has no job,no house, no nice family, just because you are scared that she won’t have a secure future. Kyon ka I believe Dosak sirk gunah karnay waloon kay liya nahi , beywakoofoun kay liya hai. These people don’t do their proper research. Trip mein jab yeh jab yeh loog jatay hain, to puray puray sawaal kar kay, idhar udhar say puch bhi ley tain hain, kay shyd koi fraud na hogaye. Apni batioun ko us ghar nahi janay detain, ka pata nahi kiss tarah kay loog houn ghain?

Bus yeh hee woh hoosh jo shadi karnay ka waqt in ka ander maar jati hai.

I get that some times people make mistakes, but the manner in which these mistakes are made, Is stupid, Is insulting. Is absurd. Is pointless. And brings people nothing but ruin and trauma. There is nothing to gain by keeping these systems and cycles going. Let them fall apart, and think about the greater good.

And it’s not even the really big changes like marriages. You can’t really have quirks or odd passions. I like going out and taking pictures, but I have to spread those trips in sections and not do too many, or look like its something I enjoy. It’s stupid. Even by just calling these things stupid, I open myself open to being called modern and bold. Like its a bad thing.I don’t have to think  like everyone else, and I’m not hurting anybody. But you know, you can’t negate anything- because that is of course dis-respectable. There is a lot injustice and abuse parents have done under the name of customs, rights and religion. Koi hasaab hee nahee hai. It’s nothing but a power trap, that we confuse for love and care. It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors.

But how does not react or behave around this jahalat? How does one stand at a sitting and tell people that she doesn’t think dark skin is ugly, and that it’s wrong to treat the daughter-in-laws like shit. The backlash is a hand-wave of disbelief, but it turns into annoyance , and finally into loud violence. Just because you can’t oppose the old,fickle and firm. That’s probably why most of us stay silent.

But we do not have to care about this destruction. We can be everything that we are, and take in a few hits for our dignity. We already know what the odds and prices are. We just have to wait for it to hit. Call out the jahalat when it crosses our path.

 

‘Malang Nahi’ opening up to the void.

Good day everyone, today I wanted to talk to you about my ACP project, which requires a team of students to partake in 64 hours of community service. Our team decided to focus on an issue, in our society that really needs to be addressed, and that is mental health.

 

 

‘Malang Nahi’ can be translated into simply, ‘Not crazy’, it is a campaign that will talk about mental illness and going out to receive help, instead of letting it hurt you out of fear or shame. We basically want to remove the shame around reciceinvg therapy, and remove misconceptions.

In our society it is common for people to have little to no awareness about the vast realm of psychological problems, but beyond not knowing a greater issue is people looking down on people who suffer with disorders and depression. There is a collective denial about the suffering one has to go through, and people instead of being understanding and often ridicule others and use their mental illness as a way to torment them. Another problem is that in many cases society is used to certain behaviors that do nothing but cause people psychological and emotional harm and trauma.

Mental illness is not seen as something serious but at the same is enough to ruin one’s reputation. It is bad enough that many people who do need to receive some sort of aid will never go out and look for it out of personal and external fear.

We will not be able to help everyone over night, and neither will society understand the complexity of this issue just because we say so, but we can reach out a helping hand to those who need healing. And that is why we picked this battle.

So what we are going to do is write on the issue, and hold workshops in our university and talk to female students specifically on what stresses and hurts them in life. We will be bringing in psychologists to speak with them, and share coping methods and meditation.

We will doing a little bit of research as well. So do show support for this project, and you can keep up with our activities here.

And if you have any suggestions do let us know.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Malang-Nahin-146245329306804/about/?ref=page_internal

Getting around Saddar

 

I keep on wanting to be consistent with my work and timings, but I seem to oppose myself on almost everything. I put writing of  for days and days, until the idea steams up in my head as something worthless- old-fashioned almost.

I could give up everything and not care one bit, because of the tremendous numbness. A numbness I have to relate with writing, with feeling, with a sense of something gone but not fleeting.  But I have my moments of strict motivation, where I feel unaccountable to my mistakes and I resume to chase my dreams, like its nothing, like I do not always leave them at the door.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went out again on an expedition  ( shopping trip), out in my favorite city, into to the smaller areas where the people go to. It is in narrow streets, which have a very old Lahore feel to them.

You can find things which of  a good quality and cheap, you can see a lot of people, all of whom know each other. Basically its all friendly, nostalgic and full of stories and potential . And as far as my intended jump into photo journalism, I haven’t really got around to interviewing people, or doing proper investigation type work. Because for now I just want to master taking good pictures, and being more confident in the streets and being able to frame a story. Then maybe after that I can make vlogs and films.

Any way, here are few picture I took at Saddar, in my attempt to capture people and time. I hope to do more in the future and help the people in any way I can. But I want to preserve and protect what is there also.

The shapes, food, friends, smells, rooms and colors. I don’t want the people hurt, but we do keep on getting hurt . We should be happy, God should permit us that, we should be allowed to be happy. We have earned it. It not right to go on being  happy  for a while just to be bombed down.

I want our safety back, I want peace of mind, I want the numbness away.

 

Hayat Achakzai- The New face of Ufone, and his Importance.

Hi everyone. Hope all you have been having a good this new year, which has been a politically dipped in hot controversy.

Okay. Now to the point.

Earlier this week I wasted at a cozy little event, which was hosted by Ufone. They invited a few bloggers from Lahore to have an exclusive look at their new TVC, which is a marketing shift from their usual funny,poetic,satirical and well waited ads. I personally and almost everyone I know love the originality and well worded shade of the Ufone ads.

They have always been the big deal, because they look good, the spend money where they have to, they allow the comic genius of the actors to pop out and the dialogues, which immediately become widespread and iconic.

Like that “Teri Meharbani” and of course ” Thank you , same to you”. The latter being a jab our favourite actress Meera.

So Ufone isn’t just a phone company that provides communication services but it also fuels a good amount of our daily chats and pop culture, and here they are turning themselves in a new direction. They want to with class shift from light-hearted comedy to something more inspirational, uplifting, serious and wonderful.

 

And in all honesty they did not disappoint me, or the other bloggers present at the event. We watched the ad like ten times without getting tired of it.

Their brand new brand ambassador is an amazing boxer, who has won several matches and presented Pakistan all over the world, and he is from Quetta originally, is married with children and has a job at present. He also says that he would like to continue  to compete and has his hopes up for one in Iran.

 

And to me I think he is a gentle person, which is wonderful to see in sportsman, and he was humble and… I don’t know how to say it. I would describe him as a person who does more and speaks less and does what wants to without with all his dedication and potential . I am not an expert when it comes to sports, but I do believe that stories like these are able to pull through the different fabrics of life and inspire people, to follow their dreams. It shows them that, this person did it, he comes from the people as I do, and despite everything that was in his way, he pulled through and got his dream. He worked hard, gave love and time to his passion and got what he wanted and claimed his blessing .

And this is something we need to see more on tv, which is why I love their ad. It shows him in his own culture, so he comes of as comfortable and it involves his job, home,kids and clips of him practicing also, so overall, it was well-directed. But it also pays due credit to the hard work Mr Achakzai puts into boxing. Mind you most of our athletes get through their professional careers not getting any air time or sponsorship when the media, big businesses and the government . They excel by spending their own money , and of course people who love what they do, don’t care for validation from other people, but that does not mean the people should not support them. These sports-persons and teams deserve the people support,love and backing both in our country and out of our country.

But surprisingly, we have had to see several of our athletes come out and put the government,corporations, and society on blast for nothing treating them with the same respect as   our national Cricket team. And I don’t blame them for that, these non cricket associated athletes do everything on their own dime, at many times get no pay and they win, which I can’t really say about our cricket team.  And that is just a financial and record fact if you compare our male cricket team and compare it with our female cricket team, and the hockey team, and the special cricket team and our Mr universe winner. The numbers and situations do not lie, we have our cricket team on a pedestal and the others in a gutter, and it’s not we have the other in the gutter at the expense of the cricket team, I am not blaming them. What I mean is that we can have all of them on a pay roll and feature them on tv.

Because let’s be honest, stars may be born out of talent and hard work, but stardom requires good marketing, and the best way to reach people is through the radio and television. Which is obvious , but lets face, the people are not going to find out our hidden gems unless we bring them out on a popular platform. Sports people essentially require this because they don’t have a lot of time to give around.

The reason sponsors don’t go after sports people is because they want already famous people or not famous people at all. But our main picks are actors and actresses and some celebrities who break through the mold. But the thing with actors is that are already on tv, and depend on constant engagement and appearances and sometimes scandals to remain in the public eye, so ads are complimentary to their exposure. But the thing is, if you are truly a huge corporation, you are already famous on your own, you are brand on your own, you are able to uplift someone talented from another industry. Which will only make you look better.

Besides athletes are the perfect role models for our society. They work hard, show consistency, aspire for their best, they are good time management and have a healthy out look at life. Which we need more visibility for in these, obesity, unhealthy living and heart disease infested times. Trust me desi people you need to exercise more.

This ad, I feel it also is a good clap back to those people  who think that Pakistanis do nothing, or that nothing happens in our country. Things do happen, and there are talented people everywhere, a great person can come from anywhere. They just have not been given enough attention and credit.

But hopefully with this initiative, things might change, and we will see more on talented people get the rep they deserve and the people will get the role models and heroes they deserve.

Here is a link to their new commercial , Im sure you’ll like it .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAHP1btE0vk

And here are also a few clips I made of the event, which also has an interview by him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFFFUUxPHIU ( Interview)

And here is a little video where I open up the gift box.

 

Walking around Liberty

So a couple of days ago I decided to be a little brave, and take my fancy camera out in the market streets.

Since I’m not really a professional at anything, and socially awkward and unable to communicate at times this was big experiment for me. I mean, its one thing to cover events and festivals that happen at my university, but it’s another to actually go out at night on the streets. For that I believe a phone camera is more practical , because a big camera is a little too much. Even the TV people have shifted from traditional cameras to cell phones.

Besides the bigger ones ask for attention in your hands, and I guess people are not really used to random kids going around taking pictures of their shops. But then again all of Pakistani Instagram is full of pictures like that, and a good amount of amount of those pictures focus on the rural areas and country people. Which is a good thing, but there should be more I believe.

As in, I want local awards for those pictures, and something more substantial for those photographers who bend over backwards and travel to far out places and capture the culture. It should be something special for us, and I want their pictures to be in our magazines and in documentaries. Because looks like our favorite kind of photography is wedding photography .

And yes, I understand that some pictures are just more iconic than the others, more loved and captivating then others, like that chaiwala picture, that everyone loved. It’s an amazing picture, and the best thing is that Jiya Ali the girl who took that picture got her due credit. I want all of our other talented kids to get the same, I want there to be love for ourselves, and visibility of out own, in our own. Something we own and something we control.

Okay, either way, I had a lot of fun at liberty, and I found lots of cute Sindhi stuff.And jewelry, and hopefully with more practice I can get better at this.

I even bought a bansara, now I will be the new ranjha.

An Introduction to Baithak

So last Friday I had the amazing chance to attend a small meeting, which was organized by the ‘Peace building department, Church of Pakistan’ and ‘Diocese of Raiwind’. It was meeting for religious leaders and representatives to come and sit down in a small friendly circle, see a slide show of what the Peace department did the whole year to help society to more peaceful and appreciate the country’s religious diversity, and also so they could share their ideas and experiences into the circle.

The event was overall, something very inspiring and eye-opening for me, since it truly got to the heart of the matter of the religious problems of our country and the people there were all good friends, who wanted nothing more but to achieve peace for everyone, in the land that they love.

The little cozy meeting was arranged by three people Zarish, a girl who enjoys doing social work and two boys who work mostly in inter faith peace building, Raheel Sharoon and Namon Sajjad Raza.

The meeting officially started rather late, because it was important to wait for everyone to be present so everyone could introduce themselves and speak to each other openly. But for the while the group had to wait, we talked about something all Pakistanis love, cricket.

As soon as everyone was there both of the boys gave a presentation about the what activities and peace building initiatives they took throughout last year.They expressed their desire to learn more how diverse Pakistan is, religiously. And that this meeting was to promote love and to learn from the work and experiences of others, in the same field.

They also said it was important that such meetings should happen more often, in order to come with ways to prevent social disasters, which come of terror and turn into disorder and terrorism. They even mentioned a few which happened in the last two years.

 

Now moving on the presentation, the boys talked about they felt that generally there was lack of leadership during the times of worry and panic, and that most of the incidents came from years and years of mismanagement and lack of attention and care. And their main goal was to come up with ways to bridge that gap between people.

It’s safe to say that the whole group was full of people who made great contributions to achieve inter faith peace in Pakistan; there were people who went out to fix books that had hateful and derogatory language in them, and others who held meetings and workshops of peace for people. The head of the Pakistani minorities was present , the head of the Lahore Christian association was there and several Imams were present as well, and they were all already familiar with eat other.

So basically it was a well-experienced group of people, who in many ways had dedicated their lives to helping people love others and to love themselves. And all of them shared their battles and stories and analysis of the situation we are in, as a country.

Anyway, let’s talk about what the interfaith department had been up to for the last year.

What they did was recruit people, makes them agents of change through training and went on by providing workshops and training sessions in different communities. And their main targets were marginalized communities, women and young people.

They took young people and children to different areas of worship for the first time, so they could see how people of other faiths connect with God and eachother. They talked to several religious leaders about climate change and its harmful effects on the world , and that turned out very successful since the Fathers and Imams they spoke to make it a part of  their Sermons and  Khitaabs.

They worked to help the transgender community and hosted a little event for them as well, where they could talk about their life and struggles.

Then were also several prize distribution events, and events which focused on celebrating diversity and respecting God’s creation. They even held special dinners and sessions for drug addicts, poor people and homeless people, and when the dinner was done with one thing they heard, that really made them happy, was when a man told them

“You did not feed us, you gave us respect”

So overall they had a year packed with hard work and spiritually rewarding work to be true, and if social work was not enough, they even gave a contribution to the classical arts as well, by giving theater training and conducted several plays.

Not to forget sports, they held interfaith cricket matches as well, but made sure to mix the teams up first, and proceed to teach the kids about the importance of equality and love.

The whole presentation was a good warm up for the talks that followed, and they were a moving reminder as well, because most of the guests were a part of the initiatives that they had taken.

Raheel did raise important points that, a message can only goes as far as its audience. He noticed that big fancy events, mostly rich educated people come, who already are aware of the importance of internal unity but the people who perhaps need more training and help are those who end up at large ‘Jalooses’, which rarely discuss interfaith unity. Which is true, a large amount of our people, never go through life, having some variety of thought presented to them, and there are barriers around them which keep information and diversity of thoughts and understanding away from them.

Either way the circle, or ‘Baithak’ was then open for talks and everyone gave their theories and plans and made goals about what they could do to change the state that we are in.

There are of course several factors that lead  to internal unrest, but it is important to appreciate and salute the honest work of our youth who aid society without any ulterior motive. They did what they did, because they were tired of the aftermath of years and years of never acknowledging a problem, and perhaps that is where they are most noble.

Instead of waiting for things much worse and build greater tension, they decided to join hands and do what they could to prevent social disasters, they decided to  do extra things which people don’t see the point in until they are done.

They did not care about the haters and did what they thought was the right thing to do.

And most importantly, they loved their people, the people of their country and they proved it .

 

Still in the River: On Lena Dunham, Odell Beckham Jr And the Public Lynching of Black Men

Hi everyone, I hope you had a great holiday session so far. And this article is actually really old , like mid september, and I wrote this after I discovered the vlogging or commentary section on youtube. I thought they were amazing and this article came out of what I learned from them.

 

People live in bubbles. They occupy imaginary space and live by rules, boundaries, cultures and realities that we are born into and stay in them , almost never noticing that different frame works exist around us not even outside our nationalities . It normal for people to generally look out for things that are relevant only to them based on self-interest,  but sometimes by an odd act of revelation a whole new world opens up , and the world is not the same when you look back.

Something of the same nature happened to me when last week, I stumbled upon a YouTube video about Lena Dunham.

Dunham is a media personality who wrote and directed an American tv show Girls, which airs on HBO, wrote a controversial memoir and talks a lot about feminism.

I had heard her name before but I never really knew who she was and I won’t be watching her show either. The video basically discussed an interview Dunham gave to friend and fellow tv personality Schumer, where she talked about attending the Met Gala where she was seated next  to Odell Beckham  Jr. The outrageous thing about the whole thing was how this woman invented a whole conversation in her own mind about what this young athlete was thinking about her , and she never even talked to him.

The following is what she stated in her interview.

“It was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards,” she said. “He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean — he just seemed confused.”

“The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to f**k it? Is it wearing a … yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, ‘This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.’”

This interview soon blew up on mainstream media and strangely people were actually supporting her until the African-American community and Twitter came to the rescue and schooled her about how is not good behavior. And this may seem bad enough from just face value, as someone who is not American , or who does not keeps up with entertainment news,  because you do not use names like this to embarrass someone, especially if you are public figure . Second is not this notion of wanting to be objectified sexually something that modern feminists are fighting to change or destroy, because the major goal for feminism in our time is to fight sexism. Plus from what I read she was wearing a tuxedo, which I suppose is a new way of stating that I am more than the dress I am wearing, but still none of this is an excuse for throwing a man under the bus like this. It does nothing but expose someone’s true colors.

But beyond just the basic story of a women picking on someone , many years younger than her, who I repeat did not say a word to her ; what I stumbled on to was the truth of white feminism and a lesson in the exploitation of Black minorities in the States .

I used to think feminism included all women and I think by nature we tend to over look the flaws of what we stand for and not really go that deep into the matter. I am not saying Feminism is wrong, but I am saying is that it different for women from different backgrounds, and they often exclude women who do not fill the bill out of their narratives, besides just because someone follows a cause we believe in it does not mean that is all they are and that they do not have a dark side which you may not have noticed before because they were never crossed your mind.

White Feminism seems to be this new breed of complaining about things that only include a small amount of women, because whatever all these movie stars seem to be struggling for does not involve women of color from their own country. They speak up about popular topics that put them in the spotlight while other issues never go by them, which  is not really wrong in any way , but this whole thing is filled with racism, entitlement , white privilege and the idea that being rude and obnoxious is okay if you’re a woman.

This was a hard pill to swallow for me because American media always comes of as freedom, justice ,love , equality etc etc , so why would this not be addressed earlier, but then I realized this is exactly how they treat us , Muslim countries. I should never have been surprised because it was always there in front of my eyes – I just never saw it.

The Racism issue came forward again when I learned that her show does not feature any Black or Brown , in New York , of all places. Which is one of the most diverse places in the world and she responded to this by saying that Black people did not exist in her world. Minorities and immigrants are common sight and hard-working citizens in America but they still can’t even be in the background of a tv show. Friends is also a very popular series which people have pointed out for not having enough diversity but the main thing is that in this alternate reality of white consciousness  the rest of the world and its problems and issues do not exist . It’s not just Lena it’s a whole system which includes the media, education, news and general thoughts.

So it’s surprising that Odell Beckham Jr suddenly come into existence, and he made a mistake by  doing that. It’s odd how generally these leading feminist figures talk about men not being entitled to a girls time or love, just because they want it, which I agree with , but then this system works the other way to. He did not owe Lena anything , he didn’t even say anything to her that can seen as offensive , he was minding his own business , not annoying or objectifying Lena and checking his own, not to mention he had a date that evening.

If by any chance he did flirt with Lena, it would have turned into him being some sort of sex offender who has no respect for women, and who knows, It’s not that hard to imagine seeing how much this situation blew the internet up. This woman felt entitled to a strangers time and attention and she already has a boyfriend. And even if she felt attracted towards him, I still find it silly how she had to put him on blast like that, insisting that all he could think about was sleeping with her , and thinking that she was a marshmallow a baby and dog . She looks like a regular girl and regular girls don’t like puppy dog soft candies.

This is where things get terrifying because this whole thing falls on a terrible face of history, the lynching of Black men. Slaves that were brought into America and slavery were given nothing and forced to do everything for their masters and even after slavery was abolished they were treated just the same . Apparently they were still being owned by the people who practically molested their culture and treated like animals. Lynching was a common act of violence which was pulled under the rug but one case that shook America was the lynching of Emmet Till.

Emmet Till was a fourteen year old boy, visiting his uncle and cousins in Mississippi where one day he made the terrible mistake of whistling at white women at a store. In a few days her husband and brother-in-law of that woman, Roy and J.W Milam , kidnapped Emmet , mutilated him , shot him and through him into the river, where his body was found in the river. All this because he may have flirted with white women, a teenager killed by two adult men  who till their deaths saw nothing wrong with what they did.

This is why the people are outraged. Black men in this society are either sexual objects or dangerous thugs who cannot be trusted no matter what the story or situation while white people are innocent, honest and incapable of lying. It’s a system that has done nothing but cover up injustice. These people felt like they could do whatever they wanted and did and never realized what they had done to a boy a family and an entire country.

Police brutality is still alive but this has been a year that for a lot of people , at least in the entertainment world , the veil has been lifted , first back in July when Taylor Swift got caught for lying and character assassination and this month with Lena Dunham . Maybe the masses will wake and learn to see through these patterns of oppression and perhaps the greatest irony within all of the this that the lady involved in the Emmet Till case is now Carolyn Donham .

 

 

 

EITHER KHWAJA OR KHUSRA: Cases of injustice against Pakistan’s Third sex Individuals Collectively ( project)

Hi everyone , 

sorry for being a little inconsistent with my blog and posts, but ive been really really busy. I just through with my exams and now I have fifty weddings to attend. But I promise to be writing more because I do appreciate you guys for readin,following and liking my stuff.

P.S I might have to start a youtube channel soon.

 

 

 

Transgender people in Pakistan have an odd and difficult life, mostly because in the mind of society they are not a threat or a foreign entity. They are also people made by God and therefore must not be offended, in fact special  care must be taken not to offend them . Transgender people were in the council of the Prophet(pbuh) , of Mughal kings and they were once in charge of taking care of the Holy kabah.

In the same society a transgender child might be seen as a punishment from God due to the sins of the parents. They when, borne are thrown away or given directly into a Hijra, never to know their real parents. They are subjugated to harassment, objectification, violation, discrimination and not given jobs; because they are who they are. This is a community of people striped of certain rights and left out of public spaces, which cannot be workers, but can be dancers and singers at weddings. They may also find employment as prostitutes.

So, despite there being a side of our society that believes in the protection of its citizens, there is harm direct and indirect, which is directed towards the transgender community, in both villages and big. They may have it better in large cities but hate crime towards them are still prevalent. Yet against all odds these people have bitten the bullet and stood up for themselves.

In this essay, we will look at a few incidents through which the bigger picture can be analyzed.

 

Pakistan’s First Transgender Model

In recent good news Pakistani magazines and social media featured photos of Kami Sid. Kami is young activist who stunned Pakistani viewers with pictures in traditional clothes with large stunning eyes. This is someone who not only models but also talks about the problems faced by the community.

Is this important and is rather frightening because Kami is the first one ever. What is means is that there is a lack of representation for her people, that the fashion industry is run by men who put up an act to sound more feminine to attract more women, to buy their clothes, and oddly enough get men to try more lady like dresses could only recently feature a transgender individual. And Kami was not even involved with any big names for the photo shoot, this was a small-scale matter that in happened to get attention. But it does open up discussion about the abuse , both physical and cultural transgender people face in Pakistan. They don’t find safe spaces to express themselves or to blind in with other people. When they find employment it is often through charitable intentions and schemes targeting their community.

While normal society will think twice before hiring them or letting them in their own areas, which has over centuries led them to live in an exile in their own community. This is normally because are different from regular males and females who have boundaries, which is important for patriarchal societies, and when the actions or gestures of man and women mix, it is seen as dirty or derogatory for men.

But it is a special shame for the supposed fashion industry, because they make their money off of transgender people. Fashion designers themselves take on softer voices and lady like gestures, which may be westernized but it is an added insult that the people who actually live that life make no money out of it. A good example would be Begum Nawazish Ali, who appropriated and often degraded transgender people on his show, never raising awareness for them or talking about them. He instead made their daily life into a costume to laugh about , while the real people in need to attention got nothing.

The same is the case with Transgender people in America. The LGBT community in America seems to have representatives in office who are only homosexual men, they do not have lesbian speakers or transgender representatives in their immediate parties or narratives .

 

The leaked Video of Ten Men beating Transgender women at Home

A video recently surfaced online of a man pinning a Trans woman to a bed head first and started beating her with his belt. Upon further investigation the victims told the media that the people in that house were beaten, violated and made to drink urine.

The aggressive men have so far been put in jail and the people have shown disgust and anger towards them, but this is only some of the harassment that trans people undergo in our society.

They are under constant harassment from men coming from all walks of life, and often that sexual harassment leads to a much more aggressive hate crime that may often lead to death. The transgender community is filled with untreated trauma and psychological problems , and a major reason they are attacked by men is because, that they are weak and bullied by a majority .Another deep-seated reason is that if a man develops feelings for them he may be seen as gay and that may lead him to act out and kill the innocent victim because their existence bothers their reality .

There is also this notion that Transgender people are more promiscuous or flirts compared to others. This can be viewed as a state of cognitive dissonance from society towards a section of people that they themselves sexualized and limit. Men often behave disrespectful towards them, by flirting or beating and it’s bad enough that we only recently had laws passed promising protection for transgender people. But it shows is that society like it does to women is unable to put the aggressors men who are at fault accountable for their sins. It is easier to take this community and call them immoral and hyper sexual then to actually see that only job we let them have is that of a prostitute. It is hypocrisy that we expect women to perform pardah, but call upon Tran’s men and women to dance for men at weddings.

The Transgender community like women need to reclaim their bodies and find protection from people looking to sexually dominate them .

From being gunned down to having a Seat

Last year one prominent activist for Transgender issues was gunned down in Peshawar and when she was brought into the hospital the doctors refused to treat her or even attempt to save her life.

People often wonder why a marginalized people do not stand up or talk about their problems more, the answer from this case is obvious. It is perhaps better to alive, invisible and slightly uncomfortable then to speak up and be shot down by your fellow country men .

Alisha was a sad wake up call for many, when they brought her body to the ward the doctors laughed and would not operate and asked if she was a dancer. These are all demeaning behaviors; it just shows that this community is not respected especially by men.

Respect is given to those with power and position, and until Trans people find a place of power for them these aggressions will not stop, because a doctor who refuses to aid patients should not be in service. But in order for them to be safe there must be someone from them in an office not in the streets, to stand up and protect them.

But things are looking better because now they can run for office and with elections nearby, Fakir is a trans man looking for a place in public office and he seems eager and waiting to speak up .

 

Micro Aggressions

The Express Tribune recently published an article stating that trans people were banned from Saudi Arabia, but it later came out that the news was false. This can be bad journalism but also a case of micro aggressions which hurts people and psychologically torments them. It is just as bad as being picked on or beat up , and to have ones faith used to hurt them is another low and it only stands out in  number of incidents where trans people were made to less important, or not important enough . Adds and tv shows only show them in stereotypes , they are always dancing and smiling , and incapable of feeling pain and if they do the crowd does not see it .

 

To conclude the battle of trans people is a battle similar to a nation beat down by an oppressor but this oppressor is one too many and always there. It is their life and everywhere they go , they find no escape .

 

Freedom: Independence from around the World

This is just a simple little article that I wote back in August but it did not get published where I wanted it to be, so I am posting it here now. I wrote this to just give a basic outline of how these countries got freedom, which is a long sturggle and involves a lot of sacrafice and dedication , so I could not write in great detail over here.I also was not able to include other countries who fought for their independance , but I respect them just as much and respect them. And if I wrote something that could cause misinformation or is incorrect , please do tell me .

Also if you are a history student do not only consult this article for your exams , you will have to study much more and in greater details to get a good grade and actually learn and appreciate the history of these countries.

 

 

 

 

On the 14^th of August Pakistani comes to the streets, parks, shops, and celebrate to show their patriotism and love for the country, on its day of official Independence.After years and years of strggle .

We see our green flags,acknowledge the sacrifices our ancestors and soldiers made and listen the songs of courage and love that have raised us, and become a part of who we are .

In a world where we understand the importance of freedom and respect all life, it is strange to look at the world of past days when countries were under corrupt and unjust rule.Where citizens had no say in the government and very little safety for their lives, being unable to call their country their own.

We know our story. We have heard it all our lives, it is never to be forgotten.But what of the struggle of other nations, who like us had to stand up against tyrants and cruelty to save themselves.

Why not look at some examples of Freedom from around the World on Pakistan’s special day .

 

The United States of America

A country, once colonial settlement, known for crying freedom. This tale takes place from between 1775 to 1783, it involves the American settlers, the British and French .

It started of with the settlers refusing to buy tax stamps, and wanting less British control over their lives. Events took a drastic turn after the Boston Massacre , and the 13 colonial states were pushed into frequent battles against the British .

But eventually when the fight came to Yorktown, the Americans and French were able to defeat the British and German forces.  Many of Americas great heroes played an active role during this period like George Washington,Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, all men who stood up for what they believed in and knew in their hearts that all men are equal and deserve freedom.

 

China

The Chinese people had a long battle to fight for their rights and freedoms after they  were initially colonized by the British. course there was a constant struggle within the country and China had in many ways give up some old views to up catch with the world, but the major struggle took place after world war two.

It was the Chinese Communist Party ,led by future Chinese leader,Mao Ze Dong,and the Nationalist Party ,which was being supported by the American government. But the Communist party proved to be more popular with the public,due to their hard work and dedication towards the people. The Nationalist party on the other hand had a history of corruption like other regimes in the area which the American government was supporting during those years.

China gained its Independence as the Republic of China in 1949 , and it wasn’t until the 70’s the western world fully accepted them.

Look at where they are now.

South Africa

This is a land which has seen years upon years of injustice and its people have suffered terribly as slaves and as activists trying to take back what was theirs. It has been invaded since the early 1600s, and it was not until 1994 that change and grace met the Africans of South Africa.

During the time of Imperialism, the Europeans had a slave trade system in the land and they often would fight over who had the biggest hand in the area, and later when gold and minerals were struck, it only got worse and the locals made very little profit.

South Africans were not allowed in the areas and schools where White immigrants were stationed and when the revolt did begin in the 1950s and so on , it was these laws they tried to break.

Internal unrest which lead to heavy police involvement , racial debates , violence, and terror shock the world, but the South Africans despite everything stood up for themselves , and after 1994, they  won.

Rest in Peace  Sir Nelson Mandela .

Italy

Europe wasn’t always the peaceful and pristine Europe it is today. Countries like Italy and Germany were not single countries,  but a bunch of provinces who shared a language and culture.

Italy was like that, and their independence is linked directly with its unification and the unification of Germany.

During the 1800s there were two super powers in Europe, France and Austria,and they both experienced a tight control over the Italian states. But of course it’s not easy or simple for people to under a foreign controller, so throughout the time there were revolts against theose rulers and armies and often attempts to harm the Pope.

This was also the time when Europe had all those revolutions , which started with the French revolution.

Italians owe their sovereignty to three contrasting characters Mazzini,Garibaldi and Count Cavour . Mazzini an educated nationalist poet who dreamed of old glory and spent most of his time in exile. Garabaldi an almost romantic character similar to robin hood who was a skilled leader and charmer ( he has biscuits named after him)  and  of course  Cavour a well established and educated aristocrat who did not always belive in unification, but it just played into his hands.

It was many years of struggle for the Italian people and maybe a great part in their fortune was luck that Prussia( German province) was also on their side and that three very different somehow brought a nation together .

Germany

There is one person you need to know about here, and his name is Sir Otto Von Bismark, a slighty large nobleman with a huge appetite and great military skills who was able to play France and Austria like a puppet and beat them.

Now here we had a power struggle between two German states , Prussia and Austria and with much reform and army effort , Prussia was clearly on  the rise which bothered France and Austria.

I am not even going to explain what happened here , because it almost seems movie-like unreal , with intersepting  letters, secret meetings, being casual about the situation, mind games  etc, Bismark was able to kill two birds with almost no stones at all.

But yeah, by 1861 both Italy and Prussia gained freedom.Blood and Iron all the way.

 

Turkey

 

Turkey is a very interesting and diverse country , which Pakistan loves. And they had once been a great empire and were the center of the Muslim world prior to the world wars.

There struggle for freedom came up after they and their alley lost the second world war and were now under siege themselves. Turkey in particular was had issues with the French , Greeks and Armenia .

It was a huge fall for them , but an expected one because the Ottoman empire became known as the dying old man of Europe and they were not cordial with some important fellow Muslim countries, which put them in a weak position .

But that is whole point of  a revolution, and the right leader who can come turn things around and help the people adapt and role with the times.

And if Turkey has anyone to thank for that , it is Mustafa Kemal Pasha .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music Does

​

Music does 

Feelings fade away 

Laughter dies out 

Like candles  do 

What did you say ? 

White noise all around 

In quite towns inside big cities 

Living on an island 

Next to the sea 

The big bold bearing sea 

Nothing is as heavy as a secret that is  not mine 

But where do secrets 

After escaping the belly of a goldfish 

Leaving the city of gold

Going to the sky and staying in the clouds wasting the days and nights 

Because a train was passing by 

Why didn’t I try ? 

To get the word out or fix it

Can it be saved 

If prayer works and they say it does 

May God protect us 

And wash away the pain we built