Thanks to Mind Your Language and Jeff Dunham’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist, calling a non-Muslim an infidel is now only a joke. I’m only guessing that it used to be a serious comment when we, Muslims, were first introduced to the word ‘infidel’. I’m guessing because I haven’t been around forever.
Who really is the infidel today? The people who deny the final word of God or the people who are the defenders and the torch bearers of the Holy Prophet?
Care for a realistic comparison?
Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer were the three names that no matter how badly Pakistan performed still gave us some hope.
Butt – the stylish left-handed batsmen. We were constantly reminded of the legendary left-handed openers we’ve had in that past. All of us secretly, if not openly, hoped that Butt will go on to be the Saeed Anwar and the Aamir Sohail of the future.
Asif – the inch-perfect assassin. Early in his career, he was said to be the Glenn McGrath of Pakistan and time and again he proved his doubters hopelessly wrong. His line and length was deadly supported with a hint of movement and the world’s best batsmen were caught behind the stumps all too often.
Aamer – the rebirth of Wasim Akram. Although much smaller in physique and much younger than what I remember, but the left-hander had all the potential to be like the Sultan of Swing. The barely legal bowler carries a big smile and near-infinite amount of energy at his disposal and whether it was bumping into Clarke and Ponting or leaving batsmen bamboozled.
Of course he would’ve been involved in the state affairs and elections. I can bet, if he forms his own wing of Muslim League, all the existing Muslim Leagues will dissolve into his because no matter how big they get, they know they won’t be able to participate in an election against M.A. Jinnah.
And it’s not because Jinnah is Quaid-e-Azam but because the current lot is so incompetent that they can’t win inside their own house in a fair election. Even the pre-separation adversaries of Quaid were no match for his skills. And our current leaders will be tossed out of the picture within seconds against the likes of Gandhi, Nehru and the others.
Special Short:
Sitting at home with a friend, Omer Bashir Chaudary, talking about totally random stuff and in reply to something I said, he uttered (translated in English):
“Even if India nukes us and I’m dying, I would say ‘Up yours, you’re still going to be a vegetarian’.”
It completely made my day!
Taking inspiration from Shyema Sajjad’s article on Dawn.com, I thought I should get my words out to the meager audience I receive here. Where Sajjad restrained himself from using names, I will not. Simply because it is not the media alone who preserves the right of ‘freedom of speech’ and degrading and defacing anyone and everyone publicly.
Freedom of speech: The proper definition is ‘the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation, or both’. Every person on the planet has a right to that. You believe in something or you just want to say something, you have the right to say it out loud. Now, just like you have the right to speak freely, everyone around you has a right to his privacy and choice.
It will be quite harsh to pin-point one out of a million and put all the blame on it but there are some who should definitely not be ignored. Specially those who are presenting the story with the intention to provoke.
Most of the news sources who report half of the stories (the case with all the news channels in Pakistan at least, bar a couple) have the intent to degrade one (individual or group) involved. It may include hiding some facts, only mentioning what one did wrong and not pointing out what the other did wrong.
Works wonders when it’s done for you or for someone you favor but surely pisses you off as hell if it’s done against you or against someone you favor. But that is not fair. If it’s not okay to use a tactic against you, it’s not okay to use a tactic for you.