On Hyabusa 2, Bepi Colombo and the Parker Solar Probe
Category: Blog
The Case of Jamal Khashgoggi
Saudi Arabia has been a repressive country with a regime that has oppressed almost everyone living there, other than rich men. The ruling monarchy has had to do this to ensure its survival. The country has been responsible for spreading its own brand of militant Islam all over the world. It has been able to do so because of the petro-dollars it has distributed in the countries where it sends its religion and funds terrorists.
It also buys weapons from the west and is an ally against Iran, the boogieman of the Middle East for western countries. The extent of human rights abuse in Iran are no less draconian. Both countries seem to vie with each other for a reputation in barbarity. However, while Iran is often castigated for its abuses, Saudi Arabia hardly is.
The new rock star de-facto ruler of the country, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman has been hailed as a reformer. Why? Because he opened some cinemas and allowed women to drive. What everyone has failed to acknowledge is that he is equally oppressive and seems to behave more like a psychopath, who is doing everything to shore up his reign; reminiscent of medieval European monarchs.
He has systematically tried to neutralize any opposition, whether it is by arresting other princes and political rivals, stamping down people from other Islamic sects, imprisoning women’s rights campaigners, or by ensuring that any criticism of the country and his regime is completely silenced. This has all been done to consolidate his power rather than for any desire for reform.
The world — especially the western world — knows this and watches on, making desultory objections once in a while and bringing up Iran when things get a little more dicey.
This is exactly what has happened these last two weeks. Jamal Khashgoggi went into the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey on October 2, 2018 and never came out. It is being said that he was murdered inside the embassy.
None of the influential government leaders such as those of UK, and USA, said much. It was the media that took up the issue and now finally these governments are waking up. But even now the trade in arms and the so called support against Islamist terrorists means that basically a way out is being given to the country. A man was murdered by the regime of a country that has a despicable human rights record and which has effectively destroyed Yemen, but all that has been discussed is how to give it a light rap on the knuckles (if that) and continue to keep a relationship going.
What will probably happen is that the whole thing will blow over soon. We all know that. But that does not mean that the world cannot raise its voice against such blatant disregard for human life.
The most fascinating thing that apologists bring up when something is criticized is “whataboutery”. What about Iran, what about China, what about Turkey itself? Yes, their records are horrific and they too must be brought to task.
However, at the moment Saudi Arabia has done something that no reasonable human being and government should allow to be pushed under the collective global carpet. A man was murdered by a ruling regime inside its own embassy; this must not be taken lightly. This is not a small matter. If this is what Mohammad Bin Salman can do when he is the Crown Prince and thumb his nose at the world, imagine what he can do when he is King.
BLASPHEMY: PAKISTAN’S CURSE
India’s British rulers first codified offences against religion in 1860, which were then expanded in 1927. When Pakistan become a separate country, it inherited these laws; and decided to keep them. In the 1980s, Zia ul Haq added more clauses to this ridiculous and frankly unnecessary law.
Over the years, this law been used to put people in jail (Aasia Bibi has now been acquitted by a Pakistani court after being in jail for over seven years, with a death sentence hanging over her head). The mere concept of blasphemy has been used to murder people (Salman Taseer, who was trying to help Aasia Bibi, was murdered by his own security guard), settle personal scores (Mashal Khan was murdered by a group of people because he was speaking against his University’s administration), and seek revenge. General vigilante justice has become the norm. A Christian couple was burned alive in 2014 by a mob of 1200 people when they were accused of blasphemy.
In July 2018, once again blasphemy was used against Sindhi artist Qutub Rind. Qutub had rented a flat in Lahore. There was a disagreement with the landlord regarding rent and, lo and behold, blasphemy allegations were bandied about. Rind was tortured and murdered.
Since 1990, saviours of the religion have been accused of killing at least 65 people. And not a single government — military or civilian — has been able to do away with this law. Some may have tried to make tiny adjustments but had to backtrack due to the same ever-ready frenzied mobs.
Things are likely to get worse. Imran Khan, the freshly-minted prime Minister of Pakistan based his campaign on over-emphasis of creating an Islamic Welfare State, supporting blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws. Khan’s tenure has begun with the appointment of a supporter of the killer of Salman Taseer as the Information Minister of Punjab.
Pakistan continues to give succour to religious hysteria; its military is known for harbouring extremists as strategic assets and now, in their infinite wisdom, they have started mainstreaming fundamentalist organisations. The result is that these groups hold sway over large areas of the country and have tens of thousands of followers. They are able to bring these same followers out on the street at a moment’s notice and thus exert a lot of influence over the country’s political and governance spheres.
Just this past week one of the largest pro-blasphemy law parties, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), stoked religious hysteria over a forthcoming cartoon contest in the Netherlands. Mobs came out, death threats were issued and the contest has now been cancelled.
Geert Wilders, the propagator of this contest is himself a right-wing nut-job, whose sole intention was to be provocative. However, that is not the point here. The issue remains that Pakistan’s population is more and more beset with worrying about saving Islam than anything else.
In a country where almost all development indices are at the lowest levels, this incessant clarion call of Islam and blasphemy as the prime requirement of the population is distressing and does not bode well for the future.
Khan is a new to this political game; he is going to test the waters very gently. There is no expectation that he will do away with the blasphemy laws and/or make any strides towards a more liberal and free society. I predict that more freedoms will be curtailed and there will be more hysteria over Islam. And, unfortunately, there will be more Mashal Khans and Qutub Rinds.
(Published in Sedaa – Our Voices)
Legalize it
BY SAIMA BAIG
In the last few weeks or so, a fracas has unfolded in the UK media. Charlotte Caldwell, from Northern Ireland, had cannabis oil which was confiscated at Heathrow Airport, because it contains a psychoactive substance called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC – the psychoactive element in marijuana), high concentrations of which are illegal in the UK.
The reason she had the oil was that her son Billy suffers from severe epilepsy and a doctor in Northern Ireland had prescribed it for him in 2017 – the first time someone was prescribed this on the NHS.
However, the Home Office ordered the doctor to stop prescribing the medicine as it was a schedule 1 drug and thus illegal in the UK. However, lower concentrate versions of cannabis oil, which have less than 0.05% of THC are legal and widely available in the UK.
The Caldwells then went to Canada to get the drug and it was on their return that the six months’ worth of cannabis oil was confiscated.
Billy suffered two seizures and after a relentless campaign from his mother, the cannabis oil was returned to the family, subsequent to the intervention of Home Secretary Sajid Javed. This also led to Alfie Dingley being allowed the oil for similar seizures.
In March this year, there was another news item regarding a petition by the mother of another epileptic boy to legalise cannabis oil.
All of this has resulted in a flurry of activity to review legislation regarding the use of medicinal cannabis oil. But the misplaced war on drugs still casts a long shadow and it seems that there is still a long time to go for recreational marijuana to be legalised in the UK, although it is being done in other countries.
The UK’s prime minister and her team really need to look into this erroneous law and take steps to legalise medical marijuana and other cannabis products immediately. There is now increasing evidence to show that it has benefits for various medical conditions including epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Easily available, NHS-prescribed THC would mean that people would not have to go through unnecessary problems to obtain a drug to treat serious ailments and would not have to depend on dodgy sellers on the internet.
The UK also needs to get over its love affair with the archaic war on drugs and legalise marijuana for recreational use as well. Marijuana is a widely sold product and the war on drugs clearly has not done anything to decrease its use.
The law against it has only created problems for people with medical issues, who desperately need it, and the only people who actually benefit from this law are drug dealers who can ask for high prices and can sell defective products.
Legalising it would mean that it is regulated, just like tobacco and alcohol. This would result in revenue for the government in the form of taxes. The Adam Smith Institute has said that it could be worth £6.8bn to £1.05bn a year to the Treasury. It would also mean that the number of people incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes, who are costing tax payers approximately £50m per year, could drop.
All over the world, it is now being increasingly accepted that marijuana is less harmful than tobacco, that it has medicinal benefits and that the laws against it have served no purpose. Smart governments are taking control, legalising, and regulating it to make sure that it is kept away from underage users, to reduce related crimes and to make dealers ineffective. This is one bandwagon the UK needs to get on – and legalise it!
(Published in Sedaa – Our Voices and Triggerfish Writing)
PAKISTAN AND THE NEW EAST INDIA COMPANY
“In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state,” said Charles de Montesquieu.
This is certainly true for Pakistan where one particular institution, or at least its successive doyens, have played nine pins with every chief the country has had after the first decade of its existence. In the early days the army controlled the country blatantly through martial law, of which we have had plenty. It started to look as though that we had actually seen the last of them.
Our hopes seemed to have come true as we saw two successive democratically-elected governments finish their terms; Pakistan is now set to go to the polls in July. But this time, ladies and gentlemen, the control exercised by the only institution that runs the country, the only institution that demands a reverence usually reserved for the divine, may seem benign when it is anything but.
After decades of harbouring terrorists, after years of turning into the local version of the East India Company – not colonising foreign lands for resources but parasitising their own from within — and years of controlling us as rulers, the military establishment experimented with ruling behind the scenes. Becoming the king makers so to speak.
It did not work out well for them as their golden boy, the chosen messiah, the hero Imran Khan, turned out to be a moron. The establishment tried to fix the game for him by trying to destroy other political parties, but did not manage to give him that edge.
In the age of social media, dissent, which was localised before — and thus easily controlled through disappearances of critics, without anyone finding out — has become national, even international. Previously, journalists and activists could be quietly kidnapped and killed without uproar. To counter this, social media accounts were created by the hundreds, to troll voices that were deemed anti-army.
Criticism is hard to control, however, and finally the old tried and tested methods of abducting people were extended to include bloggers and social media activists. While disappearances earlier meant that your dead body would be found by the roadside, this time the abductees were tortured, told not to say who tortured them and then released. Most of them fled the country.
Now just a few weeks before the general elections, the controlling of dissent, of free speech, of human rights, and of liberty has become more pernicious. The news media was muzzled, clearly to influence the election result and some channels are engaging in self-censorship due to serious threats. Then, Gul Bukhari, an activist and journalist, was recently abducted for a few hours. She is back after a lot of clamour on social media. For someone who used to tweet relentlessly about the army’s role in all kinds of anti-democratic and fascist activities, her silence is deafening.
Through all this, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a movement by people from the tribal areas, who had been denied rights, had their loved ones abducted and were the main sufferers of the war against the Taliban, emerged as one of the biggest ones seen in recent history. The news media was banned from broadcasting their activities, so they took to social media. When their voices could not be controlled, their leaders were arrested.
All of the key freedoms are under threat in Pakistan. Human rights activists, dissenters, journalists and many others have been threatened and the crackdown is so extreme that many voices have been silenced. In the midst of it all, the ISPR (the army’s PR wing) complained about how social media accounts of bloggers, activists and journalists were criticising the state and during a recent press conference, even named them.
Here’s the thing. The army knows that it can no longer hide its fascism. Mainstream media can be silenced but it is not easy to do so with social media. People can be abducted or arrested but it won’t be under the radar anymore.
What they are doing now is simple. They still want to control Pakistan, its people and its resources. They tried to do so by pretending that freedom and democracy were important to them, while continuing to subvert them, but it did not work because information is fast and people are not stupid.
Like all bullies, they lie, and they know that we know they lie. “Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis regardless of beliefs or opinions,” said the Army Chief recently. This is a barefaced lie. Pakistan is only for those that toe the establishment’s line. They know that we the citizens are aware of their speciousness, their perfidious behaviour and their solipsism.
When they say they are not responsible for rigging elections, for social engineering, for promoting conformity and social conservatism, for not being answerable to anyone in the country, for stealing from us, they know we are not fooled anymore. They also know we are helpless to do anything about this. And this helplessness is what makes them stronger. They can now blatantly disregarding our rights and liberties and tell us to enjoy it.
“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong”, said Voltaire. He also said, “If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticise.”
Pakistan in the 21 century is now reminiscent of 18th century France and its army is reminiscent of the East India Company.
(Published in Sedaa – Our Voices)
Goodbye Cassini, You Have Done Well
(Published in Dunya Blogs)
Cassini’s mission has ended and it has plunged into Saturn but the data it has sent back has and will continue to change our perception of Saturn, its rings, its moons and the solar system for a long time.
Not Beating The Domestic Staff Doesn’t Necessarily Mean You Have Empathy For Them
Pakistan celebrated its 70 years of independence on August 14, 2017. Like elsewhere in the world, here too the day is a public holiday, so I was very surprised to see the lady who helps with my housework turn up for work. When I asked her why she had come, because I was not expecting her, she told me that the other house she works at insisted, because what holiday?
We have been hearing stories of Pakistani elite incarcerating and torturing their household help. Even a TV anchor was accused of this. Right on cue everyone showed their immense shock and disgust every time such news came up. The pandemonium raised over tales of beatings of underage workers is rightly so.
But there is another side to this. I am talking about the people who consider themselves above such things. Who claim to treat their domestic staff with consideration. My point is, they don’t. The lady who insisted that her helper lady come and clean her house when the whole country was celebrating Independence Day is probably nice. She doesn’t beat or torture her staff. But she showed a complete disregard for any humane thought when she refused to give her a day off. The Pakistani flag outside her house was pretty big though. Clearly, Independence Day celebrations are only for the elite.
I know people who do not even allow domestic staff time off on Eid. At the very least they are required to be present during the first two days of Eid and then can take a day off. I myself had to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to convince my mother that not having someone make her tea for a couple of days is not going to be the end of the world.
I happened to be a part of a conversation among some people a few weeks ago, which actually left me gobsmacked. The topic under discussion was that their domestic staff want to rest for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The people who were having the discussion – completely unaware of their privilege – were peevishly waxing eloquent on how they themselves do not rest in the afternoon but work 14 hour days, but their household help does. I heard the conversation for a bit because it was quite beyond me to relate to such complete lack of understanding and empathy. Yes, you may work hard all day and not resting in the afternoon in your air-conditioned rooms is a choice you have made – you know, to ensure that kids go to the best school, the house that you have in the posh part of town and so that you can pay those drivers and cooks and house cleaners. My brief interjection that the domestic staff are not “pampered” when they take two hours off in the afternoon was obviously not received very well.
I am unable to relate to this kind of thinking. When you put the biggest Pakistani flag you can find outside your house, when you profess to be a patriot, do you consider how you are treating the other denizens of this country? Just because you are paying them does not entitle you to begrudge them little things like staying at home during a public holiday or resting in the afternoon. And mind you, I am talking about people who would find it absolutely unacceptable that staff are beaten. Some of them – though most certainly not most – treat them well in terms of hospital visits and even giving loans. But the point is that the bar is set so low that as long as we are not mistreating our household help, we think all else is fine. As if somehow not beating them gives us the license to begrudge them rest in the afternoon or days off on public holidays. As if hospital visits and loans absolve us from all other humanity.
Most of the domestic staff in this country is paid less than the minimum wage. They hardly get to see their families because most live away from them. We need to see their lack of privilege. We need to understand it. We need to be people who help our domestic staff, not be people with no empathy.
(Published in Dunya Blogs)
40 Years Of Voyager And Other Space Shenanigans
(Published in Dunya Blogs)
Cassini will reach its end this year and Juno, the next. But the Voyagers, undoubtedly our greatest space mission, will continue their journey towards deep space. They have given us many moments of amazement. Perhaps the greatest one was when Voyager 2 turned its camera back towards the Earth to capture the entire Solar System, where Earth can be seen as a single pixel pale blue dot. Just a dot – in the entirety of the universe.
I’ve Just Become An Organ Donor. Here’s Why You Should Be One As Well
I have just become an organ donor. Because, for me, there is no better way to leave this earth and become part of stars again, than to make sure that a few people might benefit from my body.
Organ donation saves lives, and all over the world hospitals encourage people to register as donors. Pakistan has the Transplantation Society of Pakistan (part of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation SIUT) and you can become a donor in 5 minutes by filling out their online form. Within a few days, you get your donor card.
There is a shortage of human organs the world over,because of which many patients die; including in Pakistan where an estimated 50,000 people die each yeardue to end stage organ failure, according to the Transplantation Society of Pakistan. This figure includes 15,000 people with kidney failure, 10,000 with liver failure and 6,500 with heart failure. A majority of these patients can be saved if the required organs are available for transplantation. Dr Adib Rizvi, Director of SIUT, considers the figure to be much higher, at approximately 150,000 annually.
There is not a lot of information and education to foment the growth of organ donation culture in Pakistan. A Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) has been established and according to HOTA rules and regulations, government hospitals are directed to identify brain dead patients and inform HOTA accordingly. A transplantation ordinance was promulgated in 2007, which targets the illegal sale of human organs in exchange for money, a problem that was and is rampant in Pakistan. In 2016, The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was passed in the National Assembly.
However, there is no education or information raising programme that promotes voluntary organ donation from deceased persons. SIUT provides free treatments and transplants to 2 million people annually; and is working with the medical community, civil society and media to help develop a deceased organ donation culture in the country. The Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust (LRBT) also provides free corneal transplants and can be nominated for cornea donations.
Organs or tissues can be obtained from either a living or deceased person. A living person may donate a kidney or a piece of their liver in addition to blood, bone marrow, skin or bone. However, what is extremely crucial to understand is that multiple organs and tissues may be obtained from a deceased person, including kidneys, liver, pancreas, heart, lung and intestine and corneas.There is also no age limit for deceased organ donation. From a newborn baby to a 75-year person, all are eligible to become donors.
Pakistanis are also unaware that almost all Muslim countries with organ transplant facilities are performing deceased organ transplants including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Egypt, and Bangladesh among others.
One of our most important heroes – a man who dedicated his whole life to serving others – did not let death deter him from serving humanity. His last wish was for his viable organs to be donated. His corneas were thus transplanted into someone else. So, when you put up Abdul Sattar Edhi sb’s picture on your social media pages and pledge to live like him, one of the best things you can do is to make sure that you become an organ donor. Talk to your families and friends and convince them too. Your heart, liver, lungs or corneas can save a life or enable someone to see. It is better than becoming worm food. As your last living act, give the gift of life to someone else – be an organ donor.
(Published in Dunya Blogs)
IN THE NAME OF HONOUR
Qandeel Baloch was an anathema for a country like Pakistan. Coming from poverty, she rose to become independent and support herself and her family. She was an anathema because she did not care. She did not care what society thought of her and she did not care if they made fun of her. She was the bold and the beautiful. And one year ago, on July 15, 2016, she was murdered in the name of that tenuous and all important property of Pakistani men: honour.
Her brother strangled her because her videos and her clothes brought a bad name to the family. This only happened when Qandeel’s real name was revealed. Up to the time no one knew her real name; her brother was happy to live on the money she provided to the whole family.
Qandeel’s murder highlighted the blight of honour killings that has been a part of this country for a very long time. And while many women are killed for actually having “illicit” relations with someone or wanting to marry of their own choice, often male members will kill a sister, mother or wife along with a male member of a rival family to settle scores. The woman in this case is just a pawn. Sometimes, women are killed to take over their share in family property. Because honour killings are not just about men’s “honour”, they are also about money and revenge.
In 2014, it was reported that over 3,000 were victims of honour killings. In 2014 alone, over one thousand women were killed. In 2015, 1096 women, out of which 170 were minors, became victims of this heinous practice.
Almost every day, those of us who live in Pakistan hear about some woman or girl sacrificed for honour, and these are just the reported cases. The number of unreported cases probably will make this go sky high.
The perpetrators almost never get punished because due to a completely ridiculous law in Pakistan, the family of the victim can forgive the murderer; and because in these cases the murderer is always related to the victim and therefore her family, he is forgiven. The State of Pakistan has passed the Qisas and Diyat Law, which basically made murder a private matter and not a crime against society or the State. As such, the victim’s heirs were able to forgive the murderer/ criminal, thereby putting the onus of punishing the murderer on the victim’s family.
Thankfully, in October 2016, the parliament passed a bill that guarantees mandatory prison sentences of 25 years and strips families of the right to legally pardon the perpetrators of so-called “honour killings”.
“Honour” is the property of the men in our society. It is their honour that gets maligned when their other property, their women do something of their own free will. I say property of men because this is a patriarchal society and men make the rules of morality in their families, tribes or communities. But let’s be clear, many times women are equally involved; mothers or sisters will support and even encourage the men in their family to kill in the name of honour.
The onus of this horrendous word “honour” almost always lies with women. And it is not just honour killings that are used to preserve it. Pakistan (and India) also has another tradition, that of the panchayat: a village council primarily made of up illiterate old men. There is never any representation of women in this council, which makes rules and passes judgement at the village level to settles disputes between and amongst families.
An example of the panchayat’s judgement can be found recently in the case of a 12 year old girl, who was raped while cutting grass in a field. The council comprising of 40 men was convened. And what was the judgment of this esteemed body? That the 16 year old sister of the accused be raped by the brother of the victim. This crime was committed in front of the panchayat and the girl’s family! An incident of “an eye for an eye” in which the victim is always the woman.
This concept of “honour” has been a dark mark on the Indian sub-continent for centuries, and places the responsibility of its maintenance firmly on women and girls. Now with the rise of social media, such cases are being given coverage and at least some action is taken. For example the 40 people of the panchayat were arrested when the family of the 16 year old girl on whom this “revenge” was taken reported it to the newly established Violence against Women Centre (VAWC) in Punjab. How these cases are resolved is still anybody’s guess because more often than not the perpetrators are allowed to go free.
The passing of the honour killing bill and the setting up of the VAWC in Punjab are steps in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go. The rest of the provinces still have to set up centres for victims of violence and the implementation of the law is still not perfect.
More importantly though, the hardest thing to get rid of is the idea that men’s and their families’ honour is the responsibility of women. This idea is still perpetuated in society. Unless changes are brought in the mind-sets, we are going to continue to see more Qandeels being killed because men like her brother would still take the consequences rather than be the subject of ridicule in their communities. Panchayats will continue to pass horrible judgements that punish girls for the crimes committed by their brothers, fathers or husbands.
One only has to read the comments of the average Pakistani man at the bottom of news items reporting such cases, or talk to them on social media to know how entrenched this vile concept is and how they will always malign the female victim of such crimes to show that it was the right thing to do.
One can only hope that the proper implementation of laws and recourse to victims in courts will lead to the eventual end of victimizing women in the name of honour.
(Published in Sedaa – Our Voices)