We are the proud heirs of exuberant and exquisite cultural traditions. Our customs and norms distribute the glittering pollen of their diversity all over the country. We are the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. A Land of where the Muslim population makes up a striking 95%. We are a nation that values and protects its religious beliefs; but are we rooting for the same thing ? is our culture and religion one in the same or simply allotropes of our beliefs. Imagine two different celestial bodies orbiting the same star in the same direction but different axis. This might be a sensitive topic but a point we must all agree upon is that regarding specific areas there is a sharp contrast between culture and religion. Dancing is prohibited in Islam yet it is a prominent and praised aspect of our culture. We have these stories of 'Sohni Maheval' 'Sassi punno' tales that portray young beauties sneaking out under the protective blanket of the night sky to unite with their forbidden loves, such a concept is unacceptable in religion. I am not taking a side or attempting to commence a culture religion war but merely stating the facts, as they are. A girl in a western attire might spark controversy, yet if her dress satisfies the Islamic dress code then there is nothing wrong with that . A widow getting married at 40 will bear the snares and stares of society even though our prophet’s first wife was a widow. It is simply preposterous to choose your partner from a cultural point of view; it is a basic right in religion. Our culture forbids us to meet the person we are yet to tie the knot with, on the other hand this is recommended in religion, provided certain conditions are fulfilled. It is mandatory to give away the bride ,adorned in the customary red apparel accompanied with a pair of buffaloes, a silver mirror, and an eye catching gold necklace and yet ironically the most blessed wedding is the one with the least expenses. I’m not suggesting that we should give up on culture but as sensible individuals we should evaluate what to hold on to and what to let go. May the Beauty of what is true identify us. May our ability to select the right path define us for eternity. by Rubace Fatima
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It was a long distance relationship, was too much too handle, a one sided thing, a fling, incompatible, there were insecurities, things didn’t work out and it was better to end it. We’ve all been there and that's why; something we all should, and must be aware of, is that 'It's okay'. It's okay to be sad,to be in betrayal, to feel down, to have second thoughts, to cry. You are a human and you deserve to ventilate your emotions. But what’s even more okay is knowing when to finally let go, to find your inner peace and learn to move on. To put the grim past aside and focus on the promising future, a future that is all about your happiness and your satisfaction. We’ve all experienced setbacks in relationships where we feel that getting back on track is an unattainable goal but let me tell you one thing; It is your decision to make it or break it, to get back on your feet and turn the ship’s wheel the way you want. To take charge of your life decisions. To be the captain, because you know this is not the end. You know the stars shine all the time, When the sun comes their light gets meeked; but what do they do, they keep shining. You are a star and you will have your time to ignite. Go to the spa, get your nails done, have a day off, have basketball lessons, learn french, take a trip and eat some well-deserved ice cream. You should improvise and find the path to self recognition and self improvement. Realize the fact that you deserve to be in a place where you are respected, protected, appreciated and most importantly valued. Engage yourself in something that matters to you, broaden your horizon. Truly and honestly believe that you deserve the very best in every way. Find your talents, work on your weak spots, discover the master piece that is you. Because you are original and anyone would be lucky to have you. Remind yourself that you are your first and foremost priority. And as hard as it sounds, bury the hatchet, burn those grudges, release the pain, let the shadows go and set yourself free. Its okay if you need time to process your thoughts but at a certain point unload yourself from the burden. Learn from your setbacks and once you’ve done that let bygones be bygones. Cross the finish line, conquer the summit, reach the point where you’re proudly able to declare that moving on was the best thing that had ever happened to you. by Rubace FatimAGuess what? There are some people who just can't handle stuff. Some, as individuals, fail to handle fame just like Kurt Cobain. After his almost-rejected song by his teammates "Smells Like Teen Spirit" got an unexpectedly massive and magnanimous popularity. He was unable to handle that huge amount of public stardom and that left him with a shotgun hole through his head reducing his brain to splinters. He was one of those revolutionaries who was bound to change the music industry forever but the inability got him. Unfortunately...! Same goes with a lot of lottery-winners who make headlines one day and are seen bankrupt the other day because of their inability to handle the life-changing sum of cash causing them to end up gambling it all away or buying stuff they can't maintain afterwards. The inability to handle stuff doesn't only run in individuals. Sometimes, a whole community is blinded by the haze of inferiority making them unable to administer things which could break their monotony or make them feel awesome in one way or another. They just can't take it. It seems like they have not only accepted their fate rather they've compelled and compulsated above themselves that they are made to be rejected. They can never be included in the list of people whom the world thinks as good and if any good comes to them, it's a mistake they say. "I'll be the last person in the world to be knighted", they utter. "Good is for the good people, I'm not included in those good ones. If someone says I'm great, he's telling a lie you know. Really a very big big lie." Apparently this is what's happening in Pakistan and I'm going to enlighten you people why in the upcoming paragraphs. Coming to the ever-controversial and highly doubted case of Malala, the above mentioned mentality is, though not the only reason but it's one of the major reasons she's hated beyond contempt in Pakistan. Furthermore firstly, I'm going to resonate the reason which, in my opinion, has led to this belief and then I'll answer a few allegations which, our quite well-educated and ignorant alike share against her. The Inferiority complex: Move back 3 years and recall the situation of Pakistan. Civil war against the militants was raging. Suicide attacks had become a matter of routine. The preparation of General elections was underway causing the political scenario to take a dip of bashing, allegations and exploitation of the opposition while promises of a better-than-current future were being made to the public. The terrorism was at its peak, dollar was rising, tourism was dwindling, instability was increasing while relations with India were getting tenser. In nutshell, Pakistan's image was becoming more and more negative in the eyes of International media. Not a single positive thing extracted out from Pakistan internationally. Amidst of all this chaos, a female right activist got shot in the head because of raising awareness about female education in Pakistan (woah! quite a bad thing to do right?) and was flown abroad to save her life because such complex surgical methods to save her life were not available in Pakistan at that time. Her activism got international attention and not her name only but the name of Pakistan was honored across the globe. She, a daughter of Pakistan, was acclaimed as one of the strongest teenagers of Pakistan and was given a Nobel Prize 3 years later. Seeing all this, a lot of Pakistanis, because of their inferior mentalities got into a fix. Seeing and hearing negativity about Pakistan blew their mind to such an extent that they refused to acknowledge and started questioning any type of positivity that they came across. They were like,"It can't happen because it hasn't happened in the past." Holding on to their convention, I heard a few statements like this too. "It just doesn't look right, Pakistan doesn't fit overall in all this positivity hype." Because of so much portrayal of negativity related to Pakistan, even a slight fragment of positivity seemed out of question. And to relieve themselves of all the thinking of positivity and seeing the difficulties of accustoming themselves to the 180 degrees turn of the media in favor of Pakistan, they accused a 16 years old girl of their own country of being a secret agent or a foreign element just because the rise of a teenager from a conservative background to global fame was too much to digest. In my opinion, this reason is totally ridiculous and out-of-the-world. Answer to your allegations: 1.She's a hustler or a harlot: Seriously? So according to your dictionary, a person who advocates female rights to education and prosperity and gets shot in the head in the process is a tramp right? I want you to read this carefully. Whatever she is, she is still the daughter of Pakistan and that makes her as much your sister as her brother's. Islam teaches us fraternity and equality. Tell me, will you allow an American or a French call a Muslim Pakistani girl by this name? So if you can't bear an outsider abusing her then why do you yourself abuse her and take herself as granted? 2. Abdus Sattar Eidi deserved the Nobel Peace Prize more than her: This is, by far, the most discussed allegation. We all believe and agree that Sir Abdus Sattar Eidi deserves this prestigious Nobel Prize more than anyone else but before clarifying the allegation I want to quote Sir Alfred Nobel's will. It is to be noted that Nobel Prizes are awarded every year by strictly following Sir Alfred's will stated below "The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way:........and one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." The above mentioned makes it clear. Sir Abdus Sattar Eidi is no doubt one of the greatest humanitarian ever recorded in history but his category of humanitarian work differs from the one stated above. No doubt he owns the biggest ambulance service in the World and is running countless free hospitals, schools and orphanages but his work is not of the type which fits into the context of "fraternity between nations" or "the holding and promotion of peace congresses." Malala, on the other hand successfully fulfills the above mentioned criteria as her blog reached out to the first-world nations and raised international awareness and outcry to restore female educational rights around the globe. After the failed attempt of her assassination, many nations who, at first, had turned their backs to Pakistan now started offering their full supports. Malala Fund was created which not only benefited Pakistani girls but also started working in under-developed nations like Nigeria, Kenya and Jordan. Global image of Pakistan started to change. President Obama, David Cameron, Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis and thousands of others supported Pakistan in reviving the right to education. Thus she became a symbol of women rights not only in Pakistan or Asia but in the whole World. In doing so, on one hand, she ignited a mass revolution in favor of female rights which encouraged the women from all around the world to stand up for their right to education and on the other hand, she delivered a clear message to terrorists that every single woman in the world has right to education and no matter how much they try, they will never ever be able to stop this revolution. Against terrorism and in favor of female rights, she united the whole world under a single flag. Thus she absolutely, comprehensively and unconditionally fulfilled the criteria of "fraternity between nations" and "for the holding and promotion of peace conferences." 3. She is a Foreign secret agent implanted to collect sensitive data: Oh, that one struck me like a brick. Okay, for the record, let's accept that the statement above is true. Now tell me, which sensitive content she could've possibly compromised? Which secret files or documents are so vulnerable that they're easily accessible by a girl of sixteen sitting in her family home in Swat? Is Pakistani Intelligence such underdeveloped and unaware that a teenager is compromising their security and they remain unaware? If this is the reason then I'll blame the security agencies more than I'll blame her. They should revise their security measures to stop her from stealing their data. It just seems completely out of question. So people, she's neither a foreign agent nor an international spy. You need not to worry about this thing. 4. She didn't deserve that: To some extent, this allegation seems legit too but the question arises,"did she ask for it?" The answer is "no". Even if she didn't deserve the Nobel, does it weigh enough to pin her alongside all the above statements? Is not deserving something and still getting it a grave sin? I don't think so. Throughout history, there are examples of millions of people getting ridiculously rich and gaining massive amounts of benefits and power which they never deserved using devilish and corrupt ways and still they're revered and respected. But look a her, she got a Nobel Prize not because she asked for it rather she was chosen. Chosen among hundreds of potential candidates which included Edward Snowden, Pope Francis as well as Vladimir Putin. So she definitely deserved it more than anyone because of her political-free mindset and sincerity to her cause. Why Should We Love Malala: 1. She has honored Pakistan by being the youngest recipient of Nobel Prize in the World. 2. She has been promoting girl's education since she was 11 which is quite remarkable considering the conservative and parochial society in which she was born. 3. She was only 15 years old when she was shot by Taliban. Her innocence and sincerity were the weapons which led her to become the leading advocate of female rights. 4. On her 16th Birthday, she had the honor of representing Pakistan in the United Nations by delivering a speech on "The right of Education of every child". 5. She is one of the youngest persons to publish her own memoir. Her book "I am Malala" became the number 1 seller on Amazon. Bottomline: Merely bashing and abusing a teenage girl of your own country without any solid reason is something not accepted in a modern and logical world of today. Time is changing fast and the World is progressing by leaps and bounds and we are still debating whether Malala is a positive or a negative figure. If, instead of wasting time on destructive criticism, we, considering our duty as a Pakistani, support her in her fight to end gender gap and establishment of female empowerment, not only will Pakistan benefit from the international focus rather the whole world will become united against terrorism and its impacts on women rights. |
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December 2015
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