The Eternal Lump

The recent image by Javed Dar took me back to my childhood when I attended funerals daily as my maternal home was near the Martyr’s graveyard of Eidgah. There was a day when I attended 12 funerals while we played our cricket match in the adjacent ground. Such cricket matches never reached a conclusive end. At times, we were so exhausted and emotionally drenched that we lost interest in all worldly things and sat on the boundary wall of the graveyard, waiting for the arrival of the unknown guest. 

We all have faced times when feelings started to overflow but somehow halted just below the throat. We pretended to be strong. We acted brave just because we never wished to be called the weak link of the chain that surrounded us and held us strong. We saw our elders holding the fort amidst the crackdown announcements from the masjids. I saw my grandfather standing upfront and not allowing the men in uniform to enter our house where only females were left alone while men were asked to assemble in a play-field for identification parades.

We never got tired while quenching the thirst of innumerable families who waited outside our home that was just adjacent to a security camp. They waited on the roadside, dawn to dusk, to seek the whereabouts of their wards who were picked up from the nearby localities. They mostly returned empty handed to return the next day.

Those sleepless nights when screams of boys filled the dark skies. We heard the cries escaping the walls of those killing rooms inside the camp. Those nights were scary and I hated the sight of the moon.

This image of the boy, Burhan Fayaz crying at the funeral of his friend Amir Nazir of Pulwama, prompts us about the loss, the resentment, imprisonment of soul, the outburst and the resilience. That eternal lump we all have been carrying along since decades. The legacy that we inherited and will further pass on to the next progeny.

Our baton has been our resolve. Our tears have always oiled the wheels of resilience.

We have come across two images of the same boy (Burhan Fayaz), one by Javaid Dar and the other by Waseem Andrabi. These two and many of their colleagues are our messengers. I am proud of our storytellers who are archiving our story for the times to come.

We share the same sky,

the same moon,

the same thunder.

We walk along!

~

Majid

(Illustration: An attempt with Charcoal / Javaid's image)

Art to wait....

We have mastered 

our ability to wait.. 

Yes, to keep waiting for 

nothing. 

Have seen this trait in rich practice 

back home 

where we are aware 

that they won't return. 

Searching from pillar to post,

from meadows to the quicksand,

from north to south,

tilling the soil, 

looking for the remains

but the wait is on. 

While blending 

our helplessness and agony,

days became months 

and then years, 

and then decades

but the wait is on

endless.. 

We the slaves!

We are living in times where by means of ever more effective means of mind-manipulation, the democracies are changing their own meaning. 

We live in a world where we have started depending on a system which is based on brainwashing the masses with series of propaganda. 
We have drugs that make us happy when we should be sad. We forget that there is a reason why we are sad and we need to know why that is happening to our body. 
The scariest thing is controlling our mind subliminally on the basis of data out of Internet searches, pages we go to, things that we click on. 

We just fuel their power with every product we buy. Funny that we find their product useful but don't realize they are only distractions. 

Are we loving to be their slaves forever? 

Stay strong

Such helplessness! I felt it while I was away from home in 2008 and while being caged inside my home for months in 2010. Even in the holy month, the bludgeon continued. 

Whatever is happening today in Gaza (and whatever happened there during 2012) gives me the same impuissance after watching the insensitive arrogant oppressor pushing an entire civilian population to the brink of annihilation. Such insensitivity when non-combatants are massacred with impunity is nauseating (I won't talk about the violation of so-called Humanitarian law/s). 

The hypocritical silence and inactiveness of the ones who could act against this onslaught is deplorable but it is encouraging to see countless individual voices of concern around. At least hearts are drifting in one direction. 

More strength to the brave souls of Palestine!

The bolt!

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work. - Mark Twain

Fallujah babies

As I wrote along, a swarm of words demanding justice gathered around my notebook, all expecting to be called upon. I penned down these few lines giving an idea of the extent of brutality, humanity will unleash on itself. I couldn’t muster courage to post images along as these lines were enough to pass a shiver down my spine.

These babies don’t belong to Fallujah only. Their ownership lies on us with each passing day when silence seems to be emerging as the winner.

The image of this Iraqi child with six fingers is taken from an article by Dailymail.

-

I am a cyclope

a chunk of flesh

dead before I am born.

Mother did wait for whole nine months to see my face,

her endless wait to cuddle me, 

to hold me in her warm embrace.

The first glimpse of mine ruined her world as I was dead before being born.

I couldn't even relate myself to the remotest of aliens, 

living beyond the essence of time.

I was made a scapegoat while in the womb.

They couldn't win us, couldn't defeat us, 

So, they sowed our soil with bombs

 to cultivate the progeny as scary as me.

They created me out of little ingredients of war, hatred and Depleted Uranium.

They contaminated our lifelines with their bad bombs.

Here I am as a question mark for the whole humanity that preferred silence instead of life.

-

Imagine, Line of Control

When the concertina wire weaves your nightmares,

overshadows your homes, stretches lengths.

Imagine, Line of Control.

They throwing letters wrapped in stones towards their own, across the stream,

they cannot meet.

Imagine, Line of Control.

When a son kneels down and mourns his father's demise,

watches the funeral from far across the fence.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Almost a no-man's land,

where shells fly more frequently than birds,

Imagine, Line of Control.

The contentious blood smeared line,

drawn out of fanatic egos, fulfilling greed.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Endless wait, dried up tears and blurred visions,

women waiting for their sons, brothers and husbands.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Decorated with electrified barbs, watchtowers and locked villages,

where each person is known by a mere number.

Imagine, Line of Control.

We watch each footstep on our own soil, unaware what might come beneath the next one

the soil may explode, ending our story in a whisker.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Where you hold your breath, trying to feel the breeze flowing towards you from across,

emotions touch the chasm.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Envy these birds in flight, they know no confines,

we too wish to fly to see life around.

Imagine, Line of Control.

Image details: This river in the above image, located in Tanghdar area of Indian Administered Kashmir, splits the two sides of Jammu and Kashmir. The bridge links the ghosts.

The dark age

Was doing a casual research on Africa. If you believe the corporate media, then the ongoing devastation in nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo is all just a case of ugly tribal warfare. But that is a superficial, simplistic explanation that fails to connect this terrible suffering with the immense fortunes that stand to be made from manufacturing cell phones, laptops and other high-tech gadgets. 

What is really at stake in this bloodbath is control of natural resources such as diamonds, tin, and copper, as well as cobalt - which is essential for the nuclear, chemical, aerospace, and defense industries - and coltan and niobium, which is most important for the high-tech industries. 

And, I keep on thinking!!!

A plunge between the lines

A plunge between the lines and I wonder how everything, whether good or bad, truth or lies, always fits this newspaper. 

Words flow from Gaza: Look at me

Gaza rests in my thoughts and has been beating along with my heart, just like my own Kashmir. The world must not turn away from the truth. The story has to be told. Someone has to tell the tale. Others have to listen and spread the word. It is high time we all know the sufferings due to injustice as much as we know ourselves. 

I leave you with a poem "Look at me" by Nahida - an exiled Palestinian. Every word turns you speechless and stirs up the soul. Each line has a message for us to rise and speak out.

...

Look at me

 I would love to write poetry about love,

Paint rainbows and butterflies,

Smell the scent of pink rose buds,

And dance;

Dance with the melody of jubilant bluebirds

I would love to close my eyes and see children smiling

No guns pointing at their heads

Tell them stories of lily-like fairies in far-away lands

Not of bullets shrieking.... of missiles exploding

But

How can I?

How can I?

 There is a dagger in my heart

I am hurting

Hurting

I bleed,

I cringe,

I cry

HUMANITY, WHERE ARE YOU?  

I am being slaughtered

Under your watchful eyes  

I am cold… cold…. cold

I cringe,

I cry

Humanity, where are you?

Why do you turn your face away?

Why do you keep looking the other way?

I am here

Languishing

In Gaza's alleyways

Humanity, where are you?

Look at me

See me

I am here

Sighing

In Gaza's alleyways

I cringe,

I cry

Humanity,

Enough turning the other way !

Turning a deaf ear

Turning a blind eye

While I,

and oh ! My poor children

Die

Note: The above contents were published on Set Me Free with proper permission.

About the Poetess: Nahida is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 42 years. She was forced to leave her homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war. She is a mathematician by profession. She has published two books- I Believe in Miracles, and Palestine, The True Story. You can reach Nahida at nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com

The true story

“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.” ― Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried

Egypt Uprising - It is amazing!

Wikirebels - The Documentary

A USB Stick is mightier than sword

Here is an exclusive rough-cut of first in-depth documentary on WikiLeaks and the people behind it!

From summer 2010 until now, Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network WikiLeaks and its enigmatic Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange. 

A great attempt by reporters Jesper Huor and Bosse Lindquist who have traveled to key countries where WikiLeaks operates, interviewing top members, such as Assange, Spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, as well as people like Daniel Domscheit-Berg who starting his own version - Openleaks.org after parting from Wikileaks. 

The documentary makes us think about this revolution. Where is Wikileaks heading? Stronger than ever, or broken by its opponents? Who is Assange: champion of freedom, spy or rapist? What are his objectives? What are the consequences for the internet? All this and more. Watch this awesome inspirational piece on youtube.

You can also download Wikirebels from the link through a torrent client.

Truth prevails no matter how long it takes.

The way to live

Today, I feel there is a need to elucidate a sensitive term often used worldwide - JIHAD. I believe that this particular word as such has been misinterpreted and wrongly used by most. The use is such that it has now become a global term and an icon of fear and hatred. But in fact this word is such a beauty in itself that each and every being is one way or the other associated and involved with it.

 

Jihad, an Arabic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning "struggle." Jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an Sharief and common usage as the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)" A person engaged in Jihad is called a Mujahid, the plural is Mujahideen.

According to scholar John Esposito, Jihad requires Muslims to "struggle in the way of God" or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society." Jihad is directed against Shaitan's inducements, aspects of one's own self, or against a "visible" enemy (I repeat "Visible").

The four major categories of jihad that are recognized are

• Jihad against one's self (Jihad al-Nafs),
• Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan),
• Jihad of the hand (Jihad al-yad), and
• Jihad of the sword (Jihad as-sayf).

Islamic military jurisprudence focuses on regulating the conditions and practice of Jihad as-sayf, the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law. This is where the confusion arises.

The term has accrued both violent and non-violent meanings. It can simply mean striving to live a moral and virtuous life and fighting injustice and oppression against Islam. The relative importance of these two forms of jihad is a matter of controversy.

Our beloved Prophet (S.A. - Peace be upon Him) is said to have regarded the inner struggle for faith the "Greater Jihad", prioritizing it over physical fighting in defence of the members of the global Islamic community.

In Modern Standard Arabic, Jihad is one of the correct terms for a struggle for any cause, religious or secular. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi's struggle for Indian independence is called a "Jihad" in Modern Standard Arabic; the terminology is applied to the fight for women's liberation also.

Mahabarata and Ramayana too were the perfect examples and there are a thousand lessons to learn out of them.

Jihad is the way of life. The way to live.

The man behind WikiLeaks - Julian P Assange

Seemingly out of nowhere, Julian Paul Assange, a silver-haired Australian, has emerged as the world's most important newsman. He's done so by hosting a website, WikiLeaks.org, that publishes classified military reports and other secret information.

"Since it went online, three and a half years ago, the site has published an extensive catalogue of secret material, ranging from the Standard Operating Procedures at Camp Delta, in Guantánamo Bay, and the 'Climategate' e-mails from the University of East Anglia, in England, to the contents of Sarah Palin's private Yahoo account," reported The New Yorker's Raffi Khatchadourian in the best profile of Assange to date. "The catalogue is especially remarkable because WikiLeaks is not quite an organization; it is better described as a media insurgency. It has no paid staff, no copiers, no desks, no office. Assange does not even have a home."

WikiLeaks garnered worldwide attention in April when it posted footage taken from a U.S. Apache military helicopter over Iraq in 2007. The footage showed American soldiers killing at least 18 people, including two journalists. On Sunday, in its latest disclosure, the site posted roughly 92,000 classified documents on the American war effort in Afghanistan.

Khatchadourian explains about this man and the idea behind WikiLeaks.org:

"He had come to understand the defining human struggle not as left versus right, or faith versus reason, but as individual versus institution. As a student of Kafka, Koestler, and Solzhenitsyn, he believed that truth, creativity, love, and compassion are corrupted by institutional hierarchies, and by 'patronage networks' -- one of his favorite expressions -- that contort the human spirit. He sketched out a manifesto of sorts, titled 'Conspiracy as Governance,' which sought to apply graph theory to politics. Assange wrote that illegitimate governance was by definition conspiratorial -- the product of functionaries in "collaborative secrecy, working to the detriment of a population.' He argued that, when a regime's lines of internal communication are disrupted, the information flow among conspirators must dwindle, and that, as the flow approaches zero, the conspiracy dissolves. Leaks were an instrument of information warfare."

Assange first tested his concept in 2006. Wikileaks' first post was a document allegedly signed by a Somali rebel leader calling for the assassination of Somali government officials.

In the video below he defends releasing tens of thousands of secret files about the war in Afghanistan.

Excerpts from Aolnews.com
Video: YouTube 

Freedom Flotilla

EARLY yesterday morning, Israeli commandos attacked the flotilla trying to run the blockade of Gaza and bring 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million inhabitants. At least a dozen people were killed.

In military terms this was not a big operation, but its repercussions are enormous and could be disastrous. The forces of a nation have attacked unarmed vessels on the high seas, in flagrant violation of international law. What happened yesterday was a crime.

 Photograph: Reuters

I tried to dig more to justify this stance termed as a breach of law. Lets have a look at the legality of convoy raid.

• 
  
  The UN Charter on the Law of the Sea says only if a vessel is suspected to be transporting weapons, or weapons of mass destruction, can it be boarded in international waters. Otherwise the permission of the ship's flag carrying nation must be sought.
• 
  
  The charter allows for naval blockades, but the effect of the blockade on civilians must be proportionate to the effect on the military element for the blockade to be legally enforceable.
• 
  
  A ship trying to breach a blockade can be boarded and force may be used to stop it as long as it is "necessary and proportionate".
• 
  
  The Israeli Defense Forces say soldiers acted in self-defence.
• 
  
  An investigation, either by the UN or by the ship's flag-carrier Turkey, is required to find if the use of force was proportionate to a claim of self defence.

What does this attack mean for the peace process? And what has the Israeli public's response been to the international criticism? Let us see what is in store in the coming days..

Bush Speaks on Victory!!

Hey!! Do you remember these lines ???

Rapper Bush:

Yoo!!
"We will Bring it On, I say

we will surge and we will splurge, till they are done

we will strut and we will fret, for it's the American way

we will sing songs of the Homeland –– till they are gone

we will prey on our prey till it's done –– what fun

we will huff and we will puff till it's all broken

we will blow the evil doers till kingdom come

.

I have spoken."