"Burning Peace..."

On 14th February 2014, A private channel Dunya News aired a program called “Kyoun” which was hosted by Mr.Arshad Shareef. The topic of the program was the agenda of International Secret Agencies behind funding International Non-Profit Organizations working in Pakistan. Now the topic sounds really interesting especially to those who cannot imagine that a country would give so much money just to actually help people. There were guests invited from different International NGOs, one of them being The Art of Living (AOL). I dont represent AOL but I have attended many courses of them and have worked with them for a few months also. My office was based in the peace center of The Art of Living, an amazing house in Banigala where the moment you enter you get calm and relaxed. You can hear beautiful sound of wind chimes, a gorgeous lake to view and everyone extremely nice to you.  It is open to all, with programs promoting good mental and physical health. The inclusiveness extends to create a blossoming of consciousness,well-being and good health through simple breathing techniques, yoga and positive thinking. They also encourage people to take responsibility for society and get involved in serving those in need. AOL has played an active role during the 2005 earthquake and many other community projects.

Coming back to the TV show, Anchor showed some pictures of people doing yoga and he passed some harsh comments on them and sounded very angry especially on a picture in which a number of AOL members were in a yoga position called “child pose”. Child pose looks like the picture below as I couldn’t find the picture the anchor displayed. This is a simple relaxation position in yoga as they say it’s a child’s resting position. I wonder why he was so angry about this position.

While showing a picture of AOL representative with the founder of Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The anchor asked another very famous guest Mr. Ansar Abbasi invited on the show, if the smiles that Sri Sri brings on people’s faces weren't a threat to our national security and if RAW was behind it. Sri Sri is an enlightened person who has established AOL centers in more than 150 countries and has millions of members all over the world. He aims to spread peace in the world and has designed all the courses of Art of Living himself. He was also nominated for Nobel Peace Award.

I wonder when, SMILING became a threat to a country’s national security. It’s possible that some secret agencies might be funding NGOs for their own interest but it would be a speculation not a fact until there is any evidence.

Knowing the increasing amount of radicalization and terrorism, knowing the effects of such accusations resulting in destroying families, the anchor gave these opinions without any evidence. 

From what my understanding about Art of Living Foundation is, they don’t take funds from any organization. They have a fee for yoga and breathing courses and that fee is used for community service projects. Most of their employees are volunteers while those who are paid are from the teacher’s own pocket.  Art of living has 8000 members in Pakistan including people in veils, hijabs, T-shirts,burqas, beards, clean shaved etc.

 

On 8^th March,2014 a group of eight people entered the Art of Living Center, tied the only two guards that were present in the center, took their mobiles and hit them on their heads. The innocent, hardworking Pashtoon guards who have enough problems in life already were traumatized. Those 8 men put three rooms on fire and had put fuel on another room when the neighbors saw the fire and ran towards their favorite neighbor’s house. Luckily those 8 cowards quickly left the centre in their cars, one being white corolla as seen by one of the neighbors. I hope that the culprits are found and arrested for this heinous crime.

This center is owned by Ms. Shahnaz Minallah, a beautiful spirit who has given ten years of her life to this place making it more beautiful day by day. Her bedroom was burnt to ashes. 

Fortunately, she lives in simplicity so her bedroom didn’t have a bed or a table or a nice lamp but just a pillow, some paintings and lots of books. She sleeps on the floor. Shahnaz Minallah comes from a long line of Sufi Saints from the “KakaKhel” tribe resulting in her, having a deep spiritual nature.

After the incident, I and many others pointed fingers at the mentioned TV show for inciting this violence through hate speech. I blamed it because i know that anybody who has met Shahnaz cannot harm her because she hasn’t hurt anyone. I blamed the show because they accused an INGO without any kind of verification, to be funded by an Indian secret agency known to everyone in Pakistan. 

My request to Mr. Arshad: Sir, I have nothing against you as I know that somewhere you definitely have humanity in your nature too. For the sake of humanity, kindly accuse someone after you have evidence against it as radicals end up burning private properties or even worse. Those two guards did not deserve to be traumatized and hit in the head. Shahnaz didn’t deserve to lose her years of efforts but the radicals don’t understand it. Same topic could be covered responsibly. You can ask as many questions as you want but as a journalist you are not supposed to give your own opinions on TV. You are free to work on your research against the Art of Living Foundation, in fact I suggest you should take one of their courses too. It helped me get rid of insomnia and also anxiety. I stopped biting my nails, many people I know quit smoking and many turning out to be really positive people. Stay Blessed J

CELEBRATING CULTURAL HERITAGE TO BUILD PEACE

“Everyone has a fundamental human right to practice the distinctive way of life of their tradition, and to share in the joys of the cultural life of their community.” This is the meaning of Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

We are in a time of increased religious, ethnic and intercultural conflict.  Unfortunately, Pakistan’s history has been completely adjusted according to how different dictators wanted it, traditions have been hijacked by religious extremists and radical mindset which came out as a result of the hate speech taught in schools mostly, musicians have been ignored, killed or transformed into clerics and people cannot openly talk about their beliefs for there can be consequences.  Our language itself has also been purposely changed. In the largest province of Pakistan, the name of the country is now written in Arabic language from Pakistan to Albakistan. So basically the integral parts of a society's identity are hardly seen anywhere. 

 Since coming back to Pakistan and taking responsibilities as a Patron in Chief to Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has surprised a number of people whether his supporters or from other parties or even those who are apolitical with his anti terrorist statements and his interaction with the people through social media, furthering the vision of constructing the foundations for peace in today’s severely affected Pakistan by terrorism.  One particularly innovative approach to peace is the Sindh Festival 2013, a manifestation of Bilawal Bhutto’s belief in the power and importance of cultural heritage in fostering mutual understanding among peoples and societies. Creative expressions have the power to open people's hearts to one another and make our shared humanity quiet obvious.  When a conflict is over and people begin to rebuild their society, the cultural heritage serves as an important link with the past and a critical element in re-establishing their identify. The Sindh Festival was a reminder to the people of Pakistan that our cultural property monument, monasteries, archives, historic sites are in a vulnerable situation.  They may be damaged or destroyed not only by accident but by direct targeting.

Being an attendant of the Sindh Festival from Islamabad, belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, I admit that I knew very less about Sindh until the festival and I have started following the news of that area more closely being happy for their success and feeling pain of them as my own. It is something to take pride in that the festival got a worldwide interest. If you have friends living in another country, you will never want to support the idea of going to war with them. People-to-people ties can act as a brake at a time when political tensions build up. Cultural exchange of this sort also counteracts cultural and national prejudices, creating the awareness that no one culture is superior or inferior to another.

Looking at a number of Sindhi Ajrak printed kites in the air with joy on each person’s face on Beach Basant, listening to Mohan Bhagat’s extraordinary folk music on Sufi Night, watching a laborer winning Donkey Derby, women who had come from Sukkar, Tarparker etc selling their handmade goods in festival city with nonstop Sindhi folk music playing in the background, the enthusiasm in the youth for cricket mela, the Voice of Pakistan bus surrounded by general public being seen in different areas of Sindh, ajraks worn in a contemporary way in Fashion Festival, the movies being played in Film Festival and of course seeing Mohenjodaro full of life provided us, a boost in our self esteem and identity. It is highly appreciable that with high security risk and security guards not being able to leave the 25 year old Bilawal Bhuto for a second, he still managed to attend almost every event with the joy of the crowd Bakhtawar Bhutto. They both were interacting throughout with the general public presenting a people’s friendly party. 

Understanding and appreciation of one another's cultures help us live together and build a more inclusive society based on common civic values.  Encouraging cultural diversity can, paradoxically, help us to find the common ground for living together in the same nation.  When people are secure in their right to live their lives according to their cultural values, they are better able to enter relations of dialogue and co-operation with their fellow citizens.  All the provinces of Pakistan must have such cultural events attended by people from different areas. It is our responsibility to know and understand more of the cultures that make up Pakistan - the history, values, languages, and symbols of the people who make up this nation.

Apni Saqafat Pe Naaz Karo

Mai Bhani from Sukkar makes Parandas, does Kundi ka kaam and tokoo ka kaam with her daughters and daughter in laws. She then sells them in her own village. She got very excited when she was informed about Sindh Festival by SRSO.
"Bilawal is like my son.. His mother visited us and was every Sindhi woman's sister. We are very happy that he has given us an opportunity to participate in Sindh Festival and sell our things on a larger platform" 
Mai Bhani wants her work to be encouraged. She said her work was really appreciated in her village but in Karachi not many people had visited her yet. Her dream was to be see many girls of Karachi in Parandas. 
"Sindh Festival's team provided us with free travel, food and stall and we are showcasing our own handmade things but we want more people to come and buy things from us" 

40 year old Akbar from Tharparkar has been working on special thar work and khark since 1990 in his village..
"we were informed by ministry of culture and we prepared our kurtas and table cloths etc of khark work and Thar work specially for Sindh Festival"
Akbar also hoped for more people to appreciate his work as his family back in the village is anxiously waiting for success stories on his return.


Sindh Festival seeks to promote our colorful culture by giving opportunities to the people to showcase their work in the Qasim Park "Festival City"- Karachi. People have come from their villages expecting their products to be sold. The entry to festival city is free for all families. For the love of our rich culture, we must visit and shop from people like Mai Bhani and Akbar as it would encourage them to continue making beautiful cultural things and would keep us close to our roots as well.

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