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issue In
league with spot-fixing Yeh
Woh politics The
run for ransom The
film and the book
issue The death toll in
the May 25 incident of van explosion in the Gujrat district has reached 19.
Sixteen children — mostly aged between five and twelve — and one young
female teacher were burnt alive when fire erupted in the school van. The
driver ran away from the accident site. He was later apprehended in police
raid. Five days later, another
school van caught fire in the Hafizabad district. All the children were
luckily saved but the van was totally burnt. “In Gujrat, the fire
erupted in the vehicle when the driver tried to convert the vehicle from CNG
to petrol, when the children were only a few kilometers from their school.
The blaze was caused by a spark,” Dar Ali Khattak, district police officer
tells TNS. The incident, highlighted
in the local and international media, apparently has shaken the
administrative circles. Police, transport department, government and even
courts have become active about the safety measures and regulations — but
only after the incident. These are not isolated
incidents pointing to the negligence of two drivers. They expose miserable
state of affairs in a country operating without any enforcement of safety
regulations. Such an incident can happen anywhere in the country as unfit
public transport vehicles move everywhere. So far in 2013, at least 15
people were burnt alive when the CNG cylinder of a passenger van exploded in
North Waziristan. Four died in a gas-cylinder explosion in a van in the
suburbs of Larkana. In September 2011, a bus
carrying students in Faisalabad caught fire near Kallar Kahar due to which
over 30 students died. The van did not have a fitness certificate. Hundreds of school children
have lost their precious lives in the past few years in road accidents
because of drivers’ negligence or improper safety measures, such as
gas-cylinder explosions. As many as 2,000 people
died because of CNG cylinder explosions only last year, according to a media
clipping collection by Civil Society Front (CSF). The number of deaths is
increasing gradually while the government doesn’t seem serious about taking
steps to stop these incidents through laws and regulations to ensure safety
of lives. “The number of people killed in CNG cylinder explosions or fire
eruption in the vans is almost four times higher than the number of people
killed from drone strikes in 2011,” says the CSF representative Ayub Munir.
By the end of 2012, the
petroleum ministry formed a task force to propose a strategy to minimise the
chances of CNG cylinder blasts in vehicles. The final recommendations are yet
awaited. A majority of public and
private vehicles have converted to CNG because it is cheaper as compared to
petrol and diesel. The shelf life of a cylinder is five years but hardly any
transporter changes cylinder after its expiry date. It is the government’s
duty to ensure that rules and regulations are followed by public and private
transporters. It is time the government took a firm decision to save the life
and property of citizens. The transport authorities
estimate that more than 50 per cent public transport in major cities is
unfit. The legal basis of motor vehicle fitness, examination and fitness
certification exists in the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965. As per rules all
transport vehicles must carry a valid fitness certificate to ply on road,
re-issued after every six months but it is only an eye-wash. “In Lahore, we have only
two motor vehicle examiners, while in many other districts in the Punjab,
there is only one and even at some places one person is responsible for two
districts,” says Mian Mohsin Rashid, the head of the Regional Transport
Authority Lahore. It is difficult to guarantee safety with such a limited
staff but we try our best. He says they have written
to the authorities to improve the system and to make fitness certificates
more effective. “We have also written to the local authorities, many times,
to take measures to create awareness among parents and school administrations
to be vigilant regarding the pick-and-drop vans.” After the Gujrat tragedy,
200 cases were lodged in one week only in Lahore under section 285 and 286 of
the Pakistan Penal Code. These sections of the law declare a person guilty of
a public nuisance, an illegal omission which may cause any injury, danger or
annoyance to the public or to the people in general who dwell or occupy
property in the vicinity. The law also adds the person whoever acts so rashly
or negligently as to endanger human life, or to be likely to cause hurt or
injury to any other person, or knowingly or negligently fails to take such
care with any combustible matter in his possession that poses danger to human
life, shall be punished with six month imprisonment or with fine which may
extend to three thousand rupees, or with both. Section 286 covers
negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance. “It is a gigantic task
and the problem cannot be resolved without proper and strict safety
regulations bringing all stakeholders on a table,” observes Zulfiqar Hameed,
CCPO Lahore. “Currently, we can hold
the drivers under the above mentioned laws, but the offence is bailable. We
need collective effort and sense of responsibility and especial laws for
public transport and school vans,” he adds. Parents demand a proper
system to check vans that pick and drop schoolgoing children. Parents have
laid stress on the government to launch a massive awareness campaign across
Pakistan about significance of quality CNG cylinders and risk associated with
them. Vehicles not following the rules must be stopped and route permits of
all public transports running on low-quality CNG cylinders immediately
cancelled. The government should set
up high-tech workshops across the country that are authorised to issue
Fitness Certificate that states that the vehicle bears authorised and quality
CNG cylinder under rules and regulations of 1992, urge parents of schoolgoing
children. “The schools can do their
bit by ensuring all the vans carrying their children have fitness
certificate,” observes Mumtaz Hussain, father of four schoolgoing children.
“The government needs to
get school vans inspected and no vehicle should be allowed to operate without
a fitness certificate,” says All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA)
chairperson Khalid Shah. vaqargillani@gmail.com
Arrest of three
players of IPL team Rajasthan Royals — S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chawan and Ajit
Chandila — has opened a new Pandora box of corruption by cricketers. Following their arrest,
police in Delhi and Mumbai conducted further raids and detained over two
dozen bookies, along with Bollywood artist Vindoo Dara Singh and Gurunath
Meyiappan — supposedly owner of franchise Chennai Super Kings, Gurunath is
also the son-in-law of BCCI President Narayanswamy Srinivasan. This isn’t the first time
that corruption scandal has hit the Indian Premier League, last year a
television channel India TV conducted a sting operation to expose some
low-profile players who agreed to get involved in corrupt practices and were
eventually caught on camera. At that time, the BCCI had
suspended all five players, namely TP Sudhindra, Mohnish Mishra, Amit Yadav,
Shalabh Srivastava & Abhinav Bali. That sting operation
exposed something more than just players’ involvement in corruption by
fixing their performances, Mohnish Mishra — who was contracted by Pune
Warriors franchise — told the
undercover reporters that he was paid black-money by the franchise. Ironically, BCCI didn’t
take this so seriously and no serious questions were raised on franchise
owners despite the revelations made by a player. This year, once again —
franchise owners were found involved in corrupt practices. Gurunath Meyiappan
— who is also son-in-law of BCCI president — was arrested by the Mumbai
police for his connections with bookies and involvement in betting (which is
illegal in India). India Cements (Mother
Company of IPL team Chennai Super Kings) quickly issued a statement to
disassociate itself from Gurunath and declared him “not more than an
honorary member of team management.” One wonders how an honorary
member of a team management was given access to team’s dugout during
matches, it is also surprising that the “honorary member of team
management” was involved in bidding process of the Indian Premier League. Nevertheless, that
“honorary member of team management” is son-in-law of most powerful man
in Indian Cricket, Mr. N Srinivasan. If Indian media reports are
to be believed, Gurunath has already confessed his involvement in betting and
has also, reportedly, confessed that he shared team’s strategy with
book-makers. Despite all this, N
Srinivasan is still adamant. He categorically refused to step down as
BCCI’s president, despite the involvement of his son-in-law in the scandal
of IPL spot-fixing. Although, Gurunath was
suspended by the BCCI from all cricketing activities and an “independent
committee” is formed by the board to investigate Gurunath’s involvement
in fixing, it remains to be seen if the committee and the board will take any
serious action against the guy who is a relative of someone who can dictate
even the International Cricket. IPL’s spot-fixing scandal
is also an eye-opener for those who are advocates of the claims that cricket
is now clean. The IPL scandal is clear evidence that IPL is not clean and
cricket is not clean. It is also clear that
spot-fixing in IPL was not limited to the cricketers or other stakeholders
who were arrested by police, it is only a tip of the iceberg and a lot is
still behind the curtains, which is yet to be unveiled. It is now responsibility of
the BCCI and the International Cricket Council to take firm action to
eliminate corruption from cricket, even the former Chairman of IPL Lalit Modi
is convinced that all is not well in cricket. “Allegations against
three players in Indian Premier League (IPL) were merely a “tip of the
iceberg” and should be regarded as a “wake-up call” by global cricket
authorities,” Modi said wile reacting to the news of players’ arrest. One can not disagree with
Modi on this, this is indeed a wake-up call for global cricket authorities,
and they must wake up and take serious actions against elements involved in
shattering the trust of spectators on the game of cricket. Merely educating the
cricketers against corruption will not overcome players’ greed for money
and glamour, there is a need to have serious legislations in all the
countries against spot-fixing and match-fixing. ICC and its anti-corruption
unit should, with the help of respective Cricket Boards, contact LEA and
other authorities in its member countries to discuss possible legislation and
action against corrupt elements. As far as the scandal
surrounding the IPL is concerned, one would say that it is the responsibility
of BCCI to take action against those who are involved. From what has appeared
so far, there is a serious question mark in the integrity of those who are
running this cash-rich tournament. They must also come clean. As we say, action speaks
louder than words — it is time for ICC, BCCI and IPL authorities to act,
rather than just talk and issue statements. The writer is sports
correspondent with Geo
Yeh Woh Residents of
Islamabad, long considered lucky dogs or privileged pigs or well-off next
door neighbours, by the rest of Pakistanis, have been successfully merged
into awaam, all thanks to the equitable distribution of power cuts. Journalists of a provincial
mindset always describe all or parts of Islamabad as posh or elite
localities. In reality a majority of tenants here is middle class and they
choose to pay a major chunk of their income on housing because they get a
good view of Margallas, relatively better security, reliable garbage removal,
and shorter periods of power cuts. Islamabad is not really a Bahria Town but
there have been days, even weeks, of uninterrupted power supply for all. At
the peak of load shedding season Islamabad never suffered more than six
powerless hours a day and never more than an hour at a time. That was because of an
unwritten law that if electricity has to go somewhere it has to be back in
sixty minutes. The power distribution guys in the city are quite a legend in
terms of their punctuality in shutting off and restoring power. If it goes at
2 you’ll know it’s exactly 3 when your AC comes live again. This
unwritten law now stands revoked and the consequences are monumental, not
only for the city but for the whole nation. People can have money in
Sargodha and Sibbi but their money can’t buy them electricity.
Islamabad’s money could, till the end of spring. All we needed was an
Uninterrupted Power Supply unit, a pair of fresh and strong batteries, and
regular servicing of the apparatus, and we’d be set for three years of
uninterrupted functioning of electrical appliances, not counting those that
produce heat or cold, things like power-guzzling blowers and suckers. We had
our lights, fans and computers working 24/7 which is all that matters. In Islamabad of pre-summer
2013 it was possible for a UPS to behave like one; now like everywhere else
in Pakistan, the gadget screams and dies more than thrives. The one-hour rule
gone, the UPS now drains quickly and does not get the required recharge in
the few and far between periods of power supply. The entire Islamabad is
wired up with UPS of a local or imported make. Generators are for offices and
show-offs. Decent people can never have a gadget as noisy as a generator,
installed in their backyards. A UPS was enough to endure the worst kind of
load shedding. That is what made all the difference between Islamabad and the
rest of Pakistan, and now that difference is gone. We are all the same, we
are all miserable, prickly hot, sleepless and unproductive. So where is the silver
lining? Here it comes. People in Islamabad have the power to do things others
just protest against and get beaten into retreat. When Zardari as environment
minister, then as prime minister’s husband and then as a parliamentarian
with a prison hospital as his permanent address started eating up real estate
from Karachi to Karak people showed their resentment by calling him Mr. Ten
Percent and left it at that. When he tried to devour Margalla hills, we
squeezed his guts until he threw it back up. When the rest of the country was
merely grumbling at Gen. Musharraf sending everyone home but himself, it was
Islamabad that launched the Lawyers Movement and sent him packing. When every
constituency around Islamabad was returning Nawaz League candidates on May
11, we trashed ours like a third rate racketeer that he is. We could have done
something about load-shedding too, only we were never aware of it on account
of UPS and the one-hour rule. Now that we have become mainstream awaam, now
that we sweat and swear as bad as any other Pakistani, we are ready to act. I
don’t know how we’ll go about it and how long will it take us to make
electricity keep coming and never going, but we’ll get it done. But when load-shedding is
made history, don’t forget where the credit belongs. It’s people of
Islamabad for acting boldly and the interim federal government for making
them act. The government made of octogenarians may have done a lot of senile
things in its brief tenure but the wisdom it has shown in progressively
scaling up the gap between demand and supply of electricity, and the
tactfulness with which it has integrated Islamabadis into general public of
Pakistan just when the power deficit was at its peak, must be remembered as a
stroke of genius that changed the destiny of this country. masudalam@yahoo.com
politics “People want us
to deliver and if they think this hasn’t happened they will naturally ask
questions,” says Syed Faisal Sabzwari. Sabzwari is the
parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the Sindh
Assembly. He spoke to The News on Sunday a day after the newly-elected
members of the Sindh Assembly took oath. The MQM has once again
emerged as overwhelming victor on nearly 90 per cent of Karachi’s national
and provincial assembly seats. That’s a position they
have more or less maintained in every election they have participated in
since the party first emerged on the stage of national politics. But, this time, the smell
of success has somehow been muted by what some people believe is the most
serious threat to the MQM’s mandate in Karachi. “The PTI’s ability to
rake in three quarters of a million votes in Karachi has definitely alarmed
the MQM,” an analyst points out. Others believe it has
certainly led to soul-searching within the party. They say the recent
decision by the party chief Altaf Hussain to disband and reform the powerful
MQM’s Rabita Committee – along with other party organisations – has
been precipitated by these concerns. In this regard, he points
out, many of the ideological old guards have been reinstated, while many
senior members have been left out in the cold. “It was a difficult but
necessary step,” Altaf Hussain said in the address where he announced the
changes. Party sources say they have
been made due to complaints of negligence, misuse of authority and
involvement in unethical activities. Those appointed to the new
committees are leaders like Nasir Jamal and Amir Khan, who are professionals
or old party guards. They are seen as people who are clear from accusations
that have haunted most Muttahida leaders of late — and are also more
vigorous and hands-on with the people. There is certainly a great
deal of anger against the MQM — a feeling more of betrayal and being let
down. “Yes, I went out and voted for the Tarazoo (JI’s election
symbol),” says Fahim, once a diehard MQM supporter from North Nazimabad. Fahim’s family belongs to
a well-known business community. He says his family is increasingly becoming
a target of extortionists. “Mostly it’s the Aman Committee. There is not
one businessman I know of who hasn’t received a call from them,” he says. The Lyari Aman Committee is
a conglomeration of gangsters that were initially backed by the PPP as an
answer to the MQM’s alleged ‘militant’ wing. Since then, they have
broken off from the former ruling party and now operate as the biggest
extortion group in the city. “Most of my family voted
for the bat (PTI). We are all just fed up with MQM’s duplicity,” says
Fahim, adding, “We grew up with the kite inscribed on our hearts but our
leaders have failed to protect us. They go around with so much protocol and
protection, while our livelihood is not secure.” Fahim is not alone in
making this complaint. Most of Karachi’s business community privately
admitted that they were extremely disappointed by lack of support from the
MQM’s local leadership on the issue of law and order. The city’s increasingly
violent sectarian and ethnic demography is also a big issue in MQM’s
Karachi. “I see my friends dying every day; boys I grew up with in the
neighborhood,” says Javed, a former MQM activist and resident of Nazimabad
— “Acchu was killed near Chandni Chowk a couple of weeks ago and Sarfaraz
was shot dead yesterday.” He adds, “The leaders
play politics with their bodies but nothing is done to bring justice to their
families. Why should we care about the Tanzeem then?” Besides law and order,
civic facilities have been a major cause for concern since local bodies were
dissolved in 2008. Many residents of central and eastern Karachi –
traditionally MQM strongholds – have expressed their anger at the inability
of their representatives to rectify the situation. “They have been
interested in getting projects done that line their pockets,” says Rashida,
a resident of Malir, adding, “The roads here have been a mess and sewage
facilities have broken down and flooded entire neighbourhoods — but nothing
is done for days. Yet their leaders [the MQM] still have the audacity to come
and ask for votes.” But such complaints have
been pending against a number of MQM leaders for a while. Some say it is the
emergence of the PTI that has forced Altaf Hussain to take action. “That’s not really
true. The reorganisation of the party is something that happens on a regular
basis in the MQM. This is hardly the first time the Rabita Committee has been
reformed and it’s important to keep turning people over by letting others
have a chance,” says Sabzwari. However, his stance is less
unequivocal on accusations of MQM members being involved in misuse of
authority and illegal activities. “Look we are a party of the masses, we
can only be as good as the society that we live in. We have never claimed we
are a party of angels. Our party discipline generally improves a person once
he becomes a part of our organisation,” he says. But, he claims, there are
some bad eggs everywhere — “and the MQM does not tolerate such people
within its ranks. Whenever we have found someone to be guilty of such
activities we have taken the strongest action against them.” Over the last 10 years, he
says, the MQM has dismissed 7,000 workers and office bearers from its ranks
for these reasons. Also, he admits, the law
and order situation has been an issue. He understands the people’s anger
but says his party has been made a scapegoat for a multi-faceted problem —
“That’s the reason we have decided to sit on the opposition benches, so
we can play a positive role for Karachi without being hindered by the
politics of power.” As far as civic facilities
are concerned, he says, the MQM is pushing for early local body elections,
which may alleviate the situation. Sabzwari also believes that
this test will once and for lay to rest the myth of the PTI alternative. Despite the complaints,
Karachiites still have faith in the MQM. “Even my community voted for the
MQM,” says Fazal, a Pashtun resident of Orangi, Karachi’s largest
locality and the world’s largest slum area. He adds, “At least they come
to our area and make an effort to reach out to people from the working class.
We’ve never heard of the PTI here.” Shahrukh, a resident of
Gulistan-e-Jauhar, says, “I voted for the MQM by choice. They can be a
bunch of hoodlums but they are our hoodlums. At least I can go to them and
they will come up with some sort of a solution. For example, we had a bit of
problem with cell phone snatchers in our area and we complained to the police
and nothing happened. Then someone sent a letter to the MQM sector office,
and the next day they set up a barrier and patrol. For people like us, they
are the only alternative.” caption Syed Faisal Sabzwari.
The run for
ransom Former Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped on May 9
from an election gathering in Multan in daylight by unidentified gunmen who
shot dead his personal secretary and bodyguard. The police suspect the
kidnappers took him towards Kabirwala in Khanewal District because that was
where they supposedly turned off his mobile. A joint investigation team
of police and other security agencies are investigating the case. Working together, they have
been unable to find the younger Gilani and are clueless of his whereabouts. A source says that
abductors have demanded Rs5 billion from the Gilani family. A Lahore-based police
official, who has handled several cases of kidnappings, says once they
succeed to take Ali Haider Gilani to their desired destination, it will
become difficult to get him back, unless the demands of kidnappers are met. Ali Haider Gilani is one of
the many high-profile individuals kidnapped for ransom. Slain governor
Salmaan Taseer’s son Shahbaz Taseer, Dr Ajmal Khan, an educationist and
relative of ANP chief Asfanyar Wali, Warren Weinstein, a 70-year-old American
aid worker are among many others. Some of them have been in
captivity for over two years. “A campaign was launched
against high-profile kidnappings in 2009. The number of cases of kidnapping
for ransom has been on the rise since 2008. This is indeed one of the major
sources of funding used by the banned militant groups,” says the police
official. Politicians,
industrialists, doctors, academics, western aid workers and relatives of
political leaders and military officers are the kidnappers’ prime targets.
According to police sources, kidnappers have developed a well-trained network
and infrastructure to carry out this criminal activity, and to keep the
victims for long periods of times. Sometimes, the kidnappers
demand more than money. “For instance, they demanded the release of 153
prisoners and Rs1 billion in cash to set free the son-in-law of Gen. Tariq
Majid, former chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,” explains the
police official. Umar Virk, superintendent
Punjab police, who has handled more than 200 cases of kidnapping for ransom
tells TNS that there are three categories of kidnappings: first is friendly
kidnapping, where the victim with the help of some of his friends plot the
whole drama to get money from his family; second is amateur kidnappers, when
relatives or friends of the victims are involved to earn easy money or settle
some family or business dispute; and third is by professional kidnappers such
as militant jihadi organisations and organised criminal gangs. “It is the third group
that is involved in high-profile kidnappings. Both militant origanisations
and organised criminal groups have evolved their system of intelligence. They
spot their target, study it, sometimes they even rent a house to plan and
keep their victim for some days before he is transported to their desired
location. They have links with groups in tribal areas and most of the time
shift their victims to these areas.” Virk says they veil their
victim, use medicine to make him unconscious and transport him early in the
morning — and if stopped on the way by police, they say he is their
relative who is sleeping in the car, or they take him away in a truck.
“Once a victim is transported to the tribal areas, he must pay ransom —
otherwise chances of his return are bleak,” he says. Most of the time religious
banned outfits target minority groups, like Ahmadis and Shias or relatives of
politicians or military officials. “Ransom money has also increased
manifold over the years. It used to be in lakhs a few years ago, now its in
millions,” he says. According to Virk, at least
25 per cent of such cases are not registered with the police. “Most of the
victims are killed by amateur kidnappers because they do not have resources
to keep the whereabouts of the victim a secret while professional kidnappers
are very resourceful in this respect,” he says. There were very few cases
of kidnapping for ransom in the 1990s; today with illegal weapons available
in abundance; it has become a lucrative business. War on Terror further
impacted kidnapping for ransom. A Peshawar-based senior police official says
that before the militants gained strength in the tribal areas, Malakand
division and semi-tribal area of Darra Adam Khel were favourite destinations
for kidnappers. “They used to keep their victims close to the border areas,
between settled and tribal areas, because movement in the tribal area was not
easy. The political agent was strong. But once that office and writ of state
weakened, and different militias and militant organisations strengthened in
the area, it became easy for captors to keep their victims in the tribal
areas — now they negotiate from a position of strength,” he says. These days usually the
victims are transported to Orakzai and Waziristan tribal agencies via Tirah
Valley. “From Tirah, it becomes easy to transport the captor to any tribal
agency or even to Afghanistan”. Militants have formed
special groups — “their local activists in settled areas identify the
victim and collect detailed information on him; another group kidnaps him,
and hands him over to another group which keeps him in a hideout in settled
areas or shifts him to tribal areas, while negotiations with the captor’s
family for ransom are conducted by yet another group. So, it is not easy to
recover the abducted person,” he says. Sometimes, Virk adds, local
criminal groups work with militants. Security experts believe
that high-profile kidnappings serve multiple purposes for militants. “They
extort funds, get media attention and challenge writ of the state, which is
indeed their prime objective,” says Muhammad Amir Rana, head of
Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). “A strong nexus between
criminals and militants has emerged in the last few years, as the Taliban
started feeling serious financial crunch in 2009-10, which resulted in more
kidnapping for ransom than ever before,” he says, adding that the militants
are constantly looking for new ways to generate money. “Settled areas of KPK,
Punjab and Karachi are the main areas where they have linkages with local
criminals involved in ransom”. In Karachi, in the last few
weeks after the elections, more than 10 cases of kidnapping have already been
registered with the police. “We have seen a sudden surge in the number of
cases for kidnapping for ransom in Karachi after the elections,” says Ahmed
Chinoy, chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), Karachi. “CPCL has busted more
than 70 gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom in Karachi in the last two
years. We have a data of 1500 solved cases. In fact, in some cases we have
found that two-three generations of the same family have been involved in
this criminal activity,” he says. Chinoy says it takes 3-4
weeks to solve a case of kidnapping in a city but if the abducted person is
transported to the interior of Sindh, it takes 6 to 8 weeks to solve the case
— but if the victim is transported to KPK or tribal areas, it takes 2 to 6
months to solve the case,” he says. caption Ali Haider Gilani:
still missing. capion Shahbaz Taseer.
The film and the
book The Godfather, the
book and the film based on it, are both famous for being perhaps the greatest
study of a life of crime. But for those who watch both films and read books,
it’s also infamous for being perhaps the greatest study of politics. This particular reading is
actually inherent in the Godfather’s structure and is further illuminated
by two pieces of dialogue in two different scenes. The first is between Tom
and Sonny who are brothers where in a heated exchange Tom says, “Your
father wouldn’t want to hear this. This is business, not personal,
Sonny!” Later, there is a rebuttal to this statement but by Michael, not
Sonny who is Sonny and Tom’s youngest brother: “Tom, don’t let anybody
kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit
every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it
business. OK. But it’s personal as hell.” The point to remember is that
Sonny doesn’t issue a rebuttal to Tom’s statement. It is because Sonny is
in “agreement” with Tom. If one assumes Michael’s
statement to be ‘true’, then everything is politics. Life and politics,
however, echo each other. As life is a conversation with others, so is
politics, therefore politics isn’t just picking one position or the other
per se, it’s trying to choose the best position in a given situation. The Reluctant
Fundamentalist, the novella, and now the movie based are not the same thing,
their final outcome is completely different. The point is, in
comparison, the novella’s political stance is much stronger than that of
the film. The film’s plot, in a
nutshell, is the same as the dilemma that Mansoor Hussain Khan — film actor
Shaan’s character — in Khuda Kay Liye goes through. Changez — the character
played by the actor Riz Ahmed — is a young man from a middle class family
in Pakistan, whose dream in life is to work and live in the US. His reasons
are the beliefs that the US gives an individual a level playing field, the
grand alluring mythos that proclaims that the “best man wins.” Changez relishes such an
opportunity and when he does end up in the US, he chooses every position that
brings him closer to his goal, from graduating at the top of his class, to
becoming a financial analyst, to wearing an expensive suit and to top all of
this off by hooking up with a Caucasian American woman. By doing all of this,
Changez’s goal is the same, to become the best man. 9/11 happens and it
directly affects Changez. The change for Changez is so severe, so drastic
that with the passing of time Changez feels that he has changed from feeling
like a hero — where a feeling is generated by oneself and others —
to a zero. From here on, the similarity between the novella and the
film end. The 16th century theologian
Jakob Böhme writes, “It is not to be thought that the life of darkness is
sunk in misery and lost as if in sorrowing. There is no sorrowing. For sorrow
is a thing that is swallowed up in death, and death and dying are the very
life of the darkness.” Whatever one interprets
Bohme’s quotation to be, Bohme in essence is also referring to politics, he
is describing a position. The film at its end is also
taking a position, but what we are missing out is that some men do not take
positions, some men do not believe in politics. Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s
butler — played by the actor Michael Caine — refers to the same
conditions in The Dark Knight when he says “some men aren’t looking for
anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or
negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” The message in both the
novella and the film are simple. Changez in the film chooses to believe in
politics, he wants to experience the world around him through a multi-faceted
prism, where every decision and action is determined by others’ decisions
and actions. Changez in the novella chooses not to believe in politics. |
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