Flowing Ink

I would like to take all of us present here briefly back to the time of yesterday’s man. As the major religions were revealed by God one after another – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – much bloodshed was caused as each religion commanded armies into newer territories in order to spread their faiths far and wide. Even more violent clashes and greater bloodshed followed soon as each of these religions clashed with each other in attempts to impose the superiority of their own faith over the others e.g. the Crusades between the Muslims and Holy Roman Empire Then, powerful dynasties and tribes from all regions of the world fought to expand their mighty Empires. The cruel Mongols swept across Asia, European Kingdoms and Abbasid and Omayad dynasties, the Mughals etc gained power and territory. As Empires gave way to nations, greedy Man was again fighting for another few hundred years – this time for land, resources and political power: the Colonial wars, through which major European powers sought even more power and superiority. In short, bloodshed and massive loss of life has been the characteristic of Man in every time. Only the objective of this bloodshed has continued to change. So, first off, as far as bloodshed and war is concerned, if you believe that becoming yesterday’s man will lessen their shame, let me assure you it will not. I believe, however, that today’s Man is fighting to preserve his identity and his culture. Today’s Man does not believe in the Western hegemony and uni-culture in the whole world. The insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan continue unabated, the Hezbollah, Hamas and China refuse to bow, North Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia turn a deaf ear and Saudi Arabia and the Middle East defiantly refuse to freeze money transfer to Palestine, simply because Man today does not believe in having his wishes and his religion trampled on in impunity by others. Today’s Man is rediscovering who he is and what he stands for. And today’s Man is not afraid of doing what must be done. Am I proud of all the bloodshed in the midst of which we stand? Of course not. But I am proud to be a Muslim and a Pakistani and I am not afraid to assert my identity, my culture and my roots. I refuse to stand for Western ideals and morals since these are not my ideals and morals. My ideals and morals are different and I am proud of that. I do not tolerate insulting cartoons made of my Prophet (PBUH) and insensitive remarks by the Pope. I do not tolerate Western attempts that ask me to betray my fellow Muslims and do things that are against the essence of what I believe in. I ask you again, am I proud of all the bloodshed around me? No, I am not. But am I proud to live in a time of courage, a time when we, as human beings, are rediscovering ourselves? Yes, I most certainly am.