After the blast that occurred on M.A. Jinnah road yesterday there are people who are raising voices as to why these large gatherings and processions were given a green signal and why weren’t they banned if there was a possible threat! Following is an answer to all such statements.

One who has closely studied the incident of kerbala would understand that the mourners of Imam-e-Hussain must not be terrorized from these blasts & take a back from going to these processions. Yes, it’s no surprise that there was going to be trouble during the processions on Ashura but Imam-e-Hussain also knew that once he sends his 13 yr olds and 18 yr olds out in the battle field in kerabala, they won’t return back home but did that stop imam hussain from doing what was right? He could have easily taken oath (bayat) at the hands of Yazeed, the tyrant, but he didn’t! He sacrificed everything he had but didn’t let the oppressor succeed in his cause!

People are coming out and saying that till majalis we understand but why did they have to go ahead with the procession despite the threats. For this they must understand that the act of terrorism is to terrorize people and any alteration in the acts of Hussainies would signify that the terrorists succeeded in their task. Some say we wish they had kept a low in processions this year! I completely disagree with that. Blast in processions today will lead to blasts in majalis tomorrow & then to completely terrorize Hussainies to an extent that they won’t even come out of their houses! Although, I as a Hussaini know that this will never happen. We will continue to go to majalis, juloos (processions) and involve in azadari no matter how many security concerns there are. And No, I don’t do that to become a martyr or to be called as a shaheed! My aim is plain mourning of my Imaam and martyrs of kerabala. People can continue to think whatever they may!

In the end I’d say that all those who think that why is it so hard for us to take precautions must understand that not conducting processions is not a precaution, it’s a consequence! If someone is really interested in taking precautions then he must advocate tightened security measures & other such measures, not a ban on the procession itself!

Past few months haven’t been easy on us Pakistanis. A lot has been going on in the political as well as economic sphere, and to add to the misery, the frequently occurring terrorist activities have suffocated a common citizen like me. I am neither a political activist nor any party affiliate. I’m just an ordinary citizen who is victimized and manipulated time and again by the media, political leaders and various institutions. Well, this is not a political blog so I’m not going to worry you with the matters of the state. But point here is that living in this part of the world; every day is a struggle between life and death. I mean who’d have thought in their wildest dreams that they’ll go out for a normal day to day shopping and will end up being dead or severely injured in the Peshawar market blast. Sometimes I think if there was to be a vulnerability calculating machine, we’d have definitely achieved the highest figures. Well yes, I know we wouldn’t have. This is another problem. Considering that there are countries which are in worse situation than us; it gives us little right to complain. But there are two standards of comparison, we can either look at the developed countries and mourn at our state or look at countries like Nigeria and Somalia, and try feeling better about ourselves. For me, the standard of comparison has always been the former, so I’m always seen criticizing my country, and well, I won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Anyway, this wasn’t something I wanted to blog about. There’s an additional misery in our lives, and that’s illness and diseases. Recently one my friends died of Swine Flu. Honestly speaking, I had never taken any news about swine flu seriously. For me it had always been like, angraizoun ki bemari, and a result of their own karma. Obviously, what else am I supposed to think when I grew up listening to people say that even uttering the word PIG is considered haraam! And I guess I wasn't the only one; terming it as the disease of non –Muslims, the government officials ignored the precaution to be taken in the spread of this deadly disease. And according to an official release, 10 people including seven women died of swine flu in the country amongst which one of them was my friend.

She was my classmate, my best friend in school and a very happy-go-lucky person. She had gotten married about 10 months ago and was expecting since the last 5 months. I hear people say that pregnant women are four times more likely to be affected by this flu as compared to a normal person. I have stories to tell about this friend of mine, I’ve spent a good childhood with her, we were almost like family friends, but I’m not going to add any of this here right now; I’m just emotionally drained.
Rest in peace, my friend.