Urdu! Pakistan Salutes You! تجھے پاکستان کا سلام اردو

The title is adopted from the poem on Urdu “tujhay nahi sadi ka salam Urdu/the new millennium salutes you, O Urdu”  by an Indian poet and Urdu lover Ms. Haya Lata.

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan.  It is our national symbol and our identity.  National language is not a threat to any provincial or local language.  It is a source of communication and it fills linguistic gap among communities speaking different languages.  

Urdu is well-spoken and understood in India too.  Both India and Pakistan share the history of Urdu and literature as well.

Those who do not value their national language and actually try people to divert from it are the enemies of nation. 

The history of Urdu is available on internet.  Thousands of  Urdu websites are there to entertain the lovers of Urdu language and share their favourite poetry, excerpts, opinion or discussions.  Some of them are really impressive

But their participants are very few.

Today we complain that our new generation is too negligent towards their values, tradition and history.  All these things are either learned through books or passed by the elders in the family. 

How are children going to learn traditions, values and history when they are not given time to spend time with their elders and/or read books?

Teachers in schools and colleges can’t do anything about learning and reading Urdu unless parents show their interest and develop interest in their children too.  

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اردو پاکستان کی قومی زبان… قومی زبان کسی بھی صوبائی یا علاقائی زبان کے لئے خطرہ نہیں ہوتی… بلکہ ملک میں مختلف زبانیں بولنے والی قوموں کے لئے رابطے کا کام انجام دیتی ہے… قومی زبان کی وجہ سے ملک کے لوگ ایک دوسرے کے لئے اجنبی نہیں رہتے… 

ارود تو ویسے بھی صرف پاکستان ہی نہیں بھارت میں بھی بولی،  سمجھی اور لکھی جاتی ہے… کیونکہ اس کی شروعات انہی دونوں ملکوں میں ہوئی… 

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جو عناصر قومی زبان کی اہمیت ختم کرنے میں آگے آگے ہوتے ہیں، وہ اصل میں قومی یگانگت کے دشمن ہوتے ہیں اور عوام کو ایک دوسرے سے دور کرنے میں اپنا کردار ادا کرتے ہیں…

آج ہم اپنی نئی نسل کے گمراہ ہو جانے کا شکوہ کرتے ہیں… انکے اور انکے والدین اور بزرگوں کے درمیان جو دوری اور بیگانگی ہے اس کا رونا روتے ہیں… شکایات کرتے ہیں کہ نئی نسل کو تہذیب اور روایت کا علم نہیں، انہیں اپنی تاریخ نہیں معلوم….

تاریخ، تہذیب، روایات، یا تو کتابوں میں تحریر ہوتی ہیں یا پھر بزرگ اپنی اولادوں کو منتقل کرتے ہیں… مثال کے طور پر اگر کوئی اپنے بچوں سے صحیح اردو نہ بولے، انھیں انگلش کے سحر میں مبتلا کر دے، انھیں اتنا وقت ہی نہ دے کہ وہ بزرگوں کے ساتھ بیٹھ سکیں اور ان سے کچھ سیکھ سکیں… تو پھر کس بات کا گلہ اور کس سے… اور کیوں الزام حکومت پر اور نظام پر لگائیں… جب سارا قصور اپنا ہو…

کیوں نہیں ہم اپنے بچوں کو ارود میں لوریاں دیتے، کہانیاں سناتے… کیوں ان کو شعرو شاعری کا شوق نہیں دلاتے… شعرو شاعری تو گفتگو کا ایک فن ہے… 

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صبح کا پہلا پیام اردو

ڈھلتی ہوئی سی جیسے شام اردو

اتریں جاں تارے وہی بام اردو

بڑی کمسن  گلفام اردو 

جیسے نئے سال کا یہ دن ہو نیا

اور بیتے سال کی ہو آخری دعا 

نیا سال نئی  رام رام اردو 

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو

مجھے تو یہ امی کے دلار سی لگے

اور میرے ابو جی کے پیار سی لگے

بڑے بھائی کی یہ پھٹکار سی لگے

چھوٹی بہنا کی یہ پکار سی لگے

میرے لئے دوستوں کی دوستی سی یہ

دشمنوں کی پیاری پیاری دشمنی سی یہ

جیسے رشتوں کا ایک جام اردو

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو 

کبھی محبوبہ یہ ادب کی لگے

بات کرے اپنی تو سب کی لگے

قوم کی لگے نہ مذھب کی لگے

مجھے یہ زبان جیسے رب کی لگے

جو یہ کہتے ہیں زبان غیر ہے

انکے دلوں میں تو فقط بیر ہے

جاہل دیں تجھے الزام اردو

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو

یہیں پے ہے جنمی، یہیں پہ ہے پلی

یہیں پہ جوان ہوئی پھولی و پھلی

یہیں کا ہے پھول یہ یہیں کی ہے کلی

خشبووں کی ڈولیوں میں بیٹھ جو چلی

چاہے پیا کا ہو گھر پردیس میں

پیھر تو اس کا ہے اس دیس میں

تجھے چاہے ہند کی عوام اردو

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو

بن تمھارے محفلوں میں نور نہیں ہے

شاعری کی مانگ میں سیندور نہیں ہے

شعرکوئی جیسے مشہور نہیں ہے

ہو کے با ادب بھی شعور نہیں ہے

تجھے قطعات اور رباعی کی قسم 

رکھنا مجاز میں یہی تو دم خم 

تیری ہی تیری ہے غلام اردو

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو 

کیا بتاؤں یہ زباں ہے میرے لئے کیا

سر پہ رکھا ہو جیسے دست خدا

جیسے مل جاۓ مجے آپ کی دعا 

شہرتوں نے جیسے مجھے ہولے سے چھوا

میرا خاندان پہچان ہے یہی

میری آن بان اور شان ہے یہی

آ ۓ میرے کام ہر گام اردو 

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو 

اور بھی عظیم اور مہان تو بنے 

اور بھی حسین اور جوان تو بنے 

دل بنے کسی کا ایمان تو بنے

کسی کا خدا یا بھگوان تو بنے

اور کیا دعائیں دوں میں تجھ کو سکھی

میں تو خود تیری ہی پناہ میں پلی

اور ہو جہاں میں تیرا نام اردو

تجھے نئی صدی کا سلام اردو

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZbG-A6-BFw

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Who is the most kind and the wisest?

The purpose is of this writing is not to pass any judgement on anyone.  This is just another tiny effort to look into the mirror of Islamic doctrine and see how many scars are left there on heart and soul.

There are 114 surahs in Qur’an and each except one (Surah At-Taubah/The Repentance) begins with the acknowledgement of God’s attributes “In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent/Compassionate, The Merciful”.  The same statement is mentioned once in Surah An-Namal/The Ants, when Prophet Sulaiman/Solomon uses the same words to begin with in a letter to the Queen of Sheba.

The same Quran mentions Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the mercy for all the worlds Allah (SWT) has created.  Each and every moment of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s life is an evidence to prove this claim to be true and certainly it has everything to do with his character.  “We have sent you but as the mercy for all worlds”… Surah Al-Anbiya 107

The words of Qur’an and the life of Prophet (pbuh) are beautiful combination of moral laws and court laws – together they are called ‘shariah’/the Islamic code of law.  Any Muslim having a doubt and then preaching it as a defect of Islam, such as ruling on two women as a witness against one man or four marriages for men and only one for woman, is considered a ‘kafir’, which literally means the one who rejects or denies.  So, the word ‘kafir’ shouldn’t be used to for non-Muslims.

Allah (SWT) says in Qur’an, “ And there are, certainly, among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), those who believe in Allah and in that which has been revealed to you, and in that which has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before Allah. They do not sell the Verses of Allah for a little price, for them is a reward with their Lord. Surely, Allah is Swift in account.  O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the enemy can attack you, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful.”…. (Surah Aal-e-Imran/The Family of Imran 199/200)

Islam has introduced a very balanced and flexible life-style.  The exceptions and limitations in obligations are already set by the Shariah and they are termed as “hudood or hudood-Allah” in Quran.  Similarly, the Shariah has outlined the emotional expressions prohibiting extremism and exaggeration.

For example, a strong belief in our society about God is that there are no limits for glorifying Allah Almighty.  Yes, there are.  Allah (SWT) has specified how to and when to remember Him formally on daily and yearly basis, i.e. salah/prayer and Hajj/pilgrimage to Makkah.  However, there are no time limit and conditions to communicate with Him for any reason.  He Almighty is awake and present all the time.

Be wild in anger, be crazy in excitement, be pessimist in sadness, be disappointed in trials,  be haughty in richness, be silent for witness, be a support in false accusations, be overjoyed in celebrations, etc. —  this is how life events are dealt in our society, by showing extreme behaviour and this is prohibited in Islam.

Sometimes, people don’t realize that they are acting as they are wiser than Allah (SWT) and prophets.  They do violate the limits of Shariah and then defend themselves and justify their actions by giving lame excuses.  Who do they try to satisfy, God, people around us or themselves?

There are lots of things that we do and we can say that we do them because we like them.  There are many things that we don’t do and we can say that we don’t do them because we don’t like them.  We can simply say that I do this or I don’t do this because this is how understood the religion.  This is better than manipulating religious principles.  This is not wise to corrupt the religion and create complications for others by wrong interpretations of Islamic moral values.

This intentional or unintentional corruption in religion develops a guilt in mind.  This guilt often transforms into an extra-ordinary feeling of kindness and sympathy to others and is exhibited by charity work.  Those who are involved in breaking the system or if not breaking, not building the system usually rejoice themselves by feeding, helping, educating hungry and needy people at large scale.  This is one way to kill that guilt.

In the same manner, people exaggerate while consoling, condoling, grieving, describing, explaining and even guiding.  We mourn for weeks, months and years.  They exaggerate while praising sacred prophets, saints, leaders, heroes, elders, family dynasty, etc.  This exaggeration turns into controversies and contentions and finally leads to physical combats.

Sometimes people unknowingly try to pretend that they are more kind than God Almighty and His prophets.  They have more sympathies with rapists, robbers, adulterers and murderers than with the victims.    Forgiveness has its own conditions.  Forgiveness is when exercised unnecessarily to the wrong people, it benefits the criminal minds only. Only God Almighty has the right to forgive whoever He wills for any or no reason.

Sometimes people behave like they have more ego and temperament than God Almighty and His prophets.  Mostly men try this on women, elders on youngsters, rich on poor, smart on naive.  Raising voice for rights, for choice is also considered a matter of ego.  The Arabic word ‘ana’ meaning ‘I’ with the thought of completeness and absolute powers suits only to God Almighty.

I was just thinking that if Edhi, Ansar Burni Trust and other legitimate charity organizations have established as parallel to the government institutions, why don’t they join together and really make one for the sake of this country.  Edhi’s team works more like a ‘baitul-maal’.  Sarim Burni’s team plays Supreme Court in addition to police and detectives.  Shoukat Khanum Memorial Hospital’s team along with Dr. Adeeb Rizvi and many others can run the best health ministry in the world.  There are many educational institutions like Namal that can replace the board of education in all four provinces and adjacent territories.  Those who are making world records can be the best to deal with foreign affairs.

Who cares who sits in the President House!  People can choose Dr. A. Q. Khan or Justice Wajeehuddin or any other smart, honest and patriot man as a guide and leader.

Unemployed youth can head towards the villages and farms to help farmers to grow more and more food.  You know why, because food is most essential in all necessities.  They can even train themselves as a substitute to law enforcement bodies.  We are missing them any way.

People of Pakistan are a government, then why let the criminals and incompetents draw salaries from assemblies and make others beg for what they deserve?

Blog, Blogging, Bloggers

BLOG:

A blog serves many purposes; a personal diary, a photo album, a newspaper, a source of information, a book, a teaching aid, even as a forum to discuss issues sometimes.

BLOGGING:

Blogging is a process of writing anything on a blog.

Blogging as a personal journal is not so common in Pakistan.

That is because people here don’t discuss and express themselves.  They utter what they hear and repeat the popular echos in their surroundings, such as ‘Talibans are (the only) extremists”, “women have no rights and no life”, “government should adopt celebrities and pet them in their old age”.  God knows if I would be the sole government, I would beat them asking ‘what did you do with millions you earned in your peak?”

Also, in our schools and colleges, we don’t focus on writing skills.  Mostly ‘professional writers’ do writing for children.  ”Professional Writers”? – I mean there is always a nerd found in every neighbourhood who is good in writing essays, applications, paragraphs, answers, stories for students – and they do it for free.

BLOGGERS:

Most bloggers are men and they love to write on politics.  Politics in Pakistan is exercised opposite of how it is practiced in other countries.  So, writing on Pakistani politics and politicians means criticism and providing evidences of their corruption – which is very good I think because if not the courts of Pakistan, then at least the world must know who is responsible for what is Pakistan going through.

Among literate politicians, I think only Marvi Memon has a blog on wordpress and seems like she barely touches it.

I don’t know if any athletes or sports people do any blogging, even after their retirement.  Just imagine how helpful would it be for new players, in both ways; reading and speaking – if they mention their events and interviews in form of dialogues.

Actors, actresses, models, singers – hmmmm, if they do start blogging, I am sure that would consists of their photos and nothing else.

Women don’t do blogging.  If they do, they usually love to manage religious blogs and copy and paste Qur’anic verses, ahadith and commentaries of famous scholars.  That could be because Pakistanis fear to express their own opinion on any Qur’anic verse or hadith.  They don’t dare to raise a question on any commentary or contradict any scholar.  While they must understand that Islamic knowledge is not made inaccessible to common minds.

Allah Subhana-w-Ta’alaa invites people towards Quranic understanding, “and We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition?” Surah Al-Qamar/The Moon 17,22,32,40

Four times in one surah, mentioning Qur’an is easy to understand by anyone – how can anyone get the guidance without opening and raising questions on it.  Raising questions is not the sign of doubting in Quran but to get knowledge.  The companions raised questions to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and he replied in the best manner.

Back to blogging, non-political and non-religious blogs usually have more photographs and less writing.

Children are teenagers do not appreciate the idea of  ”write in your own words” or ‘make sentences’.  They beg elders to write application, essays, paragraphs, summaries, stories, RTC (reference to context), even sentences.  Blogging can be fun for them.  They can start blogging by adding photos of animals, flowers, cartoon and write two or three sentences about them.  Children can take photos from mobile and their own drawings and post them in their blogs.  During exams, they add a page ‘exam preparation’ where they can write whatever the answers they have memorized.

URDU BLOGS:

Urdu blogs are very interesting and could be very helpful for students if they start studying on internet.  They have children stories, folk-tales, jokes, riddles, poetry, excerpts from famous Urdu novels and articles, the biography of poets and authors and commentary on their work.  They only thing missing (or may be I haven’t seen it yet) is the reading and writing fun for Montessori levels.  Students can participate on Urdu forums and share their own opinion.  It is not that hard.  Just type on any Urdu typing page and copy/paste on the site.  It is better than chatting on phone and on net for no reason.

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Children بچے

Once there was a town, where lived many families with their children.  The parents were worried about their children’s behaviour.  They complained to each other that their children are irresponsible, abusive, undisciplined, non-serious about their education.  An old scientist also lived there.  He wanted to help the parents so he prepares a magical formula called “parentade” to improve children’s behaviour.  Parents were excited.  The formula worked.  Children started doing things on time, by themselves.  No more mess on dinning tables, no more shouting and running around, no more fighting.  Genius talks, mind blowing ideas, they all got A+ in their exams.  That was it.  Parents were sick and tired.  They were sick and tired of coping with their children’s extraordinary discipline and responsible behaviour.  Their children refused to accept the fun ideas their parents had for them, instead they started guiding their parents to make their life useful.  Finally, all parents arranged a meeting and invited the scientist.  They wanted him to prepare the antidote to that formula.  They wanted their children back to normal as they were before.

Above is the summary of an English poem “Parentade”, a very interesting idea for parents and to learn their lesson.

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کب کب ایسا نہیں ہوتا کہ جب جب کمپیوٹر پر کچھ لکھنے بیٹھتی  ہوں تب تب کمپیوٹر کے سب سب بانیوں کوسلام کرنے کو لب مل مل جاتے ہیں، دل کھل کھل جاتا ہے، ذہن دھل دھل جاتا ہے… گو کہ گفتگو میں تکرار ایک عیب سمجھا جاتا ہے لیکن ہمیشہ نہیں… انگریزی میں یہ بھی زبان خوبی کہلاتی ہے…

May God guide my parents, ameen!

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اگر کمپیوٹر شیطانی ایجاد ہے بھی تو فی الحال تو آدھے سے زیادہ اسلام کو پھیلانے اور اسلامی مظاہروں کا کم اسی پر ہو رہا ہے… اردو بھی شاید اب کمپیوٹر پر ہی لکھی پڑھی جا رہی ہے… میں نےتو کچھ بچوں کو کہا بھی کہ بھی انٹرنیٹ پر جواردوٹا ئیپنگ کی سا ئیٹس ہیں ان پر اردو ٹائپ کیا کرو تو اردو کی ہجے ٹھیک ہو جا ے گی… شعروشاعری بھی ہے، کہانیاں بھی، محاورے بھی… طالبعلموں کے لئے تو بہت فاعدہ مند ہے… 

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پرسوں ڈاکٹرعلی رضا نقوی کی خبر سنی تو دل باغ باغ ہو گیا… ایران کی حکومت نے انہیں کافی ایوارڈز دیے ہیں اوراب ایران کی حکومت نے انھیں اپنے ملک کے سب سے بڑے ادبی ایوارڈ سے نوازا ہے… ڈاکٹرعلی رضا نقوی ایک پاکستانی ہیں… انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان کی حکومت اور عوام، دونوں کو علم سے کوئی دلچسپی نہیں… بالکل  ٹھیک کہا…با لکل صحیح اگر اس ملک میں علم کی اہمیت ہوتی تو علم کے  ساتھ گورنر عشرت العباد اتنا بڑا اور برا مذاق نہ کرتے کہ رحمن ملک کو ڈاکٹریٹ کی ڈگری دیتے… کھلا جرم ہے یہ… لیکن یہ دلچسپی جب پیدا ہوتی ہے جب اہل زبان اپنی زبان میں نئے خیالات کا تعارف کرتے ہیں اور وہ بھی اپنی قوم کے مزاج، ذہنی سطح اور مختلف عمروں کا خیال رکھتے ہوۓ… خیر یہ تو نہیں کہا جا سکتا کہ اردو میں کچھہ لکھا ہی نہیں جا رہا… حقیقت یہ ہے جو ڈاکٹرعلی رضا نقوی نے بیان کی کہ عوام کو دلچسپی نہیں…

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تو ایک کام یہ بھی ہے کہ عوام کو بد تمیزی اور جہالت سے نکال کر شائستگی اور اردو کی طرف کیسے لایا جاۓ… اکثر لوگ شائستگی کا مطلب لیتے ہیں چکنی چپڑی باتیں مسکراتے ہو ۓ کرنا، بلاوجہ لوگوں کی تعریف کرنا، جیسے کہ صبح کے شوز میں ہوتی رہتی ہیں… شائستہ نام رکھنے سے، ہندی تلفظ میں بات کرنے سے، بھارتی اداکاروں کے قدموں پر گر پڑنے سے، انکو خدا بنا کر پیش کرنے سے کوئی شائستہ نہیں ہوجاتا… بلکہ یہ امن، دوستی اور انسانیت کا نہایت گھٹیا تصور ہے… لیکن کیا کریں، جب کوئی اپنی ذاتی ترقی اور پیسے کے پیچھے پاگل ہوجاۓ تو اس سے کچھ بھی توقع رکھی جا سکتی ہے… 

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ویسے لوگوں کو میری باتیں پسند نہیں آتیں، کہتے ہیں اس طرح کہنے سےلوگوں کے دل ٹوٹ جاتے ہیں… ارے بھئی، لوگ پاکستان کی قدریں برباد کریں، ملک توڑیں، پاکستانیوں کو غلط سوچ دیں، اردو زبان کے ساتھ مذاق کریں، عورت کی عزت کو ناچنے گانے جلوے دکھانے کے لئے مخصوص کر دیں، معصوم بچوں کے ذہنوں کو منی اور شیلا کی جوانیوں کے تصور سے آلودہ کریں اور میں شائستگی دکھاؤں انکو… انکے دل ٹوٹنے کا خیال کروں، ارے ان کمبختوں کا تو سر توڑ دینا چاہیے… اور اس کالے  بھوتوں کے بادشاہ کا جو لندن میں بیٹھا ہے قیمہ کر دینا چاہیے…

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خیر… شائستگی کا مطلب ہے ڈھنگ کی باتیں، جس میں ملک و قوم کی عزت اور غیرت کے ساتھ ساتھ اپنے لوگوں کی ذہنی تعمیر کا بھی خیال رکھا جاۓ… 

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اس سلسلے میں کچھہ ٹی وی ڈراموں نے اچھی کوشش کی… جیسے کہ “ہمسفر” میں احمد فراز کی غزل… سب کو یاد ہو گئی… ڈراموں کے نام فیض احمد فیض اور دوسرے شاعروں کے مصروں پر بھی اچھی بات ہے… کاش مزاحیہ ڈراموں کے نام محاوروں پر ہوتے… بلکہ پاکستان کی ساٹھہ فیصد آبادی یعنی بچوں کے لئے, جو کہ اکثریت ہونے کے باعث اپنا جمہوری حق رکھتے ہیں, چھوٹی چھوٹی کہانیاں تو بنائی ہی جا سکتی ہیں… دس ہزار قسم کے علمی مقابلوں کا انتظام کیا جا سکتا ہے… بچے ویسے ہی مقابلوں سے بڑے خوش ہوتے ہیں… اتنے چینلز ہیں لیکن بچوں کے لئے ایک بھی نہیں… دو چار پروگرامز ہوتے ہیں وہ بھی شاید ہی کوئی بچہ دیکھتا ہو… سب ہندی ڈبنگ کیے ہو ۓ انگلش چینلز دیکھتے ہیں…  دنیا کے بچے جب بڑے ہوۓ تو انہوں نے اپنے بچوں کو کھیلوں کے نئے سٹائلزدیے… پتنگوں، غبّاروں، پتلیوں کے تماشوں، سٹریٹ گمیز، کو نئی شکل، نئے رنگ دیے… امریکا اور دوسرے ممالک میں بڑے بڑے اداکار بچوں کی فلموں میں کام کرتے ہیں، مشہور گلوکار گانے گاتے ہیں، بڑے بڑے با صلاحیت ہدایتکار اور مصنف اس میں دلچسپی لیتے ہیں…

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پاکستان کی فلمی تاریخ میں “بیداری” واحد فلم ہے جس میں سنتوش کمار صاحب نے کام کیا، کوئی ہیروئن نہیں تھی، صرف بچے اور انکا استاد جو انھیں پاکستان سے محبت کا درس دیتا رہتا ہے… “آؤ بچوں سیرکرائیں تم کو پاکستان کی”، “یوں دی ہمیں آزادی کہ دنیا ہوئی حیران”، “ہم لاۓ ہیں طوفان سے کشتی نکل کے”… اسی فلم کے گانے تھے جو آج تک گاۓ جا رہے ہیں… ٹی وی پر “عینک والا جن”، سہیل رعنا کے موسیقی کے پروگرامز کے علاوہ کوئی بچوں کی چیز نہیں جو بچوں نے دیکھی ہو شوق سے… اور تو اور چودہ اگست پر یوم آزادی کے پروگرامز میں بھی وہی گھسے پٹے اداکار گلوکار آ جاتے ہیں پرفارمنس کے لئے اور بڑے بوڑھے وزراء اور پرانے اداکار گلوکار خوش ہو کر تالیاں بجا رہے ہوتے ہیں… ارے ایک ایک منٹ کا سکرپٹ لکھ کر نہیں دیا جا سکتا بچوں کو کہ صدر، وزیراعظم کے سامنے پرفارم کر سکیں…  

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بچے بچوں سے سیکھتے ہیں اور شوق سے سیکھتے ہیں… پاکستان کے بچوں کا تو جواب نہیں… پہاڑوں جیسی ہمّت ہے انکی… اور دریاؤں اور سمندروں جتنا خون جگر، جو ساری زندگی رستا رہتا ہے اور ختم نہیں ہوتا… کیسے کیسے حالات سے گذرتے ہیں، عجیب بے ہنگم ماں باپ کو برداشت کرتے ہیں… بدتمیز، جاہل، گا لیاں دینے والے اور مجرم سیاست دانوں اور حکمرانوں کی دہشت سہتے ہیں… اور ان سے توقع رکھی جاتی ہے کہ تہذیب یافتہ، تعلیم یافتہ، ترقی یافتہ بڑے ہوں… کبھی کبھی سوچتی ہوں کہ بچوں کا دل چاہتا ہوگا کہ کاش ہمارے ماں باپ ہمارے ہاں پیدا ہو ۓ ہوتے تومزہ چکھا دیتے والدینیت کا…

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انکی پیدائش کے وقت سے جو ڈرامہ شروع ہوتا ہے تو وہ وقت تک ختم نہیں ہوتا جب تک وہ اذیت سے چیخ نہ اٹھیں… اور اس وقت مولوی حضرات سامنے آ جاتے ہیں اپنے جنّت اور جہنّم کے فتوے لے کر… حمایت علی شاعر کے الفاظ کو تھوڑا سے تبدیل کردیں تو ماں باپ سے کہا جا سکتا ہے… تخلیق کے ہر کھیل میں ہوتا ہے بہت جان کا زیاں، اولاد کو اولاد سمجھ مشغلہ دل نہ بنا… بھوک، پیاس، گندگی، خوف، بیماریاں، زبان اور قومیت کے بارے میں احساس کمتری، چالیس چالیس پچاس پچاس سالوں کی عمروں والے زندہ کارٹون…. کوئی اچھا نظارہ نہیں پاکستان اور خاص کر کراچی کے بچوں کے پاس، جگہ جگہ تو الطاف حسین کی بد صورت تصویروں کی صورت میں اذیت کے سامان موجود ہیں… اچھی سوچ آۓ کہاں سے…

Educational Emergency in Pakistan

Whatever it means, we’ve got to do something about it.  By the way, when, in the history we had not been into educational crisis.  We only declared it now.

I have few questions in my mind…

1- What made us realize that we are facing a nation-wide educational emergency – general moral decline, increasing street crimes, extremism in behaviour, rising family issues, obscenity,  students’ inability to read/write/understand/solve problem or something else? 

We usually use the word ‘education’ as a solution to all problems.  If I say yes to all these elements, then obviously education alone can’t serve as an antidote.  Education is a process of academic activities that spreads over many years.  It doesn’t work like a magic wand.  People can’t be excused for their moral misbehaviour just because they have never been to school.  Street crimes aren’t only the result of economic crisis but a youth adventure and  part of political games too.  Family issues rise because of injustice and conspiracies.  Extremism and obscenity are the matters of self control.

It is actually “students’ inability to read/write/understand/solve problems” which has proved parents, school administrations and the ministry of education a big failure.  Parents actually are the key investors, they should set a guideline for themselves, use their rights to interfere in schooling system, pressurize the ministry of education to take right steps for quality education.  Parents should learn how to deal with children, how to motivate them towards learning, how to discipline them, how to evaluate their intellectual skills, etc.

Remember, a society consists of families, which are led by parents.  Good parents means good society.

2- Who declared this emergency or is it a divine declaration?

This emergency must have been declared by very concerned patriots of Pakistan.  Otherwise, parents only care about their own children, rest go to Hell.  Ministry of Education is aimless and incompetent.  School administrations are mostly run by or are influenced with political parties – and we know the fact that political parties would never support a ‘strong Pakistan based educational system in Pakistan”.  English medium schools of Karachi and Sindh and many colleges are good example of it.

3- Which people exactly have responded worriedly about this emergency – parents, higher level students, teachers, school administrations, ministry of education, government, illiterate majority or literate minority?

I think that parents, teachers, school administrations, ministry of education, government and illiterate majority are worried about this emergency.  They have been playing a very set monetary game so far, they wouldn’t want to see things improving.  Higher level students are more worried about the utilization of their degrees, how to gain what they have spent on education.

4- Which elements have caused this disastrous situation – over population, imported curriculum, non-qualified teachers, inefficient school administrations, parents’ illiteracy, television programs, overall negligence of our society?

If everyone, which means each one of us, agree upon all of them – what would then each one of us do something about them?  Teachers school staff come from common houses.  Parents can’t control television channels but can control the television set in their home.  Parents, women especially, can sacrifice two hours stupid morning shows and use that time to improve their literacy and ILLITERACY even after achieving a degree or diploma.

5-  What state of educational crisis are we in? 

a)  The students in schools and colleges are unable to read and write independently – an essay, an application, an article, an incident, an event, a story, even a paragraph.  They have no habit of using a dictionary or a thesaurus.  They are unable to do even simple mathematical calculations.

b)  About 7 million children in Pakistan do not go to school.

This simply means that the tinee tiny official funds for education and parents’ money that they spend on their children’s education, all have been wasted – by whom? – by parents, school administrations and ministry of education.

There is no planning for non-attendees to learn to read and write.

What is education?

Dictionaries say: Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.  It is the act of imparting or acquiring skills as for a profession.  It is a kind of schooling.

“Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next.”  Jhon Dewey in Democracy and Education

Pakistan is a gender-based, family-oriented, feudal-minded society.  Gender-based in a sense that different standards are set for boys and girls.  Family-oriented because children are not allowed to violate family tradition and decisions taken by elders no matter how stupid they sound.  Feudal-minded – showing the attitude of ‘might is right’ so people, instead of focusing on rights, consume their efforts in gaining authority.

In Pakistan, the general concept of education is limited to financial gains and loss; a degree or diploma or any state which can enable to earn livelihood.  They find it totally useless if degree fails in getting them a job of standard they have set.  The majority of Pakistan want to spend not a single paisa and no time on education, all they want it for free.

Education in Pakistan has no value for elite and show-biz people, they have no reason to think about it.  Most educated lot, thinkers and NGOs are influenced with western style of education – they are obsessed with English –  their children speaking English and that’s it – what are they learning in English and its effect, they don’t care about it – Pakistan is none of their concern.

WHAT SOULD BE DONE IN THIS SITUATION?

1- This is very unfortunate that there are all kind of television channels running in Pakistan but an educational one except Virtual University which is for higher level students.

In America, PBS is dedicated to children’s program, teaching them letters, vowels, words, rhyming, syllables, sentence formation, politeness, communication skills, friendship, kindness to animals, caring animals and plants, etc.

2- While introducing imported curriculum in Pakistan, we totally ignore the fact that those high standard curriculum are not ‘high standard’ for where they are taken from.  Those are English countries.  Their children are born in an English speaking environment so they make their curriculum not to introduce a second language to their children but to learn skills in their own language.  When their teachers say ‘what is this?’, their children know what she is saying.

For our students, English is a second language.  Our children don’t even watch English cartoons or movies in English but Hindi.  So they don’t get to hear what they are forced to excel in at the age of 4 or 5.  This is not the matter of English or Urdu, very wickedly, Pakistani children are attracted to adopt Hindi through commercials, cartoons and movies.

3- Schools and colleges should be free of political influence.

4- Montessori syllabus and the categorization of subjects in 9th and 10th grade are both perilous.

Montessori syllabus in Pakistan is a violation of its own objectives and a great burden on little minds, which results in losing interest in learning anything by the age of 10.

This weird classification of subjects restricts growing minds from thinking extensively.  Science, Arts, Home-Economics, Computers – all divided in main groups – this is non-sense.

5- For those have no chance of going to school need to be placed where they can spend at least half day to learn unlike schooled children.