The Weakest Link

It’s a famous English TV show weekly showcased worldwide in different formats, which took its start from BBC 2 is quite an interesting game show that will end somewhere is December next year. To sum up the format of the game show, there is a group of players/ participants, who work together, and bank money. If a wrong answer is given, a certain precaution if not applied earlier, they lose money. But to winning money there is one more interesting element in the game. The players get to decide, who they no more want to play along them. Participants vote him out. And it can be any one. It can be the one who was the strongest was statistically the strongest link but others show him the way out and the disciplinarian host tell that person “The team has found you guilty and I hereby sentence you to the walk of shame”. The only thing important here is that the participant’s main goal is to bank in maximum money and to keep eliminating the ones who might be a hindrance in achieving the main goal. With each elimination the time period of each round gets little and little and only one person wins at the end.



Every nation every society has its own game show, people play and participant in reality shows that go around and about everything from daily lives to the most personal affairs. While watching this game show, I saw a reality game show around ourselves where we are all a participant and are in a constant struggle to excel. As famously said by William Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”



In our society there are only two players in the running game show. Its men and women. But the rules are a little different. In case there is a winner both are winners, there is no sudden death, and if there is a looser both are losers and both are destined to die and eventually the society will die. What we see in our society are diminishing moral values, escape from responsibilities and cut shorts to presumed glories. The recent Supreme court verdict on Mukhatara Mai case not only has opened wounds which were still not fully healed but also has reminded us of the grin reality that we are moving towards downfall, as one part of our society is turning into our weakest link. With our non - caring and non approving attitude it is turning rebellious, more ignorant of its duties and is turning away and more speedily opting to values other than our own.



We are turning our women into “The Weakest Link” of our age and pushing them towards shame and disgrace. We no longer give them the place they deserve as Mother, Sister, Wife or Daughter. One section of our society wants them to be behind veils and curtains of darkness, and even denies their basic right of education and on the other hand there is another section that would treat them as an object of mere beauty and would not leave a single chance in fulfilling their humanly desires. Here arises the main question will we ever reach the final round of the game in such a situation whre both participants are to play their role, or we both shall get eliminated in the making.



We need to educate our women. Because only educated women can give the society better children. Here education is not merely college or university degree. It is education in all sense, which shall encompass all the spheres of life. We have to give them room so that their abilities and their skills can be polished. Humans are born with equal mind. We have to realize it’s time that we do not keep the better half of our society paralyzed with our customary thinking which has developed over the ages, and has nothing to do with our religion. We have to go forward hand in hand win it all together. We have to take up our responsibility. We should always remember these words from the last sermon of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Salalahu Aliye Wasalam) in which he said,

“O People! it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.”



And what beautifully Allama Iqbal says,

اک زندہ حقیقت مرے سینے میں ھے مستور

کیا سمجھے گا وہ جس کی رگوں میں ھے لھو سرد

نا پردا نا تعلیم نئ ہو کہ پرانی

نسوانيت زن كا نگہباں ھے فقط مرد

جس قوم نے اس ژندہ حقیقت کو نہ پایا

اس قوم کا خورشید بہت جلد ہوا زرد



“We need to turn The Weakest Link of our society into our Strongest Link”

You were right

Its early morning, on Oct. 12, 1999 and I am standing at the Multan airport, waiting for a passenger on a flight from Saudi enroute from Lahore to receive some of important documents. My driver has left me as he had important jobs to finish whereby the flights kept getting delayed and my frustrations started to grew. I was visiting the PIA information desk again and again for information on any flight heading towards Multan. Meanwhile a flight landed but the information desk would not give any names of the passengers. While I was waiting for the signs of any passenger I knew, the Tahsildar who was in charge of my hospitality came running in the airport and said, “Baita meray sath chaloo, abhi aik siphaya aa gayee ga aur ham sab yaheen pashay raheengay”. We sat in his Pajero and left the airport hurriedly. The tahseldar belonged to a well to do family and was supposedly doing a govt. job to keep up the family name (which was otherwise false – A tasheldar with a Pajero? It is Pakistan). We reached his home it was previously a PPP hub, now turned into Leghari group.

I saw people distributing sweets and cheering on bus tops and motorbikes. I was confused and getting nervous at this sudden jubilation and asked what is going on. There was no reply. On reaching home we had a splendid lunch. I had just returned from NCC and was dying for a home cooked food as it was months I was away from home. I went to my room and called my Khallu a Major at that time in army, he was in Karachi during operation and was now posted at Khariyan, I loved to talk to him, because he was brave, well built and an ideal baloch soldier. While we were having chit chat he abruptly said, “aur phir Malik sahib kay pass fougi aaa gayee hain”. Unfortunately there was no TV in my room and I did not carry a cell phone with me during those times. I was shocked, I asked what, and why? Because I was never expecting something like this. Malik sahib was my uncle at that time Assistant Commissioner at Jallal Pur Perwala. The major was happy the army is now in control of the DMG after a hefty bhal safayee.

Nawas Sharif was one of the politicians I admired, Musharraf was one of the COAs I liked, as up till then Kargil episode had been over, and to my the then knowledge Pakistani Army had given a hard beating to the Indians. In fact I adhored Musharraf so much that I started learning shooting with a pistol and even tried a Benson & Hedges and got heavy scolding from my cousin. I was in dismay, non approving, but when I got the glimpse of BBC I realized it’s all over we are back to ground zero. I saw army men jumping into the PTV headquarters. Nawaz Sharif had been put behind bars and Musharraf was the new Chief Executive seizing all powers.

Afterwards I called my uncle in Karachi, and said you were right and hung up. My uncle (chacha) was Assistant Director with the AG Pakistan at that time and was at that time was supervising the audit of PNSC (there is a sad story of PNSC which I will narrate some other time). While once going with him in his chauffer driven car, it was around February or January the same year, and Kargil incident had not taken place, he read aloud a news clipping it was around , “Americe hakoomat nay Pakistani foug ku inteba kia haay kaay vu mulk kay andar kissi bhi kisim ki mohem johi say baz rahay”. I had exclaimed it is impossible, people from Karachi to Khyber like Nawas Sharif he has been the sole tool of getting us realized as a declared nuclear state. He laughed back, and said, I have never seen such a fool in my life as this man. I did not want to hear him, as I remembered 1997 when in our school in Riyadh we had huge jubilations, we held celebrations and had put Nawaz Sharif’s speech on a gigantic screen whereby he had addressed the nation after carrying out nuclear tests. Chachagi continued, dear the world fears him and fears Islam as a code of conduct for daily life. The poor fellow has already misused his delegated authority. I said how, first these nuclear tests and secondly the National assembly has passed the 15^th amendment which will Islamize the country’s constitution. I said chahchagi, per bill tu already pass hu chukka haay. He explained still they do not have majority in the Senate and in coming June there are going to be Senate elections and once it gets approved the whole 15^th amendment will be part of our constitution. I still replied he will keep up, he has the 2/3^rd majority the people have voted for him, we are democratic country and it is no more 70s. He would say nothing and would just smile back.

I realized we are not a free nation. We got the independence but we never became independent. We went slaves to our desires and our pride. As a nation and as individuals we are egoistic, stubborn and unthankful. We make the same mistakes over and over again. We make promises and then brake them. We stand up and then fall. We became a nation then we fell into individuality. Nations which flourish and succeed do not carry egos, do not back out on their promises, do not repeat their mistakes. Still by the end of each day, we pray to God and say O Allah bless us, with your blessing. but we forget what he has said in Quran. In Surrat Ar-Ra`d "For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron"

and beautifully summed up by Allama Muhammad Iqbal for a common man to understand easliy.

خدا نے آج تک ا س قوم حالت نھین بدلی

نا ہو خیال جس کو خود آپ اپنی حالت کے بدلنے کا