Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Sense of Security and Safety

I am a child I wish to be with those elders with whom I feel safe
I am a teenager I wish to be with those friends with whom I feel safe
I am an adult I wish to be in an environment in which I feel safe
I am professional I wish to have secured working conditions
I am a citizen I wish the governance to ensure my security and safety
I am an senior citizen I need a safe place to be at

Who are these people making my children threatened to go out and play in the play grounds
Who is making my teenagers feel unsafe
Who is harassing my young adults
Who is making my workforce feel insecure
Who is spoiling the good-governance
Who is making my senior citizens pray for death...

Whoever it is cannot be accepted and allowed to make my life miserable; if s/he is in my home, in my friends' circle, in my social circle, in my workplace, in my neighborhood or anywhere around me, or even if it is ME...I need to find him/her and tell "YOU are not acceptable; you have to change and be a person who gives others a sense of security and safety!"

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Banning websites fb pages and now a channel...is it a solution?

This is Pakistan. Not the only country where social media websites are banned. Not the only country where voices are silenced. Not the only country where hegemonic bodies in several forms exist and are getting stronger with every passing day. The issue here is are we ok with it? Do we really think that anyone saying or doing anything that we don't want to listen or see should be banned. And is it really possible to ban or silence voices in this time of information technology. Everything is still accessible even if we ban it. Every narrative still exist seven if we deny. Every thought still flourishes even if we try to block it.
To me the only possible way today is inclusion of all thoughts and narratives into our conversations and discourse. Let people hear various voices, let people analyze and let them find out the reality themselves instead of forcing them to believe in the single reality that we want them to believe. Let the human minds be free and let the conversations, debates and discussions happen. Lets not be afraid of difference of opinion rather let's try and support our opinions with evidence and logical reasoning. Instead of imposing one opinion on all let the opinions be built on the bases of strong evidenciary warrants.
But for that we need to be true and confident that we will be able to provide the evidence or we will admit that we were wrong...