Why People Hate Poetry? Because Schools have Taught them to Hate Poetry!

Why people hate poetry? Because schools did not teach them "to love poetry" but they actually taught them "to hate poets and their poetry". If you want students "to hate poetry" ask them to (1) write explanations (tashreeh) of poems, and (2) memorize life history and style (tarz-e-kalam) of poets, (3) associate grades with their learning of poetry, (4) make poetry a mind-activity instead of a heart-activity, (5) value subjects according to their potential for earning and employ-ability. The schools have sucked the life out of poetry by forcing the students to consider it as an object devoid of life, feelings and emotions, something that resides in mind and not in heart. Poetry is about feelings and emotions and expressing those emotions through similes and metaphors. Poetry is not about dissecting in a pedantic sort of the way why, when and how to write and appreciate good poetry. Unfortunately, schools specialize in making the students hate poetry through all the above ways.

Shahjehan S Karim - Visionary Social and Ethical Leadership

Founder President of IoBM, Mr Shahjehan S Karim left this world for the hereafter today. Inna lillah e wa inna ilaihi rajioon. Several thoughts came rushing to my mind about this great man and his achievements that have been an inspiration to me and to countless others. [July 16, 2017]

Essential Law for Masses: Perry Mason and my Learning

Would there be court room drama in upcoming SC JIT trial of Nawaz Sharif? Would there be arguments, counter arguments, counsels for the defendants and the prosecution? Would there be dissection of the evidence using the fine lens of law and constitution? Are there any Perry Mason (Erle Stanley Gardner's lawyer) enthusiasts of the fiction of court room drama around here?

Why no PM of Pakistan has ever completed his/her tenure?

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]
All elected PM's in Pakistan starting from Liaquat Ali Khan were never allowed by establishment to rule during their tenure. Whereas there were three military dictators who comfortably ruled for around decades, not a single PM has been allowed to complete their five years terms. 
Not a single PM has ever completed his/her full tenure! 19 PMs in 70 years of our history till 2017. 

Ulema Decree (Fatwa) against Suicide Bombings, Targeted Killings and Terrorism

There is a need to propagate the clear position of Islam that suicide is haram, murdering is among the gravest sin, and even taking the lives of foreign guests is haram [1,2,3,4]. 

Extremist positions of takfeeris and kharjis have always been condemned by the mainstream ulemas since the early days as far back as following the shahadat of Hazrat Umar, the 2nd Caliph.

Ethical Standards of 1940s. Due Diligence for writing Recommendation Letters: A Deputy Commissioner's refusal in 1943

I came across this 1943 letter from a Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kumaon Division which shows the high ethical standards of that time. The DC refuses the request from a friend to provide recommendation for his son on the grounds that the DC has never met his son and does not know the son personally enough to evaluate and provide a recommendation. Contrast this with today when anyone is willing to write a recommendation for anyone whether known personally or not.

Role of Sharifuddin Pirzada in Promulgating Martial Laws for Every Dictator of Pakistan

Sharifuddin Pirzada is responsible for assisting the violation of constitution and abuse of law by military dictators through the design of legal machinations and tools to subdue the judiciary and replace it with compliant judges. He supervised the drafting of the "mairay humwatano...." speeches for the coup plotters and dictators from Gen Ayub Khan, to Gen Yahya Khan, to Gen Zia to Gen Musharraf. This jugglery and twisting of law had been called wizardry for which he was titled as "Jadoogar of Jeddah"! He designed for dictators the instruments  for subduing the judiciary and legitimizing the violation of law and constitution as Martial Law, and its substitution with MLR, PCO, MLO, etc. Looking back at this history of usurping of the constitution and law and for his role in the promulgation of Martial Laws in Pakistan he should be remembered as:

Nang e qanoon, nang e aaien, nange e millat
Friend of the dictators, enemy of the people!

Fool Rejoicing in Someone Else's Marriage/Fight: Parai ki LaRai/Shadi mai Abdulla Deewana

This post details how Pakistan had been entangled in someone else's war in anticipation of some crumbs falling to Pakistan as a largess in US Wars. In all these cases the results have been disastrous for Pakistan. This post is motivated by Pakistan's another venture to join the new US' Middle East War that portends huge costs for Pakistan vis-a-vis its neighbors especially Iran because the US Alliance of Arab Countries which is dominated by despots and royals is primarily against Iran, and Pakistan desperately needs a friendly neighbor on the West because its influence in Afghanistan has now been eclipsed by India [1].

To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions: Pakistan History 101

Why Dictatorships are Weaker in Accountability than Constitutional Governments

At What Cost? Costs of perceived strictness of military dictatorships vs the reality of constitutional governments in Pakistan. The comparison in this post indicates that the perception of better accountability in clean dictatorship is not valid because in the long term the constitutional governments of corrupt politicians deliver a far better accountability than the dictatorships which are forever trying to buy their legitimacy.  The table below indicates the stark contrast of 9 years of dictatorship of General Musharraf from 1999-2008 versus 9 years of civilian governments of Asif Zardari (2008-13) and Nawaz Sharif (2013-to date in 2017). It is mistakenly believed in Pakistan that dictatorships are cleaner and better in managing the accountability than the civilian governments. This perception is mainly due to the misunderstanding of how a constitutional democracy conducts the accountability. 

To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions

Family Tree Shajra of Sadat e Nehtaur: A Case Study of Compilation of Social History

Sadat e Nehtaur Shajra Compilation Effort

Syed Mohammad Khurshid Alam Zaidi

Khursheed Alam Zaidi in his keynote address at a get together of Sadat-e-Nehtaur on 7th May 2017 related the impressive history of compilation of "shajra" of Sadat-e-Nehtaur. The shajra documents their history in India from around 1175 AD when the ancestors moved from Tirmiz to Kaithal and later settled in Nehtaur: 

جب شہاب الدین غوری ہندوستان پر حملہ کرنے کیلئے افغانستان میں آئے تو ان کی ملاقات *جناب میر سید کمال الدین ترمزی* سے ہوئی جو *بہ ارادہ تبلیغ* اپنے اہل و عیال کے ساتھ ہندوستان جا رہے تھے ‫. *شہاب الدین غوری* نے *میر صاحب* کو اپنے زیرِ حفاظت سفر کرنے کی پیشکش کی جسے *میر صاحب* نے یہ کہ کر قبول نہیں کیا کہ *ہم دونوں کے مقاصد مختلف ہیں‫. تم ِہندوستان پر حملہ کرنے جارہے ہو اور میں تبلیغِ کے لئے*‫. مگر میر صاحب نے اپنے ہمراہ *گیارہ میں سے ایک بیٹے (میر سید ابراہیم شاہ)* کو شہاب الدین کے سپرد کر دیا *(جو بعد میں ہانسی قلعے پر حملہ کے دوران شہید ہو کر وہیں مدفون ہیں)*.

میر کمال الدین کے ایک صاحبزادے *میر جلال الدین* کے عیال میں سے ایک صاحب *جناب میر سید حسن (نہٹوری)* نے ہمارے خاندانی قصبہ (نہٹور) میں نقلِ مکانی کی‫. ہمارا موجودہ خاندانِ *ساداتِ نہٹور انہی کی عیال پر مشتمل ہے.

Importance of Literature in Law: A Case Study of the Panama Case Supreme Court Judgement

Importance of literature in law and legal judgments and arguments in the floor is an established tradition. This post collects together various quotations from masterpieces of literature in the Supreme Court judgement on the Panama Case Scandal on April 20, 2017. It also contains the references to Quranic definitions of Sadiq and Ameen. I think universities can use this judgement to enable a deep appreciation of how matters of law and constitution are analyzed in the context of culture, literature, religion, constitution and history. This judgement is also a very good example of how qualitative research methods are employed in dissecting the arguments and then reaching a judgement.

SC judgement starts with the following attribution to Mario Puzo's Godfather and Balzac:

Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, J.: The popular 1969 novel ‘The Godfather’ by Mario Puzo recounted the violent tale of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating: 

"Behind every great fortune there is a crime." — Balzac

Mukhtar Masud's Awaz-e-Dost and Love for Literature and History

A literary social autobiography that is poetry in prose; beauty in words and imagery; each sentence contains a world of meaning, ideas, conflicts illustrated through metaphors, and references to deep historical events, people, places, contrasts, arts, architecture, insights, classics, writers, leaders, historical figures.... A book that gives a personal view of Pakistan history through hopes, aspirations, longings, feelings, inspirations of a person who was there in Aligarh when Khalida Adeeb Khanum was speaking and flowers were raining down on her in the auditorium, when Quaid e Azam's carriage was being hauled by the students from the station, when Iqbal came and spoke,.... . Extremely poignant vignettes of Raja Sb Mehmoodabad, Zafar Ali Khan, Toynbee, Bahadur Yar Jung, Majaz...... Takes you to that time and that world and that era when history was being made. And later in the 1950-60s when the leaders who made Pakistan were being sidelined. Makes you feel as they felt. Makes you wonder why people can't feel it that way again. My father was there in Aligarh during those times. This book depicts many of his feelings.

Mukhtar Maud (M). Irfan Hyder (L), Omar (R). June 2008

Through the descriptions in this book, I try to picture what my father who was in Aligarh during the 1930s, would have felt and imagined. My father did not much talk about those times. He was among those who could not express his disillusionment with the course taken by Pakistan after its inception with its continuous slide in ethics and morality; taken over by rulers who had no idea of what partition was, why it came into being, what were the reasons. Rulers who felt no association with the founding fathers and their aspirations and ideals. Ideals that have been thrown away. Ideology that is trampled every day. Manzil unhain mili jo shareek e safa na thay.

Awaz e Dost. What a book, what a writer! First read this book in 1980, and was taken to a different world. I can still feel the disappointment when I finished it. Wanted to know more about the people and places. Frantically searched for other books that he may have written related to Pakistan history. Had read Awaz e Dost several times since. Each reading is rewarding as it takes you to a different dimension and a higher level. I had read portions of the books many more times. Mukhtar Masud's Safar Naseeb does a similar thing with imagery, beauty, aesthetics, nature, and arts encountered in his travels. The only time I felt that I should have been joined the civil service to enjoy the privileges of travel on government expense.

My most pleasurable time was the one spent doing joint reading with my two elder sons. We read one paragraph a day in the morning before the breakfast during the mid 2000s. Took several months to complete. Used to discuss the hidden meanings in each sentence, phrase and word. I feel the urge of learning Persian to appreciate his frequent references to Persian couplets of Iqbal and other poets. However, fortunately my Urdu reading experience is such that I can enjoy the wonders of his mastery of language. Currently, a similar reading is taking place with my third son. Each subsequent reading makes me aware of the meanings that I could not fathom in my previous reading. It makes me aware of what I don't know and need to.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mukhtar Masud sb at his home on Canal Road in June 2008. Had an interesting one hour discussion about the book. Took several copies of the book and got them personalized for my nephews and sons. I mentioned that there is a need to write a "sharah" (explanation) of his book with footnotes detailing all the references. He said that he has written the book. This explanation should be written by others. A project that I would love to do in future.

The autographed book refers to my two elder sons; Hassaan Hyder and Azzaam Hyder .

My most cherished segment of the book is the following. See how in one sentence he moves across centuries and historical events and then uses the lessons drawn to explain our current state and crisis. The metaphorical beauty of relating the physical distance between Alamgir Mosque in Lahore and Minar e Pakistan with Sikh era's Gurdwara and the British era's building and connecting it with Sikh rule and British rule in between the Mughal rule and the Pakistani rule. In this capacity, he can be compared with Qurratul Ain Hyder. They make you travel across time and space in a single sweep of sentence and make you appreciate social changes, cultural changes, rise and falls of nations. They can contrast one grand historical figure with another, compare a nation in the north with another in the south, compare races across millennia, highlight the conflicts in emotions, and take you across civilizations. This comes with a deep grasp of history, reflection and understanding of people.

Example of a Grand Sweep of History

Connecting history with physical layout of this historical area and
diagnosis of the malaise afflicting Pakistan

I learned about the greatest historian of 20th century; Toynbee and how just talking and reading about history is not enough. He is best known for his 12-volume A Study of History (1934–1961). On my visit to British Council I found a pictorial abridged A Study of History in a single volume that I issued and read. A few years ago I got the same pictorial history book from Frere Hall books stalls. The book stimulated my interest in history and historical figures.

What I learned from the book:

• How beautiful can prose be. 
• How one can travel across eras and times in a single sweep of a sentence. 
• Appreciation of paintings. 
• Developed interest in history. 
• Unveiled hidden aspects of personalities of historical figures. 
• Made me aware of my lack of knowledge. 
• Reflection on great ideas. 
• Explore and learn more about people, ideas, places. 

Credits:

• Mr Fayyaz Alam's Facebook page: 

How do I lift thee from the mundane: Musings of a Dean

How Do I Lift Thee From the Mundane

What a fleeting time is youth!

that beckons the future
that walks in beauty
that gallops with force
that exudes energy in every motion
that dances with the daffodils
that climbs every mountain
that explores every valley
that aspires for the stars

5 Phone Behaviors of Employees who Need to be Fired

Based on my experience with dealing with people over the last so many years, I have identified the following phone behaviors that should raise a red flag about the ethical values and personal responsibility of an employee. A manager can use these phone behaviors to identify the employees who need to be fired or got to be replaced:

5 Major Misconceptions of Muslim Parents regarding Parenting Challenges of the 21st Century

[Themes of this post were presented at Forward Institute for Educational Bridgework Seminar on Jan 27, 2016. ]

Note: This post is specifically written for Muslim parents and presupposes reader's belief in Quran and Sunnah.
Over the last few years I have come across Muslim parents who are making extra effort in following Sunnah. However, their over-emphasis on "school education" seems to be backfiring creating several issues stifling the growth of their children. Their misplaced emphasis and strictness reveals several major misconceptions from the Islamic point of view:

Why Students Avoid and Stop Taking the Course of Some Teachers: 7 Top Reasons

Over the last 37 years in higher education  as student (from 1980-94), and as faculty member and academic administrator (since 1995), I have come across scores of instances  where students went out of the way to avoid certain teachers, dropped the course en-mass, ganged up to remove the teacher, walked out or simply dropped the course whenever it was possible possible. Here are some of the top reasons for why students avoid certain teachers and drop their courses en-mass:

Why Educational Experiments are "Doomed" to Succeed?

It is often said that all educational experiments are doomed to succeed [1]. Here is my different take on this from the perspective of an educational reformer and educational leader.

There are tons of methodologies, experiments, strategies and their resources that are available to teachers. However, when a teacher designs a new educational experiment, it often means that he has exhausted most of the existing material that he could lay his hands on. He is so frustrated and so angry that he feels inspired to design a new educational experiment of his own.

Struggles of a Conscientious Government Servant: Lessons Learned from Memoirs of Irtiqa Zaidi

I felt honored when I was asked to review the book of memoirs of Mr Irtiqa Zaidi that is about to go into publication. The book is exciting, enjoying, and often a thrilling account of his photographic memory of the events spanning the expanse from his childhood in Quetta to his rise as a senior official in Government, where he was involved in some momentous agreements of Pakistan related to trade and commerce. 

My first meeting with Mr Irtiqa Zaidi was in the early 1970s when he got posted in Islamabad and came to stay at our place while waiting for the allotment of a suitable government accommodation. Irtiqa Chacha is a close relative of my father, and also the elder brother of my brother in law.   During that first winter when he was staying with us, I remember listening to his stories with my father, mother and sisters huddled around coal fire with blankets wrapped around us. I remember listening intently to his wonderful and picturesque narrations that were and still are full of humor and suspense with dramatic turns and twists from among the huge collection of his encounters and personal experiences. I recall that this fully captivating story telling sessions would often seamlessly extend for hours. I had the pleasure of listening to such experiences throughout the seventies when he was among those few relatives that we had in Islamabad, with whom we would regularly meet every week or so. During 1980s and later when I had moved to Karachi,  I would lose no opportunity during my trips to Islamabad to get that warmth of his riveting accounts often starting around dinner time and extending deep into the night.

At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions

Political discourse in Pakistan is punctuated with allegations and counter allegations without a formal study of the economic implications of the various decisions that have been rocking the country from as early as 1950s. The series of posts in this thread of "At What Cost" is attempt to build a framework for researchers to explore the economic costs of each of these decisions. The title of this series is based on my extensive discussions with late Mr Fazle Hasan of IBA in 1986-87. My later reflections on the lessons that he was trying to convey and which I vehemently disagreed with at that time, but have now come to appreciate only recently have been put down as the first post in this "At What Cost!" series: At What Cost! Fazle Hasan of IBA and our Computation of Economic Costs

The type of economic computation that is required can be seen from the computation of economic costs of joining War on Terror. Researcher may look at other models of computing the economic costs and can then do a similar analysis of the decisions that I have listed in the different tenures of people who have been ruling our country.

The despondency that we see in our people where they have started questioning the wisdom of our founding fathers on the basis of disastrous decisions by the successors is not a solution. Actually, it is foolish to blame our fathers for our behaviors. Blaming the Founding Fathers for Our Mistakes: Case of Pakistan analyzes this psychology. It also highlights that the existence of our country now depends upon a ruthless examination of all the costs of our political decisions, whether taken by sham democracies or by well meaning dictatorships. 

• Whither Writ of the State? Costs of Breakdown of Law and Constitution in Pakistan

I think the point from where to start is Chief Justice Munir's disastrous decision on Doctrine of Necessity that can be termed as the mother of all evils that has been afflicting our country. His decisions effectively condones the right of the might and has been responsible for all our compromises that were made with disastrous consequences. Our entire culture is now shaped by the operationalization of this doctrine of necessity in the form of "muk-muka" and "matti-pao" ethos that permeates all the communities and the workings of our organizations. Everyone would just like to "matti-pao" the history, regularize the wrongs and move on after a mutually beneficial "muk-muka". 

The first beneficiary of this might is right doctrine of necessity was General Ayub Khan. The disastrous decisions that his violation of rule of constitution brought upon our country are mentioned in Costs of General Ayub's Dicatatorship, and relate one hand to separation of East Pakistan through his blue eyed General Yahya and on the other hand to nationalization by ZAB, who used to call Gen Ayub his daddy. 

Gen Ayub's decision to violate his own constitution and handing over the power to General Yahya Khan, instead of the constitutionally mandated office of speaker, brought us the ignominy of the secession of half of our country. This is another example of the cost of Justice Munir's doctrine of necessity. There is of course a need to identify the disastrous implication of not following on the Justic Hamoodur Rehman Commission report and we are left crumbs of some fond memories of East Pakistan and the great loss that it represented. 

General Yahya's disastrous decision to give power to ZAB in 1971 as CMLA led to the development of a dynastic rule of sham democracies. The costs of sham democracies in Pakistan are being compiled. Their decisions related to Nationalization and Privatization all need to be analyzed separately. 

In comes Genereal Zia's with his11-year rule, and again on the shoulder of Justice Munir's Doctrine of Necessity. His disastrous autocratic decisions had long running economic implications for Pakistan and even today we are suffering from those disastrous decisions. Costs of General Zia's Dictatorship outline some of these decisions. The Afghan adventure through Jehadis may have given us some crumbs from USA, but have ended up making Pakistan a security state that is now vulnerable from every side. 

General Zia's infamous 8th amendment gave rise to the musical chairs between BB and NS for the next 11 years culmination. One can actually derive the distinction of what a sham democracy is through an analysis of these successive turns of one after the other between the two and their short truncated rules. Why Pakistani Democracies are a Sham? Costs of Controlling a Democracy from Outside details this impact. 

Yet another dictator General Musharraf comes on horseback fluttering the flag of Justic Munir's disastrous doctrine of necessity. His decision to make u-turn under the pressure of USA again submerges us in the quagmire from which we are still trying to extricate.  Costs of General Musharraf's Dictatorship lists those disastrous decisions.

When we look back at our history we learn that there have been huge Costs of Military Dictatorships of Pakistan, and the dominant view that saviors on horseback can be panacea for our ills is misplaced. There is a definite need to question whether Generals are Qualified to Make Long Term Strategy: Costs of Strategic Failures of Military Dictators! 

A deeper look at these dictatorial interventions and a continuous series of destabilization efforts during civilian rules indicate that this kind of destabilization is present in all the developing countries and is part of post-colonialism exploitation by the world superpowers, this has been named as neo-colonialism. My post on narratives designed to dishonor popular choice and support neocolonialism explains how neocolonialism spreads destructive narratives in developing countries which are taken up by vested interests and un-elected elites. These narratives are used to dishonor the will of the people, and justify the takeover by un-elected elites. This seems to be the history of post-colonialism in developing  countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and on and on through out all the old colonies of the imperial powers. This is how they are kept perpetually destabilized and hence "perpetually developing". 

 Doctrine of Necessity from CJ Munir to Judge Khosa: Role of Judiciary in the Service of Neocolonialism describes this intervention of judiciary. I think despite the protestations to the contrary by the supreme court that they have buried it, doctrine of necessity is alive and kicking. 

It is time to understand that rule of civilians,  however much contemptuous,  is better than dictatorial rule if we have to safeguard our independence. This can be seen from Why Dictator Generals are Weaker than Civilians Rulers in Withstanding External Pressure. This is also established by analyzing the evidence that Why Dictatorships are Weaker in Accountability than Constitutional Governments.

The neo-colonialism narratives can also be seen in the justification of the umpteenth removal of prime ministers. None of the prime ministers of Pakistan, 16 of them, have ever been able to complete their tenure. Premature removal is the fear of the stability that may arrive if a few of them are allowed to complete their tenures in succesion which will spoil the game plan of neocolonialism. Why no PM of Pakistan has ever completed his/her tenure provides a context of these issues.
[to be extended]

See Also: 

• At What Cost! Why Research on Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions
• At What Cost! Fazle Hasan of IBA and our Computation of Economic Costs
• Who has Greater Will and Resolve: Dictators vs Civilian Governments
• Traitor/Foreign Agent Production Factory of Pakistan
• Field Marshals of Pakistan: Costs of Sycophancy and Political Expediency
• Costs of Justice Munir's Doctrine of Necessity: 4 Martial Laws and 35 years of dicatorship
• Costs of Military Dictatorships of Pakistan
• Costs of General Musharraf's Dictatorship
• Costs of General Ayub's Dicatatorship
• Blaming the Founding Fathers for Our Mistakes: Case of Pakistan
• Why Pakistani Democracies are a Sham? Costs of Controlling a Democracy from Outside
• Costs of General Zia's Dictatorship in Pakistan
• Costs of Sham Democracratic Governments in Pakistan
• Are Generals Qualified to Make Long Term Strategy: Costs of Strategic Failures of Military Dictators
• Anti-National Language Policy leads to Rule by Rich and Corrupt Elites
• Get Pakistan out of this quagmire: Economic Cost of War on Terror for Pakistan
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Connecting vs Disconnecting with Relations- Sila e Rahmi vs Qata e Rahmi

Over the last few years, misconceptions regarding disconnecting from the relations (relatives, neighbors, colleagues) seem to be spreading. Disconnecting from relatives and relations is not a part of our culture or tradition. Our guidance has been to mend fences and work towards establishing relationships. Ethical leadership in our tradition requires that we care for those who throw garbage on you, make fun of you, or even try to harm you. Mohabbat fateh e Aaalim.

Left hand column shows the basis of our culture and traditions, whereas
the right hand column shows typical messages being shared on the facebook/whatsapp promoting
misconceptions that stand in stark opposition to our culture and traditions.