"A person like me.."

A person like me can never pay allegiance to a person like Yazid. - Said the Grandson of (all) Muslim's Last Prophet once. What followed marked a turn of political events in the Islamic history. 

Recently, there has been a strong debate about this line, for the line seems liberated from any cultural, timely or political context. Across centuries, it still holds true. For it depicts two sides. 

We often are asked, or often ask ourselves. If we were to witness and had to choose a side, which side would we have been on. It takes less than a moment to respond, of course the right side. It takes decades to realize the bitter reality otherwise. 

For the stance to stand with the Right, the Truth is beyond selective definition of Oppression and Oppressed or comparative misery. 

Sounding like an utterly whiny typical human with a typical complain, scrolling down my newsfeed on twitter & facebook, I receive countless requests daily requesting support in every way for Palestine. Which I try supporting..in every single way I can. 

Having said that, I pause and feel guilty. No matter how hard I try not to, I end up judging. I judge us. I judge us at our silence for one stance and extra enthusiasm for another. 

I judge our selective marketing of one human misery while ignoring another. 

I judge myself for writing this, because I am unsure if this judgement stems from the fact that my sect is attacked everyday or from the fact that I truly mean it. 

I am happy that we are feeling so much for Palestine, I am sad because we never felt so much for minority killings in Pakistan.

I am sad because no matter what we say, we are selective in our stance of choosing which misery to support. 

I am sad that an average Pakistani feels SO much for Palestine while feeling less (if anything) for minority killings back home. 

I am sad because the last time I saw similar vigor for my sect was at the peaceful sit-ins one year ago. A lot many humans from my community have been killed since then. We may agree and even accept the reality of these killings, but no, our vigor to support minorities in my country remains extremely weak and unsustainable. 

I am sad because our support for Gaza will die (hopefully not), just the way our support for minorities has died. 

Our expression and support for Justice and our Right to Stand against Oppression seems in a little wave. It comes and goes. Fad as they call it. 

     

This sadness in anyway can't underestimate what is happening in Gaza. But my selective silence and carefully choosing to support a misery seems as good as BBC's selective coverage of Gaza. 

We have always been told, there are two kinds of people in this world. Good or Bad. Hussain or Yazid. Gaza or Israel. I think, there are three kinds of people in this world today. Good, Bad and the one waiting to choose a side. Hussain, Yazid and people of Kufa. Gaza, Israel and people today.

We all choose to support causes based on what our friends, family and broader network has to say. We all influence each other's support for a cause. Ironically, we seldom critically assess our motivations for our support.

So don't give me your Gaza support, for I'll recall what your stance has been for minorities (including the sect you happen to share your religion with) in Pakistan. If your stance has been silence, I will judge your  support for Gaza as short-lived while praying for Gaza to earn some strong, sustainable and loyal supports who understand what Injustice, Oppression and Misery means across borders, identities and sects.

And don't give me Hussain's philosophy if your selective silence to killings back home have been reflecting your support for Yazid. And please don't give me numbers, for you will sound just like any other media house justifying their selective coverage.

Don't justify your niceness for it will only make your silence speak louder.

Aao.

Aao khamosh kerein.

Aao khamosh kerein her us soch ko.
us andr kay insaan ko.
un nafsani baton ko.
un khwabun ko. un sochun ko.
un khwabun mein palnay walay rangun k mirage ko.
un batun ko un cheezun ko.
un duniyawi hasratun ko.
un bemaani bebaat si ana k dard ko
Aao paar kerein androni paharun ko.
un jungalun ko..un sehra ko.
jo andr he andr paltay hain.
jo khamoshi k alam mein Khudi say Jung kertay hain.
jo aaj bhi hain aur kal bhi thay.
jo barhtay qadm ko, us azm ko, us muskurahat ko dard mein mubtila kertay hain.
jo apnay gham ko Khudi k saamnay laakr, Khudi ko behkaatay hain.

Aao khamosh kerein us duniya ko.
us waqt ko jo aaj is pal is waqt nahi.
us ehsaas ko jo ghuzra kal aur anay wala kal hai.
us darr ko jo masoomiyet k libaday main Khudi ko iztiraabi khaifiyet mein dalta hai.

Aao khamosh kerein khud ko. Un awazun ko. Un baatun ko. Un iradun ko. Un khwabun ko. Un sochon ko. Jo Khudi ko subkuch honay ka ghalat ehsaas deyti hain.

Tum ho bhi aur kuch bhi nahi.
aao bus khamoshi say jung kerein.
Apni khamoshi mein apni androni jung mein, subkuch bhool jayen.
Jo ho, woh sub kuch is maidan mein layao.
Aao apni ana ko, apnay dukh ko, apnay dard ko, apni umeedun ko khamosh kerdein.

aaao sirf Kuch bhi nahi bann jayen.
aaao har pal yeh khoshish kerein k hum kuch bhi na rahain.

Two.

There are two kinds of wine in front of me.  

One is good for me. It is pure. 

The other is not good for me. It is impure. 

Every second, I have to choose either of the two. 

The trouble is, both look the same. 

To the world, they may even taste the same. 

The only person who can differentiate between the two is me. 

However, both are addictive. Both taste well and both help me go high. 

One boasts my ego. The other boasts my soul. 

One is expecting and counting what others did for me, how much time they give to me. 

The Other is Living above it in the state of Stillness, and of Being and of Nothingness. 

One is fear. The Other is Courage. 

One is disagreeing endlessly to prove oneself as the right one. The Other is Meaningful Silence. 

One is vulnerabilities. The Other is Struggle. 

One is avoiding. The Other is acknowledging. 

One is denying. The Other is surrendering to Him and praying. 

One is shackles of my mind, darkness of my short shortsightedness. The Other is Vision and Liberation of thought. 

One is holding things down. The Other is letting things go. 

One is illusion of completion. The Other is Completion. 

One is addiction. The Other is Nothingness. 

One is rebelling, reacting by being a victim, by imposing on others. The other is Patience and Silence. 

One is naivety of suffering. The other is Beauty of Suffering.  

One is obsession to feel happy. The Other is Joy. 

One is gathering things. The Other is giving away things. 

One is my stream of thoughts, my ego, my world of whisperers that whisper Illusions of what I am and could be. 

The Other is a Struggle against all to remain as Nothing as possible. 

There are two wines in front of me. 

I choose. I decide. Every single moment. I decide which one to have and which one to ignore. For, "any wine will get you high, judge like a King and choose the purest"