Cheaper than water
Random thoughts
By Dr A Q Khan
The old saying “Nowadays blood is cheaper than water” tragically manifested itself at Karbala when the army of Yazid surrounded Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), the grandson of our Holy Prophet (PBUH), and his family and stopped their access to water. In all 72 people were martyred there. Hazrat Abbas (RA), brother of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) could not bear to see the suffering of the thirsty children and went out alone to fetch water from the river, ignoring the dangers involved. He was soon surrounded by the enemy and his hands were chopped off. Thereupon he held the leather water bag in his mouth. This scene has been immortalised by the legendary marsiago (composer of dirges), Mir Anis, in the following words:
Mashkiza tha key sheyr key munh mey shikar tha?
A somewhat similar situation prevails today and applies to this whole poor country. Items of daily necessity, though not completely unavailable, are beyond the reach of the poor (i.e., most of our countrymen). It has become a tradition in our country that whenever a shortage of some item is imminent, hoarders and profiteers create an artificial shortage and then sell it at an exorbitant price. People have no option but to pay the price demanded. Not only is the price exorbitant, but quality is compromised too. The most recent examples of this are of flour and sugar. The poor suffered while the hoarders and profiteers made billions, practically overnight. It is most unfortunate that both the ruling elite and the opposition participate in this dirty practice, and hence no strict measures are taken or enforced to contain the menace.
In the olden days life was much simpler. People were content and thankful to Allah. If they could afford only roti and dahl they were not ashamed to say so. Nowadays dahl costs about Rs100 per kg, way beyond the means of the poor.
Every day we see more than one ad on TV promoting one brand or another of edible oils. Tables are shown over-laden with dishes of all kinds, with only two, three or four people at the table. Imagine the feelings this vulgar display must create in the hearts of the millions of poor who can’t even afford three square meals a day. It is high time a code of conduct was laid down for TV advertisements. Ads such as these should not be shown, as they are an insult to the poor and their poverty.
While meat, vegetables, fruits, pulses, flour, sugar, tea, etc., are essential commodities, let us not forget water–I mean clean, potable water. Due to load-shedding and mismanagement by the supplying agencies, there is hardly any water available in the supply lines. One sees long queues of poor people–old men, women and children–gathered around a single tap to get a container full of water. They mostly have to depend on tankers, which seem to be under the control of a mafia. While to the poor water is sold at a high price–and even then it is not potable, often brackish and/or taken from unhygienic sources–the well-to-do can enjoy bottled mineral water. It is difficult to say whether the mineral water supplied by many companies is actually of good quality, but the illusion of drinking pure water gives great satisfaction to the rich.
So much about food and water–necessities of life–but even more shocking is the fact that blood seems to have become cheaper than water in this Land of the Pure. When you leave your house, you are not sure whether you will return alive. There are many dangers lurking outside–traffic accidents due to rash and negligent driving, kidnapping for ransom and targeted killings, to name but a few. Being fed up with officials’ lethargic attitude, the mischief perpetrated by influential people, such as the feudals, and without having recourse to justice, people have taken matters into their own hands, resorting to any means. Equally deplorable are the actions taken by the various intelligence agencies whereby opponents of those in power are either made to disappear or are killed in fake encounters. Worse still is the complicity of the rulers in allowing US drone attacks. Thousands of innocent men, women and children have been literally blown to pieces without having anything to do with insurgents (if you must insist on calling them this).
Even those who have taken oaths to protect our physical frontiers (but are often more interested in the so-called ideological ones) have joined hands in this dirty work, all for the sake of a few dollars and a few trips to the USA. We are so proud of ourselves when we eagerly claim to have killed X number of our own people. Do we perhaps receive head bounties, as Gen Musharraf claimed in his book? Why bother with a complicated oath. Why not a simple one whereby it is agreed to obey, without question, every order given by the rulers?
As if all this is not enough, the cruel method of targeted killings to eliminate opponents has now become common. The residents of Karachi–my city–have become the main targets. The city (and the whole province) is ruled by a PPP-MQM-ANP coalition, and each party is blaming the other for this heinous crime. Only ordinary citizens are targeted. Not a single leader of any party has sacrificed his life. Condemnation of these acts has been formulated, promises made and secret talks held, but nothing changes. It seems that in Karachi, blood is much cheaper than water, even more so than it was at Karbala. We can’t expect Hazrat Umar (RA) or Hajjaj bin Yusuf to bring peace and stop this menace, but we can hope for someone effective to put an end to this heinous crime. Whenever some unknown person is killed, one or other of the parties immediately claim them to be their party member and the claims of the number of people killed is increased for political leverage.
We all know that the law enforcing agencies are under the command of the above-mentioned coalition. Meetings are regularly held, committees are formed, but nobody is ever arrested despite his being recognisable on security cameras or mobile phone pictures/videos.
If we look at Islamic history, we find many occasions when blood was cheaper than water. The first was the murder by Alauddin Khwarazm Shah of Mongol Muslim traders and Genghis Khan’s vengeance. The whole kingdom was destroyed, Bokhara, Samarqand, etc., were razed to the ground. More than a million Muslims later massacred. The bloodshed involved included massacres during the sacking of Baghdad. The caliph himself was murdered, together with the whole population (by Hulagu Khan, son of Genghis Khan). Fortunately, Allah sent Malik Az-Zaheer Baybars, the Seljuk king of Egypt, who defeated the Mongols, broke their strength and saved Syria, present-day Jordan and Egypt.
Before that, the wars of Jamal and Siffin between the Muslims themselves saw almost a hundred thousand people killed. The massacre of thousand of Muslims in Delhi by Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali and about eighty thousand Muslims were killed by the Crusaders after they occupied Jerusalem. In all these episodes, life counted for nothing and blood became cheaper than water, even as it is in our country today.
