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Human rights violations and abuses are not rare in today’s world

February 11th, 2010

Hiwaar (Dialogue) is a Human Rights Web Society which aims to provide in-depth news and insights from the most affected Arab communities. Hate, political differences, interest and race issues are often among the causes for unnecessary human sufferance. In such a context the appearance of web communities such as Hiwaar, always providing a good space for open dialogue is most welcomed.

Established in Scotland, the Hiwaar Human Rights Web Society is today monitoring various countries in the developing world. Its supporters and contributors come from various parts of the world and this community is becoming a very good source for first hand information and unbiased news from various countries. Hiwaar is also very generous in supporting artists and writers, publishes articles and www.hiwaar.com is very easy to navigate. The translator that enables you to read the articles in your preferred language is a plus in my opinion; another great feature of this web community is of course the forum.

Other people seriously interested in human rights, abuses and violations know Hiwaar is the best source of information. Their campaign seeking to draw public attention to Sudan and the treatment of females and children was very successful. We should continue to keep main stream news agencies aware of these topics and make sure more and more people become aware of human rights violations wherever they might happen.

I think there’s not much we as individuals can make to produce a major change in the world, but only untied we can surely take massive action. This is why the internet should never be politicized in any way or by any means China-style censored. But this is definitely the topic of another article. Visit Hiwaar Culture and Science Network and check out more information in your native language using the translator on bottom of the page.

Join the dialogue at Hiwaar Human Rights Web Society and become a member of the Hiwaar Culture and Science Network.

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The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire – What One Man Saw and Learned

October 15th, 2009

On April 18, 2006, San Francisco will commemorate the centennial of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, an event that leveled that city. The number of people who died has never been more than estimated. The other loses of various kinds ran into what today would be billions of dollars.

On that first day this photo was taken from the St. Francis Hotel, showing the city in flames. Less than 24 hours later the St. Francis would also have been gutted.

Behind that crumbling facade of human invention stood a man with an active, analytical mind. One man taking action would change what others refused to see because of those tragic days. Arthur C. Pillsbury would capture in film a lesson that would change all of our lives. The sound and sight of a city burning awakened him to a human truth.

The accompanying photo went out around the globe, carrying the enormity of the event to human eyes. As catastrophic as that event was it vanishes into nothingness compared to the specter we face today from our own government.

Some disasters are natural; some happen because of what we fail to understand. The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire was an event that began as a natural disaster. The plates of the Earth slipped, readjusting themselves and for hundreds of miles the resultant impact was felt. But that devastation and loss passed the boundaries of what is natural, multiplied by the corruption of San Francisco’s government.

San Francisco had no disaster plan because the corrupt city administration was far more interested in continuing to enjoy the graft and privileges that come with power. Emergency workers were untrained; the preparations that had long been asked for had never been enacted. Many buildings blown up to create fire breaks simply burst into flame, spreading the conflagration and destruction. Both looters and the innocent were gunned down by the military contingent that would never be held accountable. The corrupt officials also evaded liability. Accountability is something government learned to avoid early on.

San Francisco survived. Eventually sanity returned and the people came together to rebuild. Sometimes even in the face of completely incompetent care the patient lives. The image above was taken by Arthur C, Pillsbury on that first day. It was a day that changed his life’s focus.

Pillsbury had just left his job as the photojournalist at the San Francisco Examiner to start his own photography business, the Pillsbury Picture Company, a month before. For the next weeks he caught the immediacy of events as people struggled to survive and save what they could from the consuming flames. His developing facility, located in Oakland, was the only one functioning. Orders poured in from across the globe.

Later the same year he used the profits from the San Francisco photos to achieve a long time goal and bought the Studio of the Three Arrows in Yosemite.

Pillsbury was an engineer who majored in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford He had invented a specimen slicer for the microscope and circuit panorama camera before leaving college. He was not the kind of guy to settle for systems and tools that did not work as expected. In Yosemite he found other systems that were failing to do their jobs.

The Cavalry, then in charge of the Park, had long made a practice of mowing the meadows to provide fodder for their horses. Pillsbury noticed that the number of wild flower species was decreasing every year in those areas and also that the Cavalry was not concerned. So, applying his skills as an inventor he built the first lapse-time camera to be used with plants, producing the first motion picture image of a wild flower gracefully raising its head to the sun. By than he had been showing and narrating nature films for two years.

Now the wild flowers could speak for themselves.

That first lapse-time movie was made to persuade those in power to do the right thing and stop the mowing and move towards conservation.

Arthur C. Pillsbury believed that all people need is the truth. If they saw the reality, he believed, they will choose to do the right thing voluntarily. He was right about most people, most of the time.

After seeing the film those in power stopped the mowing the same day. The year was 1912. Most of us do the right thing if we know what that is. But sometimes failing to do the right thing is not a mistake; sometimes there is another agenda. Pillsbury assumed that when those in power must be mistaken or lack understanding or simply be too lazy to care. Those were possibilities that made sense to him; but that was an incomplete understanding. When those in power are acting on another agenda they cannot be changed with the truth.

The photo Pillsbury took that you see here, one of hundreds, shows both the power of nature unleashed on a city and the power of corruption by government unchecked. Most people did not understand the risk they faced, having delegated that work to the city government.

Pillsbury learned one essential lesson from what he observed. He decided to make sure that the people themselves had direct access to the information they needed. In 1912 he invented the lapse-time camera to connect people to the world of wild flowers, which had been overlooked even by such conservationists as John Muir. Muir’s energies were focused on saving the Hetch Hetchy, a battle he lost.

Pillsbury kept working. He began lecturing and showing his motion pictures. Eventually he would speak at every major town forum and every university of note, including MIT. He expanded his lectures every year, adding new films and insights. He was determined that the miracles of the natural world be understood, that their truth be accessible to everyone. In 1927 Arthur Pillsbury completed the invention of the microscopic motion picture camera. Seeing the world beyond the scope of the human eye awakened people to another aspect of nature. After that time there was an explosion in related research.

Pillsbury went on to build the first X-ray motion picture camera and the underwater motion picture camera opening up more new vistas. Pillsbury refused to patent his inventions. He wanted their use to become common to all of us. He had solved the problem he identified during those hideous days when San Francisco burned.

Arthur C. Pillsbury died in Oakland in 1946. The scope of human vision had expanded, thanks to his inventions and tireless lecturing. He had made nature visible as it had never been before but that was not enough. He had not calculated for the impact of those greedy for money and power. Government had not changed; it continued an upward trend for control coupled with the corruption. Those who profited through generations came to accept this as their prerogative. We need to see government for what it is; a system that has been converted from service provider to wealth source for those who control it.

Disaster is endemic to all politics and for the same reasons. Coupling a lack of accountability with the temptation to take always draws those inclined to steal.

Katrina has illustrated just how bad it can be within our own shores; Iraq has demonstrated how bad America can be when the tools of corruption are applied internationally. These are not examples of incompetence, rather they illustrate sophisticated schemes for converting the institutions of government into profit centers for those holding power.

Government is efficiently doing exactly what those in power want it to do.

Our Founders did not expect this government to last 20 years. They viewed the government they established as a kind of model needing beta testing, expecting it to operate within a set of defined and limiting principles.

Government is not supposed to be doing anything we can do ourselves. In the Bill of Rights Numbers 9 and 10 make that clear. So why did government steadily take over jobs being handled privately?

For the same reason bank robbers rob banks. That is where the money is. We are unused to the idea that we can examine government and change the tools we use to carry out what we want done. But that right is ours whenever we choose; that is enunciated in the Declaration of Independence.

The present state of government would have shocked our Founders.

Consider what life looked like to Founders at the turn of that century.

Our Founders lived and died in a world of small shop owners, farmers, and craftspeople. Homes and businesses provided for their own needs. Innovation came with its own rewards and problems and people learned by seeing what worked and what didn’t. That is the classical form for the transmission of human wisdom, used even by chimps with no governmental intervention.

The tools for government the Founders assembled assumed a population that controlled most of the infrastructure directly through town government and through the people’s power of purchase. Corporations did not exist in their present form. Our Founders failed to see the ramifications of allowing legislation that brought the actions of individuals under the control of government. They were imperfect as are all of us. They did not hand us a finished product but one that needed to be tested and repaired.

But some things they did right.

Until the end of the Nineteenth Century all school children studied the Bill of Rights and read the Federalist Papers. They knew, therefore, what their rights were supposed to be. Understanding the operating principles, as we can see, is a critical factor. When people know it is much harder to delude them. But politicians were persistent. They had a lot to gain.

Katrina illustrated a lot of things about government today. It took a week from the time the storm hit to announce plans for redevelopment; people were still awaiting emergency help but ‘gentrification’ of the area was already planned. Today families who have tried to return have been refused access to their homes and property. If you watch what those in power do, instead of believing their rhetoric the truth seeps through. Government consumed through taxes the resources that should have protected New Orleans.

What has been proved is that Americans would have been better served to keep the FEMA money within local areas to fund local emergency services. Because every level of government above the local was more corrupt in New Orleans last year there was none of the oversight residents expected and believed they had paid for. Those funds went into other pockets. Big government did not come into existence because the people could not find ways to handle their problems as the country grew and the complexity of their society increased. It came into existence because those in government were greedy and the citizens were both too trusting and did not understand that government is just a contracting service center; that knowledge had been withdrawn.

So what can we do to clean up this mess?

Their system has been designed to create our perpetual and inescapable dependence. We can change that.

Get off the Grids – there are a lot of them and they include energy, oil, credit, the monetary morass, our health needs and so on. The good news is that this can be done. The means are out there, waiting our use. Despite the persistent and devious attempts to keep us nailed in place human innovation has made the exits available and affordable.

That is probably hard to believe, but it is true. The depth and scope of human innovation and our ability to work together can solve problems that would destroy lesser species. That points us back to a world that would have made more sense to our Founders, one where community and conscience are central.

Organize Locally – Many of the organizational tools we need already exist and have been in place for generations. The original plan was built on the idea of communities working together to ensure their needs were met. In the last 200 years Americans have learned how to work together on the local level. They can apply those skills to new tasks.

Most of us spend far more time working in the Little League, Lions Club, Elks, Rotary, Soroptomists, churches, and other groups that spend their time doing good than we do paying attention to government anyway. You often see this criticized as a cause of the problem. Actually, it shows that most of us know what really matters by voting with our own time and resources when confronted with the morass of government.

The same organizations that help the homeless, funded locally and staffed with volunteers, can undertake the other work we need done to ensure the continuation of the social safety nets we all want in place.

Build Coalition – When you look at the distrust and resistance that came with the team mentality of politics you have to wonder why it mattered in the first place. People registered as Democrats, Republicans, Green, or Libertarian who focus on making their communities better have more in common with each other than they do with those in positions of power within their political parties. All politicians, with just enough exceptions to prove the point, are more vested in acquiring power and cash than in eliminating the means by which power and cash are accumulated.

The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire shattered lives, destroyed property, and raised a challenge to the people of San Francisco that they heard and answered. We need to remember that. Today’s challenge is far greater but despite the predations of government and their core constituency, mega corporations, we have many more resources in the battle we face that did our Founders. Generations of American innovation is there, like a vast and untapped bank account, ready to work.

The greedy already know what the real game is. It has been going on for a long time. The rest of us need to get busy making sure that alternatives are available. Once you see the Emperor’s new clothes there is no going back.

Disasters of the natural kind happen. But we don’t have to accept human government as an act of God, we can change course.

The American Revolution has taken a hiatus. Ours started in 1775 with the Shot Heard Round the World on April 19th.. That revolution, intended to replace government by monarchy by governance through the tools chosen and controlled directly by the people, remains to be finished.

We, the people, retain the right to change government to secure our inherent rights and together, moving past the chasms that divide us, it can be so. That was the original vision for America. It is time to finish what well intended people began.

Arthur C. Pillsbury would be glad we figured it out.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is the author of GREED: The NeoConning of America, and the founder and president of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation, http://www.acpillsburyfoundation.com. She is actively working with organizations that seek coalition across all previous lines that divide Americans.
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster - Expert Author

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Did You Know That by Law Your Seafood is Being Traced? Why Not Trace it Too?

October 13th, 2009

Organizations like the International Standardization Organization (ISO) are setting guidelines internationally for how governments and companies can follow their food production from processing to distribution. However, Alaskan seafood traceability is already mandated by law to ensure that if a product says that is Alaskan, that its path from ocean to the grocer can be documented. This implies knowledge of producers, good record keeping during processing, adequate labels, and a tracking system that functions from catch to retail. These and other steps, such as monitoring and surveillance of shipments, allow truth in advertising and empower consumers to choose wisely and sustainably.

Currently Alaska seafood is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which assesses Alaskan seafood traceability. Seafood that is MSC-labeled is certifiably from, and can be traced back to, sustainable fisheries. The presence of their logo helps consumers support companies who value conservation, good management, and best practices. From restaurants to large-scale industrial fisheries, MSC partners with a range of players to encourage sustainable seafood processes.

By why does traceability matter? For a number of reasons. In the case of contamination, tracking seafood can ensure accountability and sufficient product recalls. Also, traceability is fundamental to ensure that seafood has been legally and sustainably caught. Organizations like Greenpeace publish Official Blacklists of vessels and suppliers known for illegal catches.

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Long Term Care and Obama’s Health Reform

October 13th, 2009

There is a buzz around about the effect of reforms that Obama is going to bring in the long term care insurance. It is obvious that a change is in the offing. But the big question is whether this change is for the good or worse for our country. There are some people who are content about the results of reform while some others are expecting otherwise.

One survey about the medical care reform of Obama is that the lives of everybody are going to be covered by this medical care reform. And this health care is guaranteed irrespective of your economic stature or happening in your life. There are about 46 million Americans who have no access to medical care and they are agog with hope for the reform.

It is the tax-payers who are going to feel the heat of reform as they have to repay some two trillion bucks over a period of ten years to correct the extra cost of reform.

One good thing about the reform is that you will receive medical attention required irrespective of the state where you feel sick. If you are from Florida and you get sick in Montana, you still can go to a Montana doctor and seek medical check-up. All your medical history will be available at the click of a button.

Medical professionals, on the other hand will have the right to disagree to provide medical attention. For example, if there is a need for medication of a cancer patient, then the doctor after comparing the cost of medications, has the right to deny the patient if the cost of medication is found costly.

Many aged patient will be denied medical services. Elderly patients, who are on this type of insurance, will get the chance to see their doctor once every month. Medicare has met the cost for medical patients with recurring diseases. This new medical reform is not going to carry that practice.

The law makes it obligatory for everyone to have the medical care insurance and those found without them would be find with possible jail term. The law requires that without considering commercial stature, one must have this insurance.

Everyone is hoping that as time passes, everything is going to change for the good of everybody.

If you are interested to know more on this topic, you can visit http://www.quickhealthinsurance.com/

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Re-vitalization of Our Cities

October 12th, 2009

If you look at the growth and change in the USA and the world over the last 100 years, an interesting question arises: what should our cities be like in another hundred years?

Sounds a long way off, but remember, that 1908 was a similar time, our great grandparents’ prime of life, and everything that is part of our lives now had its foundations there.

Let’s look at where we were, where we are, and what’s coming.

Consider where we’ve been:

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Rampant Rudeness – What’s the Real Cause?

October 12th, 2009

Outbursts in Congress, cursing on the tennis courts, and grabbing the mic from a young award winner; everyone is lamenting our loss of civility as more and more public figures continue to behave badly.

To quote my grandmother, “I think someone has forgotten their manners.”

It would be easy to go off on a rant about the disrespectful Congressman, the angry athlete or the scene-stealing rapper, but these people are not acting in a cultural vacuum.

Is it any wonder that the gentleman from South Carolina felt free to shout at the President of the United States when talk-show hosts win ratings with smear campaigns and candidates routinely engage in character bashing?

We might express shock over a female athlete screaming the “F” word at an official, but we’ve long tolerated shouting and cursing in sports. There have been numerous male tennis players who routinely berated officials. Their bad tempers became almost a joke, and their angry outbursts were often considered part of their strategy.

And if you think swearing is limited to the athletes, try attending a college football game. You’ll be treated to thousand of drunks, shouting curses at the refs, the opponents and sometimes even their own coach and team, if they don’t like the way the game is going.

As for the rapper, is it any surprise that someone from an industry that routinely disrespects women with nasty lyrics and dog-chain-collar costumes thinks nothing of stealing a young woman’s moment in the limelight? It’s kind of hard to imagine why a man would behave gallantly when so many of his peers are being rewarded for being rude and obnoxious.

Maybe I am turning into my grandmother, but this rudeness hurts my heart.

The simple solution is to criticize the individuals and to treat them as exceptions that should be shunned.

But this is a teachable moment for all of us. Rudeness isn’t the real problem. The root of the problem is loss of empathy, and we’ve been given a golden opportunity to remind the world what it looks like.

Instead of focusing on how awful the offenders actions were, we ought to be asking people to think about what it feels like to be on the other end of uncivil behavior.

How would you feel if you were a line judge, trying to do your job in the game you loved, and a player practically accosted you, cursing at you on national television?

What would it be like to be a young woman winning one of the biggest awards of your life and have someone grab the microphone right out of your hand?

And yes, even the President deserves a little empathy. Criticizing policy is fair game, but how would like to be doing the hardest job in the world and have one of your colleagues treat you with less respect than he does the guard who walked you in?

So what’s the solution? It’s simple. Take a calming breath, think before you speak, and be nice.

The recent rash of rudeness is merely a symptom of a larger problem; we’ve forgotten that other people are human beings, too. They may get in our way in traffic, sing songs we don’t like, make questionable calls on the line, or feel differently about health care than we do, but they’re human beings, and they’re just as deserving of respect as we are.

When we lose our empathy, we’ve lost our humanity, and if we lose that, we’ve pretty much lost everything.

So mind your manners, people. If you wouldn’t want your grandma to hear it, then don’t say it.

Lisa Earle McLeod is an author, syndicated columnist and inspirational thought-leader. A popular keynote speaker, Lisa is the principal of McLeod & More, Inc., a training and consulting firm specializing in sales, leadership and conflict management. Her newest book The Triangle of Truth: The Surprisingly Simple Secret to Resolving Conflicts Large and Small (Jan 2010 from Penguin Putnam) has been called “a game-changing paradigm shift that should be read by every CEO in America.” A repeat guest on Good Morning America, Lisa has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and her clients include Apple Computer, Deloitte, Best Buy, Pfizer and The United Way. (http://www.LisaEarleMcLeod.com/). Copyright 2009 Lisa Earle McLeod. You have permission to reprint this edition of Lisa Earle McLeod’s syndicated newspaper column electronically or in print, free of charge, without further reprint permission as long as the bylines are included.

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Professional “Dumpster Divers” Turn Waste Into Meals and Supplies For the Homeless

October 12th, 2009

Dumpster Diving is when people go through commercial or residential garbage and waste to obtain and use food and other materials that may be beneficial to them. This type of waste isn’t the usual Wax Packaging, Seafood Packaging or Poultry Boxes. Instead it’s food, clothing, furniture and other things that can either be used, recycled or sold for a profit to benefit people in need. There are many dumpster diving organizations that perform this practice to help the homeless people in their neighborhoods. What some people and companies consider to be garbage, dumpster divers turn it into profitable and substantial good for people in need.

Many restaurants and grocery stores have to, by law, get rid of food after the established expiration date. This includes fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and packaged goods. Many times these items are still good, fresh and tasty. For instance, there was a grocer in a major city whose General Mills cereal had a flaw in the cereal box. They had to dispose of almost 100 containers of cereal that had never been opened and was a fresh as can be. People retrieved this product from the dumpsters and took it to a nearby homeless shelter. This food fed over 800 homeless people breakfast. What is considered to be waste in this case proved to be extremely helpful for many people in need of food.

Many people when they move from one home to another will dispose of clothing, furniture and other household goods in an effort to make room for new things. When ‘dumpster divers’ find such materials in the trash, they will collect them, wash them and distribute them to people who can’t afford to buy for themselves. An old work blouse may be trash to one woman while being new work clothes for another. It’s this type of recycling that benefits people in need and gives them an opportunity to have new things to wear. Also furniture finds are often donated to people who are just starting out in new homes or apartments. Dumpster divers help an old table and chairs find its way from a garbage can into someone else’s kitchen. Again, this provides needy people with things they otherwise couldn’t afford.

Some dumpster divers will take miscellaneous things they find in the trash and make unique pieces of art out of them. They then sell this artwork to raise money that’s donated to homeless people. For instance, there is a man who is part of a dumpster diving organization in Philadelphia who searches for stuff to make lamps. His lamps are one of a kind pieces of art that sell for thousands of dollars. While his investment is only his time in finding the objects and the creation of the lamp, he is able to raise incredible amounts of money for homeless people. This type of recycling allows one man to give back by being creative yet not having to dip into his own wallet.

Dumpster Diving may not be for everyone. However, the people who do choose to do this activity have the opportunity to be very beneficial for people in need. The treasures, food, clothing and other goods that can be found in someone’s trash can turn into a meal, money or a benefit for another person in need.

Author Connor Sullivan writes about wax packaging and other forms of packaging. He also writes about seafood packaging and other forms of packaging.

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True History of Pakistan

October 10th, 2009

Introduction

Pakistan lies in the North Western part of South Asia. It is bordered by China in the North, Afghanistan in the North-West, Iran in South-West, Arabian Sea and Indian Sea in the South and India in the East. Pakistan, as evident, is located at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East making it an easy linking point between Central Asia and South Asia.

There have been significant immigration movements, in the areas now constituting Pakistan since pre-historic times. The people of Pakistan are descendants of different racial groups and sub-racial stocks, who entered the subcontinent over the past 5000 years, mainly from central and western Asia from time to time. Yet unlike the popular misconception, it always maintained its identity and individuality separate from its neighbor India who claimed that Pakistan was a part of Aakhand Bharat (Undivided India) on the basis of history. Hence its partition from India is totally unjustified. But thousands of years of history of the sub-continent tells a different story. It tells us that the areas called Pakistan today had consistently remained as a single, compact and a separate geographical and political entity since ancient times.

Few people would be aware of the true history of Pakistan still; few would know that the oldest stone tool in the world, dating back to 2.2 million years was found at Rabat, about fifteen miles away from Rawalpindi and the largest hand Axe was found in the Soan Valley. And to top it all, the site of the first settled life in the world dating back to the 8th millennium BC has been found at Mehergarh in the Sibi districts of Balochistan. Although Pakistan, as an independent country dates only from August 14th, 1947 and the nation itself can trace its beginnings only to a few centuries ago, yet the territories of Pakistan are heir to one of the richest and the oldest civilizations and settlements of the world.

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan Civilization[i] is one of the most fascinating and the oldest civilizations ever known. It flourished between 3000 and 1500 BC by the banks of River Indus or Sind in Pakistan. This civilization existed along the Indus River in present day Pakistan with its main centers at Mohenjodaro in Sind, Harappa in the Punjab, Kej in the Baluch territory and Judeiro Daro in the Pathan region. It is generally believed that the inhabitants of Indus Valley Civilization were Dravidians who came to sub-continent from eastern Mediterranean.

This civilization reached its climax around the two metropolitan centers of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. These cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout. They were the centers of arts and crafts. According to John Marshal, the Harappan people were literate and used the Dravidian language [ii] which is one of the world’s first known languages. Their chief occupation was agriculture and trade. The civilization is notable for its strong central government, sense for art and architecture and house planning.

Flood is considered to be the destroyer of this culture due to which agriculture got disrupted and trade routes affected which led majority of the population to migrate to other fertile lands. Those who were left behind fell victim to the Aryan invasion. The civilization lasted for fifteen hundred years.

Arrival of the Aryans

In about 1700 BC, Indus Valley people saw the arrival of new horse-riding nomads from Central Asia leading to the eventual decline of their prosperous and sophisticated Indus Civilization. The Aryans came in at least two major waves in Pakistan. The first wave came around 2000 BC and the second wave came at least six centuries later. It was after the second wave of Aryans invasion that they became dominant and their language spread over the entire length and breadth of the region. They entered through the Swat Valley from the northwest mountain passes and pushed the local people or the Dravidians (the people of Indus Civilization) southwards or towards the jungles and mountains in north. They settled first in Punjab and Indus Valley and then spread eastward and southward. Unlike Indus people Aryans were uncivilized race. Their religious texts and human remains suggest that the Aryans were violent in their invasions. They killed the inhabitants and burnt their cities. A similar view was opined by Stuart Piggot in his book Pre-historic India:

“The Aryan advent was in fact the arrival of barbarians into a region already highly organized into an empire based on a long established tradition of literate urban culture”.

Besides being sturdy fighters Aryans were also skilled farmers and craftsmen. They were the worshippers of nature and their religious books were called Vedas. Aryans were tall, well-built and; had attractive features and fair complexion while the inhabitants of Indus Valley were black, flat nosed and of short stature. The Indus people submitted to the superior Aryans and became their slaves. This fact later became the basis of Caste system in order of superiority such as Brahmans (priest) Kashatryas (warriors) and Vaisyas (business community and commoners). The Dravidians were placed in fourth and termed as Sudras (slaves).

Persian Empire

In the 6th century BC, Darius invaded Pakistan and made the Indus plain and Gandhara part of his Persian Empire of the Achaemenid, with his capital at Persepolis in Iran. It was from then onwards that the city of Taxila began to grow and the region saw the rise of another great civilization called the Gandhara Civilization covering most of the northern Pakistan with capitals at both Pushkalavati (Charsadda) and Takshka-sila (Taxila).

As part of the Persian Empire, the region once again rose to zenith. Trade with Iran and the west resumed once again, economy flourished, weapons and other objects of daily use were produced. Charsadda and Taxila became the centers of activity. One of the greatest universities of the ancient world was founded at Taxila. It was at this university that Chandra Gupta Maurya got his education, who later founded the Maurya Empire in South Asia. This prosperous Achaemenian Empire that extended from Pakistan to Greece and Egypt, however, collapsed under the onslaught of Alexander of Macedonia.

Alexander’s Invasion

Alexander entered Pakistan from the northern route at Swat and conquered the Gandharan region between 327 and 325 BC. He reached Taxila first. The Raja of Taxila knowing Alexander’s vast army’s reputation gave him a welcome instead of resistance. Alexander stayed at Taxila for sometime then came across Raja Porus who was the ruler of the territories east of Jehlum. He then went up to River Beas from where his army refused to go further, so he then came down through the entire length of Pakistan, crossed the Hub River near Karachi and departed for home dying on the way. Alexander’s invasion brought Greek knowledge and science to Taxila.

Up till here it is notable that during each settlements and invasions may that be of the Indus Valley Civilization, Aryans or during the half a millennium period after Aryan’s migrations and during the Persian Empire, Pakistan always stood as a separate entity from India and the period covered by these settlements is about 2200 years.

Mauryan Empire

Alexander’s untimely demise at Babylon in 323 B.C resulted in the breakup of his vast empire in to two parts (The Byzantine Empire and Bacterian Greeks). The control of this region therefore fell into the hands of native dynasties and tribes. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of Maurya Empire who marched into the Gangetic plains, defeated the Nanda Kings and established a strong government at a place called Magadha (present Bihar). However, it should be noted that he ruled from India but he was a son of Potohar region and a Prince of Taxila. He followed Jainism. His grandson Ashoka was a Buddhist.

As the Mauryan rulers did not took into Hinduism and promoted either Jainism or Buddhism, they became subject to Hindu’s criticism. Hindu’s through their scheming and conspiracy managed to put an end to Mauryan Dynasty and instead gave birth to Brahman origin dynasty of Singhas followed by Kanvas and Indras. These dynasties ruled southern and central India but proved to be weak and short lived.

Graeco-Bactrian Rule

The Bactrian Greeks arrived in Gandhara in 185 BC, about 50 years after the death of Ashoka. They were the decedents of Alexander the Great’s armies from Bactria (now Balkh, in northern Afghanistan). They built Greek cities at Taxila and Pushkalavati (Charsadda) and introduced their language, art and religion in the country of Gandhara. Their language lasted more than 500 years and their art and religion had considerable influence on the Gandhara Civilization. The most powerful of the Bactrian Greek ruler was Menander (mid-second century BC). The Graeco-Bactrian rule lasted for only a century.

The Sakas

After the Graeco-Bactrian, Pakistan was divided into several small Greek Kingdoms who fell prey to the great wave of Scythians (Sakas) who migrated on an extensive scale. They were the nomads of North Iran. Sakas overthrew the Greek rulers and established their control all over Pakistan. The Sakas settlements were so vast that Pakistan came to be known as Scythia. Gandhara became the center of the Saka domains, and Taxila was chosen the capital. The Sakas or Scythians were tall, large framed and fierce warriors. They were splendid horsemen and expert in lance. Sakas were followed by the powerful Parthians from east of the Caspian Sea, in about 20 AD.

The Kushans

The Kushans from Central Asia established the Kushan Empire in Indus Valley. The third king of this dynasty Kanishka was the most successful ruler. His reforms earned him fame. Like his predecessors he also took active interest in Buddhism. Kushans made Peshawar their capital. The Kushans period is considered the golden age of Pakistan and brought great wealth and prosperity to the region with the development of the Silk Route to China. It came to be known as Kushana-shahar, the land of the Kushans. It was the Kushan kings who gifted the national dress of shalwar(shirt), kamiz(trousers) and sherwani to Pakistan.

After Kanishka’s death, his successors failed to keep the Empire intact. The result of which was that some of its parts were captured by Sassanians of Persia. In the 4th century a new dynasty of Kidar (little) Kushans came to power and established their capital at Peshawar. At more or less the same time Gupta Empire came in to power in the neighboring country of India and annexed a vast area of the sub-continent yet it did not went beyond Sutlej and did not included Kashmir. So during the Gupta period, Pakistan was in the hands of Kushans and Sassanians.

White Huns

The Huns were the nomad tribe of China’s western borderland who after conquering Central Asia and Iran invaded Pakistan from Central Mongolia. Their chiefs were called ‘Khans’. The particular branch of the Huns, which came to Pakistan, is known as Epthalite or White Huns. One of their mighty rulers was Mehar Gul whose capital was Sakala (present Sialkot). They killed Buddhists and burned all the monasteries. Their conquest completely eliminated the Gupta regime. The origin of majority of the Afghan-Pathan tribes and Rajput and Jat clans of Punjab and Sind, according to modern scholars, are descendents from White Huns. The fall of the Hun rulers resulted in emergence of petty kingdoms which caused deterioration in political, social and economic condition until Muslims came in the scene.

Arab Invasion

During the Rajput’s period in north India i.e., 7th to 12th century AD the light of Islam penetrated into this part of the world. Islam arrived in Pakistan from two directions, south and north. In 711 an Arab expedition under a 20 year old Syrian Muhammad Bin Qasim arrived by sea to suppress piracy on Arab shipping and established control of the sub-continent as far as north of Multan and built up a kingdom of Al-Mansurah in Sind. Mohammad bin Qasim conquered Sind and ruled it for about three years before being recalled and killed. After Mohammad Bin Qasim’s departure, Muslim rule got confined to Sind and southern Punjab only. However, from this period onward Pakistan was divided into two parts for a long time; the northern one comprising of the Punjab and NWFP and the southern one comprising of Multan, Sind and Balochistan under various Muslim rulers.

The Turks

In 10th century AD, Turkish descendents having their capital at Ghazni attacked this region. They migrated from central Asia and played a prominent part in the political life of the sub-continent for about 200 years. The Ghaznavids, a Turkish dynasty which rose in Afghanistan, succeeded the Arabs and under the leadership of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, established Muslim rule in the sub-continent. Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznah or Mahmud Ghaznavi, son of Turkish King of Ghazni namely Sabuktgin invaded Pakistan from the north. Gandhara, the Punjab, Sind and Balochistan all became part of the Ghaznavid Empire, which had its capital at Ghazni, in Afghanistan and later at Lahore.

With the arrival of Muslims Turks also came the Sufis and dervishes from Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan who through their teaching spread the message of Islam all over the country. Some of them are Sheik Ismael, Syed Ali Hajveri, Ganj Shakar, Moeen-ud-Ajmeeri, Nizam-ud-Din Oliya, Baha-ud-din Zakiria and Khawaja Moeen-ud-din Chishti. It was due to these pious saints and Sufis that Islam spread to the entire length of the sub-continent. The city of Multan became famous as the city of Saints. Though Ghaznavid rule in Pakistan lasted for over 175 years but Mahmud did not annexed any area beyond Ravi. He contented himself with the annexations of the Punjab only. He was neither a robber nor tyrant as written by some historians. His reputation as a great patron of culture and literature has remained undiminished to this date. It was under his patronage that the well known epic Shahnama was written by Firdawsi.

The Ghaznavid Kingdom came into conflict with the rulers of Ghor who destroyed the city of Ghazna reducing it to ashes. Ghors were Oghuz Turks of Ghor in Afghanistan. Sultan Muhammad of Ghor and his slave lieutenant Qutb-ud-din Aybak raided sub-continent and captured Delhi in 1193. Ghori was a brave soldier and able administrator but not as brilliant as Mahmud Ghaznavi. However, Ghori left a lasting impact on the history of India. He is reputed to be a mild and benovelant man and a just ruler. He had not any heirs. He trained his slaves in warfare and administration. It was Aybak, one of his slaves who became his successor after Ghori’s assassination in 1206.

After the death of Ghori, his slave Qutab-ud-Din Aybak established the first Turkish Slave Dynasty (1206-90), which lasted for over 300 years. Aybak was the most trusted general of Muhammad Ghori and was given the administrative control of some of the conquered lands. He initially made Lahore as the capital but later moved to Delhi thatswhy the slave dynasty is also referred as the Sultanate of Delhi. However Aybak’s reign was short lived (5 years) and he was succeeded by nine other slave kings. Among his successors, his son-in-law, Iltutmish (1211-36), Raziyya Sultana (1236-1239) and Balban were the most famous. Balban is remembered for his strong centralized government. With his death, the dynasty declined and the final blow came in a form of a Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji. The Sultanate period brought the greater part of the sub-continent under its control and established Muslim Rule on firm grounds.

The Sultanate period also saw the rise and fall of 4 other dynasties in rapid succession: the Khiljis (1290-1320), the Tughlaqs (1320-1413), the Sayyids (1414-51), and the Lodhis (1451-1526). The Khiljis were Turks by origin but had resided in Afghanistan so long that they were no longer regarded as Turks. They took control of the sub-continent in a form of a coup. Among them the Alao-Din-Khilji, was the most famous as he had a great impact on the history of India. He was efficient, imaginative and strong ruler. The Khilji Empire lasted for 30 years. The Khiljis were succeeded by the Tughluqs who consolidated the Muslim rule and revived the empire. The Tughluqs restored the public works of utility such as forts and canals and reestablished law and order. The Sayyids and the Lodhis followed next and their rule remained till 1526 when Babur founded the Mughal Empire.

The Mughals

‘Mughal’ is the Persian translation of the word ‘Mongol’ from which we get the English word ‘mogul’ meaning ‘tycoon’. The Moguls were the last of the Mongols. In the 16th century, Zaheeruddin Mohamed Babur, the first Mughal Emperor and a descendent of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan, raided the Punjab from Afghanistan and defeated Ibrahim Lodhi, at the historic battle of Panipat and founded the Mughul Empire. Babur was succeeded by his son, Humayun in 1530. Humayun was ousted by the Sher Shah Suri, who ruled the empire until his death in 1545. Humayun who went into self exile in Persia returned and regained the throne in 1554 but died two years later. He was succeeded by his son Akbar. Akbar was the greatest of the Mughal Emperors and ruled the longest period. He improved the centralized administrative system and was a great patron of art and literature. Mughal art and architecture reached its height under Akbar’s son Jahingir reign, and later under his grandson Shah Jahan. They left a heritage of magnificent mosques, palaces, tombs, forts and gardens which can still be seen in Lahore, Multan, Jehlum and other places. Auranzeb succeeded Shah Jahan and who ruled from 1658 to 1707. He was a pious man and an efficient administrator. With the death of Auranzeb, the great Mughal Empire (1526-1857) disintegrated.

In 1739, Nadir Shah of Persia invaded the region and after his death Ahmed Shah Abdali founded the kingdom of Afghanistan in 1747. Then in the early 19th century, the Sikhs pushed the Afghans back to the Khyber Pass. Ranjit Singh, the famous Sikh leader made Lahore his capital and ruled from 1799 to 1839. The Sikh rule collapsed under the British and thus ended the Muslim rule in the subcontinent. However it should be noted that unlike Britishers “Muslim rule in India was established by immigrant elite. The Muslims didn’t rule India from a distant homeland, nor were they members of a dominant group within the Indian Social community”.

The British Period

The British arrived as merchants with the British East India Company at the beginning of the 17th century and gradually became involved in Indian politics and finally, after the battle of Plassey in 1757, began to conquer the sub-continent. By 1843, Sind was completely in their control. They defeated the Sikhs in 1845 and 1849 in Anglo-Sikh War.

After the First War of Independence in 1857 (also known as the Sepoy Mutiny), the British Government took direct control of Pakistan. This marked the beginning of the British Raj (British Rule), and in the name of Queen Victoria the British continued to expand their empire. Hunza on the Chinese border was the last area to fall into British hands, in 1891; only Afghanistan and some western most areas of Pakistan continued to remain outside their control. They demarcated the Durand Line in 1893 to separate Pakistan from Afghanistan. The British had a strong influence on modern Pakistan. They not only introduced their administrative and legal systems, but also brought with them their culture, language, art and architecture, some of which can still be seen in Pakistan today.

The Struggle for Pakistan

After the unsuccessful First War of Independence in 1857, the British determined to suppress and weaken the Muslims, whom they held mainly responsible for the uprising. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-98) made one of the first attempts to restore Muslim status by founding the Aligarh Movement. Muslims formed a political party with the name of Muslim League under the chairmanship of Nawab Salimullah Khan in 1906 at Dhaka. Yet it was only when Jinnah assumed the leadership of Muslim League in 1936 that it became a dynamic, national organization of the Muslims.

In 1930, a Muslim poet and a philosopher Dr. Muhammad Iqbal proposed the creation of a separate Muslim state for those areas of the subcontinent with a Muslim majority. His proposal was adopted by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a British trained lawyer and Pakistan’s first head of state. This idea of a separate Muslim state in the sub-continent to be called Pakistan took the form of a resolution adopted by the Muslim League in 1940 at its Lahore session. This was the Lahore resolution that came to be popularly known as Pakistan Resolution. The philosophy on which it was based is called Two Nation Theory, which emphasized on the individuality of Hindus and Muslims stating that these two nations have their own civilization, culture, historical heritage and religion due to which they can not live under a single country. This provided the basis for Pakistan.

The British realized that they would have to relinquish their hold upon the sub-continent so on 20th February 1947; the British Prime Minister Mr. Lord Atlee announced that the British Government would hand over the power of the sub-continent to its natives. It was finally agreed that the sub continent should be partitioned and the power will be handed over to the two states at Independence on the mid-night of 14th and 15th August 1947. Thus the Muslims struggle under the dynamic leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah bore fruit; the sub-continent won Independence from English and Pakistan was created as a sovereign and independent Muslim state on 14th August 1947.

It was decided that Pakistan would comprise the eastern (present Bangladesh) and western (present Pakistan) wings of the country. The Muslims living in Indian region had to migrate to Pakistan. This migration was accompanied by terrible violence and bloodshed not to mention various problems of division Pakistan had to face in the hands of uncooperative Indians.

Independent Pakistan

The world has always known two different countries and cultures in the sub-continent; one based on the Sindhu or Indus (Pakistan) and the other on the Ganges Valley (India) known as Bharatvarta. The Sindhu country with its Harappan Civilization had its control from Rupar on upper Sutlej to the lower reaches of the Indus on the Arabian Sea, the territory now covered by Pakistan. The Sindhu Land was always notable for its independent existence, completely detached from Gangetic Valley or India.

Moreover, Pakistan as an independent country always looked westward and had more cultural, commercial and political connections with the Sumerian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Turks than with the Gangetic Valley. During the 5000 years of Pakistan’s known history, Pakistan remained part of India for a total period of 711 years of which 512 years were covered by the Muslims period and 100 years each by the Mauryan (mostly Buddhist) and British periods. Pakistan had remained either independent or part of powers at west and its attachment to India was only an exception.

This may be the reason that there is barely any Hindu architectural influence in Pakistan and instead of Hinduism; Islam shapes the lives of most Pakistanis. Moreover, Hindus themselves have always regarded Yavanas (the inhabitants of Pakistan) in those days as impure and outside the limits of Aryandom. So Pakistan as a part of India is a weak theory having no historical grounding. It was indeed the famous Two Nation Theory formulated by Iqbal and realized by Jinnah that led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Notes:

[i] Called ‘Indus Valley’ by John Marshall, Mohenjodaro and the Indus Valley Civilization pp.i-iii (London, 1931), and ‘Harappan’ by Stuart Piggott, Prehistoric India (London: Pelican Books, 1950), p. 132.

[ii] Quoted in Ancient Cities of the Indus, Gregory L. Possehl (ed), Carolina Academic Press, New Delhi, 1979, pp. 105-107.

References:

1. Dani A H. Pakistan: History through the centuries. [Online] [Cited 2009 April 2] Available from: heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/history1.html

2. Shaw I. Pakistan Handbook. The guide book company Ltd. Hong Kong. 1989.

3. Abdulla A. The historical background of Pakistan & its people. Tanzeem Publishers. Karachi. 1973.

4. Possehl G L (ed). Ancient cities of the Indus. Carolina Academic Press. New Delhi. 1979.

5. Rahman T. Peoples & languages in pre-Islamic Indus Valley. [Online] [Cited 2009 April 2]. Available from:

inic.utexas.edu/asnic/subject/peoplesandlanguages.html

6. Haroon A. Muhammad Bin Qasim to General Pervaiz Musharraf: Triumphs, tribulations, scars of 1971 tragedy & current challenges. KRL Post Office Box 502. Rawalpindi. 2000.

7. Piggot S. Pre Historic India. Penguin Books. 1950.

8. Akhtar R (ed). Pakistan Year Book 1974. East & West Publishing Company. Karachi.

9. Elliot H M & Dowson J. The History of India as told by its own historians: The Muhammadan Period. Vol. 1. Trubner & Co. London. 1867-1877.

10. P.M Holt, Ann K.S, Lambton & Lewis B(eds). The Cambridge History of Islam: The further Islamic Lands, Islamic Society & Civilization. Cambridge University Press. 1970.

11. Hardy P. The Muslims of British India. Cambridge University Press. London. 1972.

Ameera Kamal is Islamabad based research writer with a Masters degree in Anthropology from Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan. Ameera has flair for writing & research, taste for arts (performing & fine arts) and love for nature. She is deeply concerned about the socio-political scenario in her country in particular and in the region in general. Ameera is a strong advocate of global peace, humanitarian rights, feminism, animal rights and environmental protection. Her major areas of interest include, gender and women development, social and women rights, history and culture, education and health.

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How to Stay Updated With the Happenings in the World?

October 10th, 2009

Things around us are changing rapidly. Each day the fashion trends, technologies and the entire world changes. You will be well aware of the fact that change is inevitable. Staying updated with the changes in the world is very much important in both the personal life and the career life of a human being. Thankfully there is no scarcity for the news source. In fact you have lots of mediums to know the latest news around the Planet. Comparing all the mediums such as the television, newspapers and the Internet, the internet can be considered as the best medium for getting the updated news because of many reasons. Unlike the news updates in the newspapers and TV the Internet medium for the news sources are updated every second. Though there is no scarcity for the online sources for news there are only a few sources which you can trust. Identifying the genuine online news sources is a very difficult task. However, there are a few types of websites which supply only the authentic news sources from around the planet.

The User Rated News

This is the primary online news source which will be greatly authentic. Unlike the common updated news sources these kinds of websites publish the news based on the user rating. These sources will have all kinds of news and cool stories happening around the planet. The availability of the cool stories makes them great entertainment sources too. The authenticity of the news published in these websites can be understood with the degree of user rating. This is the main benefit of using the user rated news sites as a source. Some of the very best user rated news sources also provide cool images that will be free to download.

The Official Websites Of Leading News Providers

Almost every leading news source such as CNBC, BBC, NDTV etc have official websites where the most updated news will be published. These news websites will be genuine and authentic as they are published by the leading team of journalists. However, due to the entry of the political parties in the news sources have made some of the sources leveraged for their own political use. And so the reliability of some of the biggest news sources is slowly degrading (Not mentioning the exact names).

Bottom Line

Comparing all the options that are available for getting the latest news online, the user rated news sources seem to be the best. Though there will be some news which are not genuine, they can be easily identified with the user ratings. With the addition of the great entertainment and cool free pictures these user rated news sites are no doubt the best.

About the Author:
The author of this article knows all about the reliable news sources. He is well aware of the fact that the user rated news sites are the reliable sources to get authentic information. He has written many articles explaining the benefits of user rated news. He likes to spend time on the entertainment available in the user rated news sites.

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Help the Homeless – Ditch the Guilt

October 10th, 2009

Have you ever walked by someone who is homeless and tried to go unnoticed? Maybe you time it just right so that you can pass by while he is asking someone else for money. You don’t want to have to be bothered to stop at every corner to dig in your pockets for someone, yet you don’t want to be rude when faced with the dilemma of giving or not giving to that person.

Guilt causes a lot of us to do stupid things. We either give foolishly with good intentions of helping, or we try to avoid the person in need altogether so that we don’t have to face our own consciences. It’s either that or we meet the guilt somewhere in the middle and talk to the person, but lie about the fact that we don’t have any money.

In doing so, we actually do more damage than good in most cases. What people don’t realize is that the best thing you can do for someone in need is to treat him like a real person. Why? Because they are! People who are homeless are not some foreign species who came out of the womb with knotted hair and dirty fingernails. They were children at one point, who grew up and for one reason or another ended up where they’re at now, in most cases by no choice of their own.

In the book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, author Ruby Payne teaches that in general, relationships are the most valued thing in the life of people in poverty. Not services, not food, not money; genuine relationships.

So with that said, we can all give a few minutes to learn someone’s name that is experiencing great need. If we can spare more time, find out his story and how he got there. Find out what he really needs aside from money, and how you can help. Consider that person your friend and let him know you care about him. And if you are on your way into the office with no time to spare, a simple smile goes a long way.

So when faced with the dilemma of how to help the person, choose to simply be friendly and if necessary, exercise your ability to respectfully say “no” to giving money. Ultimately, when someone feels valued as a person, he will likely be more confident in his ability to take responsibility for his own needs.

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