A musical interlude. Enjoy. The video here by Aziz Alemzay features the Attan.
راشهئ ځوانانو ملی اتڼ جوړ دی
عزیز عالمزی
Tor_Khan تور خان
Monday, 21 February 2011
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Digital Technology: Diffusion and Revolution
In 1996, 80 percent of the population in 50 Muslim countries did not have regular access to a telephone. By 2006, this proportion had dropped to 20 percent. The diffusion rates for other information and communication technologies are also high, generally higher than those in non-Muslim developing countries: between 2000 and 2010, the compound annual growth rate of internet users was 32 percent, compared with 24 percent for the rest of the developing world. See here.
Consider “doubling time,” a figure used by demographers to refer to the amount of time it takes for a country’s population to double. Applied to technology diffusion, this reveals rapid trends: on average, since 2000, the number of internet users in Muslim countries has doubled every 8 months.
Understanding technology diffusion in Muslim countries offers some insight into why current political leaderships are being challenged. Mounir Khelifa, a Tunisian literature professor, speaking to Reuters, explains that the uprisings were made possible by the emergence of a generation raised during this information technology age. Both the Internet and Satellite Television undercut the propaganda of state media, creating the opportunity for people to develop their own consensus on their rights.
The recent uprisings in the Arab world began with the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, a protesting Tunisian shopkeeper who self-immolated, which activated a cross boundary network of people exhausted by authoritarian rule. Within weeks, digitally-enabled protesters in Tunisia had deposed their dictator after a series of strikes, protests and a mass civil disobedience movement called the Jasmine Revolution. Satellite television and the social media allowed the trend to spread across the Middle East. Even President Obama has identified technology as one of the key variables that enabled average Egyptians to protest. True, digital media alone didn’t oust Mubarak, but it did provide the medium by which calls for freedom have cascaded across the region.
Technology: Politics of Change
Nothing is quite certain and in no way am I ambivalent towards what is happening. I live here; I see it through a different lens and in particular, I think solutions need to be local.
There is much to be learned from this. Right now, I feel like I know two things. Firstly, in the modern world that we live in, we should not underestimate the will of people and the power that they have in tapping into the technologies available to them. Secondly, long term, brutal regimes and autocracies cannot survive; change will occur. The sands will continue to shift.
For further reading on Information Technology and Political Islam follow this link.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Arabian Spring: Storm in the Desert
Background: Desert Storm and Shifting Sands
The desert landscape whilst breath-taking and awe-inspiring is rather bitter, bleak and prone to change. The winds blow one way and huge sand formations - dunes, shift. To be out in the desert when this occurs is challenging - fixed points no longer appear to be where they were and for those not versed in the art of desert survival, the disorientation and the lack of being able to mark out your navigation points to safety, can mean incumbent disaster.The point is, whilst we may be nostalgic about, and sometimes at pains at, how things are, sometimes radical shifts occur. This means it's not the same any-more and in the midst of change, we have to navigate our own unique ways through to betterment and safety. Whilst the changing nature of the desert makes it less predictable, the constructs of society are more within human control. It is perhaps easier, to find pathways in society than it is in the desert. We can shape, change and build, in a way that we can't tame nature.
As I write, we are living in the midst of significant shifting of sands. The Arab World is demanding change. What we see in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Jordan, in Yemen, in Saudi Arabia, in Libya, in Bahrain, in Algeria - over and over, is the demand for change. Today, thousands of people in Bahrain have entered Pearl Square - the tanks and the security forces are in direct conflict with the crowds. In Libya too, anti-government protesters are out in the streets and there appears to be little stopping of opposition movements across the region.
Living in the UAE, the tides of unrest and the storms within the Arabian landscape, are felt ever more powerfully here. The nature of the protest movements and how they have spread his interests me as a student of Digital Technologies and Communication. The political and social dimensions are important to me as a Muslim too. Governments are watching and waiting to see how this unfolds.
continued in the next posting
Living in the UAE, the tides of unrest and the storms within the Arabian landscape, are felt ever more powerfully here. The nature of the protest movements and how they have spread his interests me as a student of Digital Technologies and Communication. The political and social dimensions are important to me as a Muslim too. Governments are watching and waiting to see how this unfolds.
continued in the next posting
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Mirwais Hotak - ميرويس هوتک
Mirwais Khan Hotak, (1673–1715) Ghilzai Pashtoon, founder of the Hotak Dynasty and Emir of Greater Kandahar* is widely celebrated amongst the Pashtoons for ending the repressive rule of Gorgin Khan, (King George of Kartli, Georgia) when the latter was posted to Kandahar as Viceroy (Beglarbeg) by the Safavid ruler, Soltan Hussein.
Mirwais Hotak, was at first taken prisoner by Gorgin Khan and sent to Isfahan, but then was later granted the right to perform Hajj by the Shah. He returned to Kandahar to challenge the Gorgin where he raised a rebellion and took this to into Persia, ending the 200 year rule of the Safavids and establishing Afghan rule over Isfahan.
MIrwais refused the title of King, despite his liberation of Afghan lands and his conquest of Persia, but instead accepted the tile of Mashar (elder). To the Pashtoons, Haji Mirwais Hotak remains Mirwais Neeka حاجي ميرويس نيکه (Grandfather Mirwais) a unifier of the Pashtoon people and a national hero.
Tor_Khan تور خان
*today this would be much of southern Afghanistan and Sistan-Balochistan
For a short film on Afghan History, click here.
Monday, 14 February 2011
A Conversation Between Two Great Men
When I reflect on the continuing turmoil that surrounds the lands of my people, I think of how far we have strayed from Bacha Khan's vision. I take comfort, however, in these words here - the possibility - the hope and the belief of who we are. Here's an excerpt of a conversation between Mahatma Gandhi and Bacha Khan, two incredibly great men:
BACHA KHAN: Gandhiji, you have been preaching non violence in India for a long time now, but I started teaching the Pathans non-violence only a short time ago. Yet, in comparison, the Pathans seem to have grasped the idea of non-violence much quicker and much better than the Indians. Just think how much violence there was in India during the war in 1942. Yet in the North West Province, in spite of all the cruelty and the oppression the British inflicted upon them, not one Pathan resorted to violence, though they too possess the instruments of violence. How do you explain that?
GANDHIJI: Non-violence is not for cowards. It is for the brave and the courageous. And the Pathans are more brave and courageous than the Hindus. That is the reason why the Pathans were able to remain non-violent.
Read more.
BACHA KHAN: Gandhiji, you have been preaching non violence in India for a long time now, but I started teaching the Pathans non-violence only a short time ago. Yet, in comparison, the Pathans seem to have grasped the idea of non-violence much quicker and much better than the Indians. Just think how much violence there was in India during the war in 1942. Yet in the North West Province, in spite of all the cruelty and the oppression the British inflicted upon them, not one Pathan resorted to violence, though they too possess the instruments of violence. How do you explain that?GANDHIJI: Non-violence is not for cowards. It is for the brave and the courageous. And the Pathans are more brave and courageous than the Hindus. That is the reason why the Pathans were able to remain non-violent.
Read more.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Fall of the Pharaoh: Umm Al Dunya
Umm Al Dunya
And so the Pharoah in Egypt falls after a 30 year grip on power. I may be forgiven for referring to Hosni Mubarak as a Pharoah, but see a Pharoah, was NOT just a despotic Emperor King who was considered a deity. The word Pharoah referred to a Great House. Does the Great House still hold power? When a House falls, crushed by the weight of its age and ruin, another one can be built in its place. But in Egypt do we see a rebuilding or another Pharaoh King moving into the Great House? Right now the military has moved in so not much changes; later, perhaps, the old house can be demolished and a new one built by the will of the people.
The Egyptians call their country Umm Al Dunya - Mother of the World. An ancient cradle of civilisation, social order, technology and writing. There will be many who in years to come will look back at how in 2011 the Egyptian Pharaoh of Old was brought down by a technology and social media of new - Twitter/Blogger/Facebook and the like. Now here's where I do get to see close up what is happening - I know people and have spoken with them, both in person and through electronic communications that this Egyptian revolution is an e-revolution of a kind.
I wonder about the transferability of the UAE model - it's a "minus democracy" model that isn't perfect, but evidently people coming in see prosperity, internationalism, relative freedom and hope. In many ways this is what the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions were about right? Hope itself? That, I pray, is the message that the people in our Arab neighbourhood carry in the months and years to come.
And so the Pharoah in Egypt falls after a 30 year grip on power. I may be forgiven for referring to Hosni Mubarak as a Pharoah, but see a Pharoah, was NOT just a despotic Emperor King who was considered a deity. The word Pharoah referred to a Great House. Does the Great House still hold power? When a House falls, crushed by the weight of its age and ruin, another one can be built in its place. But in Egypt do we see a rebuilding or another Pharaoh King moving into the Great House? Right now the military has moved in so not much changes; later, perhaps, the old house can be demolished and a new one built by the will of the people.
The Egyptians call their country Umm Al Dunya - Mother of the World. An ancient cradle of civilisation, social order, technology and writing. There will be many who in years to come will look back at how in 2011 the Egyptian Pharaoh of Old was brought down by a technology and social media of new - Twitter/Blogger/Facebook and the like. Now here's where I do get to see close up what is happening - I know people and have spoken with them, both in person and through electronic communications that this Egyptian revolution is an e-revolution of a kind.
I wonder about the transferability of the UAE model - it's a "minus democracy" model that isn't perfect, but evidently people coming in see prosperity, internationalism, relative freedom and hope. In many ways this is what the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions were about right? Hope itself? That, I pray, is the message that the people in our Arab neighbourhood carry in the months and years to come.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Fall of the Pharaoh: Walk Like An Egyptian
The Pharaoh's House is in Ruins and the political rumbling in the neighbourhood is that of the need for reform in the Arab world.
I must confess, that whilst living in the Arab world, I am not personally expert in the various political movements - the underground conversations, the enmity, the political oppression/suppression and the like that exists. That doesn't mean that I don't know it exists or that there isn't real tension in the Arab world. I have, rather narrowly I guess, come across old loyalties - loyalty to the "king" and not face-to-face with his opposition.
It is interesting to compare, however, what is happening is Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and what has raised its head in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Algeria with the UAE. This is, perhaps, not untypical. A key aspect of life in the Gulf is to not speak. I know many expat Arabs hanging on to jobs for whom lifestyle and privilege dull the sense of 'fight' and the need to speak is slowly lost.
I must confess, that whilst living in the Arab world, I am not personally expert in the various political movements - the underground conversations, the enmity, the political oppression/suppression and the like that exists. That doesn't mean that I don't know it exists or that there isn't real tension in the Arab world. I have, rather narrowly I guess, come across old loyalties - loyalty to the "king" and not face-to-face with his opposition.
It is interesting to compare, however, what is happening is Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and what has raised its head in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Algeria with the UAE. This is, perhaps, not untypical. A key aspect of life in the Gulf is to not speak. I know many expat Arabs hanging on to jobs for whom lifestyle and privilege dull the sense of 'fight' and the need to speak is slowly lost. See here, Emiratis are well looked after by the state. The UAE is also remarkably free - not everything goes, but pretty much a lot does. The print media is relatively free in fact; there are boundaries - every society has them, but mostly they do not affect middle class personal pursuits. Abayas and Kanduras are the national dress, and there is an expectation that for official business national dress for the locals will happen, but away from officialdom, even the Abayas are a genuine haute couture fashion industry in themselves. Life in the UAE is about opportunity for the Emiratis, a short history of transformation of the old desert culture to a new modern lifestyle and hope.
Hope is key - the best universities are being brought in, new malls and hotels are being built, new technologies are being trialed, all the modern utilities are available at the touch of a button, money is splashed around and consumerism is embedded in the culture - American-style fast food, shopping etc. all mixed up with the international crossroads that the UAE has become. The UAE is a paternalistic society with most Emiratis and white collar expats being looked after; western-sytle democracy is not how it has worked here since the union was established in 1971. With the opportunities and lifestyle on offer, the question is not one that is a foremost request. There are the voices of caution, yes, but right now the UAE is riding on a crest of self-confidence, freedom to live a modern lifestyle and future hope.
So what of Egypt? Right now the sands in the Arab desert landscape are shifting. The Egyptians do not live with the same prosperity as the Emiratis, and therefore politics perhaps matters even more. Here's where the paths diverge. Emiratis walk their own walk, proud of their leadership and what the Sheikhs have done for them, deeply loyal and full of hope; whilst the Tunisians, the Yemenis and the Egyptians, skeptical, outcast and disillusioned walk a very different walk.
So what of Egypt? Right now the sands in the Arab desert landscape are shifting. The Egyptians do not live with the same prosperity as the Emiratis, and therefore politics perhaps matters even more. Here's where the paths diverge. Emiratis walk their own walk, proud of their leadership and what the Sheikhs have done for them, deeply loyal and full of hope; whilst the Tunisians, the Yemenis and the Egyptians, skeptical, outcast and disillusioned walk a very different walk.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Multiculturalism: A Prime Minister Speaks
Nothing really changes. It seems that some people are never pleased, and others will pander to fashionable hysteria. It is the same today as it was yesterday as it was the day before and when I was growing up. Too many of us still need a fall guy; some-one to shift the blame onto; a bogeyman caricature; an enemy to help define ourselves.
Europe's uneasy relationship with the Islamic world is rooted in history and David Cameron speaks with rather common voice:
David Cameron's speech follows on the heals of Angela Merkel's "Multiculturalism Has Failed" speech in October of last year. So the man at the top of the ladder in British politics, the Queen's representative and the first man of Britain, also knocks "multiculturalism". Frankly, I don't think that Britain in anyway leads on the matter and the failure of multiculturalism must have much to do with Germany and Britain both having allowed downward signalling ghettos to exist - enclaves within their systems where migrants and their kin are forced into the outer edges of mainstream society. Add to that relative poverty and low opportunity and failure stares you right back.
Many, many societies, have people of different racial types, religious views, languages, shades and opinions and whilst no place is perfect, "multiculturalism" is probably not even a word in those places. People just soldier on with their work, their daily routines and get on with providing safety and security for their families. Multiculturalism exists in a day-in, day-out basis. It just is.
Has multiculturalism in Europe failed? Well since Europe is still riding on a past nostalgia, I'm not surprised at these kinds of speeches. It's a "blame" game, nothing else. I don't eulogise most politicians in the slightest, so fortunately I can dismiss Cameron's attempt at courting popular prejudice. For most politicians, even national leaders, I find believing that they can possibly speak without agenda, something of a challenge. But just so that Cameron is reminded - he is no Barack Obama. Barack "Hussein" Obama. You know, the African-American President with a Muslim family. But then again, Britain is no America - where immigrants, Muslims included, are the key components of the contemporary American melting pot.
Cameron and Merkel ...? Hang on to yesteryear. Stay in your little pasts.
Europe's uneasy relationship with the Islamic world is rooted in history and David Cameron speaks with rather common voice:
Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream. We have failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong.
We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values. So when a white person holds objectionable views – racism, for example – we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices have come from someone who isn't white, we've been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them.
Europe needs to wake up to what is happening in our own countries. We need to be absolutely clear on where the origins of these terrorist attacks lie – and that is the existence of an ideology, Islamist extremism.
At the furthest end includes those who back terrorism to promote their ultimate goal: an entire Islamist realm, governed by an interpretation of shariah.
Move along the spectrum, and you find people who may reject violence, but who accept various parts of the extremist world-view including real hostility towards western democracy and liberal values.
If we are to defeat this threat, he says, its time to turn the page on on the failed policies of the past. So first, instead of ignoring this extremist ideology, we as governments and societies have got to confront it in all its forms.
David Cameron's speech follows on the heals of Angela Merkel's "Multiculturalism Has Failed" speech in October of last year. So the man at the top of the ladder in British politics, the Queen's representative and the first man of Britain, also knocks "multiculturalism". Frankly, I don't think that Britain in anyway leads on the matter and the failure of multiculturalism must have much to do with Germany and Britain both having allowed downward signalling ghettos to exist - enclaves within their systems where migrants and their kin are forced into the outer edges of mainstream society. Add to that relative poverty and low opportunity and failure stares you right back.
Many, many societies, have people of different racial types, religious views, languages, shades and opinions and whilst no place is perfect, "multiculturalism" is probably not even a word in those places. People just soldier on with their work, their daily routines and get on with providing safety and security for their families. Multiculturalism exists in a day-in, day-out basis. It just is.
Has multiculturalism in Europe failed? Well since Europe is still riding on a past nostalgia, I'm not surprised at these kinds of speeches. It's a "blame" game, nothing else. I don't eulogise most politicians in the slightest, so fortunately I can dismiss Cameron's attempt at courting popular prejudice. For most politicians, even national leaders, I find believing that they can possibly speak without agenda, something of a challenge. But just so that Cameron is reminded - he is no Barack Obama. Barack "Hussein" Obama. You know, the African-American President with a Muslim family. But then again, Britain is no America - where immigrants, Muslims included, are the key components of the contemporary American melting pot.
Cameron and Merkel ...? Hang on to yesteryear. Stay in your little pasts.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
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