Compassion and Courage

Compassion and Courage

Richard Adams wrote about it in his book, Watership Down. This is a book from my childhood that I would recommend to anyone wanting to understand compassion and courage in animals. It's a work of fiction of course but one of the more amazing things that I witnessed this past week was an act of compassion between our rabbits. Seems bizarre that I should mention them here when I could be writing about something related to humanity instead, but hold on, I think there is something that we can learn from a species that seemingly is only instinctual - what else would we expect from animals that are to all effects and purposes at the bottom of the food chain? 

Rabbit teeth grow permanently and must be worn down through gnawing and nibbling. The position of the teeth must line up so that they grind against each other. It is the way they are designed. One of our rabbits - Camembert has incisors that have previously required regular trimming because of the way they were misaligned. He started off not minding a routine trim (once every 6 weeks) but the frequency of the visits to the vet began to create a level of stress in him (every three weeks to a fortnight) and he went from being quite jovial before visits to very anxious when being put into a cage. Without his trim however, he struggled to eat and drink and this was potentially worse. After months of procrastination perhaps, we decided last April to make the decision to have his incisors removed permanently and he was put under general anaesthetic and operated on. Rabbits under anaesthesia have a higher failure/mortality rate that other small pets, so even that was a risk. The night he came back home from the vet, he looked weak and his eyes were either closed or weeping. I would never have thought I would be troubled so much to see an animal in such a state of discomfort and was genuinely unable to sleep until sitting with him late into the night, I witnessed him eating and taking a drink. Regular foraging/eating is essential for rabbit well-being. Camembert recovered and learned to adapt to eating using his molars and we adapted his feed in accordance. 

Fast forward to August and on our return from the middle-east, we acquired Yuki a new addition to the rabbit family in the form of a Himalayan dwarf, white with red-eyes and Siamese ear/nose and feet-tipped in grey. She is quite an adorable bunny especially with her gregarious character. Very happy to be handled, but requiring a claw clipping early on. At that point the vet examined Camembert again and suggested that his lower incisor was reemerging. It remained stub-like for months until this month it became obvious that both his lower incisors had fully emerged and that they were now beginning to curl back. Rather than a trim, we opted for a (hopefully final) op.  I feel strongly that the company that animals give to each other is important and Camembert's brother, Harrod went with him to the vets. He's the most reserved of the rabbits we have, but a brother, even when he gets grumpy at you, is still a brother. The first time around Harrod was instrumental in Camembert's recovery. Made sense to involved Harrod again this time round too.

We left Yuki at home - she's a playful rabbit, as already mentioned, but by mid-morning she sensed the absence of the other two. The day passed and when Camembert came home in the evening, he looked tired and again his eyes and movements suggested that he was in for a long night. Now I know that Harrod had nursed Camembert the first time he'd been operated on - licking him and keeping him close, but as brothers  they have been bonded since birth. To see Yuki lick and nibble Camembert when she saw him after the operation really blew me away. She must have sensed his illness and her compassion towards him was on a level that made me reflect on care amongst animals and what this means for us as people. 

I know we have people who care - who go out of their way to show that they care, but we are higher order beings, I expect us to care. However, we just as create and destroy equally and there are days when I feel that we do more of the latter than of the former. But to witness rabbits being compassionate and caring really made me think. We don't have the monopoly on compassion, on what it means to feel and care. There is much that we can learn just by observing these seemingly small things. 

Meet Yuki.
Photographed using a Samsung Galaxy S4 (Summer 2014)

Read also: Bright Eyes

The Human Cost of War

... Or more specificially, the title should perhaps be The Human Cost of Someone Else's War ...

There must be a first rule - humanity, above all else. No other ideology - religious, political, economic, fashion or tradtion is equal to that first rule.

The downing of the the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 still has me in a state of shock. It seems to come admist a number of human tragedy/gloom stories making the news of late (including the current conflicts in Syria/Iraq/Palestine/Waziristan). At times like this I am forced to pause and return to that 'first rule' - humanity - the most sacred thing worth 'fighting' for. All else is second.

In the current Israeli-Palestinian bombardment, the major news-networks are cautiously selective and present a somewhat sanitised view; not quite able to be fully critical of Israeli aggression, despite a track record and a revealing body of evidence. Hamas is also responsible for aggression, so deaths and injury must not be sugar-coated but here is a clear case of imbalanced response. Considering that Jewish suffering during the Second World War is still within living memory of some, I can never understand how the Israeli state can have complete disregard for the most basic of human compassion.

The Pakistan army operation in Waziristan (Zarb-e-Azb) - again is illustrative of another human tragedy where the rights and wrongs of the conflict have disregarded basic humanity towards ordinary people who are caught in the cross-fire. Most Pashtuns in the tribal belt wish only to protect their land and possesions. Collective punishment, seemingly deemed legitimate in both the Israeli and the Pakistani case treats the innocent as expendable.

The same could be said for the non-combatant civilians caught in Iraq and Syria, and of course between the Russian-backed rebels in the Ukraine and the Ukranian government. The recent downing of the aeroplane is  exactly that - innocents caught up in someone else's war. A real human tragedy and one that has shaken my faith in others. I always expect humans to show humanity, but am fast adapting to the reality that this isn't always so. Pessimism perhaps. Somehow I must hang on to hope, as I fully endorse those genuine fights for autonomy, self-determination and rule of law. But this cannot be justified by mindless acts of violence where innocent humans have to pay for the costs of someone else's war.

 Source: Patheos.com

World War Z

I haven't seen the film of the same name, but I understand from the interviews with author, Max Brooks, that the film has had the Hollywood treatment and is very different from the structure of the original narrative, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Wars. That said, provide it is less gory horror, I do like an adventure/thriller flick and a reinterpretation of a story is no bad thing. In fact, Max Brook's book itself is inspired by Stud Terkel's The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two and the zombie films by George A. Romero. Alongside reading the book in ePub format on my iPad and on my Android phone (also available here), I've tried listening to the much celebrated audio (abridged) version of the book (it is there on Youtube). The latter, voiced by actors for the various different parts means that I need to be able to have the time to plug in my headphones whilst being pretty close to an Internet connection, which is something that isn't always a possibility, these days.

Apocalypse

The book, published in 2006, is a written as a series of first hand accounts in a world with a radically reduced population following an outbreak of a virus with Patient Zero in China over runs the Earth turning humans into the living dead. It goes beyond a traditional horror genre and deals with post-apocalyptic chaos brought on by world-wide panic. Fear of the zombie virus spreading uncontrollably and denial of the extent of the spread of the disease is followed quickly by sudden movements of entire populations and societal breakdown. Most governments can offer little in the way of strategy and are unprepared against zombie attacks and the spread of mass infection. The collapse of social order is explored through a series of individual accounts.

In the book, Max Brooks travels the world, and we learn about the individual personal wars and survival stories of the characters that he interviews. Underlying them is the subtext of how we live today - our political and social identities and how humanity can unite when faced with an adversary within. 

Ultimately World War  World War Z is both cautionary as well as hopeful. We are reminded that evil lurks, waiting restlessly to be unleashed when our structures fall apart. It also reminds us that good simmers below the surface, capable of defending and rebuilding a devastated world.

Make A Wish ...

- so that we are all free and equal
- for an end to discrimination
- for the right to life, liberty and security
- to abolish slavery
- to abolish torture
- so that everyone is protected by the law
- so that we are all equal before the law
- for access to justice for all
- for an end to arbitrary detention
- for the right to a fair trial
- to be considered innocent til proven guilty
- so that we all have a right to privacy
- so that we are all free to live in and return to our home countries
- so that everybody has access to refuge in a safe country
- so that everyone has a right to a nationality
- so that everyone has the right to marriage and family for all
- for everyone to have the right to own property
- for freedom of thought, conscience and belief for all
- for the right to freedom of expression and opinion for all
- so that everyone has the right to peaceful assembly
- so that everyone has a right to participate in government
- for the right to universal social security
- for equal pay for equal work for all
- for the right to rest and leisure for all
- for food, shelter and health care for all
- for the right to an education for all
- for the right to the arts, culture, and science
- for a fair and free world
- so that everyone has the right to develop as a person through work
- so that no one can take away my rights 

Click here to learn more.

Human Rights; Human Wrongs

For a couple of days now I have wanted to explore a thought or two on the subject of human rights. Coinciding with the official UN Day that celebrates the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights I have a question that asks if the UDHR applies to all. Would it be right, given the tile, to describe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as truly universal?  

This is where perceptions matter on the intention of Human Rights matter. Perhaps in many traditional societies, the human rights movements associations with individualism don't always fit with the social importance placed on the collective (that is, families and communities etc.). Should we be surprised therefore, that in the heart of Africa and Asia, and across the Muslim world, public sensibilities mean that the interpretation of aspects of the UDHR often it lines up with 'western' social attitudes? This is perhaps why governments 'get away' with violations.

And what of those societies that supposedly espouse the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but that ignore the rules themselves? The UK's obsession with electronic surveillance and the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, for example, operate in a human rights 'grey area'. Both these are examples when, presumably, the 'collective' interest is put before the 'individual' interest.

Considering that many years have passed since 1948, and most the world still remains tied to cultures that reject individualism, can the notion of Universal Human Rights truly have universal support?

Because Of the War ...

د دی جګړو له لاسه

حفیظ الله خالد
* * *

نور دی جګړو له لاسه

هر یوانسان ستړی دی

هلته زموږ وطن کی

هر یوافغان ستړی دی

ا نسان لا پریږده چې نن

ځمکه آسمان ستړي دي

د دی اوږده ناورین نه

وخت اوزمان ستړی دی

ګلان په اور کی سیزي

چمن بوستان ستړی دی

ځای هدیرو که نسته

غراو بیابان ستړی دی

مه وړې ماشی ته نورلاس

بس کړې روان جنګونه

په کلیومه شیندی اور

مه ورانوۍ کورونه

چی دی جګړو له لاسه

له دی قتلو له لاسه

نن هر افغان ستړی دی

هر یو انسان ستړی دی

* * *

Drug Treatment Centre

Afghanistan is a war-torn country, and has been for 30 years. It has been described in the many conversations that I have had of late, as a "bipolar" society. In many many ways it is a country at war with itself. Out of a population of 32 million, one million Afghans are drug addicts.

That would be just counting the men, of course. Gender roles mean that women may too be affected, but since they don't always step forwards, they are often not counted in the same way. 

I went to a WADAN drug treatment centre yesterday, and was humbled to follow the programme, which included a chance to sit in a group therapy session. Relapsing is all too real and there is a critical shortage of mental health workers, since invariably much of the addiction is spurned on by the various troubles this country faces. The dedicated workers and volunteers who make up the programme are truly soldiers of the best kind.

The PashTones!

We live in a world full of cultural crossroads. The PashTones represent an adaptation of Pashto folk songs in American folk/acoustic styles. On their website, the PashTones write that they wish "to expand current modes of engagement and exchange between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the West by opening into the register of poetry and music." It is always a positive step when people take a genuine interest.

The after-effects of last year's floods in Pakistan still continue to affect millions. 20 million people are still in need of urgent assistance in the affected areas.  An estimated 1.9 million homes were damaged or destroyed in the tragedy, and efforts are still needed to help rebuild lives. All proceeds from this album sales will go toward Oxfam's flood relief efforts in Pakistan. 

 

 

Enjoy the three track sampler.
Follow the PashTones further on Facebook.

Tor_Khan تور خان

Human Connectivity 2

Continuing with the model of doubling our ancestors each generation that we go back, presents an inherent anomaly because we end up - just by going back two thousand years with a million trillion people in our immediate ancestry. That, is said to be more than the number of people who ever lived. So there must be a logical explanation.

The pyramid model means that two uniquely unrelated people came together to parent the next generation. However, a rather different model may show that two parents of one of our ancestors might not have been so distantly related and therefore there may be overlap. An individual may have cousin-parents and thus six great-grandparents rather than eight. Before the time of mass travel when people lived in small villages, individual genes came often from a tight pool .

Expand that out and people begin to connect with one another very rapidly. I think this says something very important about people in general and this challenges ideas of genetic diversity supposedly used to present ideas of superiority and racial separateness. If our ancestors were related then so are we and today we're all very much part of a continuing human web. There are plenty of overlaps and whatever our race and ethnicity, ultimately of course, we all go back to the same source.

Je Ne Comprends Pas ...

Le monde est un endroit étrange. Je ne comprends pas ...
The world is a strange place. I do not understand it ...

Six Degrees of Separation

... Musings from Tor Khan ...

Who is Tor_Khan and why do I have this name? Do I exist as an Internet ID only or do I have another self - a real one, in which I am known quite differently? Another name; another life; another family and another community that I belong to?

Clearly yes, though I'm not sure that I need to dwell on this much beyond those initial questions. There are reasons. See, this blog has provided a genuine place in which I have been able to explore my thoughts, and make my own statement ... some of this I hadn't much thought about when I started. I didn't even really know much about the direction it would take. I was never sure who would read, who would chose to follow and who would "stay the ride". These continue to remain unknowns.

... Musings from a Distance ...

Occasionally, the real and the virtual meet in one place. Yesterday was such a moment. A friend, whom I have mentioned before, stumbled across this space and mentioned it in conversation. Should he chose to visit again, then this is my dedication.

Interestingly I have always been interested in the human chain of connection. When I think of many known people who's names appear in the media and so on, I often trace a connection with them in the usual six, (or even less) degrees of separation (the "Human Web"). E.g. I know of someone, who spoke with someone etcetera, etcetera.

There are many proponents of the idea of a "shrinking" world, but perhaps the architect was Frigyes Karinthy (Hungary, 1887 - 1938) who popularised the idea of six degrees of separation in his 1929 short story, Chains. Celebrity is one thing, but just ordinary people around the world are said to be just six people apart. If this is so, then the possibilities, and the responsibilities are much more significant than we first imagined perhaps.

More so in today's Internet age and with the advent of internet-based social networking (e.g. Facebook). It's rather ironic, because I, Tor_Khan am perhaps less the "Dark Prince" mystery blogger and someone the Reader knows about already. Maybe, therefore, my musings are not that distant ...

Tor_Khan تور خان

Casualties of War

The human cost of war is the thing that most stirs me. Forget the political wranglings. Sure, I have deep seated beliefs and opinions about cause and responsibility, but the politics is neither here nor there when we consider the human fallout. People still need to live, they need to eat and they still need to provide for their families. My question is simple, who is responsibe to these peope?

"Who would ever want to leave their home willingly?" asks Wilayat Khan. "In the end we had two choices - flee or die."

We are sitting in the cramped three-room house he shares with his brother's family in the Pashtun-dominated neighbourhood of Sohrab Goth, on the outskirts of Karachi.

Mr Khan and his brother rented it after they fled their native South Waziristan. So far, it is thought nearly 15,000 people have fled to Karachi to escape fighting in South Waziristan.

Most settle on the outskirts and many find work as labourers, watchmen or in Karachi's Pashtun-dominated transport industry.

"For the time being, most of the families fleeing the conflict in the tribal regions cannot return home," says Ismail Mehsud, a young Pashtun politician in Pakistan's financial capital. "It's a vicious cycle - and the state appears unwilling to play its part," he says. "Just handing out blankets is not going to help. Increasingly, Pashtuns are being made to feel like second-class citizens."

Wilayat Khan agrees: "I thought all of Pakistan was our home. But more and more, I feel like a stranger in my own homeland."

Edited from this BBC report.

The picture is taken from a similar report from IRIN Asia and shows how IDPs like Alam and Farooq Khan are struggling to find work.