Rescuing Hug

Kyrie and Brielle Jackson were born on 17 October 1995 at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA. Each of the twins weighed all of two pounds at birth. Though Kyrie was putting on a bit of weight in the days following her arrival, Brielle was not doing as well. She cried a great deal, leaving her gasping and blue-faced.

Brielle was having a particularly bad day. NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) nurse Gayle Kasparian tried everything to calm her. She held her. She had her dad hold her. She wrapped her in a blanket. She suctioned her nose. Nothing worked.

Then, she remembered hearing about a procedure done in Europe. She put Brielle in the incubator with her sister Kyrie. Almost immediately, rescue_hugBrielle snuggled up to Kyrie. Her blood-oxygen saturation levels, which had been frighteningly low, soared. She began to breathe more easily. The frantic crying stopped and her normal pinkish color quickly returned. Over the next weeks, her health improved steadily in her new, less lonely quarters.

The children survived their rocky beginning and in time went home with their parents. When last heard from, Brielle and Kyrie were healthy preschoolers.

Be Content

Observe around you and be thankful for all that you have in this transitory life time.

Let us complain less and give more.

We are fortunate, we have much more than what we need to be content.

Let’s try not to feed this endless cycle of consumerism and immortality in which this “modern and advanced” society forgets and ignores the other two thirds of our brothers and sisters who are looking for simple bread and butter.

Creation – In Christianity and Islam

Qur’an 13:2 – Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see is firmly established on the throne (of authority). He has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law)

Genesis 1:1-2 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Qur’an 13:3,4 – And it is He who spread out the earth, and set thereon mountains standing firm and (flowing) rivers: and fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two: He draweth the night as a veil o’er the Day. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who consider! And in the earth are tracts (diverse though) neighbouring, and gardens of vines and fields sown with corn, and palm trees – growing out of single roots or otherwise: watered with the same water, yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who understand!

Genesis 1:9-12 – And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so. God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Qur’an 35:13 and 41:12 – He merges Night into Day, and he merges Day into Night, and he has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law): each one runs its course for a term appointed. Such is Allah your Lord: to Him belongs all Dominion. And those whom ye invoke besides Him have not the least power.

So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.

Genesis 1:14-18 – And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God made two great lights; the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Qur’an 50:38 – We created the heavens and the earth and all between them in Six Days, nor did any sense of weariness touch Us.

Genesis 2:1-3 – Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Qur’an 15:28,29 – Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man from sounding clay from mud molded into shape; when I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit fall ye down in obeisance unto him.

Genesis 2:7 The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The Land of Great Potential in shambles. Why?

Having been blessed by nature in all possible ways, Pakistan is a land of great potential that remains to be exploited. Between the second highest point on earth (Mount K2) and the bottom of the Arabian Sea, Pakistan has it all. The fact that hardly a fraction of Pakistan’s natural resources have been exploited to go into the process of nation-building speaks loudly of how neglectful we have been. Would we have had the adverse situation that is today threatening our integrity if we had not been so neglectful towards the prosperity of Pakistan? Common sense says no we would not have had any of the present day adversity had Pakistan prospered at a good pace. While our adverse present is because of our inept statecraft of the past our destiny will be decided by our current handling of the affairs of the state. We will be what we will work to be.

Together, the Pakhtuns, the Punjabis, the Sindhis, the Balochis and all other Pakistanis make up a manpower resource that any nation should have put to good use towards its progress and prosperity. But, sadly, this has not been the case and instead the fate of these proud people has been unemployment, social exploitation, deprivation, sufferings and lost dreams. Most Pakistanis continue to live without healthcare, education, the very basic amenities of life like clean water to drink, justice and fair play, equal opportunities and above all even the right to be truly represented at all levels of the political forums of the country. The most damaging aspect that has caused Pakistan and its people immeasurable damage is the absolute suppression of provincial autonomy. If Pakistan’s provinces had been autonomous federating units as the Constitution of Pakistan provides for, had they been ruled by elected leaders of conviction and proven ability and had they been allowed to flourish equitably Pakistan today would have been a very happy federation of four well-knit, harmonious provinces and there would have been no room for the disruptions and the armed challenges to the state that we today witness throughout the country. The provinces are now no-go areas for the political leadership of the provinces and the federation. Whenever such a situation comes about and even insignificant ministers and political personalities have to move about with heavy escorts and in bullet-proof vehicles the absolute divorce between the rulers and the ruled has, effectively, taken place. This is exactly what the enemies of the state strive to bring about and this is exactly the situation in which anarchy thrives and the state steadily diminishes. The slightest bit of common sense can decipher what the next level of such a situation can be. Is that a point Pakistan can afford to reach? The answer is, certainly not.

So what is the solution and how does the revival process commence in order to return from the brink? To those who say that Pakistan is not at the brink I shall say that they must shrug off their complacent and ostrich like attitude, return from dreamland and start realising the grave dangers that this beautiful land of ours is faced with today. The revival process must now be generated in right earnest by those who have, on their shoulders, the political and military responsibility for bringing Pakistan back from the brink. The process must start today; tomorrow will be too late. The political and military leaders of today’s Pakistan have to bring about a team that is selflessly and uniquely dedicated to achieve one single objective — the Pakistani Dream. This ought to be done before they are let down by the self-seeking sycophants they so mistakenly depend upon because the sycophants will, in any case, move on undeterred to the next bandwagon when the present one comes to a grinding halt. Haven’t we witnessed this phenomenon often enough in Pakistan? One cursory look around the political and bureaucratic bigwigs of the present political and bureaucratic hierarchy will show up many such faces which have Musharraf’s signatures deeply engraved on their foreheads.

It is now inevitable to tap the true potential of Pakistan and for that basic political reforms are absolutely inescapable which must entail an end to unbridled discretion at all levels and must aim to draw the talented middle class into the political process. The dynamic Pakistani youth must be provided a quicker break-in into every field of national life if Pakistan has to get out of the quagmire that is dragging it down and out. The dynamic youth must also rise to the occasion and take up the challenges for Pakistan. Talented young Pakistanis must push themselves into every sphere of national life and the political process. Even as we battle the most serious challenge to Pakistan’s integrity since the last one in 1971, which we failed to overcome, the Pakistan that our ancestors dreamt of must be realised so that Pakistan is never confronted by any armed challenge in future. Pakistan must now move on a multi-pronged revival process. Waiting for a military recovery before other steps are taken would be wrong. The “organised chaos” we have lived in for 62 years must be forced to give way to an organised national revival process.

The Revival Process by: Masood Sharif Khan Khattak, former director general of the Intelligence Bureau and former vice president of the PPP Parliamentarians. Email: masoodsharifkhattak @gmail.com
The News Saturday, June 27, 2009