Trip to Pakistan Part II - Mo and the merry men of Parachinar

So after a mini hiatus I write the part II of my very contentious earlier post. I hope the folk who criticized me so vociferously do read this edition as well.

As soon as I got home in Islamabad from the airport I had forgotten about my encounter with the "smoking guy" and the police officer. I was looking forward to my sisters wedding which I was here for. As I had written in the last post weddings in Pakistan are a huge deal. When I mean huge, I mean really really huge. Festivities that go on for at least a week, one ceremony after another. Too much food, too much 'bling'. Sorry I digress, weddings in Pakistan can wait another day. Coming back to the dichotomy in Pakistan. In my last post I presented a bleak view of the conditions with the airport story but the flip side of the coin was shown to me on my trip to the mosque on Friday.

Fridays are always fun in Pakistan. You feel spiritual as soon as you wake up. There is something very mystical about them. Everybody cleans up well, wears sparkling white clothes, gels back their hair, puts on perfume to go to the mosque for 'Friday Prayer'.

I've attended the same mosque every Friday since I was about 10 years old, and now I make sure I visit it every time I'm in Pakistan. It used to be a very modest building back when I was a young boy but now its blossemed into this beaituful mosque having tall marbled minarets with an adjecent library and academy.

Before 2005, it used to be that one could enter and exit the 'house of God' without any fear but these days thanks to our 'true' believer friends, the 'Taliban' and the ones that they inspire, it feels like you are an Arab passing through an airport checkpoint in the US. Two sets of pat downs, all items to be displayed etc etc. But it has become an unfortunate necessity and I salute the boys and girls who are standing at the checkpoints as they are always the ones who end up loosing their lives when the crazy lunatics do decide to blow themselves up. For those who haven't been following closely, last year their were over 70 bombings in Pakistan, that's a bomb going off once every five days or so and most of them were at mosques or schools. Obviously, what else would you like to bomb to show your dismay towards the great satanic forces of the west right? Vulnerable worshipers and kids, makes complete sense!

I finally enter the mosque and get situated to listen to the lecture by the maulana prior to the namaz. After the Friday prayer you have kids going through the isles collecting donations while the management makes announcements/pledge calls for different charitable causes. One of these announcements caught my attention. The announcement was of group of young men who were in the local city hospital brought over from Parachinar (Parachinar is capital of Kurram Agency has an area of 1305 square miles and situated in KP province of Pakistan right on the border with Afghanistan) after deadly clashes while fighting the Taliban.

After the prayers were over and everyone was leaving I went over to the gentleman who had made the announcement to inquire more details. He directed me to another gentleman who gave me the phone number to a man by the name of Muhammad who was looking after the injured at a local hospital in Islamabad.

After calling a few different people I was able to get a hold of Muhammad who went on to explain to me that the injured were indeed civilians from Parachinar, some who were severely injured in fighting against the Taliban. The Taliban and their allies have been trying to get a foothold in that region for many years now but have been met with brave resistance from the local community. Their reasons for doing that are very straightforward, they don't want to get screwed over by the Taliban or the US drone attacks, if not the US army itself. For them its all about survival, the Taliban hate them and they don't particularly like the US army either. So if they don't fight, the Taliban end up getting a foothold in that area which would give them easy access to Peshawar and Islamabad. Furthermore, it would give the Allied forces in Afghanistan reason to bomb that area with drone airplanes which would also lead to civilian casualties. So the solution is to take up arms against the Taliban themselves.

After talking to him I was very intrigued and wanted to pay the hospital a visit. The next evening I took a break from the crazy wedding activities and headed over to the hospital where Muhammad was waiting for me. Muhammad who looked to be in his early thirties, an accountant by profession, was a pashto speaking typical 'pathan' in appearance; tall, broad, fair in complexion, and very soft spoken. If I ever brought him over to my house I can hear my mom saying 'Ali, why couldn't you ever turn out to be this gentlemanly'.

Muhammad and I exchanged pleasantries, and while we made our way to the hospital ward where they were admitted he explained to me who these injured guys were, what and how they sustained their injuries and what all their needs were? Upon arrival I saw several men between the ages of 18 - 25 all having sustained severe injuries. Some with amputated legs, others with broken bones, shrapnel wounds, you name it. But what hit me the most was not the severity of their wounds, but the magnanimity of their spirit. Muhammad introduced me as a 'khairkwa' - (concerned person) from the mosque who had come to visit them, thank them and hopefully assist them. I was greeted by them like a brother, like one who had been fighting alongside them in Parachinar. A few of them went on to tell me how they received no support from the Government or any other sources in their quest to resist the Taliban, but their spirits were high and as soon as they got better they would go back, be it on one leg. They were doing it for their survival and more importantly for the survival of their religion. The message that they wanted me to convey to whoever I met in the west was that 'not all of us are like them, and we will not sit back let our lands be conquered and our religion be hijacked by thugs'.

After this very emotional meeting, Muhammad and I walked out while he explained to me how he has along with taking care of the wounded, been working with the community in Parachinaar for years now trying to build schools and basic health care centers in that region. He also explained to me how little support they have received from the Government and how most of his funds are from private donors, mosques etc.

Muhammad and I are in constant touch now and I'm pretty sure in the coming years after my Carter Center campaign is over I will move to the North West part of Pakistan and help him in his quest to bring more attention to this forgotten part of Pakistan where 'men of honor' still exist in abundance.

I had written earlier that Pakistan is a place where you will find corruption and apathy in abundance, but it is also a place where you will find selflessness and valour in people like Muhammad who will literally fight for the just cause till their last breath. For those who say that Pakistan is a failed state that will crumble soon, I say that you need come and meet Muhammad and his merry men of Parachinar and if you stay a little longer I'm sure you'll have no trouble in finding millions like him all over the country.

Love from Sudan