A Little Dignity

“A hero isn’t he who begins or ends in perfection; a hero is simply he who struggles with life. In fact, a hero struggles with life more than the average man”. Che

What was Prisoner number 650 at Bagram base in Afghanistan left from her house in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi in a metro cab on 30th of March 2003 to catch a flight for Rawalpindi but she never made it to catch the flight. The reports in the press claimed that she along with her children was abducted by the notorious Secret Services ISI on her way to the airport and was handed over to FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) at Bagram base in Afghanistan. The same version was confirmed last year to this blog by an official on the basis that his identity will not be revealed. What happened afterwards is a tragic story that should haunt every Human Being with a conscious including the parasitical elite class comprising of our hypocrite politicians, Gutless Khakis and bureaucrats. Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a mother of three, a highly educated researcher who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, for about 10 years did her PhD in Genetics (neuroscientist). After her abduction from Karachi she was transported to Bagram base where she was tortured, continuously raped by US Marines and humiliated in front of other prisoners. All this had happened round the clock for four long years. Those who have heard her screams while being tortured and raped by US soldiers to this day are haunted by it. You can read more about her story and how she was found guilty of attempted murder charges on Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Found Guilty by American Jury on Feb 3, 2010.

I am not going to discuss the merits of the case or how the judicial system works in United States of America the Champion and protector of Human Rights and Civil Liberties or how this could have never happened to a Western Women or how should have the civil society, human rights activist and the media reacted to it. What I am going to ponder on is a little dignity. “Dignity” is a word we hear often in a variety of contexts. And while we all probably think we know what dignity means, there seems to be a lot of disagreement about what constitutes dignity and what does not. What is a dignified life as opposed to an undignified life? Do animals have dignity, and do they deserve to be treated with dignity? What does it mean to have dignity or to be treated with dignity? What does it mean to violate dignity?

Dignity is the ability to stand strong and tall in the face of adversity while being able to bow down to the elderly and crawl with the children. Dignity is also taking a firm stand for your beliefs and actions. Shaheed Balach Marri of Balochistan is an example of a dignified man who stood strong and tall in the face of adversity and who was firm in his stance for his beliefs and actions. He gave his life with dignity for standing up against the injustice to the people of Balochistan. On the other hand we have the Politicians (Asif Zardari. Rehman Malik, Altaf Hussain, Nawaz Sharif, Fazal-ur-Rehman etc and Generals (Gen.Musharraf, Gen. Kayani, Gen Athar Abbas, Gen. Pasha etc) who handed over their honor and dignity (Dr. Afia being a Mother, Sister, Daughter of this Country) to the allied vultures in return for some US dollars. This Napak Army which prouds itself to be custodians of Pakistan’s safety, self respect and dignity are the ones who negotiated and sold their daughter and thousand of other man to the allied vultures in return for US dollars. They once again proved that are nothing but COWARDS who will sell their own mother if the price is right.

Live your life with moral courage and virtue and do the best you can under whatever circumstances you are faced by but never loose your dignity because “Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family and nations”.