No Confidence

The path towards confidence is defined by those who struggle regardless of the attempts by those who are anchored to the material - physical - realm and will create a type of chaos and backwardness in pursuit of momentary pleasure and excess. The ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan is a clear example by those who don’t care for the stability of Pakistan, nor the wider region, the same people who have kept Pakistan in a backward state continue to sell themselves to the highest bidder, it’s as transparent as a clear moonless night, everything is visible.

To demonstrate the absurdity of the no-confidence vote, you can listen to this interview with Munizae Jahangir, who explains why Prime Minister Imran Khan was forced out of office, the reason is due to out of control inflation and increasing unemployment within the country, on the face of it, this may seem like a valid reason, except when you compare it to other countries. To determine if the vote of no-confidence was a legitimate position by the opposition, we can look at the current rate of inflation within Pakistan, which currently stands at 12.7% this time last year it was 11.1% an increase of over 1%, pre-pandemic levels were much higher with inflation hovering over 14%. One must also account for the fact that Pakistan is a developing country with many internal challenges, so inflation traditionally fluctuates wildly, overall there is nothing significant for the rate of inflation in Pakistan, and in fact, has decreased pre-pandemic. The second argument presented by Ms. Jahangir is the unemployment rate in Pakistan, again, looking at the empirical data one can see that the rate has decreased significantly from when Prime Minister Imran Khan took office in 2018, it currently stands at 4.4%. At no point in the last two years was a motion of no-confidence presented by the opposition, despite similar statistics related to inflation and unemployment, this point alone should end the discussion related to any reasons for the vote of no-confidence. However, to drive the point home and contextualize inflation and unemployment in Pakistan, let’s compare similar data points related to Canada, where inflation has increased significantly, currently standing at near 6% - an increase of over 5% pre-pandemic - for a developed and stable country this should be a topic of conversation for all journalists. Further, under Prime Minister Trudeau’s administration, the unemployment percentage sits at 5.5% much higher than that of Pakistan - a developing country. Based on the criteria outlined by Ms. Jahangir the opposition within Canada should be presenting a motion of no-confidence against the Trudeau administration, this is compounded by the fact that within Canada there seemed to be - either consciously or unconsciously - attempts by Prime Minster Trudeau to use the mechanism of fear to divide people, an incident I witnessed first-hand - in February of 2022 - of a pregnant woman between two grown men - both with masks - one of whom, in his paranoia, thought the other was too close, they were about to come to blows - indifferent in the presence of a pregnant woman. The absurdity continued with Prime Minister Trudeau’s administration invoking the emergency act upon a group of peaceful protestors who wanted a justification for the mandatory vaccinations (where one could not get a job in government or in health agencies without being vaccinated) based on the empirical data. Far from there being a call for a vote of no-confidence, the opposition party - led by Mr. Jagmeet Singh - worked with Prime Minister Trudeau to keep the unwise decision regarding vaccinations in place, without confronting and dismantling what continues to be a clearly divisive vaccination mandate where the unvaccinated are still unable to take a plane flight to attend the funeral of their loved ones - heartless and totally unnecessary - Prime Minister Trudeau’s administration has become antithetical to the experienced values of the Canadian citizenry, because, no Canadian would ever walk up to someone and demand they do something that is unnecessary - if your generally healthy you don’t need to be vaccinated - its pure choice. The folks that support such a contradiction must exist in a constant state of anxiety - unable to provide a reason for why everyone must be compelled - going against the fundamental precepts of reason. We are bewildered, genuinely bewildered, how is this being allowed to happen whilst there are thousands of academics who lay a certified claim to existing within the realms of reason.

The pandemic is the key factor that undermines Ms. Jahangir’s argument - and that of the opposition in Pakistan’s parliament - due to external factors spearheaded by the World Health Organization and western nations, who instituted uninformed policies forced upon developing nations to accept. The empirical data related to the actual risk of death and hospitalization is clear for anyone to review, western administrations across the board ignored sound science in pursuing alternative treatments that could have saved thousands of lives. The cost to developing countries like Pakistan was devastating, for the opposition party to state that the vote of no-confidence was due to the factors laid out by Ms. Jahangir is simply absurd. The supreme court of Pakistan had a real opportunity to ask the opposition why they had instituted the vote of no-confidence in the context of the empirical data related to inflation and unemployment - impacting developing and non-developing nations alike due to COVID - they didn’t pursue a common-sense judicial approach that would have maintained the harmony and integrity of an elected prime minister that has done nothing to deserve such treachery. It seems, Pakistan’s supreme court doesn’t seem to honor the tradition of enlightened empiricism, instead choosing to create disunity and protest across the board, its bewildering and absolutely wasteful - money and energy the country simply does not have.

The absurdity doesn’t stop there, Ms. Jahangir expanded upon a point related to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wanting to institute an Islamic state within Pakistan and the way he was going to do that was by having a gentle conversation with Muslim leaders from the western nations like Shaykh Hamza Yusuf - a wonderful conversation - which demonstrated the ability for Islam to be molded into the fabric of western culture and how Pakistan could update its old practices as it, attempts, to move into a modern enlightened future. Prime Minister Khan is genuinely trying to bring an updated version of Islam to Pakistan - to modernize and excel. To add insult to injury Ms. Jahangir accused Prime Minister Khan of victim-blaming women who are raped due to provocative dress, this is not what the Prime Minister stated, he clearly outlines:

“If you raise the temptation within a [conservative] society to a point [where it’s shameless], and all these young [ignorant and single] guys have no-where to go, it has consequences in the society”

The statement is not victim-blaming, it’s clarifying the realities of a developing country that is conservative at its root, where the majority of its population have little understanding of the Islamic creed, especially in contemporary Pakistan where the choice to indulge in the vulgarity offered by the internet is ever-present and constantly available, the result is self-evident, ignorant males behave ignorantly when temptation is on full display. One doesn’t need to focus on Pakistan to understand the challenges being faced by women in a world where female empowerment has become a smokescreen for the clear objectification and sexualization of women. It goes without saying that much more needs to be done to bring Pakistan into the enlightened realm of reason - which has been covered over by the corruption of the leaders - there are no foundations. The irony is nothing will change if journalists such as Ms. Jahangir take statements out of context and don’t commit to serious analysis in the context of the socio-economic and political realities of a world that is being ravaged by those who sell out. Pakistan absolutely does not want to follow in the footsteps of western governments politicians they have no honor - its argumentation to keep people distracted. Pakistan has a real opportunity to provide a balanced alternative - the roots of the continent is artful entertainment with layered meaning, what is certain though is that it would be absolutely unthinkable that a 16-year-old female actor in Pakistan would be objectified in a manner that is becoming increasingly normative in western nations. the artist must have the ability to exercise their absolute choice - there is no creativity without it. The challenge for women in developing countries is not to emulate the “art” from western nations, it’s to transcend beyond it by making art that moves one deeply through the language of the eyes and the subtleties recognized by those who are alive - good art inflects. The cultural reality of Pakistan - a developing country - is that men are not accustomed to the type of freedom that women have in the west to dress as they want, one cannot expect change immediately, progress needs to be incremental - rooted in the facts - where the constant intention is to honor women as they should be - deeply spiritual creators who embody the idea of love. The continued push toward a western-style of female objectification is unwise, the majority are simply not ready to adopt such a transformation. Ms. Jahangir looked elegant. Cultures that promote modesty whilst pursuing equality must start with a solid foundation which is that eternity is real, so why would anyone want to be fixated on themselves - it’s about the adventure with the other. The opportunity for female artists and journalists from conservative and developing countries is to set their own path, these are not complex statements, to demand an immediate change in what are clearly conservative countries is to be disconnected from reality, you cannot expect change when the reason for the change hasn’t been rigorously demonstrated, it’s unfair.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in my opinion, is well-positioned to lead Pakistan into the modern world, with a unique perspective rooted in classical Islam, he is quintessentially European - his children are proof of this - his breadth of experience and exposure to the elites of the world allows him to understand the dangers of indulgence - albeit private - whilst also acknowledging that elites can choose to act wisely in the context of experiential knowledge, his wisdom is undeniable. Pakistan is one of many emerging nations that want an alternative to the status quo of allying with western nations without discourse reason and enlightened debate, especially when bombing and murdering of innocent civilians has become all too common in developing nations. This is not a slight towards western nations, its a slight towards those who are in positions of power without the necessary wisdom to bring harmony, the chaos that is unfolding can be alleviated when the principles of [English] empiricism are employed, the primary principle being to ask questions based on reason. Western nations have much to offer the world, they are the best of nations because at the root of their tradition is the objective of being enlightened - if there is frustration it’s because we don’t want the tradition to be lost. Prime Minister Khan has been in a desperate situation in trying to impart change and sincere support was being offered by China and Russia, for example, China has done much more than any other nation in trying to develop Pakistan, this is compounded by the fact that genuine leaders such as President Putin, have struggled towards peace with its domestic Muslim population whilst many other nations opt for mistreatment in the form of harassment and humiliation of its Muslim residents. It’s absolutely clear why the opposition - in Pakistan - motioned for a vote of no-confidence after Prime Minister Khan met with President Putin in February. Maybe Ms. Jahangir can provide an outline of how Russia has acted towards Pakistan over the last 20 years and then compare that to NATO?

Pakistan could become an example for the world, of how Muslim countries can realize the true essence of the classical tradition of Islam. How a proper interpretation of Islam in the context of 21st-century realities, human beings are an utterly unique species immersed within an unimaginably beautiful and complex world shared by all; Islam can be synthesized with the enlightened Judeo-Christian tradition from western nations, a true collaboration of ideas, with a set of foundational principles that overlap the entirety of all established traditions. The conversation with western European Muslim intellectuals such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf was a start in building bridges with western nations where there is an agreement that honoring traditions is the best path forward. As a strategy, Pakistan should partner with western institutions such as Cambridge Muslim College under the leadership of Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad - Europe has an esteemed tradition of enlightenment thought. The root of truth is one, it’s undeniable. What is being attempted, with the global status quo, is to remove religious - and universal - truths, leaving only personal and subjective opinions, this will lead to inevitable chaos, without established traditions there is nothing unifying the global population - One source of everything that we shall return to, Muslims from the west have a real opportunity in providing a unified path forward that honors all religions - as they should be.

When the facts have been properly researched the conclusion of the data is singular, there was no reason for a vote of no-confidence by the opposition, and the supreme court of Pakistan capitulated. Prime Minister Khan, please don’t fall for domestic rioting and protesting, its not worth it, the bad external and internal actors want the same type of chaos as the Middle East, except this time the misery caused by Covid-19 mandates has replaced the misery created by western nations and their financial greed after the global economic collapse in 2018 (the root of the Arab Spring). Wealth is continuing to be consolidated with attempts to influence those who are anchored to the circumstantial material moment - exchanged for eternal imagination, the effort & energy needed to create chaos is not worth the long-term consequences. Corruption is easy, therefore not smart or intelligent, it’s why it can be avoided and if required replaced, the founding Fathers of the United States provided a framework we are just missing the enlightened guides who need genuinely begin speaking clearly. I sincerely hope that the people of Pakistan will prevail, and continue to work in honor and uprightness, your struggle is not going unnoticed.