Stolen Childhood: When Homeland Becomes an RPG

When your homeland becomes an RPG (Role Playing Game), with every street having blood to walk over, like in an FPS (First Person Shooting) gaming environment, then none of our children longs for a Sony PlayStation™ or an XBox™ 360…

Children play on an anti-aircraft gun near Beirut, Lebanon.

When real tanks are the only replacement for your ever-wanted HotWheels™ toy cars…

Tanks become toys in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

When you lose both your legs in real, like when they lose it playing HangMan…

An Afghan child who lost both his legs in war, just as his father did.

When you cry with your old photographs of peace, like they laugh when they share their photos on Flickr…

An Iraqi child, a figure of pathos.

When you search for some play in dead letters, like they enjoy bowling and skating…

A child from Yemen, running a used tyre in the streets.

When your fellow runs short of a lifeline in reality, quite different from Call of Duty – Modern Warfare…

Iraqi children looking at their dead fellow.

“Make the young masters of the old!” – Dr. Allama Iqbal

- I am an Iraqi youth.

- I am an Afghani youth.

- I am a Lebanese youth.

- I am a Swati youth.

- I am a Sudanese youth.

- I am a Jordanian youth.

- I am a Syrian youth.

- I am an Yemenite youth.

- I am a Combodian youth.

- I am a Bosnian youth.

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.

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I am too young to face this truth.

Let’s Meet Our Muslim Brothers Across The Globe On The Eve of Azha & Hajj ‘09

A Muslim man looks at the raising of the dome on the metallic roof
structure of the Strasbourg Grand Mosque in Strasbourg, France
on November 27, 2009. (FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

A mother adjusts her daughter’s headscarf before
a prayer on the occasion of Eid al-Adha at Jakarta’s largest mosque,
the Istiqlal on November 27, 2009 in Indonesia. (REUTERS/Supri)

Muslim pilgrims pray on atop Noor Mountain in the holy city of Mecca
before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage,
on November 23, 2009. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian pilgrim holds prayer beads against a fence
as they wait to pass from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing
to Egypt for the upcoming Eid al-Adha festival, in Rafah,
southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.
(AP Photo/Eyad Baba)

Muslim pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat, southeast of the
Saudi city of Mecca on November 26, 2009.
(MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

A young Muslim boy runs during Eid al-Adha celebration at
a mosque in Klang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)

Muslims pray during Eid al-Adha celebrations in Wuzhong,
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China on November 27, 2009.
(REUTERS/Stringer)

Customers are seen, reflected in the eye of a buffalo, as they
bargain with the seller at a market ahead of Eid al-Adha festival
in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.
(AP Photo/Pavel Rahman)

Muslim pilgrim throw pebbles at a stone pillar representing
the devil, during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia,
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Balochistan – What You Don’t See In The Media

Balochistan, My Brother! We Need To Talk

I hereby pledge, whatever I bring into limelight hereafter, is nothing except the truth. No exaggeration and no lies. And the soul objective is to make the sleeping nation, and its alien youth, aware of the bleeding state of one of its integral part, Balochistan. – Farrukh Zafar.

The Wounds Were Inflicted

The state of Balochistan drastically went bad, following the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti. Ethnic, racial and sectarian prejudices rose rapidly. As a consequence, this land filled with natural resources became a victim of target killings and similar sorts of radical violence. As the residents of Balochistan foresaw this havoc, they endeavored to displace internally, many of which succeeded, after all the uphill struggles. To give you an idea, only last week, about 22,000 families migrated out of Balochistan.

The Wounds Started to Bleed

Quetta, despite being the capital of Balochistan, is a severe victim of state terrorism these days. People other than Balochi background are being killed with ease, in hatred, in vengeance. Punjabi, Sindhi, Mohajir, Pathan – being targeted and killed in mayhem. Not to forget, the Pakistani flag was not allowed to be hoisted in any city of Balochistan, this Independence Day.

The BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army] is killing all these innocent non-Balochi people for what they believe, in their struggle for basic rights. With every exploding bomb, and every rocket fired, they are sending a message to the rest, to leave this province. The educated class of Balochistan is the first preference on these people’s gun-coils.

So Why Are They Doing This?

These people are longing for a separate state which is autonomous, where they rule free, educate, empower, and where they control the resources they have. And according to them, Pakistan has failed to provide all these rights to them since day 1.

The latest Balochistan Package by the Government seems a ray of light for the wrecked Balochi nation, dealing with its dented self-respect and fate.

Let us all pray for these people, for this land of shining minds and enormous resources, and for the unity of Pakistan, to rise above all. Long Live Pakistan, in its true spirit, colors and passions.

Information Courtesy:

Fatima Sami

Resident of Quetta, Balochistan.

Shakeel Durrani

Resident of Quetta, Balochistan.

The Crescent Nation’s Adversity Times