Archimedes, The Great Mathematician

Archimedes  (pronounce: Ar-ka-mi-dees;  آر - کا - می - ڈیز ) 

287 BC to 212 BC

India Needed Corrupt Judges!

Once upon a time, justice was dying in India. Millions of cases were pending in Courts.

What is Quality Education?

I want to admit my child into a school which imparts QUALITY education. Which school should I choose? No, don't name the school, tell me the criteria and I will select the school myself. Yes, tell me what is meant by QUALITY education?

Why I Love Evernote !

Because of 3 reasons:

1. It Organizes Documents.

2. It Organizes Web Search.

3. No Gadget Space Required.

Charity My Foot!

Why charity is bad for Pakistan!

We elect government and pay direct and indirect taxes so that it provides infrastructure and essential utilities for us.

Pimpy Pakistan

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom 

Pimp in our culture is a dishonorable person. A person without essential values.

Pimp is a person who gives priority to his comfort over values.

We Are Mice of Shah Dola !

ہم دولے شاہ کے چوہے ہیں 

We are rats of the saint "Shah Dola". Practically this means that we are mentally retarded. 

Gay Rights In Islam? Are You Serious?

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

The recent judgment of the US Supreme Court legalizing Gay Marriages has been a sort of blow to all. For Gays and Lesbians it was a blow of jubilations, while for the rest of us, conservatives, it came as a blow hard struck. 

Nazi Germany & Jehadi Pakistan!

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Brainwashing is a technique of influencing mind. When an assertion is repeated again and again as a gospel truth without allowing difference of opinion, mind gets numb after a while and takes the assertion as truth. And if an organized group exercises this technique on a large group or society, a hysteria occurs. But the best, actually the worst, results occur when this technique is applied on children.

Students! Flunk Exams!

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Your academic degrees and medals are going to dishonor you in the real world. Unless you stop grabbing good grades. I am not kidding.

We The Donkey Drivers

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

We do not drive like reasonable drivers, we drive like crazy creatures.

We don't drive cars like machines, we drive cars like donkey carts. 

Death Penalty; A Pakistani Perspective

CAN LEGAL FICTION OVERCOME RELIGIOUS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LOCKS?

DEATH PENALTY: A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE

BY

Tipu Salman Makhdoom*

Abstract:

Death Penalty is not really an issue in Pakistan. Mostly because it’s an ideological state, Constitutionally having a religion which clearly provides for death penalty. In addition to this ideological check, there is also a Constitutional check. Constitution of Pakistan states that all laws need to confirm to Islam and Supreme Court of Pakistan says that among others, this part of Constitution constitutes the ‘Basic Structure’ of the Constitution which cannot be amended, even by adopting the procedure that Constitution itself provides for its amendment!

After making a jurisprudential argument in favour of abolition of death penalty, this paper explores the ideological and Constitutional checks in Pakistan legal system locking the death penalty in the system. In the end, an argument is made that in addition to taking the political course, a legal path can be taken to abolish the death penalty in Pakistan, without violating the Constitutional check; legal fiction.

Rohingya Muslims? Shut Up Pakistan!

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Rohingya Muslims are ethnically Bengalis. After first Anglo-Burmese war in 1892, British annexed a part of Burma (Myanmar) and encouraged migrations from Bengal to work as farm labourers. And they continued to live there.

Death of Two Nation Theory!

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Pakistan is based on Two Nation Theory! 

Right and wrong. Right that Pakistan was created on the basis of two nation theory, but wrong that it still exists on it.

Death: The Most Profitable Business

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Which are the most profitable businesses of the world? Neither creative, nor productive nor even entertaining; but the ones related to Death. Lots of it!

Two most profitable industries of the world are weapons and pharmaceuticals. One gets money to give us power of inflicting death on others, while the other takes our money in exchange for avoiding it. And we give a lots and lots of money to both of them, in exchange of lots and lots of deaths; and avoiding it.

The most profitable business of the world is weapons industry. Although the big chunks of profit in it comes from big time weapons, like fighter jets and tanks, etc, their demand increases during the times of wars. 

Doctrine of Necessity: Is It Really Dead?

Doctrine of Necessity: Is It Really Dead?

by

Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Supreme Court of Pakistan

Who invented Doctrine of Necessity; Supreme Court or circumstances? What would be the true criteria of judging the imposition of next martial law; a 'Doctrine' of law, or the 'Necessity' of the circumstances? These are the questions which need pragmatic not dogmatic answers. Dogmatic are the answers coming out of fixed principles, regardless of reality while pragmatic are the answers coming out of reality, regardless of any hypothetical principles.

Cancerous Faiths

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom


According to fundamentalists, all faiths are cancerous; all but one. Which one, is the million dollar question. And answer to this question is not easy. At least it is not cheap. It has cost us tens of thousands of innocent lives in last few years. Count in many tens we paid in Karachi. The currency this time was the blood soaked bodies of the peaceful Ismailies, a sub-sect of Shias, considered heretics by Talibans and ISIS.

Politics of Religion: Ahmadis of Pakistan

Politics of Religion: Ahmadis of Pakistan

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

(Another Chapter form my upcoming book)

1- INTRODUCTION

In middle ages, Portuguese law declared Muslims as protected but inferior subjects. They were decreed to live in separate quarters and to restrict their social interaction with Christians.[1] At the same time, in the neighbouring Spain, similar transition was taking place from a Muslim to a Christian society. “During the war with the Muslims of Granada, Isabella founded the first military hospital in Europe, consisting of six large tents equipped with bandages, medicine, and beds, which were carried from on besieged town to another.”[2] 

Passionate Legalities of Marriage

(This in fact is a Chapter of my upcoming book)
Also available at Academia

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Marriage as a Control of Biology:

Sex is good for health. Very good in fact. Not only for body, but also for brain, which incidentally is the largest sex organ in human body. Scientific studies in this regard have been voluptuous. One set of studies shows that men who reported highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed life expectancy 200 percent more than those who lagged behind. Another set indicates that men who had sex at least 3 times a week slashed their heart attack risk to half. Yet other studies demonstrate that frequency of sexual activity is directly proportional to the lower risk of breast cancer in women and that of prostate cancer in men.[1]

She Males

By Sadaf Salman Makhdoom

Who is a transgender.

I came across a TV show on transgenders. After watching that I realized something which I never thought of before. I was shocked to find out that we are all transgenders. They are physically prominent because of their appearance and we disclose ourselves through our thoughts. Why is transgender such an abusive and offensive term? Isn't it good to have the power of man and appearance of woman or be sensitive as a woman with appearance of a man ? Why not? Why not respect individuals who are much more better when it comes to traits? Our govt is providing them with employment. I think it is quite a step in the so called Islamic state.

Families disown their offsprings at some stage in a sense that girls get married and boys move on for their families and future. Does parent's role as ruling party ceases? Why does society force the parents of transgenders to quit on their child when it is bound to happen at a later stage...

I believe there is no gender...one should be free to choose whatever they want to be and no one should be allowed to intrude........ Murdering the personalities of people isn't humane!

Pakistani Yes--But Who Am I?

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

A Pakhtoon famously said about himself, 'I am a Pakhtoon for 5,000 years, a Muslim for 1400 years, and a Pakistani for 60 years'.

Pakhtoon

Who is bad?

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Pakistan is locally called,  quite proudly,  سلطنت خداداد پاکستان-Pakistan the Empire of God.

In this empire of  God, drinking moderate level of alcohol in private is considered a sin of the highest degree, while looting of public exchequer is.......... rather enviable.

Why? Well. Actually I have no idea.

I tried to think about it. Comparing a person who privately takes alcohol of his own hard earned money with one who steals collective money of society which is supposed to be everyone's social security; ensuring free medical facility, free education, cheap electricity, etcetera etcetera. How can society banish the first and glorify the other? Banish a sinner who disobeys God but does not hurt society while glorifying the one who disobeys God and also hurts the society?

It's not that society has a taste for bribe and not for liquor. To be honest I find drinking common in every class of our society; it's just not admitted openly because of theocratic laws imposed by a dictator to serve a super power's proxy war ambitions a quarter of a century ago.

It does not justify drinking. Only that how can a society be that sensitive to a sin which is not hurting it while envying another sin which is hurting it badly?

Are we less of a society and more like a group of bandits? A group of characterless, weak and coward bandits who cannot admit of our true evil values, yet secretly admiring the robbers (corrupt politicians,  bureaucrats, etc) wishing we too can rob the weak and helpless in society sometime.

Am I such a lowly person too?

What about you?

Teachers? Kill'em

By Tipu Salman Makhdoom

KARACHI: Assailants on Wednesday shotdead an assistant professor of the University of Karachi (KU) in Federal B area.

........

Police in Jan 2015 had claimed the arrest of a suspect who had allegedly confessed to his involvement in the murders of Karachi University dean of Islamic Studies Prof Dr Shakeel Auj and Prof Syed Sibte Jafar.

Earlier this month, the vice-principal of the Jinnah Medical and Dental College's student affairs wing Debra Lobo was shot and seriously injured on Shaheed-e-Millat Road in Karachi.

Dawn, 29th April, 2015

Killing the teachers? Well it's not that bad idea after all. 

For one, they deserve it. They have lost the initiative to teach. They are no more interested in exposing the brewing humanity to the wonders of exploring, experimenting and understanding. They are not capable of showing the pupils wonders of critical thinking. And they are no more worthy of instilling the good values in new generation. So why keep them?  Just kill them.

True as it is, this horrible truth lies in the realms of metaphor rather than an actual pool of hot, fresh and liver-red little pool of human blood. Killing such terrible teachers imply exchanging them with good teachers. Teachers about which I heard a joke few decades ago; a joke that I am not sure if it was a joke or a lesson of life long wisdom.

A panicking man came to Stalin and said,  "we are ruined, Soviet doctors have gone corrupt". Stalin said in grace "we are a great nation, we will survive". Then came another person and said "Stalin we are ruined, our judges have gone corrupt". Stalin replied calmly "we are a great nation, we will survive". Then came a third person and said "Stalin we are ruined,  our teachers have gone corrupt". Stalin got horrified this time and said "we are ruined indeed".

Finding out that a large majority of our teachers are actually pathetic, calls for a reaction which should result in improving their lot and replacing the incurable (disease-like-teachers). Certainly not murdering them in cold blood.

Starting from Socrates, killing teachers has always been a bad move for humanity. 

Don't kill them. Teach them, improve them, even replace them. But don't kill them. 

That's not what they deserve. Even for teaching badly!

Hear Me, I Exist!

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

I have an email account, a facebook account, a twitter account, and now a blog (all of these free though). I send a lot of emails, even more tweets, further more facebook status updates and sharings, and on top of all that, now I want to write blogs. Why?

Kids & gods

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

We love our children; indeed for multiple reasons.

For one they are our heirs. They will take care of our belongings after we will be forced to leave them (both) in peace. Second they will remember us (occasionally) after our death (to no visible benefit to our dead bodies though).

Philosophically,  they carry our genes (only half of them) and follow our traditions (not any more). And so they represent us in this world after our death.

But most importantly, children are the Noah's ark in the flood of non-existence; they are the holy grails. Kids are the other world where we spend our afterlives.

Genes are the only part of our physical existence that we leave behind in this world. In the face of death, which is the decomposer of existence, we keep existing in our genes. And child is the only medium through which this is possible. It is the only possible carrier of our genes. Thus a child is the heavens where we live after death. Without a child, black hole of death will devour us into non-existence.

We love our kids because we love our lives and don't want them to end. And we don't want our lives to end because we love ourselves and don't want to lose ourselves, ever.

We are the gods!

My Relation to God

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

What is my relation to God? Why has He created me? What does He want from me? 

Tough questions? Important but not pressing! The pressing one is coming.

How does God want me to live?

Depends on what does He want from me? Which in turn depends on why has He created me?

Taking the trail from between, what does He want from me? I can find this out on finding Him; discovering Him.

How should I discover Him? By following the path that tradition tells me or by my own efforts? If I try to choose my own path, there is a strong possibility that I will take the wrong path. Is it worth taking the risk?

Example: A father plays hide and seek with his two kids. And he gives them a hint where he is hiding. One kid is not very enthusiastic in finding him but he is on the right track. The other, though on the wrong track, is very enthusiastic in finding him and is trying hard. Which kid will the father love more?

My Relation to Life

My Relation to Life

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Strange though it sound, its complex. Life, which is the very essence of my existence is not me. Its in me but that's not all I am.

Life, to which my relation is dubious, is itself very dubious. It could not have been defined as yet. Of some properties which are said to constitute the very essence of it is self-reproduction. Cool. But with the development of Artificial Intelligence this "distinction" too is blurring. Its no more unthinkable that soon robots will be able to self-reproduce themselves!

When I will be no more, life will still be there. When life will not be there, I will be no more. I am dependent on life, but is life dependent on me too? Perhaps.

With all organic creatures destroyed, life will cease to exist. It might not be dependent on me alone, but it does depend on "organic" creatures; certain complex formations of atoms. 

Is it an entity which lives in organic complexes? Or maybe it is the "complexion" of a complex formation.

Strange but relevant. Confusing but important. Conceptual but real.

Religion & Rationality

Religion & Rationality

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Previously published in Pak Tea House, Academia & SSRN

Education is useless! This applies to the phenomenon we choose to call “Education” in Pakistan. Ignoring what it refers to in the far away meadows of the modern world, we dub literacy based gimmickry as Education. And then wonder why it is not producing same results that it does in other parts of the world. Degrees and the degrees upon degrees offer no help.

Democracy is a Government of Questions

Democracy is a Government of Questions

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

Mr Qamar of the PPP said the assembly was not getting its due respect and asked: “For how long this house will function only as a debating society” and where else in the world ministers refrain from coming to parliament?

Daily Dawn, 24th April, 2015

Internal view of the National Assembly (Legislature) of Pakistan

I have to admit that even the worst performance of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in their last tenure cannot tarnish the force of this quote. Our Legislatures are working mainly as debating societies and rubber stamps. Debating to show that they are performing their function and rubber stamping the actions of the Executive branch; the government.

Evolution of Human Rights: From Natural Rights to Postmodernism

EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: FROM NATURAL RIGHTS TO POSTMODERNISM

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

I-         INTRODUCTION:

“[W]ar crimes are being committed in special women’s concentration camps where little girls, girls and women are being raped in the presence of their parents, brothers and sisters, husbands or children. After that, according to witnesses’ statements, the raped persons are further brutalized and even massacred, their breasts are sliced off and their wombs are ripped out….The young girls couldn’t physically survive the rapes and quickly died…..[O]ver 300 young girls in The Home for Retarded Children were raped.”[1] 

Politics of Religion: Ahmadis of Pakistan

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

1- INTRODUCTION

Recognition of freedom to profess faith according to one’s unfettered belief is a recent phenomenon. Innumerable wars and uncountable murders have been committed on the question of who believes in which God or god and in which manner. This had been a very sad state of affairs. In modern times, with the dominance of reason over the dogmatic and irrational thinking of humanity, it was slowly realized by the people at the helm of the affairs that it is a very private matter of a human as to what he wants to, and what he in fact believes are the metaphysical realities of the life and the universe, and as long as he is not hurting others, it is his fundamental right to have whatever belief he wants to have.

Do Harsh Punishments Reduce Crimes?

DOES CHOPPING OFF WITH A BIGGER KNIFE CHOPS OFF MORE?

IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HARSHNESS OF A PUNISHMENT AND ITS DETERRENCE?

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom
Previously published in All Pakistan Legal Decisions Journal section (PLD 2014 Journal 98), SSRN & Academia

The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience….

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

INTRODUCTION:

Punishment, to say the least, is horrible;[1] a conscience and deliberate infringement of rights of a person, on behalf of the society. Just as in a living body—a biological society—a cell loses its individuality and is liable to be eliminated if it starts working against the living system of which it is a part; so does a person loses his individuality in a human society and is liable to infringement of his rights (punishment) if s/he starts working against the political decisions of the society.

Doctrine of Necessity

LEGALIZING THE ILLEGALITY: RE-INCARNATION OF DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY IN NUSRAT BHUTTO CASE[1]

by Tipu Salman Makhdoom

INTRODUCTION:

Doctrine of State Necessity was first adopted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan[2] in the first decade of creation of Pakistan; validating the extra-Constitutional steps of Governor General of Pakistan. Before expiration of another two decades, this doctrine was overruled[3] by the Supreme Court. However, when General Zia ul Haq imposed Martial Law in 1977, Supreme Court distinguished the overruling Asma Jilani’s[4] case and relying on the earlier case of  Special Reference of 1955[5], legalized the imposition of Martial Law[6], on the basis of Doctrine of Necessity.