Time to Stand up against the attrocities in Swat!

The reason I find myself on my blog again is the horrific public lashing of the 17 year old girl in Swat yesterday. There has been a public outcry in Pakistan…. and what a relief. That gives me great hope for Pakistan as a nation. Some pakistanies in denial blame the usual suspects: India, amerika and Israel. But the majority of pakistanies have had enough of these talibani lunatics!

X-plosiv.no has started a petition, to be given to the embassy of Pakistan. “Stop the maddness in Swat”. Ultimatly it is the government of Pakistan which is reponsible for the safety of the pakistani people.

We can not, and will not be passive bystanders whilst our beloved Pakistan is shredded to pieces by religious extremists. I can not believe a part of Pakistan (Swat) has been freed from the pakistani law to create their own barbaric sharia law legislation.

Regardless of the date of the clipping. We as muslims and pakistanies in and outside Pakistan can not tolerate such inhumane acts in the name of Islam!

If you understand norwegian, please read the link regarding the inhumane actions of the pakistani taliban, and how norwegian-pakistanies try to make a difference.

Stop the madness in Swat!

Please sign the petition (Which is in norwegian and english on

http://www.underskrift.no/vis.asp?kampanje=2098

Do visit  http://www.x-plosiv.no/

Marte Michelet – who let the dogs out?

Islamophobia is on a roll. Europeans don’t acknowledge it, but they are in it, head first. The continent with the most horrific of the crimes in recent history, the holocaust. Has less to be proud of as the racism and fascism raises it’s head. Though they are in denial, as Europeans tend to regard themselves as super-beings. The most civilized westerners of the lot. They have at last found an enemy and how! There is no problem in the world they can’t pin on the Muslims. However the most intriguing part of the situation is self-glorifying and apparent lack of common sense.

A woman of substance tells it like it is, in a national newspaper. Both her and the newspaper are of-course labeled “muslim whores”. Marte Michelet speaks of the raising islamophobia, happening at this very moment around Europe. The level of hatred and animosity against Muslims is taking the form of violent and non violent outcries against in most cases innocent fellow-citizens. Their only crime being their religion. Does this ring a bell anyone? Is history repeating itself, and are we being witness to a new Nazi uprising and a new holocaust in the making?

The outrages out-pours to Marte Michelet makes you wonder. Who let the dogs out? The comments to her piece has crossed 720 and still counting! Whatever did the Muslims in Norway do to the Norwegians? Okay, so in some crime-statistics the immigrants are overrepresented. There are ofcourse things done by people with muslim believes which are disgrace. There are crimes committed by them as by any other person with or without the baggage of illiteracy, poverty and other social issues. As no-one with a normal mind would pin all Norwegians pedophiles because some of them were. Or no-one with a normal mind would label all catholic priests as child-abusers, because some were. But now every immigrant is automatically labeled a Muslim, and every Muslim is a wife-beater, terrorist and socially incompetent. Well, hold on a little. There are some striking resemblance between this and the extremists in Muslim countries blaming the west and USA for everything. It is quite ironic to see that the mob against islam is getting quite like the ones they “hate”.

Another interesting aspect of this headless out-pour is that now every other Norwegian is a semi-mullah. To pin you down they have studied the quranic verses and hadiths more then you have. Now they tell you that as a matter of fact you are no real Muslim if you don’t know that quran states the you should kill all non-believers! Now we have semi-mullahs to tell us how our religion is to be practiced. Don’t be a fool and try to reason with them! How can you humbly state that 1,2 billion muslims don’t practice the quran word by word. There aren’t millions of “non-believers” killed due to their religion. The obvious fact that 99% of the 1,2 billion muslims live a quite peaceful and “normal” lives, does not go down well.

One wonders, and rightfully so. Who are the real extremists? How does two wrongs make a right? The name-calling and harassing of Marte Michelets is no pretty sight, and the ambassadors of freedom of speech, democracy and “good” human values should truly be ashamed of themselves. There is no difference in the narrow-minded, illogical extremist views of a mullah in Pakistan or a pseudo-mullah i Norway. It is as sad to see the hatred expressed in the 720 comments posted to Marte Michelets story as it is to hear Osama Bin Laden talking.

Living in Norway, a price to pay!

 

 

NOTE: Made 27. august 2011, original post made jan. 10th 2008. 

(I assume you want to learn more about living in Norway, and that is how you found my blog. Please visit www.blendmag.no , which is my magazine Blend, Norways largest multicultural webmag. Use google translator. It will give you an idea of how it is to live here from a diversity perspective). Thanks!

ORIGINAL POST:

Show me desis living outside their native countries who have not experienced envied looks from people back home. And whom have not gotten thoroughly irritated when it has been implied that money apparently grows on trees outside Pakistan.  Further more, how extremely lucky we are living in Norway. Well we are lucky and cause of envy for some, but money certainly does not grow on trees over-here! For the life in safety, peace and prosperity we are extremely lucky and should feel utter gratitude. But there is a price to pay!

From time to time the media in Norway goes haywire over crimes committed by desis (or immigrant in general). Well they occasionally have good reason to. There are too many desi brothers involved in less proper things. Besides ruining their own lives they do a good job in making lives of innocent desis uncomfortable. With passing times the Norwegians are becoming more and more sceptical and even hostile towards non-ethnic Norwegians. The most common and frightening opinion is that there is no racism in Norway and that desis/immigrants just complain for nothing!

It is a well known fact that desis/immigrants have the highest rate of unemployment. Even higher education and university degrees do not help in some cases. Many immigrants are over-qualified and under-paid for their jobs. The evil circle is complete as low income leads to ghettos, low-class diseases, social and economical problems. These however are facts that ethnic-Norwegians in larger and larger extent do not consider anymore. The only thing they see is more and more “black” people in the city. Oslo specifically.

A new report shows that 48 of Oslo’s schools have a majority of non-ethnic children. The same day the news breaks there are several opinions in media on how to tackle the problem. Everything from the basic human-right violation of prohibiting people to live where they want to, to transport children to schools with less non-ethnics etc. The blame is solely given to immigrants who can not seem to live outside “ghettos” and who do not choose to live outside Oslo. Chat-sites and other forums are filled with Norwegians pissed of on the facts of the study, and who just have had it and want their country “back”.

Politicians and especially members of the Progress-party (Fremskrittspartiet) come with cheap and populist solutions to the problem that arises when the majority on a school is non-ethnic. There is no doubt about it, it is not an optimal situation as the Norwegian language suffers in schools where there are all kinds of different background represented.

How one would wish that instead of looking for short-term solutions, the authorities would realise the challenges our generation is facing. There should be made stronger efforts to break the basic evil circle!! First of all, employers should stop discriminating non-ethnics. It is a shown fact that this happens, but still many immigrants are accused of being lazy and corrupt. There have been a proposal of allocation of non-ethnics in governmental jobs, on the basis of merits. This proposal has been shredded to pieces as many politicians believe this is discriminating to the rest of the public! That non-ethnics should not get any advantageous due to their color. This is seeing things in a totally romantic and naive light. When immigrants are discriminated on the job-market, how can one actually tackle the problem?? Especially when many Norwegians feel there does not even exist racism?

And how can one expect desis to live outside “ghettos” when these are the areas they can afford to live in due to their poorly paid jobs or unemployment? How do one motivate desi children for higher studies when many with higher education drive cabs or the subway? How do one achieve a healthier spread of colored children in Oslo-schools when their parents can’t afford to live on the west-side of the city? Last but not least, why can’t people see value it is in having colored children in schools? That teaches children of colors to co-exist in a peaceful way, and they learn from early on that people come in all shapes, sizes and colors and culture. They learn how to handle that. That is something the Norwegian community can not brag about.

It is times like this that give your life some perspective. Yes we are lucky to live in such a beautiful county in safety, but we pay the price. The price of being considered different by some, the price of being an equity and not an asset for some. The knowledge of the fact that my children, third generation immigrants, will always be seen as different and maybe not have the same opportunities due their color. It is a heavy price to pay!

Hate-crime gives 45 days in prison!

 

A while back I got to see the 7 minutes which were cut out of the movie “Sicko”. Michael Moore thought that the sequence would be too far fetched for the Americans. The seven minutes told the world about Norway. A country which is the greatest country in the world to live in. All the information about health care, schools, and other welfare issues were a great watch. What came across as quite disturbing was the imprisonment and punishment situation in Norway. The video might delight some, but for me it was a frightening watch.

The Norwegian judiciary believes in the rehabilitation of a criminal and to make him a regular citizen after his punishment ends. So that he can go back to society and live a normal life. This is all well on the paper and in the movies, but this doesn’t always translate into true justice.

There have been several cases where the public-opinion has gone against controversial verdicts. Justice is not always served as the target of a crime is left to himself while the criminal gets the best of support through chances to educate himself in prison, generous leaves during the weekends and holidays etc.

One such case where the verdict came yesterday is of a 18 year old Norwegian racist who without any prior provocation shot two young girls with a soft-gun.

http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/12/05/520295.html

The youngest of them was shot in between her eyes and was millimeters from loosing her eyes. The 14 year old girl was shot in the back and their brother was shot in the hip. This was purely a hate-crime as was stated in the verdict.

The total injustice in this case is the ridiculously low 45 day imprisonment!

The question that arises is would the verdict have been the same if a Norwegian-Somali or Norwegian-Pakistani 18 year old shot 3 white Norwegian kids with a soft-gun. For no other reason then them being white?? And would there be a similar lack of public opinion against the low punishment as it is now?

The frightening this is that the judge states that punishment is harsh, to make a precedence!!

When even the gravest of crimes give one some months or a few years in prison, then living in Norway doesn’t always give you the security. The security of your rights being protected and the security of the streets being free from convicted pedophiles, murderers and rapists!

Famous Norwegian defenceattorney calls for lower punishment in cases of honor killings!!

It is with utter disgust I read the paper of today! http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2126407.ece

It is a big disappointment to see that one of the most popular and controversial attorneys of Norway means that there is something understandable about honor killings. He wants a say 2 year punishment discount on sentience of 17 years for killing you wife. He lashes out on the Norwegian public for not being understanding about other cultures and thinking patterns. He wants people to think why an honor-killing happened!

Me born and brought up in Norway I have always been fond of this country which recently was considered to be the second best country to live in in the world (beaten by Iceland this year). However with people like Tor Erling Staff around I feel an utter shame.

This man should never have been given the right to defend people or practice law. How can anyone defend honor-killing? It is the most barbaric and horrifying crime, next to pedophilia. One would think that your rights as a human-being and a woman are well protected in a country like Norway. But from time to time you are reminded of the fact that there are some men also in the best country in the world who should be living in other parts of the world where honor-killing is a minor crime and there is no prosecution!!

The stand this man takes towards the horrors of honor-killings is as shameful as the fact that 72 women have been killed in Norway the last seven years. These murders are committed by their boyfriends, husbands and ex’s. Considering that the murder-rate in Norway is the lowest in the world (according to Michal Moore in Sicko) this is alarming!

What kind of world do we actually live in? Are there reasons that make it okay for a husband to kill his wife or a brother to kill his sister?

Norway and Norwegians often criticize all that is different and a very popular saying/slogan in Norway is ” It is typically Norwegian to be the best”. With the likes of Tor Erling Staff and the murder-statistics us Norwegians still have a long way to go before we can point our finger to any other nation or people. How about cleaning our own house for filth like Staff and his thinking-partners!!

Three sleepless nights

People get sick from time to time, as do kids. Usually more often then one can manage. The younger they are….the sicker they become. A fever reaching 40 degrees Celsius is not seldom.

One of the perks of living in Norway is the brilliantly built out daycare system. Most of the children from one to six go to a daycare. The need for this is due to both mom and dad working full-time. This they have to do, as the cost of living in Norway is sky-high. There is no chance to make it through mortgage-payments and bills, basic necessities and occasional quality living unless the couple works. (this wont apply if you are married to a multimillionaire or still live with your in-laws/parents).

There is a praiseworthy system of highly qualified personnel, strict restrictions in regard to safety, hygiene, play-area etc etc. (many shortcomings also ofcourse) But despite all this there are regular “epidemics” of tummy-flue and other “nasty” flues. No wonder actually, as there are 20 kids sharing the same environment.

Well, these past three days my precious one has been down with flue. As so we thought, but when there was no sign of fever going down I trusted my gut-feeling and took him to the doctor. Strep-infection in the throat, my poor kid! And guess  who we met at the doctors? His buddy from the daycare…as ill as mine! 

On one hand I was sitting there praising the health-care system and on the other hand cursing these rapid “epidemics”. There is one security though…. the fact that my child and everyone else’s in Norway, gets the best treatment there is!

Norwegians, skiis and me!

There is a saying here in Norway that real Norwegians are born with skiis on their feet. This is the single most important sign of me not being a “real” Norwegian! Skies are as exotic to me as a surfboards. Haven’t been on a pair of skiis since the sixth standard.

The event still haunts me, the cold, the snow, the skiis and the snow in my mouth. And to make matters worse, my teachers insisting this was fun! They were in their true element, gliding on their skiis through the awe-aspiring woods, the serene beauty, the silence and the occasional squirrel passing by. One would imagine this was in some kind of wilderness a few hours drive away. But this was at the doorstep of my eight-story high-rise.

What I loved about my attempts on the skiis were the breaks we had. All of us first-generation Norwegian-Pakistanis, kids of Pakistanis who never saw a ski in their life let alone be born with some on them! There we sat, under this gigantic pine covered with heavy snow. Most of the Norwegian kids sipping on their hot chocolate, us eating our ice-cold sandwiches! But boy was it a relief to get rid of the skies for a while! And the laughter us desi kids shared when we found out that hot chocolate in a thermos would have been a better choice. There was no point though, buying a thermos! We weren’t planning any ski-tours in the future…..

The 5 degrees below zero tonight reminded me of my skiing experiences….the shivers gave me something to remember and smile about.

So what if I don’t love the taste of snow in my mouth and the sensation of snow in my eyes, ears and neck. I love the Norwegian winter…. it truly is a breathtaking winter wonderland. With the 20 hours of dark each day, the only source of some light is the snow. Pray to god that the global warming doesn’t take that away from us!