I have been struggling with this one. I have wanted to remain positive. An aunt recently said to me, ‘no negativity nino’ under any situation, and it has stayed with me. A recent spiritual journey has opened the need to see the good in all circumstances.
The United Nations, born out of the wars of men and the triumph of ego over humanity, is 80 years old in 2025. 80 is a mere number; like its 193 member States, it may or may not be the time to reflect; reflect we must, given the fate of 15 million human beings at stake. Another number, which may or may not be relevant.
Palestine is in my heart and mind.
Listening to the speeches of many heads of state at the celebration of the birthday of the United Nations, while I remain glued to the progress and stresses of the flotilla of a few thousand (exact numbers unknown) from 44 countries sailing towards Palestine. Another number, 50 vessels, in aid of breaking the starvation drive by the white colonial genocidal regime called Israel. Not nations but a collection of individuals. This flotilla, as it is being called, is the last shred of humanity representing perhaps 8.2 billion. Another number.
Some at the UN Convention of States spoke of the need for States to move beyond the verbal support for the Palestinians butchered daily. Live on TV, every detail witnessed by billions. Children, women maimed, starved, bombed; men, the elderly, pregnant women murdered by weapons from Europe and America. Earning from death.
Some at the committee of nations’ meet offered their armies towards a collective United Nations force to save Palestinians from extinction. Some even argued that those who oppose the very tenets of the United Nations’ human rights commitments and conventions should be ostracised, sanctioned, removed or suspended. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 individual states made some sense towards active action beyond the speeches of hollow support, as genocide is televised across 8 billion viewers. 5 out of 193.
The disingenuous two-state solution, recognising Palestine by many states, is particularly odious. Recognition by who or what? Without this recognition, will the Palestinians disappear? Yes, if you allow genocidal what is called Israel to continue, otherwise the 16 million human beings, children of the same earth and creator as you and me, will remain a reality no matter what. In fact, this recognition is a protective cover for the white colonial enterprise to continue. In recognising Palestine, it is, in fact, a reaffirmation of the existence of the colonial enterprise.
The nation state was born out of a treaty called Westphalia in 1648; in 2025, it sounds a lot like West-failed
The participation of Pakistan in this munafiqat is disquieting. There is and has always been Palestine and Palestinians, and the recognition by a group of state managers around the table does not change this truth. What is disturbing is that the UN, given an opportunity to return to its core values of protecting humanity from extinction, has instead allowed 1 veto to continue the genocide. It has veiled its intention to continue the colonial genocidal enterprise by recognising Palestine as a state.
What does this state mean? Like Afghanistan or Libya or similar straitjacketed, disempowered, starved, dependent, isolated. There is a coloniser who does not belong, a cancer which is eating the fabric not only of all Palestinians but what is left of humanity’s conscience.
Pakistan did not offer its muscle to lead the Ummah or the United Nations in this effort to protect those who need protection from the platform of the UN. Neither did it offer others to do so; what it did offer was a blistering, powerful speech. As Hazrat Shams Tabriz observed, a person’s sincerity is determined by actions. The language of the heart is in actions, not words. What we have witnessed at UN@80 is Ali Baba and the 40 thieves in action.
193 countries at the UN vs the few thousand on the flotilla, 50 ships.
We have all read stories of David and Goliath, Nestor’s fight with Ereuthalion, Momotaro vs Oni, or Bheema vs Bakasura, or closer to home, Rustam and the demon Azhdahaq. The bully vs seemingly the weak or meek – Hero. Underline those heroes. What is the relevance of states and countries today, 2025?
The nation state was born out of a treaty called Westphalia in 1648; in 2025, it sounds a lot like West-failed. The more we witness what states and their managers are doing to citizens of the world, and in stark contrast, what humanist humanitarians as individuals do, the idea of a nation or a state or an identity based on either begins to fade.
Tawheed.
Separating myth from reality is what we are taught daily in the world. But what the soul seeks and heart knows is Rustam.
As a Pakistani, 1 out of 250–300 million, I am ashamed to watch pacts being signed and celebrated, while 15 million Palestinians starve in plain sight. Closer to home, 100 Baloch women and children continue to sit on the main road in the capital, completely cancelled, shunned and ignored. Worse, selling off assets belonging to Balochistan, celebrated in Washington, DC’s Oval Office. Three grinning in an office while human rights individuals and organisations in Pakistan are advising these brave women to leave Islamabad with dignity.
Jihad.
What is our truth? Friedrich Nietzsche argues that there are no objective facts to be discovered, only different ways of interpreting the world. These interpretations are driven by our "will to power," our interests, and our biological and cultural contexts. In this worldview, there are no wrongs or rights, there are no Goliaths or Davids, just those who ‘win’ or overpower – until they are replaced by an alternative truth.
In his seminal work Discipline and Punish, he describes a shift from the public, physical torture to the internalised discipline of modern society through institutions, where the "docile bodies" are trained for social control. He argues modern systems of power utilise techniques like constant surveillance, which creates ‘self-disciplining individuals’ who police their own behaviour. This disciplinary power extends beyond prisons into other social institutions, making individuals complicit in their own subjugation through normalisation and constant monitoring. Normalising UN-healthy behaviour.
That is where we are @United Nations at 80.
Hiatch.
Amidst this, I have to find the lotus in the mud; smell the fragrance of the Gul.