Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Blind Dolphins ...


(Picture & more Info: http://marisamann.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/the-indus-river-dolphin/)

River dolphins are one of natures fascinating quirks, often people are surprised by their existence.
There are four species of Platanista -their scientific name-. Due to being hunted with such fervour
the river dolphins or Baiji of the Yangtze River in China were declared 'functionally extinct' in 2006. The Amazon river dolphins or Boto are pink and all river dolphins are either poor sighted or blind. The last two types are Bhulan found in the Indus River in Pakistan and Susu found in the Ganges River in India. These animals are endangered and the numbers are falling fast due to pollution, over fishing, excessive boat trafficking and habitat loss. The brain of the river dolphin is 40% larger than a human brain, who knows maybe we're killing them off because we're threatened!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Where The Poems Are...

You ask me where the poems are

They lie with a thousand men in a field
Their souls torn to ribbons
Tangled in the boots of tormentors
Who fear their breaths escape to the sound of
La illah ha illillah
They hide in a cave
Listening to the drones and baby cutters
Explode barefooted children into
Particles of dust that settle in their mothers’ hair
They sit in the market place
In a boy vendor’s basket of bread
Listening to his joyous song
Fill the air with silence
As morning turns to crimson dusk
The colour of death
They waft in the wind
Filled with mustard
Harvesting through streets and fields
Its share of limbs and lives
Today and forever
They crouch in the midst of hopes
And dreams of a noosed rainbow in a western sky
Hugging knees in airtight tins of steel
Tipped in ferries on open seas
From hunger to eternal stranglehold
Drifting towards self debasement of
Body and soul
Where are the poems you dare to ask
Buried with a brother who didn’t say
Goodbye
A mother whose silken threads of wisdom
Bind every word as it grafts beneath my skin
I scratch and scratch
The bloody poems ooze on to the page
Blot and die.

Written by a wildy smart , very beautiful and totally humble South African Woman !
(who prefers to remain in the mirages)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Waiting for a rainbow...



Outlandish has joined a number of other artists in support of people devastated by the floods in Pakistan. After every rainfall must come a rainbow! InshaAllah. 



Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Heaven On Earth ...


The Mughal Emperor, Babar when describing Kashmir wrote, “If there is heaven on earth, this is it, this is it!”

However as beautiful as the country is the Indian army is by no means occupying it to enjoy the landscape. Kashmir is a people’s struggle which began along with apartheid and the occupation of Palestine. The mass rapes of women and children and the slaughter of male civilians under the guise of ‘terrorists’ should be enough to motivate the international community.

Sadly this summer as the death toll reaches 100 in the civilian clashes against the Indian military the Kashmiri youth are left to defend themselves against both the terrorism of the Indian military and the utilitarianism of the Pakistani government with little more than stones (now there’s a familiar sight). 

The public opposition to the Indian occupation is stonger than ever  which comes as no surprise when 68 000 people have been killed as the military has attempted to quell the resistance in the past 20 years. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, in force in Kashmir since 1990 allows army officers in Indian occupied Kashmir to search homes and make arrests without warrants, or shoot at anyone suspected of being a separatist and they can blow up a building or a home on a suspicion that insurgents are using it. Human rights activists accuse government forces in Kashmir of routinely misusing their power and killing civilians in staged confrontations for promotions and rewards.

India’s president has appealed for calm and is willing to speak to any group which doesn’t support violent means. This, while he has 700 000 troops occupying the country.


Saturday, September 11, 2010

Eid


(Source: google.com)


As we feast at the end of the fast, may we continue to embody the spirit of Ramadaan and always bear in mind that change is in our hands.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Thinking of the Reliberation of Al Quds

(Source: google.com)

While the occupiers court the traitors in Washington, the rape of Palestine continues.
We pray for the return of Al Haram Al Sharif and for those who lost their lives in the Holocaust of Palestinians that has lasted over 60 years!
Moments of silence are no longer enough!
We also spare a thought for those who lost their lives in Pakistan, protesting against Israeli occupation on Yaum Al Quds. There is no coincidence that where the USA is losing a battle, sectarian violence rips through lands and people - in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia .......................