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“Assisted Dying”, or “Assisted Killing?”

Current Affairs

I’m incredibly disappointed to learn that 330 MPs rejected the idea of allowing a terminally ill patient to end their lives with medical supervision, despite many doctors agreeing to administer the drugs and take part in it.

I understand the cons of the bill; the possibility of vulnerable patients being exploited by their families and pushed to end their lives. That patients may feel the need to end their own life to stop the misery and pain of their loved ones. I get that. However, I am of the opinion that those 330 MPs acted with complete selfishness and possible religious bias.

I am not terminally ill, so I cannot speak for those who are. I also strongly oppose the categorisation of people who qualify for the ‘right to die’ – those who only have 6 months to live. What about everyone else? What about those who have been suffering from constant pain for months and even years on end? What about those with absolutely no quality of life? According to the Guardian, “one in five people who travel to Switzerland for assisted-dying are from the United Kingdom.” Surely the statistics speak for themselves?

I’ve watched and read a fair few interviews with people who suffer from motor neurone disease and their biggest fears were living a life of complete paralysis, wheelchair bound and in pain without the ability to speak coherently and express their distress. For MPs to deny these people that right to me, is a complete failure of morality within the establishment of law-making.

Another obstacle in this debate is the concept of religion. In many religions such as my own, it is forbidden to take one’s own life. Full stop. There are no ifs, no buts; just no. I understand that life is precious and a gift; we only get one and we ought to do all we can to preserve it. But I will never understand the point in living if there’s nothing to live for because an illness or health condition is prohibiting you from doing so, and instead you’re sentenced to a life of pain and misery.

I sincerely hope this isn’t the end of the debate on assisted dying. We ought to give these people a chance to do as they please with their own lives, as they’re the ones living it. Not us. For authoritative figures to simply dismiss this chance in the name of “ethics” is simply incomprehensible and morally unacceptable.

The Lynching of Farkhunda; The Lynching of Women

Current Affairs

They portrayed her as a woman who suffered from mental illness, and was mentally unstable when all she was doing was standing up against lies being told in the name of religion. She was the voice of truth, of reason, and her voice was suppressed by men who believed their voices were louder, more important and should be listened to instead of hers.

I find it strange and slightly shocking that Farkhunda’s killers did not once question the mullah’s claims of the victim burning the Qur’an; they jumped to attack a woman, innocently defying a man who was selling lies to vulnerable women. I think the real issue here is the fundamental flaw in the Middle Eastern society; the male attitude towards women. Women have always been perceived as inferior in society; in many, they still do.

However, I believe that the despicable attitude towards women in countries such as Afghanistan is predominately due to the cultural conditioning men are exposed to. They know no other way of treating women, this is the attitude they have adopted from their fathers, brothers, grandfathers and uncles. Not all men have this attitude, but the society
cannot move forward unless there is a reformation of this culture.
Afghanistan has suffered at the hands of violence for years, could it be that these men who killed Farkhunda are a product of the violence in which they have been raised – because they know nothing else? Can we find it in ourselves to forgive them because it’s not really their fault?
I think not.
I think it takes a great lack of human nature in order to punch, kick, stand on and jump on a young woman until her face is unrecognisable, only to then SET FIRE to her body at a riverside. I don’t believe for one second that these men have a conscience or humanity.

An educated woman was condemned to death by a group of men who believed the lies of a man who could not bear to be
defied, confronted for manipulating young women. The fact that an official investigator claimed there was no evidence for the mullah’s claims of Farkhunda burning the Qur’an (BBC News, 24th March) reinforces the male perception of women. The mullah, along with the barbaric murders, took it upon themselves to take away a life. The heavy irony of this situation is that Farkhunda was accused of blasphemy, and in the name of Islam, the men killed her. An act of murder is a sin in the Qur’an;

Whoever slays a soul, unless it be for a manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men;
and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men.(Surah al-Mā’ida 5:32)

Farkhunda was murdered for speaking out.
Her voice was silenced through horrific violence.
A mob of men killed her and showed no mercy or remorse.
It’s time to reform the outdated culture in the Middle East and Asia.
Women should not have to be killed for us to realise that it is time for change.

#JusticeForFarkhunda
#Kabul
#JusticeForWomen

Perspective

Current Affairs

It’s all a matter of perspective.
We cry about failed relationships and write poetry about bloodstains on our bathroom floors.
But what the blood splatter from that young child in Gaza, who was gunned down in a playground for being Palestinian? ‘Collateral damage’, they murmur with shifting gazes.
And let’s not forget the innocent men and women slaughtered by police for the colour of their skin.
Or the journalists who were decapitated for simply doing their job in informing and protecting the world, once camera reel at a time.
Have some perspective.
Let’s forgive those who’ve wronged us, and fight the institutions that oppress and condemn us, instead of each other.

Paris Shootings 2015

Current Affairs

#jesuischarlie

As a Muslim, I am outraged at the attacks that took place in France. There is no justification for murdering innocent men and women, especially not in the name of religion. The intention of these terrorists is to evoke fear and panic, however, they achieved quite the opposite; people across the world publicly united in their condemnation against fanatical extremists. Of course, I do not approve of their blasphemous cartoon: portraying the Prophet as gay is controversially distressing, not to mention disrespectful. Nonetheless, to retaliate against a cartoon from years ago with murdering the cartoonists and other innocent men and women is disgusting and disgraceful.

We will not be isolated in our condemnation of terrorism. We will stand together, united, in our disgust of extremists committing murder on a daily basis. Killing innocent people will achieve nothing other than increased anger. We have had enough, and we will stand against you until you fall.

Christmas In London!

Project London

I don’t think there is anything more beautiful than the city of London during the festive period. The atmosphere buzzes with excitement and tourism as Christmas draws closer by each day, and although the crowds get bigger, there is nowhere else I’d rather spend Christmas than in my home city. A truly spectacular sight at night, too.

Panoramic view of Oxford Street

Panoramic view of Oxford Street

Outside Selfridges, Oxford Street

Outside Selfridges, Oxford Street