Commendable Doctrine

When I graduated I had a lot of dreams, I was thinking to transfer my knowledge so that what I learnt can be consumed by others and that way a new era should begin. I clearly want to take everything like a storm, on my chest and I was ready to fight for one thing, good and quality education for everyone. I realised that if we can be educated even a single person from a home, then we can eradicate poverty and that is what I thought of the problem myself. In a city like Karachi, that hustles and bustles with humans, but that is known widely for getting mugged on streets and mobile snatching, street crimes were often regular. Clearly, people had less education, fewer jobs, therefore no money and young men were forced to rob people. Education was the answer, but my path was never a straight one, I had a lack of mentors my whole life. I made so many mistakes but whatever I learnt, was because when mistakes were made, I had a lesson in front of myself.

I started teaching young guys when I was like 19, English, mathematics and science. The necessary subjects that a human should be educated about. When I got into a college as a diploma teacher, I was very happy with myself that finally, I have a good stable job and where I could practice my passion. I started with all the passion I had, but when I got deep into the management. People were corrupt, fake degrees, sitting on someone else’s position. Cheating in final exams, externals were being paid. Books were just copy-paste, piece of crap, so I got terrified, I asked some of my colleagues about all those things. They asked me to keep my mouth shut and for them It was normal. It was like when you know that killing a person is prohibited but you kill the person anyway, saying it does not matter, someone is going to kill anyways. Various analogies have been showed to me, that it does not matter, If I will not participate in this process then someone else will be hired. My self-esteem died, I cornered myself from every particular process, I started to leave the meetings for no reason because I had a philosophy, “ to do what’s right, whatever are the consequences”.

I knew the wisest man, my grandfather from the mother’s side. I went to him asking questions. That it’s my dream job, but now I feel like, I am doing nothing right, but I have become what’s corrupt and injustice to human beings. Teachers don’t take any interest in teaching students, they just care about their salaries, they are being paid, degrees have been handed out to rich people, they just come in to pay the fee and write their names. I have seen politicians, and their children’s both getting their degrees, and I was shocked as my brain will explode. After explaining the situation, my grandfather said. I know it is your dream to serve your countrymen but you cannot fight this fight alone. I believe you are a man of faith, you have to fight this system if you think you are the right man for this job. Because I know, there are not many beings who will take this risk willingly, they are small people, they are not born to do what’s right, they are born to become the part of the system. So, go and challenge and system, that seems like what you should be fighting for, to save the education system, rather than becoming the part of this corrupt system. Gather evidence and go to court.

The next day, I called a few of my local lawyers and go their advice on the matter. They asked me if I have some evidence in order to support my case. After gathering some of the evidence, my next move was to leave college. But when I resigned, I was asked into the office in order to know the cause for resigning. I felt like, I have been threatened that if I leak any of the loopholes in the system then I will be dealt with. After that day, I was being more quickly into my approach for taking this case public. I started a social media campaign on both Facebook and Twitter, and day by day my students and most of the general public understood what am I fighting for.

I conducted research about cheating, through the responses I realised that most of the people in the country are cheating in order to get their diplomas.  The whole system was corrupt and it had to stop. When I had my first court appearing, I was terrified but my family supported me throughout my journey so, I went to court and while driving, I was thinking of everything that could go wrong. But when I was stepping into court, people were gathered outside the court for my support and at that moment I felt like I was not alone in this journey and now I have if not thousand than hundreds of people with me.

I stood by the court, in front of those I used to work with, they tried to intimidate me with their power but I was not steeping aside, at that time I was all in. When the court has to rule a hearing, they asked me for my suggestion, what do I want, I said I want all of them in jail, at least those I know who are corrupt and they are spoiling the diploma degree.   Then, I proposed my curriculum, I asked the court that Higher education commission can look into my curriculum for the diploma of an associate engineer. I was preparing for the war, I asked every one of my good old friends to step in this war with me. We designed a curriculum for electronics, computers, mechanical, and civil engineering for the time being. Then after hearing all my account, the court said, that final decision will be taken after at least 3 months. I was being called by national television, and I made the headlines. A young engineer from Karachi stands against the corrupt mafia, and he wants all of those involved in jail.

They asked me on the live T.V, what do I want actually, I told them, “ Our kids need education, we have to make a name around the world, have you ever had a look at those things that we use, cellphones made in the U.S.A, Cars made in Japan or Germany, Electronics made in China, medicinal research’s conducted in Europe.  Why not here, why not made in Pakistan, we have to understand that we are lacking a mindset because when someone else innovates for you, you lose all of your self-respect, and you don’t take responsibilities for anything. I want my people, especially those young people listening and watching out there to understand that they need to be innovators, and they need to solve the Global problems, once they are done solving the issues in the country.  Don’t run out of the country when it requires you the most, I know when you think, that you are talented, the next thing that comes into your mind is to go aboard and take a degree from there. But the mindset has to change, we need you all here, we need to set the record straight, from now on we have to fight everything corrupt.

I want all of those people, who were corrupt to be in jail and I want to set the example that one man can make a difference. Because I know there are many out there like me, they are just being talked into the same idea that their voice does not matter. But I want to tell them, If I can do this, then they can also bring their issues to surface and they can file the court case against the corrupt people. Join my Facebook page and fund my organisation, the “commendable doctrine”. After I was done with my appearance on my T.V many people approached me and asked me that they stood by me. I realised, they want me to become a part of their campaigns so that they can have an added voice for themselves. I asked them politely, that I fight for one and only thing that is the education system. I realised that I need to strengthen the primary education in my country, so I made few queries to higher education and then asked them if I can go thought the primary education curriculum that is being taught in schools.

Now I had a team of around 15 young men and women who were providing me with their services voluntarily. We reviewed the primary education curriculum and realised the curriculum is very outdated and there are two different curriculums for private and for government schools. So, we were creating societal differences and different mindsets, poor people go to a government school, while rich go to private.  Again, we worked hard for a week and approved the same curriculum for both the private and the government schools. We funded mobile schools, people would volunteer for just one hour, the school was just for 3 hours, so no one had a hesitation to volunteer for just one hour. Again, only three subjects, math’s, science and English.

Our team started getting bigger, now we had programmers who were working on our websites, and we designed an application, where you can file a complaint against people who are involved in corruption especially in educational institutions. We started the whistleblowing concept, and we set the rewards for the people who used to blow the whistle for any corruption in their college, school or university. We started raising our voice for increasing the salaries of primary school teachers and we set criteria that a primary teacher should have 16 years of education. A primary teacher used to get 10 to 12 thousand but we protested and their salaries increased to up to 30 thousand. Then we started focusing on the complaints, we started making workplace harassment laws for women, especially in the education sector. Every issue from top to down, we were solving it, there were so many problems to be solved and we were too little to solve them at a time. But we were doing it one by one, because it was my promise to those people that I will be doing what is right and the wrong is never right anymore if somebody says that to you, he or she is a criminal and should be taken down.

People were threatening me, I was receiving hate speech from people also, that I was working to make myself popular and it was self-fame. Some also speculated that I would leave my campaign, the very second I will be offered a huge sum of money.  Or I would merge with some international NGO, and they are still funding me for an international cause. But the truth was that my determination, didn’t skip a step, it helped me focus on what was the true cause of my campaign, “Commendable doctrine”. When I used to be out, people used to follow me on their bikes and they issued threats that they know me and if I don’t stop, I will be done very soon. The court verdict day was coming closer and closer, and I was getting myself ready, I was ready to understand that there are some loopholes in the system that will take some time to be solved. So, I was ready for the aftermath of the decision, if it will go against me, and how those people can affect my campaign and what I stood for.

And then I was standing in the court, and it was the same, those people I used to work for, were trying to intimidate me with their looks. And before I entered in the court, I guy approached me and hold my hand and said to me that after the court hearing, it’s the end. I was never fearful because I lost my fear when I stood against the corrupt mafia. The court in their verdict said, “ We find the institution guilty of corruption on various charges, and finally the court asked me, What do you think should happen with those people.

My response was, “ Your honour, I don’t know the law, but it’s my retribution against them, I never did it, that I lost my dream job, or that I want any self-fame, but I live with a philosophy and that was the one time, God was testing me against my own beliefs and I hope he will forgive me for my time at the institution because I also took part in the corrupt activities”. I realised that I have to give up my big dream, I order to pursue what is right, so I will say it again, when they will be locked up, maybe they will understand, that’s the price they have to pay because they are responsible why Pakistan (my beloved country) is so far behind the line. My country should be innovating, when you innovate, it means that you are responsible for a lot of things, it means that you are helping humanity with something. But these guys, they have imposed a failed system on everyone and now that people have been practising it for so long, they think that there is nothing wrong with it.  I want that to end today, and I want you to make an example for them. Thank you….

I knew deep down, that could be my last speech, so I said what I wanted to and I was smiling, because I achieved today what I fought for. Everyone, who has been involved in corruption was jailed for 10 years, and they were subjected to community service also. It was a humiliation for them, people were throwing all kinds of things on them when they went out. I was waiting for my fate, but then people came and they took me on their shoulders. They were chanting all sorts of stuff, someone was saying … that I should be running for prime minister … someone was saying …that I should look into other professions also. I saw the same guy, who threatened me before, coming closer to the crowd. When I saw him taking out his gun, I closed my eyes, a shot was fired. People were all over the place, in panic. They grounded the guy and he was unable to fire at me, police came and took him into custody. At that time, I realised, I am even more needed by my people, and I will look into other corrupt occupations.

“ My cause was greater, but my life was short, a lot of miles to cover, and a lot of hurdles to overcome”