The Soul Behind My Face

Are you ready??

2011-12-16T19:56:00.000+05:00

Busy Life

2011-10-14T23:38:00.000+05:00

The routine has got pretty tough all of a sudden as I moved to Lahore. Going to tennis has come down to only two day's play. Work, work and work--looks like someone is following Quaid's saying ;)

Naran Tour 2011

2011-08-06T23:24:00.004+05:00

The north of Pakistan is so much blessed with natural beauty. Visiting these places every time brings all the more excitement. A little attention paid by the government to these areas can be quite beneficial for tourism and thus generate revenue as well but to our utter disgust it came to pass that there was little work being done in this regard, even the roads where getting repair work at a few points only, let alone the construction of the off-road part from Jalkhad to Babusar Pass.
Our trip consisted of three night stay at Naran, we stayed at the Sarhad Tourism Hotel right by the side of Naran city road. I shall post pics with commentary.

Last year I visited Naran at the start of season, that was entirely a different in fact more exciting experience. You would come across road surrounded by glaciers from both sides. Especially the track to Jalkhad had many such spots. Even the lake Saiful Muluk gave a breath taking view. Some pics from last year.
These pics are not copyrighted, you are welcome to download them. However, I would appreciate if you posted a comment about any pic you downloaded.

Compared to that last year, the road to Naran this time was in a bit worse condition. At one place there was a whole mountain that had slid away the road, work was in progress but the road condition was too much for our low ground clearance cars, Civic and Camry.

About 15km away from Naran we came across this amazing rock. Wonders of Allah's greatness, the name of Prophet Muhammad Sallaho Alihe Wasalm appeared on two rocks.

Day 1

We hired two jeeps to take us to Babusar Pass. I have been as far as Lulusar lake before so Babusar Pass was a new place and an exciting one. The journey from Naran to Jalkhad is 40k carpeted road journey which takes less than one hour time. From Jalkhad to Babusar Pass there is jeep track of abour 35km. During our visit we didn't see any road construction work in progress in this area.

Some pics on way to Jalkhad:

This part of the road is pretty good. You want to drive fast here unless you are on a jeep as we were:

Jalkhad is the last place before reaching Chillas where you can have something to eat. But they only offer meat, daal or channa here, no chicken. Those who prefer chicken on such trips should keep this in mind.
At Jalkhad:

Yes those cups are being washed..

A journey of about more than two hours takes you to Lulusar lake, its diameter is 3km wide:

Some random pics:

Refreshment time..

The lake Lulusar is at a hight of about 11200 feet. This is the biggest lake of Naran valley. At a place nearby called Porbinar, the Birtish had martyred several Muslims so some also call this place as Shaheed Kath.

The Babusar Top is at a height of 13500+ feet. Across babusar Pass you come to view several mountain giving a breathtaking view. It takes about 4 hours to get her from Naran. The road is under construction here and when it is completed it will be the new route to the Karakoram Highway. Our jeep driver told us that this road has been used in the past as well fora route to China.
We had some snow fall here during our visit. At the edge of the mountain blows a very cold wind at a very high speed. I assume that the wind's speed was not at all less than 120km/h I can tell you that because I have felt that much drag of air while riding my bike.

Chillas is not too far from here. The road to Chillas is proper, we were told, and it takes one and a half hour to get there. The road to Chillas:

Some remains of a glacier at Babusar:

Below is a polo ground near the village Gitti Das. Above this place are the mountains shadowing the magical Fairy Meadows:

I saw this pic some time ago. Someone has been there on bicycle, now thats called adventure. The mountain covered with cluods is the Babsar Top. Torward right would be the mountains of Fairy Meadows:

Here is a video clip of the view from Babusar Top. The wind blows extremely fast here. I reckon, its speed was not less than 120km/h, I could hardly keep the camera straight due to fast wind:

Day 2: Lake Saiful Muluk

The road to Lake Saiful Muluk was in worse condition than before. Two jeeps cost us Rs. 1600 each. The journey was roughly of about one hour.

What I didn't like about the lake this time was that it was too much corwded, its beauty marred by the boats floating in it. Becuase of the waves caused by the boats you cannot view the reflection of the mountains in it any more, which was the real beauty of the lake. See the difference yourself:

Last Year at start of the season

This year

We did a round tour of the whole lake which took us about an hour and forty fie minutes including the time spent in taking pics:

Food at Naran is always great:

Poor chicken was eating daal a while ago and now

Don Hasan

2011-07-25T21:34:00.001+05:00

Don Hasan, the notorious car lifter also known as Major Muhammad Hasan from behind the bars has volunteered to give names of those who are involved in the crime of stealing cars. According to him several big names from among the Police department and politicians are also involved in it. Tough times for the Don, I even reckon that his life is in danger as well, now that he has mentioned about revealing the names of the big guns involved in the crime. Crimes involving theft of vehicles have become rampant in our society for past some time and to add insult to injury the vehicle is rarely recovered even if a gang is apprehended. I have seen anti car lifting police stations where numerous stolen cars are available but no serious effort is done by the concerned authorities to trace their owners.
A big number of stolen cars are transported to tribal areas while others are sold part by part, hence no sign is left of them. Whereas it is necessary to curb such crimes, it is equally important that the big guns involved in such crimes operating from behind the curtains be also revealed and brought to justice. The loss of a stolen vehicle can truly be understood by one whose hard earned money vanishes just like that, though for our man on top it might only be like a coin that slipped out of your hand.

My 30th Birthday Gift

2011-05-17T22:35:00.000+05:00

From my brother, a chopper :)

The Man Killed Thrice

2011-05-15T20:46:00.001+05:00

Osama's Ghost

WHERE there is blood there is the United States of America, the axis of all evils. The unrest created by America has made this generation see light of the day where human life has become worthless. Be it poor masses of the present day falling victim to the drone attacks in Pakistan or those killed in the Hiroshima episode in 1945, all speak volumes about the atrocities carried out by the USA. America’s attitude toward countries like Pakistan can be understood by the Raymond Davis incident, when a US diplomat can enjoy the license to kill and move free without reprimand, you can assume that a US soldier is a demigod and wonder where their president stands.

After the 9/11 incident when the US announced its war on terror it was Pakistan that bore the brunt of it all. The 9/11 incident would have killed hundreds but the American war on terror has killed hundreds and thousands of innocents most of whom are Pakistanis. In our country one mishap is followed by another, the news of a bomb blast or a suicide attack is a routine to us and so are the drone attacks. We do hear little hullabaloo from a small number of politicians but then another drone hits followed by another. We are now used to drone attacks as well. But what happened on the night of 2^nd May 2011 was an incident one of its kind in the history of this country, for never have we faced an attack that didn’t awaken our soldiers from their slumber and it also robbed us of the tattered sovereignty that we thought we had. Whereas an incident of the similar nature in some other country would have resulted in resignations from the high ups, our Prime Minister, in a shameful manner, announced a great victory. The whole American nation seems to have had Bin Laden phobia. It is not the first time they killed Bin Laden, i.e., if they killed him at all. What’s the point in burying his dead body at sea and not airing any footage of it, it seems fishy for they once announced him dead in the Tora Bora attack in 2001. If Bin Laden was a symbol of terror for the American nation then his death in the Abbotabad attack should ensure peaceful sleep for the American nation, but if it doesn’t then they should realize that they are on the verge of collapsing for there is no medicine to cure hallucination nor can the American government carry on its war on terror for too long.
To many, Bin Laden was already history, one who was a kidney patient and required dialysis on weekly basis. It is amazing how a nation killing so many on daily basis killed an ailing man thrice and yet could not produce a clear picture of his dead body and yet the question remains, how many times will Bin Laden be killed?

Blogs of Note..

2011-04-20T20:14:00.002+05:00

Man....Did you them Blogs of Note?? I mean whats so special about them, hmm?? I've just had a looks at a few of those recent ones and I wasn't impressed at all. Not trying to be selfish but, to me, there is one blog of note and thats mine.

The Armed Diplomat

2011-02-07T20:11:00.000+05:00

IT is the first incident of its kind in this land of the pure where two civilians were brutally shot dead in broad daylight on an open road by a foreign national, allegedly a ‘diplomat’. A nation where scores of people are killed in drone attacks every week and where ‘diplomats’ carry arsenal for reasons best known to them, makes it easy to ascertain whether Pakistan is a terrorist state or a terror-struck state. Long ago, in our country we used to have governments that voiced their protests if anywhere in the world the Muslims were agonized or treaded with discrimination. The story of transformation of our government functionary from those governments with some conscience to the present shameless government of today is replete with episodes of utter shamelessness and discrimination to its own public.

It is a matter if no surprise that America is demanding immediate release of Raymond Allen Davis with the assertion that he enjoys diplomatic immunity. What is rather shockingly surprising is that we are hearing this non-sense from certain corners of our own government functionary. The way our government is muttering its stance on the Raymond Davis issue in such a respectable way instead of treating Raymond as an excuse for extradition of Dr. Aafia, it doesn’t seem likely that justice will be provided to the family of the victims. We have not yet forgotten how our government won freedom of Kashmir, the Kashmir with a suffix of Singh, escorted back to his homeland by a minister of the state. While many secrets will never see the light of the day, would someone clarify why someone should shoot a number of bullets on the back and other vital parts of the victim’s body and make it an excuse for self-defense!

Of Optimism and Realism

2011-01-14T22:18:00.000+05:00

Somewhere I read, something like, the people who make their way in life are the people who get on with life and look for opportunities and if cannot find them, make them and I believe that when something is pursued with utmost devotion success is bound to come in one way or the other, sooner or later. Being optimist about something is not only good but necessary if you really want to taste the fruit of success, but when you are living in a country like Pakistan you have to be reasonably realist in approach as well, I read a quote about optimism and remember it for a day like this, it says “The real optimist is the person who while falling from the Eiffel tower says, See I am still alive.” Being an optimist blindly without realizing the ground realities may pay no buck. And it does not count what you dream, what counts is whether or not you have the circumstances to translate into reality what you dream about.

12.1.11

2011-01-14T20:53:00.000+05:00

THE 12th of January in the year 2011 is a day in history when I made my maiden appearance in the High Court Lahore as an advocate of the High Court and there is something about it. In the year 2006 when I was still a student of LLB Part II I went to the district courts for the first time, a strike was announced by the lawyers as a show of protest against some murder. Then, in 2007, after completion of my LLB program when I first went to the courts there was a strike yet again, this time to denounce the proclamation of emergency by by General Musharraf and which has followed a series of strikes till date. The 11th of January 2011 was my first day in the High Court Lahore, a strike was announced because of some scuffle of lawyers in Sheikhupura. The evening of 11th January; we had parents of Justice Javed Iqbal killed in dacoity and hence a strike announced for the 12th.

Three years in the profession and three years of continuous strikes, the events follow suit as I make my first appearance in the High Court. It will take at least another eight years before I get the Supreme Court licence, lets see what the future holds inits closed fists.

2010

2010-12-21T22:49:00.001+05:00

“IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness” when Charles Dickens wrote these opening lines of A Tale of Two cities he didn’t know that these lines would so aptly describe the plight of a South Asian country in the year 2010. It was the best of times for the plunderers. A government under PPP with Asif Zardari as President has twofold effect of promoting and encouraging corruption. Whereas a surge is witnessed whenever PPP comes into power, circumstances for the towering corruption were highly favourable where Asif Zardari served as a catalyst. If you prepare a list of the damned heads of the states, our Mr. Zardari would be coronated as flag bearer of the vanguards of corruption.

It was the worst of times for the common lot, the plundered and the down trodden, with the government self praising its completion of the half term, and that too successfully. It’s a no man’s land if you happen to be from middle class, a class that is rapidly vanishing from this land of the pure. Inflation is on the rise, crisis like sugar, flour and fuel are rampant, the masses are paying more for electricity while consuming less because of frequent power breakdowns and yet the IMF’s demand of increase in the power tariff hangs like Damocles’ sword. Didn’t we get rid of this IMF monster once? And now it is back again, courtesy of the PPP government. Would you call it a fortune of a misfortune to see the vehicles driven so recklessly on the roads, so calmly queued for CNG almost a mile away from the gas station? Undoubtedly, for the past some time we have been witnessing situations that were still alien to us.

The weathers have changed in our country completely. We either fall a victim to droughts or to floods, and yet we don’t make preparations to face either of them. The recent floods did historic destruction across the country, sweeping lives and buildings, leaving hundreds of thousands killed and homeless. Had we had dams constructed in time, we would have enough water for the next four to five years. But some consider it of a lesser misery for Nowshehra to actually drown in floods than to such hazard if the much-debated Kalabagh dam is constructed, while others volume outcry of Sindh’s wilderness if any such dams is constructed and still cry when the floods hit their boundaries. There are the mercenary mouths that vomit a diarrhea of words to oppose anything that is to be done in the collective interest of the nation. We call ourselves a free nation where foreign hands pay our leaders to safeguard their own interests_ the sacred cow.

Yet amidst all this there have been moments of respite, for a desert also has oasis and sometimes a rose may bloom among the shrubs. A year replete with misery is ending on a slightly better note, that of the trade agreements and those others of bilateral interests between Pakistan and China, for the future may take sudden turn, now that India has stepped in. The government can either resolve to rise to the situation whenever required or simply brush aside any such idea and turn a deaf ear to the outcries like it did in case of WikiLeaks.

Funny Laugh

2010-12-01T18:10:00.000+05:00

The Sialkot Lynch

2010-08-24T20:19:00.002+05:00

THE electronic and print media, these days, is making hue and cry about the ruthless killing of two brothers in Sialkot who were beaten to death by the mob and their dead bodies hanged to the poles. The media reported the gruesome murder of two innocent brothers in the holy month of Ramzan, however, as always it remained unable to make a mention of the root cause that led to this tragic incident. Crime does not pay and every action has it reaction, an article in a newspaper mentioned how one of the brothers had killed one and injured three others on the previous evening, it also had other details of what caused this incident. The elder brother Moiz Butt 17, had an affair with some girl which infuriated her cousin Bilal, they had a fight which resulted in Bilal losing his life and leaving three others injured.

The timing when the beating of the brothers episode begins is noteworthy. Two brothers, one of whom is armed with a pistol, at Sehri time before break of the dawn in the vicinity where the girl lived are spotted by someone who knows the whole episode of Bilal's murder and the reason that caused this murder. The shouts of 'robbers' gathers others and what happens then is what we all know.

The death that the two boys met was their destiny, what the people did was mob mentality and they way they died is justified in the eyes of the law of the street. We have had similar incidents in Karachi in the past where people burnt the dacoits alive. Street crimes are increasing in our country every day and the culprits go unpunished, the criminal trial takes too long to complete and the judgement is so often unexpected. It is the flaw in out system of law which has given rise to killing the heinous offenders in fake encounters by the police, since we all know that confidence inspiring evidence in such cases is hardly ever available. It is obvious that the people who killed these two brothers were well aware of Bilal's murder and all that so their act was quite natural, for emotions know no sanity.

No matter whether the killing of the two Sialkot brothers was justified or not, I am afraid that this incident may introduce a new way of exercising vengeance, and whatever there may be, nothing justifies the indifference that the police officials showed who were present there when the mob was busy in the execution of the brothers. And when it comes to this, I uphold the mass protests that have started across the country.

DamNs

2010-07-31T20:33:00.001+05:00

Water flowing over or water at the dead level; we either get lot of rains or we don’t get them at all. In a country like ours’ where a big resource of power generation is through the reserved water from dams the necessity for construction of more dams heightens even more when the consumption of electricity is on the rise every coming year.

A non issue becomes an ever impending issue in our country when the matter falls victim to politics, hence the Kalabagh Dam issue. Not very long ago those having ‘insight’ would say that the city of Nowshera would drown in consequence of the construction of the Kalabagh Dam. Nevertheless, it still drowned when the recent flood waters swept away life from nook and corner of this city.

When I compare the present scenario where the flood has left everything in haphazard, to a possible situation we cold have had if the politicized dams were actually constructed_ I see a much lesser destruction. The journey from a point where our country was well known for its cananl irrgation system to the present extremes of draughts and floods speaks volumes of the politics of vested interests, of bias and treachery to the citizens that continues till day. If we still don’t resolve to construct new dams, God forbid, we would be wose off in the time to come.

Students of EME Design Pakistan’s First Hybrid Car

2010-06-18T22:10:00.002+05:00

Who knows, maybe the energy crisis in Pakistan will soon be history. Pak Wheelers, a team of young enthusiasts from NUST have manufactured Pakistan's first ever Hybrid car which they will showcase in Eco-Shell Marathon to be held in July 2010 in Malaysia.

It has been told that the group was laughed at initially when they started with the project, a very common trait of our society, but now the nation is all applause for the marvel they have done. The car can cover 700km in just one liter of fuel. At present, it can carry only the driver, improvements have been made with the sponsorship of Telenor Pakistan. Had this feat been done by the students of some other country, arrangements would already have been made to bring the car into production for the public use but TIP, this is Pakistan so you never know if this brilliant attempt is sent into oblivion.

Salient features of the car.

It features combining a combustion engine with an electric motor to increase its efficiency.

It harvests energy lost during breaking and reuses it for running.

It uses super capacitor banks to store energy.

The petrol engine produces a constant energy of 3.5 British horsepower and the remaining power comes from the super capacitor banks.

It uses a carbon-fibre body.

“We want to be able to show a new face of Pakistan to the world, one that is considerably different than what the western media is showing,” he added, reciting the team mantra, “For some teams it’s a car, For some teams it’s a project For us, it’s an ideology An ideology to prove that Pakistan can be constructive.”

Way to go Pak Wheelers.
LINK to Pak Wheelers website.

The Naran Excursion May '10

2010-06-03T23:10:00.016+05:00

The roads to Naran were open I came to know, so I decided to make this trip and spend some times off the Punjab's heat. I left Islamabad on my Coure at 7:15am, made about three stops till I reached the beautiful Naran valley.

Took lot of pics because on this trip I was armed with a 5MP digital camera. I'll share the pics along with commentary(H)

The weather was somewhat hot upto Kaghan, but after that here was a sudden change in the wind temperature:

Much of the road has been rebuilt, as compared to what I witnessed on my August '08 visit. However, the road still gets blocked at some places and then gets cleared in some time, though you might have to wait for upto 45 minutes.

The steel bridge on way to Naran, the old one was destructed by the earthquake.

The under-construction part of the road:

A natural spring of water some 15km away from Naran:

A view of the mineral mountain just before Naran:

On reaching Naran the weather was just awesome:

Since it is the almost the beginning of the season, there are not many tourists in Naran these days so the roads and hotels are not crowded.

Next day was planned for a visit to the famous Lake Saif ul Muluk. I came to know that Jeep takes you half the way after which you have the option either to hire a horse of enjoy walking up all the way.

I took the horse :)

Pics of the horse track:

Riding a horse on a terrain like this is an experience of its kind, you must experience it at least once, I had great adventurous time.

The Jeep drive is about thirty minutes+thirty minutes of riding the horse back+an additional twenty minutes of walk as the end journey to the lake is not possible on the horse because of lose gravel at some places.

Some pics I took during the twenty minute walk journey:

This looks great, right?

Another beautiful view"

Just five minutes from the lake and you get to see a breathtaking beautiful view:
Tell me its not just me ;)

The Jeep was parked in the area as I have encircled, the Jeep is not visible in the pic, this is how much you travel on the horse, including the walking journey:

Zoomed view of the lake from a distance of five minutes walk:

Thats it, I'm here:

The great thing about visiting the lake in this season is that you get to see totally different colours of and around the lake as compared to the regular season, plus presence of mighty glaciers around the lake covering the mountains further add to the charm.

Notice the reflection of mountains:

I strolled around and took some amazing pics, you be the judge:

Some of the lake water is still frozen:

On return from the lake there was still lot of energy and desire left to make a ride on the Naran-Jalkhad road. I was told that its not possible to reach Jalkhad on car as several huge glaciers make it impossible to reach there when your ride is not a Jeep. But there never is a harm on going out on your own, going as far as you easily can, and take some amazing pics:

The exciting thing about the Naran-Jalkhad track driving is that you get to see lot beautiful landscapes, and the same makes it a time taking journey, you crave to take as many pics as you can:

You come across several glaciers on this road, big and small. I crossed about eight of them, two were real skill testing:

I love this pic:

And what about a poser pic?? ;)

Water flowing down the road:

It was quite an effort for Coure to cross two difficult glaciers and get there for a shot:

Since the road is narrow around here, it can be a problem if a vehicle comes from the opposite side:

Another big one:

Notice the track here:

Riding a Harley on a road like this with this kind of landscape is one of my dreams:

A pic taken on way back to Naran:

Some pics taken in Naran, by the riverside:

The next day was scheduled for the Shugran visit. The road toward Shugran has many twists on steep heights on it, so a vehicle with good engine condition only can make it to the top. So if the engine of your car is not enough powerful, don't dare take this road:

Some Shugran pics:

Because of the Hazara province issue blockage of road in the Pakhtunkwa area is no surprise, I too got trapped in one such blockage on my way back:

Facebook Banned

2010-05-19T20:56:00.004+05:00

Facebook has finally been banned in Pakistan, a step that I really appreciate a lot. It is such a shame to what extent the so-called educated societies of the developed world would fall on the pretext of freedom of thought and expression, and hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. They have done this before and this time facebook did the damage. I uphold the government's action of banning facebook. To hell with facebook, when its over I am going to delete my facebook account once and for all. What will you do?

Bravo...Mr. President

2010-05-18T23:36:00.003+05:00

Rehman Malik's sins have been forgiven by our worthy president, what a gesture! We are living in an Islamic country begotten in the name of Islam where the citizen live like once they are dead, it is once and for all. Nah, you'll be paid back folks, the problem with the common lot of this country is that they just don't forget what ought to be forgotten. Did anyone say in he past if Rehman Malik were an American agent? Or something similar about our worthy president?? Birds of a feather! I have a bad memory indeed.

Super Bikes Finally Allowed On M2

2010-03-24T20:57:00.003+05:00

LAHORE: It was a visual treat for all and sundry with a colourful display of sophisticated heavy bikes at the Ravi Toll Plaza, as a rally was held to mark the grant of permission to bikers to run on the motorway for the first time.

The National Solidarity Rally started from the toll plaza and culminated at the Bhera interchange, escorted by motorway police and the media. Members of the bikers’ association termed it a positive gesture by the authorities, saying they had been seeking permission to allow motorbikes on the motorway for a long time. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Information Syed Sumsam Bukhari said motorbikes had indeed been allowed on the motorway, which commenced with the rally on the Pakistan Day, adding, however, that it was still a pilot project. He appreciated the National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) for doing an excellent job of serving the people.

Registration: NH&MP Inspector General Dr Wasim Kauser said motorbikes of 500CC and above – with bikers aged 25 and above only – had been allowed on the motorway with special kits, adding a biker would first have to obtain registration from the authority and only then would be allowed to ride on the M2 (Lahore and Islamabad). He said the NH&MP would also conduct a “fitness” test for each bike and then grant permission to it. The IG said under the standard operating procedure heavy bikes were being allowed in the first lane while they would have to take the second lane to overtake. He said this was a pilot project and bikers would be banned if they created problems on the motorway. Fines and tickets would also be imposed in case of over-speeding and other violations, he added. Motorway-2 Deputy Inspector General Dr Muhammad Shafiq said bikers would be allowed to ply on the motorways after fulfilling a registration, route and fitness criteria.

I'll need a bike twice the power of my current bike plus proper gear to make it to the M2 :-( and I'll have to wait for that...

On March the 23rd, 2010 the bikers were enjoying their first ride on the M2, and there was another rider without a helmet, without proper gear, wearing his tennis gear, riding on the Jauharabad-Hadali road which is more than M2 to him, and that was none else but me

The Fist of Fury

2010-03-19T23:26:00.002+05:00

FRIDAY the 19th of March 2010 was a dark day in the history of The District Bar Association Khushab when the District and Session Judge turned a deaf ear to the complaint lodged by the Bar Association's General Secretary for having been insulted by a police official on duty. It was an example of how the non-issues become issues. The General Secretary was stopped by the cop on duty when he wanted to go out of the court's premises from a closed gate as he had to attend the funeral of a colleague's mother. It is worth mentioning that the funeral prayer was to be offered in the ground right next to the ground outside the court premises. A gate which is open not only for the judges but also for the cops, and even the staff of dhaba outside was refused to be opened for the bar's general secretary. When complained to the District and Session Judge he rather got away saying, "You may burn the gate but it won't be opened at any rate."

The lawyers have their way of giving expression to their sentiments and thats exactly what followed. The lawyers gathered around the Session Court and demanded that the gate be opened for the lawyers from today and onwards which the Session Judge declined as the deadlock occurred. What entailed is what the pics tell you. The Session Court was locked, the gate opened, the gate lock broken and the chain confiscated followed by a proclamation of boycott of the court work till a positive gesture be shown on behalf of the judiciary.

The locked court:

Cops were present, including the ISI officials without uniforms:

The Broken lock:

The opened gate:

The battle Begins...Again

2010-02-13T21:56:00.002+05:00

WHEREAS for other nations a situation like this would mean catastrophe as the nation goes off the track being driven into uncertainty through a clash of the departments, for us this is now a routine, so its like we are now back on the track, back on the track where we have spent most of our years in complete obscurity.

Some mistakes can be overlooked and forgiven while others simply can't and our 'present' government has made just too many of the latter kind. No matter what the situation be, sanity should always prevail, which you will notice, unfortunately, has rarely marked its presence in the decisions made by the government-violation of Article 177 of the Constitution being the latest in the list. I read an article somewhere "Kaisa ho ga 2010" and it said that future for the government is bleak.

Life's Got Busy

2010-02-03T19:13:00.000+05:00

Pretty busy, haven't got enough time to write anything. No 'biking' adventure for almost a year now. I need to resume those pastimes.

Fish Party 14.01.10

2010-01-15T19:48:00.007+05:00

So it was third consecutive victory for our group in D.B.A. Election Khushab in the last two years, and our friend won the Joint Secretary contest with a lead of 60+ votes, the consequence of which was this fish party. Enjoyed every bit of the food. Some pics from the occasion, Imran Hashmi was teased a lot.....as usual :-D

The venue was Dau Khel Petroleum of our host on the Khushab/Sargodha road. And the menu was of course fish and very tasty daal.

Our host...Sikandar Niazi.

Our host's old car... :)

Hashmi being teased..

The fire fighter.. ;)

Hashmi trying to push the truck as proof of his power..

Hashmi's hand from under the door when he was locked up in the wash room.

But then released..

We had a wonderful time there at Dau Khel Petroleum.

Want Peace?

2009-12-04T22:25:00.001+05:00

“Ek kunwain may ek kutta gir gya, kuch log is kunwain kay pani ko pak krne k lye Molvi k pas gaye. Molvi ne kaha k 200 balti nikalo, kunwa pak ho jae ga. Mugr kuch din baad pani se smell aane lagi. Log dosray Molvi k pad gaye. Os ne kaha 400 balti pani nikalo to kunwa pak ho jae ga magr pani phir bi pak na hoa balke pani se smell ane lagi. Phir logo ne aik aur Molvi se rabta kya. Os ne pocha, |kunwain may se kutta nikala?” Logo ne kaha “Nahi” to Molvi ne kaha ke pehlay kutta bahar nikalo phir pani pak ho ga.

Moral: Dear Pakistanis! Hamay pehlay kutta nikalna ho ga.

This is the sms of the day that I received on my cell. When I read this sms, the Moral grabbed my whole attention. Well said, indeed, but who is this kutta after all? Before getting rid of this kutta, we first need to realize who this kutta actually is. Is this from among the common lot, or is it from the opposition, or what about the government? Yes/No? Perhaps not. Indeed not. Its not from within the country, its an alien trying to disguise as one of us, chanting the hollow slogans of friendship, all this only to serve its own purposes.

The credibility might be questionable, but I tend to ask why today’s blast in the Rawalpindi masjid? Why when America has increased its number of troops, to FIGHT terrorism? Fight? One 9/11 rocked the nook and corner of America, what about our country where every other day is worse than 9/11. A dog once bit its owner, the neighbour said, “It is not here to protect you from the intruder, it is only living on your flesh and blood, drive this dog outta your house.” Peace!

Shameless

2009-11-02T21:47:00.001+05:00

LINK

Shameless

2009-10-29T22:39:00.000+06:00

IT is this country we live in. It is unfortunate for our hapless nation to have a ruling class which is without a conscience, indifferent to the pain that the masses are going through. When the masses were shedding tears over the Peshawar massacre, our leaders were busy welcoming Hillary with smiling faces. No matter with what ideals the USA arranged for Hillary's visit, I don't see any positive change in the peace situation in our country as its aftermath. To fight terrorism we need much more than just arsenal and foreign aid be it in any form. Above all we need to realize our responsibilities. A sleeping conscience will never come to know the feeling of pain and would show an indifferent attitude just like our leaders gave example of recently. Answering questions at a meeting she said, ‘This is not your fight alone... You're standing on the frontlines of this battle but we are standing with you.’ Thats wrong lady, the front line comprises only our people, our common lot, our innocent people. 9/11 rocked your nation but the after shocks have put our system into shambles. The unfortunate aspect however is that whereas the 9/11 incident had the Americans up on their toes, we still have not done enough despite going through several tragedies far greater than that one. Unless we act as required we shall not be able to get rid of the sphynx killing the innocent.

Diversion Ahead

2009-09-15T21:38:00.001+06:00

THE government has announced for the public convenience that they should be ready to three big crisis, that of electricity, water and gas. The government has made this revelation at a time when the nation is already trapped in the middle of the dunes of crisis like the shortage of flour, sugar, costly medicine, scarcity of pure drinking water, costly fuel, excessive power breakdowns which have crippled the industrial infrastructure, and what not. The crux of the discussion is that the government need not warn us of what we already know. Please tell us something new!

Crisistan

2009-08-21T23:04:00.003+06:00

IT has been sixty two years since we won freedom from the British rule but ever since that time we have remained caught up in the whirlpool of crisis. Only recently, the country went though the wheat crisis which mainly occurred because of the wrong policies of the government coupled with the attitude of those who would create fake shortage of the product in the time of need only for the sake of money.

In our country when one catastrophe is over it is followed by several others of the similar kind. When the whole world was having a sigh of relief on account of the rapid fall in fuel prices we experienced standing in long queues only for one liter of petrol, which too was available at a higher price.

It’s a tough weather, the summer, and it is getting intense every year. To add more to misery is the power shortage problem. When the hot season was in its full swing the government tried to solace the public by saying that the power shortage problem would be completely dealt with by December this year. Pardon me, for I have a weak memory, but I remember similar promises were made last year but forgotten completely with the rising of the summer sun. Bloody summer!

Now sugar has got scarce. Anyone who succeeds in getting two kilos of sugar passes through the market victoriously as did Alexander the great on his conquests, and the admiring looks he gets make him believe he is living in utopia, even though he knows what it would be like when these two kilos have been consumed. Even though, the shortage of sugar is fake one I wonder if it would be completely over before the hole month of Ramzan is over.

It’s a cruel country, not for the plunderers but for the oppressed and down trodden common lot, where they keep burning in the inferno of deprivation. And there is no accountability for the plunderers whose atrocities go unchecked. One may wonder if a man like Zardari for president is anything less than a misery. Unless you strive with serious efforts there is no hope because everything caught up in the whirlpool will only find its way down into the sea.

Bullied

2009-07-31T00:50:00.002+06:00

EVER since the restoration of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, incidents of lawyers’ scuffle with the staff of other departments have increased. There was a scene with the staff of the Revenue department Mianwali and then a similar incident at Faisalabad, soon it was followed by the scene with the Police at Sargodha when a cop insulted a senior lawyer and then the incident at Lahore where a judge Family Court Lahore faced denigration. The incident at Lahore where an ASI was beaten up by the black coats is the latest one of the series of such incidents.

There are always two sides to a picture and the same is true of situations where you have to strike a balance between who is right and who is wrong. The analysis of the sudden change in lawyers’ behavior toward officials of other departments, prima facie, brings three possible explanations. One, that as upholders of justice they want to leave no stone unturned in order to eradicate corruption and unfair practices. Two, that having earned public’s sympathy as a consequence of CJ’s restoration they have, perhaps, gone out of their mind and hence the improper behavior. The third possibility is a situation that affirms both the above situations.

No prudent mind would advocate lawyers’ behavior toward the Revenue staff or the police official, more so when its footage was telecast by several TV channels. Corruption of Revenue department and atrocities of police find no equal in our country, I highly approve of any action that should be taken against lawyers if they are found guilty in these incidents and would even go on to say that their license to appear as a pleader in the court of law should be canceled. However, the inquiry should be conducted in a clean way without any prejudice to any side with an opportunity given to both sides to prove their innocence because reliance cannot be placed at the footage of our electronic media which is best at giving its own meanings to a situation while the reality is otherwise.

Oh the Drama

2009-07-14T00:46:00.002+06:00

JUST when the Supreme Court played its role issuing stay order against introduction of new Carbon Surcharge Tax in lieu of already sky high petroleum levy showing how it is possible to give relief to the people when government itself failed, the government played its card, in a crooked way as usual and petrol is being sold at the same price yet again. Well, this clearly shows that our man on top is well aware of how to use the back doors when the gates are being watched by sentinels. But public has its own way of reacting to situations. What the government did by introducing the Petroleum Levy Ordinance might produce far more repercussions than what the government would have expected, I mean this is such a stupid act taken at a time when the common lot feels so contented in cursing the PPP government for inflation, for the Damocles’ sword of expected increasing electricity tariff and not to forget the sizzling hot weather that affects the temperaments to a considerable extent. I can see a quick response by the public that may soon ensue.

It may surprise some factors as to why the government showed such a sense of urgency in re-imposing the tax with a different name, my answer to that surprise is-we have Mr.10% as our president, who knows how much share he has under the disguise of petroleum levy. Pakistan Zindabaad!

Something Different..

2009-06-17T00:24:00.002+06:00

The Judicial Policy

2009-06-06T00:13:00.001+06:00

“JUSTICE delayed is justice denied”, the maxim, is the driving force behind the Judicial Policy introduced by the Chief Justice about a week ago. The Judicial Policy aims at quick disposal of cases and thus providing relief to the litigants. But as the situation is, unfortunately the Judicial Policy might well be the reason for an immense increase in litigation, both civil and criminal.
Criminal and Civil litigation, in most cases, is interconnected, civil disputes lead to criminal disputes and vice-versa. The Judicial Policy provides for a period of only five days of notice in Bail before arrest cases. The period between filing of Bail application and notice to Complainant and Police to appears aims at providing the accused enough time to join the investigation with the Police and clarify his position, a notice of five days means that the accused would be left with very little time to prove his innocence to the Police where he has been involved in the case falsely. Also, the Judicial Policy provides for completion of trial within one year after its commencement, which too is not enough.
Talking about the civil litigation, most of the civil litigation involving disputes regarding property involves stay matters. The Judicial Policy provides only fifteen days for the decision of Stay matter after the institution of a civil suit. This small period of fifteen days is rather ridiculous, because generally at least fifteen days are considered a reasonable time for affecting the service of Notice to the second party. Now when the service would have to be affected in a hurried manner and stay decided in such a short period, several complications would arise. The Judicial Policy further requires a judge to report to the High Court his inability to decide the stay matter within the specified time, if it so happens, the repercussion of which would be that every judge would aim at deciding the stay matter any way rather than going for explanation to the High Court, which would result in miscarriage of justice. Moreover, the decision of civil judge on stay matter would result in appeal against the order, the result_ increase in litigation. Mostly, the reasons behind the Hurt and Murder cases involve property disputes. When the litigants would not find justice from the court, chances are bright that criminal matters would grow large in number.
Our Civil and Criminal procedure provides for a completion of trial after recording of complete evidence and arguments from both sides. Recording of evidence, particularly in civil cases, requires a considerable time but when the things would be done in hurry, apprehension of miscarriage of justice would always be there. Our courts are flooded with files involving frivolous litigation aimed at vexing the opponent party. I believe that the situation would be a lot better if we had Law of Torts as regular law in our country. Whereas, the Judicial Policy has been formulated with high ideals of facilitating the litigants, I see it as a prelude to a new beginning which will further add to the miseries of hapless litigants. It would rather be very proper that the Chief justice had taken steps to eradicate the evil of frivolous litigation in the first place and then move ahead to devise methods to ensure quick disposal of cases rather than fixing a time period for it.

Fuel Prices

2009-05-27T23:17:00.003+06:00

IT is amazing how our government responds to certain situations. Going back a few months when the issue of restoration of Chief Justice was still in dispute, the government was discarding all possibilities of restoration of Chief Justice. Ironically, however, the government officials changed their statements after CJ’s reinstatement saying that government itself was considering to restore the deposed judges. A similar incident can be witnessed in the recent past as well.
Ever since his restoration, Chief Justice has taken steps to ring relief to the common lot, his appointing Justice Bhagwan Das as commission to prepare a report on petrol prices was in line with such steps. When the commission submitted its report and recommended a considerable cut in fuel prices, concerned government officials came forward with the statement that government itself was considering a cut in fuel prices by the end of the month. The sad and rather shameful aspect, however, is that the fuel prices have not been decreased to the recommended extent but only by Rs.1.44. What is even more shameful and requires action from the Chief Justice is the attitude adopted by the petrol pump owners on occasions when fuel prices are likely to reduce. They create fake shortage of fuel and charge even higher prices per liter and their atrocities always go unchecked. Such opportunists should be dealt with the iron hand and brought to justice.

Shops and Establishment Security Act

2009-05-23T00:35:00.003+06:00

ALL around the world, laws are formulated and regulated to protect the rights of citizens. Our Constitution and several major and minor Acts and Ordinances ensure protection of the public rights. A bird eye view of the law reveals that it covers almost every aspect, however nowhere is the true application witnessed. Back in the year 1999, the then Man on Top for the time introduced Shops and Establishments Security Ordinance which got the status of Act with the 15th amendment. The Act calls for keeping security guards and installing CCTV cameras in the establishments like banks, work places and shops, etc.

The Act provides for payment of fine of up to rupees 15000 or imprisonment of 1 month and for repetition of offence it provides for sealing the shop/establishment. Even though, the Act had come into force in the year 1999, public at large remained alien to its existence. Interestingly, however, the Police department came with a surprise and started giving notice to the banks, establishments and shop owner to employ security guards and install CCTV cameras. Metropolitan banks and shops already fulfill the requirements of the Act, it were bank branches of small towns and villages where the bank managers received court summons in their name as a convict for not installing CCTV cameras.

Then came the turn of shop owners who received court summons for not keeping a security guard. Imagine a small town with few shops and a security guard in front. Police Order 2002 changed the fate of the Police department when cops were given new vehicles and were armed with arsenal like G3 Rifle. The sad aspect, however, is that crime rate has not decreased even with the Police department in a better position to handle the affairs and with the presence of law like Shops and Establishments Security Act it seems that opportunity has been provided to the Police department to relieve itself of its duties, patrol around with guns in their hands and ‘serve’ the nation.

If every shop owner has to manage for his own protection like this, then I think weapons do not suit in the hands of our cops and instead they should be wearing bangles.

Back in the Saddle

2009-04-21T23:08:00.002+06:00

CHIEF Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary showing his concern over the huge pendency of cases has directed the judiciary for their quick disposal, in which connection the High Courts are also conducting a meeting with the District and Sessions judges in the next week. It is said that justice delayed is justice denied, so the justice should be provided without any delay. In the first place, our problem is not the pendency of cases but just decision of the case. It is usual with the High Courts to issue directions time by time regarding particular cases for their early disposal, but myself a lawyer I have seen how parties have to suffer on account of such directions which mostly result in miscarriage of justice. It so happens that once a direction case comes before the court, the court naturally gives more attention to its decision rather than going into factual and legal aspects of the case, which obviously results in the miscarriage of justice. Secondly, if the judge is a corrupt one, interested party can get a decision in its favor easily by greasing the judge’s palms. What is most required at this stage is an eradication of the evil of corruption from judiciary.

In order to keep check and control over the corruption, the High Courts can establish a sort of committee comprising honest officials. This has been done in the past and it bore fruits too. Corrupt practice can also be abolished by a regular shuffling of pending files among the courts so that a particular file may not remain in just one court. Then the High Courts can increase the number of civil judges and judicial magistrates at District and Tehsil level in order to cope with the pendency of suits, and also the High Courts can establish new benches to decide the pending cases at the appellate stage. Whereas new benches would reduce the number of pending cases, they will be also helpful to the common lot who has to travel from remote areas to pursue their case at the appellate stage. With the Chief Justice back in the saddle, a lot of improvement is expected.

Flight of the Desert Hawk

2009-03-20T20:37:00.003+05:00

Finding some free time and fuel in the bike's tank has its consequences, i.e. RIDING and so it happened today. I had been planning for this trip for quite some time now but time itself was the problem but I got the opportunity today.

The destination was no specific, I only wanted to be in the middle of the desert which is toward South of my city.

I shall post some pics with commentary..This time pics were taken from the digital camera a gift from my uncle. Images have been resized for quick loading.

As the ride began, two things bothered me quite much.
1. I was hearing some cracking kind of sound that really freaked me.
2. Every biker coming from front had his face fully covered (because mostly we don't use helmets) but I was wearing my helmet.

I did some more distance and finally found out that the cracking sound was in fact bugs hitting the helmet and for the same reason other bikers had their faces covered

Time is ripe for the harvesting of gram crop so the desert is covered with a green blanket in this season.

I did a total of 82km on this ride, both ways. This is the second longest ride for me on this bike.
Some pics..

Found a diverging road and stopped for a pic there, it was just me myself and I on this road...Complete wilderness..

The whole place gives an entirely different look in the summer season, but wow here..

Love this shot..

A pic of the Thal Motorway, very nice for speed riding. Needless to say I didn't go fast :-)

It was beginning to get dark as I started on my way back, however I stopped for a few pics..

As it got darker there were more bugs hitting the helmet. On my way up I had spotted this area near the main road, I wanted to be back here while there was still daylight so I could take some good pics but unfortunately I got a bit late. Nevertheless, I took some pics...

Next up it got even darker and my helmet's visor had got little bugs all over it so that made the visibility even poorer. When I got back home I came to know that the bugs were actually mosquitoes, I had killed several today.

A look of the helmet after the ride..

The ride done, the bike now needs a good cleaning... :-)

Aliens Do Exist

2009-03-16T20:29:00.001+05:00

YOU’D believe in their existence too, especially after hearing Rehman Malik’s pointless statements that he’s been giving to the media trying to brush aside the shame that the current situation has caused the government. To be specific, Rehman Malik has said repeatedly, in very innocent way at times, that no one is being blocked from going to Islamabad, that the government has not blocked any road whatsoever, that no political leader is being restricted to participate in the Long March, that rather the government is doing every effort to ensure security to the participants of the Long March. Must be true what he says, which strengthens my belief in the existence of aliens in our country. I mean if the government is ensuring a free flow of the Long March then it must be aliens who have put containers on the roads to block them and the selfsame aliens have caused arrest of political activists and have restricted the political leaders and the lawyers’ leadership to reach Islamabad. So now, do we have a new enemy in the form of aliens?

They say that what happens once may not happen twice but what happens twice will surely happen again. We, as a nation, have been caught up in this vicious cycle where the unwanted episodes are repeated time and again. The way the nation got rid of the ex is still fresh in everyone’s mind, that was when some in the present government were on the road too. All the faces on the road today (except the few in the ruling party) are the same as there were in the previous Long March and yet there is a difference, because this time the nation is going to register the unprecedented turnout in its history not only to show that they want restoration of pre November 03, ’07 judiciary but also to bring it home to Rehman Malik who is a victim to the fallacy that the worthy President is very popular among the lot. Things should have a limit. If the historic turnout of people could not open Rehman Malik’s eyes to reality, certain resignations should have. But everyone is a famous one unless sacked.

Blood Sport

2009-03-11T21:05:00.002+05:00

THE government of the people, by the people, for the people is out with providing another relief to the suffering lot of the country by allowing Basant to be celebrated, of course as a festival. Even though the lot mostly consists of the people anxious for an old promise to be fulfilled, that of Roti, Kapra aur Makaan, and who may not be able to celebrate it as they used to in antiquity but why ‘the others’ should be deprived if opportunities for recreation? I mean, what recreation is left in this country! Basant should certainly be celebrated even though it might cost a few needless lives who may fall a victim to the sharp string, be crashed under a vehicle as a kite runner or the enthusiasts who fall off the roof. And not to forget that livelihood of several thousands depends on this yearly festival so why deprive them in a situation when shadow of hunger has engulfed what was left of humanity in the hapless country. So the nation should celebrate the festival with great fervor and it would be great if it be celebrated under the patronage of the government considering the terrorist threats. Besides, who knows if any approaching night might also draw curtains for the government so keep providing relief when the opportunity is there.

Under Attack

2009-03-03T22:55:00.004+05:00

MARCH 3, 2009 would be written among the long list of the darkest days in the history of our country when a foreign cricket team was attacked by terrorists killing members of the escort and injuring six players. Whereas the incident itself is pathetic having no precedent in our country’s history, what makes the situation even more pitiable is how our leaders have responded to the situation in a shameless manner. Incidents like this fall heavy upon governments and are usually followed by resignations of certain officials who having admitted neglect of their duties step down from their post, something which was also witnessed in the neighbouring India in the recent Mumbai attacks. On the contrary, in our country we have leaders with complete absence of sense of responsibility. Whereas the situation demanded his resignation, the wearer of black glasses proved his inability for his post by commenting straightaway that the terrorists were the same as involved in the Mumbai attacks. Someone please tell this man the meanings of responsibility toward the state affairs.

And if this stupidity wasn’t enough it was followed by another one commenting that the terrorists were the Tamil Tigers. Earlier it was America and now it is India that we feel difficult to look into the eyes, have we really degraded to a level when we should feel hesitant in calling out RAW as being responsible for the tragic incident? By naming Tamil Tigers, are we not trying to make new enemies? Why has sanity turned a face to the approach of our leaders? When, if ever, would this nation and its leaders wake up from the eternal slumber?

Mobile Courts

2009-03-02T20:41:00.003+05:00

WITH Supreme Court’s verdict of Mian bros.’ disqualification and the natural response by the lot, the President is now up to devising methods to create a soft corner among the lawyers’ community in order to minimize the growing rage against him. This is something the ex was pretty brilliant at too though he had to give up ultimately. As the situation is, the President has come up with the idea of Mobile Courts for to provide speedy justice and to quote from an Indian movie I watched some years ago, ‘justice at the spot’. Whether these Mobile Courts can really provide justice to the common lot in a country where the deposed Justice himself seeks justice is not clear yet. However, it is a good opportunity to employ the Jialaas and finally pay them for their services somehow and also attract other opportunists to join the force, not to forget the recent increase in the number of justices of the High Courts.

Our nation has a way of its own at looking things and the people out there seem to have a great sense of punning. When our ex introduced the well-known Enlightened Moderation in order to create a soft image of the country to the ‘developed world’ the nation showing its wit rather declared it Moderate Enlightenment, and now when the current President in order to provide justice to the common man has come up with such a brilliant idea of Mobile Courts, pranksters have started calling it Gashti Courts. Whereas it surely amounts to contempt of the court I wonder what might be the plight of the common man after the introduction of these new courts in our country where corruption is rampant in every other department so let’s have one more and expect that all will be fine.

Murder in the Woods

2009-02-05T12:10:00.002+05:00

Let me enlighten you about the story of a wild forest. Of course, its dwellers were animals of all kinds but they had democracy there so anyone could be the king of the forest. Even though the animals lived like comrades yet their instinct usually took them to fighting and obviously the bell tolled for the weaker.

It once so happened that one of the comrades of a high rank was brutally murdered. Many said they had seen the wild beast from the rebel group who did the ruthless act while others speculated there was something fishy. Fox, the king of the time, was greatly moved by the tragic incident and ordered a probe into the matter. Blood spilled all over the street, the place where the incident took place gave a disastrous look so the king’s men washed away everything in no time.
Time went by and a wolf replaced the fox for the king. Because the wolf was a very close one to the departed comrade he ordered the investigation to be conducted by experts from the United Animals Organization even though it might cost a lot. Whereas there were many contradictions about the wolf’s personality, the way he came into power using crutches and despite the speculations of his own involvement in the comrade’s murder he still insisted on a thorough investigation. A voice came from the community of ducks that always remained in water, “Your old friend had everything washed off in half an hour from the incident, what’s those investigators coming for?” But the wolf, you know, is the king of the forest and lives far away from the river where the ducks have always remained in water.

A Nightmare for Pakistan Cricket

2009-01-27T22:18:00.003+05:00

The terrible news is that Younis Khan has been named the new captain for the Pakistan cricket team. Quite a shocking move by the PCB. PCB has been making the like moves over the years, it made captains who actually didn't deserve a place even for the 12th man, let alone the playing eleven, and yet again they have repeated history with a similar move, consider Waqar and Saleem's captaincy at the end of their career.
People may have their own views on his ability and personality as a player, but I have never seen another player leave the ground with the helmet removed from the face even though you were bowled out for a duck. What's even more surprising is that our new captain has never seemed to feel sorry on losing his wicket even at crucial stages. Despite all these shortcoming, this chap is undeniably the happiest and the most fun loving person on the field and even foreign commentators have mentioned it time and again. And though his jolly personality seems to have created a good impression on commentators and players alike I highly doubt if there are many who have felt appreciation for his play.
Whereas Younis' nomination for captaincy marks the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket to me, it is high time the PCB should realize the difference between a jester and a player.

Remebering Hitler

2009-01-20T18:44:00.007+05:00

While reading today’s newspaper I really missed Adolf Hitler. What the world hates Hitler the most for is the massacre he carried out of hundred thousands of Jews and leaving homeless those who remained. But what I don’t like Hitler for is leaving those who remained. While he killed many with the belief that he was eradicating evil, a belief to which I vehemently vouchsafe, he left others with the belief that prudent minds of future would uphold and justify his seemingly ruthless act when they will witness the evil that remains in the form of Jews.
Reportedly, Mordaf Alyahoo, a Jewish religious figure has bothered to announce that killing Palestinian women and children is justified. But he doesn’t just stop here and rather goes on to say that such Jews who do the killing should be forgiven because according to the religious teachings killing the enemy is justified.
It is shocking sometimes how values change with time, for in today’s world hypocrisy is the best policy. Whereas Muslims are hated and criticized all over the world for the concept of Jihad the so-called civilized world would point no finger at this Jewish stupidity while still ignorant of the concept of Jihad in Islam. In the words of Jean Rostand, a French writer, “Kill a man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god.” Whereas today’s civilized world keep mum on the mayhem of the innocent Palestinians I wish Hitler were alive to do the due.

Post also contributed at The Pakistani Spectator

2008, the Year Gone by..

2008-12-31T22:52:00.003+05:00

With today’s sunset came to end the year 2008, another year went by, leaving people across the world looking forward to celebrating the New Year’s night. If only could the sun of miseries set with the setting sun of the year gone by, would I too welcome the New Year. But it’s not so. The sun sets everyday to rise up in the east on the following day with miseries always on the horizon. The sun of miseries doesn’t set. Not in this country where everything has always been at a loss. Our values, moral and cultural have degenerated. People are becoming more and more hypocrite; relations are losing their importance that was there once. Today everyone is more selfish than the Selfish Giant from the story we read in our English book as kids. But that giant was humane, as it turned out at the end of the story. He too had a heart; his eyes also spilled the life blood. But we, today, are worse off. Well, I haven’t seen anything getting better ever since I gained senses. There is this generation, some who don’t care at all others who don’t need to care at all and some few whose caring simply makes no difference. And these few whose caring has never made a difference are confronted with dilemma-thoughts that haunt their minds: what are we going to leave for the future generations? Or are we the last generation that bothered to think, to try drive ourselves out of the whirlpool of misfortune? Do we have a right to expect something good from future? Do we even have a right to exist?

A characterless nation, having moral values and no respect anywhere in the world has no right to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. A nation having no food, no water, no economy, no electricity, no fuel, no law, no infrastructure has no option but to make only one resolution that of realizing their responsibility to their own self at least. Just when our cell-phones are flooded with Happy New Year messages I await the next day’s sun with a heavy heart.

Of Honour and the 'Shoed' President

2008-12-23T22:15:00.003+05:00

“There is one reason I like Guddoo, the neighbour’s kid. He is so good at aiming when he hits, thanks to his playing Pithoo Garam”, said a friend. At a time when the world economy is facing a fierce decline, the Baydan Shoes Company is enjoying soaring sales for the hot favorite (flying) ‘Model 271’ that ducked the American President. Amazing how a person and a shoe brand could become world-renowned overnight. An unknown journalist called Muntazar al Zeidi did what should have been done (perhaps in a different way) by those I won’t mention. Well, the devil has been paid the due in the past by the names like Hugo Shawez and Gaddafi but those I won’t mention kept quiet in the past and those others still stick to the dictum of ‘Silence is gold’ and ‘Honesty (read obedience) is the best policy.’ Whereas the ‘Flying Shoes’ incident has made it clear what feelings Iraqis have for their saviour, it has also brought home to the world what an associate should respond like to defend the hapless comrade in grave situations. Condoleeza Rice has so vehemently announced that in fifty years time the world would have forgotten the ‘Flying Shoes’ incident but the Iraqis would still remember what (the ducked) Bush did for them by ridding them of Saddam. But that’s about future and future is always so uncertain, isn’t it?

The ‘Flying Shoes’ episode would certainly leave a warning message for the future American Presidents; expect anything from the crowd come flying, something which is actually not meant to fly. Well, I wonder if it might open new horizons for Al-Qaeda, prepare shoes as comfortable to wear as to hit. For someone who aspires to venture a similar prank, I would suggest him to hire Guddoo’s services for a week or spend some time playing ‘Pithoo Garam’ and make history.

Economic Might

2008-11-24T20:51:00.000+05:00

What describes well the trend in the 21st century should be nothing else than the plain words annunciating the fact that Economic might is the real might. We are living in a world where a strong economy alone can ensure our presence on the world map, for this is a world where economy alone runs all the state affairs. Presently, when the world peace itself is under the threats the need for a stronger economy is reinforced. Let’s just admit that the empty pockets cannot win wars in the present age rather a strong economy can very well ensure the survival of a nation- take the example of Japan, the only country which was ravaged by the atom bomb in the year 1945 but today it holds an important place in the list of the strongest nations only on the basis of a strong economy. Today’s world is a global village where the strong or weak economy of a country affects the economy of the neighbouring nations as well.

We are living in a country where economy is in control of the limited few. Over the years, it has happened repeatedly that stock market showed sudden gains as well as rapid declines, only to suit those having vested interests. Khanani and Kalia are now facing music when the damage has already been done. It is highly necessary that they be brought to justice lest they should also flee like the imported prime minister who plundered with the national wealth to fatten his own pockets. Unless we have a strong economy we are not ready to face the challenges that they country is facing right now.

Mountain Roaming..

2008-10-31T19:39:00.004+06:00

Celebrating the Harley slogan, "The Eagle Flies Alone" I took this ride on Sunday, all unscheduled. The day before I had removed the fairings to dry clan the bike and get sprayed with diesel but as it turned out I was riding instead...so the cleaning is yet to be done.
There was no particular destination, the idea was just to ride so I headed out to the Soun valley mountain range, I also wanted to see how the bike ran on the high terrain.

Below are some pics, hope you like them..

Now I was all aloe on the ride, armed with only my camera so I wanted to do speed corners and go fast on the hills. NOt a good idea, actually, because the rear tyre on my bike is flatter, kind of drag race style so speed cornering can be fatal, however, going fast on the straights is an easy task.

Some more pics taken on the mountains. The weather was all dusty, so the view of far-off landscape is not clear..

It was a total of about 80km trip (both ways) I did on this ride, longest I have done on this bike in one stretch. After some 20 minutes of ride when heat had properly got into all the compartments of the engine, it got as light as you could imagine..Even the engine sound becomes quieter..

A nice view of the road..

A view of the road below:

US Presidential Election '08

2008-10-31T19:14:00.001+06:00

A colloquial proverb goes “Junj praee tey ahmaq nachen”, the same is true of our electronic media’s response to the US Presidential election 2008, refer to the numerous talk shows on every other channel. A prudent mind may question if it would make much difference to us whether Obama wins the election or it is McCain who stands victorious. Let’s just accept the reality- no matter who the hell wins the election, the US is going to have the same strategy for the crisis-struck country called Pakistan. To me, the election is no more than a mere change of the face. Whether the white colour is replaced by the black or the white colour is all that I am concerned about. I can imagine a roaring sound from the White House resounding in our President’s ears saying “Do more” or something similar and perhaps in even a harsh(er) tone, now that they consider it their right to bomb our people (read evil) to ensure global peace. However, whether our Hon’ able President wants to be dictated by the black lips or the pink ones is another thing.

Tissue Papers

2008-10-28T19:34:00.000+06:00

A word about tissue papers. What a product! Now, tissue papers are available in different colours, size and quality. There are scented and unscented, available in sachets, roll packs and the regular one. Depending upon the quality there are soft and rough ones. But whatever be the size, colour or quality of the tissue papers their destiny and purpose is the same; cleaning, and then end up in the waste bin. There is one thing common between tissue papers and mankind, man too sometimes is used and doomed to taste the dirt regardless of his race, gender, or ethnicity. One might wonder if this is a proper disposal of the wasted ones…

Equality

2008-10-09T20:58:00.003+06:00

And now Asif Zardari has a threat to his own life. Earlier it were the common masses who were the victims of terrorism. Now, however, everyone is getting equal treatment....no prejudice.....same fate....death....when and where, which corner of the street or which market, none can tell. Unfortunate that equality had to prevail in such a disastrous form! Silence!!!!

Euphoria

2008-09-21T22:11:00.007+06:00

Fiction. Euphoria is the story of a neglected child who grows up a wasted youth. An incident in the village makes him flee. On his journey he experiences life as it is and returns homes several years later entirely a changed person.

‘PLUTTT..’ went the pebble in water as Baboo stared at the waves it made in the lake. He had always enjoyed this scene_ the waves drifting apart from the centre and vanishing at a distance. He too wanted to disappear, just fade away like the waves. He had always been fascinated by this small lake the river formed at this place on the village’s boundary and it was his favourite hangout every time there was a scene at home. It was another rough day. Baboo had received a sound beating from his father in the morning for insisting that he didn’t want to go to school. The previous evening he had broken his leg as he fell from the tree trying to pick the apples. Fazloo, the land owner had spotted him from the Dera and was rushing toward him at full speed. Baboo had been expert at climbing tress but this time his foot slipped in confusion and he had landed on the right leg thus breaking the bone below the knee. He had been unable to complete his home work and feared that Master jee would punish him for his negligence.
‘You can tell Master jee that you had an injured leg and so you couldn’t complete the work because of pain, he’d let you go’, had said his father as Baboo left home dragging himself on the crutches. But as feared, Baboo received a slap in the face from Master jee and ended up on the ground two feet away.
‘I’d see how you completed your work had you got a broken leg the previous evening’, Baboo was lashing at Master jee in his imagination.
Then back at home he was severely scolded by his mother. The plate had slipped from his hand and broken into pieces as he finished his lunch. Baboo threw another pebble in water and watched the waves as they disappeared at a distance.

Time went by and Baboo was now a grown up lad. Life was the same as it always had been. He saw a similarity between himself and the river_ both were going on and yet both of them were static. Unlike expected, Baboo had done well in studies but it didn’t make much difference. He had to hear a lot at home having wasted all his time. He was such a wasted youth, he thought, a worthless being that no one cared for. At times he questioned his existence, why he was alive and what was the purpose of his life. But the pebbles always gave him some hope. ‘Everything has been created for a reason’, he thought of pebbles that he had been throwing in the river for years in order to enjoy seeing the waves. He had a round pebble in his hand. These pebbles looked so beautiful, he thought. They were round, smooth and multicolour. He was impressed by the designs that different colours made on them. He then threw it from a leaning angle and watched it with excitement as it jumped twice on the water’s surface before it found its way down. The river was his friend, he thought, it had never hurt his feeling and rather it always consoled him. Seeing reflection of the moon in the river had always been fascinating, especially it was amazing to watch its distorted image getting back to normal when he made waves in water and also was great to see the sun set behind Chaudhry sahab’s villa located on the other side of the river. ‘Some day I would ask for the hand of Chaudhry sahab’s daughter’ Baboo told himself.

The river had a story of its own. It had changed the lives of many. Several people of the village had made their fortunes by finding precious pearls from it. It was said that the river originated from a place near the Black Mountains, that one of the mountains was a solid rock rich with precious stones and whenever it rained heavy on the mountains some of the stones would flow into the river. But the Black Mountains had always been shrouded with mystery. Everyone who set out to look for the Black Mountains either returned soon disappointed or never returned, except one man who had gone there a long time ago but returned empty handed and only lived to tell the tale. The river, however, had never been that kind to Baboo who always thought that the pebbles by the river side had taken some qualities form the pearls of the Black Mountains and that’s why they looked so beautiful to him. ‘I would go to the Black Mountains some day and make my own fortune’, thought Baboo.

The villagers had a way of their own. Baboo had never been favourite with them. Some considered him a vagabond while to others he was a haunted fellow, a psychic. His childhood friends left him one by one but all this was least that Baboo cared for.

The sun was setting behind Chaudhry sahab’s villa. There was a great noise at the villa and in curiosity Baboo thought to walk around a little and find out himself. When he reached near the villa’s gate he saw several fingers pointed at him. Someone had stolen Begum sahiba’s precious necklace and Baboo was named the culprit because he had usually been spotted near the villa at nights. In confusion Baboo ran toward his home but just as he entered the door he was welcome by scornful eyes of his mother and a hatchet in his father’s hand. The news had spread like fire and everyone was out looking for Baboo because Chaudhry sahab had promised a reward for anyone who captured Baboo alive or brought him dead. Poor Baboo was on the run with the whole village running after him madly. He took to the river, kept on running at full speed and never looked back. Just when he passed near the lake he looked at Chaudhry sahab’s villa for the last time, he could imagine the hatred his love of life had for him right now.

Baboo had reached the forest now and was exhausted. He was already quite away from the forest and was not being chased any more. In utmost disgust he thought of the options he had. There was certainly no turning back as the people of the village were thirsty for his blood. He had nowhere to go. He thought of the life he had lived_ useless. He had never done good to anyone nor did anyone like him. He looked at the river and told himself that he was heading for the Black Mountains. ‘I shall make my own destiny’ Baboo told himself. Ever since he got a broken leg it was the first time that he had run so fast and the pain he felt reminded him of his past life which was all pain and no respite. ‘Why would someone deploy a bomb to kill a fly?’ he thought, ‘they could have told me to leave the village and I would have readily done that.’

It was getting dark already and Baboo wanted to cross the forest before the night fell. He had found a good long stick to help him walk and it could also be used as a weapon if the situation so demanded. He was able to find an old pouch that he filled with pebbles he could use to ward off the animals. He had also picked some apples from the forest and he wasn’t much worried about food, it was enough for the next few days. He increased his pace and as he left the forest behind he was the farthest from home he ever had.

Baboo had been walking for several months now. He crossed one forest after the other and even though staying by the side of the river could be risky at night when the animals came there looking for water he didn’t prefer to leave it lest he should lose his way. First there came a series of forests that put Baboo in fear of being attacked by wild beasts and then the forests vanished all of a sudden. For the whole last week he had been passing through wild shrubs. His stock of fruit had also finished and he had eaten nothing for the last two days. By the evening of the second day he was hardly dragging himself. He would wet his head in water and it soothed him a bit. But things were beginning to get worse. Baboo had been bitten by a snake and the Baboo who was hardly dragging himself a while ago was on the run now. Soon he started feeling dizzy and was lying flat on the ground as he closed his eyes.

Baboo opened his eyes and found himself lying in a hut being tended by an elderly woman. Right then two young men entered the hut and told him that they had gone fishing and found him by the river and that his wound had been taken care of just in time or he would have already been dead by now. Baboo wanted to tell them that he had no soul and was worse than the dead but he couldn’t speak a word.

For four days, Baboo remained flat on the cot and was able to stand only on the fifth day. He was given good food and tended very well. He came out of the hut to walk around a bit. The village wasn’t too far from the river but it was the first village that he had seen since he left home. ‘I travelled alongside the river and maybe I have left several villages behind’ he thought. What surprised him was that he didn’t get any staring looks from anyone. He returned to the hut in the afternoon where the inmates were waiting for him on lunch.
‘Who are you and where are you heading to?’ asked one of the young men.
‘I am a traveller and I am going to the Black Mountains.’
No one in the village had ever heard of the Black Mountains. Baboo told them of the pearls that the river brought with it; they came from the Black Mountains. But they didn’t know what pearls were worth. What was a stone worth if it only reflected a particular shade when put in the sun and had no glow of its own? Wasn’t it the same as all the other stones at night? To them the river was only a source of life. It brought them fish and gave them water to drink. ‘The river flows pure water through this village’ thought Baboo. He had been extremely impressed with the people of the village and the way they had treated him. ‘How could one so much hated by his own be so heartily welcomed by the strangers!’ he asked himself but couldn’t find an answer.

He had remained in the village for a whole month. With his wound cured and his energies restored he planned to move ahead. He was told by his guests that he would come across a deep forest on his way forward and that the forest was haunted by wild spirits. They gave him a sword saying that he might need it some day. Baboo filled the pouch with food and removed the stones he was carrying in it. ‘Why did you keep the stones in there when you were always travelling by the side of the river as you had said?’ asked one the young men. Baboo didn’t know the answer. His hosts prayed for a safe journey as he left their hut. He knew he would have loved to live and die here were he not looking for the Black Mountains.

For six days Baboo had travelled the vast plain grounds and had not seen a single tree that bore any fruit. It occurred to him that had he not been bitten by the snake he would never have seen that village and would have died of hunger. ‘Pain can sometimes be a blessing in disguise and we are too simple to understand the ways of life’ he told himself. On the following day he reached what had been called the haunted forest. At a distance he could see the river disappear in the wild forest. He was already occupied with fear.

For four long days Baboo had travelled through the forest. The trees were so long that the sunlight didn’t reach the ground. For once he had been attacked by a group of hyenas and he had climbed the tree to save his life. ‘The sword wasn’t of much use’, he thought. Extremely horrible were the nights in the forest. Many a times he had been awaken by the dreadful shrieks of an owl. He would spend the nights on the trees and travel in the morning. ‘I should have arranged for something to burn fire at nights’, he lamented his negligence; he didn’t want to be bitten by the snake again. Week after week he travelled through the dark forest. There were no wild spirits in the forest as he had been told. ‘We usually associate apprehensions to the tasks we want to avoid. It is not the difficult task that restrains us it is our fear that plays its tricks.’ For once his way blocked my monstrous shrubs and he thought what he would have done without the sword on that day.

The light brought with it the sight of a mountain range on the horizon. The river was flowing as usual and so was Baboo. ‘These must be the Black Mountains’, he told himself as he increased his pace. ‘Reaching your destination isn’t much of a task once you have seen it.’ He had reached the Black Mountains.

Baboo had walked through wilderness throughout his journey but nothing gave such a deserted look as did the mountains. ‘There was something queer about this place,’ a sudden shudder had run fear through his spine. He noticed that the river had narrowed down here and it flowed faster through the mountains, ‘the journey downward’ he told himself as he moved ahead to look for its origin. As he crossed the first mountain his eyes caught hold of a valley, it could be called the most colourful place on earth. But as he reached there he was gripped by deep sorrow. He felt it hard to breathe. There were human skulls scattered all over and right there shone the precious gems. ‘Poor beasts!’ sighed Baboo as he picked up a gem and looked at it, ‘Only one of you was enough for a man to make his fortune but they all travelled to end up like this.’
‘Did you travel all this way to see this? Could you not try and find a pearl in your own village like the others did?’ the river asked him.
‘Ah, the human race!’ he sighed as he removed the pouch from around his neck and as he did that something fell in his feet. A pebble had remained in his pouch since the time he thought he had emptied it. He picked it up and looked it as he felt a sudden pain in his heart. The pebble looked so beautiful. It reminded him of his past; his village; his home the lake_ they all seemed so beautiful to him as he looked at the skulls and the rusted swords lying everywhere. He compared the pebble with the gems lying in front of him and couldn’t decide which of these had more value for him. The look of the scattered skulls made him hate the human race and he imagined himself a hawk flying sky high but the hawks preyed so ruthlessly, a thought occurred to him. He imagined himself as wind, but realized that it was always on the move and it could never stop at one place, so miserable was its life. He took himself for a candle that lighted the whole room but found that the room was the darkest where he himself stood. He took himself for the candle’s flame and saw how he had attracted a moth, killing him dead. Then he imagined himself as the monstrous mountain but found that snows covered it all over in winter and killed whatever life there was. He imagined himself as the bright sun but found out how much a traveller in the desert had despised him for he had dried water in the only oasis in the desert. He imagined himself a desert but found out that he nourished too many venomous snakes. He thought himself as a moon-lit night but only to realize how he had been a trouble to the strayed sailor of the boat for he had created monstrous waves in the sea. He imagined himself as many things and was never satisfied. Baboo wept as he realized how life had made a fool of him. He had been created the best that he could be, and he realized how he could have easily avoided all that he had been through. ‘My people wanted to kill me but I could always stop to clarify my position and I could also win the love of my parents, they were never my enemies’, he kept on weeping for a long time as he seemed to have understood the ways of the world. ‘I shall make my own destiny’, he was resolute. He picked his pouch and filled it with as much gems as he could carry. He was heading back home.

Many days and nights had passed. Behind him the sun was rising as its rays fell on Chaudhry sahab’s villa. As he reached the lake he saw an old man rushing toward him from the other side of the river who came and fell in his feet weeping.
‘Rise, old man! Why should you weep?’
‘Forgive me son for what I did to you. You may not recognize me but I could never forget your innocent face all these years’, said the old man as tears rolled down his wrinkled face. Baboo had now recognized Chaudhry sahab. ‘Two days after you left the village, the sun of God’s blessings set on me. I found out that my wife’s necklace was stolen by our own son. When I scolded him he took control of everything and had us all thrown out of the house. He sold the villa and moved to the city.’

Baboo took Chaudhry sahab to the villa. Begum sahiba had passed away a long time ago and now Chaudhry sahab lived with his daughter in the shed that was once the dwelling of the animals. ‘Do not worry Chaudhry sahab, I am your son’, said Baboo as he looked in Chaudhry sahab’s eyes.

The door was open. Baboo still remembered the last time he had entered it. There on the cot he saw his father. Life had spilled out of his eyes and they could not see the light any more. Right then his mother came out in the courtyard and saw what her eyes had longed to see for years. She could hardly say a thing.
‘No one could ever understand you son, even us_ your parents. It is such a pity we ruined your life. I always questioned God why He had kept me alive but today I am happy to get the answer. But we can never forgive ourselves for what you’ve been through for the fault of ours.’ His father said sobbing.
Baboo sat in the knees of his father and told him that everything was always his own fault, that every person is himself responsible for what happens to him. ‘Sometimes we have to let go what has happened and look at what lies ahead of us.’

Things had changed a lot since his return. Baboo made the best use of the treasure of the Black Mountains. He bought back Chaudhry sahab’s villa and restored its possession to him. Fazloo, the land owner from whose garden he stole apples had died; Baboo gave his son a pearl telling him that he had picked too many apples from his garden and that he felt sorry for having been too late to beg pardon. He had planned the construction of a new school where Master jee would be the Head Master. Master jee was strict but he taught well, he thought, ‘I could tell him to be lenient to kids as punishment would do them no good’.

It was another evening in the village and Baboo was sitting by the lake once again but with all the contentment there could ever be in his heart. He had a pebble in his hand that he threw in water; it made waves on its surface. The waves drifted apart from the centre but he knew that the waves didn’t vanish, they were always there and he could create them whenever he wanted to. So much fascinated was he with the sound ‘Plutt.’

Life

2008-09-17T20:58:00.002+06:00

Originally I wrot these lines about four years from now. Here it comes again with some modification. About a year ago I shared this post on a site and it received some interesting comments, most of them telling me how I had striven so much to waste my time while I could have easily done that. One interesting comment brought it to me that what I had struggled to tell in so many lines was so aptly conveyed by a truck drive by saying "Love is life." Believe you me, I had no reason to disagree.

Life is the most prominent of the qualities that distinguish a vital being from an inanimate matter. It is an inestimable blessing, its value is much more than we can imagine. Life is beautiful like a rose but to enjoy its fragrance,one needs to be extremely cautious of the thorns that accompany it. Life is benign only to those who enjoyit in all circumstances.
Our life is full of improbabilities. Life is, in fact, what happens to us while we are busy looking around and making other plans. It may take a sudden turnand lead us toward an end that we may never have imagined. Life is a mystery; itis a labyrinth, a maze in which we may take a wrong turning before we have learnt to walk. It is like a deep forest__ if lost it may become too difficult for us to trace our way back. Life is something serious, something that requires our attention. It is like a tragi-comedy where we may experience the ups and downs of life__ now happy and at another moment gloomy. What life requires from us is constant struggle, our journey towards the zenith maybe slow but if this journey is steady then we are bound to enjoy its fruit through eternity.
In life, sometimes, it is not always the big things but the little things that can be of more value. Often in our pursuit of some great happiness we neglect little happy moments of our life; the moments that can mean enough;the moments that carry the real smack of life.
To enjoy life to its full, it is an essential requirement to have a complete perception of what life actually is. Life islike a chameleon, changing its colour too often you need to pay attention to find it. It is an art that we should develop it may not come natural to us;an adventure that we must dare to undertake working the circles won't be a fun; a tragedy that requires to be faced courageously giving up would do no good; a destiny that we have to accept resignation would be fatal; a mystery that we need tounravel keeping it shrouded would leave us inquisitive, a challenge that we must meet avoiding it may lead us into a blind alley; a dream that needs to be realized forgetting it would be a nightmare, and a beauty that deserves our admiration because keeping mum would be sheer injustice.

A Story in the Making

2008-09-17T20:36:00.004+06:00

I have been up to writing another story. Fiction. This would be my fourth one and to me it seems the best of all so far. It is still under construction, will turn out to be the lengthiest post on my blog. The curtain will soon rise..

Neo Counter

2008-09-14T20:06:00.002+06:00

This is an amazing widget, really. I had this code added to my blog yesterday. Whats surprising is that I didn't know my blog was being read in so many countries. The list names right now the cities Riyadh, Colombo, Utica MI, New Delhi, London, Martinsburg WV, Iasi, Islamabad, Kouvola, Tacna, Yorktown VA, Dublin , La Crosse, Oklahoma, San Francisco, and few other names. Thats just great!

Hush the Barking Dog

2008-09-11T22:35:00.000+06:00

‘Barking dogs seldom bite’, but seldom they do bite. A sane person would never suggest taking a risk, so better take precautionary measures while you come across a barking dog.

History speaks of the plight that the allies and friends of the US of A have met. The USA has been directly and indirectly forwarding threats of attacking our homeland_ attacking an ally in the war against terrorism. The USA has made its intentions pretty clear. That they have the same policy on cards for Pakistan as is for Afghanistan should serve as an eye opener and make us realize where we stand. Our previous governments were subdued to the pressure exerted by the USA government and in utter allegiance gave it the status of the sacred cow. If standing tall against the USA was never advisable then where do we stand now having rendered all the services? Or, again, would it make a difference if we kept on cooperating with them and would it ensure peace, stability and respect for our nation?

General Kyani has finally broken the ice and has made it clear that no foreign aggression would be allowed within the Pakistani territory. If Kyani be resolute in his stance, the government would be left with the choice of either siding with the army or the old friend. I would leave it for the readers to make their own perception of this situation but I hold the view that it is always better to die with honour than live in utter disgrace, that it is better to die once than dying every other day. In the words of great Tipu Sultan, ‘A lion’s life of one day is better than a jackal’s life of hundred days.’

Time to Act, Mr. President

2008-09-10T23:00:00.002+06:00

A joke goes that a suicide bomber was going to hit his target. Just when he reached there he pushed the button of the bomb attached to his vest. The bomb did not blast because of some manufacturing fault but due to shock and a sense of being torn into pieces the suicide bomber fainted. When he got back to senses he was in a hospital but he thought that he was already dead. As he forced himself on the stretcher his eyes caught hold of a beautiful nurse. ‘Subhan Allah’, he at once said thinking that the promise of heaven had been fulfilled. ‘A total of seventy hoors had been promised, where are the other ones?’ asked the suicide bomber again.

Exploiters and opportunists have long been playing their games in the name of Islam which heightens the ignorance of the common lot. To name only the few_ ignorance combined with absence of common sense, rampant social injustice and lack of opportunities are some of the reasons behind the creation of suicide bombers. The deprived, the downtrodden, and the ignorant can easily be brainwashed. Too many fanatical bigots have been created in the past few years. The peace situation, beside many others, should be the core issues for Zardari’s government to tend to. It is time when the government should aim at uprooting the evil rather then just brushing the leaves. It is most obvious that suicide bombers come from backward and neglected areas and possibly have also been a victim to injustice in one way or the other.

The government under Zardari should give more importance the areas that have been neglected in the past. Also, the slogan ‘Roti, Kapra aur Makan’ needs modification. That even the promise of the original slogan has yet to be fulfilled is another fact, a bitter reality that Mr. Zardari needs to realize. For a president like him having a yours sincerely kind of Prime Minister and a clear majority in the assembly, finding a solution to the country’s problem should not be an impossible task. But whether he succeeds or not would become clear in the time to come. However, if the President’s intention is to do nothing he can always leave it to the parliament which has already been given the task to decide on the 17^th amendment and the 58-2(b) issue.

The Clever Crow

2008-09-03T22:09:00.001+06:00

It was a hot summer day, a very hot summer day. A crow left the forest for the city in the morning looking for food. Times had changed a lot but where the kids had ‘learnt to shoot without missing, the clever crow had learnt to fly without perching.’ But it was one tough day and after the day’s long search our clever crow could only find a stale piece of bread. To make the situation even worse our poor crow was extremely thirsty by the evening and was now flying in quest of water. Lucky for him to spot a pitcher with some water in it. Unfortunately, however, the level of water in it was too low and our crow’s beak could not reach it. Suddenly, our brilliant crow hit upon an idea and started collecting pebbles. With the beak wide open, dying with thirst and breathing hard out clever crow started throwing the pebbles in the pitcher one by one. Soon the water level had risen enough for our crow to drink it. Tough day, just as our crow was about to drink water the pitcher broke with a bang injuring one of the crow’s feather with water spilled on the ground. A kid had fired a pellet at him from behind a window. Tough day. The moral of the story is that if you are capable of coping with a situation aptly, it doesn’t mean that you can deal with any situation with equal brilliance. While your genius may lead you out of a trouble unknowingly you might be putting yourself into a greater trouble. But that’s the way of life and it sometimes tests you.

The Naran Excursion

2008-09-02T21:47:00.004+06:00

August is almost off from work for me, not much work load so a good time to go away from the hot weather and enjoy some good time. The plan was to visit this place called Naran, a beautiful valley almost on the edge of the Northwest Frontier Province. Geologically, the area falls under the Karakoram-Himalaya crystalline thrust zone. Two years back the area was hit by a disastrous earthquake in the country’s history, the origin of the earthquake was somewhere near this area and it was so severe that shocks were felt even as far as 700km away.
I have been to this place three rimes before but first time since the earthquake. As you enter the worst hit area, the roads there are still under construction, however the traffic keeps moving alongside. The pics you see here I took with my brother’s cell-phone camera, I know I should have had a good one for this trip but I am saving money to invest in one digital camera I might be able to buy soon.
Starting with the pics…This first pic is half way through the journey from home. The monstrous mountain range starts right as you leave the Balakot area. The 40km part of this road from Balakot to Naran is under construction and at a few points it is quite a task for a car. This is a bit better part of it:
These pics are not copyrighted, you are welcome to download them. However, I would appreciate if you posted a comment about any pic you downloaded.

The current look of this mountain is on account of the land sliding since the earthquake:

We had left home at 5a.m. and had our breakfast and lunch on our way to Naran. This pic was taken on the hotel where we took our lunch:

We reached Naran in the evening at about 6p.m and found ourselves lodging. Passed the evening by the river side and of course some pics:

A local kid was enjoying this hand made truck like thing:

Many people of the area do their living through cattle:

On the following day we were to go to a place at a height of about 13000feet. From Naran to Jalkath 40km road is well built and after that there is jeep track that takes you to a very beautiful lake called Luluputser Lake. As you move from Naran to Jalkath you come across what should be called the greatest landscape on earth. I took some pics while sitting packed in the rear seat but they are still worth looking:

One day I would love to ride through these roads on a Harley Sportster, or a harley Fatboy ir even some dirt bike, perhaps....since Harleys are too costly :-)

Simply amazing, beauty..How much do I miss a cruising Harley...

We reached Jalkhat in about 45 minutes and took some pics here:

From this place ahead the road is under construction. The road should complete in about two years time, after which this would be the new route to go to China by road. At present you can go to China by Karakoram Highway but that area is n longer safe for journey.
We took lunch at Jalkhat as there are no hotels for several miles ahead. A look of the hotel’s kitchen here:

The jeep we hired for this journey:

Kind of interesting:

Work under progress on the road:

Because the road is quite bad, it takes about 50 minutes to reach Luluputser lake from Jalkhat. The place really impressive, a lake at a height of 13000feet.

Clouds made the lake look even better:

We discovered a cave here but the entrance had been closed for unknown reason:

For building the road, the area has its stone crushing plant:

Green fields, and green mountains give such a pleasant look:

Some more pics I took on our way back to Naran:

Next day we were to visit a lake which can undoubtedly be called as one of the most beautiful lakes on earth. It is called lake Saif-ul-Malook. The road from Naran to this lake is a pure jeep track. However, some adventurers were going on their bikes. Here you see a 100cc bike parked by a glacier for some pics. I have been to this lake two times before and this glacier has always been here:

Lake Saif-ul-Malook:

This is almost the end of the season here. Soon the snows will cover everything and the whole area would be blocked, local people would move to Balakot and surrounding areas till the snows start to melt. The lake gives the greatest look at the start of the season when the hills in the background are all covered with snow and the lake’s water is pure blue. It still looks great though:
Notice the reflection in water:

There’s a hut of the forestry department here:

The road from Naran to this lake:

The weather at once gets cold as the clouds cover the sky:

I would love to wander through these mountains, venture to climb the Malka Parbat, but you never have enough time..

The snow covered mountain in the background is called Malka Purbat (the Queen Mountain) As per the information I got from our jeep driver, no one has ever climbed it. Few years back to Pakistani climber attempted for it, one died and the other was severely injured. The dead one’s corpse could be recovered after 22 days. That’s the mountain covered with clouds:

Some more pics:

We stopped at the glacier on our way back to Naran:

Water drops keep on falling and the inside is pretty cold to stand for too long:

We moved for the return journey early in the morning on the following day. Since the earthquake, land sliding on these mountains is a routine. We took our breakfast at Mahandri. There was a school on the other side of the river. Interestingly, we couldn’t locate any teacher in the school during our half an hour stay here. The assembly was conducted by the students on their own.

The assembly time:

The river, quite a place for a school though:

As feared, there was land sliding ahead and we were blocked for about an hour and a half:

It was one of the most exciting of my rides. I have a dream of one day visiting this place on my bike. But not yet and not on my current bikes.

Hope and Despair

2008-08-29T14:40:00.002+06:00

I would take hope to be life and despair to be death. For hope gives you strength to go ahead in life and despair sometimes is like a blind alley with a dead end where everything finishes, just fades away. And then with death some to an end all the sufferings of this world. Right. But the worst situation, I believe, is where you are caught between hope and despair, its like you live and die every day, every other moment, with every breath you take. Painful! To keep the spirit high you need to be hopeful and what the future holds for you is called Life.

The Forgotten Book

2008-08-21T21:40:00.002+06:00

There was that book then. While being read it was left there as it was. Wind blew, some of the pages were torn apart. Dust covered it all over, time went by and it got hard even to read what the book was called. So the book didn't get much attention usually, sometimes even when someone tried to read it he couldn't make anything of the story as many pages were missing. But it could be a good read I tell you, its a pity some pages are missing form there. Some day when I find that book I shall take it up to me to write those missing pages and make it worth a read. I just need to get my hands onto it. I am trying.

Ridiculing the Poets

2008-08-20T21:37:00.000+06:00

FREE SMS packages as offered by some mobile phone companies have their consequences. Our nation seems to have a great sense of humour and even more is its ability to forward such messages. Messages containing jokes ridiculing Sadar ji and Pathan are now a common place, now a new way of making others laugh has been adopted by sending funny couplets. The sad part, however, is that these couplets include the pseudo name ‘Faraz’ , thus ridiculing the famous poet of the country and cell phones are flooded with such messages. Whereas some couplets seem humorous, others are simply stupid. For instance:

Sufaid kameez mein kyon phir raha hay Faraz

Aj kala jora pa saadi farmaish tay.

There is no problem with tryinh to make others laugh by sending SMS but doing so on account of another person’s denigration is shameless act. Is this how we pay tribute to our asset on the death-bed?

Musharraf's Swan Song

2008-08-18T21:10:00.003+06:00

SINCE its independence 61 years ago, our nation has erred; it has erred a lot and has continuously been punished as well. We did mistakes that we didn’t learn from; consequently we were gripped by the shackles of evils like dictatorship. Thus, it has mostly been a One Man Show where the poor audience was made to watch a tragi-comedy staged so vehemently. The brief history of our country since independence is replete with untoward incidents; a nation which has not only been under the hazard of foreign aggression but also the violence within was there to obstruct our homeland from making any headway toward progress.

There is no dearth of men of quality in our country but their services have not been able to see the light of the day. Over the years they have either been sent into the oblivion or have simply remained in the background. There is least that you can expect when the cream is refrained from rising to the top and the whole arena has been shadowed by the scum. Time to sift out the scum!

Musharaf’s dictatorial rule, which started with the overthrow of Mian Nawaz’s government, had started from day one. The infamous Referendum and holding of election served as throwing dust into the eyes and it worked too, but for how long? What differentiates Musharraf’s era of reign from all the previous heads of the state is the series of testing situation for the continuation of his government that arose from both within and without and which he faced equally with fortitude and shamelessness in order to prolong his rule.

August 18, 2008 at 0130hrs, when Musharraf sang his swan song he was actually announcing an end to a dark age and a beginning of an entirely new era. His resignation was followed by a wave of extreme excitement across the nook and corner of the country, people congratulating through emails, phone calls and SMS. Interestingly, there was a rapid increase in the stock market as well. Good signs. Musharraf, through his rule, has done catharsis of the nation and it is now up to us to learn from our mistakes. Hopefully, much of the chaos would be gone with the passage of time lets hope it be the end of the dictatorship from our country for good.

Frailty, thy name is...

2008-07-21T00:35:00.000+06:00

The government recently celebrated its 100 days and much hullabaloo was created by the government itself declaring this period to be very successful. The way it was proclaimed a successful period forces me to quote (yet again) from Goebbels, “the greater the lie the more convincing it would appear.”

Seems like the government under PPP chanting the slogan of Roti Kapra aur Makaan is bent upon eradicating poverty from the country and which it is doing by attempting to eradicate the poor lot itself. And if this doesn’t sound reasonable, the news is that the fuel prices have been increased yet again so let’s be prepared to face another surge in prices of other commodities as well. Interestingly, the news of increasing rate of inflation is usually accompanied by the news of every stabilizing economy of the country.

The much promoted success story tended to present a well painted portrait but the detail of this portrait includes an increase in general unrest, worsening political situation, deteriorating economy, mounting inflation, devaluing currency, and what not. And if this is not enough, hazard from across the border(s) is also apprehended. The (in)famous 100 days thus might have something of success for the government itself but not for its people. Had Shakespeare been alive today, he might have said something like “Frailty, thy name is Pakistani government!”

Enemy at the Gates

2008-07-20T12:42:00.002+06:00

Bertrand Russell, the great philosopher, in his essay ‘The Future of Mankind’ mentioned the possibility of a unification of the world under a single government, possessing a monopoly of all the major weapons of war. Today we can assume that we are heading almost towards the same end. He talks about one world government which should be formed by the United States since equality would uphold unlike in case if the Soviets governed the world.

Russell’s views could have been agreeable and correct about the United States of his time. But today the proceedings show how values change with the passage of time. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Some people live for themselves and the same is true even for some nations, the USA being one of them.

It is amazing how you strive to ensure global peace while going at war with different countries. What a stupid idea! They haven’t done with Iraq yet; they are still hunting for Osama in Afghanistan; they have their eyes on Iran (not to forget their oil) and now they are knocking our doors too_ an ally in war against terrorism. War against terrorism? What a gimmick!

And just when their army begins to line up at our gates, the tribes have vouchsafed to join hands with the army should the situation demand it. I would rather consider it good enough for one to differentiate between friend and foe. Time to wake up form a prolonged slumber.

The Enemy Within_II

2008-07-07T21:53:00.001+06:00

Someone defined democracy as “Government of the people, for the people, by the people.” But how do we define dictatorship? What is the other name of getting into power from back doors, reigning like a king and caring least for the lot? Wild bats fly best at night; dictators have always been strengthened by the opportunists and supported by those having vested interests_ thus enhancing the span of the dictatorial rule and prolonging the misery of the masses.

For the past few years this nation has witnessed the worst kind of bloodshed ever in the history of the region. Unfortunately, the real culprit remains behind the curtain mostly because it is either a suicide attack or is labeled as one thus blaming the extremists for the blood spilled. July 06, 2008_ Islamabad was rocked yet again by a suicide bomb blast and just to leave one curious, the S.H.O. of P.S. Aabpara was removed from his office a day earlier for the neglect of his duties. Perhaps, he wouldn’t show allegiance to that someone whose word is law of the land.

Bomb blasts so frequently jolt the corners of this country for a good reason, the main objective of which is to divert the attention of the masses from the core issues. I would take liberty of declaring the inflation in general and the rapid increase in fuel and CNG prices as another such bomb aimed at diverting the attention of the masses. Keep ‘em busy looking for their bread and butter and the road is clear for you. What a journey!

The Enemy Within

2008-06-30T21:40:00.001+06:00

With an ally and a friend like the USA there for us we don’t need no enemies. But one might question if it is solely the USA that should be held responsible for our predicament. Today, many blame late Liaquat Ali Khan’ tying the friendship knot with the USA and refusing Russia’s offer that was also prior in time to that of the USA. The questions is, would we be in a better position today had Liaquat Ali Khan made friends with Russia instead of the USA when the opportunity was there? I highly doubt that.

No one can blame the faults of his own. Our country is our own responsibility. No doubt, the peace situation has suffered turmoil at the international level but what to speak of a nation at war with its own people at the pretext of eradicating terrorism chanting the slogan of ‘Pakistan First.’ No one has harmed us more than our own leaders over the years_ Mir Jafirs and Mir Sadiqs within. And just as our so-called friend watches us with delight as we are trapped in the eye of the storm swinging in the whirlpool of misery, I wonder how much we have striven for our own safeguard.

Think if you wil..

2008-06-13T20:11:00.000+06:00

I wonder if there is a person who lives a self-sufficient life. We, sometimes, depend so much on others. Sometimes we have to depend on others for something that we want, i.e., we want something which is for someone to provide, we keep looking up to them but the answer is ‘Nay, it’s not the right time.’ Have you ever looked deep into the eyes of a needy beggar? Have you noticed the questioning looks on his face? What happens when you refuse him? Do you notice anything at all or have you too been busy with your own self? It is for you to think.

Waiting for Godot

2008-06-13T20:09:00.001+06:00

It is good to be busy, for when you are free you, sometimes, tend to get lost in thoughts and the same has happened as I am writing these lines now. Life brings strange moments. A vague instant thought took me back to the year 2004, it is the drama class as we are reading “Waiting for Godot”. I hate this drama, makes no sense, such a waste of time, what does it signify? Ironically, today, some four years later the same drama seems such a masterpiece to and which it truly is. It took me so much time to understand it! I still remember that drama and some lines from it. ‘Nothing ever changes’ seems such a mighty line to me today, echoing what my own life and also that of others has become. I keep thinking and the useless arguments of the tramps recur in my mind till I tend to say, ‘That passed some time’ as I come back to the real world, the present day. Life in the void. That passed some time.

A World Without Islam

2008-06-12T21:16:00.010+06:00

I came across this article. Hits the nail on its head. A simple reading concludes that it is not Islam which should be held responsible for the turmoil that has been created in the world.

Written by: Graham E. Fuller

Graham E. Fuller is a former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA in charge of long-range strategic forecasting. He is currently adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is the author of numerous books about the Middle East, including The Future of Political Islam (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).

Courtesy: Foreign Policy Magazine

What if Islam had never existed? To some, it’s a comforting thought: No clash of civilisations, no holy wars, no terrorists. Would Christianity have taken over the world? Would the Middle East be a peaceful beacon of democracy? Would 9/11 have happened? In fact, remove Islam from the path of history, and the world ends up exactly where it is today.

Imagine, if you will, a world without Islam—admittedly an almost inconceivable state of affairs given its charged centrality in our daily news headlines. Islam seems to lie behind a broad range of international disorders: suicide attacks, car bombings, military occupations, resistance struggles, riots, fatwas, jihads, guerrilla warfare, threatening videos, and 9/11 itself. Why are these things taking place? “Islam” seems to offer an instant and uncomplicated analytical touchstone, enabling us to make sense of today’s convulsive world. Indeed, for some neoconservatives, “Islamofascism” is now our sworn foe in a looming “World War III.”

But indulge me for a moment. What if there were no such thing as Islam? What if there had never been a saga of the spread of Islam across vast parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa?

Given our intense current focus on terrorism, war, and rampant anti-Americanism—some of the most emotional international issues of the day—it’s vital to understand the true sources of these crises. Is Islam, in fact, the source of the problem, or does it tend to lie with other less obvious and deeper factors? For the sake of argument, in an act of historical imagination, picture a Middle East in which Islam had never appeared. Would we then be spared many of the current challenges before us? Would the Middle East be more peaceful? How different might the character of East-West relations be? Without Islam, surely the international order would present a very different picture than it does today. Or would it?

If not Islam, then what?

From the earliest days of a broader Middle East, Islam has seemingly shaped the cultural norms and even political preferences of its followers. How can we then separate Islam from the Middle East? As it turns out, it’s not so hard to imagine.

Let’s start with ethnicity. Without Islam, the face of the region still remains complex and conflicted. The dominant ethnic groups of the Middle East—Arabs, Persians, Turks, Kurds, Jews, even Berbers and Pashtuns—would still dominate politics. Take the Persians: Long before Islam, successive great Persian empires pushed to the doors of Athens and were the perpetual rivals of whoever inhabited Anatolia. Contesting Semitic peoples, too, fought the Persians across the Fertile Crescent and into Iraq. And then there are the powerful forces of diverse Arab tribes and traders expanding and migrating into other Semitic areas of the Middle East before Islam. Mongols would still have overrun and destroyed the civilisations of Central Asia and much of the Middle East in the 13th century. Turks still would have conquered Anatolia, the Balkans up to Vienna, and most of the Middle East. These struggles—over power, territory, influence, and trade—existed long before Islam arrived.

Still, it’s too arbitrary to exclude religion entirely from the equation. If, in fact, Islam had never emerged, most of the Middle East would have remained predominantly Christian, in its various sects, just as it had been at the dawn of Islam. Apart from some Zoroastrians and small numbers of Jews, no other major religions were present.

But would harmony with the West really have reigned if the whole Middle East had remained Christian? That is a far reach. We would have to assume that a restless and expansive medieval European world would not have projected its power and hegemony into the neighbouring East in search of economic and geopolitical footholds. After all, what were the Crusades if not a Western adventure driven primarily by political, social, and economic needs? The banner of Christianity was little more than a potent symbol, a rallying cry to bless the more secular urges of powerful Europeans. In fact, the particular religion of the natives never figured highly in the West’s imperial push across the globe. Europe may have spoken upliftingly about bringing “Christian values to the natives,” but the patent goal was to establish colonial outposts as sources of wealth for the metro pole and bases for Western power projection.

And so it’s unlikely that Christian inhabitants of the Middle East would have welcomed the stream of European fleets and their merchants backed by Western guns. Imperialism would have prospered in the region’s complex ethnic mosaic—the raw materials for the old game of divide and rule. And Europeans still would have installed the same pliable local rulers to accommodate their needs.

Move the clock forward to the age of oil in the Middle East. Would Middle Eastern states, even if Christian, have welcomed the establishment of European protectorates over their region? Hardly. The West still would have built and controlled the same choke points, such as the Suez Canal. It wasn’t Islam that made Middle Eastern states powerfully resist the colonial project, with its drastic redrawing of borders in accordance with European geopolitical preferences. Nor would Middle Eastern Christians have welcomed imperial Western oil companies, backed by their European vice-regents, diplomats, intelligence agents, and armies, any more than Muslims did. Look at the long history of Latin American reactions to American domination of their oil, economics, and politics. The Middle East would have been equally keen to create nationalist anti-colonial movements to wrest control over their own soil, markets, sovereignty, and destiny from foreign grips—just like anti-colonial struggles in Hindu India, Confucian China, Buddhist Vietnam, and a Christian and animist Africa.

And surely the French would have just as readily expanded into a Christian Algeria to seize its rich farmlands and establish a colony. The Italians, too, never let Ethiopia’s Christianity stop them from turning that country into a harshly administered colony. In short, there is no reason to believe that a Middle Eastern reaction to the European colonial ordeal would have differed significantly from the way it actually reacted under Islam.

But maybe the Middle East would have been more democratic without Islam? The history of dictatorship in Europe itself is not reassuring here. Spain and Portugal ended harsh dictatorships only in the mid-1970s. Greece only emerged from church-linked dictatorship a few decades ago. Christian Russia is still not out of the woods. Until quite recently, Latin America was riddled with dictators, who often reigned with U.S. blessing and in partnership with the Catholic Church. Most Christian African nations have not fared much better. Why would a Christian Middle East have looked any different?

And then there is Palestine. It was, of course, Christians who shamelessly persecuted Jews for more than a millennium, culminating in the Holocaust. These horrific examples of anti-Semitism were firmly rooted in Western Christian lands and culture. Jews would therefore have still sought a homeland outside Europe; the Zionist movement would still have emerged and sought a base in Palestine. And the new Jewish state would still have dislodged the same 750,000 Arab natives of Palestine from their lands even if they had been Christian—and indeed some of them were. Would not these Arab Palestinians have fought to protect or regain their land? The Israeli-Palestinian problem remains at heart a national, ethnic, and territorial conflict, only recently bolstered by religious slogans. And let’s not forget that Arab Christians played a major role in the early emergence of the whole Arab nationalist movement in the Middle East; indeed, the ideological founder of the first pan-Arab Ba’th party, Michel Aflaq, was a Sorbonne-educated Syrian Christian.

But surely Christians in the Middle East would have at least been religiously predisposed toward the West. Couldn’t we have avoided all that religious strife? In fact, the Christian world itself was torn by heresies from the early centuries of Christian power, heresies that became the very vehicle of political opposition to Roman or Byzantine power. Far from uniting under religion, the West’s religious wars invariably veiled deeper ethnic, strategic, political, economic, and cultural struggles for dominance.

Even the very references to a “Christian Middle East” conceal an ugly animosity. Without Islam, the peoples of the Middle East would have remained as they were at the birth of Islam—mostly adherents of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. But it’s easy to forget that one of history’s most enduring, virulent, and bitter religious controversies was that between the Catholic Church in Rome and Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Constantinople—a rancor that persists still today. Eastern Orthodox Christians never forgot or forgave the sacking of Christian Constantinople by Western Crusaders in 1204. Nearly 800 years later, in 1999, Pope John Paul II sought to take a few small steps to heal the breach in the first visit of a Catholic pope to the Orthodox world in a thousand years. It was a start, but friction between East and West in a Christian Middle East would have remained much as it is today. Take Greece, for example: The Orthodox cause has been a powerful driver behind nationalism and anti-Western feeling there, and anti-Western passions in Greek politics as little as a decade ago echoed the same suspicions and virulent views of the West that we hear from many Islamist leaders today.

The culture of the Orthodox Church differs sharply from the Western post-Enlightenment ethos, which emphasizes secularism, capitalism, and the primacy of the individual. It still maintains residual fears about the West that parallel in many ways current Muslim insecurities: fears of Western missionary proselytism, a tendency to perceive religion as a key vehicle for the protection and preservation of their own communities and culture, and a suspicion of the “corrupted” and imperial character of the West. Indeed, in an Orthodox Christian Middle East, Moscow would enjoy special influence, even today, as the last major center of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Orthodox world would have remained a key geopolitical arena of East-West rivalry in the Cold War. Samuel Huntington, after all, included the Orthodox Christian world among several civilizations embroiled in a cultural clash with the West.

Today, the U.S. occupation of Iraq would be no more welcome to Iraqis if they were Christian. The United States did not overthrow Saddam Hussein, an intensely nationalist and secular leader, because he was Muslim. Other Arab peoples would still have supported the Iraqi Arabs in their trauma of occupation. Nowhere do people welcome foreign occupation and the killing of their citizens at the hands of foreign troops. Indeed, groups threatened by such outside forces invariably cast about for appropriate ideologies to justify and glorify their resistance struggle. Religion is one such ideology.

This, then, is the portrait of a putative “world without Islam.” It is a Middle East dominated by Eastern Orthodox Christianity—a church historically and psychologically suspicious of, even hostile to, the West. Still riven by major ethnic and even sectarian differences, it possesses a fierce sense of historical consciousness and grievance against the West. It has been invaded repeatedly by Western imperialist armies; its resources commandeered; borders redrawn by Western fiat in conformity with its various interests; and regimes established that are compliant with Western dictates. Palestine would still burn. Iran would still be intensely nationalistic. We would still see Palestinians resist Jews, Chechens resist Russians, Iranians resist the British and Americans, Kashmiris resist Indians, Tamils resist the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, and Uighurs and Tibetans resist the Chinese. The Middle East would still have a glorious historical model—the great Byzantine Empire of more than 2,000 years’ standing—with which to identify as a cultural and religious symbol. It would, in many respects, perpetuate an East-West divide.

It is not an entirely peaceful and comforting picture.

It is, of course, absurd to argue that the existence of Islam has had no independent impact on the Middle East or East-West relations. Islam has been a unifying force of a high order across a wide region. As a global universal faith, it has created a broad civilization that shares many common principles of philosophy, the arts, and society; a vision of the moral life; a sense of justice, jurisprudence, and good governance—all in a deeply rooted high culture. As a cultural and moral force, Islam has helped bridge ethnic differences among diverse Muslim peoples, encouraging them to feel part of a broader Muslim civilizational project. That alone furnishes it with great weight. Islam affected political geography as well: If there had been no Islam, the Muslim countries of South Asia and Southeast Asia today—particularly Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia—would be rooted instead in the Hindu world.

Islamic civilization provided a common ideal to which all Muslims could appeal in the name of resistance against Western encroachment. Even if that appeal failed to stem the Western imperial tide, it created a cultural memory of a commonly shared fate that did not go away. Europeans were able to divide and conquer numerous African, Asian, and Latin American peoples who then fell singly before Western power. A united, transnational resistance among those peoples was hard to achieve in the absence of any common ethnic or cultural symbol of resistance.

In a world without Islam, Western imperialism would have found the task of dividing, conquering, and dominating the Middle East and Asia much easier. There would not have remained a shared cultural memory of humiliation and defeat across a vast area. That is a key reason why the United States now finds itself breaking its teeth in the Muslim world. Today, global intercommunications and shared satellite images have created a strong self-consciousness among Muslims and a sense of a broader Western imperial siege against a common Islamic culture. This siege is not about modernity; it is about the unceasing Western quest for domination of the strategic space, resources, and even culture of the Muslim world—the drive to create a “pro-American” Middle East. Unfortunately, the United States naively assumes that Islam is all that stands between it and the prize.

But what of terrorism—the most urgent issue the West most immediately associates with Islam today? In the bluntest of terms, would there have been a 9/11 without Islam? If the grievances of the Middle East, rooted in years of political and emotional anger at U.S. policies and actions, had been wrapped up in a different banner, would things have been vastly different? Again, it’s important to remember how easily religion can be invoked even when other long-standing grievances are to blame. Sept. 11, 2001, was not the beginning of history. To the al Qaeda hijackers, Islam functioned as a magnifying glass in the sun, collecting these widespread shared common grievances and focusing them into an intense ray, a moment of clarity of action against the foreign invader.

In the West’s focus on terrorism in the name of Islam, memories are short. Jewish guerrillas used terrorism against the British in Palestine. Sri Lankan Hindu Tamil “Tigers” invented the art of the suicide vest and for more than a decade led the world in the use of suicide bombings—including the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Greek terrorists carried out assassination operations against U.S. officials in Athens. Organized Sikh terrorism killed Indira Gandhi, spread havoc in India, established an overseas base in Canada, and brought down an Air India flight over the Atlantic. Macedonian terrorists were widely feared all across the Balkans on the eve of World War I. Dozens of major assassinations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were carried out by European and American “anarchists,” sowing collective fear. The Irish Republican Army employed brutally effective terrorism against the British for decades, as did communist guerrillas and terrorists in Vietnam against Americans, communist Malayans against British soldiers in the 1950s, Mau Mau terrorists against British officers in Kenya—the list goes on. It doesn’t take a Muslim to commit terrorism.

Even the recent history of terrorist activity doesn’t look much different. According to Europol, 498 terrorist attacks took place in the European Union in 2006. Of these, 424 were perpetrated by separatist groups, 55 by left-wing extremists, and 18 by various other terrorists. Only 1 was carried out by Islamists. To be sure, there were a number of foiled attempts in a highly surveilled Muslim community. But these figures reveal the broad ideological range of potential terrorists in the world.

Is it so hard to imagine then, Arabs—Christian or Muslim—angered at Israel or imperialism’s constant invasions, overthrows, and interventions, employing similar acts of terrorism and guerrilla warfare? The question might be instead, why didn’t it happen sooner? As radical groups articulate grievances in our globalized age, why should we not expect them to carry their struggle into the heart of the West?

If Islam hates modernity, why did it wait until 9/11 to launch its assault? And why did key Islamic thinkers in the early 20th century speak of the need to embrace modernity even while protecting Islamic culture? Osama bin Laden’s cause in his early days was not modernity at all—he talked of Palestine, American boots on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Saudi rulers under U.S. control, and modern “Crusaders.” It is striking that it was not until as late as 2001 that we saw the first major boiling over of Muslim anger onto U.S. soil itself, in reaction to historical as well as accumulated recent events and U.S. policies. If not 9/11, some similar event like it was destined to come.

And even if Islam as a vehicle of resistance had never existed, Marxism did. It is an ideology that has spawned countless terrorist, guerrilla, and national liberation movements. It has informed the Basque ETA, the FARC in Colombia, the Shining Path in Peru, and the Red Army Faction in Europe, to name only a few in the West. George Habash, the founder of the deadly Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was a Greek Orthodox Christian and Marxist who studied at the American University of Beirut. In an era when angry Arab nationalism flirted with violent Marxism, many Christian Palestinians lent Habash their support.

Peoples who resist foreign oppressors seek banners to propagate and glorify the cause of their struggle. The international class struggle for justice provides a good rallying point. Nationalism is even better. But religion provides the best one of all, appealing to the highest powers in prosecuting its cause. And religion everywhere can still serve to bolster ethnicity and nationalism even as it transcends it—especially when the enemy is of a different religion. In such cases, religion ceases to be primarily the source of clash and confrontation, but rather its vehicle. The banner of the moment may go away, but the grievances remain.

We live in an era when terrorism is often the chosen instrument of the weak. It already stymies the unprecedented might of U.S. armies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And thus bin Laden in many non-Muslim societies has been called the “next Che Guevara.” It’s nothing less than the appeal of successful resistance against dominant American power, the weak striking back—an appeal that transcends Islam or Middle Eastern culture.

More of the same

But the question remains, if Islam didn’t exist, would the world be more peaceful? In the face of these tensions between East and West, Islam unquestionably adds yet one more emotive element, one more layer of complications to finding solutions. Islam is not the cause of such problems. It may seem sophisticated to seek out passages in the Koran that seem to explain “why they hate us.” But that blindly misses the nature of the phenomenon. How comfortable to identify Islam as the source of “the problem”; it’s certainly much easier than exploring the impact of the massive global footprint of the world’s sole superpower.

A world without Islam would still see most of the enduring bloody rivalries whose wars and tribulations dominate the geopolitical landscape. If it were not religion, all of these groups would have found some other banner under which to express nationalism and a quest for independence. Sure, history would not have followed the exact same path as it has. But, at rock bottom, conflict between East and West remains all about the grand historical and geopolitical issues of human history: ethnicity, nationalism, ambition, greed, resources, local leaders, turf, financial gain, power, interventions, and hatred of outsiders, invaders, and imperialists. Faced with timeless issues like these, how could the power of religion not be invoked?

Remember too, that virtually every one of the principle horrors of the 20th century came almost exclusively from strictly secular regimes: Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo, Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin and Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. It was Europeans who visited their “world wars” twice upon the rest of the world—two devastating global conflicts with no remote parallels in Islamic history.

Some today might wish for a “world without Islam” in which these problems presumably had never come to be. But, in truth, the conflicts, rivalries, and crises of such a world might not look so vastly different than the ones we know today.

Where Do We Stand

2008-06-12T21:12:00.003+06:00

I received the following stats through email. An eye opener, though it worth for the other to view:

This is not a political statement. It is a management statement.

Pakistanis are a proud people, almost bordering on the arrogance. The cockiness has exacerbated in a last 9 years, when General Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz and the whole economic team were extolling the virtues of the economic turnaround.

Some random numbers that should give one a reality check:

Pakistan's per capita income is US $ 1,000 (higher on a PPP basis). Singapore's per capita is US $ 26,000 i.e. each person in Singapore is 26 times richer than the average Pakistani.

The Karachi Stock Exchange is valued at (approximately) US $ 75 Billion. The market cap of one single company in USA, General Electric, is US $ 325 Billion.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are at US $ 14 Billion. Harvard University has an endowment of US $ 33 Billion. MIT US $ 18 Billion.

At the height of its economic boom in 1987, Ginza, the financial district of Tokyo (all of nine square miles) had a real estate value higher than the whole of Pakistan.

The 2008 value of the 5 Top Brands in the world is as follows:

US $ (Billion)

Coca Cola 65

Microsoft 59

IBM 57

CE 52

Nokia 34

The Indian corporate chieftans deploy 130 private executive jets. Pakistans' richest man makes do with a 10 year old turbo-prop.

Pakistan has GDP of US $ 130 Billion (2007, nominal). By this measure at least 15 corporations (world wide) are larger than Pakistan. The largest company in the world, WALLMART, has an economy THREE times the size of Pakistan.

The largest MNC operating in Pakistan, an Oil Marketing company (OMC) has an annual turnover which is only point seven zero (0.70) of the parent company. The total assets of the Pakistan subsidiary can be written off without reference to the Main Board.

Perhaps we and our leaders - both political and corporate, can learn to be more humble.

Numbers don't lie.

A Requiem for Dictatorship

2008-06-11T17:55:00.001+06:00

The lawyers have hit the road yet again. With the hope that this would be a decisive battle for the independence of judiciary the multitude makes headway, growing bigger every day, to hit the last nail in the coffin as the politicians also flex up their muscles for the impeachment of godfather of the miseries that befell this nation.

As the vanguards march toward the twin cities, the roads around the parliament have already been blocked and then reopened. I do not want to indulge in idle ripping open of the graves but this blocking of the roads tended to break the half stitched wound of May 12 mayhem, a dark day in the history of this nation when some ‘unknown’ carried out bloodbath in the streets of Karachi as the harvesters of the human heads celebrated a show of power in Islamabad.

Someone should learn from history. Once a poor was advised to eat cake if he didn’t find any bread, to which the reply was the French Revolution. A similar advice has recently been forwarded by the Saviour of the Nation who has suggested that people should eat chicken if ‘daal’ is costly. Just when he is trying to show his confidence despite the grave situation he is in, it reminds me of an old story of a confident captain of a ship who said that he could sail the ship in the storm with his eyes closed. The crew threw him into the sea to see if he was brave enough to swim in storm with others if the ship wrecked.

The Long March can be seen as a prologue to a new era of the untiring efforts of lawyers as their struggle enters the second year since deposition of the Chief Justice. Never has a movement achieved its goals formulated on white paper and discussed by word of mouth unless translated into action. Constant dripping wears away the stone, the vanguards have called it a day for the independence of judiciary, reinstating of judges and bringing an end to dictatorship no matter how long it should take to achieve the goals. Unless some ‘unknown’ should try to create a melodramatic turn I see a happy ending to this story.

Budget 2008

2008-06-04T20:48:00.001+06:00

The Growth of Cell Phone Industry

2008-06-04T20:19:00.000+06:00

Telecommunication is, perhaps, the only field in our country which has improved and got cheaper at the same time with the passage of time. When PTCL first launched its services, getting a telephone connection was quite a task. Connections were given on priority basis but today you can get the PTCL Wireless connection without getting into any formalities. On the other hand, to a great extent use of PTCL has been replaced by the cell-phones.

Not very long ago, when the cell-phones were introduced in Pakistan they had the status of a luxury owned by the limited few who could afford it. However, today, in a span of a few years cell-phones are in easy access of everyone. To many it is a necessity and to others a necessity as well as a means of entertainment.

The rapid growth of the cell-phone industry has its pros and cons. Whereas, it has made the communication easier and cheaper, it has also given birth to some social evils that didn’t exit in the past, consider the wrong use of cell-phones and the increase in street crimes.

There is a great deal of competition among the companies offering cell-phone services, the negative aspect of which is that the companies are doing all out effort to extend their network before the market heads toward saturation (though still quite far). Another result of this competition is the introduction of different Packages to attract the users. That how cell-phones have negatively affected the society, consider the Night Free Package offered by a company from 12 a.m. to 7 a.m. is this package being used in a positive way at large?

It is debatable whether a cell-phone connection should be available to every person or not. In some countries, at least I know of the USA, you have to undergo a lengthy process before you can avail this facility. Previously, the cell-phone companies didn’t bother about the unregistered SIMs, the repercussion of which finally gained the government’s attention as it has taken measures to block the unregistered SIMS.

Concrete steps should be taken to prevent the wrong use of cell-phones. Much can be done by registration of SIMs, disallowing a person to keep more than one SIM, and abolishing the night free like packages. Without a doubt, cell-phones have brought a remarkable change in our society and its proper use calls for our responsibility. For example, consider the selection of ring tone and the selection of Silent or General Mode as the situation requires. How many times the full volume ring tone of a song has disturbed you while you were offering your prayers in the mosque? You might also have heard ring tone with Qura’nic verses which is such a wrong thing to do as so many times people only give missed calls in which case the meaning of the verse changes as the verse is not recited completely. Much can be improved if only we start realizing our responsibilities.

The Human Clay

2008-05-29T15:55:00.001+05:00

The goddess of night was spreading its wings and it was already dark as this group of friends enjoying the cool breeze took to the colorfully illuminated Mall Road, Murree. On the corner of a street they saw a kid of tender age selling toys. It looked strange for a kid to sell toys that actually he himself should have been playing with. There was innocence on his face which forced this group of friends to stop by and purchase something from him albeit that stuff was only for kids. A feeling of gratification was depicted on the kid’s face as he received the money. Several hours later on their way back to their lodging when most of the shops had closed they saw the same kid again still sitting in his place with the hope that he might get some customers. Perturbed, they approached the kid and asked him why he wouldn’t go back home, his parent would be waiting.

“I have no home, I have no parents, I sleep here”, replied the kid.

“Where are your parents?” asked one of them to which the kid replied that they had died. He further said that he would look for the customers till the last shop on the block had closed because he wanted a lot of money.

“And what are you going to do with that money?” asked one curiously.

“I shall buy a gun.”

“Why the gun?”, they asked.

“I shall buy a gun and kill Musharraf because he killed my family.”

When I heard that, it felt like my soul was bleeding. Literally, I was weeping with. The kid had said only a few words but he had whispered a lot of things. There was hatred in those innocent eyes as he uttered those last words and a mysterious somberness covered his face, quite akin to the dark night. I experienced mixed feelings of pity, rage and hatred. What was life worth to this kid whose sole aim of life was to buy a gun and kill someone whom he perhaps didn’t even know?

To the world, this kid is a terrorist descending from a terrorist family. I wonder what would be the feelings of our President if he heard of a small kid selling toys in the street only to buy a gun and kill a man called Musharraf. What, if any, would be the feelings of the sacred cow for whose satisfaction this kid’s family was bombarded?

Crime does not pay, who knows that one day the innocent blood spilled so ruthlessly may speak out for itself and flow away with it those who feel that their feet are above the ground. Who knows!!

The Minus One Formula

2008-05-25T10:58:00.000+05:00

With several deadlines passed, the issue of restoration of the judges still remains unsolved. Whereas the lawyers are bent upon getting restored Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, the government has come forward with the idea of Minus One Formula.

The judiciary crisis began, in the first place, by Musharraf’s pressure for CJP to resign from his office and which he refused to do, and later his deposition followed by resignation of several other judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. If it was supposed to possibly end like this, which idea of course wouldn’t impress a prudent mind, then what good was the lingering on that this issue has been through. And even if we may imagine an implication of the formula, then what justifies the resignation of the other judges and their reinstatement? The Minus One Formula only brings to my mind the idea of a team playing without the captain. Don’t we already know the match result?

The Last Grain of Wheat

2008-05-13T22:59:00.002+05:00

I just couldn't help laughing..

Army, Politics and the Future of Pakistan

2008-05-13T22:43:00.002+05:00

You don’t have to be a man of extraordinary prudence to realize what our country is going through. Even a common man would tell you the reasons for the chaos that this country has fell a victim to. That how a nation responds in the time of crisis measures their rise and fall. You can either see and forget or see and react. If you choose forgetting your story might soon be history, but if you choose to stand firm and fight the situation with diligence and fortitude then even the future generations would appreciate it.
Ever since I remember, our country has been subject to one problem after the other but despite all these hardships we have been able to make our way to this time in history. If I am not being too much anti-Musharraf, I would take the liberty to say that government under Musharraf has been best at landing the country from one disaster to another. If anything was left, was done by the politicians. Ever since our freedom the army and politicians have done us more harm than could another country ever do us. Our masses are illiterate idiots and have let themselves be fooled by the two giants. There is no dearth of men of quality and leadership in our country but they are in the background and the stage has always been occupied by the un-pragmatic dullards.

As far the question about responding to the critical situation is concerned, the nation has done that to some extent be it in the form of the combined struggle of lawyers, journalists and media or the meek voices of the poor that were destined to go unheard as has always been the case. Whereas the ‘mission’ for the PML-N leadership should have been to go after the core issue i.e., seeking Musharraf’s resignation (which should be called eradicating the evil from the roots) they rather chose to go after a much difficult task that of the restoration of judiciary, which of course, is next to impossible in Musharraf’s presence. PML-N has played its cards well and soon the government under PPP might find itself in an awkward situation. Regardless if how long the political games continue hope prevails, it always has. It is better to strive and hope for the better rather than curse the doom and do nothing. I see a sort of revolution in the offing, no not the bloodshed but a peaceful revolution that might eventually lead the people of this country out of the vicious cycle that has continued for long. There is a limit to everything.

Here Beginneth

2008-05-09T19:35:00.002+05:00

Here begins the one
Whose name was written on sand,
Who loved
Blowing winds and falling rain drops,
So far
His name is still there.

Vision 2010

2008-05-08T20:57:00.003+05:00

Also contributed at The Pakistani Spectator

A Nose of Wax

2008-04-27T10:40:00.000+05:00

It seems that our government now is in a mood to lend an ear to Shakespeare, “Condemn the fault and not the actor of it.”(Measure for Measure) The news is that the capital punishment i.e., Death Sentence may be changed into Life Imprisonment.

As I see it, there seem to be two possibilities for this change. First, that perhaps the government wants to let go Srabjeet Singh who was otherwise waiting to see the gallows. And besides that we have that someone among us who might have fears of being charged with treason when the wind is not on his side. The question is, whether the amendment would have a prospective or a retrospective effect. That being said, in a country where the Constitution itself is a nose of wax, everything is possible and any kind of amendment can be done at any time in any form to serve the purpose. Andher Nagree Chopat Raaj!!

Javier Solana does Islamabad the Honour

2008-04-26T20:40:00.002+05:00

The visits from ambassadors, diplomats, and officials from America, NATO, Common Wealth and European Union are a routine for Islamabad. Recently, the ardent supporter of US attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq honoured Islamabad with his visit. Our history is replete with visits of people like this one..but meek voices go unheard and Islamabad is so much inclined to welcoming such people!!

Transfers at large

2008-04-26T20:37:00.000+05:00

Change in the government has its consequences. Just when everything is in a topsy-turvy the government decided to add more to it. To that effect are the transfers of the government officials from different departments. It is yet unknown as to who the face behind these mass transfers. Presumably, the transfer of a single government servant would cost something around Rs.40,000/- under TADA and other miscellaneous heads. Now consider the net amount that the Punjab government would have spent at the end of the day. And just when the future of the present government is uncertain, I wonder where we’d be standing provided we get to see a new government by the next year.

Bike Ride to Khabeki Lake and Kanhatti

2008-04-24T22:48:00.004+05:00

Here's another of my bike rides I undertook on Sunday 20th. The journey started at about 7:30am, five of us on three bikes, the destination was the Kanhatti garden in the famous Soun valley.

Both ways we did a total of about 150km ride. Following are the pics with the commentary.

Just as you are about to start climbing the hill, you pass through two gate-like pillars with a brief history of this passage:

The Kanhatti garden:

A natural spring in the garden:

Bikes in the parking lot:

Walking through the garden our way was blocked by this camel whose intentions did not seem too good so we changed our course:

We could see very small fish in this water but not big enough to be captured by the camera's eye:

The garden is pretty vast and rich with shady trees:

Here we enjoyed the cold water for some time:

Ready to head on your way to the Khabeki Lake:

Our rides:

The road:

The CD70 guys were too slow!!

Arrival at Khabeki Lake:

Old graves, I wonder if these are of the soldiers from the world war!

An old tree

Altaf Hussain, who you’re trying to fool?

2008-04-13T09:26:00.000+05:00

Altaf Hussain of MQM could be a great teacher for you if you wanted to master the intonation pattern of Urdu language. Well, that’s not what I want to talk about here but the news is that Altaf Bhai decided to resign from MQM’s leadership and then took a U turn before the news could hit the nook and corner of the country.

As the situation is, series of unfortunate incidents like massacre of May12, and recent riots in Karachi have revealed the real face of MQM to the general public. Lucky for the public especially that of Punjab that they were able to see the scrofulous face behind the mask that MQM has been wearing. If I am not being too compassionate, I believe that MQM was might have won something around 10-15 seats in Punjab assembly had they been able to continue without their real face revealed to the public. Even though the unfortunate incidents resulted in the death of scores of people, I believe that the deaths of those unfortunate who died in the May12 massacre have saved their countrymen from a Sphinx that would eventually engulf the innocents of the neighboring provinces in future.

Right when the real face of MQM has been revealed to the public, and now that everyone knows who is behind the recent killings in Karachi, Altaf Hussain refused to lead MQM and tried to show his anguish on what the innocents have gone through on account of the atrocities of his party. Quite foolish a stunt. And right away, he has taken the U turn in the better interest of his party. My commiserations for Karachiites!

Lahore Mayhem

2008-04-08T22:24:00.001+05:00

Politics is a dirty game. Even worse when it should be done putting at risk the peace and stability of the nation, something that has been happening in our country for quite some time now. Conspiracies are on a rise. There are people from among us who don’t want to see the present government continue peacefully at any cost. Strange that the assembly should be given such a long date for taking the oath when there is no plausible reason for doing so. Looks to me like it was all planned. They started with throwing Justice Rumday’s belongings out of his home; the idea was to flare up the lawyers’ community. Then Arbab Ghulam Raheem was beaten up by PPP activists, what if it was done by the government itself or by the MQM members? What if it’s the government and/or the Chaudharys behind the Sher Afgan incident? The stage and time was so proper to do it_ in the heart of Lahore in the High Court premises just a day before the oath taking ceremony! Another by-plan might have been to create a rift between the lawyers themselves. That worked too, Ali Ahmad Kurd has said that he won’t even come to Lahore Bar and Lahore High Court Bar again. Strange that the Chief Secretary should be unable to handle the situation properly. Ignorant of what the future holds for us, I have doubts if this government can make its way through peacefully.

Cylinder Blast at Grout Atomic Plant

2008-04-08T18:48:00.003+05:00

The news is that after the blast of a cylinder, poisonous gas has erupted across the Grout atomic plant, district Khushab. If you didn’t know already, our man on top had inaugurated the KCP4 in the plant in the recent weeks. Who knows, it might have occurred in the same plant. As the situation is, media won’t be allowed access to the area for it is firstly a restricted area and secondly the government has to cover what needs be hidden from the public gaze i.e., the casualties that have occurred there.

Just a coincidence, my father was on his way back from Nurpur Thal when the he was told that the road ahead had been blocked. Residents of the atomic plant and the suburbs were on their way out and informed of serious number of casualties. It cannot be said as to how much area should be declared unsafe. If the casualties are really that high, I doubt that it might just be a cylinder blast. It’s a whole atomic city built in there. God forbid, the situation might get worse.

Of Education and Character

2008-03-30T20:50:00.002+05:00

You would be astonished as well if you could see scores of people deputed in a small shop busy in tearing the first page out of every book. This was the scene I witnessed in a shop at Urdu Bazaar Lahore, the other day. It didn’t take much time to realize as to what was actually happening there. Change in the government has its repercussions and in this case the message of the (ex) Farzand-e-Punjab was being torn apart from every book that was meant to educate Punjab.

The books, I must mention, were and are still given free of cost under the Parha Likha Punjab scheme. Well, something remains from the policies of the previous government. If I am not wrong, hardly would there be any department where our previous governments did so many experiments as they did on the Education department. Regardless of commenting upon whether the experiments bore any fruit or not I would comment upon the opportunistic mentality that some of our countrymen have. Just so you know, the books under the Parha Likha Punjab scheme were given free of cost, people started abusing the scheme by obtaining a large number of books, much more than required. If you are wondering where the surplus books go, well, they end up with a scrap collector in return of small amount of money (per kg). The more the scrap, the more the money. The practice is quite common now. The thing is, steps should be taken at school level that also build an individual’s character besides just educating them.

Also contributed at The Pakistani Spectator