Our son Noor Ud Din is growing fast. Recently he has developed the habit of waking up in the morning and crying like hell. The idea is to wake everybody up and not let them sleep anymore. How dare anybody sleep while he is awake? Get up and go on about doing your things. I don't want to see you lying down. He seems to be telling us. When the home machinery has started and everybody is busy in their daily chores, he is at ease.
If I try to trace this, then I find this habit of his in my very dear Tahir Mammooo. Once he used to get up, he used to ensure that everybody is up as well. But he used to attack subtly by going to each and everyone and using straw poking into ears and/or continuous chitter chatter.
Where Noor Ud Din's style is to cry his lungs out.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Emergency 2007
Emergency has been put onto the Nation of Pakistan as on 3rd November 2007. The move is done for freeing the Judiciary from people who have a bit of integrity left in their bones. There are some people condemning Emergency and they are in majority and are quite loud. There are some people on Musharraf's side but they are generally silent. And there are some people who say, what the heck? Emergency has no affect on my life so what do I care.
Surely if you have enough money to take your dear ones to private rather than government hospitals where the number of patients is far greater than the number of beds then you don't need to care.
Surely if you have enough money to travel by car or taxi rather than travel in over crowded buses with space for just one hand and one foot, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough money to hire the services of the best lawyers to present your cases in the courts, where by the way you being right will not matter, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough references and links in the government to protect you from goons, land mafia, bhatta collectors etc, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough money to send your children to private schools, rather than government run schools where there is no furniture and no teachers, then you don't need to care.
Surley, if you have enough money to rent or own a house in that part of your city where there are no gangs and no gang wars and your children can play around in the neighbourhood happily and safely, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you can ensure that such luxuries, as mentioned above, can be passed onto your children as well, then you don't need to care.
But as for me, I believe that the continuous mis-representation of the section of Pakistani society who wants to live the Islamic way of life, is going to give birth to further extremism and further deterioration.
I believe that now Lal Masjid, May 12 and Oct 18 carnages in Karachi will have no convictions and they would eventually become parts of dusty dossiers.
But it does not matter what anyone of us believe and how happy or sad we are with whatever is going on. I believe in the court which is much higher than the Supreme Court, where the Judge, Jury and Executioner is the same. In whose courts you cannot lie as the prime witnesses will be your hands, your eyes, your feet. In whose courts there can be no NROs and no deals. Where the poor will be equal to rich and powerful. For they are the heavenly courts of Maalik-e-Yaum-Deen (the Maalik of the day of the judgement). Over there cases such as Lal Masjid, May 12 and Oct 18 carnages will be disposed off in just a few seconds.
Sometimes I wonder that maybe Allah has allowed the killers to escape punishment in this world and have few more days in sunshine. For no court or ruler of the world can execute a punishment which equals their crime. The crime which is the brazen Massacre of Innocent People.
All of you, who do believe and do care, worry not, since that day is not far, when Justice will be done and truth will prevail.
Surely if you have enough money to take your dear ones to private rather than government hospitals where the number of patients is far greater than the number of beds then you don't need to care.
Surely if you have enough money to travel by car or taxi rather than travel in over crowded buses with space for just one hand and one foot, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough money to hire the services of the best lawyers to present your cases in the courts, where by the way you being right will not matter, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough references and links in the government to protect you from goons, land mafia, bhatta collectors etc, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you have enough money to send your children to private schools, rather than government run schools where there is no furniture and no teachers, then you don't need to care.
Surley, if you have enough money to rent or own a house in that part of your city where there are no gangs and no gang wars and your children can play around in the neighbourhood happily and safely, then you don't need to care.
Surely, if you can ensure that such luxuries, as mentioned above, can be passed onto your children as well, then you don't need to care.
But as for me, I believe that the continuous mis-representation of the section of Pakistani society who wants to live the Islamic way of life, is going to give birth to further extremism and further deterioration.
I believe that now Lal Masjid, May 12 and Oct 18 carnages in Karachi will have no convictions and they would eventually become parts of dusty dossiers.
But it does not matter what anyone of us believe and how happy or sad we are with whatever is going on. I believe in the court which is much higher than the Supreme Court, where the Judge, Jury and Executioner is the same. In whose courts you cannot lie as the prime witnesses will be your hands, your eyes, your feet. In whose courts there can be no NROs and no deals. Where the poor will be equal to rich and powerful. For they are the heavenly courts of Maalik-e-Yaum-Deen (the Maalik of the day of the judgement). Over there cases such as Lal Masjid, May 12 and Oct 18 carnages will be disposed off in just a few seconds.
Sometimes I wonder that maybe Allah has allowed the killers to escape punishment in this world and have few more days in sunshine. For no court or ruler of the world can execute a punishment which equals their crime. The crime which is the brazen Massacre of Innocent People.
All of you, who do believe and do care, worry not, since that day is not far, when Justice will be done and truth will prevail.
Monday, October 29, 2007
On the winning side of a thriller.
While there might be some debates on the number of consecutive matches we have won, or who should be doing what, or whether we are good at setting totals or chasing them, there can not be a debate on where we usually end up in a thrilling match.
The match started with cool but not chilly winds blowing around. Incidentally the chill was to come from the thrilling end of the match. The ground we were playing on was on a continuous slope, with one side filled with soil.
Set a total of 165 we were pretty confident that we would cross the finish line with much ease. But it seemed that we had not accounted for inexperience. As a good number of our batsmen chose for aggression when coolness was the key. In the end those of us succeeded who read the situation and the pitch well and had the ability to hit the ball in gaps.
The batting stars would go to Abdullah and Nisar who gave us a very good start with 32 from 32 balls from Nisar and yet another 50 from Abdullah, Samir Bhai who had a magical return of form and a resilient counter attack from Amir Bhai that took us through.
Samir Bhai, went one down after Nisar's gutsy 32 from 32 balls. With Abdullah scoring freely from the other end, Samir Bhai took sometime to settle down and find his form. Which luckily for us he did. Abdullah got another 50 for the team but a change of bat saw his end. He was not happy getting out and its good to see him putting a price on his wicket and trying to win the match and not being happy for just a 50.
While Abdullah was coming back things were looking good for us, but it was something that changed drastically over the course of the next few overs. Rizwan was the next man in and with the slowish pace of bowling and his favourite area blocked by either thick sand or fielders, he found it difficult to score freely. Samir Bhai took charge from the other end and started hitting boundaries all over the ground. Its a delight to watch him when he starts to hit through the gap boundaries almost at will. But his wicket saw a flurry of wickets. Bilal was first ball and then Rizwan came back as well. Habib and Ahmed provided a bit of resistance but Ahmed wasn't able to put bat to ball and Habib thought that aggression was the key. Both were bowled out. Meanwhile Amir Bhai who went in after Ahmed seemed not be that bothered about the runs and balls equation or the wickets in hand. He kept on scoring the twos and threes which were vital at that point. Anees Bhai was the next man in and he saw it off till the end.
Earlier we lost the toss and were put into field. Anees Bhai was a bit late so I bowled the first over and was infact the most enjoyable experience of my cricketing life. With a slight jerk of the wrist the ball was swinging in and was getting bounce as well. It was a good first over and probably the sign of things to come. As given the condition of the pitch and the ground, there was not to be any free scoring. Anees Bhai bowled very well from the other end. He bowled good line and length with excellent pace. Amir Bhai was the first change and he proved a bit costly. Nisar was the first spinner to be introduced. He bowled well but the experienced batsmen didn't seem to be in too much botheration on his bowling and were sweeping him for easy singles and doubles.
I went for spin from both ends when Anees Bhai finished his spell, by bringing in Habib. The batsmen who were quite set now started swinging and managed some meaty blows. In his second over they had a boundary and a six. It was an ideal example that one should never allow a batsman to settle down even if he is not scoring runs, since a time would come when he would start to hit and it would be quite difficult to stop him then. It was good that I had saved up overs from Ahmed and me.
Ahmed was to be the partnership breaker for us as we managed a run out in his first over and in his second over he bowled the other one, bringing two new batsmen to the crease.
Abdullah came in from the other end and dried the scoring. Abdullah and I finished the bowling without much incident.
Fielding was quite good as well as Nisar and Rizwan took some good catches and over all we managed 4 run outs, two from direct hits. Khurram fielded quite well as if having a personal grudge against the ball and never allowing it to go through.
In the end we knew why they were quite happy in getting 165, since they felt (and rightly so) that they had a good chance in defending the score. Had it not been for back bone innings from Samir Bhai and a late order intelligent innings from Amir Bhai they would have been successful.
Last but not the least we might have won 2 in a row, but never have we won 3 in a row. So let us all keep up the good work, keep thinking, keeping working and win the 3rd match as well.
The match started with cool but not chilly winds blowing around. Incidentally the chill was to come from the thrilling end of the match. The ground we were playing on was on a continuous slope, with one side filled with soil.
Set a total of 165 we were pretty confident that we would cross the finish line with much ease. But it seemed that we had not accounted for inexperience. As a good number of our batsmen chose for aggression when coolness was the key. In the end those of us succeeded who read the situation and the pitch well and had the ability to hit the ball in gaps.
The batting stars would go to Abdullah and Nisar who gave us a very good start with 32 from 32 balls from Nisar and yet another 50 from Abdullah, Samir Bhai who had a magical return of form and a resilient counter attack from Amir Bhai that took us through.
Samir Bhai, went one down after Nisar's gutsy 32 from 32 balls. With Abdullah scoring freely from the other end, Samir Bhai took sometime to settle down and find his form. Which luckily for us he did. Abdullah got another 50 for the team but a change of bat saw his end. He was not happy getting out and its good to see him putting a price on his wicket and trying to win the match and not being happy for just a 50.
While Abdullah was coming back things were looking good for us, but it was something that changed drastically over the course of the next few overs. Rizwan was the next man in and with the slowish pace of bowling and his favourite area blocked by either thick sand or fielders, he found it difficult to score freely. Samir Bhai took charge from the other end and started hitting boundaries all over the ground. Its a delight to watch him when he starts to hit through the gap boundaries almost at will. But his wicket saw a flurry of wickets. Bilal was first ball and then Rizwan came back as well. Habib and Ahmed provided a bit of resistance but Ahmed wasn't able to put bat to ball and Habib thought that aggression was the key. Both were bowled out. Meanwhile Amir Bhai who went in after Ahmed seemed not be that bothered about the runs and balls equation or the wickets in hand. He kept on scoring the twos and threes which were vital at that point. Anees Bhai was the next man in and he saw it off till the end.
Earlier we lost the toss and were put into field. Anees Bhai was a bit late so I bowled the first over and was infact the most enjoyable experience of my cricketing life. With a slight jerk of the wrist the ball was swinging in and was getting bounce as well. It was a good first over and probably the sign of things to come. As given the condition of the pitch and the ground, there was not to be any free scoring. Anees Bhai bowled very well from the other end. He bowled good line and length with excellent pace. Amir Bhai was the first change and he proved a bit costly. Nisar was the first spinner to be introduced. He bowled well but the experienced batsmen didn't seem to be in too much botheration on his bowling and were sweeping him for easy singles and doubles.
I went for spin from both ends when Anees Bhai finished his spell, by bringing in Habib. The batsmen who were quite set now started swinging and managed some meaty blows. In his second over they had a boundary and a six. It was an ideal example that one should never allow a batsman to settle down even if he is not scoring runs, since a time would come when he would start to hit and it would be quite difficult to stop him then. It was good that I had saved up overs from Ahmed and me.
Ahmed was to be the partnership breaker for us as we managed a run out in his first over and in his second over he bowled the other one, bringing two new batsmen to the crease.
Abdullah came in from the other end and dried the scoring. Abdullah and I finished the bowling without much incident.
Fielding was quite good as well as Nisar and Rizwan took some good catches and over all we managed 4 run outs, two from direct hits. Khurram fielded quite well as if having a personal grudge against the ball and never allowing it to go through.
In the end we knew why they were quite happy in getting 165, since they felt (and rightly so) that they had a good chance in defending the score. Had it not been for back bone innings from Samir Bhai and a late order intelligent innings from Amir Bhai they would have been successful.
Last but not the least we might have won 2 in a row, but never have we won 3 in a row. So let us all keep up the good work, keep thinking, keeping working and win the 3rd match as well.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Indian TV channels blocked after massacre expose
NEW DELHI, Oct 27: Officials in India have blocked television channels which aired secretly recorded footage allegedly exposing government involvement in the 2002 killing of Muslims.
The riots in Gujarat state left at least 2,000 Muslims dead and many victims and rights groups at the time accused the Hindu nationalist-ruled local government of backing the violence.
The Headlines Today private television network on Thursday began broadcasting footage of men accused of taking part in the deadly riots apparently admitting that they were spurred on by Hindu groups allied with the government.
On Friday cable operators in the state’s commercial capital Ahmedabad received written orders to block the Aaj Tak and Headlines Today channels.
Channels that covered the expose, which comes as the state readies for assembly elections in December, were also ordered to be pulled, it said.
State elections officer Ashok Manek confirmed the order had been issued by top Ahmedabad district official, or collector, Dhananjay Dwivedi.
Dwivedi cited concerns about sparking “communal feeling,” said the report, referring to a term commonly used to describe tension between religious groups in India.
Police verbally told cable operators in other parts of the state to stop carrying the channels.
But Gujarat government spokesman Bhagyesh Jha denied that the state had issued any orders against television channels.
“I have not passed the order,” Jha said. “You ask the collector (Dwivedi) about it.” Dwivedi could not be reached for comment .
The channels showed interviews secretly recorded by a reporter of the investigative news magazine Tehelka with several men allegedly involved in the anti-Muslim attacks.
The magazine’s investigation also pointed to alleged support for the carnage from police and state politicians.
Some men reportedly said that Gujarat’s hawkish Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gave Hindu mob leaders three days to do “whatever” they wanted.
The expose prompted renewed calls from rights activists for tough court action against any wrongdoers.
“The victims have said all that we saw on TV,” said Teesta Setalvad of Citizens for Justice and Peace, which has given legal help to Gujarat victims.
“The courts have heard the charges, but if they don’t expedite the hearing, evidence can be lost.”
The Tehelka report has highlighted how cases surrounding the mass-killings are still stuck somewhere in India’s notoriously slow court system.
Setalvad said 15 cases related to the riots were pending before the Supreme Court.
Only about 30 people have been convicted so far for their role in the carnage, according to Setalvad.
“There is a distinct possibility that this footage may polarise people on religious lines,” said activist Zakia Jowhar of anti-poverty group Action Aid, who remembers fleeing from the riots in Ahmedabad.—AFP
Discord on 58(2)b persists: Benazir
LARKANA, Oct 27: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief said on Saturday that differences with President Gen Pervez Musharraf over the Constitution’s Article 58(2)b — the power to dissolve assemblies — had yet to be resolved.
She was addressing a press conference at her Naudero residence on Saturday night.
Ms Bhutto called for the formation of a “neutral, caretaker set-up, an independent election commission” and curtailment in the powers of nazims before the general election.
She said the voters’ lists should be uploaded on the internet so that people could themselves check whether they had been enrolled or not.
“I have come here to bring about a change and to address the issues of empowerment, unemployment and education.”
She said the Constitution should “govern everything”.
In reply to a question, she said in the 2002 elections PPP had secured a majority of the vote, claiming that if “impartial elections” were held the party would again win by a big margin.
She expressed the hope that all political parties would unite against the government if the elections were rigged.
In reply to a question about the National Reconciliation Ordinance, the PPP leader said she would make no comment about allegations by the PML-Q leadership as “efforts for reconciliation are going on”.
The PPP chief said the ARD and APDM were one over the need for transparent elections and her party still respected the charter of democracy.
In reply to a question about the length of her stay in the country, Ms Bhutto said she would be staying in Pakistan, but due to lecture engagements abroad, she would be out of the country off and on.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/28/top6.htm
Emotional welcome for Benazir
By M.B. Kalhoro
Ms Bhutto waved from her bullet-proof vehicle to jubilant crowds, who were prevented from approaching the vehicle by security staff wielding AK-47s.
A huge portrait of Mr Bhutto hung from a pylon, and green, red and black PPP flags fluttered as her convoy whipped up a duststorm.
Ms Bhutto laid a shawl inscribed with Quranic verses and showered rose petals on her father’s grave. She then sat beside the tomb for almost an hour, reading the holy Quran.
“I feel very sentimental. I was eager to visit the tomb of my father, the Quaid-i-Awam, and offer prayers,” Ms Bhutto told reporters later.
She was then driven to her family residence, protected by security officials in jeeps mounted with machineguns.
“There is still a threat to my life, but Allah can protect everyone and I am not scared of these people (militants),” the PPP chief asserted.
“I now feel better about my security.”
ARRIVAL IN SUKKUR: Earlier, Ms Bhutto arrived in Sukkur from Karachi by aeroplane, adds Abbas Jalbani.
Hundreds of police and paramilitary troops were deployed at the airport for Ms Bhutto’s first foray outside Karachi since last week’s attack marred her return to Pakistan.
Thousands of PPP workers and supporters had started thronging the Sukkur airport hours before the PPP leader’s arrival, although the local party leadership had made no announcements about Ms Bhutto’s schedule.
Rumours were in circulation that the announcement of Ms Bhutto’s arrival in Sukkur was a decoy and that she had already reached Garhi Khuda Bakhsh or even that she may take a helicopter from Sukkur air-port.
After the plane touched the tarmac, hundreds of vociferous workers gatecrashed into the airport after dismantling three tiers of security cordon thrown by police, the Rangers and the Airport Security Force.
Ms Bhutto’s bullet-proof Nisar Khuhro-driven four wheeler --- followed and preceded by identical vehicles and accompanied by 24 police vans, two jeeps carrying police high-ups and two others carrying Rangers --- left the airport for Garhi Khuda Bukhsh Bhuuto in a caravan of two to three thousand vehicles. The fleet kept on swelling as more vehicles joined it on the road to Larkana.
Larkana DIG Muzaffar Shaikh advised Ms Bhutto to change her route because at the beginning of the road leading to Dakhan from Madeji, at least 5,000 people were waiting for her and the narrow turn was a security risk. Initially she refused but, after a 15-minute persuasion, she agreed to take the Gaheja-Ratodero link road.
Benazir Bhutto said that the threat to her life, coupled with “poor security arrangements”, made for her by the government could not keep her away from the masses as “I don’t care about my life”.
Talking to journalists accompanying her during the Karachi-Sukkur flight, Ms Bhutto said she was extremely happy to be able to return to her ancestral village and her constituency.
“When I announced my plan of return, I was told that I was endangering my life. Even President Musharraf advised me on TV that I should defer my homecoming. But I decided to face the threat and take the risk.”
She said that when she arrived in Karachi, three million people greeted her. “People want change.”
She added that for her, entire Pakistan was Larkana (her home town) and she would visit different parts of the country soon.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/28/top5.htm
Efforts on to unify ruling party and PML-N
By Ashraf Mumtaz
LAHORE, Oct 27: Some important leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League are making efforts to unify the ruling party and the PML-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in an attempt to avoid what they call the split of the rightist vote which in their assessment would benefit their common rival Pakistan People’s Party in the triangular fight in the upcoming general elections.
A formula for the purpose is being conveyed to the exiled PML-N leadership for their consideration, knowledgeable ruling party sources told Dawn on Saturday.
The formula is that a committee having three representatives from each side should be constituted to run the party for an interim period and take all decisions during the elections.
The head of the committee should be someone acceptable to both factions.
The ruling party thinks that if the two factions of the PML contested the election from separate platforms, their votes would split, and the PPP would be the sole beneficiary.
Two Lahore-based PML-N leaders privately met a senior leader of the ruling party with the request that both sides should try to understand the political losses they may have to face at the hands of the PPP in case they failed to join hands.
Two central leaders of both the factions are expected to meet in about a week to discuss the matter further.
The ruling PML comprises leaders who had left the PML-N after the overthrow of the Nawaz Sharif government in October 1999. They have since been supporting President Musharraf, who calls the exiled PML-N leader as his enemy number one.
Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who is also provincial president of the party, is of the view that the ruling PML is the real party and the PML-N leaders should join it. He insists that the Sharifs would not be returning to the country for another three years and thus their supporters should join the ruling party.
The PML-N leaders have been staunchly opposing any cooperation with the ruling party. However, it’s not clear if they would be flexible in the changed political situation.
A ruling party leader said on Saturday that he would advise both sides that in election campaign they should train their guns at the PPP, not at each other. Already, he said, the PML was not criticising the PML-N leaders.
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