Absolutely hilarious. MUST WATCH! I think the last few weeks haven’t been great for Pakistanis as a nation, which has definitely affected our morale. A little humour in these difficult times would help. Here is a clip from the brilliant 4manshow that was aired a day before the World Cup started.
Continue reading ‘Inzamam-ul Haq: Exclusive interview for 4manshow’
Every new day, we encounter a plethora of analyses on the Pakistani politics— fashioned by military coups. Needless to say, that there is a stringent criticism on the current government, the military predecessors were not an exception. There has been a furore about the dictatorial attitude of the military. The lack of political values in the prevalent system is enlightened with all-weather light of the editorial pages. The renaissance of military coup dawned during the era of Ayyub Khan and followed on respectively by Yahya Khan, Zia and nowadays Musharraf. Before slamming army, it would be of relative importance to say that the lack of political and diplomatic finesse among the Pakistani politicians made military ruling incumbent on political landscape. The manifest inefficiency of leech and greedy politicians left the nation with the legacy of nothingness. Their political aerobatics was not more than an enactment of nothing.
The juxtaposition of above views gives us nothing but food for thought. Hence the proposition emerges: does the army coup or most appropriately the democratic army coup justify its existence given the battle of the Chair among the politicians? Perhaps a wide stratum of the society says: ‘Yep’. If they say so they have their own logic, albeit absurd. Contrarily, those who say ‘No’ need to be educated politically. However, the truth lies in-between—somewhere.
Continue reading ‘A Review and solution of Pakistani Politics’
Cricinfo report on Inzi’s arrival on the world stage. Exactly 15 years to the day he enters a cricket field in coloured clothing for the last time and makes an emotional exit. Let’s remember that innings that led to many more enjoyable innings and victorious matches. In my opinion no other Pakistani batsman played more match winning innings than this man.
Inzi announces his arrival
The young tiger mauls New Zealand, Auckland, 1992
Inzamam’s 37-ball 60 dismantled New Zealand’s World Cup
The great World Cup dream seemed to be turning into a nightmare as Pakistan needed an improbable 123 runs in the final 15 overs. That was when Inzamam-ul-Haq chose to script a fantasy. Imran Khan had told his team-mates to play like ‘cornered tigers’ in the tournament but he himself had played like a wounded tiger that day. His laborious 43, as Pakistan chased 263, took a time-consuming 93 balls. The other old hand, Javed Miandad, was still in the middle when a young Inzamam entered the arena.
Continue reading ‘21 March 1992: 15 years ago today he became a hero’
(Someone had requested this yesteday. Most of you would have already had a look at this, but I am putting it up for those who haven’t.)
BEFORE THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COUNCIL, PAKISTAN
ISLAMABAD
Reference by the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan under Article 209 of the Constitution
Respectfully sheweth:
The facts and circumstances necessitating this Reference by the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (”Pakistan”) under Article 209 of the Constitution, briefly stated, are as under:
I. The Prime Minister of Pakistan on receipt of information, from several sources, with respect to the conduct of Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (hereinafter referred to as, “the learned judge”) was pleased to advise the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to “direct” the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan, in exercise of its powers under Article 209 of the Constitution, to inquire into the matter and report to the President whether the learned judge has been guilty of misconduct and further, whether he should be removed from office?
II. The advice of the Prime Minister was, inter alia, based on the following:
Arsalan Iftikhar
Continue reading ‘Text of Reference Filed Against the Chief Justice of Pakistan’
Amid the disappointment, despair, depression, and general confusion surrounding Pakistan at the World Cup at the moment, it is very easy to forget how great a player Inzamam truly was.
When Hakim requested me to write a piece about Inzamam and the legend that he is, I found it very difficult to bring myself to do so. Our embarrassing exit from the World Cup, the painful passing of Bob Woolmer (which hurts more because I feel the loss to Ireland led to the heart-attack), and the timid captaincy of Inzamam, all made it extremely difficult to write an article on the brilliance of Inzamam throughout his career.
President Musharraf’s interview with Kamran Khan on Aaj Kamran Khan ke Saath. It seems that he has finally answered my letter by giving us an explanation for his recent actions. No doubt it would have been advisable to do this earlier. However, I sympathise with the President since some of the actions attributed to him were taken by others of their own initiative. They were being more loyal than the king himself.
It is a good interview that covers everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks. The President speaks very well as usual, which was expected of him. I’m a happy man at the moment!
However, there are some who are not convinced by his answers. Also, another question arises. Will the Chief Justice be allowed to present his point of view to the media?
It is around an hour and 15 minutes and is divided into seven parts.
Part 1
Continue reading ‘President Musharraf’s interview with Kamran Khan’
(I received this by email today. It is a petition drafted by Advocate Athar Minallah. I first heard his name with regards to the email Chief Justice Chaudhry sent him. Seems like he’s an important member of the team representing the Chief Justice. I am not too sure why this is doing the rounds on email, but it may to educate the people about the case that is being put forward on the Chief Justice’s side. In a way it may be a tactic to turn a closed trial into a public one.)
BEFORE THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
ATHAR MINALLAH
Advocate High Court
24, First Floor, Beverly Centre, Blue Area, Islamabad
YAHYA KHAN AFRIDI
Advocate Supreme Court
24, First Floor, Beverly Centre, Blue Area, Islamabad
Verses
Continue reading ‘Petition filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by Athar Minallah’
‘If ever a youngster could have been said to eat, drink and sleep cricket, then surely it was Bob Woolmer.’ Wisden 1976 - Bob Woolmer, Cricketer of the Year.
This was then. What we have today is a man whose passion for cricket may have taken his life. Robert Andrew Woolmer died of a massive heart attack on March 18 2007 at the University Hospital in Kingston. He was born on May 14, 1948 in Kanpur India, played 19 tests and 6 ODI’s for England and was coach of the Pakistan cricket during the 2007 World Cup.
It is undoubtedly a very sad time for Pakistan cricket. We were all depressed and disgusted when we witnessed them crash out of the World Cup yesterday, but today I am shocked beyond belief that one of the best coaches in the world is no more with us. Also, he might not have been a great cricketer, but good enough to be Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1976. However, for Woolmer, it seemed what matter most was to be associated with cricket in one way or another and he tackled all kinds of problems with the Pakistan team to turn them into a unit.
Woolmer’s relationship with cricket was very old. I quote again from the 1976 Wisden article:
Robert Andrew Woolmer can truthfully be said to have been associated with cricket from the cradle. For when his proud parents returned home with their new baby, his father placed a cricket ball and a bat in one corner of the cot, saying: “Son, I hope this will be your life.”
And it was.
Continue reading ‘Bob Woolmer: 1948-2007′
A group of Pakistani bloggers were interviewed on Voice of America Urdu’s Round Table. The same program on which we witnessed Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar’s disturbing behaviour. The interview was about blogging, bloggers and the role they play in educating and informing the people. Obviously, it was conducted in light of the recent Chief Justice episode.
It had Pakistaniat.com’s Adil Najam, Teeth Maestro’s Dr Awab Alvi, Ramla Akhtar of Next> by Ramla and myself. You can listen to the interview below:
[audio:http://pakistaniat.com/audio/VOA-Pakistan-blogging.mp3]
Speechless…absolutely speechless. I’ve got nothing to say. If you do then go ahead. My world cup dream has definitely not come true. In fact, it has turned into a nightmare. Maybe Salahuddin will have better luck. That’s probably all I’ll be able to say about Pakistan’s performance today for some time to come as decency and respect for this space does not allow me to go any further.
