The third open letter we’ve put up in little over a month. They’ve been addressed to the Chief Justice, the President and the Prime Minister, respectively. Do they serve any purpose? There is evidence to suggest that in our country they do.
The first one led to the reference being filed against the Chief Justice. The second one was part of a general show of discontent over the President’s actions with regards to the CJ reference. Together, the actions of all those involved brought about an admission by the President that the entire issue had been mishandled and forced the government to backtrack on certain aspects. Here we have the third one requesting the Prime Minister to show what he is made off, or rather what most people who know him think he is made off, and defy the President. It urges him to stand up to the President and act in the interests of his country. We’ll only have to wait and see if Shaukat Aziz has finally arrived. Otherwise, soon it will be time for him to depart.
April 8, 2007
Mr. Shaukat Aziz
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
The Last Advice
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
Continue reading ‘The Last Advice: An Open Letter to Prime Minister Aziz by Tariq Hasan’
After the post on Peshawar I would like to move onto another city that I have never been to, but interests me greatly. The provincial capital of Balochistan, Quetta, is known as the ‘fruit garden’ of Pakistan. Its names derives from kwatta, which means fort in Pushto as it is a natural fort surrounded by hills on all sides. Quetta boasts a population of half a million people and it has increased dramatically since partition due to its military base and trading activities. It is dominated by a Pashtun majority with a multicultural minority
Quetta’s infrastructure and its look was changed forever after the 1935 earthquake. About 40,000 people were killed on 31 may 1935. Before that it was a bright and bustling city with multi-storey buildings. Now, it has mostly single storey and quake proof houses, built with bricks and reinforced concrete. Instead of going on any further I will let the pictures do the talking. Please keep in mind, it is very difficult to capture the essence of a city as culturally diverse as Quetta in a few pictures. It is almost impossible to accurately depict its character. However, I have tried to put together a brief collection of pictures which give an idea of life in Quetta, the landscapes, the people and other important sights.
Continue reading ‘Quetta: In Pictures’
Published on April 14, 2007
in Sports.
Cricket is a draining and emotional sport. Like cricket, this post is emotional and long, so brace yourselves.
I have just read the ‘draft’ constitution of the PCB which has been passed by the Standing Committee of the Senate for approval to the President (also the Patron of PCB) – which means it is past the debating stage. It is likely that this final draft will become part of the PCB as soon as it is approved by him. Of course, given how much the General has regard for constitutions it is unlikely that he will even give it a single look before signing it. Then again, he doesn’t really need to, given that it does give him absolute power and it WILL make things worse rather than any better.
Continue reading ‘PCB Constitution: A Circus Act?’
If any of you is interested in knowing what the Lal Masjid fatwa against Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar is based on then click here for a larger image. The importance of these picture is not so much what they show, but what they say about the absurdity of the continuing Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid episode.
Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don’t want to mend
their own ways, but each other’s.
-Piet Hein
Published on April 12, 2007
in Society.
I am putting up links to a documentary produced by VideoNation, The Nation magazine’s online video feature. The documentary is made by Sam Graham-Felsen, James Jacoby & Ali Sethi. Ali Sethi happens to be Najam Sethi (Editor Friday Times and Daily Times) and Jugnu Mohsin’s (Editor Friday Times) son.
The comment on the Nation’s website, next to the video, states:
As mounting instability in Pakistan challenges the authority of President Pervez Musharraf, VideoNation correspondents Sam Graham-Felsen, James Jacoby and Ali Sethi travel to Lahore to assess the troubled nation’s future through the eyes of students at both the progressive National College of Arts and Punjab University, where Islamic extremists hold sway.
It’s an interesting concept as the video shows the intersection from where two roads branch out. One goes to NCA and the other to Punjab University and it draws comparisons between the two. It focusses a lot on the fact that two institutions, literally facing each other, have such differently composed student bodies (one liberal, the other conservative) and that reflects on the wider political problems that the country faces and the two extremes that are developing.
Unfortunately, it is nothing more than a coincident combined with the fact that arts is not the kind of subject that those students coming from rural parts of Pakistan or religious backgrounds are particularly inclined towards. It is still not considered a ‘real’ man’s subject. The day arts becomes more acceptable to the religiopolitical parties they will start ruling the NCA as well. Not because they are greater in numbers, but because they have a louder voice. Anyway, watch the documentary and make up your own mind.
Continue reading ‘Documentary: The Intersection’
This is an old article, but is quite relevant to the often cited economic boom in Pakistan. It looks at the Pakistani economy from the point of view that we, at MicroPakistan, are trying to bring to light. The article scratches the surface of rhetoric about the positive macro-economic indicators and points towards the principle of social injustice that is visible on the streets of Pakistan today. At the end of the article I am posting a comment that was sent to me on an email forum. It argues, conversely, that even if there is a lag in the benefits filtering down to the people as a whole the ‘rising tides raises all boats on the sea’.
Symbols of troubled times
Kamila Hayat
The News, January 11, 2007
Along most major roads in Lahore and other cities, there are giant billboards advertising various products. The boards show happy, obviously prosperous people — joyfully enjoying new electronic gadgets or munching food items of various descriptions.
As the bitter-cold January evenings fall, with temperatures plummeting down to below freezing point, tiny fires can sometimes be seen lit under these towering boards. Around the weak flames in which scraps of wood and paper burn, small groups of people huddle — many inadequately dressed given the weather conditions.
They include the thousands of homeless people who live in every city, many having arrived from smaller towns or villages in a desperate search for work. Most among them will spend the night out of doors – along the pavements that run under the underpasses or under shop awnings. Some — particularly the old and the sick — will die, with the winter already having claimed 15 lives in the Punjab.
Continue reading ‘The Other Side of the Economic Boom in Pakistan by Kamila Hayat, The News’
“Beautiful and charismatic, the daughter of one of Pakistan’s most popular leaders — Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, hanged by General Zia in 1979 — Benazir Bhutto is not only the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state, she achieved a status approaching that of a royal princess, only to be stripped of her power in another example of the bitter political in-fighting that has riven her country. From her upbringing in one of Pakistan’s richest families, the shock of the contrast of her Harvard and Oxford education, and subsequent politicisation and arrest after her father’s death, Bhutto’s life has been full of drama.” – Simon & Schuster, Publishers of Daughter of the East (& In the Line of Fire).
Daughter of the East is a ‘new’ edition, the reason being that it is an updated version of the first edition, published in 1988. In fact the newness extends to just 39 pages of the 431 page-book. That is shocking given that one would have expected the two decades since 1988 to have given Miss Bhutto ample to write about as she has been prime minister twice, lost a brother and celebrated the birth of her three children. That is not to be. Given this and by reasons that I will detail below, I would like to divide this review into two distinct parts.
Continue reading ‘Daughter of the East: A review’
I feel we have been focussing too much on too few cities. Even though a lot of the posts concern Pakistan as a whole there have been hardly, if any, on cities apart from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Hence, this is an attempt to look at the ancient city of Peshawar through pictures. Even though I have travelled widely inside Pakistan I must confess I have never been to Peshawar. Recently, Peshawar has been hugely affected by religious extremism as religion has played a huge role in NWFP’s politics. There are many images of women in bhurqas and of billboards with females blackened to hide the faces, however, this post is an attempt to reflect upon the city’s architecture, culture and history.
[I have used a new plugin to display the pictures in a particular format. Since this is the first time we are trying it on the blog it may not appear properly. If there are any problems with it please let me know]
Continue reading ‘Peshawar: In Pictures’
I received this forward a long time back from a friend (HJ)… An interesting read for anyone who grew up in Pakistan in the 80s/90s.
A “Nostalgist’s Map” of Pakistan/Karachi written from a well-off middle-class point of view. Author Unknown.
Have you lived……from a Karachiwala….
Close your eyes….. And go back in time…. Before the Internet, VCD and DVD. Before semi-automatics machine guns, joyriders and crack …. Before SEGA or Super Nintendo or Video Games… Way back….
I’m talking about Hide and seek (Chhupan Chhupaee) in the park or on the streets. The corner shop, Butter Scotch Candy, Mitchells Milk Toffee,Jubilee, football with an old can, hockey, cricket and Pittu with the same ball. jumping in enormous puddles, Building dams.
The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass. Mayfair bubble gum.A POLKA ice cream pop cone on a warm summer night, Wait……Watching Weekday 5pm evening or Saturday Morning cartoons… short commercials,Tom and Jerry, He-Man, Captain Caveman, Waltron, Walligator, Danger Mouse and Pink Panther.
Continue reading ‘A “Nostalgist’s Map” of Pakistan’
As the seminaries continue their attempt to impose and spread their perversion of Islam, the nation faces yet another obstacle. For those who are unaware of Jamia Hafsa and its dangerous antics, the following video clips have been put up:
A glimpse from within the madrassa:
Continue reading ‘Jamia Hafsa, Aunty Shamim and recent protests in the capital’
