The City of Lights (or rather UPS’s and Generators as my friend Ghafoor put it) has been in the news quite frequently for the past couple of months. Unfortunately most of the coverage has been negative, and I don’t think the saying “Any publicity is good publicity” applies in this case.
Other than the countless protests by the lawyers, PPP, PPPP, MQM, MMA…. (and the list goes on and on), the city has also been lashed with the tail-end of a tropical cyclone. The overflowing gutters, uprooted electricity poles and strewn billboards suggest that the city is just not suited for rain. Add to that the fact that an extremely popular shopping mall in the vicinity of the teen talwaar (Continental Trade Centre-CTC) suffered from a horrible fire and is all but finished, and you feel the city is going through a rough patch.
But to eradicate all such thoughts I have decided to unveil to you Karachi’s latest attraction! It’s a bit of secret and is not openly discussed, which further encouraged me to enlighten you. An unusually large number of boisterous, eager males have been noticed to gather every Saturday night at the McDonalds outlet at Seaview at approximately 1 a.m. A rather odd time to say the least! The seaview McDonalds is a popular hangout for the general public. There have been a number of disturbing sightings in their rather large and secluded garden but that is not the cause of the latest excitement.
Continue reading ‘Karachi’s Latest Attraction’
Published on June 27, 2007
in Sports.
Most of you would know about Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi who has become the first man after 31 years to represent Pakistan in the singles competition. The latest on his Wimbledon adventure is that he has won his first round match against Britain’s Lee Childs. He convincingly won the match 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) and will now be playing former world No. 1 Marat Safin of Russia.
Click here to view the BBC video on the match which Aisam won against Lee Childs. It’s more a ‘Lee Childs Lost’ report then an ‘Aisam ul Haq Won’ report, but that’s probably because the BBC follows British players and their progress through the tournament. Anyhow, it’s the latest video of Aisam playing tennis and he seems to have a strong serve and volley game. He also has a very good drop shot.
Aisam’s progress in the tournament has already created a lot of hype and most Pakistanis are very proud of his achievements so far. At least, it gives us some sport to watch and cheer (and take part in) as there is no cricket these days. Compare this to Aisam’s previous visit to Wimbledon in 2002 when he partnered with Israeli Amir Hadad in the doubles competition (Daily Times) Continue reading ‘Wimbledon: Aisam ul Haq storms into the second round’
Here is a PBS documentary from October 2006. It is called the Return of the Taliban. It is extremely insightful and shows some unseen footage that many of you would not familiar with. Also, it gives a very good idea of what the situation is in the Northern Areas of Pakistan where the tribal leaders are openly supporting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Pakistani Government doesn’t seem to have much control over there and the religious elements seem to be gaining a lot of momentum.
The Army’s strategy seems to be very confused and it seems like they are unsure whether to take charge and do things their way or do things in order to appease the American government. Either way, so far their policy in those areas has failed and it has earned them nothing but disdain from the locals.
This is a slightly longish documentary, but I can assure you once you start you won’t feel like pausing it for even a second.
The Return of the Taliban
Part 1
Continue reading ‘Return of the Taliban: Taliban in Pakistan - Not looking good!’
Firstly, viewer discretion is strongly advised. Children and women should definitely avoid it. Now, generally I would not put up this kind of video, but as much as I am absolutely disgusted and embarrassed at calling this man my country’s law minister I would like to bring to people’s attention what he did on live television (plus its funny).
Secondly, I was thinking if I was asked who I think could do such a thing on live television I would have put my money on this man any day. And I am not saying this because of the incident where he amazingly (even more so for a ‘lawyer’) misconstrued ‘long arm’ for ‘big arm’, but because subsequently he has come across as one of, if not the most uncouth, rude, crude, discourteous and vulgar person, lacking in polish and grace, to come on television recently. This video does nothing to dispel that belief.
Continue reading ‘Caught In Action: Wasi Zafar Making Use Of His ‘Long Arm’’
Published on June 23, 2007
in Poetry.
This is a ‘what if?’ poem about what it would have been like if Jinnah had become an MP in Britain during his time in the 1920s-30s in London instead of going back to British India and creating Pakistan. Feel free to comment and interpret.
The land of his birth is but a distant memory.
All that remains of India is mere sensory.
He is a long, long way away-
Where cold is the night,
And foreboding the day.
Sashaying suavely in his Savile Row
He cuts a dashing silhouette.
After all, he has places to go,
And little to regret. Continue reading ‘M.A. Jinnah, MP’
Published on June 22, 2007
in Law.
Ok, though this is a very interesting story I am still not absolutely certain about what I THINK it means. So I am putting it up for the readers to put forward what they think it means before I comment on what it means to me. It is not very simple to interpret the meaning of this work and definitely much more complicated then it initially seems.
Before the Law
Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” At the moment the gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try it in spite of my prohibition. But take note: I am powerful. And I am only the most lowly gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other. I can’t endure even one glimpse of the third.” Continue reading ‘Before the Law by Franz Kafka’
More news that just confirms how bad the situation is…
LAHORE: Pakistan has been ranked the 12th most unstable country in the world – worse even than North Korea at 13th – in the 2007 Failed State Index issued on Monday by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace. For the second year in a row, Sudan tops the index, largely because of the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. Iraq now ranks as the second most unstable country and Afghanistan the eighth. The other seven countries in the top 10 are all in Africa. They include Somalia, Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast and Congo. The index of 177 countries gives each country points out of 10 for 12 “social indicators of instability”, with higher scores indicating greater instability. Pakistan’s highest scores were for ‘security apparatus’ (9.5), ‘factionalised elites’ (9.5) and ‘group grievance’ (9.0). Its best score was for the economy (5.8). Iraq fell from fourth place last year to second. “The report tells us that Iraq is sinking fast,” said Fund for Peace President Pauline Baker, according to the Washington Post. “We believe it’s reached the point of no return. We have recommended—based on studies done every six months since the US invasion—that the administration face up to the reality that the only choices for Iraq are how and how violently it will break up.” In a parallel series of reports, the Fund for Peace, a research and advocacy group, suggests a policy of managed partition for Iraq. The experiences of Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, show that billions of dollars in aid may be futile unless accompanied by a functioning government.
Click here for 2007 Rankings of Failed States
As some of you might remember this was big news a couple of years ago when the Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar was stranded on top of Nange Parbat. Two Pakistan pilots carried out a deadly rescue mission to save him. They are now being awarded Slovenia’s top award for bravery. People of such courage who go against all odds to save the life of an unknown foreigner are our real heroes and we should be truly proud that they are one of us.
BBC NEWS, Friday 15 June.
Two Pakistani pilots who carried out a daring rescue of a mountaineer are to be given Slovenia’s top award for bravery, Pakistani officials say.
Slovenian Tomaz Humar got stranded on the western end of the 8,125m Nanga Parbat mountain in the Himalayas two years ago.
He remained for around a week on top of the world’s ninth-highest peak.
The helicopter pilots plucked the 38-year-old from an icy ledge 6,000m up the peak known as “killer mountain”.
Continue reading ‘Pakistan pilots get bravery award’
[For all those who are not aware this is a satirical piece as part of a series called NEWSFLASH (here, here and here). In my previous post I spoke about how Imran Khan will soon be filling a case against Altaf Husain in England. It will be very difficult to collect evidence in this case and it may get very costly. We will have to wait and see how long Mr Khan is able to maintain his enthusiasm. It just struck me that something like a football match might be cheaper, quicker, simpler and much more conclusive.]
MicroPakistan has learnt that it has been decided that Imran Khan and Altaf Husain would battle it out on the football field to resolve their current stand off. This idea was suggested by Mr Husain who expressed his unhappiness towards the legal proceedings initiated by Mr Khan by saying, ‘I am totally against all kinds of violence [sic], in particular the political violence initiated by Imran Khan against me. I would suggest that instead of going to court we should take care of this in the sports arena. I am sure Mr Khan would have no problem with this.‘ It was initially suggested that they take each other on in a cricket match, but considering the superiority the flat-stomached Khan possessed in the sport, it was dropped in favour of football.
Continue reading ‘NEWSFLASH: Imran (Khan) and Altaf (Husain) to battle it out on the football field’
Initially when I posted on this issue Imran Khan was in Pakistan and coming on local news channels discussing his plans to file a case against Altaf Husain while calling MQM a terrorist and fascist organisation. He is now in the UK and has done all the preparatory work for filing the case. His legal team is led by Imran Khan of Imran Khan and Partners, who is famous for the Stephen Lawrence case.
I have posted a program called View Point from London with Aamir Ghauri. It features Imran Khan and Dr Imran Farooq, the MQM convenor, discussing the what happened in Karachi on May 12th as well as MQM’s role in it. Dr Farooq defends his party’s position and tries to answer all the questions put to him by Imran Khan. However, he doesn’t sound convincing at all. I must confess, I prefer Waseem Akhtar to him. At least he was entertaining and, at times, convinced you that he was arguing. Dr Farooq’s arguments turn into rants towards the end of the show.
Anyway, in round two Imran Khan talks about fighting on three fronts in the UK: the legal battle, media support and debate in the British Parliament. The media has already given it a lot of attention and he has featured in several local talk shows as well as being interviewed by George Galloway in his programme. George Galloway also introduced this issue in the Parliament.
Round three will now be the legal battle and we will have to wait and see how successful that is.
Continue reading ‘Imran Khan vs. Altaf Husain and the MQM: Round Two’
