Published on July 26, 2007
in People.
I am not sure if readers in Pakistan are aware of the program ‘America’s Got Talent’, but its one of the more popular reality TV shows on American television. It is a talent show that features amateur singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of US$1 million. So this year in the land of the free, home of the brave a Pakistani managed to make it to the top 20 of the show. Mohammad Kashif Memon, who has lived in the US for the past 6 years and is currently a sandwich shop manager in Skokie, Illinois, did quite well to get to the semi-finals of the show.
I am posting some videos from Kashif’s performances on the show and quite honestly he doesn’t come across as an extremely talented fellow. At least not in what he is trying to do - dancing. Continue reading ‘Mohammad Kashif Memon: Talented or not?’
Mr Nayyer Ali’s observations are quite accurate. Even though I would like to add that it was not only the political parties that took part in this anti-Musharraf movement, but the lawyers (or politically motivated lawyers) also chanted anti-Musharraf slogans and turned it into an anti-Musharraf movement.
The rhetoric after the verdict has been interesting and slightly confusing even if we only consider the CJ’s core legal team. Aitzaz Ahsan joined the CJ at his residence to congratulate him and said that it was a big blow to the dictatorship while Munir A Malik said that he would have no contact with the CJ since he was now the CJ and not his client. However, Ali Ahmed Kurd said that he would have no contact with the CJ as lawyers and the judiciary were to maintain a professional relationship, but also said that they would continue the struggle to bring Musharraf down.
Different people had different reasons to join in this movement, but as Mr Ali rightly points out most Pakistanis were in this so as to see the judiciary establish its independence and to see a military ruler bow down in front of the rule of law for the first time. Once that was done they started celebrating, not as if a battle had been won, but rather as if a war had ended.
Continue reading ‘Observations on Civil Society’s Movement on Behalf of the Chief Justice by Nayyer Ali’
A piece written by Mohsin Hamind published in the Washington Post. Even though several posts on this blog have criticized his writings in the past (here and here) this one is interesting and makes a good point.
By Mohsin Hamid
Sunday, July 22, 2007; B01
LONDON: Recently, I found myself in Dallas, a place I’d never been before. As a Muslim writer, I felt about going there pretty much the way an American writer might have felt about heading to the tribal areas of Pakistan: nervous, with the distinct suspicion that the locals carried guns and weren’t too fond of folks who look like me.
Continue reading ‘‘Why do they hate us?’’
It took 4 months and 11 days for Pakistan’s top judges to decide on the reference filed by President Musharraf. There is no doubt that it is a ‘landmark verdict’ and happens to be the first verdict against a military ruler. People in Pakistan are celebrating and rightly so. There are images of people and in particular lawyers distributing mithai (sweets) to mark this momentous occasion.
Many have hailed it as a victory for democracy and for those who believe in democracy, justice and rule of law. I am not sure of its legal significance as the ‘short order’ gives away very little details. In any event, the public had given its verdict a few months ago and if the decision had been unfavourable it would have been regarded as a rigged decision. The SC’s decision basically reaffirms what the people wanted to hear. The real question that comes to my mind is: are we better off today than we were a few days ago? The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
Continue reading ‘4 months and 11 days later: A time to reflect’
I hate to spoil the party that the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry has started…
But I felt it was necessary that we all take a reality check. There have been a continous string of bombs in the country; the majority of these have been in the tribal areas resulting in heavy loss of life.
The blast in Islamabad also caused considerable damage in terms of human life and our credibility as a nation. Though not as many casualities were reported, the international reaction and 1000 point drop in the stock market suggested the grave consequences of a bomb blast in the capital of the country.
Continue reading ‘Car-Bomb Discovered at Park Towers’
The decision made in the people’s court a long, long time ago has finally been affirmed by the Supreme Court. A thirteen member bench of the Supreme Court has decided (Order in detail below) on the petition submitted by CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry and declared the following (a detailed judgment will be delivered at a later date):
Islamabad had recently seen a bloodbath of sorts. But with the rather unfortunate end to the Lal Masjid crisis, it seemed that things would slowly proceed back to normal in the normally tranquil and almost deathly silent capital.
However, all such notions were rudely repulsed by the horrific bomb blast at the reception set for the Chief Justice. The stage and the surrounding area were completely destroyed by this explosion. Aitzaz Ahsan claimed it to be a time-bomb; but he was rudely snubbed on live tv as eye witness reports came in of yet another suicide attack.
Continue reading ‘Bomb-Blast at CJ Reception in Islamabad’
As the nation slowly starts to recover from the events of the past month, we are once again faced with strife and unrest within the country…a fatal attack in Swat a sure reminder.
Its hard to comprehend what has happened…it is no doubt a great tragedy. Though the implementation of the Lal Masjid operators was absolutely wrong, it has opened the eyes of a number of people. They realize that there is no reason for brothels, liqour stores, and other such instituions to exist in an Islamic society. And if they do, they should only be open to non-muslims and not to the liberal extremists of this country.
Continue reading ‘Picking up the Pieces…’
As the sun sets on yet another unneeded crisis in the country, the Army decides to rename their endeavour as Operation Sunrise. They can call it whatever they want, but that cannot change the darkness that we are experiencing at the moment. The minute by minute coverage of Pakistanis fighting their own and the Army killing civilians has left the nation sad and shocked. We are now forced to face certain realities that we cannot ignore.
The image and reputation that we had been able to somewhat salvage has now once again been horribly tarnished, innocent commandos and bystanders have lost their lives for an unknown cause, the sanctity of a mosque has been destroyed, and Musharraf has once again proved to the USA that he needs to be in charge.
Continue reading ‘‘Silence’ Prevails…’
Update: At about 4 a.m. today the army advanced into the Lal Masjid and according to some reports has taken control of 70% of the mosque. DG ISPR has said that 40 militants have been killed in the operation with no known women or children killed whilst Maulana Ghazi has stated that his mother was killed by the army. Meanwhile, the Poly Clinic in Islamabad has been made a ‘no-go’ area for journalists and ARY has gone so far as to say that there is a ‘shoot-to-kill’ order given to the security personnel inside the medical center incase a journalist breaches the order.
Continue reading ‘Lal Masjid’s Operation Silence & the forgotten lives’
