Pakistan - News and Discussion 6

[utepian]

<i>Phatte mar rahi hai Bhutto</i>. Pakis are only capable of <i>Chuha</i> attacks- like they do on unarmed villagers in J&K, in the dark and from behind. For all their bravado, none of the Mullah Generals have the balls to do anything themselves.

[Naresh]

<b>WB warns Pakistan may face macro imbalance</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Authenticity of Pakistani economic data yet to be established</b> <!--emo&:liar liar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/liar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='liar.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Enjoy nuggets from Paki urdu paper -FT
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Film Mughal-e-Azam a secular plot</b>
Columnist Abdul Qadir Hasan wrote in Jang that Mughal king Akbar was a great favourite of the Hindus because he was secular and had invented his own heretic religion. Now a film Mughal-e-Azam was being imported into Pakistan. It was made by a Muslim director in which Muslims have acted, but it is aimed against the ideology of Pakistan. The rulers are secular and want to spread secularism in Pakistan. The conspiracy is to take Pakistanis away from their Islamic values. The film is supposed to be imported for commercial reasons along with some other Indian films, but the real objective is to undermine Pakistan’s religion. Akbar will be shown as the best king because he was secular but in fact Akbar became apostate through his invention of deen-e-ilahi, which was now to be introduced through the film.  <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Dr Javed Khwaja killed by RAW</b>
According to the daily Pakistan Dr Javed Khwaja of Lahore, who had been exonerated by a court for abetting terrorism, was killed in Lahore by the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan through the Indian intelligence agency RAW. This was disclosed by a police officer investigating the case of Dr Khwaja’s murder. He said there was evidence of local enmity but the real reason was that Dr Khwaja was inclined in favour of the Taliban.  <!--emo&:roll--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Generals as ambassadors in Washington</b>
Writing in the daily Pakistan Tanvir Qaiser Shahid stated that ex-army chief General (Retd) Jahangir Karamat was returning from Washington in June 2007 after ending his ambassador’s tenure there. In his place Major General (Retd) Mehmood Durrani would go as Pakistan’s next envoy. <b>He would be Pakistan’s fifth general to serve in Washington. No Indian general has gone as ambassador to Washington</b>. Major General NAM Riza was in Washington as ambassador when Pakistan broke up in 1971. General Yaqub Khan was the second general to serve there. After that General Ejaz Azim, General Durrani and Air Marshall Zulfiqar too served there

<b>Pakistani hens that cackle in Canada</b>  <!--emo&:guitar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/guitar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='guitar.gif' /><!--endemo-->
According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt Pakistani girls in Canada took part in a beauty contest and Ms Sahar Mehmood was chosen as Miss Pakistan. Sarerahe thought that these girls were like hens that cackled in Canada while laying eggs in Pakistan. Ms Sahar Mehmood will now add to the credit of her father when he approaches the Pearly Gates on the Day of Judgement.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan’s image problem </b>
Fridaytimes
Moeed Yusuf
<i>HEC's stance is entrenched in the 'traditional' brain-drain concept, where physical absence from a country is considered a loss  </i>
  
Pakistan has managed a remarkable economic recovery since 9/11 and also continues to be a frontline ally in the war on terror. Yet, its image problem does not go away. Just recently, Islamabad has been declared a near-failed state in a ranking published by a reputed international journal.

The Pakistani authorities remain cognisant of the problem. During a breakfast meeting with the SAFMA delegation, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz highlighted certain truly impressive efforts from the government in this regard. However, Mr Aziz maintained that a positive image projection would only be possible if ground realities reflect a positive picture.

While there is no gainsaying that ultimately ground realities will rectify Pakistan’s image on a permanent basis, a change in ground realities may be a necessary, but not sufficient condition for altering a country’s image. A concerted effort is required to present realities so that a positive change is registered in Western minds. This is even more important for a country that is initiating the image-projection exercise at a time when its perception in the outside world is acutely negative.

There are two aspects to image projection. First, existing positive aspects of the Pakistani society and policy must be presented effectively. Second, as ground realities change for the better, they must be reflected in their totality. Neither of these is being achieved by Pakistan at present.

The single biggest shortcoming of Islamabad’s efforts is the lack of realisation of the importance of having independent experts placed in policy informing positions in the West. The uptake of any positive change in Pakistan is that much slower at present, thanks to the lack of objective Western research on Pakistan.

One must acknowledge India’s successful drive towards image projection, which has managed to focus Western minds on the positive aspects of the Indian society, while ignoring the negatives. The Indian success in tilting Washington’s stance in New Delhi’s favour is a result of a number of factors, one of them being the numbers of Indian thinkers (academics, experts, journalists) who have managed to find placements in Western think tanks and universities. In the final outcome, they have managed to underscore India’s positive attributes. Pakistani presence in Western think tanks and universities is miniscule and remains largely unnoticed. There is an urgent need to bring the handful of Pakistani experts that are present in the West under one umbrella to devise the best possible strategy to present an objective viewpoint on developments in Pakistan.

<b>India’s progress on this front has partly been made possible due to the willingness of the Indian private sector to contribute resources towards funding such research-oriented positions for its thinkers.</b> This points to the widespread understanding of the benefits in having independent researchers present views that may otherwise not be available to the common reader. Pakistan acutely lacks such understanding. We continue to live in a culture where empirical research is considered a luxury that is not likely to produce any tangible gains. Consequently, we have continued to suffer on the image-projection front.

Take, for instance, the Higher Education Commission’s PhD sponsorship programme. The HEC has not considered boosting political science and mass communications as a priority field. The Commission’s major reservation is that experts in such fields would take up offers from international media giants and think tanks based abroad, thus violating the HEC prerequisite of returning home following completion of the education programme.

This stance is counterproductive and it is passé. It is entrenched in the ‘traditional’ brain-drain concept, where physical absence from a country is considered a loss. Worse, it points to a disconnect between national priorities and HEC’s vision. The HEC would indeed be best serving national interest by encouraging PhDs in such fields to secure placements abroad rather than returning home and being of no real use. One increasingly sees non-Western correspondents in leading media channels in the world. Hardly any of them are of Pakistani origin.

The government and its various departments need to invest in both short-term and long-term measures. They must give incentives to the handful of Pakistani researchers with sufficient grounding in their fields to seek placements in policy influencing Western think tanks and universities. The key here is to focus on ‘independent’ analysts, not ex-government spokesmen or officials, who, even when they have an objective outlook on issues, are sometimes rejected for following the official line. For the long-term, the government must target political science, mass communications and related fields as a priority to produce experts in the field, and preferably allow them to find placements abroad.

It is imperative to point out that none of what I have argued is designed to suggest that the authorities need to influence research from Pakistani experts. Past authorities have attempted this to serve political interests, but have only ended up lowering the credibility of Pakistani researchers in general. The official role should be limited to giving incentives and placing experts to conduct independent, objective research on issues of their interest. As things stand right now, even where Pakistan has made remarkable progress, the discourse remains largely sceptical. These are areas where objective analysis can rectify misplaced perceptions with relative ease.

Next, we require an integrated set-up among government functionaries to identify key experts and journalists who have expertise in issues of interest to the West and provide them with current, up-to-date information on relevant issues. Strategic and economic issues relevant to US policy are examples of such areas. Such writers are taken extremely seriously by Western policy makers and could be relevant in portraying the country in a positive light. Currently, there is a dearth of real-time information available to these writers. Most of the information obtained is on an ad-hoc basis. It is imperative to institutionalise such a process.

Finally, one must point out the potential role of the Pakistani diaspora in image projection in the West.<b> The contribution of the Indian diaspora in jump-starting the country’s IT boom is a well-known fact. Their role in India’s image projection is also established. What is often ignored, however, is the constant backing the diaspora received from the Indian government at home.</b> While Islamabad is also making significant progress on this count, Pakistani dispora remains largely disjointed and must be brought under a single platform so it can contribute to Pakistan’s image projection.

The diaspora should be encouraged not only to rally for FDI (foreign direct investment) to Pakistan but also to arrange for Westerners to visit the country and witness the reality themselves. Government functionaries must be lauded for their initiatives to invite prominent foreign journalists and present them with Pakistan’s position on controversial issues. To add further credibility to the process, one might consider allowing foreign journalists to undertake field visits to high profile areas to develop independent perceptions.

There is no substitute to altering the reality. However, in order for the change to be acknowledged, image projection through independent voices is an imperative. The latter must be initiated as an institutionalised process even if the progress on the former is slow. Currently, Islamabad seems to be treating ‘soft’ image projection on an ad-hoc basis.

<i>-Moeed Yusuf is a Consultant on Economic Policy at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad </i>
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He is ignoring major problem with Pakistan, that is Islam and fanatics.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1697744,001302320000.htm

Pakistan ordered Surya's beheading, says Taliban

Press Trust of India

New Delhi, May 14, 2006

A Taliban commander has claimed that Pakistan intelligence had a hand in the recent killing of Indian engineer K Suryanarayan in southern Afghanistan, a Kabul-based private TV channel reported.

A Taliban commander wishing to remain anonymous told Tolu Television that Amir Khan Haqqani, the military commander of Taliban fighters in Zabul province, opposed the killing of Suryanarayan.

<b>He claimed the Indian engineer was eventually killed by Mullah Latif, a militiaman under the command of Mawlawi Mohammad Alam Andar, allegedly on orders from Pakistan 's Inter-Services Intelligence, a little-known website Afgha.com quoted the Tolu report as saying. </b>

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[Guest]

No surprise here. Till Pakistan is supported by US, Afghanistan is a lost case.

[Guest]

Bollywood's success story..

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Two Indian girls arrested at LoC
Sunday May 14 2006 19:13 IST

JAMMU: Two lovelorn Indian girls who tried to cross the line of
control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to meet their Pakistani
boyfriends were arrested by the army and later let off.


<b>Asha Patel of Mumbai and Asha Sharma of Haldwani in Nanital, Uttar
Pradesh, </b>were arrested at Chakan da Bagh - the last Indian point on
the LoC in Poonch - on Rawlakote road when they tried to cross over
to the Pakistani side where their boyfriends waited for them
Saturday.


Army officials said that Patel, 24, and Sharma, 22, got acquainted
with Khalid Mumtaz and his brother, who live in Lahore, via the
Internet.


Patel claimed they had even "solemnised their marriage" through the
Internet. After the Internet chatting, she said, they spoke
regularly on phone and had decided to marry.


The couples had first tried the legal route to happily-ever-after,
but the denial of visas by the Pakistan embassy disappointed them.
Next, they thought, they could try to travel across to the other
side as a historic bus service had been started between the two
countries.


After a stay at a local hotel - Anand Hotel - in Poonch, Patel and
Sharma took an auto-rickshaw to the LoC.

Last year, Patel and Khalid had decided to meet at the Wagah border
in Amritsar, Punjab, Patel told her interrogators.

The girls had reached the Wagah border and the Border Security Force
(BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers allowed them to meet each other after
repeated requests, a statement the army and police are trying to
verify.

Last month the two decided on the Internet to meet again and Khalid
suggested that Patel and Sharma cross over through Chakan Da Bagh.b

Police official S D Singh Jamwal told reporters that after verifying
their antecedents and cross-checking with their families, the police
and the army had decided to let the girls off.


http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?
ID=IEH20060514085218&Title=B+R+E+A+K+I+N+G++++N+E+W+S&Topic=%2D375&
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[Naresh]

<b>Londonistan in Washington — Khalid Hasan</b>

The Heritage Foundation is the flagship of conservative think tanks in Washington. That it was chosen first by Foreign Minister KM “Blameworthy” and, more recently, by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should perhaps not have surprised anyone since neither can be accused of revolutionary tendencies. God forbid.

Washington is a city full of lobbyists and think tanks. Tanks of course don’t think: they merely pulverise whatever stands in their way. Then there are tanks of the other kind, such as those in which you keeps fish. And if you are Dr No, you keep piranha, which you hope will one day dine on James Bond 007.

I go to Heritage Foundation whenever I want to know what the twice born are thinking about the rest of the world, especially the dangerous lunatic fringe on the Left and, currently, the “Islamists”, a word of recent coinage, for which we need to send a note of thanks to OB Laden, which is what he should be called because his full name is too long for a headline. Shafiq ur Rehman called Muhammad Shah Rangeela, MS Rangeela, so why not OB Laden?

I was at the Heritage Foundation this week to hear someone I had always associated with the Guardian because that was the paper she used to write for when I was living in London. Of course, I had not realised that she had left the Guardian years ago and fallen head over heels in love with everything right-wing. For the last five years she has written a column for the London tabloid Daily Mail, which is to the Guardian what Al Qaeda is to the FBI.

Melanie Phillips was here to launch her book Londonistan, which, according to her, is what England has become since those bad jihadi Muslims made it their home. And why did they make it their home? Because of a spineless, pusillanimous, appeasing British Labour government, which has turned its back on European civilisation and way of life.

She said she was not an expert either on Islam, or on terrorism or on Islamic groups, but she spoke on all three with an authority that only ignorance and prejudice can foster. What had happened, she said, was that British culture and values had come under threat because of the disastrous policy of multiculturalism and the refusal of the British judicial system to deal with terrorism as it should be dealt with.

She warned her American hosts that while Tony Blair was a staunch ally — some say poodle — of George Bush, there was no guarantee that his successor would be the same. She stopped short of suggesting that Bush should take steps to make Blair prime minister for life. She called Great Britain the “weakest link” in the war against Islamic terrorism. She said Britain had been enfeebled because of its continued adherence to the rule of law and human rights when it came to Islamist terrorists. She said there had been an erosion of British identity.

Ms Phillips lamented that after the 7/7 attacks, the explanations given by the British establishment and media were entirely wrong. It was said that the fault lay with “us” because we had failed to integrate Muslims in British society and we also suffered from Islamophobia. She said the real reason was that Britain had been too hospitable to those who poured into the country in the 1990s from the Middle East and North Africa after the end of the Afghan war.

Then there were the Pakistanis, whose country had been “colonised” by Saudi Wahabism. She said concepts like freedom of speech and human rights should not be applicable to such elements whose sole mission was the destruction of the Infidel West.

<b>I asked her after she was done what she proposed should be done to deal with the situation. Should all British Muslims be thrown out and a ban placed on further immigration of Muslims to Britain? While there was little doubt that this is what she would wish, she said it should be made quite clear that minorities could not dictate to the majority. While everyone was free to practise his religion, including Islam, no one could be permitted to sabotage the essential Western values of British society.

She said Britain had lost self-confidence and come to believe in supranational ideas — such as the UN and the International Criminal Court — rather than in its nationalist ideology. Minorities were seen as victims. She said the younger generation of British Muslims was torn between the beliefs of their elders and what it saw as the depravity and temptations of the West. <span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>She added the standard disclaimer that it was not her intent to “demonise all Muslims” although at one point she suggested that there was something intrinsically the matter with Islam when it came to violence.</span></b>

I have since found that among the admirers of Ms Phillips’ book are the likes of Islam-baiter Daniel Pipes, unabashed Zionist Natan Sharansky (whom President George Bush admires) and Iranian imperialist Amir Taheri. Wrote Sharansky, “This book is powerful and frightening, but also courageous. In dictatorships, you need courage to fight evil; in the free world, you need courage to see the evil.”

Pipes piped in with, “In contrast to the overwhelming majority of her British compatriots, who prefer to avert their eyes from the radical Islamic horror growing in their midst, Melanie Phillips has compiled a unique record that fearlessly, brilliantly and wittily exposes this problem.”

And according to Taheri, “Melanie Phillips pieces together the story of how Londonistan developed as a result of the collapse of British self-confidence and national identity and its resulting paralysis by multiculturalism and appeasement. The result is an ugly climate in Britain of irrationality and defeatism, which now threatens to undermine the alliance with America and imperil the defence of the free world.”

All I would suggest is that the Orwell Prize for Journalism that Ms Phillips received in 1996, she should surrender because the association of her name with that of Orwell is an insult to that great man and his memory.

<i>Khalid Hasan is Daily Times’ US-based correspondent. His e-mail is khasan2@cox.net</i>

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Mr Hasan's distortion</span></b>

Last Wednesday, I spoke on the themes of my book <b>Londonistan</b> to a meeting of the Heritage Foundation think-tank in Washington. After my presentation finished, I was asked a question by a Pakistani journalist. What was I suggesting, he asked sarcastically: that all British Muslims should be deported? This was the gist of my reply to him (you can hear what was actually said in the video recording on the <b>Heritage website</b>).

I said I was certainly not suggesting anything of the sort, and that the question illustrated precisely the kind of mischievous misrepresentation to which arguments like my own were repeatedly subjected. I said that I had repeatedly emphasised in my book that British Muslims should not all be tarred with the brush of extremism, that across the world Muslims were the most numerous victims of Islamist terrorism, and that it was very important to give truly moderate, reformist Muslims our support and protection. I believed that Britain should be delivering the message that Muslims were welcome in Britain to practise their faith, which should be respected, but at the same time Islamism – whereby the religion was being used to inspire hatred and violence against the British state or against America, Israel and the Jews – would not be tolerated. Britain’s current failure to draw this important distinction, I suggested, was not only endangering British society but undermining truly reformist British Muslims, since Britain’s appeasement of Islamist extremists was cutting the ground from under the moderates' feet in their own attempt to defeat them.

The following, however, is what this journalist, Khalid Hasan, has written in his newspaper the <b>Daily Times</b> of Pakistan:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I asked her after she was done what she proposed should be done to deal with the situation. Should all British Muslims be thrown out and a ban placed on further immigration of Muslims to Britain? <i>While there was little doubt that this is what she would wish</i>, [my emphasis] she said it should be made quite clear that minorities could not dictate to the majority. While everyone was free to practise his religion, including Islam, no one could be permitted to sabotage the essential Western values of British society..

She added the standard disclaimer that it was not her intent to ‘demonise all <i>Muslims’ although at one point she suggested that there was something intrinsically the matter with Islam when it came to violence</i> [my emphasis].<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


This grossly misrepresents what I said in my remarks and in my reply to Mr Hasan. He has ignored what I said in my reply to him and provided instead an untrue and defamatory gloss, imputing to me a view which I do not possess. I also did not make any reference in my remarks – indeed, I specifically say in the book that this is a matter on which I do not express a view at all – to any ‘intrinsic’ characteristic of Islam.

<b>Mr Hasan is of course entitled to his opinions about my views, and he is also free to make the kind of unpleasant remarks about ‘Zionists’ which he includes in his article. However, he is not entitled to distort a public presentation liked this, and the Daily Times of Pakistan might like to note that he has badly misrepresented what I said.</b>

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b>Muslim hardship under spotlight</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Many Muslims in England face bleak employment prospects and endure poor standards of housing, a government-backed study has found.

The report revealed Muslims were more likely than any other faith group to be jobless and living in poor conditions.

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It said half of Muslims aged over 25 were unemployed, and one in three lived in the most deprived areas of England.

University researchers in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford, and Warwick also found they had poorer levels of education.

The study, commissioned to review the prospects of faith communities in England, also said Muslims were more vulnerable to long-term illness.</span></b>

<b>'Multiple deprivation'</b>

"Taking the Muslim population as a whole, they face some of the most acute conditions of multiple deprivation," the report said.

John Prescott's former department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), commissioned the academics to review data on the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities.

As well as highlighting the disadvantages suffered, the report found members of these communities were likely to remain concentrated in the same areas.

This was because families wanted to stay close together and many prefer to live near to their places of worship.

Researchers reviewed a variety of data, including information from the 2001 national census.

The government will use the study in its work to encourage equal opportunities for members of all religious communities, a spokeswoman said.

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

http://ivarta.com/columns/OL_060313.htm
Pak`s true secularism vs India`s pseudo-secularism
- By: V Sundaram

[Naresh]

<b>Accord with Greece to boost security ties: Deal for four frigates</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ATHENS, May 15: Greece will provide four frigates to the Pakistan Navy, two of which will be delivered this year, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here on Monday. The two countries were looking forward to stronger ties in defence and security-related matters and had agreed on the deal, Mr Aziz told the media team accompanying him on his four-nation visit.

Heading a delegation to Athens, including members of his cabinet, senior officials and businessmen, Mr Aziz is scheduled to meet ministers, ship-owners and commerce board members during his two day stay here.

Without giving details of the deal, Mr Aziz said Pakistan was acquiring used frigates. He said two frigates would be delivered this year and the other two in 2007.

The Hellenic Navy uses Elli class frigates and the same will be provided to Pakistan.

Pakistan has been acquiring defence equipment from various countries to meet its defence needs.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Kortenaer – Elli</b>

The Hellenic Navy has Five Ex Royal Netherlands Navy Frigates.

The Five Frigates with Date of Commissioning :

1. F459 Adrias 07/26/1979 Ex-RNN Callenburgh (F808) – Age 27 Years

2. F460 Aegeon 10/29/1980 Ex-RNN Banckert (F810) – Age 26 Years

3. F461 Navarino 04/24/1980 Ex-RNN V.Kinsbergen (F809) – Age 26 Years

4. F462 Kountouriotis 10/26/1978 Ex-RNN Kortenaer (F807) – Age 28 Years

5. F463 Bouboulina 10/01/1983 Ex-RNN Pieter Florisz (F826) Age 23 Years

As such it seems that the Pakistani Navy is desperate to acquire Naval Vessels and this "Fleet" will have an average age of over 25 Years.

With the nations funds being spent on Bullet-Proof Mercedes Limousines etc. the above vessels should be ready for the Nacker’s Yards and I am sure that the P N Admirals will make Loadsa Dosh when these Firgates are finally sent to Gadani Beach.

On hearing of Pakistan’s acquisition plans of the Four Hellenic Navy’s Frigates, Indian Nany spokesman Alfred E Newman said “<b>What, me worry?</b>

Cheers. <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>PAKISTANI PREFERENCES</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Sahnoon kee — Mian Ijaz Ul Hassan</b>

What is happening? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I wonder what we wish to make of ourselves. Every one is lost to the others. I am reminded of a person with a plateful of halva striding to a blind old man with bent back sitting at a street corner. To register his presence he said aloud, “Hafiz jee, halva!” The old man turned his head in his general direction and replied rather severely, “What is it to me?” “Hafiz jee, it is for you.” The old man immediately pulled himself up and said rather cockily, “In that case, what is it to you?” Many of us appear to be getting similarly blind to reality and indifferent to the fate of others.

<b>They say those living next to open drains become insensitive to stink.</b> They need to desensitise themselves in order to survive. After a while some of them actually begin to like the strong odours. <b>I know of individuals who like to sniff their armpits in private. Very well, of course, as long as they don’t consider it a virtue and make a public exhibition of it — or regard it a sport or an art form. I have seen people rubbing their toes and then leisurely sniffing their fingers. They seem to prefer the smell bred between moist toes in tight shoes on a hot summer day</b>. A matter of personal taste and sensibility; though I would prefer a perfume — any time. <b>It is a matter of national concern that horrible sights and odours, relentlessly invading the national prospect, have blighted our vision and smothered our sense of scent. We have gradually acquired an immunity aur hamein burree cheezoon say badboo kam anay lagee hai.</b>

I am reminded here of a girl who got married to a distant cousin who lived in a village. Her in-laws had a spacious courtyard where they lived in close companionship with farm animals. During the day the buffaloes were escorted to the village pond where they remained immersed in water or were tied under tree shade. In the evening they were herded back to the courtyard and milked. A horse and a donkey followed them, the former pulling a rehra, the latter a rehree. The animals were fed before the family ate and retired for the night. Throughout the night while the men and women tossed and turned or fought the invading mosquitoes, the animals urinated and expurgated.

Every morning, the bride was rudely woken up by flies crawling on her face. A strong whiff of pungent odour greeted her. She tried to bear the rude awakening with fortitude but could not resist mentioning to her jathani (the wife of her husband’s elder brother), every now then, <b>“There is too much stink around here”. Tired of her lament, the latter one morning amiably vouched to her, “Don’t worry dear, it will go away soon. It used to bother me too when I was new here”.</b>

It cannot be disputed that a person will bear almost anything for a gain. For his ideals and passions he will ride through harsh trials. Being close to animals may be counted a blessing. The donkey helps him transport fodder for cattle, the buffaloes give him milk, the horse enables him to sell it in the town. Even the dung is useful as manure and as fuel. The mosquitoes are easily tolerated on a sated tummy and the promise of money to be made next morning. Farm manure may be offensive to urban nostrils but it is gold for the farmer — it can even be a measure of his wealth.

<b>But what about the sh1t that litters our country?</b> It doesn’t seem to affect our sensibilities as sharply as it did in the past. Is it because we now prize it as a measure of our collective pride or wealth? There was a time when people were interested in collective good. Today they are interested only in individual welfare and disinterested in common causes. The attitude is aptly expressed by the phrase, sahnoon kee (what is that to me). Some of us wouldn’t care if a whole village went thirsty as long as they get a water connection. They may not realise that unless the village has a water tank and a tubewell to pump water into it, the promise of individual water connections is a lie. Impelled by their dire needs many citizens will readily believe such lies.

<b>The good news is that the prime minister will soon manufacture for us lollipops flavoured by a growing GDP.</b> Had the country not run out of sugar, I am told, the lollipops would have been in the stores by now. What makes these lollypops special is that those licking them in moderation while standing in the midday sun will be able to overcome poverty and the need for education. In his generosity, the prime minister has agreed to prescribe for those adamant on remaining poor, jobless and ill three lollipops a day on an empty stomach — one at dawn, one at noon and the third at midnight. This should silence the poor. If this doesn’t work, the PM has assured people, the President is working on a goli (pill) to be distributed free during the coming elections.

It is amazing that many people are now following the political mullahs. How could we become so insensitive to reality that we fail to notice how they have transformed Islam into a deadly divisive force. Islam became a universal religion by readily absorbing all that was good in other cultures and civilisations. Today it is being marginalised and usurped by fanatics who have crafted into an instrument for fanning hate and fostering violence. Their agendas have little to do with human welfare. They openly reject tolerance and peaceful coexistence. They call for unity but are bound only by hate. They live in the past and have no vision of the future.

One of the best known attributes of our Prophet (peace be upon him) that the bigots will not emulate was his deep concern for the present; how people could live a more humane and enlightened life. According to him virtue that enabled the believer to ascend to heaven resulted from his social conduct. Virtue was to be demonstrated, not traded.

The nation should thank those who enabled the fanatics to form governments in Balochistan and the NWFP. In the past the religious parties never got more than seven seats in the National Assembly. <b><span style='color:green'>In the first place, no one should have been allowed to form political parties on the bases of religion.</span></b> Religious parties divide the nation into sects. The mullahs who cannot keep peace in a mosque cannot be trusted to govern. Most of them are good only for creating discord and derailing democracy in the country.

<b>Par sahnoon kee. Sahnoon te koi bo naheen andee.</b>

<i>Prof Ijaz Ul Hassan is a painter, author and political activist. He can be reached at ijazulhassan@magic.net.pk</i>

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gas pipeline blown up in Pakistan, three killed</b>
Wed May 17, 2006 1:40 PM IST

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArtic...ia-249689-1.xml<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b>SBP concealing external debt data</b> <!--emo&tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<b>Three injured in twin blasts in Pakistan</b>

Why Pakistan is rocking?

[Naresh]

<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 18 2006, 11:20 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 18 2006, 11:20 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Three injured in twin blasts in Pakistan</b>

Why Pakistan is rocking?
[right][snapback]51338[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Mudy Ji :</b>

Aaj the becauj <b>Mush Gola Tush</b> is <b>Rolling</b>

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>MUSH THE TUSH ACTING IN PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL INTEREST</span></b>

<b>These assemblies will elect me : Musharraf</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said the existing parliament was constitutionally privileged to re-elect him for a second term.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Nareshji,
here is Pakistan national interest. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pak, the most sex starved nation; India at number 6</b>
Thursday May 18 2006 00:00 IST
ANI
www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEW20060517113549&Title=World&Topic=0&?headline=Sex~starved~nations:~India~at~number~6

WASHINGTON: A recent survey has found that Muslim states seek access to most sex-related websites and Pakistan tops the list.

The survey by Google has revealed that among the top 10 countries searching sex related sites, six were Muslims, reports the Daily Times.

The countries according to their rank are
<b>1. Pakistan </b>
2. Egypt
3. Vietnam
4. Iran
5. Morocco
6. India
7. Saudi Arabia
8. Turkey
9. Philippines and
10. Poland<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Feroze Khan banned from entering Pak
Thursday, May 18, 2006 (Karachi):

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has banned Bollywood actor Feroze Khan from entering the country.

The move came after Khan's reported remarks highlighting comfort levels of Muslims in India in comparison to that in Pakistan triggered a nationwide controversy.

"Feroze Khan has been banned from entering Pakistan in the future. The President's decision has been communicated to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi," a private television reported, quoting sources in the Presidency.

Anti-Pak remarks

The 67-year-old actor's last visit to Pakistan for the premiere of his brother Akbar Khan's film Taj Mahal made headlines when the actor made some anti-Pakistan remarks and even got into an altercation with some people in Lahore.

"I am a proud Indian. India is a secular country. Muslims there are making lot of progress. Our President is a Muslim, Prime Minister a Sikh. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam, but look how the Muslims are killing each other," Khan was quoted as saying by a Pakistani daily last month.

The Pakistan President took the decision following a report submitted by intelligence agencies. (PTI)

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory...tegory=National<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->