BRADISTAN CALLING

THE ARTICLES AND LINKS

2009-06-28T05:55:00.011+06:00

Tribute to a more tolerant Pakistan and PIA.(circa. 1960s)

RE-DIRECTION TO PAK TEA HOUSE WEBSITE

Kashmir Broadcasting Corporation article

Links to related Websites in Bradford Yorkshire

http://twitter.com/bradistancallin

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bradistan-Calling/277385942278340

RE DIRECTION TO BRADISTAN CALLING-ARCHIVESalso see Social & Cultural Activities in bradistan

War on Terror in Tribal Areas:Radio Shariah and MTV Pakistan

2008-11-03T19:44:00.002+05:00

War on Terror(part3):
Radio Shariah and MTV Pakistan

In 1990s FM radios proclaiming shariah laws in vast areas of north western province andTribal border regions of Afghanistan became the law of the land. Moving the clock forward another decade , year 2001 same Taliban and their Saudi Arabian financer/mastermind sheikh Usama Bin Laden(UBL) –who had since turned against his mentors- opposed American foreign interference in Saudi Arabia after first gulf war ( the suffering of Palestine and threat of globalisation in religious and political conflicts of muslim countries)

Taliban and Bin laden converted Afghanistan Radio shariah and Jehadi CDs and DVD into global Islamist propaganda tool targeting the naïve 2nd generation Asians of racism hit Netherlands, Germany ,Denmark and UK. UBL got a larger willing and almost captive audience in disenfranchised Arab youth of poverty stricken back streets in Saudi Arabia, Yemen Libya, Syria and Jordan all tribal despotic Muslim statesThese conflicts and resulting political instability gave rise to political terrorism and al-Qaeda became a global terrorist outfit of loosely connected and controlled splinter cells.

one of these cells committed the biggest terrorist attacks on American soil in form of 9/11 aeroplanes exploding into world trade center New York and Pentagon. USA like a wounded tiger and hungry predator unleashed its full ferocity on Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world.Pakistan still struggling with millions of refugees from first afghan war became a staging ground for second jehad against the jehadists themselves, also known as War on Terror.

This time the new military dictator parvez musharraf with American bestseller biography “In the Line of Fire”, unlike extremist Zia ul Haq, is a secularist Neo liberal whose early life was spent in Turkey and who professes his admiration for “militant Secularism” governance by constitutional Army of Turkish Republic.The fight against jehadis became point of convergence for American neo conservatives and Pakistan military junta headed by musharraf –after the betrayal of Taliban regime by Pakistani military intelligence dumping the notion of pan Islamic “strategic depth” partnership with ex jehadis- dollar started flowing for Pakistani military bureaucracy.

In addition to doctrine of “pre-emptive strike” another social engineering term “enlightened moderation” was coined to change the fabric of Pakistan society once again. Halliburton and Texan oil dollars lined the deep pockets of Pakistani generals and turn coat neo-liberal intellectuals.Pakistani expatriate returning to the safety of Pakistan due to witch-hunts against muslim community in America after 9/11,brought much needed foreign exchange for middle class consumerism boom.
Investment in real estate , western style supermarket and shopping malls increased thousands of percent, stocks and shares of a sleepy Karachi stock exchange market sky rocketed, private media channels with liberal song and dance sequences opened their doors , Young urban professionals dancing their hearts out at five star devils dens (according to the pious orthodox clan) near the former red light district of Lahore and karachi.

Pakistani elite and army generals got generous grants from USA for their (Un)Holy Services, dedicated Voice of America TV shows in urdu language propaganda for Pakistani masses , freedom(sugar coated as Your World) radio broadcasts for muslim lower middle and working class masses in Iraq ,Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

Winning the “Hearts and Minds” of Pakistani university professors and students with generous study trips to USA for American Culture and History. Fulbright scholarships to students who are not half as bright academically.Technology savvy guys from Silicon Valley California opened outsourcing and software technology companies. Pakistan call centres calling the touchstones of American mortgage and cellular phone markets.

IMF, World Bank and American Corporations Investing in Pakistan financial sector to provide consumer retail credit and loans, credit cards and car finances exploded in market capitalisation. Indian professionals mixing freely with Pakistani counterparts in cross border tourism(not terrorism) which upto now was a Taboo.American Accent, McDonald’s and KFC , American Visa lottery Green Card and High skilled Software Engineer Jobs in silicon valley are the new status symbols.
The metropolis cities in Pakistan Karachi Lahore and Islamabad are fast becoming clones of American philosophy of “white Gold Burger”, sex before marriage and gay relationships in soap operas of TV entertainment are becoming acceptable in upper echelons of society. Economic and residential apartheid with gated communities of bahria and marina towns, American school system coupled with newest franchise of MTV Pakistan.

As one intellectual put it, probably very accurately, “Islamabad is a city thirteen miles away from Pakistan”.The gulf between the lower, middle, working classes and the upper class has increased enormously. Globalisation, anarchy, terrorism, extremism and enforced capitalism have hit Pakistan very hard. The social fabric of the traditional joint family structure which acted as social security safety net for poor is crumbing.

The divide between rich and poor is giving rise to conditions similar to latin American neo liberal economic policies of recession and currency inflations. Pakistan is fast transforming into an African failed state currently ranked 3rd most dangerous country .street crime and religious persecution by red mosque gang. Rape and killing of women and religious minorities are daily news and common place, which don’t raise any eyebrows any more.Mobile phone snatching ,ransom and hostage taking, target killing mafias and gangs are the hallmark of Pakistani youth culture Happy Birthday Mullah Diesel and MTV Pakistan with love from Radio Shariah

Part1:Holy United Kingdoms of Heaven Vs. Godless Evil Empire

We pick the story of Pakistan in 1979 under a brutal military dictatorship, like previous military dictatorship in 1958 and 1969 this one also had the full backing and patronage of American Republican and British Tory administration.

But the similarity ends there, in 1958 the liberal dictator Ayub Khan was a American yes man who went onto to write his biography aptly titled “Friends, not masters” its entirely upto historians to change the place of comma in the title to convey the right meaning.In 1969 the perpetually DRUNK Army Dictator Yahya Khan gained the notoriety as the “Butcher of Bengal” with Pakistani Army killing and raping the population of East Pakistan as a punishment for demanding independence for Bangladesh.

In 1979 it was the brutal execution of an elected prime minister and draconian islamisation of country by army dictator Zia ul Haq( after 6 years under populist Islamic socialist prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto), All under the watchful eye of United states of America, maggie Thatcher and American imperial viceroy the ambassador in Pakistan who decides the fate of commoners and government functionaries in fight against communism.

Latter day Terrorists Gulbadin Hikmatyar and Usama Bin Laden were the guests of Honour in Washington and London State Dinners hosted by Reagen and Thatcher, treated like rock star celebrities by American and British Embassies in Pakistan.

Zia Ul Haq the islamist dictator started islamisation of democratic institution of the country. Lynching , cutting of hands, rape law penalising only women victims Became part of Islamic shariat law introduced by dictatorial brand of Saudi Arabian waahabi jurisprudence injected into Pakistan’s body politic. Restriction on freedom of speech, cinema and TV became the norm, all political activity was banned while religious clerics were encouraged in all spheres of life.

Interpreting civil & criminal law ,lifestyle and choice of religion and marriage according to their own puritanical mindset.Parts of Pakistan became narcotics factories to supply chain the drug trade from golden crescent pakistan to europe supervised by military intelligence in order to finance crusader jihadis against communist Soviet Evil Empire.

Part2: God Bless America and Proud to be Pakistani

Russian Invasion of Afghanistan enabled military to recruit willing partners(the religious party cadre) for religious war against Godless soviet empire, all with the help from Reagan Administration. Arab youth armed with wahabi ideology and latest American arsenal flocked to Pakistan ,under the banner of office for jehad and service for martyrs’ families osama bin laden started recruiting second generation asian and arab immigrants from the streets of Dearborn Michigan ,new jersey, new York and Birmingham Luton and east end of London under full knowledge and logistical support of CIA and MI6.

Social and cultural conservatism and authoritarian lifestyle suited both the religious clerics as well as American and British conservatives, but it changed the social fabric of Pakistani society beyond recognition.A decade later war in Afghanistan ended soviets disintegrated and Islamist dictator zia ul haq exploded in a suspected bomb in his presidential plane Arnold Raphel was the 18th U.S. ambassador in Pakistan. He died in air crash near Bhawalpur with then Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq and Brigadier General Herbert M. Wassom, chief of the U.S. military group in Pakistan. on August 17, 1988 , leaving behind their inheritance in form of religious extremists and arab jehadist freedom fighters acclimatised to the tribal lifestyle of north west border regions of Afghanistan.These mujahideen -the freedom fighters for Amerian republican Ronald Reagan and Tory Margaret Thatcher-transformed into Taliban to fill in the power vacuum and give stability to a lawless failed state. But they started banning TV, burning schools, assassinating women doctors.some ex mujahideen became war lords trading narcotics opium and heroin, raping women and children getting covert support from Russia, India, Iran and even Pakistan.
(Go to Part3)

Letter from pakistan :Ramchand Pakistani (The Movie)

2008-10-24T17:21:00.005+06:00

I intend to write about the movie "ramchand Pakistani” and coming dates of Indian UK and American cinema release for "ramchand pakistani"there were many movies on border crossing between india and pakistan from bollywood (Border, Line of control and refugee sadly all depicting jingoistic Indian ultra Hindu fundamentalism of war years and propaganda) but ramchand is the first film discussing human relationships , pakistani identity with religion and cross border ties , CAN A HINDU BE A PAKISTANI? AND WHY WOULD INDIAN POLICE TORTURE A 8 YEAR OLD HINDU BOY? JUST BECAUSE HE IS A PAKISTANI!

Letter from Pakistan :

I get the sense that the young man who rightly wanted to express his views continues to do so from Bradford. I visited the Bradford University about 4 years ago in October in connection with an international conference on peace and conflict resolution. It was very cold in Bradford but a very pleasant experience.

Thank you also for your interest in the film "Ramchand Pakistani" which was principally filmed in Tharparkar and was adapted from actual events.
Thank you also for referring to the work of Baanhn Beli in the Tharparkar arid region. We are in our 23rd year of voluntary work and will soon be publishing our most recent report on some of our work in the past 2 decades. Baanhn beli works for uplift of all citizens of thar(where majority are untouchable Hindu castes) regardless of religion
When our film began its film Festival journey from the New York Tribeca Film Festival in April-My 2008, BBC World interviewed director Mehreen Jabbar, screened some scenes and described it as "a heart-felt film". Since then it has made good progress.

I presume you have visited the website at http://www.ramchandpakistani.com/.

You will be interested to know that The Times/BFI 52nd London International Film Festival has scheduled 2 screenings of our film i.e. on 18th October and 20th October at the National Film Theatre, London and the film has also been nominated for the Sunderland Trophy in the Festival.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/ramchand_pakistani

http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/ramchand_pakistani_0

In advance of its possible theatrical release in the U.K., options for which are being explored.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2008/oct/13/film-family-tree-ramchand-pakistani?picture=338542562

FILM:In the name of God

http://www.inthenameofgod.com/

Shoaib Mansoor’s film debut ‘in the name of God’ comes at a time when Pakistan is plagued by religious insecurities. The movie endeavors to portray the problems plaguing the Muslim world post 9/11.

If directed by any other individual, such a sensitive, introspective story could easily have metamorphosed into a mere show of finger-pointing. However, Shoaib Mansoor is intelligent enough to portray the gray, confused areas of an individual’s interpretation of religion, experienced enough to fairly depict both the religious and not-so-religious factions of Pakistan and perceptive enough to get his message across: that while religion in itself is good, it is often misused as a means to personal gain. Violence, persecution of women and lawlessness are all conveniently excused to have been done ‘in the name of God’.

The movie outlines the story of two brothers, Mansoor and Sarmad, played by Shan and Fawad Khan, ex-EP singer and model-actor, respectively. The movie starts off with the two brothers crooning to guitars while preparing for a concert. Their rehearsal is interrupted by a group of bearded men on motorcycles who destroy the concert stage with sticks. This scene sets the tone of the entire movie: meaningless violence, all in the name of religion.

Sarmad meets up with a Maulana Cleric, expertly played by Rasheed Naz, who begins to preach the rites of Islam to him. Steadily, Sarmad begins to change - much to his family’s consternation. He leaves music, grows a beard, takes off pictures from the walls of his house and tries to persuade his mother to wear Hijab.

Enters Mary, or Maryam, played by Iman Ali, the boys’ cousin who has grown up in London and now wants to marry her white boyfriend. Her father, though himself involved in a live-in relationship with a British woman, is appalled that his future grandchildren may not be Muslim. Meanwhile, Mansoor leaves to study music in Chicago where he falls in love with an American girl. While he is there, the catastrophe of September 11 takes place.

"In Gods Name" is fast-paced and riveting, focusing on a rural Afghan village in one scene, and the polished, urbanized life of Chicago in the other shot; and the boys’ concerned parents in their Lahore home in the third. The acting and dialogue delivery is much better than in any recent Pakistani movie. Iman Ali looks beautiful and heart-rending as the British girl victimized by her father’s double standards.Rasheed Naz gives a stellar performance as the preaching, jihadi maulvi. Naseeruddin Shah’s role in the film is small yet powerful, with unforgettable dialogue.

It is no doubt that ‘in the name of God’ addresses a controversial topic and will be subjected to harsh criticism. The conversation between Sarmad and his family when he quits music may antagonize a large faction of Pakistani society. The movie addresses issues that every Pakistani is aware of: infliction of force upon a woman to establish man’s supremacy over her because ‘women can never equal men’; the marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim and the problems associated with it and of course, the suspicions and torture inflicted upon Muslims after 9/11.

In the name of God is a cerebral film that attempts to make Muslims aware of how Islam is misconstrued in order to validate a number of ugly, inhuman crimes. It also tries to explain the dilemma plaguing the Muslim world to the West and that every Muslim is not a gun-wielding maniac.

Red Mosque on the Bradford Moor

2007-05-26T13:25:00.002+05:00

The Red Mosque of Bradistan:
This Red mosque, actually a converted old Victorian church, built (originally) in Yorkshire stone is just like the inconspicuous buildings lining the Leeds road Bradford moor, an area famous for posh Asian restaurants competing with wimslow road Manchester for the title of curry capital of the north.
But I am talking about this “red mosque on Bradford moor” which looks like any other mosque in Bradford is no ordinary mosque, certainly not like the RED MOSQUE IN ISLAMABAD. The high security door, wired and reinforced windows are unlike the other mosques in Bradford. Not so long ago, actually just before 9/11 when usama bin laden had not attained his current cult celebrity status, some hot headed young Muslim (born again Tableeghi-read evangelical ) lads used to pump up the music while passing this “Red mosque” their car stereos deafening the street with anthems “ Islam’s hero number one, my leader usa-ma bin laden” just to annoy the gate keeper and the administration of the mosque, but other than that isolated incident this red mosque perfectly integrated into Bradford muslim community, no one can tell the difference between those who visit this “red mosque” or other mainstream mosques in Bradford.

The muslim community does not discriminate against those who worship at this Red mosque. Their common cultural, linguistic reference remains Pakistani Punjabi /mirpuri. their relations ,marriage ceremonies and eid celebrations remain focal point of the community.

Before one might be tempted to think that I am talking about “shia” sect, which is constantly in news in iraq and Pakistan, suffering the attacks perpetrated by “terrorist” clan of wahabi (loyalist Paramilitary of Saudi Royals) and Al qaeda operatives, I am not. its another story how supposedly sworn enemies namely bin laden construction crew and al saud clan with its kick backs of defence deals that stretch from Thatcher to blairite era, can cooperate in iraq and Pakistan to pursue the evil agenda of purifying the muslim world of “infidel” shias and Iranian influence.

Well in bradistan shia are not considered a minority they are part of the mainstream. Contrary to what BNP and NF websites propagate; bradistan is a culturally vibrant, ethnically diverse, and socially more integrated than some other cities of the UK.

Getting back to original discussion about “Red mosque”, which belongs to a religious minority within ethnic minority? Ahmadiyya religious sect, who like the African American “nation of Islam” believe in their own messiah prophet, are being persecuted in their native Pakistan for their non-mainstream religious beliefs. Ahmediya community have found a safe haven in UK and bradistan, the fellow Pakistanis have welcomed them with open hearts despite religious differences. The community now runs a 24 hour satellite channel broadcasting their religious programmes world wide which even the Pakistani government cannot block off airwaves, local community leader Mr Bari Malik a former magistrate is a prominent Pakistani representative in local government and charities in Yorkshire.
While back home in Pakistan they fear prosecution in courts because of performing muslim prayer rituals or identifying themselves with muslim names. Punishments under the anti –ahmadiyya ordinance promulgated by military dictator general zia ul haq in 1984 range from 3 years(for Islamic ritual) to death penalty for blasphemy.

Although Ahmediya community themselves practice a ultra orthodox set of beliefs and believe in 19th century Punjabi- British civil servant turned messiah- folklore prophet, but at same time gave Pakistani nation some of the most renowned international celebrities, like the only nobel laureate that Pakistan produced Dr Abdul Salam who revolutionised the world of physics by discovering the “weak force theory”.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\27\story_27-6-2007_pg7_12
Dr Salam and many war heroes who sacrificed their lives for Pakistani defense forces and pakistan’s first foreign minister sir zafarullah khan and their legacies were officially Disowned by the state after enacting that draconian law of religious bigotry. surprise surprise the current “enlightened “ modernist Dictator Pervaiz musharraf could not find time even in past seven years to strike the draconian law off the statute books.

Its Ironical that the head of pro Taliban mma alliance in parliament and opposition leader in pakistan Mualana Fazal ur Rehman undergoing angioplasty after a heart attack insisted on being treated by one of the world’s best heart surgeons Dr Mubashar Ahmed – a Pakistani expatriate , a Ahmadi by religion. Fazal Ul rehman and his late father mufti mehmood were instrumental in forcing the state to declare Ahmadiyya as non muslim, sometimes its takes medical science to tear the layers of discrimination and bigotry , I hope Mualana at least sends a thank you note to his doctor after recovery.
Sometimes at summer melas lads weaving Pakistani flags and wearing their Burberry designer hooded tops chant “proud to be Bradistani”

MAY DAY: CLASH OF GLOBALISATIONS

2007-04-23T10:00:00.000+05:00

TODAY IS MAY DAY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY, ALL OVER THE WORLD THERE WILL BE PROTESTS AGAINST TYRANNY,FASCISM, CAPITALISM & IMPERIALISM

MAY DAY 2007: CLASH OF GLOBALISATIONS
Please stop giving sermons about peace, equality, prosperity and global village when for all intent and purpose these policies are aimed at killing, loot and plunder and If this is a futuristic version of colonialist greed (read white man burden) in modern India , sugar coated theories of “World is Flat”, we do not want it . Thanks but no Thanks.

Nowadays there is a lot of promotion of so called new ideas by a number of thinkers championing market economy, Trade liberalization and globalization,the internet age out sourcing, china sweat shop theories.

All these so called THINKERS (notably among them one former New York times reporter) are sympathetic to neo conservatism - although not as blatantly as Dick Cheney Klan- taking their inspiration and futuristic vision from a world where America will be the perpetual boss, and the evil Kingdoms of thy Lords (Fundamentalist Bush KKK and usa-ma bin laden) shall remain for ever.

The Gurus of Politics and industry quote these new czars of futurology, namely Mr Thomas L Friedman(NYT reporter) and Mr Alvin Toffler( the futurologist),
in their articles and speeches and policies as if these are the new testament gospel for the 21st century.

I can agree with jest of these predictions about the future of internet,global village and media, which no one can deny.
My argument is about the flaw in their theories, whether work from home or prosumer theory (Toffler) or World is Flat (Friedman), my issue is with the arrogance ( criminal negligence) in their assumptions about the world. They do not want understand (for that matter interpret) the dynamics of geo politics, strategic nature of information technology and its relation to the poverty in the third world.
World is flat is essentially a view from fortress America. The "haves” Americans and the way they look at “have nots” of third world. Unfortunately this mentality reflects in “highly intellectual” columns that Mr "well informed" Friedman(being the self claimed middle east analyst) writes about Middle East and Muslim world and his favourite subject “ the terrorists”, as according to him they(terrorist- read muslims) are hell bent on destroying his world and his life style.
These pseudo Intellectuals portray America and Israel as forces of construction and Arabs and Hezbollah as forces of destructive anti americanism. this is the same “US Vs. rest of the World” attitude that neo con philosophy is all about. Professor Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilisation” is one such evil ideology being the bible for right wing white supremacists and their Governments.

Information Technology is transforming the lives, no doubt, but its effects and benefits are yet to reach farmers, peasants, urban poor, tribal and aborigines of our third world countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australian pacific. The biggest problem is that Technology savvy multinational corporations want to keep this digital divide or technological apartheid between first and Third world, all their efforts and energies are spent-in form of copyrighting bio technology, patent DNA for crops and intellectual property for even the simple student & educational software for third world- on making it harder for the poor to bridge this divide.

Even in India, the blue eyed boy of technology outsourcing industry, the Sparkling clean High tech development centers of Microsoft and IBM with six figure sum salaries exist only in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Mumbai. These visions of future are million miles away from the common man/woman ,the workers and peasants,of India. information technology has changed little in his/her life.
No common man can even dream of getting education or employment for his kids in these Oasis of American consumerism bubble . BPO in india doesnot create a flatter world it only increases the gulf between rich and poor.Merely a modern version of 18th century workhouses or sweat shops.

I have observed the out sourcing industry at very close quarters, unfortunately American corporate greed can be seen at its worst ,with poor Human and employment rights for Indian IT executives (read data entry clerks), which Mr Friedman describes as "equal opportunities" for all, hardly ,let me say.

If this is a vision of colonialist greed for loot and plunder, sugar coated theories - white man burden in modern India- "world is flat" we do not want it, Thanks but no Thanks.
Frank fukayama still advocates -despite "end of history" egg on the face- enforced globalization through Military industrial complexes and multinational corporations in developing counties. I think the fizz has already gone out of the talk about his "change of heart" after the ebarrassing Iraq war fiasco and his flop theories of liberal democracies , with self correcting mechanism much like no-frost refrigerators, They may be a hit in home appliances but not in politics or geo strategics I am sorry.

Toffler or Friedman and many more like Senator Hillary Clinton are blissfully unaware of the miseries and hardships created in this world by American policies of stubbornness in Kyoto, WTO, Third World Agricultural exports and non tariff barriers against Fairer Trade. Giving subsidies to American farmers for producing low grade and high priced surplus agriculture products which kills any chance of survival for poor farmers in third world countries.

World Bank and IMF with Neo con Paul wolfowitz's blessing squeeze the last drop of blood from third world economies -the poorest of the poor suffer heavy indirect taxes on utilities and food items (two of the most basic things for survival)- in order to extract interest on loan and conditionalities are imposed by IMF the shylock in the name of development.

Mr Presidents & Premiers of G-8,Please stop giving sermons about peace, security,terrorism, equality, prosperity and global village when all for intent and purpose the policies are aimed at killing, loot and plunder.

THE RELUCTANT FUN DA MENTAL-IST

2007-04-18T17:41:00.000+05:00

WASHINGTON:
KHALID HASAN
http://dailytimes.com.pk

Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid’s new novel, his second, has hit the No 1 spot on the Barnes & Noble bestseller list. This, according to the New York Times, happened “virtually the moment it was published in this country.”
In an interview with the newspaper, Hamid, who comes from Lahore but lives in London, said that he may now be able to quit his job as a consultant with a branding firm in London. Asked if it is fair to describe the novel as a Muslim’s critique of American values, he replied, “That’s oversimplifying. The novel is a love song to America as much as it is a critique.”

Told by the interviewer that he did not find it “so loving” as it takes place on a single evening at a cafe in Lahore, as a charming, well-educated Pakistani in his 20s recounts his life story to an unnamed American stranger, who seems suspicious of him, Hamid replied, “The American is acting as if the Pakistani man is a Muslim fundamentalist because of how he looks - he has a beard.” The author in real life has a beard.
Told that the Pakistani narrator of the story also brings certain fears and preconceptions to their conversation and in an act of reverse ethnic profiling, he suspects the American to be an undercover agent who might arrest him, the author replied, “Yes. But he could be just as freaked out as the rest of us are in this world when we see an American with that kind of build and imagine he is a CIA agent. The novel is not supposed to have a correct answer. It’s a mirror. It really is just a conversation, and different people will read it in different ways.”

Asked by the interviewer if he, an American, could also be a CIA agent as their conversation, as in the novel, was taking place between an American listener and a Pakistani man with a beard, Hamid answered, “If you had short hair and a bulge in your jacket, I might assume you were.” When told that it was “unsettling” to learn that Hamid’s protagonist felt a rush of genuine pleasure when the World Trade towers were attacked, the author replied, “Some part of him has a desire to see America harmed. In much of the world, there is resentment toward America, and the notion that the superpower could be humiliated or humbled or damaged in this way is something that gives satisfaction.”
Asked if that was how he felt when the twin towers were attacked, Hamid replied, “No. I was devastated. A wall had suddenly come up between my American and Muslim worlds. The novel is my attempt to reconnect those divided worlds.”
When reminded that much like the narrator in ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist,’ Mohsin Hamid grew up in and was educated at Princeton, he replied, “I was one of two or three Pakistanis in the class of ’93, and I didn’t feel homesick for a second. I took two writing workshops with , and I wrote the first draft of my first novel in a long-fiction workshop with , both of whom encouraged me.” He said in answer to another question that from Princeton, he had gone to the Harvard Law School but decided that he did not want to be a lawyer because “it bored the pants off of me”.

Reminded that the only one who speaks in the novel is the Pakistani, while the American is silenced, Hamid answered, “For me, in the world of media, particularly the American media, it’s almost always the other way around.”

When told that no one is silencing him as he goes on a book tour across America and his book has already sold 100,00 copies, the author replied, “But there are not many of us from the Muslim world who are getting heard over here. And the ones who are mostly seem to be speaking in grainy videos from caves.”

Guest Post : Remembering 10th April 1988, Mass Murder in Pakistan

2007-04-07T15:37:00.000+05:00

Mass murder in Rawalpind and Islamabad
Remembering Ojhri
by Tariq Mehmood
19 years ago, on the 10th April 1988 Ojhrii dump in Rawalpindi was blown up. This was a deliberate act of destruction. Hundreds upon hundreds of missiles rained down on Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Over 5000 people were killed. Many, many thousands more were injured.

I was working as a journalist for the Frontier Post and along with a colleague, Imran Munir, went into the camp, early the day after the explosion. Every now and again, a rocket or missile would take off, and land somewhere, causing yet more deaths and destruction.

All manner of rockets and shells were going off. People were sitting around shell shocked. The houses close to Ojhri were reduced to mere shells. I went into one house. A man in his late 20s was sitting amidst shattered glass and broken wood. He was rubbing his hands in the glass. Blood fr om his shredded hands was spreading across the floor. He had a little child’s shoe. He turned to us. I looked into his bloodshot eyes. He said, ‘this is where my son was martyred.’ Imran was about to take a photograph of him, but he lowered the camera. We could not snap him in this position. We stood there for a while, we wanted to lift him up but the man wanted to stay with the memory of his child. Out side his door I saw a dog. It stood in front of us. It was a healthy black and white mongrel. It must once have been a loved pet. I can still see the dogs eyes, filled with unspeakable terror, asking me why? Why? Why? I did not know what to say to the creature. I did not know what had happened. Had I known, I would have sat down and told the dog, that this is the way those that rule, hide one crime by committing another.

Some people I talked to said they saw a missile cut through a buffalo’s stomach. I have found some of my notes from that time. Many people said that the police just ran off, even from major traffic junctions and students took over the posts, directing traffic.

Era of Darkness

This was another dark period of military rule in Pakistan. A time when the military rulers danced to American tunes. This was not the era of ‘Enlightened Moderation’, but that of militant jihadism acceptable to the Americans. This was the era of General Zia’s Raj. This was a time when Pakistan was once again a ‘Front Line state’ and the West, particularly America and its allies were supporting the Mujahidin groups, and when of course Osama Bin Laden America’s most favourite freedom fighter was leading the Western inspired Jihad against the Soviets. Hundreds of millions of dollars were given to the Pakistani military to manage the Jihad in Afghanistan, and hundreds of millions of dollars was also spent on providing weapons and logistical support for the Mujahid groups through Pakistan. Who then were of course freedom fighters.

The weapons were sent mainly by American, but also, by other alleys of the US, including Britain. These where shipped to Karachi and from there taken North. They were stored in dumps all over country. One of the biggest central dumps was Ojhri. This dump was directly controlled by the ISI. It was an open secret that the ISI was not even answerable to the GHQ in Rawalpindi, but directly to General Zia himself.

Some people at the time said they thought the day of judgement had arrived.

I have found three eye witness accounts from that time. I only have their names and do not remember much more of them.

‘I was going towards Faizabad when I heard the explosion. There was a huge fire. Many people were running towards it, while the police were running away from it. Missiles started flying in every direction. I saw about 12 young men sheltering under a tree. Then they were all dead. The road going towards the CDA (Capital Development Authority) colony was littered with hands and feet of little children. Such great injustice. The world seemed to have died. Whilst the police ran off, students started directing traffic.’ Bagh Hussain.

‘It was raining missiles and bombs. Everyone was running for their lives. The area was full of explosions and screaming. What the bombs did not destroy the police took.’ Mohammad Ishaque.

‘Four thousand have died. It was like Qiamat. Even when all hell was let loose, when bombs were spread around liked chopped pieces of wood, these people (pointing to policemen) were robbing – such injustice.’

What the people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad did not know was that the reason their world was because someone was trying to cover up a simple fact. American stinger missiles which had been given for fighting in Afghanistan, had found their way into the hands of the Iranians. They were stored in Ojhri dump, and it was pretty obvious that those looking after the dump had sold them on to the Iranians, pocketing the money. A team of American navel investigators was in mid-flight, on its way to Ojhri to investigate. They had entered Pakistani airspace, when the dump was blown up.
Two days after the explosions at Ojhri, General Zia compared what happened to the disasters at Russia’s Chrenobyl and India’s Bhopal. He refused to admit that Ojhri was a transit dump where weapons were destined for Afghanistan. The deed was blamed on foreign agents. But General Zia and those close to him knew full well that this was a lie. This was an inside job.

The foreign Hand theory could not hold ground, as many Pakistani papers at the time questioned. Stinger missiles do not just go off, they had to be primed. Army ammunition dumps, are built in such a manner an explosion should not affect the other. But here were truckloads of the stuff over ground, and much more underground, all going off. By the time the Americans arrived, 5000 people were dead. What was incredible to believe at the time was that even General Zia would not let people know what sort of weapons were stored underground.

We went into the grounds of Ojhri and a senior Pakistan officer, whose rank and name I forget now, saw us. He was holding a small Quran in his hand. He was shaking with anger at what had happened. He explained that in the underground networks, there were so many unexploded munitions, and they had no idea how to defuse them. They were learning by trial and error. Each error cost the life of an army Jawan. Over 1000 died in this process alone.

In the shadow of the horror there was much confusion. Some people thought at the time that India had attacked. Some thought, including some in the military, that this was a cloak under which the US was going to knock out the nuclear plant at Kahota. For those who lost loved ones, 10th April 1988 will for ever be a burning horror. With the death of 17th February 2007 of two workers in Rawalpindi from unexploded munitions from Ojhri dump, the living are reminded about the callousness of the rulers who stored so much weapons in side a major city like Rawalpindi, and then those who colluded to blow it up.

One of the fallouts of Ojhri was that the military dictatorship of General Zia had lost all credibility in the eyes of peoples of Pakistan, in particular the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. General Zia’s regime had become a liability; it could not long be trusted by its foreign masters.

The people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad deserve a full account of who did what in Ojhri. All internal reports should now be published. The citizens of Rawalpindi and especially those who lost their loved ones in the Ojhri disaster deserve a permanent memorial to this crime against humanity. Let us hope the present General’s “Moderate Enlightenment” to acknowledge Ojhri as a crime against humanity and publish a full and frank account of the how and why it happened and promise a memorial to honour the dead.
I used to live with Feica in Peshawar, and he made a cartoon of General Zia’s wife, sitting on a donkey, laden with diamonds, on the way to London. General Saab was very upset and his office let us know of his displeasure. But perhaps General Zia should have listened to the whispers of his masters and the screaming of the streets, and left. In true Pakistani style, General Zia Saab was deaf to the demands of the people to go and did not see how much his masters were also irked by him. As we know, he came and went with a bang.

From rural Punjab to outback Australia —Guest Post by Razi Azmi

2007-04-01T12:57:00.000+05:00

Nearly all the cameleers were from the western parts of British India (present-day Pakistan), most being Punjabis, the rest Pathan (Afghans), Baloch and others. However, the appellation Afghan was stuck to them and has stayed ever since
One of the great train journeys of the world is the famous ‘Ghan’, which runs from Adelaide in the south of the Australian continent to Darwin in the north. It is a journey of 2979 kilometers across some of the most inhospitable terrains in the world.
The word Ghan is derived from Afghan, and is a tribute to the camel drivers who helped with the transportation of goods and the development of the overland telegraph line between Adelaide and Darwin in the 19th century.

The first cameleers arrived in the 1860s and remained a part of the Australian rural landscape for over 60 years, until the railway track to Alice Springs was laid in 1929 (it was extended to Darwin in 2004). Their numbers are estimated to have been three thousand. Most were unmarried; others had left their wives and families behind. Some married aboriginal women. They lived in settlements called ‘ghantowns’, complete with halal butcher, imam and mosque.

Nearly all the cameleers were from the western parts of British India (present-day Pakistan), most being Punjabis, the rest Pathan (Afghans), Baloch and others. However, the appellation Afghan was stuck to them and has stayed ever since, although it is a misnomer insofar as it attributes the cameleers’ origin to Afghanistan.
The fate of one white woman of extraordinary grit, Winifred Steger, became intertwined with that of the cameleers, first as the wife of Ali Ackba Nuby (Ali Akbar Nabi) and then of Karum Bux (Karam Bakhsh), both Punjabi Muslims from near Lahore.
Winifred was a prolific writer. Her best-known is a fascinating book titled Life with Ali (first published in 1969 as Always Bells). Here the author mixed fact and fiction and embellished her account. Fascinated by Winifred’s life and writings, Hilarie Lindsay wrote The Washerwoman’s Dream; The Extraordinary Life of Winfired Stegar 1882-1981 (Simon & Schuster, 2002). After meticulous research, including interviews with Winifred and some of her children, Lindsay was able to sift fact from fiction. Here’s the life of Winifred as it emerges from the two books.
Born in 1882, Winifred Stegar (nee Oaten) had migrated with her father to Australia when she was not quite ten, leaving behind her mother. Virtually abandoned by her father, who suffered from depression, Winifred fell in love with a German immigrant, Charles Steger, married him, and had four children over nine years. But he was rough, rude, drunken and violent. When Winifred left him, she was forced to leave her children behind.
For seven years Winifred worked in a hotel-cum-bar run by a kind English lady. After the latter returned to England, she found work in a hotel in Mungallala in Queensland. On 10 March 1915, she noted in her diary: “There’s a hawker who calls here...an Indian. His name is Ali. He comes into the kitchen and I make him a cup of tea. He’s one of three brothers...His older brother came here in 1884 and stayed for 18 years and then he went back to India and Ali came to take his place. He’s been here for thirteen years. He drives a horse and cart and hawks things around”.
The next day she wrote: “Ali came in again today. He has the most beautiful brown eyes and white teeth. He calls me mem-sahib and treats me with respect.... He speaks English but with an accent...in a tilting tone. He talked about his home in India and his little mother and his brothers and sisters. I had tears in my eyes listening to him. He doesn’t go into the bar with the other men. I watch him sometimes from my bedroom window. He is a Moslem. He prays, kneeling and prostrating himself on the ground. He always comes to the tap in the yard to wash himself first. Sometimes he wears a turban and baggy pants and a waistcoat. He looks different from the drovers... Some of them don’t like him and call him ‘that bloody Afghan’”.
Six months went by. One day Ali walked into the kitchen. “Come,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come with me and be my wife”. He took her to a room he called home, where they had a wedding with only Allah as witness. “First we must bathe and then ask Allah to bless our union.” He stood beside her and with his arms raised above his head called, “Allahu Akbar”. Ali then thanked Allah “for giving me this woman”.
Lindsay notes that “for the first time in her life [Winifred] felt herself truly loved. ...Suddenly, she was afraid. She knew that if she ever lost him it would be more than she could bear. ‘Allah,’ she whispered. ‘Keep my Ali safe’”.
Soon they had a son, Yousef Deen, followed by another, Rhamat (Rahmat), and a daughter, Pansy. Ali decided to go where the real money lay, in the camel caravans. He settled in Oodnadatta in South Australia, the terminus for the railway and the starting point of the camel trains, which set off when the fortnightly train arrived from Adelaide. For a start, Ali became a cameleer’s “companion driver”. “Some days later,” Winifred recounts, “the camel train moved out, and I went too. Ali was in charge of twenty loaded camels with a native or two [aborigines] to help.”
“We never traveled on a Friday, the camel men had five sessions of prayer that day.... The rule prescribed prayer five times a day for other days as well, but when on trek it was reduced to three — at sunrise, sunset, and noon. Ali never stinted when asked for any charitable purpose, he spoke ill of no one, tolerant to all other religions and strong in his own.”
“It was a rough life, walking in the sun, heat, and blinding dust, but I did not let it worry me”, Winifred recalls. “We were young, happy and in love, each morning was a new, happy day. I was overjoyed to be with him; I had eaten my fill of lonely years before I met him, so I thrived on this rough, romantic life”.

One day a letter arrived from India. Ali’s parents wanted him home to settle a land dispute. He had lucrative contracts to fulfill but, he told Winifred, “it is my duty as a son. I must go to my mother”. Ali left, promising to return soon, “before our camels return.” With a heavy heart, Winifred bid him goodbye.

Weeks turned into months and there was no news of Ali. Worried, Winifred caught a train to Adelaide, a thousand kilometers away, hoping to get some news at the mosque there. Ali, the imam told her, had died with many others when cholera struck his village. Her happy life had been cut short.

Later she asked the imam about inheritance. “You are not one of us,” he replied. “You do not know the Islamic code. You have no claim on your husband’s estate because there is no record of your marriage.” “How will we live?” Winifred asked. “I will find you another husband’” the imam assured her.

With Ali no more, Winifred mustered the courage to return to Oodnadatta to carry on the trade as before, only to find that all their camels had been stolen by the other cameleers. Ali’s wife and children had been left in the lurch by his erstwhile friends.
The writer may be contacted at
raziazmi@hotmail.com

Article first appeared on Daily Times, 08/03/2007

http://dailytimes.com.pk

Pakistan under siege

2007-02-10T19:51:00.000+05:00

Update 15th April 2007 Karachi Pakistan

Pakistan under siege
also see this book of similar title-
not by same author.

http://www.dukandar.com/paksiege.html

Dil Nawaz

Past week has rattled nerves and heightened fears for personal safety and security of family, despite being located in most militarized part of Pakistani Army GHQ city of Rawalpindi. A stone throw away from Departure lounge of Islamabad international airport where a suicide bomber tried to throw hand grenades on passengers.
Proximity to army installations is more of a curse than a sense of safety.
Six members of Pakistan Peoples Party (only credible mass representative party with any genuine democratic and anti establishment credentials left despite two stints in power ) were killed by the Pakistan Muslim League hit men of neo Liberal "made in Citi bank USA" imported prime minister shuakat aziz , in the electoral constituency from where he was elected to become the premier on the wishes of "enlightened" dictator pervaiz musharaf. The Town of Attock is 40 miles from Rawalpindi. Its not a coincidence that murdered activist of secular Peoples Party all belonged to minority Shia sect. As a citizen with some sense of conscience and morality I could not bear the Agenda being pursued by "war of Terror" dictator Buddy of GW bush, I felt it would be criminal to remain a silent spectator in struggle against the neo liberal agendas in Pakistan and the push is coming to shove
Musharraf’s appeasement and compromises with the clerics in North west frontier and balochistan after the betrayal of Taliban in USA’s war on Terror has come back to haunt him , he cannot bury his head in sand and think "all is ok". Post 9/11 election victories in border provinces for Islamist parties provided them with finance and safe havens to spread death and destruction to the other parts of Pakistan.
The NGOs which I covered in my report on earth quake relief activities bear the brunt of attacks by militants encouraged by MMA government in NWFP last week there was shooting at save the children office in remote battagram district severely hit by quake and just yesterday bomb blast at office of Red Cross in provincial capital Peshawar.
In a related development girls from a madrassah (financed by islamist alliance)in capital Islamabad have occupied a children library protesting against demolition of a illegally constructed mosque, there were announcement from the loud speakers of the mosque warning government of suicide attacks (the airport attack happened couple days after that) if it tries to forcefully vacate the children’s library.
These girls holding Holy Qurans in one hand and heavy batons in the other are holding thousands of residents of nearby Lal Quarters ( a residential colony of mostly Christian cleaners and sanitary workers of government departments) virtually hostage.
The social workers, activists and journalists in Pakistan are trapped between the devil and deep sea because both the right wing islamist Taliban sympathizers and government Intelligence Agencies resort to encounter shooting and abductions and these abducted political workers and journalists are often brought back in body bags.
What’s happening in Pakistan is a low intensity conflict, NWFP and balochistan are in grip of full scale insurgency and it is quickly spreading to northern Punjab cities like rawalpindi, Islamabad. Religious killings of minorities like Ahmadis, Christians and even shia muslims donot raise any eye brows and reported like normal statistics in newspapers.

week ending 25th February saw killing of Women social Welfare minister Ms Zilla Huma Usman Killed by a Fanatic opposing the rights of women in islam, closure of Co-educational schools in NWFP after threats of suicide bombs and acid attacks on teachers " PREACHING" "WESTERN CIVILISATION" in these centres of sin- according to local clerics- these centres of sins are owned by none other than Mr Khurshid Kasuri -the Foregion Minister of Pakistan.
my youngest Sibling is a student at one of these unfortunate educational institutions, preparing for his GCSEs next Year.

The Brutalisation of Pakistani North West and Northern Punjab is Complete, this cancerous violence is spreading fast to Metropolitan cities like Lahore,pindi, Islamabad and Gujranwala where Woman minister was killed is only few miles away from Muredke the Head Quarters of Lashkar -Taiba (Jammat Dawah) - a terrorist cum preaching cum charity entity- promoting Taliban and Saudi doctrine of Wahabiism in Pakistan.

I am not very optimistic about the future survival of state of Pakistan as a religious ideological entity like Zionist Israel ,may be a new direction like Jinnah 's 11 August 1947 speech promising equality for all citizen irrespective of faith is the solution, but who will do the honours of implementing this new vision of pakistan.

American neo cons have already planned a balkanization of middle east and Pakistan detailed in Armed Forces defense journal The feeling among the middle class academia and intelligentsia is that of sitting ducks thanks to Front line state of War on terror, most wealthy and computer wiz kids are queuing up in front of Visa sections of Canada and Australia but 99% of the population does not have the luxury of emigration, their circumstances and patriotism keeps them grounded, genuine democracy participation and economic development is their only hope but musharaf and his buddy GW Bush do not intend to vacate presidential palaces anytime soon, ayman al zuwahairi and Usa-ma bin laden are comfortably sitting in safe houses with broadcast and communication facilities

President Propaganda,and Mr Murdoch

2007-02-03T10:17:00.000+05:00

http://aljazeera.net/english
Al Jazeera english is on air and I am totally addicted to it, ever since it switch on its digital signal I have switched off my daily staple of BBC, Sky news of which was getting boring Stupid celebrity news repetition of Britney spears dietary habits or Paris Hilton’s Bedroom gossips, Anna Nicole smiths promiscuous gossip, attractive only to lowest common denominator, but all this is not news, mere bulls and bears in celebrity stock trade chatter to increase or decrease pay cheques or bank Balances, I want to know about joys and sorrows of the real world, which I live and breathe in.

Al Jazeera English put it bluntly “setting the news Agenda” , The sister entity aljazeera Arabic is famous for breaking news and exclusives news stories, and an irreverent viewpoint on War on terror , issues in muslim world, a voice for silent majorities suffering the dictatorships in middle east American administration calls al jazeera “mouth piece of the terrorist” with videos of usama bin laden and beheading of American soldiers in Iraq ,American jets bombed Al Jazeera Bureau office in Baghdad and killed Journalist tareq Ayuob probably to silence the voice of “free journalism” and “freedom of Expression” , regardless of its reputation another perspective which is closest to the Al Jazeera Philosophy is looking at global news from a non- white ( Asian, African Latin American ) eyes.
Ever since the advent of Commerical satellite broadcasts , global audience has been continuously fed news and analysis from CNN and Mr Rupert Murdoch News corporations Fox (American continent),Sky(UK & Europe),Star (Asia) which control the leverage in public opinion and formation and assistance government propagandas and pro xenophobia Nazi (Europe ) and Zionist (Middle east ) agendas,
Al Jazeera’s Entry ( Gate crashing) in English language Global channels elite club has set alarm bells ringing in Washington media tycoon circle, which quickly responded by denying access to any cable or Satellite TV frequency over north America.
video streaming internet broadcasts are available at the moment
http://aljazeera.net/english

It will take some time to detoxify the airwaves of the poison of economic apartheid and racial and religious hatred across Europe, America and Mr Murdoch’s own (not native as he is not aborigines) Australia, yet the multi billionaire and his heir son remain hopelessly in spell of a theocratic racist ideologoly known as zionism,their Patriotic loyalty to tiny religious(last bastion of apartheid) state of Israel rather than Australia or any other democratic country.
soon to be aired programme BBC , confirms my suspicions about the cosy relationship betweem Mr Bliar and Mr Murdoch
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/tor8v/

any way Al Jazeera is Far from" Jihad TV" that zionist mokingly call it, its multi ethnic multi religious team of anchors
(including Jewish )who are fimilar faces and household names in Europe and america ,probably disillusioned from the big news corporations suffocating environment and glass ceiling & favouritism , are trying to fit into daily schedules of global TV audience with a mix of intellectual debate, news analysis as well as western style travel documentaries, fashion and lifestyle shows, film reviews with a different take on things, an alternative view point.

There is a market for factual news reports, not senitised through subtle policy guidelines from government. these are other wise known as “self censorship” practiced by prudent journalists, but not people like myself. Al Jazeera inspires me to write and provides facts to cover a story better and with “every angle”

Al Jazeera gives a different perspective on news and people in power. Its sister concern in Arabic has a track record of credibility and English channel has gained unprecedented access and trust. In otherwise closed societies like North Korea and Iran and trouble spots like Darfur , Zimbabwe and southern Thailand locals trust al jazeera to tell their stories to the rest of the world.
It reports from vibrant and successful anti imperialist latin American quarters like cuba and Venezuela shunned by likes of CNN and Sky ,

While Fox ,BBC , DW refuse to cover dangerous areas, al jazeera bridges the communication gap talking to people in Taliban controlled areas in Afghanistan and Insurgency hit neighborhoods in Iraq and live coverage of Israeli attacks on unarmed Palestinians, showing events that normally do not get attention of average European news reporter.

All western governments and especially profit monitoring committee of Mr Murdoch news corporation are watching these broadcasts with horror and disappointment is growing in the neo con and evangelical media damage limitation Task forces
Hopefully this first drops of rain in the barren land of media will open the flood gates of free flow of information to the global public opinion

Tariq Ali' s " The Leopard and the Fox"-a Pakistani Tragedy

2007-01-24T11:45:00.000+05:00

Like Agusto Pinochet and American interference in chile, CIA, Ronald Regan General Zia Ul Haq and Afghan Jehadis played a dangerous game with the destiny of Pakistan.
Tariq Ali’s Book “The Leopard and the Fox- a Pakistani Tragedy” sheds light on role of Thatcher Government and BBC in extending a lifeline to Brutal Dictator General Zia Ul Haq, Is the Blair Government following the same Path of Destruction?

Click on the multimedia link to see the interview

http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/01/070116_tariq_ali_book.shtml

I was born in the year when Popular leader prime minister Zulfikar Bhutto was hanged by military dictator Zia in a military Coup, same year Russian forces occupied Afghanistan, later in life these two events helped explain a lot of politics for me, like most of Pakistanis born in dictatorship my childhood was being fearful of zia and yet fascinated by his proclamations of his brand of Islamisation, which turned out to be nightmarish for large population of poor masses (hangings, lynching and stoning to death), but the islamisation did not effect the military and land lord elite of country.

Pakistan, the country of many contrasts, is a multiethnic multicultural country, different provinces speaking different languages and cultures and lifestyles from tribal to feudal from urban ghettos to posh modern localities.

Up to 1960s Bengalis were the majority population with east Bengal called the eastern Pakistan, Most of the political parties in East were left leaning like NAP- whose leader was a Muslim cleric but also a life long socialist, political parties like Muslim league of west (current) Pakistan were pro American depending heavily on their feudal structure and American assistance for their power, this authoritarian rule and military operation resulted in independence of Bangladesh.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto belonged to feudal sindhi family, whose father was the prime minister of princely state of Jonagarh in undivided British India, a proverbial silver spoon upbringing and education at Eton ,Oxford and Berkeley , on his return became the youngest and most talented federal minister under Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s military regime, but he challenged the dictator, resigned and led a popular uprising against military dictatorship, military misadventure followed and Pakistan lost its eastern wing to Indian aggression(read war of independence ) which became independent country Bangladesh.
Like every surrender army handed over the power of the remaining West Pakistan to the man of the moment (with90% votes) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto with his slogan “Islam is our religion and Socialism is our economy” started rebuilding Pakistan, Land reforms; labour reforms education reforms were initiated. Bhutto signed peace treaty with India and Bangladesh and freed 95 thousand Pakistani Prisoners of war from Indian jails.
Most significantly he coined the idea of Muslim Socialism and in 1974 hosted a grand summit of Islamic countries with economic and political ties among the Islamic countries improving and gulf countries using oil embargo as a political tool, alarm bells started ringing in Washington DC.
Bhutto signed economic treaties with Soviet Union and China for infrastructural projects like Steel Mills, Heavy Mechanical Complex and Karakorum high way. But Bhutto’s biggest crime in American eyes was “Islamic Bomb” the desire to acquire nuclear technology by a Muslim country. In 1976 after French backed out of reprocessing plant for power generation. Henry Kissinger then American secretary of state threaten Bhutto that “we will make an example for Muslim leaders so that nobody dare to disobey us”
1970s under the liberal prime minister zulfiqar ali Bhutto were also a time of celebrating the cultural diversity of remaining Pakistani tribes languages and cultures with song dance and a thriving film industry. by the end of his term in office social, religious conservatives were up in arms against his policies, they wanted to bring Islamic khalafa system of governance, the unrest helped General Zia ul Haq and army seize power and try and kill elected prime minister in a trail smelling of vendetta , Dictator Zia needed a power base or political constituency, he found willing partners in religious clerics, harsh religious interpretation doctrines and punishments were forced in constitution through presidential power of the military ruler.
Russian invasion of Afghanistan
Bhutto was overthrown by a military dictator with help and funds from CIA in1977, a case was fabricated against him and was hanged on 4 April 1979.
The War in Afghanistan saw the flow of dollars to jehadis and chief among them was general zia ul haq who overthrew Bhutto, his draconian “islamisation” was the model that Taliban later followed in Afghanistan. Sectarian killings, Drugs, Kalashnikovs and private militias became law of the land
who can forget those dark days when secret police use to visit people and confiscate books on politics and history of Pakistan. these books were publically burnt as being rebellious to the government(dictatorship) of Pakistan. Mention of Bhutto’s name was enough to land someone in jail.I was a 5- 6 yr old then, i still remember nightmares of police and CID knocking at our doors at night or early dawn, because my father was a trade union leader demanding rights for workers. who can forget colony textile mills in multan where police and army fired on peaceful striking workers and killed dozens demanding their rights, the workers were enclosed within factory walls and police snipers were standing on roof tops just like the 1919 jallian wallah bagh massacre the only difference is that general Dyer was imperialist Englishman, while general Zia and his troops killed their fellow pakistani
Journalists stopped writing because newspapers would not publish what they wanted to say. Now as I have grown older, I have learnt about the demonstrations we participated in and the brutalities that came with that participation.
Many people left for England (because of various reasons) at that time and all books were hidden in attics, if there was a dark period in Pakistan history of brain drain and erosion of knowledge it was Zia’s regime.
US and British Administrations Played their part in Brutalisation of Pakistan, Talibanisation that we see today in large parts of the country and Afghanistan

The Peace Tourism

2007-01-18T15:35:00.001+05:00

The Peace Tourism

Given that Government of Pakistan is concentrating on cultural exchanges, peace cricket tours with India, festivals at shiv mandir in katas raj and kali mandir in hinglaj balouchistan, in addition to opening up of religious tourism for NRIs from europe and America. It’s high time that all indians are allowed free access to Pakistani destinations

http://www.tourism.gov.pk

Government has decided to celebrate 2007 as visit Pakistan year.Regardless of the debate that whether all stakeholders especially overseas Pakistanis and tour operators were taken into confidence and whether there is any discussion with western governments namely USA,UK and Europeans to ease the negative travel advisories regarding Pakistan.
The worsing law and order in tribal belt of Pushtoon & Baloch Areas and "made in Taliban tag" on world media, has already scared off most of the westerns

but initiative presents a rare opportunity in becoming a beacon of light for peace
Malaysia celebrating its 50th independence anniversary has already started a vigorous TV campaign for a visit Malaysia year 2007,

Indian tourism is already running a highly successful “incredible India” campaign

In Pakistan government initiatives, we have learned through previous experiences, are most of the time riddled with red tape of bureaucracy ,half hearted ,half baked and ill conceived,

but nevertheless it’s a start, keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a success.

Tourism today is one of the biggest industries in the world; it brings employment, opportunities and equality to otherwise less developed areas.

Pakistan is the best kept secret of the Tourism Industry. Its Northern areas, its festivals, its cultural and religious tourism to name a few.INDUS VALLEY & Ghandhara Buddhist CivilisationBasant festival, Performing Arts festival, Truck Art, Chicken Tikka massala cuisine, Buddhist ,Hindu & Sikh Places of pilgrimage , the K-2 and Raka poshi of Pakistan

"Tourism for Peace" Discussion is about how ordinary Pakistanis and indians , and forums like SAFMA, PIPFPDplay a part in defining what is meant by “ Peace Tourism” and brand Pakistan in terms of culture and Tourism Potential of peace initiative between people of India and Pakistan

Given that Government of Pakistan is concentrating on cultural exchanges, peace cricket tours with India, festivals at shiv mandir in katas raj and kali mandir in hinglaj balouchistan, in addition to opening up of religious tourism for NRI (Non Resident Indians) from europe and America. It’s high time that all indians are allowed free access to Pakistani destinations
Indians are not scared of terrorism threats that world media projects about pakistan, they know better, majority of Pakistan is a tranquil destination and peaceful and friendly people nostalgic and reminiscent about communal harmony in pre partition days
Entry visas at arrival for the business, family and Package tourist will the first right step in normalizing the hiccups in peace process and increasing people to people contacts
Millions of Indians will be eager to cross the Wagha Border for a day trip to savour the culinary delights of LAHOREI FOOD STREET and BASANT & other Punjabi FESTIVALS,
this nostalgia and the bond of friendship was shown in Indian cricket tour of Pakistan when thousands of passionate indian cricket fans turned pakistan tour into a festive mood and places like peshawar (birth place of Dalip Kumar and Raj Kapoor and family home of Shah rukh Khan) welcomed Indians with open hearts

Everyone has their own ideas on Pakistani identity ,secular ,religious, urban rural , working ,middle class and elite. PAKISTAN IS A MULTI CULTURAL, MULTI LINGUAL, MULTI RELIGIOUS SOCIETYour “unity in diversity” and "peace for Friendship" are the right slogan for “visit Pakistan 2007” discussion.We would like like to explore avenues of participation and promotion by readers Contributors for Brand Pakistan and how Pakistan tourism can become a permanent spot on indian tourism map.most of the Indians still have family historical links to festivals, cities ,food culture music and Art of Pakistan ,hopefully we can make it a year long exercise updated at regular intervals.

Institutions like the national flag carrier (PIA) already flying to delhi and mumbai can become a calling card for Pakistani tourism and hospitality by increasing cities in flies to in india, private airlines from india and pakistan can share the frequencies in domestic network, the shipping industry in both countries has already joined hands in promoting trade and tourism.

State run Pakistan TV world and global Channels, through their reach in India & Middle East can be the ambassador for brand Pakistan, major Pakistani satellite channels like Indus group, ARY, Geo and Jang Group, AAJ TV are already collabrating with indian film and media industry to bridge the gaps between two enstranged siblings.

The Aim is to bring back the Pakistani and Indians together; foreigners will definitely follow in their footsteps

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z06tK89Ks0w

Article :The lessons of South Africa — Desmond Tutu

2007-01-08T17:00:00.000+05:00

Ordinary South Africans also can be proud of themselves, for it was truly their self-discipline, simple decency, and ability to forgive that prevented a bloodbath. In their example is a model for other troubled parts of the world to follow.
South Africa is now beginning to contemplate the retirement of Thabo Mbeki, its second president since the end of the apartheid era. So this is a particularly opportune moment to look back and assess our achievements, note our failures, and perhaps see what elements in our transition to democracy may be applied elsewhere.
This is an exercise we in South Africa are not accustomed to undertaking, for as a people we tend to sell ourselves short. We seem to take for granted remarkable achievements and do not give ourselves enough credit. As a result, we tend to see an invisible cloud behind every ray of sunshine; we seem to think that our achievements have meaning only for ourselves.

The wider world has still not fully appreciated South Africa’s reasonably peaceful transition from repression to democracy. They and we remember the first days of that transfer of power to the black majority, when most people believed we would be overwhelmed by a ghastly racial bloodbath.
It was a desperate time, brief but seared in our memories, when indiscriminate killings on trains, in taxis, and on buses were common, a time of massacres at regular intervals — Sebokeng, Thokoza, Bisho, Boipatong, and the killing fields of KwaZulu Natal, owing to the bloody rivalry between the African National Congress and the ethnic Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party.

There were many occasions when South Africa’s fate appeared touch and go. But catastrophe was avoided. Instead, the world marvelled — indeed, was awed — by the spectacle of long lines of South Africans of every race snaking their way slowly to polling booths on April 27, 1994.
Of course, part of the success of South Africa’s transition success was due to a miracle: the moral colossus that is Nelson Mandela, whose calm and sagacity, and his status as an icon of forgiveness, compassion, magnanimity and reconciliation, make us the envy of every nation on earth. We were blessed that it was he who guided our state through its rebirth. And we must also thank F. W. de Klerk, the last ruler of the dying apartheid regime, who exhibited moral courage by setting in motion our liberating revolution.
But ordinary South Africans also can be proud of themselves, for it was truly their self-discipline, simple decency, and ability to forgive that prevented a bloodbath. In their example is a model for other troubled parts of the world to follow.
We, especially white South Africans, have tended to be dismissive of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which allowed those who had committed great crimes under apartheid to confess their acts openly and thus avoid prosecution. Truth, not punishment, was to bring about healing. Almost everywhere in the world, the TRC is regarded highly and considered a benchmark against which other efforts to move from dictatorship to democracy must be judged.

Yes, the TRC was flawed — so are all human enterprises. But it was a remarkable institution, for many had thought that the advent of a black-led government would signal the onset of an orgy of revenge and retribution against whites for all the degradations that black South Africans had suffered from colonial times to the apartheid era.

Instead, the world gaped at the nobility of spirit displayed each and every day before the TRC, as victims of gruesome atrocities forgave their tormentors — and even embraced them on occasion. All South Africans were traumatised by apartheid. The TRC helped to open festering wounds, cleanse them, and pour balm on them to help in healing all of South Africa’s people.

It is easy to take the TRC’s work for granted, until one looks at the Middle East and the chaos of Iraq, where revenge, reprisal, and retaliation are fueling a ghastly, inexorable cycle of violence. Likewise, South Africa was spared the horrors of genocide, as in Rwanda, and the endless conflict that has gripped Sri Lanka, Burundi, Sudan, the Ivory Coast, and many other countries. The harsh truths put before our people by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission drew the poisons from our politics. That is a lesson that other damaged countries can and must benefit from.

The lesson of South Africa’s transition is that no divided country has a future if it insists on going forward without truth and forgiveness. Russia’s transition to democracy began at almost the same time as ours. The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989. Nelson Mandela was released in February 1990. But what is happening in Russia today — rampant organised crime, the conflict with Chechnya, and carnage like the theatre hostage disaster and the Beslan school catastrophe — makes South Africa’s transition to democracy look like a Sunday school picnic. By avoiding the truth of the Soviet past, Russians have stored up trouble for the future.

A crime can never be buried. Political crimes never fade. We have not forgotten what was done to ordinary black people in the name of apartheid. Indeed, by launching the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we know far more about the full horrors of that era than we would had we sought to prosecute people, or tried simply to move on. Literally, the truth has set us free to be at peace with ourselves. Remembrance and forgiveness have allowed our remembered nightmares to be consigned to the past. It is my deepest hope that Iraqis and other peoples haunted by the past can find a way to live in peace with peace of mind. —DT- PS

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace- Article reproduced courtesy Daily Times
http://dailytimes.com.pk

Guest Post: This is Bradistan

2006-12-24T09:26:00.000+05:00

Cam Diary: Nabeel Park, Bradfordistan
Sir CamHerein was a mighty fusion of cultures: Eastern, Western, English, Pakistani, Indian, African, Arab and others — a potpourri of sounds, smells, and sights

Peel Park in Bradford was the venue for Europe’s largest mela last weekend. The mela is also the largest free event in Yorkshire. Bradford, which is famous for its large Pakistani community, is often called ‘mini Pakistan’ or ‘Bradfordistan’. Little wonder, then, that this community has popularised the word mela and that the city is now home to this internationally renowned festival.

“A wonderful showcase for local and international artists,” is how Bradford’s Mayor described the event. A ‘celebration of Bradford at its best’, said the organisers of the mela. ‘Marvellous Mela’, said my daughter as we sauntered in the sprawling grounds of Peel Park. Up and down the hills we went, like in the musical The Sound of Music. But here the sounds were Asian.

And the smells were, well, Bradfordelicious! “Hmm, lovely kebab. A can of Qiblah cola as well, please.” The mela market, fun fair and local community stalls seemed to stretch on endlessly. The atmosphere of the place was hardly that of a northern England city

Herein was a mighty fusion of cultures: Eastern, Western, English, Pakistani, Indian, African, Arab and others — a potpourri of sounds, smells, and sights. A mullah next to a punk, the mini-skirted Yorkshire lass alongside a hijab-wearing Mirpuri girl, the Zulu warriors dancing with bhangra rappers, and ‘Arab Sheikh Kebab’ embracing ‘Indian Onion Bhaji’. Theplace was Bradfordelightful!

“Are Junoon performing here?” someone asked me. Don’t be daft mate! Junoon were in London, at that Rhythms of Indus function at the Royal Albert Hall. You know, the one attended by General Musharraf (Dil Nawaz article on Musharraf is titled Mein Kempf) during his trip to England last week. Among the top names appearing at the Bradford mela this year were Apache Indian (remember the hit “Boomshackalak”?), bhangra man Malkit Singh, soul singer Lemar of Fame Academy, and Asian comedian Jeff Mirza.

Fun>Da>Mental (FDM), the radical ‘global chaos’ or world music group, were on stage collaborating with the Mighty Zulu Nation of South Africa. It was an electrifying fusion of Afro-Asian beats, of qawwali, rap, punk and Bollywood. It’s a wonder how calm and friendly people like Aki Nawaz and Dave Watts of FDM transform into highly charged beings on the stage. They certainly perform with feeling, bursting with energy.

Aki, or Haq Nawaz Qureshi, is a Bradford lad — a second generation Pakistani. He established Nation Records in 1988 and formed FDM in 1991 as a means to enable greater cultural interactions, to experiment in world music, as well as to provide a platform for addressing political issues and raise a voice against racism and injustice. At the mela, for instance, he criticised Blair’s support for the invasion and occupation of Iraq and dedicated one tune to ‘the women of Bosnia’.

An integral part of FDM’s work is collaboration with other artistes. “When we collaborate with anyone,” said Aki when I interviewed him, “we try to maintain the integrity of the original qawwali, Zulu singers or whoever. It’s not about FDM taking the limelight. We once did live collaborations with Aziz Mian. Aziz Mian was my dad’s hero and suddenly I was on stage with him! It was really difficult, but interesting”. FDM’s collaboration with the Mighty Zulu Nation at the mela worked really well. Chief Aki and his team-mates have a knack for concocting some delicious global music dishes.

When I was a kid in nearby Huddersfield, my father would often to take us on the half-hour drive to Bradford for a meal at a Pakistani restaurant. A trip to Bradford’s Lumb Lane used to be an exciting affair for the family. As a Bradford lad, did Aki, too, remember Lumb Lane (most of the Pakistani area there has since been demolished)? His reply was, “Yes. We used to go there every Sunday morning on our bikes for halva purree!”

I’m sure Dr Salman Ahmad of Lahore also knows a thing or two about halva purree. In fact, the Lahoris know a lot about eating. To my amazement, Salman was at the mela. On stage. “Ladies and gentlemen... Junoon!” But Junoon were not listed in the programme. Perhaps the person who had enquired about them was right after all.
There was a big roar of welcome. Yes, here in Bradford was ‘South Asia’s biggest rock band SIC-the views expressed about junoon are author's- Dil Nawaz disagrees on the musical or political stance(opportunism) of Junoon. On stage were the three members of Junoon: guitarists Salman and Brian rooted on the right and left side of the stage, and singer Ali prancing about in the centre. They opened up with an instrumental version of Pakistan’s national anthem, and then launched into their popular tunes, such as Jazba Junoon and Sayonee. The youthful crowd went mad: ‘sayoneeee’ they chanted, waving Pakistani flags, raising arms, doing bhangra.

All in all, a fantastically enjoyable mela, and a great day for the family. On the way out I noticed a statue of a prominent local man in the park. It was Mr Peel himself, the man after whom the park was named. On closer inspection I saw that someone had changed the ‘P’ of ‘Peel’ to a ‘B’ and added ‘N’ and ‘A’ to it so that it now read ‘Nabeel’(Bilal & Laila Khalid and MohammedAli)-Dil Nawaz. Nabeel Park, Bradfordistan: “I woz ‘ere, June 21, 2003”!— Sir Cam, Cambridge, England

Report on Social and Economic Issues in Quake Hit Areas of Pakistan

2006-10-07T10:30:00.000+05:00

Report on Long term Social and Economic issues in Quake Hit Areas
Facts & observations
Email: muslim_policy@yahoo.co.uk
Date: 22-january-2006 ,04-October-2006
Presentation to: Workers Education Research and Welfare Society of Pakistan

Background:
On the morning of 8th October, 2005 an earthquake of an intensity of 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the whole country, specifically northern districts of NWFP, Federal Capital and Azad Kashmir. The devastation was also caused on the other side of the border in Kashmir valley. The most affected districts reportedly are Abbotabad, Mensehra, Batagram in Hazara division and Shangla in Swat. Similarly Muzafarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot in Azad Kahsmir and federal capital were also hit badly by series of tremors. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Hindu Kush Range somewhere between Mansehra and Muzaffarabad in the North nearly 100 kms of Islamabad. Nearly 90 thousand died, mostly children and women, hundreds of thousands are with serious or minor injuries, while approximately 3.5 million have lost their homes and property Most of these villages were also badly affected with the heavy snowfall and raining during December- January of this year making it one of the worst natural diaster in the world in terms of complexity and united nations said its more dangerous than Tsunami and Berlin airlift of post second world war.
Due to landslide and bad weather, most of the access routes to the remoter areas are blocked and inaccessible. Due to rain and hailstorm, the temperatures will continue to fall in the coming days and weeks, particularly in upper hilly areas of Mazafarabad and Bagh in AJK and in Hazara and Shangla, which may complicate and delay rapid relief efforts.

I am from political & Charity (trade union /socialist workers Party /peace activist) background worked actively for homeless in quake area District Rawalakot and District Bagh Azad Kashmir and Balakot NWFP, with volunteer teams headed by friends Mr Raja Sohail (Businessman from Birmingham), Mr Sardar Abid Hussain(Ex Chairman Pearl Valley Development Authority Rawalakot) and Mr Syed akhtar(Dubai based Businessman but resident of district Bagh) local businessmen & Philanthropists, who lost own business/house & some relatives in the disaster and Professor Muhammed Tariq former professor of English (now destroyed Balakot College),volunteer activists also helping victims in local area with money & food Our first efforts in Balakot Area(Professor Tariq & Team) were the emergency response to a grave danger of hunger starvation and immediate Tent shelter problem. Urgency of the situation changed with access & roads improving. , Imran Khan & Edhi welfare volunteers from Punjab & karachi were among first to reach Balakot, and with supplies of food/drinking water and warm clothes and blankets kept many families survive the two days of rains immediately after earthquake. Balakot( a city wiped out as if Hiroshima)

Eid gift distribution 5 November Districts Bagh & Rawalakot (vast scale destruction in rural areas): monetary issues for the local people were most important as most have lost their property, livelihood, cattle and belongings There was a lot of personal local & UK collection from our friends & family.
In form of monetary help especially for women Kids in far flung areas, I personally coordinated the plan to efficiently distribute the much needed cash three volunteers from Rawalpindi and one person from local area helped identify the needy families in villages in Rawalakot & Bagh areas.
Keeping in view previous knowledge (Raja Sohail Birmingham ) went to villages to support victims, and see their needs in terms of money, rather than queue for money which some political/social organizations are adopting to get publicity, money was delivered at door steps in concealed brown envelopes with 500,1000 rupees notes in denominations.

Muzzaffarabad(60-70% damage to Down Town and suburban villages)
19 & 20 November (Imran Khan Charity -UK)
The main purpose of visit was to visit the villages east bank of river neelum valley, to assess the Damage and loss in property and long term issues of social and economic need, none of volunteers or workers have ventured out towards the mountain tops which are not impossible to track, our team only took 3 hours to walk to the top of Mai Dhani(local name of the mountain) rocks have turned to cement coloured powder sand which increase the breathing problems and there are continuous landslides blocking ghori pateka road east bank of river neelum near cheela bhandi area . we visited different settlements upto a height of 3000ft..
The biggest problem for these families was drinking water, food supplies and using a make shift rope bridge to transport food & people across the mai dhani area for approx 900 families there was a water supply pipe line bringing spring water to houses, the quake damaged the pipes, at the moment women had to walk almost 3 miles to get to river bank to get unclean water. After our survey of area the problem was solved through fixing pipes there was a stock available and plumbers were sent to do the job with equipment.
The broken bridge has created a food & traveling problem for the area, inflatable boat temporary supplied by army is not a viable solution because of petrol & maintenance issues it cannot serve the needs of area, it will only cost about 2 thousand UK pounds to construct the proper bridge.
18 December (panja sahib) Shamlee District Battagram NWFP
500 families of Pushto/Punjabi speaking native Sikhs (religious minority in Pakistan), have been displaced from shamlee as the whole village was devastated, these women & children have been repatriated to Two holiest sites for Sikh religion Panja sahib & nankana sahib. Men folk have mostly returned to village to look after cattle & homes and start rebuilding, while the families are being looked after in relief camps located in vacant hostels for Sikh pilgrims from UK, Canada, America and India, the purpose of the visit was to talk to victims of disaster about their economic well being and look at the arrangement made by Pakistan government & Khalsa Aid UK (sikh Charity)

1-2 January muzzafarabad city
5-8 January District Bagh & rawalakot
12-15 January Balakot ,Ghari Habibullah, Dhani area Muzzaffarabad
18 January Balakot
Along with Syed Akhtar and professor Tariq made follow up visit of districts of AJK and Balakot,

Imran Khan Relief Fund
Imran khan (Ex cricketer, social worker and philanthropist of Pakistan) has established 10 sites of shelter villages in snow areas of Bagh ,2 in Dhani area muzzaffarabad and 2 tent villages in less cold Mansehra Area
Each site Consisting of 25 houses made from GI steel sheets, these resemble triangular shape tent structure, basic structure is made with strong iron pipes with steel sheet roof & walls with wooden doors, these are quake proof and cold proof with 6/7 member family staying in one. the administration of the shelter village is done by 5 member committee of elders of resident families, responsible for food distribution, health and hygiene and children welfare and education, this a good example of participatory inclusion of community these structures can be used in summer for reconstruction of houses each shelter accommodation costs about Rs 35000 or 350 UK pounds as they are being seriously overlooked for winterised tents & iron and steel sheets shelter resources IKRF does not get any foreign NGO or UN donor help and especially due to non availability of iron sheets or highly inflated prices in open market their estimates have increased by Rs 10000 which originally was Rs25000
While government estimates Rs 200000 or 2000 UK pounds for a shelter home

EDHI Welfare Foundation:
A well known relief and rescue charity organisation (initially started as free service substitute for St John’s Ambulance absence after partition of country) in Pakistan working for more than 50 years, Sattar Edhi termed as Father Teresa , Lord of gutters and Saint of Pakistan has devoted 60 years of his life to helping needy & destitute, his organization has experience of working in 14 major earthquakes of the world since 1973, his abhorrence for bureaucratic structure in NGO and wasteful expenditure, strings attached to foreign Aid helped him devise a grass root network with self help and income generation for slum dwellers. His one family one shelter scheme is costing Rs 12,000 or 120 UK pounds.
Economic Survey:
In carrying out all the relief and rehabilitation activity, most important factor was to devise a litmus test for economic indicators for the future well being of the people in the earth quake zone. I assessed the Economic situation and its fallout on interaction between stakeholders (People, Local Administration, Army, Government, NGOs, Foreign Donors) with two basic analytical techniques namely SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunity, threats) and PEST (political, socio-economic, cultural and technological challenges)
Observations & recommendations of the survey and studies:
Short to medium term rescue and relief:The army and other military organizations from around the world are in full flow, Nato are helping to reconstruct some roads and Cuban medical teams were hectically busy helping all, NGOs were essentially getting the run around by some locals but nevertheless work has been done. Criticism is rife but in the overall picture is that as long as people were been helped by whatever means then so be it, that’s what counts. The scale of the disaster would test any country irrespective of wealth and power and Pakistan and its people had taken it upon itself to attempt the best they could, under the difficult circumstances.

Food supplies

Organization praised by people for their help & support are Pakistan army Turkish army, Spanish & Italian army Imran Khan volunteers are very active getting supplies, NGO goal in Bagh (malloot area), toilet facilities with Oxfam signs are on road sides, Edhi foundation and Islamic charities from UK and religious outfits are doing good job.

Medical Aid

American & British Chinooks helicopters flying supplies & patients & lots of doctors from up & down Pakistan in field hospitals in mansehra and Abbottabad two major towns near quake Zone.
Many teams of Cuban doctors and relief workers are in the area. but Cuban are only capable of setting up field hospitals and medicines.
Reconstruction of roads and Bridges
The only organized team of engineers and Construction workers in Rawalakot and Bagh is Pakistan/Spanish army. Unfortunately its resources are overstretched and not sufficient to size of destruction, Nato forces in Arja area are not concentrating on relief, they are busy building roads and bridges before 29 January 2006, the planned date for their departure from Pakistan
Self Help and Community spirit of People of Pakistan:
The people were grateful to the ordinary Pakistani for the amount of help and love they had shown them after the earthquake Pakistanis had arrived in their own transport with goods to aid the victims even quicker than the authorities and agencies put together, not just to camps but in many of the difficult places to get to. Encountering massive traffic jams from the endless streams of trucks arriving with goods and shelters albeit through treacherous mountain passes, there seemed no alternative routes
Pakistanis were termed as the greatest Heroes of this tragedy by Kashmiris themselves every village every street was grateful to the ordinary Pakistanis and Pakistan army to mobilize a gigantic relief effort before outside world realized the gravity of the situation, about 200000 volunteers, doctors paramedics, engineers, relief and rescue workers, truck drivers from Pakistan spent the whole month of Ramadan and after in the Quake area
Peoples courage bravery & sense of brotherhood, has many times brought tears of pride & admiration in eyes, their self respect & resilience although they do not hold any worldly possessions, people lose everything yet help others who are even less fortunate than others

Livelihood Issues:
People have lost their shops, offices, businesses, jobs which has created a ripple effect in the society, I have met professors in balakot, medical students, Bank officers, grade18 officers from bagh to a local meter reader from muzaffarabad who have lost every thing are living like refugees, yet given a chance wanting to go back and do something, I interviewed Mr Sheikh Rasheed(local farmer and fruit grower) of Chakaar & Sardar Abid of Rawalakot who lost their businesses yet helping others.

Livelihood experts could do well by listening to local needs Craftsman and handicrafts
Businesses people, indigence products, which can be revived quickly with micro credit Finance committees of women in villages
Government sponsored support of Rs 25000 for rebuilding house is not enough and it has not reached every one and there seem to be no transparent way of distribution.

Joblessness:
It is also related to long term livelihood issues of the survivors, before October 8 most of the areas were dependent on foreign remittances sent by family members working in Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman where stringent labour laws prevent greater labour mobility & flexibility, most will not return to their Jobs abroad. most male family members work in different parts of Pakistan as daily wage labourers. These two categories have become jobless due to deaths in the family, looking after kids and issues of extended families. None of the cultivatable land has been used in farming wheat or other subsistence crops after the earthquake. Any local relief, reconstruction and rubble cleanup labour jobs have been taken by non-local afghan labourers from Rawalpindi & Peshawer afghan refugee camps

Economic Dependency:
It is heartbreaking to see orphans 6/7 year olds asking for money on road sides, these kids are our future. There is a general attitude in some sections of society to use this as professional begging (I hate to use this word for the situation) opportunity , we saw families in unaffected murree kohala area make temporary sitting place to keep kids on the roadside for day time to gain benefit yet disappear before sunset , these things can ruin the future well being of Kashmiri people. What they need is not hand outs but practical help to rebuild their lives & livelihoods, self help and assistance is the key to rehabilitation
Family as an Economic unit:
Issues of cultural & social sensitivity are not being addressed as discussed above, households where male head of the family has died, women have problem in claiming inheritance and relief compensation for rebuilding. Other issues would be long-term employment, livelihood of families headed by women, property disputes as women are rarely mentioned in property documents
Long term Impact on children
Many women and children had died as many of the men folk were away working in big cities and they returned after making journeys, normally a few hours, but two days on the mountain passes, to find that they lost a wife, a daughter, a son or a whole family. They are places, which are still not visited. Whole families have been wiped out and even villages totally drowned by the earth,
Schools with children lying beneath the ruins were the hardest to absorb- books and shoes lay across the ground. I interviewed a young girl who spoke good English as she stood on a building which overlooked the river and spoke of what she saw and how she managed to get home on that fateful day from school but she had a smile and a strength that I would find hard to acquire

Mental trauma & handicapped and long term health and social issues

after effects of Earthquake has caused a big health problems for families, especially kids are scared of building and structures and people traumatized are wondering around aimlessly, disorientated and incoherent memories with fears of disaster coming back. There are hundred thousands of walking wounded, and kids with flies & germs over their wounds. Skin diseases & itching scabies and rashes are almost 90% in kids due to bedding and clothing hygiene problems recent snows and two spells of inclement weather after new year sub zero temperatures are making living in tents impossible specially people in 4 ft snow in maloot area and Ganges peak area of deerkot, children are suffering of pneumonia and chest infections, cough and in danger of serious causalities. those who lost arms and legs have been permanently disabled, dependent on others for rest of their lives.

Children and women trafficking for bonded Labour and sex trade:
This was a major issue in early days of panic & confusion after quake as fears of repeat of mistakes of tsunami survivors were fresh in people’s minds. Army & government had a major clamp down on identities of relatives claiming sick & injured women and children from Hospitals. Strict checking of private cars passing through quake areas
Organizational weaknesses
Faith based organization:
Although Islamic parties were very effective in their grass root implementation rescue efforts, people praised them for swift action heading teams of ordinary Pakistani volunteers to track and supply food and relief items to far flung areas, their main focus is now turning to publicity, recruitment and consolidation of bases in quake areas
As for Christian NGOs from America, religious and missionary propaganda literature was found in many Boxes of Food Aid
Political parties: these are just a show of strength in towns with leaders photo opportunities. Ordinary tents inhabitable due to cold weather inscribed with party political slogan to show mere presence in the area
UN institutions are the worst culprits in distribution fiascos, food being distributed in kohala area not affected by earth quake and just dumped on the road side maloot area people had to carry it few miles along road, UN food distribution are never without problem & mayhem, “survival of the fittest”. The drivers taking aid did not know the area & roads resulting in accidents.

Lack of Community participation in rehabilitation: listening to people & observing working of foreign NGOs. Rather then local staff for coordination and implementation French, Dutch and European agencies & NGOs are heavily reliant on afghan staff for local operations due to their earlier engagement in Afghanistan, 90% of these are only conversant in English & Dari (Persian) limited knowledge of Urdu no knowledge of local area or language and often not enough sensitivity to local (highly conservative religious) customs & tradition for example lack of privacy for women in tent villages and frequent visitation by these foreign delegations to gather information which locals do not feel comfortable with. The notion of “Big cars and fat paychecks and corruption” is rampant in locals. There is a huge cultural & language barrier between locals & staff members this difference of culture & background is not very visible to European bosses in NGO, which hinders the smooth working & results in wastage & pilferages like tents being given to officials as gifts. Truck loads of UN/ICRC goods being discovered from Government ministers’ personal warehouses
Economic Impact of Aid distribution:
Aid distribution without long Term planning is a result of lack the vision & technical knowledge e.g Shelter are being created by organization at lower road side with tin sheets (H11 refugee camp Islamabad one example) when people can live in tents as the winter is not bad at lower ground, these shelters can be effective life savers at snow areas, tents do not sustain snow fall.
. For example Pakistan Army erected a ropes bridge in village Mai Dhandi but due to technical incompetence the bridge gave way killing three people who were crossing Army moved out of the area soon afterward, there was no sustained planning for food supplies for example There was a food supply rather a photo opportunity for one day from UN world food program, they took the pictures & they never came back.
Contracts commission and Kickbacks:
Corruption is considered part of normal life in Pakistan On the basis of employment within these foreign NGOs procurement & purchasing has totally being monopolized by Afghan/ Pakistani companies related to these individuals with insider information, no accountabilities & checks in place for purchasing & distributing staffs other than their own honesty rather than generating a economic activity in local area and creating jobs for local unemployed and skilled in quake hit areas, lavish offices & luxury cars of these contractors have suddenly sprung up in quake hit areas & Islamabad. While local people complain of being not given jobs just aid and no involvement in relief work e.g unloading of relief goods. Non-resident afghan refugees especially in Balakot creating resentment in locals have taken local labourer works

Price inflation & substandard materials
I can quote two examples of substandard water proof plastic sheets procured for tents, and GI tin sheets for shelters at inferior quality Rs 350/sheet being supplied at more than Rs 500/sheet, it will not withstand the weather in winter. Food price inflation is 500% in some areas
Diaster Situation One Year On:

I wrote in an article on 22nd of February 2006,Quote - “Long term economic planning in disaster area is necessary to cope with challenges which lay ahead and some Relief organizations lack vision in implementation and Technical knowledge and local knowledge to be effective. Army is good in logistics and rescue but long term aid they will need local knowledge and volunteer support. The need is to prioritize & strategize the situation with local & volunteer support at every level. Otherwise we will be creating a long-term problem. The biggest flaw is the disparity in food & medical supplies, some people have more than their fair share of aid, others none at all There is a need to guarantee fully transparent & fully accountable distribution of resources, Social issues relating to education and employment will also complicate matters once the winter is over, immediate danger of cold and starvation subsides there will be a need of advice from locals themselves in livelihood, dependency, economic impact of breakup of the family structure which considered a social safety net for poorest of poor in a third world country like Pakistan.”-Unquote
I was skeptical of the centrally planned military bureaucracy which was even hindering the work of self funded UN missions and Foreign and Local NGOs, an earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) was established, with retired army personnel as staff rather than local unemployed, like any other bureaucratic fiasco Unfortunately my worst fears were proved right.

with headlines regularly appearing in local newspapers making grim reading.

Demonstrations in Balakot against delay in relocation from dangerous city (lack of any action on part of government)
Kidnapp of women & children from relief camps(continues to this day)

Lack of funds for reconstruction (despite US$ 6.5 Billion grants & loans)

ERRA officials and army demanding bribes for Compensation cheques to be handed over to survivors.

ERRA chairman accused of personal embezzlement of funds.

UN expressing concerns over allocation and distribution of funds.

Government of Norway, writing off a bad debt given for Education in effected areas.

UK accusing British Muslim charities of using funds for terrorism (although denied later).

USA banning Jammat ud Dawa relief activities on pretext of its affiliation with lakhar taiba,

Jammat ud Dawa & Jamat Islami banning women social workers (both local and foreigners) working in earth quake area.

India accusing Pakistan of cross border terrorism after Mumbai blasts after reactivation of camps of religious outfits.

Locals accusing Government of rigging the Legislative assembly election to engineer land slide victory for right wing Muslim conference (a satellite party of Military government in Pakistan), MMA (alliance of hardliner religious parties, trying to cash in their relief work activities) and MQM (non local ethnic outfit of Karachi based Urdu speaking mohajirs (immigrants from India)

Its evident that military government which championed relief work as its success story, has yet again miserably failed the survivors of the earthquake, but more worrying is the fact that this failure of the government also means alienation of local population from ideology of “Kashmir is integral part of Pakistan” and the failure will not help the long term peace and stability of Kashmir, Pakistan and India, the peace process and the development of South Asia as a whole.

Special Gratitute To following Friends for their invaluable Support

Haq Nawaz Qureshi- Nation Records UK
Raja Sohail-Birmingham & Dixy Fried Chicken Pakistan
Professor Muhammed Tariq & his colleagues in Balakot
Syed Akhtar & Imran Khan Team
Ikhlaq and Imran Khan UK Team
Abdul Sattar Edhi
Medicines Sans Frontiers-Belgium
Shaista Aziz- Oxfam UK
Ummah Welfare Trust- Balakot & Bradford UK
Love and respect to all our hosts in Bagh,Arja(especially the kids) and Balakot

Oxfam Press Release – According to international aid organization Oxfam, more than 1.8 million persons face a second winter in makeshift shelters and tents. In a report entitled Keeping Recovery on Course it pointed out that “the scale of the catastrophe, difficult mountainous terrain, poor infrastructure, extreme weather conditions, problems with disseminating public information, as well as gaps in support for some vulnerable groups, have hindered the pace of reconstruction. As a result, many are still at risk with snow already falling in one of the highest regions in the world.” The report, quoting Pakistani authorities, says that “only 17 per cent of the 450,000 affected households have begun building permanent homes. Oxfam estimates at least 80 per cent of the remaining families, equivalent to 1.8 million people, are still living in temporary shelters with the rest staying with friends and relatives. Over 40,000 people are known to be in tents in official camps. Thousands of others are believed to be in unofficial camps and tents close to their home villages.”Says Farhana Faruqi Stocker from Oxfam International, “With snow already falling, this winter seems to have arrived early. Besides materials that will strengthen their homes against the harsh conditions, people in temporary shelter in rural and mountain areas need sustained access to safe heating and other essential items… When we see that one year after Hurricane Katrina, the world’s richest nation – the US – is still struggling with the reconstruction of the areas affected, it is no surprise that Pakistan has faced difficulties in the recovery across a much more difficult terrain.” It is matter of concern that there is still no government support for rural survivors who lost their land during the earthquake to rebuild their lives.

Bradistan Calling:Mein Kemp & “in the line of fire”

2006-10-02T10:48:00.000+05:00

Mein Kemp & “in the line of fire”
Musharraf is the new best friend of right wing American and British elite, who dutifully obeys their agenda for a new middle east and muslim world, even if that means balkanization on basis of oil ,nature resources ,ethnic and sectarian division within current sovereign Muslim states. This agenda will shape the “new American Century”

The military dictator of Pakistan, general pervaz Musharraf is courting controversy nowadays with his memoirs “ In the line of Fire” , which is probably the first autobiography written by a dictator still in power since Mein Kemp by Adolf Hitler.
And the similarities do not just end there. Actually for hundreds of political activists and journalists killed and missing in action since musharraf started war on terror (read democracy in Pakistan), not to mention hundreds of al qaeda terrorists killed or hand over to USA for millions of dollars of cash prizes which general unashamedly admits receiving from white house, a more appropriate title would have been “In front of Firing Squads”.

The supposed strong Man of the muslim country , which is the seventh declared nuclear state in the world , showed his cowardice by claiming that America threaten to “ Bomb Pakistan back to stone age” before attack on Taliban. Apparently this compelled the saviour of the muslim ummah to become a trusted terrier of GW Bush to hunt al qaeda out of their fox holes.
Transparency International puts him in most corrupt dictators /leaders of the world, the economy which was championed as an emerging market –with help of hand outs from American coffers off course- is indicating a signs which are more common in sub Saharan Africa and its corrupt despots than the south East Asian tigers.

Musharraff is quick to make a peace deal with talibans in waziristan, but on other hand killed popular leader and political opponent Akbar bugti during the military operation in balochistan. If someone like private tv channel ARY digital criticizes his cronies and his government’s corruption, he sends his police to raid and switch their satellite transmission, hundreds of journalists have lost their lives in operation war on terror.
Inflation is sky rocketing, budget deficit out of control and food, medicine, education prices are in hyper inflation. The biggest news headlines in Pakistani newspapers are the daily suicides of urban poor who cannot survive in crippling poverty and decide to end their own lives along with poisoning their own family to a peaceful death, poverty gap is increasing but musharraf does not want world to see this ugly face of his rule and government.

Musharraf is the new best friend of right wing American and British elite, who dutifully obeys their agenda for a new middle east and muslim world, even if that means balkanization on basis of oil ,nature resources ,ethnic and sectarian division within current sovereign Muslim states. This agenda along with detailed maps was provided in American armed forces journal
http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2006/06/1833899

The so called “enlighten moderation” of General Musharraf, who claims to be progressive-according to his own book “Casanova” as well”- and defender of human (read only Soldiers) rights in Pakistan, is strange bed fellows in shape of a mullah military alliance in two provinces of pakistan and friendly lollipop opposition of clerics who want to bring Islamic revolution while riding their limousines . Musharraf caved in to his friends the mullahs on proposed amendment to draconian hudood laws which even punish the rape victims by stoning to death as it is termed adultery in shariah law of Pakistan. last year’s visit to USA General is on record saying in a tv interview “ Pakistani women( while asked about Dr Shazia case and Mukhtar Mai gang rape cases) get themselves raped to get human rights sympathy and visa to America and Europe” Shame on your Enlightened views general.

“Buy The Book” is the new slogan by GW Bush (and Neo Cons and Zionists), who wanted to praise and reward his “poodle” Musharraf during the press briefing covered by International media. While mushrraf sounded and behaved like obedient servant giving GW Bush Pakistani military Annual performance report on war of terrorism.
The Windfall is expected to be in tens of millions of dollars according to the publishers, this was “the biggest publicity stunt” ever pulled off by a publisher for a forth coming book, it is expected to be best seller in USA & UK. The private book promotion tour was arranged as an official visit to USA and 60 or so ministers (cronies) enjoying luxuries on hard earned Taxes of poor Pakistani citizens.
while Right wing Evangelists want people to “ Buy The Book”. I would strongly advise to “Burn the Book”. Musharraf and his book is a slur on integrity and honour of a proud nation, because musharraf has shown himself to be a person who is a modern day “Judas” willing to sell his soul to devil for few pennies.

Dil Nawaz is a Freelance Journalist who writes on international relations and social justice, columnist can be contacted on

dilnawazinqalabi.blogspot.com

Bhutto & Bugti- Pakistan's History of State Terror

2006-09-09T15:26:00.000+05:00

Bhutto and Bugti- Pakistan’s history of State Terror

There are crime committed that are simply unforgivable in history chronicles. 1919 massacre by British Empire in Jallian wala Bagh Amritsar India, Auschwitz by Nazi Germany, Vietnam by USA and Chechnya by Russians, crimes against humanity by Israel, and Bush Blair War on Iraq will never be forgiven or forgotten

The Killing of Baloch Nationalist leader veteran politician Nawab (title for tribal chieftan) by Pakistan Air force Laser guided missiles and fighter jets brings back the memory of another leader whose brutal execution at the hands of military dictator sparked such instability in Pakistan that it is still to be tranquil almost 30 years after that demonic April night in 1979.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto belonged to feudal sindhi family, whose father was the prime minister of princely state of Jonagarh in undivided British India, a proverbial silver spoon upbringing and education at Eton ,Oxford and Berkeley , on his return became the youngest and most talented federal minister under Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s military regime, but challenged the dictator resigned and led a popular uprising against military dictatorship, military misadventure followed and Pakistan lost its eastern wing to Indian aggression(read war of independence ) which became independent country Bangladesh.Like every surrender army handed over the power of the remaining West Pakistan to the man of the moment (with90% votes) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Bhutto with his slogan “Islam is our religion and Socialism is our economy” started rebuilding Pakistan, Land reforms, labour reforms education reforms were initiated. Bhutto signed peace treaty with India and Bangladesh and freed 95 thousand Pakistani Prisoners of war from Indian jails.Most significantly he coined the idea of Muslim Socialism (more like EU, but not an Islamic super state)

In 1974 hosted a grand summit of Islamic countries with economic and political ties among the Islamic countries improving and gulf countries using oil embargo as a political tool , alarm bells started ringing in Washington DC. Bhutto signed economic treaties with Soviet Union and China for infrastructural projects like Steel Mills, Heavy Mechanical Complex and Karakorum high way. But Bhutto’s biggest crime in American eyes was “Islamic Bomb” the desire to acquire nuclear technology by a Muslim country.

In 1976 after French backed out of reprocessing plant for power generation. Henry Kissinger then American secretary of state threaten Bhutto that “we will make an example for Muslim leaders so that nobody dare to disobey us” Bhutto was overthrown by a military dictator with help and funds from CIA in1977, a case was fabricated against him and was hanged on 4 April 1979.The War in Afghanistan saw the flow of dollars to jehadis and chief among them was general zia ul haq who overthrew Bhutto, his draconian “islamisation” was the model that Taliban later followed in Afghanistan. Sectarian killings, Drugs, Kalashnikovs and private militias became law of the land.

Move the clock forward 30 years, Baloch tribal chief Akbar Bugti aged 79, voiced his anger at rape of a local lady doctor by a army captain, Bugti( classical tribal chief who was oxford educated ) up to that day was brutal collaborative & subservient to Pakistani establishment ( as a former minister and governor)which was looting and plundering the natural recourses ,namely natural gas, copper and gold of balochistan.

But military dictator was eager to defend the honour of the rapist captain against poor balochis , apart from military dictatorship major issue that balochis had was non existence of any benefits from their own land and its rich mineral wealth , dictator musharaf has earlier planned a total colonisation of the deep sea port being built in balochistan by bringing in non locals, gawader port is a major American interest to control gulf waters as well as counter Iranian influence.

Insurgency started by baloch nationalists was termed as treason, American and British turned a blind eye at the human rights abuses by Pakistan army in their war on terror.Chief Bugti was killed on 26th August 2006 (martyr for Baloch Honour, previous baloch leaders fought against Moghals and British for their independence), for demanding legitimate rights of indigenous people, by F-16s, helicopter gunship and laser guided missiles provided by USA to fight the War on Terror.

There are crime committed that are simply unforgivable in history chronicles. 1919 massacre of innocent Sikhs by British Empire in Jallian wala Bagh in Amritsar India, Auschwitz by Nazi Germany, Vietnam by USA and Chechnya by Russians, Brutalities on Palestinians by Israel, Pakistan Army killing Bhutto (the elected prime minister, similar to CIA killing of Patrice Lumumba in Congo) and Bush Blair War on Iraq will never be forgiven or forgottenMusharaf regime has also committed a similar crime by targeting a political opponent (& popular leader) with laser guided missiles. The repercussions of this war on terror by Bush and musharaf will unfold in days and years to come.

Writer contributes freelance to different forums on international relations and social justice, columnist can be contacted onhttp://www.dilnawazinqalabi.blogspot.com

Biography of a perpetual immigrant

2006-06-29T12:34:00.000+05:00

I spent my childhood life and teenage dreaming about UK. I come from a small village in Pakistan, where life was limited and basic. We were poor yet happy. I did not understand politics in Pakistan or UK. I was born in the year when Popular leader prime minister Zulfikar Bhutto was hanged by military dictator Zia in a military Coup, same year Russian forces occupied Afghanistan, later in life these two events helped explain a lot of politics for me, like most of Pakistanis born in dictatorship my childhood was being fearful of zia and yet fascinated by his proclaimations of his brand of Islamisation, which turned out to be nightmarish for large population of poor, but the islamisation did not effect the military and land lord elite of country.

A country of broken dreams My escapism was UK through my day dreaming, thanks largely to my Cousin frequent visits from North of England, his accent, his music , videos helped me improve my English and politics, I became aware of human rights, class struggle, apartheid ,racial discrimination, etc etc.In my naïve utopia UK was the heaven on earth, I aspired to become a equal citizen of the first world. with its democracy and individual rights blah blah…..
By luck or otherwise I was able to escape in reality and arrived in London to see New labour Tony bliar come to power with lots of hopes, and stars in eyes.UK opened its arms to me where I found my first paid job as a checkout operator, little by little I became political ,intellectual debates began to have meaning and make more sense, but with its racism London closed other doors, with time euphoria evaporated and harsh reality took hold.
But general populace in UK still lives the utopia of tripartide politics, the gap between the elite political leadership and common people is enormous. The elite leaders like bliar, Cameron and mark oaten(rentaboy) seem to be in a cocoon of space ships, speak a language and mannerism so alien to commoners ,very far away from reality.
I happen to be a foreigner or more precisely “ Muslim”. UK or Bliar and Co cannot deal with these”” inverted commas community, and do little to integrate them in society, their half baked half hearted hypocritical measures alienate more and more foreigners in our midst .islam is the second religion in UK, yet British establishment cannot speak intelligently to its 2 million plus muslims it calls us all “muslim community”, as if there was one monolithic block of people, stereo typed and boxed in labels modern liberal or orthodox. etc. UK is on cross roads on economic fronts, it needs cheap labour and immigrants to fuel future growth, but each attempt it make is copying xenophobic racist neo con lobbyists of Republican party and Bush & Co USA. Tony bliar is a lame duck frightened of change.Society is divided in two distinct classes rich and forgotten living in council estates and majority of poor nighbour hoods of coloured people , falling house prices , lack of jobs and opportunities if you are on wrong side of divide, xenophobia, racism and islamphobia becoming more acceptable and norm in the society.That’s the country of broken dreams , disillusionments, liberty and freedom, terrorism stately or otherwise what is our future bliar, Cameron and oaten…..and Blood sucking Dracula nick griffin
I still donot know the answerThere shall be love!!!
dilnawaz

BIGGEST NEWS ITEM COVERED BY FDM EDITORIAL TEAM 05.21.06

2006-05-21T18:07:00.000+05:00

BIGGEST NEWS ITEM COVERED BY FDM EDITORIAL TEAM
05.21.06
Friday, 19 may2006 American Intelligence and surveillance in Dark about activities of Hugo Chavez, Shaukat Aziz and Col Qaddafi ,The summit was pre planned to go unnoticed on World MediaTRIPOLI: The historic meeting of three heads of State at a secret location in Libyan desert , the Pak Venezuela and Libya strategic relationships reached new heights following Prime Minister Shaukat Asiz’s two meetings with the revolutionary leaders, Col Maummar Qaddafi and President Hugo Chavez in less than 24 hours Talking to journalists on board special plane after his desert summit (which went un detected by any major news and media) with the leaders, Shaukat Aziz said it was an hour-long one-on-one chat in a very informal manner under a tent during which Presidents spoke about their vision of the sensitive international issues. He said the Libyan leader was deeply concerned about the challenges being faced by the Muslim Ummah, urging united efforts by the Islamic states. He was particularly concerned about the role of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) that has so far failed to address the conflicts among the Muslim countries and international issues, the Premier said. Shaukat Aziz said areas — security, defence, economy remained under focus during the meeting. Views were also exchanged on Kashmir, Afghanistan, People’s Republic of China, Palestine and relations with the United States he added. He said he was highly impressed by Both the Presidents’ perspective on international issues and the new challenges as Venezuela was preparing to double its oil production in the near future and Pakistan would like to get its share in the multi-billion dollar economic boom by participating in the development process. Hugo Chavez handed over to him a message of goodwill for President Pervez Musharraf and people of Pakistan and added that he had accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan, the date of would be announced through diplomatic channels. His government will ensure close cooperation with Pakistan in all major sectors and at all levels. “The name of the game now is prompt follow-up actions”, he added. This intimate interaction would lead to further strengthening of trilateral ties that would be mutually beneficial to all parties, commented a senior diplomat. He said it was rare occasion that President Qaddafi had met any visiting prime minister and president twice in less than 24 hours. “It is a singular honour and a unique opportunity”, he added. The leaders reviewed international and regional issues including controversial Iranian nuclear programme, situation in the Middle East following election victory of Hamas, Pakistan’s efforts in South Asia for ensuring durable peace in the context of on-going composite dialogue with New Delhi. The prime minister explained Pakistan’s position on the sensitive issue of Tehran’s insistence to continue uranium enrichment for peaceful purposesPremier Aziz’s meeting with Hugo Chavez came out to be a big surprise. After receiving Prime Minister Aziz, Libyan president hosted a informal summit in a Tent without the presence of media and camera exchanged views on priority issues and later invited him to state banquet where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was also invited. This was seen as a unique diplomatic move by Qaddafi, when the audience saw a staunch opponent of the United States (President Bush in particular), President Chavez sitting on his right and an US ally Premier (Shaukat Aziz)- whose previous credentials are as Career Banker in Citi Bank USA as senior Most non American Executive in Citi Bank History- on his left at the dinner table. After their dinner, Qaddafi walked out of the dinner venue putting his one arm on Chevez’s shoulder and the other on Aziz’s. Diplomatic observers could not make out what message Qaddafi wanted to send to America and the West. After the dinner was over, President Qaddafi desired a second meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President the next day (Thursday) to further discuss some urgent matters before the Shaukat’s departure for Morocco. When the prime minister was asked about the agenda of the second meeting, carrying a broad smile, he said people would come to know very soon. However, he said Libyan leader had a passion for Pakistan and its people. “Our interest is very dear to him,” he said and added that he informed President Qaddafi that his person was a household name in every city, village and street of Pakistan