No news is good news

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Waking up on a Monday morning is an ordeal in any case; waking up to ghastly news is a double whammy. Picking up the newspaper on a Sunday is easier – you can easily forego the news section and go directly to the magazine (or sports section if you are a man) and have breakfast in peace. But no such luck on a Monday. On Mondays, you have to grow up and read the news as it happened the day before.

I braced myself and picked up the Monday edition of Dawn and saw that while US President Obama ruled out deploying troops inside Pakistan, his Defence Secretary Robert Gates clearly stated that Pakistan needs to do more otherwise US troops will have to take matters in their own hands. Does this mean that Obama was speaking for the world media while Gates was speaking to the people who are running, or rather attempting to run, the country called Pakistan?

Another news item reports that a former nazim, district police officer and three other people were killed in Lower Dir – an area adjacent to the troubled Swat valley – while resisting the kidnapping of a local bank manager. In Khyber Agency, 10 khasadars and six religious activists were kidnapped. The Bara-based Lashkar-e-Islam accused Taliban militants of the crime. It seems that army forces and civilians were not enough of a target and now the Taliban are spreading their wings and targeting other Islamist groups.

The front page proved to be too dreadful, so I turned the page only to learn that Pakistan is one of the least popular countries in the world and keeps sterling company with Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and Israel.

National news turned out to be a disaster, full of stories about crime against women. In Dadu, a young girl was gang-raped and killed. In Sukkur, a jirga decided to marry off two girls – one of them a minor – to punish their brother, while a mother of two in Layyah fears for her life after being accused of having an extra-marital affair, a punishable crime in Pakistan. What these news stories suggest is that in case you escape regular siege-and-hostage situations and frequent suicide bombings and if you happen to be a woman, chances are, you may not survive the alternative justice system, discriminatory laws and good ol’ patriarchy and misogyny.

The newspaper also carried a report about the YouTube video of ATM robbery incidents in Karachi that are being circulated via email and Facebook: people armed with pistols can be seen robbing citizens using ATM machines. The message the clip gives to people is that working hard is pointless – just get hold of a weapon of your choice and rob anyone at will, safe in the knowledge that no one will apprehend you.

A sad picture of a child working in a recycling plant in Hyderabad and the Economic & Business Review’s analysis of economic doom and the Pakistani rupees’ abysmal standing against world currencies completed the dismal picture. I shook my head and skimmed through the paper once more, looking desperately for just one positive report, but failed to find any good news.

Putting aside the paper, I switched on the TV and witnessed what was perhaps the most disturbing live footage of armed terrorists attacking a police training academy in Lahore. Even though police recaptured the academy with the help of army and paramilitary forces after an eight-hour siege, it left questions about the vulnerability of our security apparatus and the government’s will to bolster it.

While the country is in complete chaos, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is doing his bit to increase European tourism in Pakistan by bringing his firang friends from university – in identical outfits of white kurta-pajama complete with a red silk shawl more appropriate for a mehndi function – to attend daddy’s address to the parliament. We have heard of disaster tourism and poverty tourism in the past, but Bilawal takes the cake for innovative thinking and introducing political tourism in Pakistan.

At times when the country needs a leader to takes charge and do something to combat militancy, everyone from the president to the coterie of ministers are busy issuing rhetorical messages. Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world where the president and prime minister only ‘condemn’ acts of terror instead of taking concrete actions against them. Someone needs to tell them that condemnation just won’t cut it anymore.

Originally written for Dawn.com

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The man with a vision

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Anyone who is familiar with Tariq Ali knows his passionate and unwavering support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Back in 2006, he was in Karachi and during one session he suggested that Pakistan needs it's own Chavez. I disagreed and said that Pakistan has had its own version of Chavez in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto back in 1970s. He not only gave into Islamists while drafting 1973 constitution, but he also nationalized private assets like Chavez and hindered the private sector growth is the country. Right now, we need a leader like Brazilian president Lula da Silva who has his head firmly screwed on his shoulder and who is a problem solver and not narcissist like Chavez. Tariq Ali obviously disagreed with my analysis.

Fast forward 2009, Chavez has amended the constitution to end limit on the number of terms a person can serve as the president and get elected because he thinks he is necessary for the country. On the other hand, we have Lula, who despite enjoying an overwhelming 84 percent popularity, refused to amend the constitution and will step down after his term ends because he “believes that changing the president is important for the strengthening of democracy itself.”


Here is the latest interview of perhaps the most popular president in office (Yes, his rating as the president is better than the bigO, President Obama) with Fareed Zakaria.





Once a leftist firebrand, Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva turned to free-market liberalism and helped make his country Latin America's biggest economic success. Earlier this month he became the first Latin leader to visit President Barack Obama at the White House, and in April he'll head to London for the G20 summit on the global financial crisis. He met with NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria in New York. Excerpts:

Zakaria: Your meeting with President Obama went longer than expected. What did you talk about?

Da Silva: We talked a lot about the economic crisis. We also decided to create a working group between the U.S. and Brazil to participate in the G20 summit meeting. I told Obama that I'm praying more for him than I pray for myself, because he has much more delicate problems than I. He left a huge impression on me, and he has everything it takes to build a new image for the U.S. with relation to the rest of the world.

You got on pretty well with President Bush. How are they different?
Look, I did have a good relationship with President Bush, it's true. But there are political problems, cultural problems, energy-grid problems, and I hope that President Obama will be the next step forward. I believe that Obama doesn't have to be so concerned with the Iraq War. This will permit him to explore the possibility of building peace policies where there is no war, which is Latin America and Africa.


You are probably the most popular leader in the world, with an 80 percent approval rating. Why?
Brazil is a country that has rich people, as you have in New York City. But we also have poor people, like in Bangladesh. So we tried to prove it was possible to develop economic growth while simultaneously improving income distribution. In six years we have lifted 20 million people out of poverty and into the middle class, brought electricity into 10 million households and increased the minimum wage every year. All without hurting anyone, without insulting anyone, without picking fights. The poor person in Brazil is now less poor. And this is everything we want.

There are people who credit high oil, gas and agriculture prices. Can you manage with prices going down rather than up?
The recent discovery of oil is very important, because part of the oil we find will help resolve the problem of poverty and the problem of education. Brazil does not want to become an exporter of crude oil. We want to be a country that exports oil byproducts—more gasoline, high-quality oil. The investments were calculated at the price of $35 per barrel. Now, at $40, we still have enough margin.

Critics say that during this period of high commodity prices, you did not position Brazil to move economically up to the next level.
This doesn't make sense. When I became president of Brazil, the public debt was 55 percent of GDP. Today it is 35 percent. Inflation was 12 percent, and today it's 4.5 percent. We have economic stability. Our exports have quadrupled. The fact is that the growth of the Brazilian economy is the highest it has been in 30 years.

Will Brazil's economy grow this year?
I'm convinced we'll reach the end of the year with a positive growth rate. But we did not foresee that the crisis would have either the size or the depth that it has today in the U.S. Now we need new political decisions that depend on the rich countries' governments. How are we going to reestablish credit, reestablish the American consumer and the European consumer? Now we have to prove we are worthy.
I was even getting a little bit disappointed in political life. I've already had my sixth year of my term, and you start getting tired. But this crisis is almost like something—a provocative thing for us, to wake us up. It's giving me enthusiasm. I want to fight. The more crises, the more investment you have to make. So we're investing today in what we never invested in for the last 30 years, in railroads, highways, waterways, dams, bridges, airports, ports, housing projects, basic sanitation. We have to be bold, because in Brazil we have many things to do that in other countries were already done many years ago.

Last December you had a meeting of the 33 countries of the Americas except the United States. Why? It seemed that the United States was pointedly excluded.
We have never had such a meeting among only the Latin American and Caribbean countries. So it was necessary to have this meeting without super economic powers, a meeting of countries that face the same problems.

You've said you hope this crisis will change the politics of the world, to give countries like Brazil and India and China a greater say. What specifically—what power do you want that you don't have now for Brazil?
We want to have much more influence in world politics. For example, we want that the multilateral financial institutions not be open only to the Americans and Europeans—institutions like the IMF and World Bank. We want more continents to participate in the Security Council. Brazil should have a seat, and the African continent should have one or two.

You are regarded as a great symbol of democracy in the Americas. And yet some people say you have been quiet as Hugo Chávez has destroyed democracy in Venezuela. Why not speak out? If Brazil wants a greater role in the world, wouldn't that be one part, to stand for certain values?
Well, maybe we cannot agree with Venezuelan democracy, but no one can say that there is no democracy in Venezuela. He has been through five, six elections. I've only had two.

He has gangs out on the street. This is not real democracy.
Look, we have to respect the local cultures, the political traditions of each country. Given that I have 84 percent support in the public-opinion polls, I could propose an amendment to the Constitution for a third term. I don't believe in that. But Chávez wanted to stay … I believe that changing the president is important for the strengthening of democracy itself.


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Keeping up with the Joneses

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If analyses and common sense are to be believed, the world is facing a financial mess because people spent more wealth than they created. Then they thought that if they put off payments for some time, they would just vanish into thin air. The tragedy is that none of the debts vanished into thin air and all those deferred payments finally caught up with us.

While there are some who have tightened their belts and cancelled those dreaded shiny plastic cards that promised the earth, the moon and more, there are others who continue to spend as lavishly as they previously did, with no regards to an economy in the toilet. They not only want to keep up with Joneses, they want to leave them far, far behind.

Going to the numerous lawn – the summery cotton fabric preferred by ladies in Pakistan – exhibitions in the city, you could have thought that the financial crunch is nothing but a figment of someone’s imagination. The number of exhibitions has gone up, the number of designers coming up with their wares has gone up, and the volume of cloth being sold has definitely gone up. I encountered women who flew in to Karachi from Larkana and Quetta to buy the desired cloth at one of the exhibitions.

Just step out of your house and you will see cars that are bigger, shinier and faster than anything you have seen before. There are times when all you see are Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) on the roads. Plying those huge monstrosities on the congested Karachi roads borders on cruelty, yet people keep on doing it to show off that they can afford a huge, fuel-guzzling vehicle – the economic, social and environmental fall outs be damned. Granted that most of them are bought with public funds as is painfully obvious by their green government number plates, but one must admit that to justify such excesses in times like this would take some earth-shattering logic and creative accounting on part of the government officials. To spend our tax money to buy vehicles to transport the ample selves of numerous begum sahibas and secretary sahibs must call for some extraordinary skills.

As if SUVs in general and Hummers in particular were not bad enough, a family in Germany has bought a six-tonne armoured tank to use for shopping and day trips. The tank is armed with a disabled 30mm gun and has three-inch thick armour plating. The owner Joachim Schoeneich has even fitted a baby seat to the British-built Fox tank for his toddler son Paul and is only concerned about finding the right parking space for his abnormal mode of transportation
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Have the executives at the military industry gone completely bonkers? They are selling a battle tank for £24,000! That’s cheaper than a Lamborghini. They have been selling Hummers for quite some time, and now comes the tank – guess what will follow this? Will they start selling mini versions of rockets that children can hop on, like a witch’s broom, to get to school? Are we looking into a future where the rich and environmentally unaware would take thrill trips in F-16 fighter jets to impress ladies? One must feel sorry for Schoeneich’s two year old son, Paul. If daddy has bought a tank for shopping and day trips, the poor kid will probably have to buy a space ship to go work.

Originally published at Dawn.com
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Closer to Sarah Palin

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I got a reader from Anchorage, Alaska on my blog.


Somehow, I feel closer to Sarah Palin today.






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A wake up call to all Shariah apologists

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There are people, educated and well traveled people, who actually believed that Shariah courts will be good and will bring speedy justice to people. Quite a few commentators on this post had similar things to say. One of them actually warned me that I should be afraid when people will want Shariah Courts in Karachi and Lahore. I don’t need to say anything to defend myself. Here is an interview of a man, Maulana Sufi Mohammed, who will most probably be appointing Qazis (judges in Sharoah courts), which clearly reveals how well versed he is in matters of jurisprudence and what kind of justice will be meted out to people in his able guidance. A few priceless quotes from the interview are:

Keeping weapons is halal in Islam.

We will not discuss what has happened in the past. Sharia law does not allow this.

Democracy is not permissible in sharia law.


Here is the complete text.


The influential pro-Taliban cleric of Swat, Sufi Muhammad has said that the sharia law does not allow debate on the past, and therefore he will not term what his son-in-law Mullah Fazlullah did against the state of Pakistan during the last year and a half as haram or halal. In an exclusive interview with Daily Times’ Peshawar Bureau Chief Iqbal Khattak in Mingora city, the 74-year-old cleric said keeping weapons is Islamic, and that he did not demand that the Taliban surrender their weapons after a peace deal with the NWFP government. Excerpts follow:

Daily Times (DT): You said in a 2005 interview with us that what Al Qaeda and the Taliban are doing in Pakistan is haram. Are Maulana Fazlullah’s activities over the last sixteen months also haram?

Sufi Muhammad (SM): Yes, I said that about Al Qaeda, but not about the Taliban. Let me say...that debate on past happenings is disallowed in Islam. A hadith sharif says, what has happened in the past should not be discussed.

DT: But how can we proceed without debating the past?

SM: The hadith sharif says a Muslim should not discuss past happenings because he may not remember all the [details] and, therefore, he may...sin by not speaking the truth.

DT: A majority of Swat residents do not think the peace deal recently signed between the TNSM and the NWFP government will last long.

SM: God Almighty does everything; he builds and destroys countries.

DT: Residents also doubt whether peace is possible in the presence of armed Taliban.

SM: Everyone keeps weapons. People in Peshawar have weapons with them.

DT: You support keeping weapons?

SM: Yes, you can keep weapons with you.

DT: Did you ask Fazlullah to surrender weapons after the sharia law deal?

SM: Keeping weapons is halal in Islam.

DT: President Zardari said recently that force would be used if the Taliban do not surrender weapons in Swat.

SM: His statement is childish...immature.

DT: With sharia law in Swat, there will be a complete ban on music and girls’ education, and people will be forced to grow beards?

SM: There are five subjects — judiciary, politics, economics, education and the executive. The judicial subject will be with us, the rest is beyond our control.

DT: The Taliban are kidnapping government officials and killing soldiers, yet you still hold the army responsible for ceasefire violations.

SM: Kidnapping cases are taking place all over the world. The military violated the ceasefire.

DT: The military says some of its soldiers were shot dead while bringing water.

SM:No. This is not the case. The soldiers were not killed near any stream.

DT: Are soldiers moving freely in Swat after the peace deal?

SM: No. The military cannot move freely unless peace is restored.

DT: After peace is restored, will the army leave Swat?

SM: This is Pakistan’s army and Swat is within Pakistan’s borders. I will have no objection if a military cantonment is established here.

DT: Locals say innocent people have been killed. Will the aggrieved families be able to get justice?

SM: I have told you already: we will not discuss what has happened in the past. Sharia law does not allow this.

DT: If a court summons a key Taliban commander, will he appear before the court?

SM: If Caliph Umar (RA) can appear before a court, then why can’t others?

DT: So Fazlullah will also appear in court if summoned?

SM: If he does not...he will be acting against the sharia law.

DT: What you did in Malakand in the 1990s and then in Afghanistan in 2001 you called ‘jihad’. Are Fazlullah’s activities over the last 16 months in Swat also jihad?

SM: I do not want to speak on this.

DT: What are Fazlullah’s plans after the peace deal?

SM: He will support imposition of sharia law.

DT: You have termed democracy ‘infidelity’. But Maulana Sami-ul Haq, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmad are taking part in the democratic process.

SM: Democracy is not permissible in sharia law. I will not name [these leaders] but they are taking part in infidelity. I will not offer prayers if one of [these leaders] is leading those prayers.

DT: Do you intend to export sharia law to other parts of Pakistan?

SM: If people help me, I will. Otherwise, no.



PS: I also wonder why none of the Political maulvis responded to being called infidels.



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Failed State? Not really

Latest iRant from Dawn.com.


Sometime back, Newsweek named Pakistan the most dangerous place on earth. Now, the American magazine Foreign Policy has come up with its own most dangerous place. Surprisingly, it is not Pakistan. They name Somalia as the most dangerous country. In addition to a detailed article about the perils to life in Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, they came up with a chart of 60 countries that pass for failed states. They have graded the countries on indicators of instability that are as varied as human flight, human rights, economy and factionalized elite among others.

There are no marks for guessing that Pakistan gets an honourable mention in the top ten. It is the ninth most failed state after Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Ivory Coast – all fairly failed states. What did get my goat, however, was that Pakistan is considered more failed than Central African Republic, which came in tenth. Central African Republic? No one would even know where the country is if its name were not so geographically specific.

But it’s not just the good ol’ Central African Republic – Pakistan is more failed a state than Ethiopia (16), Liberia (34), which is famous for its blood diamonds and child soldiers, and Malawi (29), a heaven for celebrities looking to adopt kids without much ado.

The chart is designed with the maximum point of 10 for any indicator – the more failed a state is, the higher the score would be on most indicators. According to the chart, out of the 12 indicators of instability, Pakistan’s least worrisome performance has been in economy and – believe it or not – public services. It is a known fact that electricity –rather, the lack thereof – has wreaked havoc with our lives and economy. If that’s come out smelling of roses, imagine how bad the score would be on other indicators.

Group grievances, security apparatus and external intervention were among the higher scoring indicators. I personally think the chart is biased and is part of an international conspiracy to besmirch the good name of Pakistan. For instance, it has been suggested that US Drones that are said to be flying from Afghanistan are actually taking off from our own airfields. If that’s the case, then the level of external intervention is not as high as has been indicated in the chart.

Similarly, if the number of times traffic is blocked in the main cities of Pakistan to clear passage for high-ranking officials is any indicator of our security apparatus at work, it seems to be working just fine – that is, for the government officials, if not for all Pakistanis. Pakistan may score high in group grievances, but that is to be expected in a multi-ethnic country. If Baloch people have any issues with the federal government about royalty of its resources and the fate of its missing persons, it’s not that big a deal. After all, they comprise only 4 percent of the population.

Pakistan also scored high on delegitimization of the state. This was perhaps correct in the past, but it has been taken care of since last month. We have officially signed deals with dissident groups in Swat and Bajaur Agency and handed over districts and cities to them. Now they are the ones who are officially administering those areas and government of Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the deligitimization of the state.

The highest scoring indicator for Pakistan is the curiously titled factionalized elites. Contrary to scoring in the chart, the Pakistani elite does not seem all that factionalized. The elite has been quite focused, coherent and persistent in evading the taxes while piling indirect ones on the poor people of Pakistan. It can also be thanked for upholding the flight of Pakistani capital out of the country, investing in the Middle East, signing over parts of the country to militants, selling public goods, and denying external intervention in matters of governance. If anything, they have proven to be the most consistently performing group of the country.


The link for the chart was sent to me by fellow blogger Desi Che


PS: Those looking for laughs should check out the comments section in dawn blog, I personally think common sense is the rarest commodity these days.

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Who will take on Sufi Mohammed?

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Trust Ejaz Haider to ask the most pertinent question post restoration of CJ Iftekhar Chaudhry. What’s next? Haider, a veteran journalist, writes that the issue must go beyond the person of the CJP to the institution of the judiciary and further on to the judiciary’s interaction with other institutions of state and society. And, to the gravest threat facing Pakistan: terrorism. The difficult part is yet to come.

The problem is; the difficult part is here & now, glaring at us in the face. Government of Pakistan and NWFP signed a deal with militants in Swat last month, practically handing most of Malakand division over to them. The deal, ironically called Nizam Adl Regulation (System of Justice Regulation), ran into snags when Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad asked judicial officers to stop coming to courts and said that any further court proceedings would be in violation of the agreement signed by the government.

The lawyers’ movement took on the case of CJ Chaudhry for the past two years and marched the length & breadth of the country, but will they take up the case of lawyers and session judges who are now given their marching orders by Maulana Sufi Mohammed. CJ Chaudhry was sacked by the president of the country (we are not going into the details of how credible was the election of the president) which raised the proverbial hell and rightly so. Now, this so called leader and cleric, who was jailed by the government until recently, threatens the judges and lawyers of the area and there is hardly any response to that, either from the lawyers’ community or civil society. I don’t expect champions of justice and democracy Imran Khan and Qazi Hussien Ahmed to breathe a word against this atrocity because it is brought on by their brothers in faith but what about the other upholder of democracy and rule of law Mr. Nawaz Sharif? Not a murmur from PML-N either. Does that mean that political parties in Pakistan can only stand up against the state machinery and burn and destroy public property, but cannot take on the militants who are hell bent on destroying the very fabric of society.





I am eagerly waiting for March 24th, the day CJ Chaudhry resumes office to see if he takes a suo moto action against this. After all, his claim to fame is the number of suo moto actions taken over a period of time. If he will not take this action, he will have to amend his title as suggested by Ejaz Haider to Chief Justice Pakistan sans Swat because the system Justice Chaudhry heads is not acceptable to Sufi Muhammad running his satrapy.

Lawyers’ movement played its part in the ouster of President Musharraf; can it play a part in dealing with terrorism and the likes of Taliban and Sufi Mohammed?




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Honest opinion

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There is something new that I learned today.

To give an honest opinion in today’s world is SO last century, its not even funny or tragic. As a certain Mr Shaw rather correctly put it, when people ask for opinions, all they want is praise.




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Profits in times of recession

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The global recession and liquidity crunch is making things difficult for everyone; small fish like us don’t stand a chance when giants like Coca-Cola are announcing dips in their profits. Job sites and Labour department and employment exchanges, especially in the United States of America and UK, are busy advertising the kind of skills that are still in demand and locations where people can retrain for those skills in order to get a job.

Things work a little differently here in Pakistan. The government is busy pacifying the militants, establishing governor’s rule and ensuring the availability of riot police for the impending long march. The opposition, on the other hand, has to make sure that they riot as much as they can during the long march, protest against the aforementioned governor’s rule and criticize government on every television channel that asks them to voice their opinion. The employment of common people is not something that is high on the agenda of either the government or the opposition parties.

However, after much deliberation, a new list of occupations is devised which can bring in richer dividends for the people, even in times of slump and economic decline.

Flag and Banner Industry: Whether it is election time, Muharram, Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, political rally, long march, short march or just the month of March, there is always a demand for a banner or two. Whether you are in business of providing cloth to the banner-and-flag maker or work as the darzi who sews the jhandas, there is steady employment in this business. Occasional employment is also available for hoisting the flags and banners across the length and breadth of the country.

Crowd provider: Just like flag and banner industry, potential for running a human resource agency for providing crowds for political meetings, marches, jalsas and dharnas is tremendous. Not only the possibilities for providing general public for rallies are enormous, one can create a niche speciality for providing people who are good at slogan chanting, rallying the mob and flag bearing. Of course the charges for specific human resource would be much higher than just general crowd provision.

Hijab Industry: Hijab industry is the fastest growing industry in the country. With imposition of Shariat in Swat and Fata and its probable spread to other areas, burqas would be mandatory for women if they are to leave their homes to go to the weddings and funerals of relatives. Quite a few people have already built empires out of manufacturing and selling Hijab-related clothing. Hijab not only has a huge market in the country, but it sells like hot cakes in other countries as well and can generate much needed foreign exchange for the country. Canada is one such country where the business of hijab is booming, thanks to the immigration of Farhat Hashmi to the greener environs of Mississauga. Toronto and Vancouver are the new hotspots for the trendiest in hijab wear. This scribe met a sister duo in Rabi Centre Karachi who were buying tonnes of black georgette. One of the sisters is running a very successful hijab boutique in Vancouver and the other sister is the manufacturer who exports the hijab wear from Karachi; both of them are doing very well while busy in God’s business. If your business if affected by anti-dumping duties or you cannot compete with the low cost of production for knitwear, you can always switch to hijab wear and make loads of money for yourself and your country.

Madrassa teacher: As more and more people are facing the axe and their purchasing power is declining, they will soon be pulling their children out of the regular schools and put them in Madrassas funded with Saudi petrodollars. The higher the enrolment in such Madrassas would be, the demand for teachers would accelerate in the same proportion.


Disclaimer: Invest your time and money in the aforementioned occupations at your own risk; we cannot guarantee that the market for them will stay stable.


Originally published in Dawn.com


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Subliminal mindfuck

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Just when you think that you are jaded beyond imagination and you have seen it all, people in the land of pure would come up with something more shocking that will make you forget the good, the bad and the downright ugly from your past. With the arrival of Woman's day, a group which calls itself 'Women and Family Commission' has put up some banners on the streets of Karachi. The message in those banners is subversive and it calls for women to NOT work and stay at home. One of the banners says that the quota for women's employment is tantamount to increasing the number of children who will spend their days without their mother's attention. Another one says that 50% quota in jobs for women is infringement of men's rights and my personal favorite is the last one which says, employment is not the solution to the problems of women.

The subliminal message of the banner is that women need not to work, it will not solve their problems and they are actually infringing upon the rights of male members of society by leaving their homes and seeking gainful employment. The message also piles up the guilt on the mothers who leave their children behind to work that their children are being raised motherless. This hidden message is more lethal than open objection to movement and liberty of women as it guilts them into staying at home for their children.


I request the City Government of Karachi in general and Naib Nazima (Deputy Mayor) who is a working woman, in particular, to get these banners removed as soon as possible.

























Pictures taken at Do Talwar, Clifton, Karachi

The school of political nonsense

Traditionally, students of politics are taught courses such as political theory, international relations, comparative politics, constitutional law, national politics, institutionalism and diplomacy among others. But in Pakistan’s case, most of these courses would be outmoded. Here, in this great country of ours, constitution and law is more of a joke. There is no rhyme, reason or theory to the politics on display and the less said about institutionalism, the better.

As a sophomore student, I remember studying courses on political ethics and the art of diplomacy, but in the current Pakistani political scenario, those courses are not only redundant, but the universities may be accused of imparting foreign influences to our students. If a university starts running a politics program to teach politics – Pakistan style – modern and newly-devised courses such as Political Opportunism and Political Anarchy would be more appropriate and students will have plenty of live examples to research and document. If a university takes this plunge and redesigns its curriculum, there are certain courses that would definitely make the final cut.

Instead of institutionalism, universities here should start teaching a course on Political Dynasties which could be popular in neighboring countries as well. Bhuttos of PPP are the most famous example although Khans of ANP are not far behind. The party has been passed on, from father to son, for three generations (from Ghaffar Khan to his son Wali Khan and now over to his son Asfandyar Wali Khan). Though these parties may be the pioneers taught about in Political Dynasties 101, PML-N and JUI - F takes the cake as the parties that are formed around the names of their leaders. It is open to wonder what will happen to these fine political institutions if there is no Nawaz Sharif or Maulana Fazlur Rehman around to ably guide and lead them.

Another popular course suitable for politics in Pakistan would be Political Suicide 101. We have all witnessed how former president of the country, Pervez Musharraf, was responsible for his own ouster. The civilian politicians couldn’t harm him much in the first eight years of his rule, but as soon as he overestimated his grandiosity and dismissed the CJ in an unceremonious manner, he brought about his own demise. Z.A. Bhutto is another fine example of political failure about whom, a certain Mr. Rushdie in his book Shame wrote: ‘Some men are so great that they can be unmade only by themselves.’ The current president, it appears, has not learned from the history and is hell-bent on making the same mistakes. Although he is not half as great as Bhutto and not as powerful as President Musharraf was in his heyday, it looks more likely that he too will be undone by himself.

Political Anarchy would be another appropriate course for students of politics in Pakistan. Currently, the biggest proponent for the school of Political Anarchy is Mr. Nawaz Sharif, who openly calls for civil disobedience among the civil servants and is aiming to push the country into further chaos. His reasons for doing so are, of course, purely personal and can only benefit him and his party. The rest of the country can go to the dogs. Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami, with its history of long marches, remains the traditional flag-bearer of Political Anarchy.

The course on Political Authoritarianism has many contenders in Pakistan. The latest in line is the recently-deposed chief minister of Punjab, who, after assuming office, demolished the democratic local government set up and brought back Babu Raj to run a highly centralized government in Punjab. Previously, just about every leader who assumed power tried his/her hands at Political Authoritarianism; one such leader also wished to be called Amir-ul-Momineen before he was unceremoniously removed and relieved of his ‘Heavy mandate’.

The undisputed pioneer in the field of Political Communication has got to be MQM supremo Altaf Hussain. Hussain has been commanding his party in absentia since the early 90s, when he moved to the UK to live in self-imposed exile. Mr. Hussain has been taught as a case study in communication in modern politics in a few British universities and could be a good source on all methods of political communications. After all, he is the man who is said to be in control of a city as huge and chaotic as Karachi sitting in his office in London.

The other courses which can be taught as electives are courses on Political Inactivity, Political Nuisance and last but not the least, a course on Political Nonsense. After all, adherents of schools of Political Nonsense abound in just about every political party, big or small, in Pakistan.



Originally published at Dawn.com
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Adieus cricket, welcome terrorism

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Some time last month, my friend Faras messaged me from London that he will be coming down to Karachi to watch the first Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. I thought he was crazy and pulled his leg to no end after the run fest that test match turned out to be. His argument for traveling thousands of miles to come witness the test was simple. He said that it would probably be the last series to be played on Pakistani soil and he would want to tell his children that he was part of that historic event. Never more prophetic words were spoken. After the firing incident that happened earlier today in which Sri Lankan captain Mahila Jayawardene, along with few others were injured, no one in their mind would visit Pakistan. Karachi test was perhaps the last completed test played on Pakistani soil.

Welcome terrorism, adieus cricket.



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