A Walk down Memory Lane

Re: # 6
Those who were born and bread in the UK are technically not really 'Pakistanis' and therefore not a part of my memory bank... but if u want me to guess, i would say that their problem is they have become like the Dhobi ka kutta, na ghar ka na ghat ka... they r not 'angraiz' and they r not 'daisee'... they need an identification and so they over identify and thus fall in with the radicals... maybe it is their way of reacting to the prejudice they face in the UK?

Re: # 5
Mush may be bad, but i dont see where the Nawaz and Zardari duo will be any better ... it has been said that those who ignore history r bound to repeat it...
our problem is that we hate the present 'ruler' and love those who had stiffed us in the past ... a few years after Ayub Khan was pulled down with slogans like "ayub kutta hai hai" and "cheenee chor" I remember seeing trucks painted with his picture saying 'tairee yaad aa'ee, tairai janai kai baad!'...:)

Re: # 1
Zeemax!... how r YOU? ... ok, i wont talk about the article since u confess u didnt read it... but as u see, i am hoping to start writing once again... maybe the juices will begin to flow... but i have a (13, soon to be 14) yr old grandson who is writing very well ... i have some of his stories on my website...another grandson is writing poetry... do u think they r being 'influenced' by granny?...;)

Hi Zeejah! I'm good. I did read the article. See post #2!

Re: # 4
Hamidm2 ... i think that in spite of themselves the politicians may finally do the one thing that is of ultimate importance in a country like Pakistan ... the Judiciary might finally be independant, altho i have a nagging feeling that Zardari is only saying that to curb NS's enthusiasm vis a vis the judges restoration... i remember him saying that the issue is larger than just this Judge or the other... and basically he is very right ...
IF NS doesnt back down about the restoration of Judges (who if memory serves me right took an oath on an earlier PCO) then i guess we may finally have a Judiciary that is independant of the Executive ... and with the Press that Mush freed (!) it should make an interesting time in Pakistan...:)

Re: # 2
just as the Press still is like a rambunctious kid, the Judges may 'overdo' their oversight of wot is going on in the country... but i would rather have more than less at any time!...
i think the answer to Pakistan's woes is an independent Judiciary and a free Press... Mush gave us one, Zardari may give us the other...:)

#14 Posted by zeejah,

I see you chose to ignore #2. Thanks for making your position clear:)

Now do elaborate:

a free Press... Mush gave us

I suppose he could stop the airwaves, or the internet. Or, perhaps you believe he gave us internet too? Or Cellphones?

You can't stop technology. If musharraf did not allow domestic channels, there would still be satellite dishes which I had since way back in 1992, and he would have no control over them. He did it to use them to spread his 'enlightened moderation'.

So please do not give us that.

Write something like the puppeteer again! Forget politics. It's not for you.

... I meant you ignored the main questions in the end of #2.

Re: # 2
i see it... and i thought i replied it in one of the interactions ...
no, Mush did not give us the internet etc etc... i know that... but, he did give the media a free hand... until of course it turned against him...LOL... :)
if i remember rightly, GEO etc had to beam in their programs via Dubai and other offshore, foreign spots ... it was during Mush's time that we got a whole slew of news channels that had been the preserve of the PTV until Mush!...:)

#17 Posted by zeejah,

Zeejah ... before the domestic media channels were allowed to Uplink locally (this is technical ... what it means is they were allowed to beam up to Satellites from Pakistan territory), there were many channels uplinking from Hong Kong and Singapore with a footprint on Pakistan. The first such channel was Indus News. Others would have followed like GEO, ARY etc in due course.

Now, what musharraf did first was to lure the channels to uplink locally, and next he encouraged cable providers instead of satellite dishes so the private dishes on roofs vanished. This way he came into control of media which otherwise he could not have.

As you've seen, what happened on Nov 3 was he stopped the uplinking of the channels which were doing it here (eg Aaj TV, Indus, Dawn etc) and just prohibited the cable channels to relay any which were doing it from abroad (e.g. GEO, ARY).

If there had been satellite dishes on individual roofs, he could not have done that.

Do you see now Ma'am?

Re: # 3
Islam jeeta hai har Karbala kai baad.
i guess the times r not very different today ... so i hope that the scholars will once again allow 'Ijtehad' ... (is that the term i need?)...Ijtehad is the soul of modernity as it upgrades and keeps in step with changing times.
Stoning to death is an ancient punishment ...it is in the Torah, the Old Testament and the Quran ... the only difference being that the youngest religion decided they did not need 'upgrades' in Law and Ijtehad was done away with many centuries ago.
the 'tragedy' with us Pakistanis is that we insist on stereotypes and 'same ole, same ole' ...maybe that makes us feel safe? ... maybe we dont think we r 'mature' enuf to say something off the beaten track?...
the 'tragedy' is that very few Pakistanis actually bother to find out Islam's position and tend to take the word of someone who does claim to know...
the 'tragedy' is that the majority of Pakistanis would not even be able to find out what Islam says since they r illiterate ...
the greatest tragedy of all is that in spite of claiming to be Muslims we do not use God's greatest gift to us... our brains!...;)
"You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them." Quran 17:36

Re: # 18
OKAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY... i see wot u mean... and i admit you are right and i am wrong...so in future i will not pin the badge of media freedom on Mush's chest...:)

... cable channels should be read as cable providers.

Those mom & pop operations ... you know.

#20 Posted by zeejah,

Zeejah, since you're recently Vilayat returned, I think you should know that perhaps about 85% of people (balance is mostly MQM types) in this country hate musharraf. And those who support him, are outcasts and pariahs. You've seen the jootas and the slaps going around. Beware!

musharraf left no avenue unexplored in destroying the very roots of this country.

I'm surprised you say what you say, despite your being a Pushtoon. musharraf has killed as many Pakistani Pushtoons as the Americans in Afghanistan, if not more.

I just read your article in the Pakistan Link and am truly impressed by your synopsis since 1947. My question is , How do we get out of this stranglehold? When will this musical chair end and how ? I was a big proponent of Military Rule because I heard one side of the story but looking back and I feel that Military has tresspassed it boundaries many times with false propaganda and therfore is fully responsible for this quagmire we are in. They have forgotten their role and fel into the trap of personal enrichment and ego building.They are the worst offenders of the Constitution because their role is defined in our Constitution.

Perwaiz Ahmad
Fullerton, CA

Re: # 23
Parvaiz, i really dont have any answers ... i only report what i have seen and continue to see... my cousins and I were once having a discussion and my cousin asked about the one thing that has to be in place in order for Pakistan to get out of the morass it is in ... we all had our opinions, but his answer left a lasting effect on me... he said it was 'Justice' ...without Justice no country can prosper or progress becoz there is no oversight... ppl in power can do wotever they please... Pakistanis r generally a submissive lot ...i connect it to the fact that this part of the subcontinent has seen invaders since times immemorial and the ppl learned to keep their heads down, fall into line and wait...
IF Zardari means what he says about the independence of the Judiciary, and follows thru with it, he may erase forever the Mr 10% epithet....;) ... personally i dont see anyone in power doing that as it would be 'Apnai pa'oo'n par kulharee'...
literacy levels r judged by anyone being able to write their name and even at that it is abysmal.. without literacy one cannot have an informed opinion ...and so they listen to the village mullah who is equally uninformed...
like i said, i have no idea when this augean stables will be cleaned out... there seems precious little hope of it happening in my lifetime!