Builders’ Mafia

``...yelled an Azaan into their ears at birth``

Nobody gets the azan yelled into his/her ears at birth, Shandana. It is whispered, very gently I might add, in the ears of a newborn. You are being highly insensitive here just so you can sound tacky although the seriousness of the issue you are taking on in this article should suggest taking the other coarse.

I agree with you, however, and since I am from Karachi myself, I always make it a point to read your articles since you are writing from over there. It sort of helps me see Karachi through your eyes, your writing that is. Apartment buildings in Karachi are horrible and the root of the problem, it appears atleast to me, is what you allude to in your article; the divisions within the muncipality are completely outdated and should be changed immediately.

re the unforgiven:

the point was that the `mafia` uses religion as an excuse to persecute the honest and outspoken, not that they were being persecuted JUST because they were minorities. following upon that was the bit about the clerics and their followers who don`t need any other reason to persecute people than their being non-muslim. religious prejudice is a very ugly part of the face we try to hide from others, lets not ignore it.when they started the ball rolling they didn`t say ``how dare these men criticise us, off with their heads`` they said ``look,non-muslims questioning the ethics of muslims..are we going to let them get away with this?``.that is how they gathered the support of the parts of the urdu press that `pilloried` cowasjee and d`souza.
a little story mr.cowasjee told me, the chief of a big religious party requested a meeting with him.during the course of the conversation he asked him when his family had moved to pakistan from iran and why.mr cowasjee said in the 1400`s, to escape `zulm` at the hands of muslims..at which point the maulana jumped up, banged his hands upon the table and shouted `mussalman kabhi zulm nahin karta`.

re prejudice:

it`s interesting but you`re not the only person who`s pointed that out to me. just yesterday one of my closest friends said the exact same thing.it`s not deep rooted by any means (i hope!) and in my case is generally directed at anyone who happens to be in power but i think, upon reflection, you`re right. that was an unnecessary and needlessly flippant comment, and i apologise to anybody whose sensibilities i might have offended.
perhaps karachi is poisoning me after all.i hope i manage to avoid the pitfalls of bitterness i have highlighted in other people.

The creativity and the great delivery of ``Scaly``
is finally back. After a lapsed run with the
pack, another winner emerges from SM.
I Enjoyed it very much.

Ras Siddiqui

Right you are !

Loved the references to Cowasjee and d`Souza in your article as the embodiment of free speech in Pakistan. Ironic, isn`t it, that two members of a minority, (a Hindu and a Zoroastrian) persecuted by the majority are fighting for the rights of that same people to persecute them, you gussed it, in the name of the majority! I guess if Joesph Heller, the author of Catch-22, were to read this, where ever he may be, he would certainly love the irony found in the idiocracy of the situation that is present day Pakistan.

All I can say is, thank God for people like d`Souza and Cowasjee and others like them, because of their common sense we have still have a fighting chance to walk out of this mess we have created for ourselves.

The French have a saying, which they utter, when things do not make any sense, c`est la vie mon amie, to which we can add the postscript, but hopefully, not yet in Pakistan. L`logique c`est ne mort in Pakistan. Vive l` etat du raison !