Calculate This

Acha, phir kya hua?

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some of the biggest muslim fundos in NY are naturalized citizens......
and u`d think that the US government would do their homework before starting the blacklisting

This article, or much of it was also published in mid-day, where i read it first. it usually says that at the end of your articles, but doesn`t here...khair....i already commented on this article in part...but since have gotten no answer...have decided response is futile.
are Baber and Saniya back in Lahore now?

Heartbreaking.

My younger brother was at RATTs concert at NYC recently. RATT was a leading 80s heavy metal band, but had a good following till their concerts in early 90s. Since the band is well past their prime, my brother and his couple of friends got a place near the stage. Now the RATTs were really disturbed to see bearded gentlemen close by. They were pretty scared, but soon realized their mistake and got out of themselves when they noticed the participation.

I lived in NYC too, but would never like it to be there again. In fact I would like to avoid the USA, because I think our presence in the USA is a burden for our American friends. During my 3 last visits to the USA since 9/11, I have refused to go to NYC even though my brother lives there and my mother stays there for stretches of no less that 6 months at least.

The times have changed. One is got to adjust and move on.

Hi Rehan I don`t want to spoil the party but tell me, how different is this from the way they would treat you & me if we landed to study and work and protest in Iraq or Kuwait or North Korea or that ultimate beacon of freedom, Saudi Arabia?

You know what, I think we spent decades fighting amongst ourselves, as Indians & Pakistanis & now Bangladeshis and this is one of the results.

Liked the article, will Saniya now do NR-Eyes from Lahore? Will she do one on Yasser please?

regards/Veeresh

stay tuned, pagalinsaan.
thank you ansari, ana, scout, ahmadzai i have read upto #7 and it seems as all the responses belong to one family of thought.

veeresh, i have lived and worked and loved in new york, and still do. Ther is much lena and dena of me and mine with this city, as with some others, your delhi for example. If we are happy in new york or delhi (lahore, karachi, bombay) and have to leave unhappily that means the world.

What do I care for Saudi Arabia? khuda Al-Saud ko gharat karey! I would like to go to a certain desert city on the peninsula and pay homage to the figure of a lonely boy and a solitary young man, but I never will if the keepers of the Kaaba are these worthless Al Saud.

Thankyou Tipu.

Just a few return from dust, disguised as roses.
What hopes the earth forever covers, what faces?

World, should Ghalib keep weeping you will see a flood
drown your terraced cities, your marble palaces.

(shahid rendering y`know who)

ahmedzai #7 How exactly did your younger brother decide that the RATTs were scared of his beard? Did they all turn pale and start trembling and begging him not to beat them? Or perhaps they all ran for cover, some hiding under the stage, others running for the men`s room to take a leak?
Or maybe, just maybe, your brother just thinks that his beard is getting him everybody`s attention when in fact no one is giving him a second look.
Just wondering...

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Baber may not be off the mark.....

Ras

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Well crafted moment there, Rehan. The last para was nicely moving with its mix of emotions.
My best wishes for your relatives.

all said and done, Lahore Lahore Ay!

No wonder the name Saniya Ansari sounded familiar. She also writes (wrote?) for Mehraab, the online magazine from NC.

Its always sad when lives get uprooted, sorry to hear that its happening to your relatives.

But by any chance is this what this writeup is saying - that if the US law says a person must leave after his visa expires, the law is anti-Muslim and a Muslim by obeying the law, is being persecuted ?

Hope you are not because its totally unrealistic to expect to be above the law simply because you are Muslim or Pakistani. The US has every right to make its own laws, and whether post and pre Sept 11, noncitizens break these laws at their OWN risk.

Move

bed, u have seen some action,
doors, some slam.
Landlord, u may remove
every chip, scuff, stain: who knows
what reflections
old mirrors project in the dark

- Melissa Terras

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/musharraff.nephew/index.html

Nephew of Pakistani president arrested
Tourist visa expired in 1994
From Kevin Bohn
CNN
Friday, March 7, 2003 Posted: 7:47 PM EST (0047 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The nephew of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was arrested in the United States on February 19 on a charge of having an expired visa, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement told CNN.

He was released Friday but could be deported after a hearing before an immigration judge, the spokesman said.

The nephew, Amir Javed Musharraf, registered with immigration authorities February 19 as part of a Justice Department program requiring men from 25 countries, including Pakistan, to be interviewed and fingerprinted.

Musharraf, who was living in Memphis, Tennessee, had been in the United States since 1994, the spokesman said. His tourist visa expired in 1994.

The registration program, called The National Security Entry Exit System, has garnered criticism. Several hundred people living in the United States have been arrested after reporting to immigration authorities.

Civil rights groups have criticized the initiative for mainly targeting Arab and Muslim men, but immigration officials have said it is needed to help the government keep track of who is in the country from nations where anti-American opinions are popular.

The programs was being administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was absorbed by the Department of Homeland Security on February 28.

Nephew of Musharaf arrested, sad for him, but grandson of Jinnah marriage reception at Bombay Race Course yesterday, that`s worse!!

(Spot the puns spot the puns, don`t take off)

veeresh #21 Damn. Thats all we need. Another Musharaff coming to Pakistan. :-)

Mushy`s kin arrested.

Dont worry guys he will disown him just like he disowned his own dead soldiers at Kargil!!!!!!! Although we Hindoooooooo Indians cremeted them with full honour and according to Muslim rituals.

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Indian, Veerseh & Sadna:

If Musharraf`s nephew was arrested, he has been released. But how about British PM? He has been handed over a serious fine on a parking rule violation.

The much criticized NAB in Pakistan has actually arrested many politicians and even militarymen on corruption charges. But when Tehelka exposed the corruption in BJP lead Government, Tehelka disappeared.

tahmed at # 9:

I regret responding to your post with delay, as I had missed reading it completely.

My younger brother told me that that both the vocalist and the lead guitarist were a bit skeptical in approaching the audience on his side of the stage as compared to any other. Besides, they kept looking at the company with certain level of uncertainty. Later, they were totally comfortable with them as they sung along.

In retrospection, I think that you are right. It could be beard or it could be some well-behaved brownies for the first time attending a RATT concert. Come to think of it, how many non-whites would have attended their shows?

I will discuss this important aspect of the whole thing with my brother for my own satisfaction. In the meantime, good that you pointed it out. being educated people, we should not generalize everything.

ahmadzai #26
I wasn`t commenting on the news report, I posted it fyi.

Corruption in India is much more deep rooted than what a single media company can attack on its own steam. The press is more usually paid off than threatened. Even the lengthy campaign against the Bofors payoffs(begun by the Indian Express, continued by The Hindu) hasnot gone very far wrt the legal process, except that Rajiv Gandhi lost the elections in 89 and Win Chaddha had to flee the country.

ahmedzai #25 you write ``I will discuss this important aspect of the whole thing with my brother for my own satisfaction. In the meantime, good that you pointed it out. being educated people, we should not generalize everything.``
That is one of the most balanced and reasonable responses I have had on chowk when pointing out some perceived flaw in what they wrote (and of course no one is perfect). It is a pleasure to have a few people like you on chowk to make up for the surprisingly large number of posters who seem never to have matured beyond kindergarten. :-)

sadna #18,

Yes, indeed, the new immigration laws could be considered anti-muslim for one simple reason; they are only being applied to Muslims. There are thousands, perhaps, millions of illegal Mexican, Chinese and Indian immigrants, among others, in the US. Why is it, then, that only illegal immigrants from muslim nations are the primary target of immigration laws? If muslims or pakistanis should not expect themselve to be above the law, why should non-muslims or non-pakistanis be above the law? Regardless of how you attempt to justify this, the fact remains these laws are indeed aimed at muslims alone.

The US indeed has every right to make it own laws, but those upon whom the laws apply also have every right that the laws be applied fairly, equally and justly.