Censoring Michael Moore

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re:#75 by omar_r_quraishi
Statistics speak overwhelmingly in favor of the kind of arrangement i am talking about. I had always said in the past that IMs may have to go halfway to meet the Hindus. That is to say, they have to find a common ground to walk on. IMs have kept themselves secluded. The only thing that seems to excite them is the religion. And for all the wrong reasons.
The Shahi imam of Delhi sided with BJP (sold himself to that party) and now that the party has been voted out, he is angry. So, to regain the lost ground, he warns of a civil war.
Are Indians to suffer such fools for long? Where are the enlightened muslims in India? Where are the people who can question this and other such idiots?
Indian govt bends backwards to please Kashmiris (pouring millions into the developmental activity of that state) and yet we have Kashmiris who are not happy with being in India. India spends millions of dollars for making Haj easy for the IMs but i do not see IMs support India on Kashmir. They are ready to come out in large numbers to protest the US presence in Iraq but they have not yet once protested agains jehad and jehadis in Kashmir.
What is one to make of all this? That the IMs take their rights and previleges for granted. That they are used to being pampered so much that they do not think it necessary to do the right thing.
Also, we are addressing a humane issue here: innocent lives lost during riots. I can assure u that there won`t be any riots once the muslims are in an insignificant minority in India. When was the last time u heard of a hindu-muslim riot in pakistan? In Pak, muslims are killing muslims.
Sridhar

gujju bhai u wrote : ``two Indians [Spanish citizens of Indian origin actually- not much to do with India apart from their brownish color]`` -- so its okay to use the same arguments for pakistanis living in the UK , born and bred there, but now caught by the British authorities, right ?

veeresh sahib -- done any walkabouts in andhra of late?

Suicides by Andhra Pradesh farmers continue

By S. Nagesh Kumar



HYDERABAD, JUNE 9. As many as 161 farmers have committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh since May 14 when the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Government assumed office. Drought for three successive years, crop failure and mounting debts are cited as the reasons for the present state of affairs.

Senior State Agriculture Department officials told The Hindu that this had happened despite the good agricultural performance in 2003-04 when the output was the best in three years. However, they were unable to explain the spurt in the number of suicides in the last three and a half weeks.

Official statistics show that 137 farmers ended their lives on account of debts and crop failure. Five more committed suicide due to failure of borewells, and in the remaining 19 cases, ``other reasons`` were cited. The present tragedy is comparable to the spate of suicides by cotton farmers in Telangana in 1997-98.

What has really baffled the Government officials is the widespread occurrence of the suicides, reported from 17 of the State`s 23 districts. Guntur, a district in the relatively prosperous coastal Andhra region, has reported 22 suicides — the third highest after Medak (26) and Karimnagar (20). An age-wise analysis reveals that a majority of the victims (130) were in the highly-productive 25-50 age group.

While the Government has cited `natural calamities such as successive droughts and pest attacks` as one of the causes for the suicides, figures show that agricultural production actually rose last year, thanks to the normal rainfall of 817 mm during the SW and NE monsoons from June 1 to December 31, 2003. In comparison, the rainfall during this period in 2002 and 2001 was 572 mm and 797 mm.

The Additional Director of Agriculture, P. N. Chowdary, said the situation was so comfortable in the rainfed areas that cotton farmers in Telangana received Rs. 2,500 a quintal against the minimum support price of Rs. 1,925.

According to bankers` projections, the credit requirement for agriculture in the State during 2004-05 is Rs. 20,000 crores. But this represents only institutional lending which accounts for 20 per cent of the total requirement. The rest apparently comes from moneylenders, who charge usurious interest rates, and dealers of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds.

Even the institutional credit has several shortcomings, including uneven spread. Last year, banks disbursed Rs. 7,903 crores in crop loans against the target of Rs. 9,660 crores. The target this year is Rs. 11,205 crores.

Now, the bankers` task is to ensure that more borrowers are brought under the net and to see that the crop loans are properly utilised. Another challenge is to mitigate the plight of the 35 lakh tenant farmers and sharecroppers who are outside the institutional credit system as they cannot furnish any collateral security. Alarmed over the spate of suicides, the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, announced a special package under which Rs. 1 lakh would be paid to the family of every farmer who had committed suicide. In addition, a one-time loan settlement with a ceiling of Rs. 50,000 would be paid to the creditors. Banks are yet to approve Dr. Reddy`s proposal. This is a complete reversal of the policy of the Chandrababu Naidu Government, which was totally averse to payment of ex gratia on the plea that it would only encourage farmers to commit suicide. Congress leaders had been sharply critical of the Telugu Desam Party`s policy as it ignored the distress of families of nearly 3,000 farmers who, they alleged, ended their lives during Mr. Naidu`s rule. Apart from harassment by moneylenders, spurious seeds and lack of water, it has been acknowledged that poor delivery of agricultural extension services has also contributed to the farmers` distress. Regulation of the quality of seeds remains another grey area since existing laws do not cover all hybrids leading to spurious seeds ending up with the farmer.

According to Mr. Chowdary, until Parliament passes appropriate laws, all that the Government can do is enter into a `non-enforceable` memorandum of understanding with seed companies to ensure minimum quality.

The poor state of the State`s farm sector, considered the granary of the South, was highlighted by the Chief Minister in the Assembly recently. He said the share of agriculture in GSDP had fallen to 13.13 per cent in 2002-03 from 24.62 per cent in 1993-94.

Thanks for the follow up about the brownies. Incidentally, are you also keeping track of hundreds of Muslims being arrested throughout the world, and just like these two Indians end up being innocent victims of war on whatever supported by whatever!

NB: as for cutting and pasting, the indian brigade on chowk -- arjun etc. -- r masters at it -- we lowly pakis wouldnt want to take that away from them :)

what a restrictive society pakistan is veeresh jee -- u were apparently able to do a walkabout in all kinds of places including if im not mistaken changa manga and chichwatni (i believe they have good walnuts there) and no one bothered asking u any questions -- even the intelligence walahs left u alone hain -- now try doing that in a place like syria or burma and u will know what a restrictive society actually means -- hey wait a minute - shri veeresh ji -- u know i cant do that in srinagar or jammu or even outside the cities where i get my indian visa for -- now how restrictive can u get jee???

calling all paki-bashers -- if i hated india and indians so much i wouldnt have written this upon my return from a trip to delhi acouple of years ago or would i -- MORONS !

strange how a closet paki-hater like veeresh sahib here (its in his subconscious so he wont admit it or acknoweledge it) gets nothing for his drivel and patronizing travelogue about his recent `walking` visit to pakistan

A Comparison of Fashion
Omar R. Quraishi



Attending a fashion show, or rather India Fashion Week in early August? As in August 2002! Just at the time when a million Pakistani and Indian army soldiers face each other on the border? Well the circumstances were such that this was an opportunity too good to miss.

In New Delhi to actually attend a conference that was not related at all to fashion, I couldn’t help but notice during the break in the conference every day the dozens of articles and pictures published in the morning papers. Indian Fashion Week was on – from August 2 to 8 – and was actually being held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. Apparently, the shows – thirty five in all, and then a daily seminar and several other related events – were going to be open only to selected invitees like buyers from major stores or from overseas, guests of sponsors and of course the media.

Since I was a journalist – who didn’t really write on fashion all that much but did follow the fashion scene in Pakistan as an interested reader and consumer – I thought this would be a great chance to go see and judge where our fashion industry stood compared to India’s (especially since we so often love to compare ourselves with them). I began first with the Times of India since the hotel I was staying at had that paper. I called them up to ask for the correspondent who had done that days story. He was out but I was given the number of Meenakshi who was working at the media centre. Now, and sorry to say this, but if this were Pakistan I would have probably had to face a lot of attitude. Please note that this call was made on Aug 2, the day Indian Fashion Week had already begun and I was calling to ask if I could still come, and without having submitted any of the documents needed for press accreditation. Surprisingly, Meenakshi was very cooperative, especially after I told her that I was a journalist from Pakistan. All I had to do was to show up at the Taj Palace the next day and everything would be taken care off.

Several events were scheduled for Aug 3, including one that particularly sounded quite interesting. The Sunsilk Styles of the Silver Screen hair show turned out to be an extremely well-packaged and managed fashion presentation. But before I get to that, a bit on the way India Fashion Week was being organized and some details about those who took part in it.

Their fashion industry has had the good sense and professionalism, and not to mention the commercial and trade support, to come together and form what is called the Fashion Design Council of India. It’s current director, Vinod Kaul, has almost thirty years of experience in the textiles and apparel retailing and merchandising industry, and this just goes to show the extent of cooperation between fashion designers and industry in India, something that is sorely missing in Pakistan.

In its third year, India Fashion Week ran in New Delhi from August 2 to 8. It had 53 designers highlighting their talent and they used 48 models, including reigning Miss India Neha Dhupia. The other thing that set it apart from any fashion event that one is likely to have seen so far in Pakistan is the immense amount of support it received from the media, print and electronic. For all the days that I was in Delhi, all the local English papers carried front-page stories about the event on their metro sections. Some papers took the more conventional basic reporting of a show, while others tried to be more innovative, like for example The Hindustan Times which deputed one of its reporters to spend a whole day with one of the young promising designers and then do a story on that. These stories, unlike the print media here, were carried in the main news pages, something that being a reader from Pakistan I had to get used to. Interestingly enough, some Indian journalists – not those who cover fashion though – themselves were quite critical of this saying that their editors often preferred glamour and entertainment stories in preference to those that had hard news, apparently because these increased circulation.

Other than the print media, dozens of correspondents of various Indian and foreign TV channels were on hand. In fact, the Fashion TV correspondent was milling about the media room before one of the shows I attended, trying to get an interview of the new – and stunningly beautiful – Lakme girl, the 17-year-old Vinnie Kapur. Several dozen computers were on hand for correspondents who wanted to file their stories directly from the hotel and some were being used to do just that, while a few others were being used by the waiting journalists to spend some time on MSN chat. Some of the journalists managed to find out that I was from Pakistan and several were surprised that I was actually in India given the existing situation, and most of the time I did feel like an oddity, as if being constantly looked at by interested spectators. Most, however, were friendly and curious to know how things were in Pakistan, both fashionwise and politically, especially with reference to Gen Musharraf and that planned election.

Though it was obviously impossible, and not even my intention, to attend all the thirty five shows (five every day, seven days running) that happened at India Fashion Week, the handful that I did manage to go made for an excellent experience. And, it was hard not to make comparisons with the way things are done – at least in the fashion and modelling, and styling, world – back home. In fact, even the comparisons to the way the media covers fashion in India, compared to the way it covers it (or some would say, doesn’t at all) were quite instructive. For example, many designers here, notably Rizwan Beyg in an interview last Sunday to a Lahore-based English daily, complain all the time that Pakistan has no fashion journalists worth the name. However, most of the journalists – both newspaper and television – that one came across covering India Fashion Week were not specialists either in the strict sense of the word. Most, like their counterparts here, had to cover several beats, one of which was fashion. Normally, fashion is part of the ‘arts and culture’ beat. In fact, only the correspondent of The Times of India said that he exclusively covered fashion, and that he had been doing it for ten years. Clearly, some of them had been covering it for so long that they had become specialists but that didn’t mean that they had any formal training. Unfortunately, such accusations are bandied about much too often by Pakistani designers, often on the grounds – sometimes though with good reason – that those who write on fashion know nothing about it. Well, for the sake of argument even if that were accepted to be true (which it mostly is) what do these fashion designers propose to do next. I mean it’s not as if the media in Pakistan is going to get extremely qualified ‘fashion critics’ suddenly from abroad or somewhere, so they (as in the fashion industry here) really have to make do with what’s on offer. And in any case, blaming the lack of qualified ‘fashion journalists’ does not take away from the fact that the fashion scene in Pakistan – at least to people from outside – is perceived to be incestuous and ridden with personal politics and rivalries (take for example the recent interview of Tariq Amin to an English daily).

What is different in India, and is certainly a handicap in Pakistan, is that TV there covers such shows most willingly and there are none of the absurd censor policies or other hypocrisies that one has to bear with in Pakistan. This by the way usually means that outlandish shows by our movie actresses are shown while perfectly tasteful fashion shows highlighting the creative energies of our local fashion talent are ignored.

The Indian fashion industry, as their fashion week showed, is much too large and organized for these things to get in its way. The shows that I managed to attend included a fabulous one by well-known designer Rohit Bal and another by Sunsilk which showcased how Bollywood had influenced hairstyles over the decades. Both were very well choreographed and managed. The lighting was spot on and the music well chosen and with excellent sound. These two particularly stood out because they combined the fashionable and the classical with the theatrical. The organizers also had a dedicated website to the event at www.lakmeindiafashionweek.com and several designers using the services of PR companies to showcase their participation. The Sunsilk hair show did have well-known Indian comedian actor Sajid Khan as sort of an MC but his jokes – unlike those of MCs here – were actually quite funny and not at all in bad taste. The way most of the Indian models walked, and looked, was quite different from what would likely to see any Pakistani model doing, except perhaps Iraj. As far as physical proportions go, most of their models have the height and built to work abroad, something that can’t really be said of much of the talent here. And, the shows were structured in a way – showing pret-a-porter or ready-to-wear collections – that it made economic sense with invitations extended to representatives of retail chains and major department stores. Here, most of the times the buyers are rich aunties or others kinds of individual buyers, and if that’s okay with the designers then what other people say shouldn’t matter.

Pakistan plans to have it’s own fashion week next month in Lahore. This is probably a good time as any for our industry to show off its talent and creative energy to other interested Pakistanis and to the rest of the world. Let’s hope it comes off at least with the same level.

Footnote: This article appeared previously in the the daily, ` Dawn`, Pakistan.

What raw nerve? I had root canals done last year, and spent thousands of dollars, thanks. You`d better have yours done, too, they`re all raw..
You make Bill O`Reilly look good actually. Unless you`re better looking than him.. I don`t know that, so will await with baited breath for yet another fair and handsome Pakistani. Possibly fairer than Bill O`Reilly. This is what I mean, that in Pakistan, the likes of you consider yourselves liberals!!!
You probably think of yourself as a valiant Islamic warrior, fighting for the good name of Pakistan. Don`t worry, Izzy ul Haque is doing that.
God, you`re immature for a man in your mid 30s. Is this par for Pakistan or just you?

#75 by omar_r_quraishi

[and actually i wouldnt want to compare myself with a bigoted reactionary like bill o reily]

Pot calling the kettle black?

Romair

The clear answer is that I have decided to leave US preferably by the end of this year. My taxes are something that I have no control over. The government takes it at source and I have no political power to redirect their spending. The only option that I have is to address the conscience of American people and tell them that it is wrong to exterminate human life elsewhere in the world using this money. I am a law abiding citizen and tend to obey the law of the land. My disagreement with policies, however, is a different matter. I can disagree with a government in a democracy while still abiding by the law. Currently, I see no law, that directly effects me, which goes contrary to my system of beleifs. I stand clear of paying interest, don`t use my credit cards, except in dire needs, don`t mortgage, and give my interest earnings through my savings account to charities. I disagree with abortion policies and beleive in preservation of human life at all costs. I believe marriage is a union between man and women and any other arrangement is a sure recipe to disintegrate social structure of the society. But these are the things millions of other Americans also belive in.

As long as I am alone in US I do not feel much threatened. Heck, I have survived a civil war and ethnic cleansing in Karachi. It is not as bad as yet. But America is absolutely not a place anymore where to raise one`s family. And as the time goes by it is going to get worst for Muslims here than getting better. The change of government in November will have no bearing on American policies towards Muslim countries because the events in the past two and half years since 9/11 have set them on an irreversible course. Now thhere can only be two outcomes of this confrontation - either Americans will succeed, quash any and all resistance in the Muslim lands, and subjugate them completely thru their proxies or direct occupation or there is a chance that Americans will have to make huge sacrifices of their vested interests and grant Muslim lands the freedom from their clutches and equality that they long deserve. Either way the Americans will be bitter and unaccomodating for as long as my natural life goes and beyond. But currently Americans are losing morally and also militarily and they are becoming bitter. Just wait until this loss will start translating itself into economic terms. As the urdu proverb goes - If you keep spending even Qaroon`s treasure gets emptied - similarly all wars come with economic costs and global wars come with economic costs of global proportions.

In all honesty I want America to hold the torch of justice and equality in this world. And for that they will have to make sacrifices and take their glasses of prejudice and hatered off. It is a tall order but it has happened in history before. I don`t want America to go down in the history as an empire that lost to its own bigotry, greed, and hatered. The shred of hope that I have in America is quickly dwindeling away though. It is law of nature that what goes up must come down. And only if wishes were horses.....

Most preferably I will move to a Scandanevian country. The whole of Muslim world and especially Paksitan has been turned into Dar-al-Harb from where I escaped persecution in the first place. The place, in all those years, has gotten worst than getting better. Leaving one`s country - his own or adopted - is not an easy task for a human being in such short span of a life time. It took me decades to leave my own country of birth - the country that has ravaged me emotionally and physically and yet not a day goes by when my heart doesn`t ache remembering its dusty roads. Only God knows when this perpetual migration that I am cursed with, will end.

I am sorry but it can`t get any simpler than that, now can it?

veeresh : ``You have a nice day, Omar . . . neck deep`` -- if u have to say something veeresh sahib then plz say it openly -- dont hide behind indirect allusions -- and for gods sake stop assuming that while u walk about on the streets of delhi and its suburbs that i sit in my air conditioned office -- actually if im not wrong werent u or arent u involved in some IT startup and didnt u take out a magazine on cars -- now was all of that from a dhaba and to prove it why dont u post pictures of your rundown dhaba-like office on chowk veeresh ji -- ``neck deep to u too :)``

hellbound -- thanks for pointing out what he said about my not having being to america -- what a moron nikki is -- he only had to read my profile page

nb -- u dont have to study journalism to know good journalism from bad -- and actually i wouldnt want to compare myself with a bigoted reactionary like bill o reily -- u obviously didnt get the post -- its quite obvious that the posts have touched a very raw nerve -- and by the way i didnt read thru much of your posts so u dont have to waste time typing next time --

pmishra2: ``We should let the readers decide who is ``whacko`` and who is not.` -- mishra sahib thats exactly what i say too -- let them decide -- but are u including paki-bashers like yourself and your assorted friends here in the `readers` category too?

rsridhar -- to QUOTE WHAT YOU WROTE: ``What better then than to repatriate the IMs to Pakistan for which the country was meant anyway. This seems like a logical choice. This is better than rioting where innocent people get killed.`` -- By ``IM`` I presume u mean Indian Muslims right -- so this is what the paki-bashing Indians think deep down inside -- rsridhar give my regards to your comrades messers togadia sahib and balasahed (thackeray) ji

gujju -- no man your the bania here -- u say so yourself --

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Omar # 61 . . . there is this story of a man who was sitting neck-deep in s/h/i/t, and making fun of another man who was wearing dirty shoes.

While your investigative skills on matters pertaining to communal riots in India are no doubt commendable, would you like to also maybe, just maybe, write about the role of Hindus at Ajmer Sharif? Or Muslims at Vaishno Devi, Amarnath?

I go to go now . . . the Sant Tukaram palkhis for Pandharpur, probably the holiest Hindu occasion in this part of India, West Coast/Maharastra, are going to start from today at Dehu Road, North of Poona/Pune, and the first day is always but always led by ``tasha`` players who happen to be a select group of people for the past so many generations, going back almost 500-700 years. This year the leader is Syed Ibrahim Mulani, accompanied by his gen-next youngest son, Riaz, who just happens to also be a techie I know. Some of us have to go help with the acoustics.

So while you find it easier to write about the no-doubt true incidents of communal riots in India from your air-conditioned caged gilded little parrot-perch in Pakistan, I am out there on the streets of Dehu Road trying to write about Lord Vithoba and his followers, and the fervour with which they often celebrate Ramzaan as well as Diwali.

You have a nice day, Omar . . . neck deep.

nikki7777:

Whilst I consider interacting on the front page a total waste of time for various reasons, one of them being that is hogged by both NRP and NRI who in the process of rediscovering themselves int the land of liberty lose touch with reality and contract the selective memory syndrome.

This post is in no way a defense for Omar, I believe he is quite capable of dealing with it on his own, but for the record,

I saw words in your post which alluded that Omar has never lived in US and therefore is not qualified to `condemn` America because he has not attained nirwana which according to you is openness....If you care to read Omar`s profile you will see that he has spent considerable time in US of A and was educated there...

Then I saw the words that no Indian was ever found involved in fundo/terrorist activities, now I am not too good in digging up archives and totally inept at cut `n` paste jobs, but if my memory does not fail me, was it not an Indian or two who was caught in Spain in the aftermath of train bombings. He or they were the money launderers for the group who carried out the attacks.

Just an observation. Never say never!

Cheers.

Urstruly #42: ``I was conned into believing what America is not.``

This part can be understood. But I cannot understand your reaction to this part. If you were conned, then why don`t you leave. What is stopping you from leaving? If you believe in your convictions, and don`t want your tax dollars going to the US military, then why not leave?

I left the USA, and have decided to not go back. I gave up a green card, and a future citizenship, to start from scratch in another country. But now I say whatever I want, with a clear conscious. I think others like FOMC left also.

There is a difference between Noam Chomsky and yourself. Chomsky is an American. He didn`t chose to be one. He was born there. You chose to move to America. You didn`t have to. Now for some strange reason, you are unwilling to leave it. You are living off it. And yet you consider it an evil empire.

Why don`t you leave America? Could you kindly provide a clear straight answer? ....Thanks