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Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Author: Sandeep Unnithan and Anjali Cordeiro
If it wasn`t for the battered sign that reads ``Photography is strictly prohibited``, it would perhaps be an ideal location for a B-grade horror film. Situated in a leafy lane opposite the Maharashtra chief minister`s residence, the single-storey, fading white, colonial bungalow is overrun with creepers and weeds. Its only residents are bats that fly out and attack baskets of fruit vendors and snakes that have forced neighbours to build higher walls.
This is the Jinnah House or No. 2 Bhausaheb Hiray Marg, as it is now known, uninhabited for two decades, yet a matter of disagreement between Pakistan and India. President Pervez Musharraf speaks of it in the same breath as Kashmir. He has even linked the return of the house to the re-opening of the Indian consulate in Karachi.
Pakistan`s claim has more to do with sentiment than the property`s estimated Rs 100 crore worth. The 1,700-sq m bungalow was built ``brick by brick`` under Mohammed Ali Jinnah`s personal supervision. It was completed at a cost of Rs 2 lakh in 1936-the year he returned to India from England to take charge of the Muslim League.
The house was dear to Jinnah. Even after Partition, he refused to accept compensation for the property and longed to return to it. In a letter to the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah had begged that the house not be demolished or sold. Some day, he hoped to return and settle there. Meanwhile, the house could be ``leased to a consulate or a small European family or a refined Indian prince for a rent of Rs 3,000 per month``. In 1948 the house was leased to the British High Commission. Originally named South Court by Jinnah, the house was renamed Jinnah House by the consulate, which occupied it until 1982.
The issue of leasing the house, which has been lying vacant ever since, has been periodically raised by Pakistan. (Its consulate in Mumbai was shut down in 1994.) But the issue is too hot a political brick for any party. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, for one, has already reiterated that it is India`s property: ``Tomorrow they (Pakistan) will demand the Taj Mahal and the Qutab Minar.``
Jinnah`s only child Dina Wadia, too, has vehemently opposed Pakistan`s demand. As early as 1982, she had written to the government staking her claim to the building. She also wrote to the then Pakistan high commissioner in Delhi, Abdul Sattar, asking Islamabad to refrain from making any claim. In her latest letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sent from her New York residence last week, she has again opposed Pakistan`s claim, hinting that each time there is an Indo-Pak dialogue there seems to be an ``inappropriate demand`` for this property. ``Jinnah House has absolutely nothing to do with Pakistan. It was my grandfather`s personal residence and one that he loved dearly. How does this involve Pakistan?`` asks Dina`s son and Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia.
The Wadias feel returning the house to the family will put an end to all Pakistani claims, a view shared by high-level government sources who say there is no question of handing the house to Pakistan. Their case has been bolstered after Salman Rushdie got back his ancestral house in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, which too had been declared evacuee property. Since Jinnah did not accept compensation for the property, they feel they are the rightful heirs and are ready to give an undertaking that they will not exploit the house for financial gains or demolish it. ``But since it is a decision that has political implications, it has been put on hold,`` says Nusli.
Local resident associations too have opposed its handover to Pakistan and have threatened an agitation. ``We fear it could be used as a hub of antinational activities,`` says Nandlal Ragoowansi, a retired nuclear scientist and Malabar Hill denizen. As of now, the house languishes in the care-limited to weekly inspections and an occasional clean up-of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which has been ``exploring`` options to convert it into a museum or cultural centre. But until it takes a decision, the bats and snakes will continue to reign supreme over Jinnah`s legacy atop Malabar Hill.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 25, 2004 10:47 am
Home TruthAuthor: Sandeep Unnithan and Anjali Cordeiro
If it wasn`t for the battered sign that reads ``Photography is strictly prohibited``, it would perhaps be an ideal location for a B-grade horror film. Situated in a leafy lane opposite the Maharashtra chief minister`s residence, the single-storey, fading white, colonial bungalow is overrun with creepers and weeds. Its only residents are bats that fly out and attack baskets of fruit vendors and snakes that have forced neighbours to build higher walls.
This is the Jinnah House or No. 2 Bhausaheb Hiray Marg, as it is now known, uninhabited for two decades, yet a matter of disagreement between Pakistan and India. President Pervez Musharraf speaks of it in the same breath as Kashmir. He has even linked the return of the house to the re-opening of the Indian consulate in Karachi.
Pakistan`s claim has more to do with sentiment than the property`s estimated Rs 100 crore worth. The 1,700-sq m bungalow was built ``brick by brick`` under Mohammed Ali Jinnah`s personal supervision. It was completed at a cost of Rs 2 lakh in 1936-the year he returned to India from England to take charge of the Muslim League.
The house was dear to Jinnah. Even after Partition, he refused to accept compensation for the property and longed to return to it. In a letter to the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah had begged that the house not be demolished or sold. Some day, he hoped to return and settle there. Meanwhile, the house could be ``leased to a consulate or a small European family or a refined Indian prince for a rent of Rs 3,000 per month``. In 1948 the house was leased to the British High Commission. Originally named South Court by Jinnah, the house was renamed Jinnah House by the consulate, which occupied it until 1982.
The issue of leasing the house, which has been lying vacant ever since, has been periodically raised by Pakistan. (Its consulate in Mumbai was shut down in 1994.) But the issue is too hot a political brick for any party. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, for one, has already reiterated that it is India`s property: ``Tomorrow they (Pakistan) will demand the Taj Mahal and the Qutab Minar.``
Jinnah`s only child Dina Wadia, too, has vehemently opposed Pakistan`s demand. As early as 1982, she had written to the government staking her claim to the building. She also wrote to the then Pakistan high commissioner in Delhi, Abdul Sattar, asking Islamabad to refrain from making any claim. In her latest letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sent from her New York residence last week, she has again opposed Pakistan`s claim, hinting that each time there is an Indo-Pak dialogue there seems to be an ``inappropriate demand`` for this property. ``Jinnah House has absolutely nothing to do with Pakistan. It was my grandfather`s personal residence and one that he loved dearly. How does this involve Pakistan?`` asks Dina`s son and Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia.
The Wadias feel returning the house to the family will put an end to all Pakistani claims, a view shared by high-level government sources who say there is no question of handing the house to Pakistan. Their case has been bolstered after Salman Rushdie got back his ancestral house in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, which too had been declared evacuee property. Since Jinnah did not accept compensation for the property, they feel they are the rightful heirs and are ready to give an undertaking that they will not exploit the house for financial gains or demolish it. ``But since it is a decision that has political implications, it has been put on hold,`` says Nusli.
Local resident associations too have opposed its handover to Pakistan and have threatened an agitation. ``We fear it could be used as a hub of antinational activities,`` says Nandlal Ragoowansi, a retired nuclear scientist and Malabar Hill denizen. As of now, the house languishes in the care-limited to weekly inspections and an occasional clean up-of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which has been ``exploring`` options to convert it into a museum or cultural centre. But until it takes a decision, the bats and snakes will continue to reign supreme over Jinnah`s legacy atop Malabar Hill.
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 25, 2004 10:47 am
I dont think Wadia family lives in Jinnah`s house. The house located in posh Malabar Hill in south Mumbai has been vacant for too long. Pakistani government want to make Jinnah`s house a Pakistani consulate in Mumbai. The mansion with the postal address of No.2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg (formerly Mount Pleasant road), is located opposite the official residence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister. Indian govt. first rejected later agreed, but there was strong opposition from Jinnah`s daughter and grandson on using their house as a Pakistani consulate.
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
For the last four days there has been fevered speculation in the media here whether Dinah, , would accompany her son and daughter-in-law for one of the matches being played here. Wadia, who heads the Mumbai-based Bombay Dyeing empire, has traveled here as a private citizen, though he received a ceremonial welcome in arrival here and is a state guest.
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=59393
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3566775.stm
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 25, 2004 08:43 am
It could not have been more ironic, a day after Pakistan Day (March 23) you find Jinnah`s daughter and grandson cheering the Indian team. For the last four days there has been fevered speculation in the media here whether Dinah, , would accompany her son and daughter-in-law for one of the matches being played here. Wadia, who heads the Mumbai-based Bombay Dyeing empire, has traveled here as a private citizen, though he received a ceremonial welcome in arrival here and is a state guest.
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=59393
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3566775.stm
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Dina Wadia shuttles between India and New York. Her son lives in Mumbai. I am not sure whether relations between Jinnah and his daughter were strained because she married a Non-Muslim. Actually Jinnah`s wife was a non-Muslim too (a Parsi).
Jinnah`s brothers and their families lives in Mumbai, India too.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 25, 2004 08:43 am
Dina Wadia married Neville Wadia who was born Parsi but became Christian. They had a son and daughter. After that they separated. Their son Nusli Wadia is one of the richest Indians. He owns a company called Bombay Dyeing. Dina Wadia shuttles between India and New York. Her son lives in Mumbai. I am not sure whether relations between Jinnah and his daughter were strained because she married a Non-Muslim. Actually Jinnah`s wife was a non-Muslim too (a Parsi).
Jinnah`s brothers and their families lives in Mumbai, India too.
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Lahore, march 24: President General Pervez Musharraf was among the top dignitaries, including Nusli Wadia, Indian industrialist (Bombay Dyeing ) and grandson of Mohd Ali Jinnah, who watched the series-deciding ODI between India and Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium here today. Musharraf, who had watched the second one-dayer for a few hours at Rawalpindi Stadium which India lost by 12 runs, flew in here in a military helicopter from Islamabad.
Dressed in battle fatigues and accompanied by a team of commandos, Musharraf sat next to Nusli Wadia and his family. Among the other Indian dignitaries were Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur and Union Ministers Shatrughan Sinha, Vikram Verma and Vijay Goel.
Musharraf left the stadium after watching the match for over an hour.
Along with Nusli Wadia his mother and daughter of Jinnah, Dina Wadia, also witnessed the final one-day match between India and Pakistan.
Dina Wadia, who is visiting Pakistan from India along with her son and two grandchildren, said Pak-India cricket series was a “historic event”.
“Such events will help foster friendly relations between the two countries besides bringing the people closer,” she said.
“Relations between both the countries are improving and we must have such activities in future for more interaction,” she said.
Mrs Saeeda, daughter of the Quaid`s elder brother late Jan Muhammad Natu Poonjah said that she had specially come here from Mumbai, India, to attend the 64th anniversary of the Pakistan Resolution.
She said her family was mainly involved in automobile business in India and was living a happy life in Mumbai. ``Irrespective of the religion, Indians do respect and support our family for being related to (one of) the great leader of South Asia.``
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 24, 2004 06:33 pm
Jinnah`s family visits Pakistan.Lahore, march 24: President General Pervez Musharraf was among the top dignitaries, including Nusli Wadia, Indian industrialist (Bombay Dyeing ) and grandson of Mohd Ali Jinnah, who watched the series-deciding ODI between India and Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium here today. Musharraf, who had watched the second one-dayer for a few hours at Rawalpindi Stadium which India lost by 12 runs, flew in here in a military helicopter from Islamabad.
Dressed in battle fatigues and accompanied by a team of commandos, Musharraf sat next to Nusli Wadia and his family. Among the other Indian dignitaries were Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur and Union Ministers Shatrughan Sinha, Vikram Verma and Vijay Goel.
Musharraf left the stadium after watching the match for over an hour.
Along with Nusli Wadia his mother and daughter of Jinnah, Dina Wadia, also witnessed the final one-day match between India and Pakistan.
Dina Wadia, who is visiting Pakistan from India along with her son and two grandchildren, said Pak-India cricket series was a “historic event”.
“Such events will help foster friendly relations between the two countries besides bringing the people closer,” she said.
“Relations between both the countries are improving and we must have such activities in future for more interaction,” she said.
Mrs Saeeda, daughter of the Quaid`s elder brother late Jan Muhammad Natu Poonjah said that she had specially come here from Mumbai, India, to attend the 64th anniversary of the Pakistan Resolution.
She said her family was mainly involved in automobile business in India and was living a happy life in Mumbai. ``Irrespective of the religion, Indians do respect and support our family for being related to (one of) the great leader of South Asia.``
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
The door that has been opened has a strong wind blowing hard through it and it is going to be difficult to close it again
MADHU TREHAN
A Pakistani asks for my nine-foot Indian flag. I am apprehensive. Is he going to burn it, use it for a tablecloth or worse, hang it in his bathroom? He grabs it and runs around the stalls with three friends, waving it high, shouting, ‘‘Hindustan Zindabad’’. One of them plonks a Pakistan cricket team hat on my head in fair exchange. A Pakistani seated behind me gives me bottled water when I throw a tantrum about no water to drink, no food to eat, the unbearable heat and unusable co-ed bathrooms. They offer us food.
When we start winning the match, one of them says to me, ‘‘Match jeet lo, par dil dey doh’’. A Pakistani jumps to his feet while Rahul Dravid is batting and applauds wildly. My husband does not get up and his view is blocked by all the standing applauders. The Pakistani then turns to my husband and asks him why he is not cheering. My heat exhausted husband answers, ‘‘I thought since you are cheering, he must be out.’’ The Pakistani answers, ‘‘No, he has hit a boundary and I am cheering for you.’’
I have been christened ‘‘Matchiss Aunty’’ since I happen to be the only smoker who was able to smuggle a matchbox through security. Shouts of, ‘‘Matchiss Aunty, matchiss doh,’’ become as regular as ‘‘Pakistan Hoo Haa Hoo Haa Hoo Haa!’’ A Sikh gentleman with his beard painted and dressed in all the colours of our flag and a Pakistani gent flamboyantly dressed in Pakistani colours, dance continuously in front of the spectators with their arms around each other.
The Delhi High Court Bar Association had a Friendship banner with both the flags and lawyers leading the chants for India. When it became clear that India was winning the match and the Pakistanis started to leave to avoid the rush, a terribly young lawyer, Shyam Sharma, led the Indian contingent in singing, Abhi na jahoh chodh kar, dil abhi bhara nahin. The departing Pakistanis laughed and waved. When businessman Hari Bhartia cajoled a sulky Pakistani boy to smile, even he broke down, smiled and shook hands.
By some coincidence, the rows in the stands we were in, alternated with India and Pakistani spectators. It had been a rather polite, sober beginning, which meant applauding quietly and passing remarks in low voices so as not to offend. As the match progressed, so did the camaraderie. A commonality developed with the feeling that we are all stuck in the same boat. Both Indian and Pakistani armchair cricketers started sharing opinions, which then developed to sharing feelings. It was agreed that Peace was what the people wanted. Both Indian and Pakistani politicians were roundly cursed with the same gaalis. Milan Kundera has written that ‘‘Obscenity as the root that attaches us most deeply to our homeland.’’ If our gaalis are the same, how distant can our roots be?
Sometimes even more interesting than the match was people-watching. You couldn’t take your eyes off the upper-class women, with their heavy make-up, heavier jewellery and even heavier adda. The middle-class and lower middle-class girls were the true surprise. Despite a noticeable financial gap, you could see that these girls had spent time in putting themselves together. Since showing any skin is taboo, the sexiness is played out in the most subtle way. Narrow shalwars, cut in the spiciest manner, ride up to show not only an enticing ankle but halfway up the calf when they sit. Slits of long kurtas run high to expose the outside of the thigh all the way to the waist. And, with the clingy fabric they choose, it is obvious under all that cover up, they are wearing thongs. No Grannie panties here. One young woman had tiny, laced pompoms on the sides of her slim pajamas that popped out when she sat down and lay hidden when she stood up. The intricacies of enticement were laid out like a strategic battle plan.
Despite all the honour killings, lack of equal rights in courts and the ability of men to implement instant divorce with just three words, one noticed that the men were gently protective of their women constantly. They took care of their needs as if the women were wrapped in cotton wool. One was struck by the contrast, watching brothers taking care of their sisters. There were separate counters for women everywhere, from the airport to ticket counters. But, what does it shout, that the horrendous toilets in the stadium were common for men and women?
Weren’t these the same people who came out in hordes in marches against India and burned our flag? Hadn’t Indians done the same thing? How could everybody change so fast? Politicians decided to open the door a chink and the people of both countries have pushed the door wide open and barged through.
In the one hour we had to shop before boarding the flight back, we were treated by shopkeepers with absolute charm. Knocking down prices because we were told, ‘‘You are our guests,’’ they phoned up friends to come and see the visiting Indians. Why wouldn’t they want peace between the two countries if both can enjoy the fruits of commerce and trade?
The nervous question then rankles: Is this change of heart long term? Could this hope to be like Russia’s perestroika and glasnost, once let out of the bottle, impossible to go back again in time? If the politicians change their minds and get hostile again, will the people regress to mistrust and suspicion? People to people contact is all about emotion and personal relationships. Can we turn it on and off like a tap? But if the people’s feelings and demand for peace are strong enough, can it prove as powerful a platform for popularity for the leaders of both countries as jingoistic wars prove to be? Can Musharraf then get off the Kashmir pot and believe that friendlier relations will benefit both countries?
The door that has been opened has a strong wind blowing hard through it and it is going to be difficult to close it again. That is, hopefully, it will be difficult. Should one be cautious and not get carried away with cricket euphoria? Hope in some way is always naive, but that should not negate it. Watching this cricket match, you were not just watching a cricket match. You were participating in a change of policy between two nations. You were not in the mahawl, you made and became the mahawl. It was like being one of those who participated in breaking down the Berlin Wall. Well, they can’t build up the Berlin Wall again, can they?
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 24, 2004 12:27 pm
The match was played, but hearts were won The door that has been opened has a strong wind blowing hard through it and it is going to be difficult to close it again
MADHU TREHAN
A Pakistani asks for my nine-foot Indian flag. I am apprehensive. Is he going to burn it, use it for a tablecloth or worse, hang it in his bathroom? He grabs it and runs around the stalls with three friends, waving it high, shouting, ‘‘Hindustan Zindabad’’. One of them plonks a Pakistan cricket team hat on my head in fair exchange. A Pakistani seated behind me gives me bottled water when I throw a tantrum about no water to drink, no food to eat, the unbearable heat and unusable co-ed bathrooms. They offer us food.
When we start winning the match, one of them says to me, ‘‘Match jeet lo, par dil dey doh’’. A Pakistani jumps to his feet while Rahul Dravid is batting and applauds wildly. My husband does not get up and his view is blocked by all the standing applauders. The Pakistani then turns to my husband and asks him why he is not cheering. My heat exhausted husband answers, ‘‘I thought since you are cheering, he must be out.’’ The Pakistani answers, ‘‘No, he has hit a boundary and I am cheering for you.’’
I have been christened ‘‘Matchiss Aunty’’ since I happen to be the only smoker who was able to smuggle a matchbox through security. Shouts of, ‘‘Matchiss Aunty, matchiss doh,’’ become as regular as ‘‘Pakistan Hoo Haa Hoo Haa Hoo Haa!’’ A Sikh gentleman with his beard painted and dressed in all the colours of our flag and a Pakistani gent flamboyantly dressed in Pakistani colours, dance continuously in front of the spectators with their arms around each other.
The Delhi High Court Bar Association had a Friendship banner with both the flags and lawyers leading the chants for India. When it became clear that India was winning the match and the Pakistanis started to leave to avoid the rush, a terribly young lawyer, Shyam Sharma, led the Indian contingent in singing, Abhi na jahoh chodh kar, dil abhi bhara nahin. The departing Pakistanis laughed and waved. When businessman Hari Bhartia cajoled a sulky Pakistani boy to smile, even he broke down, smiled and shook hands.
By some coincidence, the rows in the stands we were in, alternated with India and Pakistani spectators. It had been a rather polite, sober beginning, which meant applauding quietly and passing remarks in low voices so as not to offend. As the match progressed, so did the camaraderie. A commonality developed with the feeling that we are all stuck in the same boat. Both Indian and Pakistani armchair cricketers started sharing opinions, which then developed to sharing feelings. It was agreed that Peace was what the people wanted. Both Indian and Pakistani politicians were roundly cursed with the same gaalis. Milan Kundera has written that ‘‘Obscenity as the root that attaches us most deeply to our homeland.’’ If our gaalis are the same, how distant can our roots be?
Sometimes even more interesting than the match was people-watching. You couldn’t take your eyes off the upper-class women, with their heavy make-up, heavier jewellery and even heavier adda. The middle-class and lower middle-class girls were the true surprise. Despite a noticeable financial gap, you could see that these girls had spent time in putting themselves together. Since showing any skin is taboo, the sexiness is played out in the most subtle way. Narrow shalwars, cut in the spiciest manner, ride up to show not only an enticing ankle but halfway up the calf when they sit. Slits of long kurtas run high to expose the outside of the thigh all the way to the waist. And, with the clingy fabric they choose, it is obvious under all that cover up, they are wearing thongs. No Grannie panties here. One young woman had tiny, laced pompoms on the sides of her slim pajamas that popped out when she sat down and lay hidden when she stood up. The intricacies of enticement were laid out like a strategic battle plan.
Despite all the honour killings, lack of equal rights in courts and the ability of men to implement instant divorce with just three words, one noticed that the men were gently protective of their women constantly. They took care of their needs as if the women were wrapped in cotton wool. One was struck by the contrast, watching brothers taking care of their sisters. There were separate counters for women everywhere, from the airport to ticket counters. But, what does it shout, that the horrendous toilets in the stadium were common for men and women?
Weren’t these the same people who came out in hordes in marches against India and burned our flag? Hadn’t Indians done the same thing? How could everybody change so fast? Politicians decided to open the door a chink and the people of both countries have pushed the door wide open and barged through.
In the one hour we had to shop before boarding the flight back, we were treated by shopkeepers with absolute charm. Knocking down prices because we were told, ‘‘You are our guests,’’ they phoned up friends to come and see the visiting Indians. Why wouldn’t they want peace between the two countries if both can enjoy the fruits of commerce and trade?
The nervous question then rankles: Is this change of heart long term? Could this hope to be like Russia’s perestroika and glasnost, once let out of the bottle, impossible to go back again in time? If the politicians change their minds and get hostile again, will the people regress to mistrust and suspicion? People to people contact is all about emotion and personal relationships. Can we turn it on and off like a tap? But if the people’s feelings and demand for peace are strong enough, can it prove as powerful a platform for popularity for the leaders of both countries as jingoistic wars prove to be? Can Musharraf then get off the Kashmir pot and believe that friendlier relations will benefit both countries?
The door that has been opened has a strong wind blowing hard through it and it is going to be difficult to close it again. That is, hopefully, it will be difficult. Should one be cautious and not get carried away with cricket euphoria? Hope in some way is always naive, but that should not negate it. Watching this cricket match, you were not just watching a cricket match. You were participating in a change of policy between two nations. You were not in the mahawl, you made and became the mahawl. It was like being one of those who participated in breaking down the Berlin Wall. Well, they can’t build up the Berlin Wall again, can they?
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
Whoever thought Pakistan might feel like Sharjah, with thousands of Indians cheering, shouting and blaring horns in support of their team? The Indian team has received incredible support throughout the tour, not just from Indians but from the locals as well. When Lakshmipathy Balaji bowled Moin Khan to notch up India`s first ever one-day series victory on Pakistani soil in six attempts, there was an eruption of firecrackers at the College Road end. You can be sure fireworks would have been set off in Mumbai and New Delhi at that very moment, but to see this happen in Lahore, despite the home team losing, was incredible. It was characteristic of the spirit in which the fans watched this series.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 24, 2004 12:11 pm
Fireworks in LahoreWhoever thought Pakistan might feel like Sharjah, with thousands of Indians cheering, shouting and blaring horns in support of their team? The Indian team has received incredible support throughout the tour, not just from Indians but from the locals as well. When Lakshmipathy Balaji bowled Moin Khan to notch up India`s first ever one-day series victory on Pakistani soil in six attempts, there was an eruption of firecrackers at the College Road end. You can be sure fireworks would have been set off in Mumbai and New Delhi at that very moment, but to see this happen in Lahore, despite the home team losing, was incredible. It was characteristic of the spirit in which the fans watched this series.
Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan
LAHORE : “Between brothers no one wins. We are praying for a tie.” The banner put up by some Indian fans summed up the mood at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
While the Indian and Pakistani teams were slugging it out for the Samsung Cup, the mood in the stands was upbeat and friendly. Painted faces, colourful banners, flags, festoons, hooters, there was colour and festivity everywhere.
“I want Pakistan to win, but I will not feel bad if India takes the cup. They are our guests and there are no hard feelings,’’ said Rehana Daud who runs the Pakistan Foundation School in Lahore . An avid cricket watcher, Daud made it to the stadium inspite of suffering muscular diastrophy, which has made her almost immobile. Sisters Alam and Sara Arshad, who run an NGO in Lahore came dressed in tri-colour clothes to support the Indian team. “Our family is supporting India because we believe India and Pakistan are basically one. We are not scared of standing out among Pakistanis. It’s all for a cause,’’ they said cheerfully.
More than 5,000 Indian fans from all over the world made the journey to Lahore for the series decider. Kapil Chandok came all the way from Melbourne with his family. “My parents are from Faislabad. This was also an opportunity to trace our roots. Such is the feeling here that when I visited my ancestral home yesterday, everybody told us they were praying for us to win the Samsung Cup.”
Vivek Chowdhury has made the trip to Lahore with his family and six Pakistani friends from London . “The mood is amazing. My Pakistani friends have been telling me, ‘Cup tussi le jao,’ and I have been telling them, ‘tussi le jao’. They are cheering for us today,” he said happily. Vivek’s Pakistani friend Dalwar Majid Chaudhry is also supporting India this time. “It doesn’t really matter who wins, we are both friends,’’ he says.
Chaudhry has just bought a motorised rickshaw to remember the occasion. He plans to take it back to London . “I want to put the rickshaw outside my restaurant in Southall as a mark of Indo-Pak friendship,’’ he adds.
Besides the usual fans, corporate giants like Samsung too have brought their own group to cheer for India . Then there were the regular tri-colour-clad Bharat Army from Delhi and the famous Chacha from Lahore . Clad in green Pakistani kurta suit, Chacha travels all over the world to cheer for Pakistan .
But the prevailing sentiment was that of camaraderie among the supporters here. Each time Indians hit a boundary, cries of “Kaisa Laga!?” went off from the Indian fans. The rejoinder “Aaccha Laga!” from the Pakistani fans aptly summed up the mood in Lahore .
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 24, 2004 12:11 pm
Not yours or mine, Cup is oursLAHORE : “Between brothers no one wins. We are praying for a tie.” The banner put up by some Indian fans summed up the mood at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
While the Indian and Pakistani teams were slugging it out for the Samsung Cup, the mood in the stands was upbeat and friendly. Painted faces, colourful banners, flags, festoons, hooters, there was colour and festivity everywhere.
“I want Pakistan to win, but I will not feel bad if India takes the cup. They are our guests and there are no hard feelings,’’ said Rehana Daud who runs the Pakistan Foundation School in Lahore . An avid cricket watcher, Daud made it to the stadium inspite of suffering muscular diastrophy, which has made her almost immobile. Sisters Alam and Sara Arshad, who run an NGO in Lahore came dressed in tri-colour clothes to support the Indian team. “Our family is supporting India because we believe India and Pakistan are basically one. We are not scared of standing out among Pakistanis. It’s all for a cause,’’ they said cheerfully.
More than 5,000 Indian fans from all over the world made the journey to Lahore for the series decider. Kapil Chandok came all the way from Melbourne with his family. “My parents are from Faislabad. This was also an opportunity to trace our roots. Such is the feeling here that when I visited my ancestral home yesterday, everybody told us they were praying for us to win the Samsung Cup.”
Vivek Chowdhury has made the trip to Lahore with his family and six Pakistani friends from London . “The mood is amazing. My Pakistani friends have been telling me, ‘Cup tussi le jao,’ and I have been telling them, ‘tussi le jao’. They are cheering for us today,” he said happily. Vivek’s Pakistani friend Dalwar Majid Chaudhry is also supporting India this time. “It doesn’t really matter who wins, we are both friends,’’ he says.
Chaudhry has just bought a motorised rickshaw to remember the occasion. He plans to take it back to London . “I want to put the rickshaw outside my restaurant in Southall as a mark of Indo-Pak friendship,’’ he adds.
Besides the usual fans, corporate giants like Samsung too have brought their own group to cheer for India . Then there were the regular tri-colour-clad Bharat Army from Delhi and the famous Chacha from Lahore . Clad in green Pakistani kurta suit, Chacha travels all over the world to cheer for Pakistan .
But the prevailing sentiment was that of camaraderie among the supporters here. Each time Indians hit a boundary, cries of “Kaisa Laga!?” went off from the Indian fans. The rejoinder “Aaccha Laga!” from the Pakistani fans aptly summed up the mood in Lahore .
The Indo-Pak Symbiosis: Brothers or Neighbors?
Wed Mar 17, 3:01 AM ET
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Cricket fans exploded firecrackers overnight in Indian Kashmir (news - web sites)`s summer capital Srinagar to celebrate Pakistan`s win over rival India in the second one-day international at Rawalpindi.
AFP Photo
The bangs were heard in uptown Srinagar, home to about one million Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, minutes after Pakistani pacer Mohammed Sami bowled out Indian tailender Ashish Nehra to give his side a 12-run victory.
The win levelled the five match series, with India having won the opening one-day cliffhanger in Karachi on Saturday by five runs.
Witnesses said supporters of the Pakistani cricketers lit firecrackers late at night when the streets in Srinagar are normally empty, save for members of the security forces.
``On any other day we would have taken the bursting of crackers as another suicide attack by militants,`` said Ghulam Ahmed, 68, in the Abi Guzar area of Srinagar, where two Muslim rebels last week launched a suicide attack on India`s main information center.
``It was a well-deserved victory,`` said Imtiaz Ahmed, a self-confessed diehard fan of the Pakistani cricket team but at the same time also of India`s batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar.
The Pakistani win disappointed those Kashmiris supporting India`s cricketers.
``This is poised to be a close series,`` said Ruksana Jabeen. ``The Indian bowlers have to click if we want to win the series.``
``I am sure we will win the series,`` Jabeen added, while divulging that half her eight-member family supports the Pakistani cricketers.
Some of the Indian troops battling a 15 year anti-Indian insurgency in Kashmir, meanwhile, praised Tendulkar for his knock of 141, but said other batsmen did not click when it mattered.
``Had someone played a knock like Tendulkar we would have won,`` said Rakesh Kumar, a paramilitary soldier who watched the match in his camp.
``Both sides are playing tremendous cricket and that is good,`` he said.
Residents of Jammu, the Hindu-majority winter capital of Kashmir, were also disappointed at India`s defeat, maintaining a sombre silence after the loss -- in contrast to Saturday when they poured onto the streets to celebrate their team`s victory by dancing and distributing sweets.
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=329772
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 02:04 pm
Pakistan supporters celebrate win with firecrackers in Kashmir Wed Mar 17, 3:01 AM ET
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Cricket fans exploded firecrackers overnight in Indian Kashmir (news - web sites)`s summer capital Srinagar to celebrate Pakistan`s win over rival India in the second one-day international at Rawalpindi.
AFP Photo
The bangs were heard in uptown Srinagar, home to about one million Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, minutes after Pakistani pacer Mohammed Sami bowled out Indian tailender Ashish Nehra to give his side a 12-run victory.
The win levelled the five match series, with India having won the opening one-day cliffhanger in Karachi on Saturday by five runs.
Witnesses said supporters of the Pakistani cricketers lit firecrackers late at night when the streets in Srinagar are normally empty, save for members of the security forces.
``On any other day we would have taken the bursting of crackers as another suicide attack by militants,`` said Ghulam Ahmed, 68, in the Abi Guzar area of Srinagar, where two Muslim rebels last week launched a suicide attack on India`s main information center.
``It was a well-deserved victory,`` said Imtiaz Ahmed, a self-confessed diehard fan of the Pakistani cricket team but at the same time also of India`s batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar.
The Pakistani win disappointed those Kashmiris supporting India`s cricketers.
``This is poised to be a close series,`` said Ruksana Jabeen. ``The Indian bowlers have to click if we want to win the series.``
``I am sure we will win the series,`` Jabeen added, while divulging that half her eight-member family supports the Pakistani cricketers.
Some of the Indian troops battling a 15 year anti-Indian insurgency in Kashmir, meanwhile, praised Tendulkar for his knock of 141, but said other batsmen did not click when it mattered.
``Had someone played a knock like Tendulkar we would have won,`` said Rakesh Kumar, a paramilitary soldier who watched the match in his camp.
``Both sides are playing tremendous cricket and that is good,`` he said.
Residents of Jammu, the Hindu-majority winter capital of Kashmir, were also disappointed at India`s defeat, maintaining a sombre silence after the loss -- in contrast to Saturday when they poured onto the streets to celebrate their team`s victory by dancing and distributing sweets.
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=329772
Peaceful Strokes
Wed Mar 17, 3:01 AM ET
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Cricket fans exploded firecrackers overnight in Indian Kashmir (news - web sites)`s summer capital Srinagar to celebrate Pakistan`s win over rival India in the second one-day international at Rawalpindi.
AFP Photo
The bangs were heard in uptown Srinagar, home to about one million Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, minutes after Pakistani pacer Mohammed Sami bowled out Indian tailender Ashish Nehra to give his side a 12-run victory.
The win levelled the five match series, with India having won the opening one-day cliffhanger in Karachi on Saturday by five runs.
Witnesses said supporters of the Pakistani cricketers lit firecrackers late at night when the streets in Srinagar are normally empty, save for members of the security forces.
``On any other day we would have taken the bursting of crackers as another suicide attack by militants,`` said Ghulam Ahmed, 68, in the Abi Guzar area of Srinagar, where two Muslim rebels last week launched a suicide attack on India`s main information center.
``It was a well-deserved victory,`` said Imtiaz Ahmed, a self-confessed diehard fan of the Pakistani cricket team but at the same time also of India`s batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar.
The Pakistani win disappointed those Kashmiris supporting India`s cricketers.
``This is poised to be a close series,`` said Ruksana Jabeen. ``The Indian bowlers have to click if we want to win the series.``
``I am sure we will win the series,`` Jabeen added, while divulging that half her eight-member family supports the Pakistani cricketers.
Some of the Indian troops battling a 15 year anti-Indian insurgency in Kashmir, meanwhile, praised Tendulkar for his knock of 141, but said other batsmen did not click when it mattered.
``Had someone played a knock like Tendulkar we would have won,`` said Rakesh Kumar, a paramilitary soldier who watched the match in his camp.
``Both sides are playing tremendous cricket and that is good,`` he said.
Residents of Jammu, the Hindu-majority winter capital of Kashmir, were also disappointed at India`s defeat, maintaining a sombre silence after the loss -- in contrast to Saturday when they poured onto the streets to celebrate their team`s victory by dancing and distributing sweets.
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=329772
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 02:04 pm
Pakistan supporters celebrate win with firecrackers in Kashmir Wed Mar 17, 3:01 AM ET
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Cricket fans exploded firecrackers overnight in Indian Kashmir (news - web sites)`s summer capital Srinagar to celebrate Pakistan`s win over rival India in the second one-day international at Rawalpindi.
AFP Photo
The bangs were heard in uptown Srinagar, home to about one million Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, minutes after Pakistani pacer Mohammed Sami bowled out Indian tailender Ashish Nehra to give his side a 12-run victory.
The win levelled the five match series, with India having won the opening one-day cliffhanger in Karachi on Saturday by five runs.
Witnesses said supporters of the Pakistani cricketers lit firecrackers late at night when the streets in Srinagar are normally empty, save for members of the security forces.
``On any other day we would have taken the bursting of crackers as another suicide attack by militants,`` said Ghulam Ahmed, 68, in the Abi Guzar area of Srinagar, where two Muslim rebels last week launched a suicide attack on India`s main information center.
``It was a well-deserved victory,`` said Imtiaz Ahmed, a self-confessed diehard fan of the Pakistani cricket team but at the same time also of India`s batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar.
The Pakistani win disappointed those Kashmiris supporting India`s cricketers.
``This is poised to be a close series,`` said Ruksana Jabeen. ``The Indian bowlers have to click if we want to win the series.``
``I am sure we will win the series,`` Jabeen added, while divulging that half her eight-member family supports the Pakistani cricketers.
Some of the Indian troops battling a 15 year anti-Indian insurgency in Kashmir, meanwhile, praised Tendulkar for his knock of 141, but said other batsmen did not click when it mattered.
``Had someone played a knock like Tendulkar we would have won,`` said Rakesh Kumar, a paramilitary soldier who watched the match in his camp.
``Both sides are playing tremendous cricket and that is good,`` he said.
Residents of Jammu, the Hindu-majority winter capital of Kashmir, were also disappointed at India`s defeat, maintaining a sombre silence after the loss -- in contrast to Saturday when they poured onto the streets to celebrate their team`s victory by dancing and distributing sweets.
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=329772
Peaceful Strokes
An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 01:43 pm
THis email was posted on some site. Not sure how authentic this email is.An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
India-Pakistan: Friends on Visa
An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 01:43 pm
THis email was posted on some site. Not sure how authentic this email is.An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
The Indo-Pak Symbiosis: Brothers or Neighbors?
An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 01:43 pm
THis email was posted on some site. Not sure how authentic this email is.An Indian in Karachi
Subject: Pakistan
Folks,
This mail has nothing to do with work. just wanted to share certain very overwhelming experiences. Had been to karachi for the 1st one dayer on saturday.
1. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis & 50 of us Indians cheering lustily `for` each other, throwing chocolates at us !!. Quite a few were carrying the flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian
cricket team !
2. Guy on the street selling `bhuttas` refused to accept money saying that
we were `mehmaan` in their country !!
3. people rushing to shake our hands on the streets & asking us to come to their home for dinner
4. Restaurant owners refusing to accept the bill payment after coming to know that we were from India
5. Everybody we met & we met quite a few, had some relative staying
in India.
6. Star plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi
7. There was a TV star called Heena ?? who was sitting in the stadium, one pakistani put up a impromptu banner saying ``heena, will u marry me ?``!!
8. Shops gave us 40 to 50% discount ...........India again
9. Taxis, autos, army guys......the list is endless.......everywhere loads of courtesy, respect..... more than we would get in our own country !!!!!
It is really sad that we have an IMPRESSION of that country that
is so NEGATIVE. It`s sad but true , this experience teaches one that......``PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY``.
Thank u for sparing your time.
Have a lovely day.
Barriers: A Review
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/mar/17rehana.htm
Arthur J Pais | March 17, 2004
Following the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, Rehana Mirza and her sister Rohi launched a theatrical company, Desipina, and produced the play Barriers. It revolved around a pan-Asian family dealing with the loss as well as the backlash and prejudice that South Asians faced following the 9/11 tragedy.
Rehana is the writer and director of the film, Fillum Star: The Peter Patel Story (now available on DVD), while Rohi has produced it. The film revolves around Peter Patel (Rizwan Manji), who plays a struggling actor. Suddenly, he gets that big break and becomes the subject of a documentary. He is followed by documentary filmmakers for 48 hours before his film releases in theatres nationwide. The film also explores how the Indian community reacts to his sudden fame.
Rehana received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University`s Tisch School of the Arts. She talks to Arthur J Pais about life and films.
Don`t you think there have been too many films on desi life in America in the last four years?
I don`t think there is a limit [for such films]. Besides, Fillum Star: The Peter Patel Story is different from the films made in the US and Canada.
And why is that?
Many of those films, like American Desi, dealt with identity issues. Some of us are moving beyond that. We are making films now, for example, about the struggle [for meaning] in our communities and in the world at large.
Why is your film called a mockumentary?
It is a fictionalised documentary style film. It does not have a traditional narrative style. It dances on the border between reality and fiction.
Your film has gone directly into video and DVD. Often, this is a sign of a film that could not find a theatrical distributor and so is dumped into video stores.
It was clear to my team and me right from the start that this film was going to be a DVD feature because it is gritty and is made in a guerilla style. It will be appreciated more on DVD. But it has gone to several film festivals and has been received well.
Your company is called Desipina. What does that word mean?
Day-see-pee-nah is a slang word that describes a person of South Asian (desi) and Filipino (pina) descent. It is a group that embraces multiracial identities and fusion lifestyles. The verb meaning would be to check outside the box by being adventurous and non-conventional.
You grew up in a multi-cultural home, with a Filipino mother and a Pakistani father.
Growing up in a multi-cultural home was fun and educational. I was infused with a unique cultural perspective that helped me relate culturally to many different worlds. When people asked me `where I was from`, the answer was always [and still is] complicated. People always got more than what they bargained for.
It was funny to watch people`s faces grow confused when they didn`t get the answer of `Indian`, which is undoubtedly what they were expecting. Even after telling people my cultural background, they would wait a beat and then continue on with some fact about India that made them start the conversation in the first place.
Growing up New Jersey, no matter what cultural hybrid you are, you still are just plain `different`. I got used to it quickly.
Your sister Rohi married Gitesh Pandya [of boxofficeguru.com] a few months ago. So the extended family includes an Indian who happens to be a Hindu.
[chuckles] But he isn`t the first one [in the extended family]! Last year, my brother Ameer married a Gujarati Hindu. And Gitesh keeps wondering where I am headed!
So what do you tell him?
You never know, I say. I will surprise you all. But now, I have no plans for a wedding.
What was a typical Thanksgiving Dinner like when you grew up?
Curry turkey. Oh, lots of it. I remember having Thanksgiving with my cousins and extended family, and we`d have Turkey and mashed potatoes, chicken curry, Basmati rice and yogurt. Ras malai or kheer for dessert.
Didn`t your parents want you go to a medical or business school?
They still want me to go to medical or business school!
Did you have to work hard at convincing them about your choice of profession?
My parents always told me what they want most is for me to find happiness.
Did they know where you headed?
They didn`t think that my chosen profession in the entertainment industry would lead to that happiness. My father loves the entertainment industry though. He brings in musicians from Pakistan and India to tour in the US, so in my growing years, I was always surrounded by great musicians like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Gulam Ali.
How did you bring about the subject of going to study writing and movies?
When I told my father that I wanted to write, he thought of it more of a hobby. So my attending Tisch School of the Arts was not what they wanted for me. Rohi was key in negotiating my enrollment at NYU. She was about to start business school and supported me 100 per cent.
My parents were initially worried and afraid for me. So I couldn`t show any fear whatsoever. I still can`t. They`ve gradually realised that I am making a difference through my writing, and that it`s truly what I`m passionate about. Now, they are excited about my projects because I`m excited about them.
What have been some of the most rewarding experiences in building Desipina?
The responses from audiences who thank us for putting up work that challenges and defines. Talking to people who either drove from other states to see our shows or flew in from Canada to see Barriers when it was staged in San
Francisco a few months ago. Working with talented actors, directors and writers and seeing them move on and build upon the foundation they have in order to achieve success in a larger mainstream community.
What other film projects are you working on?
Signs Of Love, a screenplay I wrote, was purchased by Pundit Films, Inc. It will be directed by Kiran Merchant. Paresh Rawal is one of the leads, Kiran Deohans is the cinematographer and Leslie Lewis is the music composer.
The script deals with two best friends, Jonathon and Neil, who are searching for their soul mates in NYC`s crazy singles scene, using horoscopes to guide their way. The film is scheduled to begin shooting this Fall. I recently wrote and directed a short film, Modern Day Arranged Marriage, which will be touring the festival circuit. I have also recently been hired by a Hong Kong company to write an International romantic comedy involving Indian and Chinese characters.
Many desi actors like Aasif Mandvi and Anjali Bhimani have played non-desi roles in Broadway productions as Oklahoma! and Metamorphoses. What are your thoughts on colour-blind casting?
Colour-blind casting is great. If the race is not specified, then the role should go to the best actor suited for the part, regardless of race.
Would you have a non-Asian play an Asian role in your shows and films?
I would have a non-Asian play the role only if I felt like that actor best portrayed the character and that the role could be easily changed to justify a non-Asian playing the role. In Signs Of Love, Neil is South Asian but nothing about him is particularly South Asian. So I could cast any race.
But when it comes to deeply etched an Asian character...
I wouldn`t have a non-Asian put on makeup to play `Asian`. Right now, though, I promote casting South Asians in roles because there is a fear of seeing brown faces onscreen in a light that is not exotic or vilified in some way. But I also encourage casting for diversity. In our upcoming production, 7/11 (which has 11 sketches, each seven minutes
long), we have an ensemble cast who play a variety of roles. So we have South Asians playing non-South Asian roles and we have non South Asians playing roles that are a first for South Asian characters. Thinking outside ``the box`` will help in creating more diversity in our films and media.
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 17, 2004 08:13 am
Rehana Mirza`s fillum storyhttp://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/mar/17rehana.htm
Arthur J Pais | March 17, 2004
Following the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, Rehana Mirza and her sister Rohi launched a theatrical company, Desipina, and produced the play Barriers. It revolved around a pan-Asian family dealing with the loss as well as the backlash and prejudice that South Asians faced following the 9/11 tragedy.
Rehana is the writer and director of the film, Fillum Star: The Peter Patel Story (now available on DVD), while Rohi has produced it. The film revolves around Peter Patel (Rizwan Manji), who plays a struggling actor. Suddenly, he gets that big break and becomes the subject of a documentary. He is followed by documentary filmmakers for 48 hours before his film releases in theatres nationwide. The film also explores how the Indian community reacts to his sudden fame.
Rehana received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University`s Tisch School of the Arts. She talks to Arthur J Pais about life and films.
Don`t you think there have been too many films on desi life in America in the last four years?
I don`t think there is a limit [for such films]. Besides, Fillum Star: The Peter Patel Story is different from the films made in the US and Canada.
And why is that?
Many of those films, like American Desi, dealt with identity issues. Some of us are moving beyond that. We are making films now, for example, about the struggle [for meaning] in our communities and in the world at large.
Why is your film called a mockumentary?
It is a fictionalised documentary style film. It does not have a traditional narrative style. It dances on the border between reality and fiction.
Your film has gone directly into video and DVD. Often, this is a sign of a film that could not find a theatrical distributor and so is dumped into video stores.
It was clear to my team and me right from the start that this film was going to be a DVD feature because it is gritty and is made in a guerilla style. It will be appreciated more on DVD. But it has gone to several film festivals and has been received well.
Your company is called Desipina. What does that word mean?
Day-see-pee-nah is a slang word that describes a person of South Asian (desi) and Filipino (pina) descent. It is a group that embraces multiracial identities and fusion lifestyles. The verb meaning would be to check outside the box by being adventurous and non-conventional.
You grew up in a multi-cultural home, with a Filipino mother and a Pakistani father.
Growing up in a multi-cultural home was fun and educational. I was infused with a unique cultural perspective that helped me relate culturally to many different worlds. When people asked me `where I was from`, the answer was always [and still is] complicated. People always got more than what they bargained for.
It was funny to watch people`s faces grow confused when they didn`t get the answer of `Indian`, which is undoubtedly what they were expecting. Even after telling people my cultural background, they would wait a beat and then continue on with some fact about India that made them start the conversation in the first place.
Growing up New Jersey, no matter what cultural hybrid you are, you still are just plain `different`. I got used to it quickly.
Your sister Rohi married Gitesh Pandya [of boxofficeguru.com] a few months ago. So the extended family includes an Indian who happens to be a Hindu.
[chuckles] But he isn`t the first one [in the extended family]! Last year, my brother Ameer married a Gujarati Hindu. And Gitesh keeps wondering where I am headed!
So what do you tell him?
You never know, I say. I will surprise you all. But now, I have no plans for a wedding.
What was a typical Thanksgiving Dinner like when you grew up?
Curry turkey. Oh, lots of it. I remember having Thanksgiving with my cousins and extended family, and we`d have Turkey and mashed potatoes, chicken curry, Basmati rice and yogurt. Ras malai or kheer for dessert.
Didn`t your parents want you go to a medical or business school?
They still want me to go to medical or business school!
Did you have to work hard at convincing them about your choice of profession?
My parents always told me what they want most is for me to find happiness.
Did they know where you headed?
They didn`t think that my chosen profession in the entertainment industry would lead to that happiness. My father loves the entertainment industry though. He brings in musicians from Pakistan and India to tour in the US, so in my growing years, I was always surrounded by great musicians like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Gulam Ali.
How did you bring about the subject of going to study writing and movies?
When I told my father that I wanted to write, he thought of it more of a hobby. So my attending Tisch School of the Arts was not what they wanted for me. Rohi was key in negotiating my enrollment at NYU. She was about to start business school and supported me 100 per cent.
My parents were initially worried and afraid for me. So I couldn`t show any fear whatsoever. I still can`t. They`ve gradually realised that I am making a difference through my writing, and that it`s truly what I`m passionate about. Now, they are excited about my projects because I`m excited about them.
What have been some of the most rewarding experiences in building Desipina?
The responses from audiences who thank us for putting up work that challenges and defines. Talking to people who either drove from other states to see our shows or flew in from Canada to see Barriers when it was staged in San
Francisco a few months ago. Working with talented actors, directors and writers and seeing them move on and build upon the foundation they have in order to achieve success in a larger mainstream community.
What other film projects are you working on?
Signs Of Love, a screenplay I wrote, was purchased by Pundit Films, Inc. It will be directed by Kiran Merchant. Paresh Rawal is one of the leads, Kiran Deohans is the cinematographer and Leslie Lewis is the music composer.
The script deals with two best friends, Jonathon and Neil, who are searching for their soul mates in NYC`s crazy singles scene, using horoscopes to guide their way. The film is scheduled to begin shooting this Fall. I recently wrote and directed a short film, Modern Day Arranged Marriage, which will be touring the festival circuit. I have also recently been hired by a Hong Kong company to write an International romantic comedy involving Indian and Chinese characters.
Many desi actors like Aasif Mandvi and Anjali Bhimani have played non-desi roles in Broadway productions as Oklahoma! and Metamorphoses. What are your thoughts on colour-blind casting?
Colour-blind casting is great. If the race is not specified, then the role should go to the best actor suited for the part, regardless of race.
Would you have a non-Asian play an Asian role in your shows and films?
I would have a non-Asian play the role only if I felt like that actor best portrayed the character and that the role could be easily changed to justify a non-Asian playing the role. In Signs Of Love, Neil is South Asian but nothing about him is particularly South Asian. So I could cast any race.
But when it comes to deeply etched an Asian character...
I wouldn`t have a non-Asian put on makeup to play `Asian`. Right now, though, I promote casting South Asians in roles because there is a fear of seeing brown faces onscreen in a light that is not exotic or vilified in some way. But I also encourage casting for diversity. In our upcoming production, 7/11 (which has 11 sketches, each seven minutes
long), we have an ensemble cast who play a variety of roles. So we have South Asians playing non-South Asian roles and we have non South Asians playing roles that are a first for South Asian characters. Thinking outside ``the box`` will help in creating more diversity in our films and media.
Is Dr. Qadeer Guilty as Accused?
By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: March 16, 2004
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 15 — The Bush administration said Monday that the clandestine network created by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, netted $100 million for the technology it sold to Libya alone, and for the first time officials displayed a carefully selected sample of the type of equipment that the network sold to arm Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Under extraordinary security — guards with automatic weapons stationed every few yards — officials showed reporters the most basic of the high-speed centrifuges that Dr. Khan marketed to countries seeking to enrich uranium for bomb fuel. Many of the centrifuges, flown out of Libya and stored here at one of America`s first nuclear weapons laboratories, were still in their original packing crates.
But the most critical components shipped out of Tripoli — including 4,000 more advanced centrifuges and the drawings Dr. Khan sold showing how to turn the uranium into crude warheads — were kept out of view. So were labels and other evidence that would link specific products to Pakistan, Germany, Malaysia and a dozen other countries where Dr. Khan`s network of suppliers and manufacturers operated over the past decade.
North Korea and Iran are believed to have purchased essentially the same package of technology that Libya obtained after negotiating with Dr. Khan in the mid-1990`s.
The event here on Monday was part of a weeklong effort by the administration to trumpet what it views as one of its biggest foreign-policy accomplishments growing out of the invasion of Iraq a year ago.
``We`ve had a huge success here,`` said Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, who is in charge of overseeing the American nuclear stockpile. Surrounded by the cache of nuclear equipment, Mr. Abraham argued that the decision announced in December by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to disarm completely and rapidly came because of ``the resolve that we and others conveyed in Iraq, which has forced countries to make a choice.``
Mr. Abraham said that virtually all of the 55,000 pounds of nuclear gear already brought out of Libya, which appears headed to a lifting of most American economic sanctions next month, now rests here, behind barbed-wire fences in the hills of eastern Tennessee.
The equipment, he said, was ``the largest recovery, by weight, ever conducted under U.S nonproliferation efforts`` but was ``just the tip of the iceberg`` because a shipload of Libyan equipment is currently sailing to the United States.
Such work, he said, ``spells out our commitment to winning the war against terrorism.``
Libya never began to produce enriched uranium, though experts here said that if assembled, the equipment that the United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nations have recovered could have produced enough fuel to make up to 10 nuclear weapons a year.
Libya had obtained a bit less than half of the 10,000 centrifuges it hoped to operate, before determining that the program was not worth the diplomatic cost. ``The program was much more advanced than we assessed,`` Robert Joseph, who heads counterproliferation efforts in the National Security Council, said here. ``It was much larger than we assessed.``
The $100 million estimate was nearly twice as high as the highest previous estimate of what Libya paid for its nuclear technology. That figure does not include what Iran and North Korea or other customers of the Khan network that the officials declined to identify Monday, citing continuing investigations, paid to the network of suppliers.
On Saturday, Iran announced a freeze on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to protest the terms of a resolution that chided the country for failing to cooperate fully with inspectors. On Monday, the head of the agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in Washington that Iran had changed its position and would allow the inspections to resume on March 27.
The $100 million figure does, however, explain how a government scientist like Mr. Khan could afford a lavish lifestyle, in Pakistan, in homes around the world and at his hotel in Mali. One official noted that given the relatively small number of principal players in the Khan network — maybe a dozen people in all — it ``made it a very lucrative trade.``
``The network`s financial dealings were deliberately complex and we do not yet have a complete picture,`` said Jim Wilkinson, a deputy national security adviser who made the trip here. ``The developing picture, however, indicates that the Khan network received at least $100 million for supplying technology, equipment and know-how`` to Libya, he said. ``It was truly one-stop shopping.``
Under a tent in a parking lot of the heavily guarded complex here, officials set up a display of dozens of large wooden packing crates that contained Libya`s disassembled nuclear program, as well as small number of items that they had declassified. Among them were four aluminum centrifuges, called P-1`s, the nomenclature for the first generation of Pakistani centrifuges based on a design that Dr. Khan stole from Europe and used to make the uranium for the first Pakistani nuclear weapons.
Gleaming, the aluminum tubes stood more than six feet tall, with three pipes coming out the top of each. The centrifuges, basically hollow metal tubes, spin at the speed of sound to separate uranium 235 — which is used as the main ingredient for bombs — from unneeded uranium 238.
In front of the display lay a six-foot-long piece of cascade piping — the line that in an operating plant would tie the centrifuges together. A set of thousands of centrifuges, called a cascade, concentrates the rare U-235 isotope to make potent bomb fuel. Each centrifuge in a cascade makes the uranium a little more enriched in the U-235 isotope.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/asia/16NUKE.html
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 16, 2004 11:27 am
Pakistani`s Nuclear Earnings: $100 MillionBy DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: March 16, 2004
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 15 — The Bush administration said Monday that the clandestine network created by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, netted $100 million for the technology it sold to Libya alone, and for the first time officials displayed a carefully selected sample of the type of equipment that the network sold to arm Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Under extraordinary security — guards with automatic weapons stationed every few yards — officials showed reporters the most basic of the high-speed centrifuges that Dr. Khan marketed to countries seeking to enrich uranium for bomb fuel. Many of the centrifuges, flown out of Libya and stored here at one of America`s first nuclear weapons laboratories, were still in their original packing crates.
But the most critical components shipped out of Tripoli — including 4,000 more advanced centrifuges and the drawings Dr. Khan sold showing how to turn the uranium into crude warheads — were kept out of view. So were labels and other evidence that would link specific products to Pakistan, Germany, Malaysia and a dozen other countries where Dr. Khan`s network of suppliers and manufacturers operated over the past decade.
North Korea and Iran are believed to have purchased essentially the same package of technology that Libya obtained after negotiating with Dr. Khan in the mid-1990`s.
The event here on Monday was part of a weeklong effort by the administration to trumpet what it views as one of its biggest foreign-policy accomplishments growing out of the invasion of Iraq a year ago.
``We`ve had a huge success here,`` said Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, who is in charge of overseeing the American nuclear stockpile. Surrounded by the cache of nuclear equipment, Mr. Abraham argued that the decision announced in December by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to disarm completely and rapidly came because of ``the resolve that we and others conveyed in Iraq, which has forced countries to make a choice.``
Mr. Abraham said that virtually all of the 55,000 pounds of nuclear gear already brought out of Libya, which appears headed to a lifting of most American economic sanctions next month, now rests here, behind barbed-wire fences in the hills of eastern Tennessee.
The equipment, he said, was ``the largest recovery, by weight, ever conducted under U.S nonproliferation efforts`` but was ``just the tip of the iceberg`` because a shipload of Libyan equipment is currently sailing to the United States.
Such work, he said, ``spells out our commitment to winning the war against terrorism.``
Libya never began to produce enriched uranium, though experts here said that if assembled, the equipment that the United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nations have recovered could have produced enough fuel to make up to 10 nuclear weapons a year.
Libya had obtained a bit less than half of the 10,000 centrifuges it hoped to operate, before determining that the program was not worth the diplomatic cost. ``The program was much more advanced than we assessed,`` Robert Joseph, who heads counterproliferation efforts in the National Security Council, said here. ``It was much larger than we assessed.``
The $100 million estimate was nearly twice as high as the highest previous estimate of what Libya paid for its nuclear technology. That figure does not include what Iran and North Korea or other customers of the Khan network that the officials declined to identify Monday, citing continuing investigations, paid to the network of suppliers.
On Saturday, Iran announced a freeze on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to protest the terms of a resolution that chided the country for failing to cooperate fully with inspectors. On Monday, the head of the agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in Washington that Iran had changed its position and would allow the inspections to resume on March 27.
The $100 million figure does, however, explain how a government scientist like Mr. Khan could afford a lavish lifestyle, in Pakistan, in homes around the world and at his hotel in Mali. One official noted that given the relatively small number of principal players in the Khan network — maybe a dozen people in all — it ``made it a very lucrative trade.``
``The network`s financial dealings were deliberately complex and we do not yet have a complete picture,`` said Jim Wilkinson, a deputy national security adviser who made the trip here. ``The developing picture, however, indicates that the Khan network received at least $100 million for supplying technology, equipment and know-how`` to Libya, he said. ``It was truly one-stop shopping.``
Under a tent in a parking lot of the heavily guarded complex here, officials set up a display of dozens of large wooden packing crates that contained Libya`s disassembled nuclear program, as well as small number of items that they had declassified. Among them were four aluminum centrifuges, called P-1`s, the nomenclature for the first generation of Pakistani centrifuges based on a design that Dr. Khan stole from Europe and used to make the uranium for the first Pakistani nuclear weapons.
Gleaming, the aluminum tubes stood more than six feet tall, with three pipes coming out the top of each. The centrifuges, basically hollow metal tubes, spin at the speed of sound to separate uranium 235 — which is used as the main ingredient for bombs — from unneeded uranium 238.
In front of the display lay a six-foot-long piece of cascade piping — the line that in an operating plant would tie the centrifuges together. A set of thousands of centrifuges, called a cascade, concentrates the rare U-235 isotope to make potent bomb fuel. Each centrifuge in a cascade makes the uranium a little more enriched in the U-235 isotope.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/asia/16NUKE.html
Did Libya Stab Pakistan in the Back?
By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: March 16, 2004
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 15 — The Bush administration said Monday that the clandestine network created by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, netted $100 million for the technology it sold to Libya alone, and for the first time officials displayed a carefully selected sample of the type of equipment that the network sold to arm Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Under extraordinary security — guards with automatic weapons stationed every few yards — officials showed reporters the most basic of the high-speed centrifuges that Dr. Khan marketed to countries seeking to enrich uranium for bomb fuel. Many of the centrifuges, flown out of Libya and stored here at one of America`s first nuclear weapons laboratories, were still in their original packing crates.
But the most critical components shipped out of Tripoli — including 4,000 more advanced centrifuges and the drawings Dr. Khan sold showing how to turn the uranium into crude warheads — were kept out of view. So were labels and other evidence that would link specific products to Pakistan, Germany, Malaysia and a dozen other countries where Dr. Khan`s network of suppliers and manufacturers operated over the past decade.
North Korea and Iran are believed to have purchased essentially the same package of technology that Libya obtained after negotiating with Dr. Khan in the mid-1990`s.
The event here on Monday was part of a weeklong effort by the administration to trumpet what it views as one of its biggest foreign-policy accomplishments growing out of the invasion of Iraq a year ago.
``We`ve had a huge success here,`` said Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, who is in charge of overseeing the American nuclear stockpile. Surrounded by the cache of nuclear equipment, Mr. Abraham argued that the decision announced in December by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to disarm completely and rapidly came because of ``the resolve that we and others conveyed in Iraq, which has forced countries to make a choice.``
Mr. Abraham said that virtually all of the 55,000 pounds of nuclear gear already brought out of Libya, which appears headed to a lifting of most American economic sanctions next month, now rests here, behind barbed-wire fences in the hills of eastern Tennessee.
The equipment, he said, was ``the largest recovery, by weight, ever conducted under U.S nonproliferation efforts`` but was ``just the tip of the iceberg`` because a shipload of Libyan equipment is currently sailing to the United States.
Such work, he said, ``spells out our commitment to winning the war against terrorism.``
Libya never began to produce enriched uranium, though experts here said that if assembled, the equipment that the United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nations have recovered could have produced enough fuel to make up to 10 nuclear weapons a year.
Libya had obtained a bit less than half of the 10,000 centrifuges it hoped to operate, before determining that the program was not worth the diplomatic cost. ``The program was much more advanced than we assessed,`` Robert Joseph, who heads counterproliferation efforts in the National Security Council, said here. ``It was much larger than we assessed.``
The $100 million estimate was nearly twice as high as the highest previous estimate of what Libya paid for its nuclear technology. That figure does not include what Iran and North Korea or other customers of the Khan network that the officials declined to identify Monday, citing continuing investigations, paid to the network of suppliers.
On Saturday, Iran announced a freeze on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to protest the terms of a resolution that chided the country for failing to cooperate fully with inspectors. On Monday, the head of the agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in Washington that Iran had changed its position and would allow the inspections to resume on March 27.
The $100 million figure does, however, explain how a government scientist like Mr. Khan could afford a lavish lifestyle, in Pakistan, in homes around the world and at his hotel in Mali. One official noted that given the relatively small number of principal players in the Khan network — maybe a dozen people in all — it ``made it a very lucrative trade.``
``The network`s financial dealings were deliberately complex and we do not yet have a complete picture,`` said Jim Wilkinson, a deputy national security adviser who made the trip here. ``The developing picture, however, indicates that the Khan network received at least $100 million for supplying technology, equipment and know-how`` to Libya, he said. ``It was truly one-stop shopping.``
Under a tent in a parking lot of the heavily guarded complex here, officials set up a display of dozens of large wooden packing crates that contained Libya`s disassembled nuclear program, as well as small number of items that they had declassified. Among them were four aluminum centrifuges, called P-1`s, the nomenclature for the first generation of Pakistani centrifuges based on a design that Dr. Khan stole from Europe and used to make the uranium for the first Pakistani nuclear weapons.
Gleaming, the aluminum tubes stood more than six feet tall, with three pipes coming out the top of each. The centrifuges, basically hollow metal tubes, spin at the speed of sound to separate uranium 235 — which is used as the main ingredient for bombs — from unneeded uranium 238.
In front of the display lay a six-foot-long piece of cascade piping — the line that in an operating plant would tie the centrifuges together. A set of thousands of centrifuges, called a cascade, concentrates the rare U-235 isotope to make potent bomb fuel. Each centrifuge in a cascade makes the uranium a little more enriched in the U-235 isotope.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/asia/16NUKE.html
Posted by
mumbaikar
Mar 16, 2004 11:27 am
Pakistani`s Nuclear Earnings: $100 MillionBy DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: March 16, 2004
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 15 — The Bush administration said Monday that the clandestine network created by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, netted $100 million for the technology it sold to Libya alone, and for the first time officials displayed a carefully selected sample of the type of equipment that the network sold to arm Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Under extraordinary security — guards with automatic weapons stationed every few yards — officials showed reporters the most basic of the high-speed centrifuges that Dr. Khan marketed to countries seeking to enrich uranium for bomb fuel. Many of the centrifuges, flown out of Libya and stored here at one of America`s first nuclear weapons laboratories, were still in their original packing crates.
But the most critical components shipped out of Tripoli — including 4,000 more advanced centrifuges and the drawings Dr. Khan sold showing how to turn the uranium into crude warheads — were kept out of view. So were labels and other evidence that would link specific products to Pakistan, Germany, Malaysia and a dozen other countries where Dr. Khan`s network of suppliers and manufacturers operated over the past decade.
North Korea and Iran are believed to have purchased essentially the same package of technology that Libya obtained after negotiating with Dr. Khan in the mid-1990`s.
The event here on Monday was part of a weeklong effort by the administration to trumpet what it views as one of its biggest foreign-policy accomplishments growing out of the invasion of Iraq a year ago.
``We`ve had a huge success here,`` said Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, who is in charge of overseeing the American nuclear stockpile. Surrounded by the cache of nuclear equipment, Mr. Abraham argued that the decision announced in December by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to disarm completely and rapidly came because of ``the resolve that we and others conveyed in Iraq, which has forced countries to make a choice.``
Mr. Abraham said that virtually all of the 55,000 pounds of nuclear gear already brought out of Libya, which appears headed to a lifting of most American economic sanctions next month, now rests here, behind barbed-wire fences in the hills of eastern Tennessee.
The equipment, he said, was ``the largest recovery, by weight, ever conducted under U.S nonproliferation efforts`` but was ``just the tip of the iceberg`` because a shipload of Libyan equipment is currently sailing to the United States.
Such work, he said, ``spells out our commitment to winning the war against terrorism.``
Libya never began to produce enriched uranium, though experts here said that if assembled, the equipment that the United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nations have recovered could have produced enough fuel to make up to 10 nuclear weapons a year.
Libya had obtained a bit less than half of the 10,000 centrifuges it hoped to operate, before determining that the program was not worth the diplomatic cost. ``The program was much more advanced than we assessed,`` Robert Joseph, who heads counterproliferation efforts in the National Security Council, said here. ``It was much larger than we assessed.``
The $100 million estimate was nearly twice as high as the highest previous estimate of what Libya paid for its nuclear technology. That figure does not include what Iran and North Korea or other customers of the Khan network that the officials declined to identify Monday, citing continuing investigations, paid to the network of suppliers.
On Saturday, Iran announced a freeze on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to protest the terms of a resolution that chided the country for failing to cooperate fully with inspectors. On Monday, the head of the agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in Washington that Iran had changed its position and would allow the inspections to resume on March 27.
The $100 million figure does, however, explain how a government scientist like Mr. Khan could afford a lavish lifestyle, in Pakistan, in homes around the world and at his hotel in Mali. One official noted that given the relatively small number of principal players in the Khan network — maybe a dozen people in all — it ``made it a very lucrative trade.``
``The network`s financial dealings were deliberately complex and we do not yet have a complete picture,`` said Jim Wilkinson, a deputy national security adviser who made the trip here. ``The developing picture, however, indicates that the Khan network received at least $100 million for supplying technology, equipment and know-how`` to Libya, he said. ``It was truly one-stop shopping.``
Under a tent in a parking lot of the heavily guarded complex here, officials set up a display of dozens of large wooden packing crates that contained Libya`s disassembled nuclear program, as well as small number of items that they had declassified. Among them were four aluminum centrifuges, called P-1`s, the nomenclature for the first generation of Pakistani centrifuges based on a design that Dr. Khan stole from Europe and used to make the uranium for the first Pakistani nuclear weapons.
Gleaming, the aluminum tubes stood more than six feet tall, with three pipes coming out the top of each. The centrifuges, basically hollow metal tubes, spin at the speed of sound to separate uranium 235 — which is used as the main ingredient for bombs — from unneeded uranium 238.
In front of the display lay a six-foot-long piece of cascade piping — the line that in an operating plant would tie the centrifuges together. A set of thousands of centrifuges, called a cascade, concentrates the rare U-235 isotope to make potent bomb fuel. Each centrifuge in a cascade makes the uranium a little more enriched in the U-235 isotope.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/asia/16NUKE.html
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