Why Have This Train At All? #245 how could a C-130 from another country enter, land, officers come to hospital and take patients away? Also what was the rush to transport rest of the train load across border in a matter of hours? aren`t many of these people witnesses?

Pandora Box of Television in Pakistan ok..should that be 16 or 18? I got my hands on a gurmukhi copy of condensed Kamasutra at 15...which was very troubling...I mean it is like knowing MS Office inside out but running it on your calculator.

Pandora Box of Television in Pakistan #9 hamidm,

I agree with you totally.
I think the problem (with people like this author) is the people who don`t want to watch religious programming have a good many choices of channels to switch to. but the ones who want to learn about heaven, hoors and honeys from Mullahs mouth can`t bear the fact that there are awesome goris showing their legs and boobs on the next channel. Most probably they have to switch back and forth between mullah channel and HBO which bugs the crap out of them...you know how irritating it is while you are digging into your 3 scoups of chocolate chip icecream and someone on the table reminds you about your health.....now imagine that someone on the table being Doctor himself, I am sure you will be tempted to eat icecream but will have contend yourself with 1/2 scoup only....very unsatisfying and guiltful.

Having said that..there is all kind of programming and not everything for everyone. underage kids need to be protected from naked women and mullahs alike. They can watch naked flesh when they are 16 but mullah channels should be rated R38....(even that is risky looking at chowk)..may R65.

I still can`t figure out why author considers Food channels not good for society?

Pandora Box of Television in Pakistan Its is true that there is lot of meaningless entertainment going on the channels. There is vulgarity and violence per some social standard or the other in the world...but there are many levels of protection also. most of the sensible couples I know in california who have kids have very limited TV.....either no cable or basic cable and they make sure they don`t watch TV mroe than an hour or two a day. e.g. one of my Chinese colleagues has 2 young kids 6-10 yrs...he is fond of certain CSI type programs but does not want to have extended cable or Dish to receive those. So he once in a while rents these videos and watches last seasons program instead when alone or kids sleeping. So is true about many of American people I know and many educated Desis also.

On the other hand sadly majority of the desi crowd has multiple TVs in homes all beaming satellite dishes in most cases stolen keys with every frking channel open and running. People in india and Pakistan always had lot fo free time to kill but they have found a way to do it - TV.

As for TV as a tool of propaganda and change...well it is being used by all americans, communists, mullahs,armies all alike. Out of all the Pakistani channels available in my hotel in Lahore, no matter what time of the day I checked there were religious programs going on atleast half a dozen channels simultenously. It is also true about channels in America to some extent. but in America religious programming is limited to certain dedicated channels. I am sure if PBS, CNN or MSNBC has to stop programming many times a day to relay some religious programming people will be turned off. One could argue the power that TV has given to the religous nuts of all varieties to put forward they narrow and bigotted views is dangerous... hater filled sermons wrapped in rhetoric and afterlife scaremongering was available to only who actually went to the masjid..now it is availalbe to your kids at home any time they want. so as for brainwashing capabiliteis of media is conerned it is being equally used by all sides.

Why Have This Train At All? #116 I have watched the transfer of these passengers to the tain to pakistan(Samjhauta or may be earlier versions of it) many a times at Attari station. Attari station is about 1.5-2km from the border line. The road that connect my village and Attari crosses the railway line between the Station and border. I have stopped on this `faaTak` few hundred times probably in my life when the faatak is closed to let the train leave the station and cross to pakistan side. The train is escorted by BSF guards on horses on both sides of the tracks from Attari station until Border. The train coming from pakistan is escorted to Attari railway station the same way. I presume same procedure is followed escorting train from border to Wagha station by Pakistani rangers.

Why Have This Train At All? #107 But please tell me, what is the security on the Pakistan side for the train going in the other direction? Is it any more stringent?

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Ranjit has raised a good question. My feeling is whatever the security and other procedures are in place for Samjhuata express may be same/similar level and mutually agreed upon by both countries.

Why Have This Train At All? This is a very sad incident. One of the most unfortunate things is when a dear one starts to travel to come home but never reaches home. Unbearable tragidy for the families.

This whole business of transportation between the two coutnries is messed up, very inefficient and unsafe. I was at Wagha 2 months ago...there was a line of about 50 trucks loaded with tomatoes waiting on the Indian side to be trasported to the pakistan. each box of tomatoes dripping jucies through the cracks was unloaded, inspected, and an Indian porter carried it about half kilometer to the borderline where it was handed over(or headed over) to the pakistani porter who carried another quarter mile to paksitan side to be loaded on the trucks. Indian porters told me they get 18-25 rupees per box, I guess pakistani porters take the similar amount. When I cam back after 4 days, number of trucks waiting in line did not go down. Tomatoes were getting rotten due to this wait and many of the boxes were beign thrown on a heap of garbage on Pakistani side. what kind of trade can bear these costs and still succeed?

Same thing about these passengers...I don`t see how it could be efficient or safe to pack so many people in the train from so for and then do the immigration and customs at Attari. guess the reason they are locked in the train is they don`t have visa to visit other parts of the country...but that could be easily enforced in other ways. Even if there is no threat of terrorism, locking the train cabins from outside is a hazard. it goes against the common sense. Would anyone of us travel in our cars if we knew we could not open its doors when needed?

May be if the doors were open some lives would have been saved. But the reason people died in this case is the explosion or fire whichever way is started. If it was a result of somoene`s criminal intent then other issues are secondary in this incident although very important in nromal functioning of the system.

I am wondering since this si samjhauta express, did both countries agree to the ground rules on how to screen the bagage, weight limits, fare amount, locking of the cabins etc?

Indian Shuakat Aziz and Pakistani Manmohan Singh Arabs take the proverb my enemy`s enemy is my friend to the extreme. First America ia #1 enemy majorly because it is friends of Israel(arab`s eternal enemy). The Chavez and Chirac are lovely guys because they also hate America like them. One should not contstrue from this that they are appreciaitng Chirac for being christian or Chavez for being Communist. Islamists hate the west and all its idealogies (including Communism,Humanism and multi-culturalism) in entirity...it is just few individuals and groups in the west who seem to favour their viewpoint or seem to be usefull at the time that they appreciate. America is leading the Western band so it is the prime target of their viceral hate but don`t mistake the guys in the back row will be spared if the opportunity came. There is no need to bad mouth the back benchers at every point, they can be dealt if they come forward.

Arabs know only one aspect of superpowerism...the miliatry power...the bombs tanks, planes. When they see only one Mulim country with a Nuclear bomb they think it must be very close to being superpower.

Indian Shuakat Aziz and Pakistani Manmohan Singh If it is true that Shaukat Aziz and Manmohan Singh are sent by the US govt to govern these countries it means only one thing...and that is that US has very good intentions for the well being of poor souls of these nations.:) Just imagine US sending asome corrupt souls like Zia or Indira instead.:-)

Education Reform: Signs of Hope Wikipedia`s quick search says:

Economic historians estimate that India commanded roughly 25% of world GDP by 1800, but perhaps a tenth of that by the 20th century, due in large part to the severe and rapid decline in the Subcontinent`s native industries (Maddison, Bairoch, Frank).

Huntington\'s Clash of Civilizations Thesis bulleya, what you think about .65% population of work using 3% of the world resoruces? is that fair and why don`t you talk about it?

Last Gasp of the Imperial Misadventure #160...no a contemporary Punjabi poet - Surjit Patar.

Last Gasp of the Imperial Misadventure Hinduan, SikhaN, MusalmanaN di bheeRh choN,
Rabb dhoon`Da phirda mera banda kidhar giya?

ikk shakhash si iss shehar wich sacha kidhar giya?
paTharaN de shehar choN sheesha kidhar giya?

If Pigs Could Fly #3 here comes another desi gawking women on airports.:)
BTW there was a study few years ago that airports are great place for people to meet and pickup dates. It found that on airports lot of relationships conclude, say by bye, or lot of people feel griefed or relieved at the departure of someone special as a result airport bars are a good place to meet desperate or horny people who want to have a good time before the flight returns.:)

If Pigs Could Fly They may not be fair or beautiful, but they had the looks.

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reminds me an office office episode where theis desi lady white talkign to this white dude about his white girlfriend says ``she is very fair``. White guy replies `` yeah she is very fair, honest adn very caring``.

Punjab: The Land of Five Rivers Article is informational type and I don`t think the author tried to make any political point by mentioning something or not mentioning something. Although pakistanis generally start their history with advent of Islam, signs of preislamic and inbetween histories is all around us. Lahore museum is a good example. it has good amount of pre-vedic, pre-islamic, budhist, sikh and british colonial era pieces.
as for boundaries of Punjab...some people think name is punj do-aabs meaning 5 regions between the rivers starting with Sindh river.