A Pakistani-American in India I always find it amusing about Pakistanis coming back to their ancestral places in India and writing about nostalgia and great time they had while visiting. My parents had to leave their home in 1947 in Lahore. They always talked about the city with great love and affection. I on the other hand have no desire to visit Lahore because neither I have any relatives or family friends to visit and I know the culture they left behind does not exist anymore.

Aussie Values: Save us the embarrassement! Like the indignation by muslims about Australia. How about talking about the Saudi Arabia and the way they treat people who come to work there.

Selling Spirituality 5. Abuse of Religion, God and Spirituality

After gaining power, control, money and status, these pseudo-mystics rationalize their abuse of power by connecting it with the religious traditions of the community. They proclaim,
“God told me to do so.”
“I had a sacred dream.”
“I had a special revelation.”

These claims cannot be tested by the disciples from any objective perspective. Pseudo-mystics promote blind faith rather than rational thinking.

Isn`t it true what has been written by the author can be attributed to Mohammed too ?

Digital Desis or Giant Managers? The sour grapes analogy is very apt. The educational system of Pakistan must in a sorry state judging by the the writing of Ahmedmadani.

Another good news nugget that I found today. Tax Revenues are going to be under budget even with increased revenues from Personal and Corporate Income Taxes because the imports have grown at less than 1% leading to sharp shortfall in the expected Custom duty receipts.

About oursourcing - Pakistan has done well in one industry - terrorism, smuggling and mercenaries. They can have their country bombed and no outrage or protest.

French Not the Only Offenders on Hijab Urstruly #72

You must be retarded ! The lipstick ban is for women soldiers you idiot. I think your head is so way up you A@@ and your thinking so backward looking that I guess you cannot even think of Women as soldiers. I guess all you can think of them as a Sex object or a machine to produce children so that they can glorify Allah by becoming Shaheeds.

Punjabi Heroes that History Forgot Ref ; Naqshbandi #4

Typical Oslo reaction. Wonder how your ancestors were converted to Islam. Wonder how many of your female ancestors were raped or coerced into accepting Islam or how many of your Male ancestors chose islam because they were too weak to fight the marauding hordes of Ghazis or maybe they became islamic because they were to poor to pay jaziya.

And you are grateful to the people who had 5,000 year old tradition taken from you and you made into second class arabs always looking towards Arabia and bowing down to it 5 times a day.

Well the only Panjab that is left is in India . We are still very proud of our culture and language. It is our cultural pride that has taken our music and dance to all corners of the world while you guys in pakistan are always looking for a approvel by the camel jockeys while taking pride in loosing your culture, language and even your identity.

Jaipur Dreams Zia

Why are u blaming Musharaff and Vajpayee ? The persons that you should blame should be Jinnah, the entire Pre partition Umaah and your Father. Why did your father leave Jaipur ? Was he being discriminated or harassed ? Did you ever ask him about his reasons for leaving Jaipur ? If he left it in mid sixties, he should have realized that the schism between Indians and Pakistanis was going to be deep and last for a long time. By the way Jaipur is the most beautiful old city in India - and the level of culture and politeness is very high.

BTW my parents left Lahore and I have heard such nostalgic and long reminisces about that city. However, I have no desire whatsoever to visit it althought I have been invited a few times. I feel that except for a few buildings, Lahore of my parents days has vanished. I guess since your father chose to leave Jaipur and my parents were forced to leave the city, we have different pespectives about our ancestral towns.

India and Pakistan: The Stark Reality Congratulations Godot - You have identified the 20,000 lb gorilla in the living room.

In 1947 India and Pakistan went their separate ways. Pakistan did better than India both economically and diplomatically initially. However, Pakistan never layed foundations for its long term growth or stability. India however plodded along. We screwed up our economy specially in the 60s 70s and 80s but democracy deepened. Even Indira Gandhi`s emergency did not derail it - as a matter of fact it strengthened it. We really matured as a democracy when in mid 90s in a period of 2 years we had 5 different governments. With the change of governments there was hardly a skipped beat. No tanks were roaming in the streets of Delhi. Prime Minister who was ousted sat with the incoming Prime Minister and handed over power. Our ex Prime Minister did not have to be exiled or jailed.

Pakistan on the other hand could not build any of its institutions except for the Army. With sharia hovering over the horizon, Judiciary never gained any foothold. With Army and politicians alternating, democracy never had a chance. Pakistan is getting more irrelevant not only in world affairs but even in South Asia. It has gained a few years of being totally irrelevant because of its nuclear bombs. Sooner than later they will be neutralized.

The changing face of America Temporal:

``today is Oct 9...i am talking in the present... what-if discussions are unrealistic and untenable...what if the French had replied to Tipu in the affirmative?...what if that turncoat Nizam had not sided with the British?...what if....khair...

...all am saying is that Kashmiris` feeling and decisions should have paramountcy over GoP and GoI`s wishes...also let me clarify...i mean all Kashmiris``

No wonder you are called Kofi Annan of Chowk. Your positions are always so morally well fleshed out that I don`t even feel like arguing for fear of feeling like a prick. Bring me a UrsTruly type to fight with anyday. Then at least I can self righteously feel self righteous. :)

In Search of Greener Pastures Although most Pakistanis will deny but the main reason India was partitioned and Pakistan came into existence was because of the Feudals. If Indians had given up their demand for Land Reforms, the Unionist Party would have had no reason to walk over to Jinnah. Feudalism is now so much ingrained in the polity and blood of Pakistan that it would be decades if not centuries before it will die. Abolition of the Zamindari system was one of the greatest achievement of post independent India.

However, before Pakistan can get rid of Feudal system a lot of groundwork has to be done. Institutions such as Judiciary and democraticly elected governments have to be strengthened and the masses educated as to their rights before Feudalism can be abolished. This will be a big task since the troika of Feudals, Army and Mullahs now have vested interest in the continuation of the system. It is easier to control a Feudal than 1000 of his peasants. From what I read about Pakistan, it seems the Feudals are gaining more strength rather than weakening.

Vajpayee’s Srinagar offer of Talks to Pakistan HS & HE

You guys are hilarious. I guess a lot of opium that is now grown in Afghansitan and transported throgh Pakiland is finding its way to you.

I guess no amount of rational talk is going to remove the delusions you guys are living through. You ain`t getting a square inch of Kashmir. With Jackboots planted on your throat, you will loose more territory.

No Military Dictator of Pakistan has left without loosing some territory. Ayub ceded Pakistan Held Kashmir`s territory to China (this in my mind is suffiecient to negate all claim of Pakistan to any Kashmiri Territory). Yahya lost whole wing of Pakistan (there went the damned Two Nation Theory). Zia lost Siachen Glacier. Guess what is Mushy going to loose for Pakistan (well he may have lost the entire country to USA).

It was tragic the way Nehru even talked to you guys about Kashmir after you guys invaded it and we had to push you back but the unintended consequence was very beneficial to India. You guys cannot think of anything except in context of Kashmir. As you are so obsessed with Kashmir while your country is sinking deeper and deeper into a cess pool. Wonder if it genetic to muslim states. The same way the entire Arab community is on skids due to Israel.

Well guys dream on !!!

On Countries of Dwelling A country whose people have successfully been handed down the hate machinery to the personal level after Kargil.

Guess this says it all. What were we supposed to do after we extended our hand of friendship. Hopes were raised the two countries will find ways to live with each other. What did your guy do ? First he hoodwinked his own Prime Minister and attacked India and then he became your dictator. How the hell can we trust people like that.

If the hate machinery that allude to existed why the hell would we be welcoming sick Pakis kids and healing them. As a matter of fact we Indians are sentimental idiots. We forget how much hate is embedded in our neighbor to the West. Hate was the cause your country came to existence. Hate is what your country was suckled by. Hate is the foreign policy of your country. Hate is your National preoccupation. Even when you know what Hate did your country(split it in half), still you do not give it up.

If you are impressed by America then you should love India. We have people of different religions, different languages coexisting even with great attempts made by our neighbor to provoke us into internal enmities.

I found amusing your sterotyping an Indian programmer and talking about his chappals etc.
Well my sterotytype of a Pakistani in America is a middle aged guy with dyed beard, wearing kurta and salwar followed by a few women who could be either his wives or daughters wearing garish salwar kameezez and with a bunch of kids ( at least 6).

I find it amazing how you throw words like ``progroms of Muslims in Gujrat``. Well Muslims in India have grown both in absolute numbers and percentage of population since 1947. People subjected to progroms are not supposed to do that. You guys should know after you most efficeintly progrommed Hindus and Sikhs out of Pakiland. Have you ever wondered that if things are so bad for Muslims in Gujrat, why they have not made a beeline to to the Pakistani border and asked for asylum. I have not heard about a single incident of a single muslim trying to enter the Paki homeland. On the contrary a number of Bongs(as your great Field Marshal used to call them) are still coming over from Bangaladesh into India. Do u think they are masochists who love to be ``Progrommed`` in India.

Fading Exclamations As the second anniversary of 9/11 has rolled by, it is time to ruminate and medidate on the repurcussions. The unintended consequences of this horrific crime, I believe the great mind shift in non muslms was never thought about or even imagined by the OBL and his cronies. After 9/11 Islam was unveiled. In the west there were great misunerstandings about Islam. After 9/11 Islam including quran, hadiths, sharia and other aspects were put under a microscope and analyzed. Islam after being scrutinized was found most wanting and for a logical mind, a fraud. Although Salman Rushdie had started the process in the modern era but now people could study and discuss islam. Thanks to OBL the non islamic world did not have to patronize or fear hurting the feelings of islamists. This I think is a very good for not only the nonislamists but even the islamists because now there is a glimmer of hope that islam can now be reformed. Islam which claimed to be foundation of logic is now being analyzed logically and even the most fundamentalists will have to determine whether everything contained in Quoran is to be taken as it is or some parts should be ignored or repudiated.

The second great benefit that happened for the non islamic people was that during the next two years the bogey of Islamic Nations that were supposed to be rich and powerful has been exposed. The myth has exploded. Afghanistan was conquered in less that three weeks and so was Iraq. Pakistan has become more or less a colony of US. Mushy has to be more careful about keeping his masters in Washington happy than his own people in Pakistan. Most of the Airbases have become out of limits for the Pakis. The FBI and CIA does not even need to disguise itself in the country. The great bulwark of Islam, Saudi Arabia is now deemed totally impotent. No longer can they throw their weight around in Washington. The have to bend backwards at the whim of even the lowest of American officials. The only Islamic country with any remaining dignity left is Iran although it is on verge of an internal revolution.

One hopes the great orgy of self pity and victimization complex will fade from the Islamic countries. Maybe the debate will start within these countries.

A Broken Promise Seems to me that Jinnah must have been a pretty conflicted personality. After trying to argue that Hindus and Muslims were separate nation, after getting his wish of separate country, he started making peaceful sounds and nearly sounding like Nehru. I do not think any speech has been quoted as often as his speech to the Constituent Assembly.But I have not come any other quotation from him that spoke in same terms as that speech. I do not think he was very honest intellectually.

I think he let out a genie out of the bottle that is going to have great repurcussions for Pakistan. He separated a nation because of religion. Since the principle of seperation is now accepted, only the reasons for separation have to be thought of. Pakistan and Bangladesh were separated because of language. How is Pakistan going to be divided further ? Because of Sect (Shia - Sunni) Race ( Pashtun - non Pashtun), or Language again (Panjabi - non Panjabi)

It is ironical while Jinnah is extolled in Pakistan, no other politician or leader can be Jinnahnian. Last one was Mujibur Rehman.

A Failed Education His..... #106

I did not ask you whether in Pakistan stoning women to death was ever carried out. The question is that whether you agree with the principle ? It is being carried out in other islamic countries. Do you agree with that ?

Regarding your query as to why Hadood laws were not abrogated in Pakistan after Zia kicked the bucket - Do you think any Pakistani will try to have them abrogated and face the wrath of mullahs/MQM/Al Qaeda/ and other assorted Jehadis. Wouldn`t he/she be branded as a kafir and may be stoned as well.

A Failed Education His whatever #86,

I am not encouraging anyone to insult anything. However if I wish to express an opinion, however offensive it might be, I should be allowed to express it. This is how progress happens. Do u think in your heart of hearts that it is ok to stone a woman to death especially if she was raped ? Do you agree with this principle ?

The problem with Hadood and other laws is that they were formulated 1400 years ago. Even if those laws were good at the time they were enunciated but they were for Bedouins. World has gone ahead. Laws need to be debated before they are enacted. If the laws are bad then they need to be abrogated. If you can`t even discuss the efficacy of your legal system that was handed to you 1400 years ago then you are in a sorry state.