Saddam: The Butcher of Baghdad and the Shame of Mesopotamia The hypocrisy of Arabs (and their colonial subjects, the Pakistanis) is quite nauseating. The killings of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, Shias and Sunnis by Saddam Hussain did not bother them one jot. His unprovoked attacks on two (Muslim) countries is conveniently forgotten. But when he himself meets a violent end, it causes them to go into their default mode of extreme anger and hysterical sloganeering.

Do they not see this hypocrisy themselves?

Stagnating Pakistan-Iran Relations Pakistan`s relations with Iran started deteriorating when the semi-literate generals of Pakistan Army sold Pakistan`s soul to the uncultured Wahabbi bedouins of Arabia. Creating, financing and supporting the Taliban was the final nail in the coffin.

Persian culture and literature, the traditional inspiration for educated people of North India, has given way to the beards, abayas, jilbabs and hijabs of the Wahabbi savages. What a sad fall!

Mirza Tahir Hussain – the ongoing tragedy Re: # 7
The issue is not whether General Musharraf is better than Benazir or Nawaz Sharif, which is a matter of personal opinion. The point is, General Musharraf is the only person in the world who can save the life of Mirza Tahir Hussain.

If he can abrogate the Constitution (a treasonable offence punishable by death) for personal gain, can he not use the same Constitution to spare the life of an innocent man.

Mirza Tahir Hussain – the ongoing tragedy Pakistan`s incompetent and corrupt military dictator is lying (as usual) when he says he cannot interfere in the working of the courts. This man violated the Constitution by overthrowing the elected government and allowed a convict to go scot free by cutting a deal with the corrupt Saudi princes. He hires and fires judges, holds illegal referendums and blatantly rigs elections.

When he can shamelessly do all this, can`t he spare the life of a young man who has suffered enough already for a crime that he most probably did not commit.

Waiting for Enlightenment Re: # 9
The ISI is an Army institution manned by Army officers who report to the Army Chief. The ISI and the Army are the same thing. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had no control over either.

Pakistani Muslims will not rise against Islam any time soon, but if the pipeline of hate from Saudi Arabia, operated by the Army/ISI is destroyed, there is at least some hope that they might revert to the more tolerant Sufi version of the pre-Zia days.

Waiting for Enlightenment Re: # 2

I understand your sentiment, but the destruction of the Pakistan Army Mafia will automatically and inevitably lead to the elimination of the Saudi version of Islam from Pakistan.

What good is Musharraf`s love of wine when Wahabbi-inspired crazies continue to terrorize South Asia (and the rest of the world), elections are rigged in favour of the semi-literate MMA, mediaeval institutions like the Federal Shariat Court and the Islamic Ideology Council continue to drag Pakistan even further back into the Dark Ages and the inhuman and barbaric Hadood Laws remain on the statue books.

In Musharraf`s Pakistan the rich and powerful drink wine in their air-conditioned lounges and then emerge to preach the virtues of Islam. If a poor man partakes of locally brewed liquor, he is charged under the Hadood Laws and whipped.

Waiting for Enlightenment Anything that leads to the (self) destruction of the mafia called Pakistan Army should be welcomed, even if it is an uprising by religious-minded junior officers.

A City of Gardens Thanks for raising these very important issues, sir. I have been (privately) speaking out against the destruction of Lahore`s indigenous trees for the last ten years. I left Lahore five years ago, and now it seems to be a different city from the city of my childhood.

In my opinion both the government as well as private citizens are responsible for the destruction of indigenous trees in Lahore. The government has not made any effort to plant native species of trees in the newly developed areas of Lahore. As the writer points out, the British planted native trees in the areas of Lahore they developed. To this day they remain the least polluted areas of the city. And the temperature difference on a hot summer day is also noticeable. After the British left, no such exercise was undertaken. Areas like Defence, Cavalry Ground, Faisal Town, Iqbal Town etc, that were developed two to three decades ago, are totally empty of trees. If only the developers had had the same foresight as the ``colonial masters``, today these areas would have been green, cool and less polluted.

Private citizens are equally to blame for this. In an effort to look ``fashionable``, ``modern`` or ``cool``, Lahore`s affluent citizens (the so-called ``elite) started planting non-native trees in their lawns and gardens. These trees are totally un-suited to Lahore`s climate and have no beneficial effects.

The result of all this is that Lahore has become a hideous concrete jungle, dotted with date palms, and ashoks (ultay and seedhay). The Lahore of neems, sheeshams, keekars, talis and jamans is no more.

Riba and the Pakistani Economy Muslims waste time, energy, effort and blood over the mediaeval laws of seventh century Arabia, while the rest of the world moves on.

The Height of Higher Education Re: # 25
Sir, your arguments are more comical than logical!

The Height of Higher Education Re: # 20
In America you can speak out against the injustices of America`s capitalist system, the greed of America`s corporate managers, the neo-con architects of America`s hypocritical foreign policy, the idiocy of Geroge Bush and whatever else you dislike about America. The US Constitution guarantees your freedom to think and express your opinions.

Try criticising Islam in an Islamic country. If the state does not kill you, the lynch mobs will.

Islam is blind faith in the unknown that does not brook any criticism or questioning. Hence the pathetic state of the Ummah and the Ummahites.

The Height of Higher Education Marx`s saying, ``Religion is the opium of the people`` applies very well to Pakistan. Pakistan`s elite does not want people to think critically and rationally, fearing that they will start asking awkward and difficult questions; give them a big dose of Islam and take away their ability to think.

What Pakistan’s Bomb Could Not Buy Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy`s analysis is logical and straightforward as usual. Unfortunately, the semi-literate defenders of the ``ideological frontiers`` of Pakistan do not have the brains to understand these simple arguments.

Filming the Prophet Very informative article, Nadeem. Thanks!

Pakistani Obsessions Nice feelings you express here. Unfortunately, Pakistan`s middle class is totally oblivious to these issues. Twenty five years of destruction of the education system have completely taken away people`s ability to think independently and rationally. The middle class in Pakistan is busy eating Big Mac Meals, buying plots of land, acquiring Toyota Corollas on bank loans and listening to clownish bearded idiots masquerading as ``religious scholars`` on private TV channels. Compare this with the dynamic middle class of Iran or even India, and the difference becomes clear.

Why Do We Reject Our Past? The NRI-style nationalism of the first half of the article is amusing. On the one hand the author very rightly condemns the fake Arab-nationalism of Pakistanis, while on the other hand he propunds an equally nationalistic (and inaccurate) version of ancient history that puts India at the centre of the Universe.