Remembering You this was a beautiful expression of love, grief and longing for a brother by her little sister. indeed, there are some pains that just never dim with time, but we may learn to live with them.

may he rest in peace and may your heart find comfort. ameen.

Preview of Looming Democracy - Two Months of PPP in the Limelight [Thankfully, only nameless, faceless, ordinary, and innocent people were killed and injured in the explosions.]


pakis love their leaders, despite getting shafted by them...

i am told that when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, thousands of Pakistanis wept in the streets, despite an iron grip on the media and public gatherings by dictator Zia. This despite the fact that Bhutto was the most responsible of the political leaders in the dismembering of Pakistan barely 8 years earlier - yet his "martyrdom" warms up millions of Pakistanis to this day...

Then 9 years later, dictator zia died in plane crash. I am told that millions of pakistanis wept openly over his "martyrdom". His burial was televised live and the newscasters wept too as they made their running commentary on events of burial. This despite the fact that Zia had administered perhaps the most repressive regime in Pakistan's history.

Now 18 years later, Benazir is dead. Millions of Pakistanis wept again for this new "martyrdom". If you were to watch the media, she comes across as nothing less than a saint. Yet she ruled Pakistan with a feudal aloofness, and administered perhaps the most corrupt regime in pakistan's history. And more importantly, she promised foreign powers that she would bomb her own people even more ruthlessly than the current dictator, while handing over citizens to foreign powers at a higher rate. Yet, pictures of ordinary pakistanis weeping in streets are all over the media.

It is hard to believe at this time, but I suspect that if Musharraf's plane were to fall off the sky tomorrow, Pakistanis will weep again over his "martyrdom"

I have this feeling that Pakistanis weep, not for their departed leaders, but for themselves and their hopelessness. These ordinary no-name pakistanis, who come out in the street in support of their leaders and get beaten and killed by police, have the least to gain if that leader were to come to power. Yet these leaders, military and feudal, who rule pakistanis with utter disdain and arrogance while living luxurious life, get to secure "martyrdom" too.

Thank You Suicide Bomber! No one is talking about my 1.5 Billion anymore! ras #6 "This writing is suited for CHOWK "Unplugged", and not FP material."

A certain intellectual arrogance reeks from this comment. As a long time dweller of UP, I long ago opted to take a self-imposed exile from FP - a place that is crawling with scheming hindoos, mirzaees, homosexuals and their sympathizers.

And why exactly is this article so worthless for you? Just because it exposes an enlightened moderate for what she is, a thief? After residing in this law abiding american society for 34 years, is this the value you have picked up that it is ok to steal as long as you are an enlightened person? This is very upsetting.

But not as much as your denigration of UP. Come there some day. I will even open a welcome thread for you.

Mushy is Done! hamidm sahib,

As a long time resident of E-7, I take exception to you portraying us as a filthy rich bunch who are detached from the poor people. We are in fact far more in touch with poor people than you give us credit for - each household in E-7 has on average three servants. Besides, there is more to us than just loads of money, we have real life issues too. Consider this:

One of the biggest issues that inhabitants of E-7 face is the shortage of servants. Growing up, I regularly heard of horror stories where, for example, a 10,000 rupees/month cook quit or moved to a different household, leaving his previous household in shambles and relegated to cooking their own food. Aunties in the neighborhood regularly exchange heart wrenching stories about "kaam chore noker". I still vividly recall the day when tragedy struck the house across from us - their driver had left for another better paying job just before the school year was to start! ~shudders~

On another issue, we had to fight tooth and nail with the CDA to ensure that no form of public transportation was allowed inside E-7 - except for the taxis. Apparently, a bus company realized that given the large number of servants and security personnel working in E-7, there was money to be made by starting a bus route inside E-7. Just the mere thought of diesel burning buses with shalwar kameez wearing servants hanging from doors was too offensive for the aesthetic sensibilities of residents. Alhamdolillah, we were successful, and now anyone who does not own the car has to walk all the way from Faisal Chowk to work in E-7.

To address the issue of security, the residents of E-7 hired an international consulting firm to form a strategy. The strategy advised residents that the best way to ensure complete security of E-7 was to rent at least one house per street to a federal minister. The federal minister inevitably comes with his army of guards, which helps ensure that not even a bird can steal anything from our gardens without coming in the notice of guards. Just to ensure there were no loopholes, we also went ahead and hired private guards who would sit all day in a wooden booth in front of our driveways. In fact, enough security personnel work in E-7 that we virtually have a security force the size of a small country!

Yes, our pride took a hit a few years ago when our most famous resident, Dr. AQ Khan was implicated in a nuclear armament smuggling ring. However, since then even more prominent international players have moved in. In fact, despite it being the smallest sector, E-7 has had a disproportionately large impact on the modern history, economics, and politics of Pakistan...with General Zia and Benazir its one time residents.

All this proud history and margalla hills high heaps of money has led to a unique elitist culture in E-7, whereby we dont even admit to having friends in other sectors...to say nothing about Pindi. In fact, we have unique enough culture that some extremists elements in E-7 are pushing for sovereignty. Imagine that!

Ellada: 3 Weeks in Northeastern Aegean Islands nice write up!

i so agree with your drawing the distinction between "traveling" and "vacationing". But then there is an even more vulgar breed of vactationeers. Its called "package tourists". These package tourists are an insult to exploration in particular, and humanity in general. As I have noted in one of my ilogs, these people are also an environmental hazard, as their astronomically huge consumption of food, soda, coffee and alcohol while touring results in burden on earth resources. I have often thought about bulldozing these packagers at the very site they are swarming and clicking their cameras away.

also, regarding you getting worked up over the dilapidated condition of mosque in that island, this is quite pervasive all over Greece. The mosque that was built in the name of Fatih Sultan in the Agora area of Athens is now being used as a storage for archeological stuff. Another Ottoman era mosque in Plaka area of Athens is now a church. In fact Istanbul has much visible traces of its Byzantium past than Athens has of its Ottoman past.

And then these "civlized" people have the audacity to lecture us on preserving our "heritage"!

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight Manto thunders in #139 "Resorting to simple arguments like ... Jinnah didn't use the word secular in public... is ironic because in that case neither the US nor France are secular because their founding documents don't use the word secular either."

One thing that internet has done is that it has made the cost of obtaining information affordable to masses. And hence, the "enlightened" elite and other pretenders can no longer have a free run at creating smoke screens to make their arguments appear grand.

If the american and french founding documents do not contain the term "secularism", then there is a good reason for it. The term "secularism" was first coined and used by the British writer George Holyoake in 1846 (as per wikipedia)...a full 70 years AFTER the founding of America.

But what is more damaging to your (left over) credibility is the fact that the term "secularism" was coined a full 101 years BEFORE the creation of Pakistan. Not only that, Ataturk had went ahead and even IMPLEMENTED it, thus giving Jinnah good rational, opportunity and plenty of excuse to use the word "secularism", if he so desired.

Unfortunately for you, he never did.

But more appropriately for you, the term "vandal of history" was coined by Atif2 on August 12th 2007.

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight bulleya # 107 - What you have managed to articulate in your one post is what perhaps it would have taken me 10 posts. Yours are EXACTLY the points I have been making over the last few weeks...that Jinnah's legacy has been hijacked and vandalized by a special interest group.

But I think blame lies with the rest of the pakistanis for letting it happen. Either we were indifferent, lazy, or just not armed with facts. But thankfully, like every cause these "enlightened" elites take, they ruined this one too. I guess being "enlightened" and being "competent" can be mutually exclusive.

Still, their incompetence is not a laughing matter...it has had bloody results through out the history of Pakistan (East Pakistan, Baluchistan, Waziristan). Since these "enlightened" elites cant make their arguments based on vandalizing history, they often resort to making their points by perpetuating and cheering mayhem and killings of people who beg to differ. And hence it is no surprise then that most of the people on this board who are the cheerleaders of "secularism" and "compassion" towards minorities, are also the same people who cheered loudest when their enlightened moderate leader massacred more than 300 people in lal masjid using army apparatus.

Now that these bearers of Jinnah's alleged "secularism" have been thoroughly discredited (at least on chowk), it is time for a new breed of pretenders to pick the torch of Jinnah's "secularism"...at least they will be starting with a clean state.

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight At the risk of being a party pooper, I put here some quotes of Jinnah. I realize that the likes of academically dishonest professor would argue that Jinnah was drunk when here uttered these, or was disoriented, under duress, or perhaps some mullah held a gun to his head. But the fact of the matter is that Jinnah did say this "damning" things about implementation of Islam, not just at "individual" level, but at "collective" level as, and in "every department" of our society. It sounds to me that these proclamations of his are far more clear and crisp than the interpretation ladden and stretched arguments regarding "minority rights" that dishonest professor brings forward as proof of Jinnah's "secularism"...

Jinnah sounds to me more like Maulana Muhammad Ali Jinnah.


Exhibit A
"Every Musalmaan, except those who are ignorant, knows that the Quran is the general code of the Muslims. A religious, social, civil, commercial, military, judicial, criminal, penal code, it regulates everything from the ceremonies of religion to those of daily life; from the salvation of the soul to the health of the body; from the rights of all to those of each individual; from morality to crime, from punishment here to that in the life to come. Therefore Islam is not merely confined to the spiritual tenets and doctrines or rituals and ceremonies. It is a complete code regulating the whole Muslim society, every department of life, collective[ly] and individually."
- Jinnah , Eid message on September 1945

Exhibit B
It is my belief that our salvation lies in following the golden rules of conduct set for us by our great lawgiver, the Prophet of Islam. Let us lay the foundations of our democracy on the basis of true Islamic ideals and principles
- Jinnah(Civil, Naval, Military and Air Force Officers at Khaliqdina Hall Karachi on 11th October 1947)

Exhibit C
What is it that keeps the Muslims united as one man, and what is the bedrock and sheet-anchor of the community. It is Islam. It is the Great Book, Quran, that is the sheet-anchor of Muslim India. I am sure that as we go on there will be more and more of oneness, one God, one Book, one Prophet and one Nation
- Jinnah (All-India Muslim League, Karachi on 26th December)

What Lies Beneath: Dispatch from the Frontlines of the Burqa Brigades Dear Dr. Fauzia,
I noticed that neembu has tried to malign my name (in her post #95) by suggesting that I, atif, in someway maligned you. I am reproducing the exact dialogue that occured between neembu and myself on unplugged and as you notice nowhere have i been disrespectful to you. Please also notice my innocence and sincerity in the face of her viscious questioning. Regards.

neembu: Dr Fawzia Afzal Khan is on fp and the unkils are baying
atif: neembu, is she hot looking?
neembu: you`ll never be as smart as her. ever. even in your fantasies
atif: in my fantasies i would rather be getting laid than being a smart cookie
neembu: denied on both counts
atif: i tried
neembu: i wish you`d try that much at studying
atif: you cant get laid with the books
neembu: threatened?
atif: depends on dr. fauzia`s looks
neembu: clearly her mere punctuation sends you into paroxyms of insecurity, what would you do if she looked at you?
atif: i might melt, depending on her looks
neembu: what about your ``looks``? judging by your posts you must be extremely good looking
atif: sometimes its ok to judge a book by its cover
neembu: as if women want to actually listen to your lines
atif: lines are not meant to be listened to...they are meant to be picked up
neembu: where is your pic? you must be feeling really insecure today!
atif: you call it me being ``insecure``, i call it me being ``horny``..different words, same meanings

Rest in Peace Pakistan (1947-1974) Now that Manto has written an obituary of Pakistan, one sure hopes that he will move on to bigger and better things in life and stop harassing us with Jinnah`s littar :)

Pakistan did not die for Manto when in 1958 military took over. It did not die in 1971 when we killed and raped millions of our own fellow citizens and lost half our territory. It did not die in 1973-74 when for the second time in our history we bombed our own people (Baluchistan), killing thousands of innocent people. But it did die when Mirzaees were declared non-muslim! How narrow minded! How convenient! How selfish!

But it is understandable why manto and his fellow mirzaees look back at the year 1974 as when Pakistan died for them. Having fought tooth and nail to overturn the article that declared them non-muslim, they have now come to realize that they would NEVER be able to call themselves muslim in the current entity called Pakistan....140 muslims of all sects would not stand for it. However, Pakistan is only 60 years old and for the nearly 5000 years of the catalogued history of the land it did not exist. With this in mind, mirzaees are now hoping for a ``change of order``, something that reshapes the South Asian region...with some mirzaees even openly hoping for a Mirzaee Republic in northeastern Pakistan.

Yes, history is dymanic...countries and civilizations come and go...but if Pakistanis would like to see Pakistan exist in the foreseeable future they will have to focus on two things right away - one, working towards protecting the rights of ALL people, regardless of ethnicity, sect or religion...and two, ensuring that the fifth elements residing amongst us are eradicated.

Allama Iqbal- Is he still relevant? zeena #79 ``Manto has every right to change his mind any time, ``

Of course zeena dear, manto has every right to change his mind any time and as often as he wishes...and BY GOD he exercises that option with frenzied frequency. But if he is going to change his mind this often, why doesnt he just wait until he has made up his mind?

Yes, evolution of thought is important and one should adjust to changing circumstances. But consider the following example:

Imagine you go to a doctor for headache. He tells you to take Advil. You go the next day with same headache and he ``evolves`` his prescription by telling you to take an injection. By third day, he has adjusted to the fact that he was wrong the first two days and therefore ``evolves`` into suggesting that you get a head surgery done on you. Would you believe him, even if you laud his capacity to ``evolve`` and learn from his mistakes?

Manto, by his own admission, is a trained economist and a trained lawyer. He cannot be lauded for learning from his mistake after his incompetence sends a man to gallows. And he sent Imran`s reputation to gallows by when he lawyerly argued on December 1st 2005 (as quoted in #74) that Imran was a ``terrorist``, ``goofy``, and ``misogynist``...

Allama Iqbal- Is he still relevant? I suggest that before manto analyzes another personality, he himself should volunteer to undergo a personality test to determine his stability.

Following are Manto`s 2 ilogs on Imran Khan. One written in dead of winter in 2005, the other written in dead of summer in 2007. Please notice the GIANT u-turn in manto`s ``analysis`` of Imran...

December 1, 2005
[...But one side of Imran Khan has progressively gone fundo and no one can deny this. He does condone if not support terror against Israel and the west... his head-shaking goofy-smile as he encourages the worst form of persecution mania against the west .. all are just too much for any one person to take. What people like Imran Khan do is fuel an unrealistic anti-imperialism and a weird form Islamic populism... he denounces the western education system in Pakistan as ``ooont-e-bey-mahar``.. and speaks of the virtues of the tribal Jirga system over the British legal system in place etc etc -- promotes weird misogynist views about women ... ]

June 13, 2007
[... Imran Khan is a staunch Pakistani nationalist and a believer in Two Nation Theory (though it means something totally different than what Indians want it to mean) ... whose faith in Islam is stronger than any man I know but who does not wear that faith on his sleeve and does not resort to ``singing`` the Quran in public... Let me say this... if decency means moral uprightness of character and incorruptibility... then like Jinnah before him... Imran Khan has no peer not in just in Pakistan but in all of South Asia ]

The Importance of a Dictator’s Failure #16 ``most sunni fascist fuks are really plain wahabi fascist fuks``

I think you have a much bigger issue at your hand than one dictator...you have 100 million ``sunni fuks`` to kill or convert to your cause :)

So much for your bleeding heart article on the state of Pakistan. Good luck!

The Importance of a Dictator’s Failure author expresses his concerns about ``persistent sectarian flare-ups``

Now this coming from someone who routinely refers to adherents of sunni sect as ``sunni fucks`` and labels everyone he disagrees with as ``fascist`` in his ilogs is quite funny!

Much more than the 7 points author has outlined, Pakistan needs to clamp down on the culture of hypocrisy, whereby we express concern over the spread of sectarianism while contributing to it ourselves. This national habit of always walking around with fingers pointed at others needs to be crushed.

On another note, author expresses thanks for the ``operation`` in Waziristan, not giving any fudge to the deaths of thousands of Pakistani citizens in that region at the hands of dictator. I guess if we can be so gleeful at the extra-judicial deaths via gunship helicopters of fellow citizens in one region, regardless of their crime, then we lose the right to protest when that same dictator merely fires a civil servant in another region.

This ``constitutional crisis`` that author talks about wasn`t created in February 2007. Musharraf crushed constitution 8 years ago...in 1999. Where were these lovers of constitution, who now cant seem to complete a sentence without bragging about a ``well disciplined constitutional struggle``, at that time? Is it because at that time they were busy cheering dictator on while he was killing Pakistanis with long beards? Have these ``constitutionalists`` suddenly discovered a ``constitutional crisis`` now that dictator seems to be turning against people with clean shaves as well?

Long live the dictator! Down down hypocrites!

With or Without Musharraf – A Mohajir’s Perspective People who (ab)use the power of their writing...

You put aside factual errors, exaggerations, and Salim`s propensity to speak from all of his openings, and this is a well written article. Salim is a gifted writer and has the capability to make an issue out of non-issue and then watch his readers squirm. And so what surprises me is not Salim`s writings - they are written in the spirit of fun. What surprises me is to see apparently serious minded people like ferozk doing their own one-upmanship with their own rhetoric. When you hear ferozk opine in #117:

``the patterns of monetary inflows into Karachi, from the Gulf, have created a trend whereby Karachi, political, socially and economically, has become an alien city in Pakistan``

you cant help but shout out ``what a load of intellectual bullcrap!``. I mean, ferozk has made a very ordinary observation, but he put it in such a way that you cant help but wonder if this is really the most exciting discovery since ribbed condoms. Every city in the world has certain traits that make it ``alien`` from its respective mother country. In Pakistan itself, Islamabad is more of an alien city than any other. Lahore has its own traits that make it alien to the rest of Punjab, not to say rest of Pakistan. So what’s the big deal if Karachi has its own ``alien`` characteristics?

So what does this prove? This proves that there is much power in the rightly crafted words - regardless of the significance or the accuracy of the content. Ferozk almost got away with sounding like an expert on Karchi`s socio-economic upheavals. Salim to his credit almost convinced me once that homosexuality was genetic, rather than adopted.

Such is the power of words...

The Day We Killed Bob Woolmer Artcile`s headline screams: The Day We Killed Bob Woolmer

To wake up in the morning and log into chowk with bleary eyes, and get the shock of your life that you are one of the person charged with killing Pakistani team`s coach is, well, not pretty. Its good thing that I used the bathroom before reading the headline of this article, or else I would have peed in my pajamas.

As if charging people for murder was not enough, the author goes into even speculating the method of killing, as he writes - ``I along with many believe he was poisoned. Why else would one be lying in a pool of their own vomit and blood. ``

So now author has identified the killers and the method of killing. All that is left for Inspector Zarrar to do is to find a motive.

Boy, I already feel author breathing down my neck ~shudders~