A Sad Day for Pakistan
the only thing that the supreme court said in yesterday's decision was that this case could not have been "directly" filed before the SC.... because it did not involve a question of any of the Petitioners' "fundamental rights" listed in the Constitution. this is correct. which fundamental right-- and of which petitioner--- was being violated ? you can only file a direct petition to the SC if a fundamental right is violated and (not "or") the matter is of public importance.... this case only fulfilled one test i.e public importance.... so these guys should have gone to a High Court where you can file a writ on any breach of the law ... no fundamental right violation or public importance required. If the HC dismissed their petition, then only, should they have filed an appeal to the SC. This recent trend of directly rushing to the SC (put into vogue by Iftikhar Chaudhry CJ by his suo motos)on every bit of issue is quite ridiculous anyway.

the SC was probably also giving these guys the message that we are not here to clean up your shit.... and that you cant expect to do your "politics" through us. Politics is done on the street...with the people. Not in courtrooms.

the only thing wrong with this decision is that they took so long to throw out the petitions.

Qurat-ul-ain Haider Has Passed Away #22

The second line is "ik aag ka darya hai aur doob kay jaana hai".... not "doob kay jaana 'ho ga'". Voh to vaisay bhi baywazan ho ga.

Why is everyone obsessesed with Aag Ka Darya ? She has written bigger books. I find Gardish e Rang e Chaman, grand. And her last, Chaandni Begum too. Akhir e Shab Ke Hamsafar too, I thought was much better than Aag Ka Darya which was, quite frankly, unreadable in many parts.

But oh what a woman... and what a great writer ! The only urdu speakig urdu writer of any merit in the last hundred years...oh well, maybe Esmet Chughtai too...to an extent.

Though she wrote it seldom, her literary criticism was quite poignant also... unfortunately, I forget where I read her last essay...written about two or three years ago....it was a delight.

And as Ejaz Batalvi said,

Qurrat ul Ain hai kay Haider hai
Aaj kaisa kharaab weather hai....

Fox off!

#8 Even on Chowk, I have seldom seen anyone as pretentious and pseudo as NFP. And that other thing who does that program on TV views..news...whatever... he is even worse.... I saw a column by him in the News, daily, where his introduction said ``the writer is a former Rhodes Scholar....`` . Gosh !

Unoriginal, third rate wanna be Intellectual (?) upstarts ! But the fact that is even more grave than that these people exist is that most people seem to think they are some cool piece of S _ _ t.

Allama Iqbal and His Women

# 27 Shouldnt it be ``karti`` hai baygaana dil ko ? Instead of ``karta`` hai.... ``Do alam say karta hai baigaana dil ko... ajab cheez hai lazzat e aashnayee``....


``Ik iztaraab e musalsal, ghaayaab ho kay huzoor
Main khud kahoon to mairi daastaan daraz nahin``

What a great, great, intimidatingly great poet !

Month of the Gun

``fascist`` any ideology, movement, tendency, program etc that may be characterized as chauvinist , authoritarian etc.... (Colllin`s... Consice Oxford`s definition is similar)

Sounds pretty MQM to me.

Also, the writer, despite (or perhaps because of) his immense and limitless wisdom, doesnt explain what MQM is if not fascist.

Its fascist in its politics and within. It has a circus clown for a leader. Sorry, ``peer sahib``.

The General vs. the Judge
Punjabi and Sindhi landlords and MQM Chariyaas (Iss-school, Iss-slow, Iss-special....LOL) from India brought about Pakistan because the former wanted to perpetuate their feudalism and the latter knew that because they were good for nothing mediocres they would never thrive in India in competition with the Hindus. This wretched lot left its centuries old abode for that reason alone. Imagine ! Expect anything good from these self centered leeches with that circus clown as their leader and peer ? Give them their Jinnahpur for some time and ask them to survive there. Withdraw all Punjabis and Pakhtoons. Then I will see how that dump that passes off as a city ``generates`` 70 % revenue....which as zeemax pointed out, it doesnt...it merely collects it from the rest of the country. Cut them out, they will come running back to suck our blood, just as they came from India.

In Memory of my dear Friend
These are trecherous times. But I suspect, that up there, Hammad may be muttering:

Balaa say, ham nay na daikha to aur daikhain gay
Farogh e nakhat o saut e hazaar ka mausam..........

Stopping the Clock

Nothing matters.


Zindigi ik peera zann
Jama karti hai shab o roz purani dhajiyan


Zindigi, tu apnay maazi kay kooain main jhaank kar kya paaye gi ?
Iss andhay aur zehreeli hawaon say bharay soonay kooain main jhank kar
Isski khabar kya laaye gi ?
Isski teh main sangraizon kay siwa kuchh bhi nahin
Juz sadaa, kuchh bhi nahin.

(Noon Meem Rashed)

Karachi-Mumbai Educational Forum
Karachi is a hub of culture ? Arts ? Journalism ? Crafts ? Karachi will provide intellectual leadership ? Arent you forgetting hub of tourism ? Ski resort ? Hill station ? Music Capital of the World ? Centre of the earth ? Hub of wildlife ????? Are you nuts Muhammad Shaikh or is this a joke ?

A city whose unquestioned king is a clown called ``Altaf Hussain`` will provide intellectual leadership ? A city that is so deeply insecure that its only raison d`etre is Lahore bashing (like Pakistan`s is India Bashing) will provide intellectual leadership ? A city that largely comprises of a population of mediocres that migrated to Pakistan because they thought they were too mediocre to flourish in India will provide intellectual leadership ? (even though mediocrity flourishes pretty well in India...but that ridiculous country is another story). A city of clueless, upstartish, shallow wannabes will provide intellectual leadership ? A city that hasnt been able to figure out itself will provide intellectual leadership to the region ? Get a life !

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
I found Moth Smoke interesting because it was about Lahore and by a writer of Pakistani origin even though the plot was contrived, insights superficial and the prose laboured.

Still, I was looking forward to the Reluctant Fundamentalist. I had thought the writer might have matured into something more solid and deeper than what was on display in MS. But I am thoroughly disappointed. MH has evolved into a more contrived, more superficial and more laboured writer. The issues that the RF attempts to address are huge. Yet, we find a very superficial, very incomplete treatment of them....whether it is 9/11 or the protagonist`s internal (and some external) metamorphosis or the love affair (Erica conveniently disappears.....easily disposed of....no need to bother with anything deeper....no need to construct a plot in which things come to logical or natural conclusions).

The setting itself, (an American in a suit, all by himself, in a cafe (?) in Anarkali Bazaar ???????) is utterly ridiculous whether you have a magical realist`s license or a poet`s license or both together. The convenient tool employed to tell this story i.e the protagonist`s monologue is simply boring and unimaginative (though Princeton, he speaks Oxbridge). I think that this may well be this writer`s last book because it seems he neither has a genuine story in him to tell nor a point of view. The only remarkable thing he does is that he manages to make even a 112 page novel (paperback) boring and repetitive. As to why it is selling in the US: its called the ``Reluctant Fundamentalist``, talks about 9/11, is by a Pakistani and because Americans are stupid.

God is a Metaphor

oh sorry... i didnt notice. he (dr sohail) has indeed come bacak and chosen not to answer. what a shame !

God is a Metaphor
#22 Zee

I think Dr Sohail is not answering because he hasnt come back to read the inter act yet. I am looking forward to his comment/reply, because I think it will be most entertainting. In the meanwhile.... may I say a word.

Why do all answers to the issue of incest relate to marriage and reproduction ? Can we simplify please ? Is there anything wrong with the sexual act itself ?.... assuming that no offsprings are produced and no disease is transmitted ?? As for myself, while I do not feel attracted to any of my brothers/sisters or parents etc (sexually) I dont have a problem with others having that attraction and consumating it......(i am not touching other issues, like free consent, adulthood since i think they remain constant whether its incest or not....but i am assuming we are talking about consenting adults).

Also, marriage between maternal cousins amongst muslims is ok...not so in certain christian sects... so even between religions this incest thing doesnt look like its of universal application....or agreement....

Violation of Civilians by the Army in Pakistan
RE: akbar, gm_007, colonel and dr_h


fauji chamchaaz....fauji kuttay hai hai

Can We Defy Time or Be Contacted from Outer Space?
Very very interesting.

I wonder:

i. whether there is any purpose in ``studying`` the human mind.... i.e whether what the human mind may experience is knowable (and ``teachable``) in physical terms ?

ii. we may be talking about ``mystics`` here too....right ? And mystics do teach their disciples. But not in physical terms I suspect. Could the pinnacle of physics just might be its understanding of the nature of mysticism.

iii. while certain individuals may have (be born with...or possess the necessary ``physical and mental ``health`` for it) the capacity to transcend what constrains ``physics`` or ``mathematics`` .... do all people have the potential for acquiring that capacity ? Is mystic discipline the way ? While mystic discipline may be the way for an ``individual`` to transcend ``physical reality`` what about the society as a whole ? Can a whole society go on that path ? Why should this ability to know (know, transcend..whatever) be an elite club activity only ? What sort of social and economic system would a society need to have to enable all its members to go on that path ? One with no inter se conflicts I suppose.... so that all its members may have that certain ``mental health`` or ``mental condition`` for going on that journey toward ``knowing`` or ``transcending`` ..... so that its members can do just that.... only a society that guarantees freedom from internal (economic) strife inter se its members can provide that.

iv. fashionable ``pro-sufi`` people talk about ``oneness`` with God in a vein that suggests they think it is desirable. Oneness of an individual with universe...or God, that is. Strangely, these same people think ``individuality`` and ``differences`` (as opposed to ``oneness``) amongst humans are desirable (communist ideals were ridiculed for treating people as herds and not accomodating the ``individual`` enough). Why is the human race not included in the mystic ambition of ``oneness`` ? Why are most mystics an elite club of seeking or achieving oneness with God just by and for themselves (or some disciples willing to join the club) ?

My People!
I find your list of ``persons of calibre`` alarming. Malik Mairaj Khalid was a person of calibre ? I would agree that he was a simple, honest man... a kaarkun in a party in which there will only be one ``hereditary`` leader always... thats all.

Qudrat ullah Shahab ??? Shahab Naama is full of lies. And in any case, he has just one or two good stories to his credit.

Ansar Barni ? About these NGO types, the less said the better.

And Edhi.... i will refrain from saying anything because he has been made into this holy thing that you just cant criticise.

Imran Khan. Cricket captaining calibre. Yes.

But thats not the point.... the point is.... I find it very, very peculiar that you omit, for example, Dr Salam or Faiz or Manto or Malika e Tarranum.... and instead give a very peculiar list that would not occur to anyone trying to count people of calibre in Pakistan. Whats the problem ? These Salams and Faizs and Mantos and Noor Jehan are not ``pious`` or ``muslim`` enough ?

Psychology of Guerrilla War
Urstruly....i dont see a problem there. I suppose all would agree that Guerilla warfare is only a ``means``..... so where a certain end is desirable for a certain person, guerilla warfare would be justified. There is nothing inherently good or bad about Guerilla warfare....unless of course one is a liberal and therefore it is a part of the agenda to ensure that all means for political struggle are such that they dont hurt one`s ``liberalism`` and can never bring about a revolutionary change.