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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Effective, Nonviolent Expression of Solidarity
2007-11-06 02:30:00
by Dan TowAs I have viewed recent events in Pakistan from the safety of my home in the US, I have been at a loss for what to say. My past articles have been kindly received by my generous Pakistani friends, but would I simply be wasting your time, to produce yet another article on general political theory and history, when you are in the midst of such turbulent times? I could try to comment on your own current events, which would at least be more immediately relevant, but I feel as unqualified as ever to say anything really specific about your local situation, since I lack your own detailed understanding of that situation you find yourselves in. Thus, although I want to at least share my concern and best wishes, I was stuck for a topic, and even undecided whether to write at all before things had sorted themselves out somewhat. Reading Yahoo news, I just got unstuck, and I hope you find this relevant:I saw an article about mass arrests of lawyers in Pakistan by Robin McDowell for th...
More About: Effective , Expression , Violent , Lent , Soli

Remember Remember ...
2007-11-05 08:56:00
And the hammer hangs on !(Disclaimer : Posted on my blog as well !)(Image from Google Images)

Taliban vs Pakistan
2007-11-05 04:18:00
Aik Wo Hien Jinhien Tasveer Bana Ati HaiAik Hum Hien K Liya Apni He Surat Ko BigarTaliban s are everywhere in Pakistan , and we love them. A very small proportion of the population is what considers them ignorant, terrorists, extremists and non-Pakistanis. These are the same Taliban who were our heroes not so long ago, when they ruled Afghanistan for a short period of time, and even the West commended them for their measures in their government, which created peace in the country like Afghanistan, and these were the same Talibans who eradicated the narcotics production in their country.Madaris are an integral part of our culture, and Taliban who study in these Madaris are an inalienable part of our society. They are practical people, and don?t just confine themselves to the theory. They don?t want t follow West. They don?t like rock and jazz. They don?t like to drink, and they don?t want to do anything with the interest. They don?t want to wear suit and ties and they prefer their own ...

Congragulations Indifferent Nation : Emergency is Imposed
2007-11-03 15:51:00
Need I write anything?According to AP:President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn his recent election win and amid rising Islamic militant violence.Eight Supreme Court judges immediately rejected the emergency, which suspended the current constitution. The government blocked transmissions of private news channels in several cities and telephone services in the capital, Islamabad, were cut."The chief of army staff has proclaimed a state of emergency and issued a provisional constitutional order," a newscaster on state Pakistan TV said, adding that Musharraf, who took power in 1999 coup, would address the nation later Saturday.Dozens of police blocked the road in front of the Supreme Court building, with the judges believed inside.The state TV report gave no reason for the emergency but it follows weeks of speculation that he could take the step. Military vehicles patrolled and t...
More About: Nation , Emergency , Emerge , Agul , Diff

Emergency in Pakistan ?
2007-11-03 14:45:00
Capital Islamabad is practically sealed off by the security forces and they are present at every important and unimportant government building. All the news cable channels are off air, and many websites are blocked. We are tasting Myanmar right here in Pakistan right now.Emerge ncy has been imposed in Pakistan, it seems more than likely, or is it Martial Law? How the heck cares? Would it be different with Emergency?Hell.

Interview with Blogger Ayesha Saeed
2007-11-02 11:53:00
Ayesha is a Lahori who blogs at Red, White and Black. Currently she is slaving through graduate school pursuing a degree in the art of peace making. She is greatly concerned with the cruel turns Pakistan's political scene has been lately taking. She hopes for the best for motherland.Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?A friend convinced me to start writing back in 2004. The awkwardness of public writing wore off after the first few posts and then the blog was a way for me to explore my own thoughts and vent anger at events around us.What do you think sets Your blog apart from other blogs?I don't think there is any such feature in my blog. There are a number of better blogs out there in the Pakistani blogsphere.If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success, what would it be?Faith. Having faith in oneself and one's ability, so that one is able to persist and preserver.Have you encountered any sort of gender biases while blogging?A couple of ti...
More About: Blogger , Interview

Now Maulana Fazlullah in Swat...
2007-10-31 14:07:00
As was expected, fire of Waziristan is now spreading, and now Swat is burning. This area, which is often termed as Switzerland of Asia is experiencing some traumatic events, and thing are quite alarming. A new character who goes by the name of Maulana Fazllulah has now established his own state, and now practically ruling the area and confronting the law enforcement agencies.This fresh thing has got quite striking similarties with the Lal Masjid issue, but on a more grander and alarming scale. Maulana Abdul Aziz and his brother were also acting like rulers of their own little state, which consisted of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa, and Maulana Fazlullah is doing it in the whole of Malakund division and he is doing it for the last five years. He started conveying his messages, after getting release from the jail where he spent 18 months. He also took active part in the Jihad in Afghanistan. He has also established his FM radio station in the Swat region, and has got quite a following.In...

Rawalpindi Blast
2007-10-30 10:10:00
Another suicide bomber explode himself near security check post in Ayub Park area in Rawalpindi today. Six reported as dead and many seriously injured. On the other side there was a meeting of Gen. Musharraf with Chief Ministers and there were reports of suicide bombing. Mr Saud Aziz, SSP, CCPO Rawalpindi was called to submit report of today?s blast. Just to recall that this police officer was the master mind of mass picking in the caricatures issue a year back and sent many innocent people to Adialla Jail including younger age boys of 10+ age. Then police raided many houses and broke the ourside doors to pick the innocents.The security problems are getting bigger and bigger as the days are passing by as we witness in Waziristan, Blaouchistan and now in Swat. We request to the government and the person concerned in mentioned areas to remain calm and try to solve the problems with dialogue. Use of force is not an option and tense situations are very wisely been used by the hidden ele...
More About: Blast

An Interview with a Security Person on a Traffic Signal
2007-10-30 07:25:00
Brief Intro: Name not shown due to some reasons, age = 48 yrs, a beared person having a soldier?s body, holding a wireless set he is on duty every day on a traffic signal. A brief interview for TPS readers and for other concerned personnel: Q: How do you see the economic condition prevailing compared to your monthly income?A: I have to purchase Mota Ata (course flour) for my family now but my children refuse to eat that now I have decided to purchase fine flour whatever the cost may be per KG.Q: How do you see the security situation prevailing in Pakistan?A: In forces there is a problem you cannot refuse the orders. For example if you have been ordered to fire you cannot resist otherwise you would be killed, so we have to obey. But my son is in infantry and if he has been ordered to go to Waziristan, I shall ask him to resign, as in Waziristan there no enemy of ours, they are our brothers since centuries.Q: How do you think things can be improved in relation to security conditions?...
More About: Security , Traffic , Interview , Person , Signal

20 ventures you can start with Rs 5 lakh!
2007-10-29 09:33:00
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/26sp ec1.htmNice article by Outlook Money/Rediff.
More About: Start , Ventures

1000 worth 1,000,000 or more
2007-10-29 09:25:00
Ms Bainazir Bhutto during her visit in Larkana Bazar awarded a shop keeper (selling Samosa) in Pakistan Cross-road (Chowk) with Rs 1000 (16.67 USD). If he (the shop-keeper) is a voter of Pakistan Peoples Party then this award of Rs 1000 would be worth rupees One Million or more for him. But this award didn?t witness the status of a leader of a major party. It also show lake of commitment of Ms Bhutto to strive for eradicating poverty from the country.Simultaneously, It was strange to a Pskistani citizen that a looter cannot have a flare of distribution of his / her wealth as he/she is afraid of decrease in assets. Hopes are there that this amount of award for the people of Pakistan may increase as new opportunities of earnings are availed.Such persons should be awarded with such amounts which may help him or his countrymen to have a better source of income by investing award amounts. We should think if we can waste Rs 300 Million or more on a political gathering why not to cut shor...
More About: Worth , Award , Wort

" Jai Shri Ram" the password to kill
2007-10-27 22:04:00
Name: Narendra D?modard?s Mod? Age: 50 something Nationality: Indian, Gujarat Claim to fame: The engineer to 2002?s Gujarat massacre February 2002, allegedly an angry Muslim mob torched a train which resulted in the killing of 58 innocent Hindu passengers which gave birth to what they call; ?the worst Hindu Muslim clash? in the history of India. According to the official statistics; 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed, with 223 more missing. Thousands of cases are still pending in the Indian courts and state inquiry committees which are related to these riots. Their is nothing new about Hindu Muslim riots; these riots are tactfully created by any one of the two extreme parties to meet their political and social desires. But this incident is quite different from past incidents that involved the clash of the two religions. First of all the tragic scale of the devastation is monstrously huge and it puts a big question mark on the secular claims of the biggest democracy in...
More About: Politics , Password , Kill , Narendra Modi , Tehelka

Interview with Blogger Rabia Garib
2007-10-27 15:34:00
Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?Well, I have always been a keen writer, working on regular columns for various magazines. When I went to the US for my Fellowship (Eisenhower Fellowships, based out of Philadelphia), I started writing allow my co-fellows, friends and members of the industry keep in touch with what I was doing and what benefits the fellowship experience was bringing to the larger community.Considering the fact that the developed world ? the world that hosts the majority of the companies with whom the majority of us wish to engage in business with ? it only makes sense to allow people to be able to access us online. Blogs have an important role to play when foreigners wish to find out individual opinions and experiences through the ?alternative? media sources.What do you think sets Your blog apart from other blogs?It was a very effective way to not only keep a regular report of what I was experiencing, but also a place where I could state my opinions and ...
More About: Blogger , Interview

My Exotic World...
2007-10-26 19:40:00
The wind was blowing fast upon my face as if it would tear every inch of my skin. I was walking alone on the sand of the mysterious beach. Somehow I felt that I was incomplete???the sea was calm and it seemed that it was afraid of the arrival of the moon. I kept looking on the waves, which sort of resembled my life, swishing and smashing the huge dark rocks .The rumbling of the sea was dissolving in my mingled mind. Seaweeds were all scattered over the white sand???.The bluebottles and the harmless jellyfish were sitting like the scattered pearls from two different necklaces. Every step of mine on white immaculate silky cloth made strange impressions. The gray clouds laid on the sky like the strokes of wet paint on fresh white canvas. Somehow it looked as if they were following me, ready to thunder me with strong emotions of life. I was running away from them?????. The seagulls wee flying searching the deep sea mercilessly?the night had drawn. It brought with it a bla...
More About: World

President Ahmedinejad
2007-10-25 07:20:00
Post sent by Mr Muhammad Arshad MalikThe Fox News TV (USA) asked the Iranian President Ahmedinejad ;"When you look into the mirror in the morning what do you say to yourself"?He answered: I see the person in the mirror and tell him "Remember" you are no more than a small servant, ahead of you today is the heavy responsibility, and that is to serve the Iranian nation".Ahmedinejad, the Iranian President who astonished many when he first reached to the office of the Presidency by donating all the high valued Iranian carpets to one of the mosques in Tehran by replacing them with the low cost ordinary carpets. He observed that there was a huge extravagant lounge for receiving and welcoming the VIPs and he ordered it to be closed and asked the protocol office to arrange for an ordinary room only with the wooden chairs. On many instances he joins the cleaning staff of the municipality for cleaning the streets in the area where his home and the Presidency are located. Under his authority wh...
More About: Resident

Doctrine of Necessity
2007-10-24 06:21:00
For last many decades we are hearing the titled terminology. It was and is being frequently used in legal proceedings of the Honorable Courts. Actually, the concept was used and will remain in use by us not only in deciding the major cases in the history but also in recent past and in other fields of life also. This concept had made much damaged to our national posture and off-course the integrity of the country also. Such damage never be allowed but it happened. We decide on now and then basis. As a nation we don?t have any planning for the future and when it comes before one to decide we decide to just pass our time and put the burden on our next. If we take this concept in a broader sense, this concept remained in use and will be in use in future. As a nation, and off-course our leaders used this concept to decide the fate of the nation whether it?s a decision for taking loans from World Bank or IMF, putting multiple taxation burden to recover looted money, dealing with corruptio...

The Degree of the US Army?s Clout in American Politics
2007-10-23 21:56:00
by Dan TowI got a hint that an American perspective on this topic might be of interest, here ? it was not my own idea, for reasons that will likely become apparent as you read. First off, although the idea was expressed in the terms in the title, I?ll broaden the topic to the political power of the whole US military, because in the US, the Army has no special, separate role in the military ? it is simply the largest piece of a much larger government organization. I?ll give a short answer to this week?s topic, for once, but expand with an explanation and an exploration of a broader topic: The US Military (and Army, by extension) has very little clout in US politics! In fact, it probably has less clout in US politics than it deserves to have, although on balance this is far better than the alternative of it having more clout than in deserves!First, I?ll discuss how much clout it deserves: The military has almost 1.5-million personnel on active duty, and over 1.2-million more in reserv...
More About: Politics , American Politics , Degree

Sanction on Rallies
2007-10-23 10:59:00
When the 9/11 occurred in United States, people speculated a lot. When asked from a bunch of group, that what would have happened, had the 9/11 attack been occurred in Pakistan? The unanimous answer was that, the Pakistani police would have sanctioned ?Double Sawari? in the country.After the bloody attack on the PPPP?s rally in Karachi, which left 140 dead and 600 wounded, government has decided to sanction the rallies altogether throughout the country. I don?t know why, but I have got a gut feeling that the wise-head, who advised such an ?ingenious? idea to the authorities, is no other than Dr. Sher Afgun.Though I don?t know any other country in the world where there is a tradition of political processions and rallies (if you know please let us know), but rallies, processions and meetings are an inevitable part of the political culture in Indo-Pak sub-continent. Without them, it would be very hard to create a election aura in the country, and the turnout would remain low. Perhaps t...
More About: Rallies

Interview with Blogger Zenubia
2007-10-23 10:50:00
Zenubia is an Alumna of Lahore University of Management Sciences. Prior to LUMS she had a brief stint at Dawn Group of Newspapers as Editorial Assistant for Spider Magazine. She has recently started working as Marketing & Communications Manager for a technology-based company. You can catch her at zenubia.wordpress.com Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?Actress Susan Sarandon said this about marriage. She might as well have said this about blogging."We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage [read blogging], you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."When I started blogging it was simply to make an online archive of my j...
More About: Blogger , Interview

Pakistan is a Free Country
2007-10-23 08:47:00
Ms Rice had telephonic contact with Ms Bhutto proving that Pakistan is a free country and any body can talk to any citizen of her. In my view many of loyal Pakistani Citizens want to talk to Ms Rice. What you will say if get connected to Ms Rice?
More About: Country , Free

Interview With Blogger Rafay Bin Ali
2007-10-22 10:34:00
Would you please tell us something about you?I am originally from Karachi but am living in Toronto and working as an IT consultant for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) for over a year now. My interest include IT, and interests specific to blogging deal with the development and progress of IT in Pakistan. I have also written for major IT related publications in Pakistan (Sci-Tech World, Dawn Education, SPIDER, @Internet) on diverse technological topics.Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?I have always had that strange patriotic desire for nation's progress. As such, I try to promote the field of IT through my blog. Pakistan does not have a lack of talent - a phrase, I am sure that all of you must have heard from everyone there. But, the thing is that the IT field in Pakistan is not getting promoted, and the students are not being taught the critical skills that have been a contributing factor of success in the West. One skill is critical thinking and designing. F...
More About: Blogger , Interview

The devastating midnight attack
2007-10-22 10:28:00
We are cross posting this article of Raza Rumi that appeared at Jahane Rumi and ATP, with the permission of Raza Rumi.140 dead and 538 injured - this little byline cuts through hearts and our future!Yesterday was the day of images - moving pictures of excitement, energy, applause and then the saddest of recent tragedies. Innocent men and women charged with emotion and enthusiasm were blown away by suicide bombers, remote devices and alien belief systems. Or was it the case of wilful machinations and deceit. Only time will tell.She had arrived much like the Greek characters - tearful, maligned, triumphant and a little pawn in the hands of the gods. Amid the voices of criticism and hypocrisy that fail to note the complexity of our times, she emerged as a people’s woman - once again. Here were the loyalists dancing, singing and clapping - their queen, exiled and beaten had re-emerged.They couldn’t care about the cost or the process. That was for the armchair classes of Pakistan to ...
More About: Midnight , Attack , Vasta , Atta

Security Threat to Ms Bhutto's Arrival
2007-10-22 09:51:00
Ms Bainazir Bhutto wrote a letter (three days before her arrival) to President Musharraf indicating life threat to her from three persons. The names of these persons were communicated to President Musharraf accordingly says President Peoples Party Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah. We all knew that stopping suicide bombing is much difficult for the security agencies and threat offcourse remains intact. After knowing this PPP to please its masters mobilized innocent people to put them in fire. Supporters could have been stopped to witness the arrival and a better and secured rally could have been arranged to address them. Demanding owns safety is not a trait of a leader.Wastage of millions of rupees on such risky gathering was justified? An FIR against the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party should be filed and the same should be procecuted and probed deeply.
More About: Security , Threat , Hutto

Fazl-ur-Rehman Needs a Suicide Attack
2007-10-21 16:19:00
The sacrifice of 150 people and lots of goats has done wonders for Benazir, and all the talk about deal, dheel, pro-western agenda, Dr. Qadeer issue, crackdown on Madaris etc have gone into the background, and she has got upper edge on everyone. Media has seemed to forgotten all those talkshows and discussions about National Reconciliation Ordinance and Presidential election, and nobody seems to have any problem with NRO or anything about the BB-Mush Deal. Even the GEO channel has stopped broadcasting its new mantra of "Kya Hum Bhi Bhool Jain? Kya Hum Bhi Deal Ker lien? Yad ker k geo? Now another sad mantra sung by Dr. Aamir Liaqat Hussain has taken its place, which has to do something about the recent deaths in People's Party rally in Karachi. Now they seemed to have forgotten everything else. Other private channels have also taken a very sharp turn, and now they also dont have any problem with NRO or deal or uniformed presidential elections or anything else. Now people are themse...
More About: Suicide , Suicide attack , Cide , Attack , Rehman

Interview with Blogger Zaheer Alam Kidvai
2007-10-21 09:20:00
Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?Glad you didn't ask "Who".What do you think sets your blog apart from other blogs?Just that it's hosted on another webpage. Each person's blog is different. Some find mine interestingly diverse. Others have posted derogatory comments to say it's absolute trash. Who am I to judge?If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success, what would it be?I am not sure if the definition of success is universally the same. But, for me, it was the immediate understanding of and total acceptance of Buckminster Fuller's dictum: You have to decide early, whether you want to make money or you want tomake sense.What were the happiest and the gloomiest moments of your life?Happiest: Running away to sea!Gloomiest: The response would upset many here, and, as this misra' says:Ham ahlé dil hae?, hamaaray mazhab may? dil dukhaana ravaa ?ahee? hae!If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about ...
More About: Blogger , Interview , Zaheer

Demystifying Haji Mastan
2007-10-20 17:41:00
Contrary to general belief, Haji Mastan Mirza was never an underworld don or even a goon for that matter. He was a smuggler and a shrewd man who rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty of his era. Be it Karim Lala or Vardabhai, Dilip Kumar or Shashi Kapoor, he had friends from the world of politics. .....Nice article by Baljeet Parmar in DNAhttp://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?new sid=1128464
More About: Myst

Hypnotic Wishes
2007-10-20 17:28:00
At age of 10, when the other kids were declaring to become pilot, doctor, engineer and lawyer, I was dreamily aspiring to be a hypnotist, and taking all the female class fellow into my trance. Though my dreams were shattered by the spanking of parents, heart was broken by other male class fellows, later on after some 18 years, I came to know that, at my fragile age of 10, some other person was also thinking the same dreams, and he was able to achieve his ambition in his life. But his designs were entirely different and more outrageous than the innocent me.I was only thinking of casting my incantations upon others just to grab their lunches and their homeworks. Other use I found worthwhile was to keep the most brilliant one in trance during the exams, so that she could write my name instead of hers upon her paper after solving. And who knows, this trance could be transformed into something more dreamy and rosy with any stroke of luck, with the help of Cupid. Ok, I'll leave it there....
More About: Wishes

Interview with Blogger Sabahat Zakariya
2007-10-20 17:13:00
Would you plz tell us something about you?Sabah at Zakariya is a Pakistani blogger who is passionate about Literature, music, sport and social change in Pakistan. She is also the mother of a six year old son and brings all these different sensibilities to her blog Silsila-e-Maah-o-Saal which can be accessed at http://www.sabizak.blogspot.com/Could you tell us what made you decide to blog?My decision came upon coincidentally coming across a few Pakistani blogs after the October 8th earthquake, especially Sabeen Mahmud's, it was like a new world suddenly opened up for me and I just had to be a part of it.What do you think sets your blog apart from other blogs?Perhaps its the fact that I blend the personal, national and International in a hodge podge that has no particular direction, just a sense of humour and an oxymoronic combination of passion and disdain. Simply put i think its the fact that my blog is really random. Largely reflective of my personality.If you could choose one char...
More About: Blogger , Interview , Riya

Interview with Blogger Iftikhar Ajmal Bhopal
2007-10-20 09:57:00
Would you please tell us something about you?I was born in Jammu Tawi, the winter capital of state Jammu Kashmir. We were forced to migrate to Pakistan after August, 1947.Location: Islamabad, PakistanInterests: Reading, writing, human service and web surfing.PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Lahore, 1962 (Annual)Member, Institution of Engineers and Technicians, London, 1975.Incorporated Engineer, England, 1976.Fellow, Institution of Engineers, Pakistan, 1976.Professional Engineer, Pakistan, 1977. POST-GRADUATE COURSESWork Study Techniques Course (1965) Advanced Administration and Development (1974-75) Operations Research and Quantitative Techniques (1986) Strategic Planning / Management (1990) RESEARCH PAPERS: Several technical papers on the subjects of planning, production, training and management had been written.The two liked most were:(1) Triangle of Supervision (about management) (2) Small Arms through Centuries (about evolution ...
More About: Blogger , Interview , Bhopal

Karachi Blasts
2007-10-20 06:59:00
Our respectable writer Ms Ghazala Khan asked in her recent post about suspects of these two blasts which gave blood bath to the PPP rally in Karachi . The suspect could by any one our agencies, Al-Qaida, Any one from Waziristan, secret services of any other country etc.But I foresee that one or two blast in such future rallies may be witnessed, the reason of it that such incidents will pave the way to two following conditions:1. If elections held (in time) the turn over would be as lesser as possible due to life threat to common man. So general public shall not go to polling stations to cast vote and it will give room to ?SOMEBODY? to play and draw results of its choice.2. Elections may be postponed for a year or so based on such incidents.In both the cases the results goes in favour of them whom are in power. Surely these blasts improve the falling popularity of Ms Bhutto. Her recent decisions, to get rid of the corruption cases against her, may cost her much than she calculated.If ...
More About: Terrorism