LUMS party, Islam & Pakistani culture

I am told by the mass sender of this and other related photographs, taken at Pakistan's elite college, LUMS, that this is the true Indian style, that Islam has nothing to do with them, and so on.

I am confused. And I am amused to a certain extent. Well, why shouldn't I be. After all, we Pakistanis are too much obsessed with things from outside that we forget our own culture. If Islamic point of view is not considered for the time being, this image has every reason to be part of our consumerist culture. We adore such images; we love such fun girls. Our mullahs, while preaching Islam and other items on daily basis, stare at women as if that's the last time they are seeing them. So is the case with our elite, and our jamadaars, and our cousins, ourselves and our fathers. So why blame these cute girls (isn't the girl in green absolute beauty?) for wearing half-dresses in LUMS party when there are open prostitution houses in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore? Why blame them when we men are same or even worse. Why should Islam be dragged in all this senseless, good-for-nothing bargain counter? Why can't Pakistanis first decide the true definition of what is Islamic and what is Pakistani. Media - Indian dramas and all that - will bring such culture inside our homes. There is no stopping them. Only we can stop ourselves.

Instead of shouting foul when we are wrong ourselves we should concentrate on teaching ourselves and our friends and family members the value of media and how to identify positive media from negative. Education, and not shouting, can help us. The more we shout the more Indians (and consequently the ever-present Zionists Lobby, CIA, and other cartoon characters) have the reason to laugh on us. All Muslims, and not just Pakistani Muslims, are now a part of a circus. And this circus, partly caused by illitracy and partly by our fat mullahs, will do us no good. Nor can we Muslims save ourselves from the modern onslaught in this manner.

Mumbai drama - Part 1

Watching the firing event live at late night I was confused about what was happening. Then I clicked open BBC channel and it was being reported via some Indian channel (not accessible in my home) that firing squads have appeared at Taj Mahal Hotel and Nairam House and that shootings have taken place at railway as well. I slept over it as high-profile, rich customers were pouring out of the iconic hotel along with white clothed staff members. Something was dreadfully wrong with India, I told myself.

Next morning it was apparent that Mumbai was facing some real terror which was not only improvised but appeared to be a handiwork of an organization with intricate knowledge of not only the hotel but overall security apparatus.

It was game on.

In Karachi, everyone was talking about RAW being behind the attacks. And if you go by the record, many BJP inspired men have killed Muslims. The burning of train from Pakistan is one good example. Therefore, bloggers or no bloggers, it is commonly believed here that this work is being carried out to further malign Pakistanis and Muslims of India. That would allow security setup in the country to reject even more visas to Pakistanis; it would allow unconditional checking of Muslims within India on spurious charges (a la USA); it would divert media attention from Indian Occupied Kashmir where Muslims are being killed daily by Indian Special Forces. And so on.

And in any case, Pakistanis don’t really believe what Indian media tells the world. No one, for instance, believes Indians that a terrorist has claimed that he is from Pakistan. No one really buys your side of argument.

But we feel some of the rage which a common Indian might be feeling. But get it right. In Pakistan we face such problems on daily basis and how many Indians really feel our issues? Maybe a few. So in reality many Pakistanis are really not feeling any rage at all. Maybe Zardari and maybe Gilani. But not much.

This blog entry was specially written for my Indian friend, Mayank Singh (Delhi walla).

US-China Cold War and Pakistan

US war on terror is clearly marked out as an American way of life. Nothing else can possibly justify this war or any other which US has led in this or past century. Area of interest, previously defined in terms of geography, has now expanded into every nook and cranny of this globe. In fact, US thinks it fit to call moon its area of interest!

Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that China's growing influence on world economy (and subsequently, politics) is in direct conflict with America's dwindling influence in world markets. No more does US dollar shakes European economy as it did perhaps 15 years back. And no more is US in the list of 'must visit' country as it used to be prior to this joke of war on terror.

Pakistan, therefore, is in big trouble. China thinks of Pakistan as a long term partner and friendly neighbour without bragging about it. US is no friend of Pakistan and in fact, has started bombing civilians inside F.A.T.A region without as much as apologizing. And still it brags about long-term interests with Pakistan and its people (sic and sic again). Pakistani army is finding it hard to say or do anything about this ever rising political drama on its land and today, Gen. Kayani, in a fit of rage, asked Americans to stop bombing inside Pakistan. He was very vocal that Pak Army has signed no deal with the Americans which may allow them to bomb hideouts inside our territory. We are waiting for US response.

Meanwhile, Chinese engineers continue to disappear. It is very interesting to note that no engineer or any other nationality is ever abducted. And this has been a case since long. We can clearly note that apart from USA no other nation has any interest in abducting Chinese engineers in Pakistan and eventually killing them.

It is then clear that US would do anything and everything to belittle China using Pakistan. Already, Gwadar port is malfunctioning due to extreme level of terrorism in Baluchistan. We now understand that US does not want to allow China access warm waters of Pakistan as it would allow China to do roaring trade with Middle-East and beyond and cut down transportation costs.

War on terror is also being deliberately pushed upwards towards Chinese border with Pakistan. We have already noticed something called Pakistani Taliban moving towards Swat and beyond. The tourist valley of Swat is now being touted as a safe heaven for terrorists and US is asking Pakistan to do more. You might hear similar things about Hunza Valley and Sost valley and eventually about Pak-China border in years to come. We have also see a spate of so called Islamists taking some time out during Beijing Olympics. I see red here. Why were these so-called Islamists not doing anything before the games? And how come they are related to Taliban in Afghanistan? And who supports them? For sure, many of these must have gone through Pakistan. And they are serving similar purpose of destablizing the center as Pakistani Taliban are doing here. The only major difference is that whereas in China these so called Islamists or Taliban are swiftly executed without much fanfare in Pakistan they lead pretty comfortable lives and blow up fellow Muslims on daily basis. It is very interesting to note that American interests are never harmed by these so called Jihadis and the only sufferers are Pakistani assets and Pakistani muslims.

For sure, US has reached the heart of our country and will surely harm our relations with China. It does not like the way China has progressed at world stage. It hates to note that non-English speakers, non-whites, small people are calling the shots. Therefore, Pakistani territory is the next hot spot and once again we are in the mess of what we call Cold War. This time, though, China won't forgive USA.

Musharraf's legacy and a broken republic

Musharraf is out but he has left Pakistan in a mess which would not leave us easily - or at all. It is clear Musharraf wasn't in power all the time and that Americans forced him to go naked on many things. For one, Americans used him to use our army against our own people. And we can see what may be achieved when you start killing your own sisters and daughters and young men after calling them localized terrorists.

He has left a legacy which is absolute and has left Pakistan with deep scars. CIA men and Israelis would be glad to know that Pakistan is weaker, and not stronger, after Musharraf. In fact, every successive government has left Pakistan weaker at the core. Now, young generation is not thinking of staying back in the country; everyone wants to leave at any cost and people can swear by God that Pakistan is lost. That is the charm of long-term US planning of the region. They wanted to leave a total mess in the region and with the help of Musharraf and so-called Pakistani Taliban, ably funded by US-led CIA and Afghan puppet govt., the entire region from Swat to the borders of Russia and in the south towards Iran, the entire area is just too dangerous in any and every sense of the word. Next step, if Americans get yet another Musharraf look-alike would be to create ultimate chaos in Iran, and the Muslim states of former Russia. Off course Russians aren't happy and are looking over their shoulder for any suspicious movement behind their backs.

It is also a part of US Think Tank planning structure to divide the entire region in manageable, smaller chunks of land (instead of big countries as they are presently) and rule over their resources. It is a return to old colonial mind-set and every move in that direction is emphatically termed as a victory for democracy (sic).

Musharraf has also left another legacy, that of hate towards Pakistan Army. Many Pakistanis, especially those who have a religious bent, favour in some sense destruction of the power of our army. That is the most dangerous thing and Musharraf successfully helped Americans achieve that target in a very short period of time. Constant bombings of madrassahs and masjids has caused this sense of anger and revenge. Just imagine what would happen to a country whose people are against its own army? It is a terrible thought, one that would have long lasting effects on the country.

Musharraf, for all his faults, atleast got some able men and women for the job. We know that many foolish army men were appointed at civilian posts (like SUPARCO's chief, KPT chief, etc...) but he still managed to get some good work going. For instance, his work along with MQM in Karachi is commendable. They joined his ranks and were amply rewarded lucarative contracts some of which led to some of the finest road projects in the country. In earlier times, Nawaz Sharif with his typical Punjabi mind-set had totally ignored Karachi causing massive capital flight from the city in his second term in office. (And this was one major reason why Musharraf was so much despised by the Punjabi Bureaucracy; he was an Urdu speaking General). Musharraf will be surely remembered for all these roads for which Centre provided fast funds to Mr. Mustafa Kamal, the ever-present and ever-talking MQM-appointed Nazim-e-Karachi.

Other legacy of Musharraf is ultimate insecurity. Before Musharraf travelling cross country was far easier and less hazardous. Now, that has unfortunately changed much to the chagrin of travellers like myself. FATA is off-limits so is much of Swat valley. Now, much of Baluchistan (in fact all of Baluchistan for Punjabi speakers) is also off-limits and may only go there with life in total danger of being destroyed at the earliest. We constantly recieve reports about daylight murders and it appears to me that India is finally catching up and providing arms and training and maybe satellite support to BLA, a terrorist outfit which wants Baluchistan hacked away from Pakistan. (This strategy of India's RAW is due to our support for Mujahedding whom we allowed easy access to Indian-side of Kashmir. Now, thankfully, Kashmiri muslims are fighting a peaceful battle against Hindu kingdom).

Musharraf will also be remembered for a press which is mainly bonkers. Take GEO for instance. It is free, alright, but in a FOX style. It reports things which are at best useless or dangerous for the country. And it closely follows the tradition of CNN where selective reporting is used. It hides lots of things and dares not speak against the atrocities committed by MQM goans. (Now, PPP goans are proving that MQM was a child play 2). But despite its many set-backs Musharraf can claim that he was much better than all the previous leaders combined in terms of freedom of expression. He allowed press to abuse him, to scrutinize him, and to challenge him. Let us see if Zardari would do the same.

Overall, Musharraf has been a good leader in his first four years and then started to drift away in egoistic behaviour and lack of common sense. He could have done lot of good things for us like not kicking out CJ and his party, not bringing Zardari and his ilk back; he could have also opened cases against land mafia and could have eased the business issues of our business community. Unfortunately, he failed in many respects and Kashmir being one of them. He will be mainly remembered as yet another dictator but will surely come out better than the likes of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.