25th December : Quaid's Tomb & The Common Man

Quaid's Tomb & The Common Man
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

On a question recently put across on the board by Pakistan Blog Awards team to all of us bloggers, 'What would every bloggers message be for Pakistan, this 25th of December, our Founding Father's birthday?', I put up this photograph, shot by me on 25th Dec, 2006, by my good Nikon and with due permission from a good, old friend in Pakistan Army. Here is what I wrote after uploading this photograph:

Via Flickr:
During the celebrations of the Birthday anniversary of Leader and Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, common men were asked to stand outside the main gate while the VIP's (Read: Dacoits and Politicians) prayed and socialized over the dead body of their leader.

I am always ashamed by the workings of this country and its politicians when I see this photograph. This country was not made for looters and politicians and army junta. It was made for common Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and for Parsis and for those who would like to live their life according to their own wishes. Unfortunately for the man who created it and for all of us, we now find ourselves among the angry mullahs and the duck-headed leaders.

- You got the point.

Obituary: Demise of Dawn's Review

Obituaries are usually written for men or for good organizations, or popular restaurant joints. Or maybe for papers which have lasted 50 or so years, a long time by any measurement. Seldom, if ever, are they written for parts of national paper. I am breaking the tradition.

For me Review has been much more that a simple, A-4 sized mid-week, mag. In fact, first it was Tuesday Review and since that time I have been associated with it. My best memories of The Review are of a time when it carried my photographs of Karakoram Highway, my first ever photographs to be published in any paper. And I didn't knew that until I searched my name at google.com, which returned my article on 1st page. That was Thursday, 17th Feb, 2005, and interestingly that day's Dawn to my home did not carry Review copy. Perhaps it had been stolen mid-way; perhaps my akhbar-walla (newspaper man) had forgotten to insert it. Perhaps. But as luck would have it, I got to know it before the paper went to dustbins - of my friend Syed Taha Ahmed. I later went to his home and brought the copy. It was a proud moment and my good mother commented that the photographs really looked good. I reminded her that she had in fact viewed them many times over. On which she told me that photographs published in paper look drastically better than when viewed on computer screen.

Dawn announced today (must I say suddenly) in its front page that it is finally closing down Review and hashing it with Sunday Images. Which effectively means that the edition of 22nd January, 2009, was the last of its kind - and that it must be preserved for posterity. It is fitting then that my feature on Kunri titled, 'SPICE CITY: Hot and happening', was published in this issue. Four days ago (25th Jan, 2009) when I had emailed Review editor why the emails were being returned, I was give the following reply, 'Thank you for your contribution, however we're discontinuing the photo feature for a while.' The bombshell about the demise of Review would fall today, or so it was destined.

As a measure of protest, I am cancelling my subscription of Thursday's Dawn to my house. No need for Dawn if Review is dead.

If Zardari remains President of Pakistan for 20 years....

Then, following is expected;

1) Pakistan will become a colony of USA / World Bank / UK.

2) All Pakistani cities will have a casino dedicated to the memory of Benazir Bhutto and their title would be Shaheed Bhutto Casino.

3) Half of the population will sleep naked.

4) Girls from all class and all ethnic groups would be sold in open market.

5) Males of Pakistani origin would die of hunger; they would also serve under their gora masters.

6) Zardari would have then married three times, killing his wives after their insurance(s) have matured.

7) All industries would give Zardari a profit of 85%; rest will go to their original masters.

8) Islamabad would have by then be renamed as NON-ISLAM-ABAD

9) Zardari would be the richest men in the history of this world surpassing Firoun and Nimrud of ancient times and Bill Gates and King Faisal of our times.

10) Every second property would belong to Zardari.

11) Pakistan would be renamed as ZARDARI-TAN.

Mumbai drama - Part 2

Indians are incensed at what has happened to their major city and a popular destination. They cannot imagine that 15 young men - whoever they were - could hold ransom the entire mega city. Railway was closed; stock exchange was empty; all offices and schools remain closed the next day.

It is very clear that the protection of mega cities like Mumbai and Karachi cannot begin in the city itself. It needs to begin at a deeper level and much before the city itself. Once terrorists are close to you the only thing you can do is fire back. And when you are unarmed, as was the case with Taj's security, you can do nothing except run away.

But even when all this drama was going on one could sense that fire fighting capabilities of Mumbai were thoroughly inadequate. And the complexity and hugeness of the hotel itself added to the confusion - a really good reason why only 4 terrorists were able to hold back India's elite commandoes for 65 hours at a stretch. And, as Times of India relates in one of the stories, NSG took 9 hours to reach Taj Hotel for the assault. Adding to the confusion, various intelligence agencies, police men and other elite forces were fighting side by side. Although I am no expert in counter terrorism I can say with surety that only one coordinated force should be allowed to fight one particular group of men. As was evident on our TV channels, Sub-continental confusion was everywhere around the Taj.

Now, some questions.

For one thing, someone really important within the hotel is involved in all this. Else, how can you take so much extra ammunition into the hotel? And, why were those heavy RDX bags (8 Kg each) were not detected? I cannot also understand how could have these terrorists lived for so long without ever getting tired or sleepy while they were battling some 400 odd Indian forces? I also am answer less on how Indians have managed to successfully get all the answers they wanted to hear within 24 hours of capturing the only terrorist alive, Mohammad Ajmal Mohammad Amin Kasab.

Indian investigators, never so smart but always brutal, need to answer these tough questions. We can believe them when they tell us that every boat cannot be checked. We can also believe them that in front of AK-47s no one can stand especially if the shooter is a skilled man. I also cannot understand the Indian media response regarding these attacks. They are completely clueless and are only saying what their hawkish govt. is suggesting: That Pakistan may be involved, that it is the work of ISI (sic), that Pakistan should be taught a lesson (exactly what BJP wanted), and so on.

After the mayhem which killed over 200 men and women, guests and staff members, we need answers. But it is no answer to blame Pakisan or Pakistani ISI for all their own flaws. They need to go deeper and see the rifts which are tearing down India across its seams. Indians need to get more practical. By playing blame games they won't find any answers or solutions.