The unsettling of Karachi City Govt.

PPP has done everything to force MQM out. But as MQM wallas are as big a ghundas as PPP wallas are, the only man suffering is the common man. You and me. The recent spate in killings across much of old Karachi since last four days is a clear indication of what PPP wanted and what MQM can do back here in the city. President Zardari may be the richest man in the country and he may be the husband of a dead former Prime Minister. But Altaf Hussain is no chai walla. He is fully capable of extreme violence, when there is a need to be. And somehow many of Karachi's down-trodden and even rich support MQM and him. They reason that Altaf looks and acts much better than Zardari. On any given day it is Zardari who can count on much worse press than Altaf bhai.

But what is the point of killing and maiming over 60 people, 10 of them, when British delegation was in the city? What exactly is the point here?

The burning of over 3000 shops could not conclusively prove that MQM was behind the carnage. Police and Rangers were the culprits. And this goes back to Federal Govt. aka Zardari the President. Over 60 were killed, most of them Shia mourners. And then the rampage began in earnest, as if directed by a Hollywood director.

Nothing proves nothing has been a dictum now-a-days in Karachi. Hundreds dead and thousands have lost their jobs. Yet no conclusion has been arrived at. The only conclusion is that neither MQM nor PPP wants to leave Karachi alone. Hell with the general public. They want their powers in Pakistan's biggest commercial city. And PPP appears to be lagging far far behind. So much so that someone from President's office had to 'immediately' call Altaf Bhai in London to 'please stop bloodshed'.

Such is his power string from London. Who, then, may be supporting this loner from UK? Your guess is as good as mine!

Public kissing at Sea View, Karachi

Couples are always there. Sea View is a place of choice for young couples. Married and un-married ones moving around, sitting, engrossed in their chats; children playing around; older ones walking or just sitting idly. But it is the Saturday night which perturbs me. And the young, apparently un-married couples, huddled in the black tinted glass cars, sticking together, kissing. These are the sort of men and women you might expect everywhere in the world. But the type of things they do, and it is obvious what they are upto, raises quite a few questions.

Ok yes, it is not my responsibility to stop every of the 254 men and women kissing on a wintery Saturday night at Sea View. But as a citizen of this God-damned city of Karachi it is my responsibility to whine about the irresponsibility of DHA and CBC patrol police there. How can you tolerate all these couples, huddled in their cars, kissing loudly and touching each other obscenely within the clear view of all the married men and women and their children and old men and women. What sense, if any, shall be made of such a display of lust and sex right in the middle of a public place? I feel sad that these men and women are not yet married and that their lust for sex has driven them so mad they ought to have sex displays in front of public. I feel sadder for their parents who are unaware of their sons and daughters doing whatever they are doing. It is not about morality going awry in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is as if our entire system of civic sense and understanding of our own roots have gone down a DHA drain. We as a nation do everything we can copy from the West. And this appears to be no different.

Much thanks to Musharraf for all this help these go-getters got from amendments!

Pakistan's first Blogging awards

It is very clear to me and to others that Google has beaten everyone at world networking game. This game employs human beings, you and me, and it connects everyone of us via various technologies, games, chatting, and googling. It also entails more and more people becoming politicians, gangsters, celebrities and junkies of the internet. It also means painful backs, lack of interest in your brothers and sisters, and more and more play with real time maps at Google. No wonder that majority of the awards worldwide related to blogging are supported by Google. It clearly is their game and by an hour they are becoming even more impressive. (Think of their latest mobile phone directly in competition of Apple).

No prizes for guessing that Google is supporting and sponsoring Pakistan's first ever Blogging awards. CIO Pakistan is partner in crime. And this event will surely bring down Pakistan's iconic and emerging bloggers at a single, mega event. All types of them. Oh, and that appears to be very disconcerting to me. Too many bloggers: People more likely to interact via twitter and blogspot rather than via direct, traditional channel of 'talking', will gather on a single platform and fight it out the awards. Well well.

I am one of those who are part of this melodrama. But I am not hoping to win under any category. I am just being grateful to the organizers for allowing me to be part of this truly historical event taking place in our exciting time. 25 years from now we would be able to tell the world that we were part of the history in the making - and I would be able to tell my kids that organizers, Google Inc. and CIO Pakistan, somehow mistakenly marked me as a celebrity blogger!

Tragedy tourism?

Ashura day bombing and subsequent burning of specific commercial buildings by Shia mourners and later by MQM thugs caused over 3000 shops to burn down completely; over 25,000 people lost their jobs. Numbers are likely to rise once survey is complete. It is highly unlikely that MQM-led CDGK would ever complete the survey and compensate the victims. Almost all victims were MQM voters.

Today, I and my friends, Suffian Adhia, Hasan and Raja Islam, went to Boultan market to photograph it. And the people who've lost everything. Instead, I focused on people who were coming with their wives, mothers, children and friends to view the devastation caused on that ugly night. I witnessed people from all walks of life in cars, bikes and on foot, viewing buildings and pointing fingers. They were also discussing things like Altaf Hussain, MQM, Zardari, Shias and Blackwater, all subjects on which none seems to have any expertise or understanding. Drawing room discussions were being performed right in the center of M.A. Jinnah Road, a place where no one can stroll not even on Sundays. But today were families roaming about and taking shots. We were no different either. Although misery surrounded us we were still smiling and photographing and enjoying, as it were.

Such tourism, as is often referred to as War tourism or tragedy tourism (in our case), feels like un-ethical and infinitely human. We tend to see at things which we never considered would happen. We are awe struck by the devastation and the scale of it. We show sympathy towards the victims and yet we bring our families to witness history in the making, all in the picnic sense of the word. I think this is not our part of culture. It is a part of all human cultures. Morality often takes a back seat on all this, even on the face of such massive human and social tragedy.

Who burnt Boultan Market, Karachi

One of the most remarkable markets of Karachi, alas, is no more.

Did Shias burnt it to the ground, angry after their 43 members were blown up and distributed across M.A. Jinnah Road, Karachi? Did MQM did it to kick out the erstwhile Memons and Delhi Wallas from that place? Did India or Isreal or Blackwater did it? Aha, Blackwater.

My first and foremost view is that Shias, out of rush of blood and emotions, did the trick. They burned down the plastics market and the perfume market and all that and did not allow fire brigade to come in until very late in night when everything was ashes. CCTV footage, first shown by Mustafa Kamal on GEO, clearly shows that. These are the mourners, and as Mr. Kamal makes it abundantly clear to all and sundry, not the MQM jiyalas.

Shias, off course, deny charges. But cameras this time have proven beyond doubt that the crazy fire, which later caused losses into billions of rupees and thousands of shops burnt, were caused by Shia mourners. I also have first hand account of a friend whose friend was killed by the Shia mob. This mob was trying to set his building on fire. On resistance, Gilgiti Shia shot him dead and fled from the scene. Punjabi-dominated police, as is expected of them, did nothing to prevent the tragedy.

But Shias are telling us all that they don't carry all these chemicals needed to burn so many buildings. Well, fair enough.

You see, whenever something bad happens petty criminals and enemies of the state jump into the fray and do all sorts of nasty things. Their only purpose appears is to loot and run. That is not probably what happened as most of the property was burned and not looted. But the critical CCTV footage is being held back by MQM men. Not sure why. Perhaps because they are involved. Perhaps there is some other reason. Many from Boultan market have claimed openly that MQM wanted entire market to shift to Sohrab Goth to allow more breathing space to the city. This was off course not acceptable to thousands of shopkeepers, many of whom are some of the richest and oldest traders of this country. If that was what MQM wanted, they got more than their deal.

As far as India's involvement is concerned, no serious thinker is thinking about it. India has better things to do. It is focusing on how to break loose Baluchistan from Pakistan so that Pakistan becomes a weak state. It won't probably go about doing things in Boultan market.

What can I say about Israel. If a cockroach is found dead in Burewalla people claim that Israel's Mossad had killed it!

My cousin, Imran Kholia, explained his loss to Dawn paper, “My seven brothers and I used to sell wrist watches, cosmetic items, toys, optical frames and other items to support our families and 25 children. We had 22 warehouses located above our stores, which have been destroyed, except for an 80 sq foot area.”

“The tragedy is that my building wasn’t on fire when I had reached here at around 6:45 p.m. [on Monday]. We pleaded with the firemen to stop the fire raging close to our store, but they replied they had to refill their tanks. It took them more than two hours to get water. However, by 9:00 p.m., it was too late and the fire had spread,” explains Kohlia, who claims to have suffered a loss of Rs. 90 million, including property and goods.

“My biggest fear now is that I feel that the government may want to take over our property, which if you take into account the whole locality, is worth billions,” says Kohlia. “But come what may, we will resist any such attempt. We have been doing business here for generations and will continue to do so.”

I am probably thinking about Shias and MQM combined. They both have a track record of extreme level of violence and brutality. I call them Modern Yazeedis.

Parade Lane attack (Rawalpindi Saddar)

Yet another brazen, well coordinated attack from militants. This time it is Friday and it is a masjid inside one of the most secure compounds in the country. Or so Pakistan Army thought before today's juma prayers. Attack leaves atleast 40 dead. Army's Major General, who usually is off limits to all civilians, is among the dead. So are others. Army is stunned so is our comical, useless security guru, Rehman Malik. All day TV anchors have had almost nothing to say besides replaying four photographs from inside the unfortunate masjid. However, there was one telling interview of the key eyewitness, a man who himself was once in Military Police, about what could have happened. He told the TV anchor of Dawn TV that he thinks militants might have put ladders on the wall and jumped in. That is quite possible and explains our lack of all preparation. Consistently, militants have played havoc on the streets of Rawalpindi and Peshawar destroying any semblance of governance in these two cities, putting everyone's life in complete danger and helping collapse Pakistan's economy.

I cannot say whether militants are being backed by Indian RAW or Blackwater agency, who now openly operates across Pakistan from American Embassy in Islamabad. (They also seems to be building a permanent residence at Karachi.) We cannot be sure who is behind such a mess so we almost always end up blaming President Zia and the mullahs of Jamat-e-Islami. But we seems to have no proof. And our ISI, now deranged and thrown like a football, looks itself in a bit of a mess. They cannot, for example, find a single culprit or connect the chain of suicide blasts which have killed over 3000 Pakistanis in one year alone. We have never heard of a major action being taken against these perpetrators of crime. If there has been a certain, targeted action then we must know. Unfortunately, fiddly Interior Minister, has failed us. Army Chief is quiet as always; Zardari remains holed up in his Presidential House. He cannot care less than that. How sick of our rulers. Here, people die on daily basis and the only thing our worthy President can do is dole out a silly blurb in media.

But now that 6 Serving Officers have died in broad daylight, which was not a simple suicide bomb blast but cold blooded murder of women, children and men, Army is likely to take certain measures. I am hoping that they won't stop their men from praying but certainly this marks the certain closure of beautiful Cantonment mosques across Pakistan for general public. And that's the sad side of safety measures. You close contact between the haves and the have nots. Certainly, whoever planned this attack knew too well that army men would be present along with their wives and children in the mosque. There is certainly someone from inside who has been giving key information to terrorists who struck today. So, the key point for investigators would be to investigate people who've been frequenting this masjid since last 15 days or so. I think that holds the key to the attackers as well as to the planners.

How to stop illegal CNIC users in SIMS

Recently PTA has announced albeit secretly that any mobile user in Pakistan who wishes to know whether anyone is illegally using his CNIC number for any un-authorized SIM can message 668 his complete CNIC and receive message.

Example:

If your CNIC number is Xa-XXXXXXX-bX and your mobile number is 0300-9200000 and if you wish to confirm whether anyone is using SIM on your CNIC simply type the following:

TO : 668
Message : XaXXXXXXXbx [type your CNIC without any dash instead of this code].

You will recieve message from PTA about the various Mobile SIMS using your ID illegally, if any. For example, I received the following message:

MOBILINK: 3
TELENOR: 7
WARID: 4

Which means there are 7 TELENOR numbers using my CNIC illegally. And there are 4 WARID Numbers doing the same. But 2 and not 3 MOBILINK numbers doing the same [as one number is my own].

It is my humble request that without wasting any further time, please use this facility and stop people from using your CNIC illegally.