Naseer & Shahab - Za Pukhtoon Yam
I am not very fond of “ethnic nationalism” but this is first of all very catchy, secondly it has a point which is dear to my heart as it breaks the stereotypes against Pakhtun (esp given war in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan), and finally it has beautiful lyrics!
The enemy brands it as a language of hell,
To heaven I will go with Pashto. (Ameer Hamza Shinwari)
First of all my sincerest apologies for such a long delay.
I have always been a supporter of Imran Khan. I remember raising money for his Cancer Hospital when I was a kid (still have his signed certificate somewhere) and then even worked with a wonderful team to establish his political party’s (PTI) chapter in Scotland.
I have believed in him, I have agreed with many of his political view, I know he is the best we have - but only recently I have started to get scared of him. To my understanding he is presently enjoying genuine popular Urban middle class support. In this country “burger eating kids” have never gone to Political rallies before, Dads have never taken Moms to go see a political address but this guy has made all of that happen. Only problem is that presently our Army Generals hate Nawaz Sharif (for their personal reasons) but they also do not trust Zardari (for obvious reasons). MQM could have been a national party but they destroyed any hope of it with their senile Nationalist behaviour when they started killing innocent non-Urdu speakers. Establishment also doesn’t like Zardari (I don’t think even Zardari likes Zardari!) but they are not too sure about Nawaz Sharif unless he agrees to things their way.
That said (in a very compressed manner) Imran Khan comes as a great pawn in this game. I personally believe IK has been used as a scare crow by Army and Establishment to get Zardari and Nawaz Sharif do certain things. Just before the elections they will come up with something to kill Imran Khan’s vote and get back to a more easy position with the two bigger parties who have dominated Pakistani politics for ages.
And then on top of this, even if Imran Khan does win - I am sorry to say but he might prove “Obama” for Pakistan. He comes in promising changes, and leaves with nothing but “hey I am trying as hard as I can with my just too frequent town hall meetings all around the world”.
p.s. If nothing extraordinary happens, I am still voting for Imran Khan in next elections and urging everyone else to do that - but still I have my fears.
I’m beating myself up for just seeing this, but regardless I’m fuming at two things.
A. the US cover choice (obviously)
The US edition of TIME always has a bad rep for picking its covers. Regardless, this is just the worst for me. I mean let’s just not share (for once!!!) non-degrading news on a nation that we’re always ready to mudsling at. Come on, man! Sure we’ll bring Pakistan up in the news when we’re discussing our issues with giving them aid, sure we’ll bring them up when they’re “the newest Taliban” hub, and sure we’ll bring up Pakistan when we decide to start spreading the blame on those NATO attacks (don’t even get me started). BUT when one of the nation’s biggest cities is on its way to becoming the target killing version of Juárez, we’ll politely decline. I could go on and on, but this is basically pretty self explanatory.
B. the TIME article
I have issues with the article because third world shaming is always me in full on hate mode, but there’s a really great response that I’m going to reblog after this. My actual issue is the date of this article. This is the January 16, 2011 issue. The target killings were at a peak during July/August 2011 (and actually accounted to more than 344 deaths). Granted, Karachi’s violence is still at an all time high and the city is in a general upheaval. So my biggest irk, maybe even greater than the infamous US cover change, is the timing of this article. Why wasn’t this covered when people were actually legitimately afraid of even walking outside of their homes for an entire month? I just feel like this story at that time would have done so much in terms of people actually knowing what the current state was, as opposed to hearing about the returning tide.
My add: Had to reblog! And here is another interesting share on the same story on Tumblr: An Australian’s REBUTTAL to TIME Magazine’s story on Karachi.
Disturbing development at Twitter: countries will silence tweets
(via reuters)
My add: Good job, twitter! Remind me how I am supposed to not think that your “high morals” are only for Iran, Egypt and Syria!?
(via soupsoup)
TedTalks: Moral psychology and the its matrix.
(via zushan)
From video: Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we’re left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.
My add: This is what I am going to refer anyone who asks me again, what I really believe in or why I am (kind of) a Centrist?
Pakistan Votes: Kuch samajh mey aaya? (trans. Understood anything?)
From the video: Pakistan Votes is an apolitical campaign asking Pakistanis to either cast one’s vote or to void one’s vote. The underlying philosophy of the campaign generates from the fact that the 2008 electoral list hosted 40 million ghost voters (multiple entries, voters registered without authentic identification). Bogus votes get casted under the pretext of unverified voters and also under the names of those who fail to show up.
In 2008, roughly 35 million votes were casted. The voter population of Pakistan is ~ 80 million. Some quick math, if we remove the 40 million bogus voters from the 2008 electoral list, we’re left with 40 million ‘genuine’ voters. Now out of those 40 million, 35 million casted their votes. A 90% voter turnout? Really? Here’s the real question, how many rigged votes were casted using ghost votes or even under our names because we were no-shows? 10 million? 20 million? 30 million?
Do you like being taken advantage of? Haven’t you had enough? Come election time, if there’s no candidate you’d like to vote for, then go to the polling booth regardless and make your vote void (how do you void a vote — simple — select multiple candidates on your ballot! Did you seriously need to be told how it’s done?). Pakistan Votes is not in for the “video hits/likes” — all the campaign seeks is that you act responsibly by protecting your vote. And this isn’t a one time effort, Pakistanis have to vote every time there are elections, every single time. We must stop rigging, we must stop our votes from being misused. The system has to be detoxed, there’s no quick fix, let’s begin cleaning our mess.
The initiative is not backed by any sponsorships, or any political agenda. It is purely youth driven. A grand total of PKR 5,000 was utilised on this effort.
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My add: Though audio could’ve been better, this is a message which needs to be amplified. If nothing else, reblog it for the Aunty at 1:13!
Which leads some critics of Ijaz to raise the question: If Ijaz was acting on Zardari’s behalf (or Haqqani’s, for that matter) should he have registered as an agent of a foreign government? That’s just one of the wrinkles in a story so colorful and unlikely that it would have been branded unrealistic if written as fiction.
David Ignatius of Washington Post in Mansoor Ijaz, instigator behind Pakistan’s ‘Memogate’.
- January 23
- , 2012
The superior man comprehended righteousness; the small man comprehends gain.
Analects of Confucius, 4:16
- January 22
- , 2012
Thanks to the absurd amount of rules for visa to China from Pakistan, rude Chinese embassy staff and general/chronic bad luck - I haven’t got my Chinese visa yet. Therefore wouldn’t be able to be in China around the Chinese Spring Festival.
Am thankful to all the friends who really helped me with getting all the required documents in time by going to great troubles, but it seems now at best I will have to settle for a trip in February.
By the way did you know that you cannot get a visit visa to China from Pakistan even if you have an individual invitation and even if you already had a multiple entry visa from previous year? Also did you know that Chinese embassy in Islamabad somehow operates call screening where if they pick up your call once and do not like you, they will never pick up your call again unless you call from a different number? And yes that Chinese embassy staff in Islamabad is extremely unhelpful if not only rude even if you get someone to talk to them in Chinese?
Now I need to go and check who said Pakistan and China are best friends willing to stand through every challenge, and smack that person in the face!
This is more annoying because I am even missing my friend’s wedding in India due to all this Chinese visa fiasco!
BBC: Inside story of the UK’s secret mission to beat Gaddafi (By Mark Urban)
British efforts to help topple Colonel Gaddafi were not limited to air strikes. On the ground - and on the quiet - special forces soldiers were blending in with rebel fighters. This is the previously untold account of the crucial part they played. (complete article)
- January 19
- , 2012
Pakistan must end its policy of killings and kidnappings of Baloch people and recognise the importance of the region.
by Akbar Ahmed (Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is currently the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington).
——
My comments to Prof Akbar for whom I have tremendous amount of respect and admiration (as posted under the article):
Prof Akbar, I have tremendous amount of respect for you - I still remember as a kid watching Jinnah in cinema and feeling proud and grounded in the realities we would not have otherwise seen in our “history books”. Also you humanised Jinnah in a beautiful way for which I shall always remain thankful.
However here I have a disagreement with you, or rather a complaint. No one in their right mind would ever dare disagree that Pakistan as a State and Pakistanis as a Nation have failed Balochistan. But don’t you think in name of neutrality this article should have mentioned countless hardworking non-Baloch who have been murdered in cold blood in Balochistan while serving the ordinary Baloch to raise the level of services to them which you raised concern for?
I wish Malik Siraj would have mentioned how my family living in Balochistan for a good hundred year was forced out after repeated threats in 60s. Or how lately young kids playing cricket have been killed, or that Balochistan University Vice-Chancellor, or that private school’s Principle, or that female University professor, or those labourers whose bodies were found with their hands tied behind their back were all murdered just because of being non-Baloch even though they were directly contributing to the Balochi people.
There are fortunately always two sides of a coin.
You people clothe non-living things while in Balochistan a common man lives without proper clothing!
Vasu from Shahzad Roy’s new song (complete interview)
- January 15
- , 2012
With the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and the even more puritanical Salafist Al Nour Party having stunned both themselves and Egyptians by garnering more than 60 percent of the seats in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, we’re about to see a unique lab test for the Middle East: What happens when political Islam has to wrestle with modernity and globalization without oil?
Islamist movements have long dominated Iran and Saudi Arabia. Both the ayatollahs in Iran and the Wahhabi Salafists in Saudi Arabia, though, were able to have their ideology and the fruits of modernity, too, because they had vast oil wealth to buy off any contradictions. Saudi Arabia could underutilize its women and impose strict religious mores on its society, banks and schools. Iran’s clerics could snub the world, pursue nuclearization and impose heavy political and religious restrictions. And both could still offer their people improved living standards, because they had oil. (Complete article)
The interior ministry has endorsed a proposal seeking issuance of licences for prohibited and non prohibited bore arms on the recommendations of the members of parliament and provincial assemblies.
Under the proposal, 10 licences for prohibited bore arms and 20 for non-prohibited bore arms could be issued every month on the recommendations of each member of the Senate and National Assembly.
Similarly, five prohibited and 10 non-prohibited bore arms licences could be issued on the recommendations of each member of provincial assemblies. (Complete news)
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Federal Government trying to make her Ministers happy, but well I momentarily do not care because it apparently works in my favour.
Sitting out in Sun reading “Marxism and other Western Fallacies” by the great Persian philosopher Ali Shari’ati. Am only few pages in but am really enjoying myself. This is also by the way a prime example of highly intelligent literature published posthumous with a completely retarded preface. I have never read a more horrendous apology for Iran’s Islamic revolution and the excesses they committed shortly being in power. (mobile)
- January 7
- , 2012
