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Seige at Manawan, Lahore

Posted on March 30, 2009 //

Another day dawns in Pakistan with a new attack on our country and people. This time the target is in Eastern Pakistan, a Police academy outside Lahore situated on the way to the Wagah India/Pak border.

According to unconfirmed reports the attackers were dressed in police uniforms and broke in with automatic weaponry and hand grenades at the morning parade time, 25 people are confirmed dead, over a 100 injured and there are more than 400 trainee police officers still inside. Reports indicate up to 25 attackers holed up in and out side the building and a battle is raging between them and special forces units which have surrounded the area.

The lapse in security here seems to be even more severe than the one in central Lahore where Srilanka’s cricket team was attacked as the militants seem to be getting more and more brazen with each passing day.

There are also unconfirmed reports of one of the attackers taken into custody.

What is imperative at this moment is for the nation to find out just who it is that is attacking us in this manner again and again. The similarities to the last attack with backpacks and the proximity to India’s border cannot be ruled out. We need to capture more than one of these militants and then expose the true face of this terror before the world.

We must take any and all measures neccesary to defend our country from this menace or remain resigned to our fate of becoming another Iraq soon. this includes holding people responsible inside our government for these lapses of security and lack of strategy. The fables of the war to come are seemingly void as the enemy is now at our doorstep.

Filed Under: Day To Day, News Views // Tagged: , ,

The best reporter in pak media

Posted on March 26, 2009 //

Contributed by: Saeed Ahmed

Filed Under: Humor // Tagged: ,

Laal’s Response to NFP

Posted on March 26, 2009 //

By Taimur Rahman

Recently Nadeem Farooq Piracha wrote an article that was very
critical of Laal. It seemed from the article that he had neither
heard the CD before writing the article nor did he bother to verify
any of his claims from any member of Laal.

The main objection that he raised was about whether royalties from
our work were going to help Jalib’s family.

The fact is that Laal has waived all royalties on the album in
exchange for the promotion of the work of progressive writers. For
instance, the recent “Jalib Week” and documentary on Jalib by GEO
was in part inspired by Laal’s contribution. The videos of Jalib
Faiz running on GEO news, Aag, and GEO entertainment, are also in
part a result of this arrangement. Further, all the performances
that we have played have been for free (we did not earn anything
from them). Hence, Laal has not earned any money at all from any of
our performances or album sales thus far.

I put one of our friends (Mobeen Chughtai) in contact with Yassir
(Jalib’s son). I have not met Yassir personally as yet only because
I have been in London for most of this period writing my Phd. His
mother was in the Cancer Hospital. I asked Mobeen to help them out
in whatever way possible. In our interviews we have called on the
government to support the work and families of national assets like
Jalib. Also our friends working in the media emphasized this point.
The government recently gave help to their family. We think that
our friends played a small role in this as well. Jalib’s younger
brother was in the audience at the Karachi concert. He loved our
music and supports us fully. He said that we were playing Jalib the
way it was meant to be played. Jalib’s own family is fully
supportive of Laal’s efforts.

In sum, we have been helping out in the measure of our strength. I
cannot say that we have done anything great. But I would say that
we have made a small contribution.

Our long terms plan is that we have decided that we will only take
a working wage from Laal’s performances (i.e. what sessions players
earn) and the rest will go into the creation of Laal Foundation
that will create schools. Our target will be to build as many
schools as the Taliban burn down (that is our slogan). All members
of Laal have agreed to this proposal. All of Laal’s profits will be
invested into education for workers and peasants. We have not
announced this yet because we have no money at the moment, and we
don’t want to make promises that we can’t keep. So once the ground
work is laid out and we have at least enough money to set up one
school, we will make this public. Obviously, I need to finish my
Phd before I can begin doing enough performances to earn the
necessary cash to set up our first school. Hence, I’ll launch this
more publicly once my Phd is done and I have more time on my hands
to organize this initiative.

It is now somewhat fashionable to be “socially conscious”. I have
also seen many celebrities engage in charity not for the sake of
social change but for the sake of improving their OWN image with
the media and public. This is true of the West and also of the
East. The motive is selfish and it shows in their work as well.

But the thing is that all of those people were musicians/
celebrities first/primarily and became involved in charity for the
disenfranchised as a by product of their career. We are their
opposite. We are primarily grassroots activists and music for us is
a vehicle to get our message across. I have been involved with
grassroots movements for the last 12 years. I have played guitar as
a hobby but never thought of taking it up as a profession. Laal is
still not my profession. It is my hobby. My profession is academics
and political activism (the same can be said of Shahram). Our goal
is social change, the means is music.

So in sum, we are not in anyway trying to “cash in” on the great
work of Jalib or Faiz. We are trying to popularize their work, and
at the same time, using all royalties to provide educational
institutions for workers and peasants. I hope that people feel that
Laal has done justice not only to their poetry but also to their
views.

Filed Under: News Views // Tagged: , ,

March 25, 1992 Remembered!!

Posted on March 25, 2009 //
By Tayyab Balagamwala

It was 17 years ago on a beautiful evening of March 25th when Imran Khan’s cornered tigers rose to the highest honor possible in the game of cricket by winning a great game and lifting the coveted Waterball Crystal trophy which conferred the title of World Champions on them in front of 87182 people present at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as well as billions of people tuned to the television set.

The Pakistani nation was ecstatic and it meant the world to them. I remember venturing out immediately holding the Pakistani flag and the crowds on the roads were enormous with people dancing and celebrating like crazy.

What made the win special was that Pakistan had literally risen like a cornered tiger and belied all expectations. They were almost kicked out of the tournament but a rain caused draw against england in which the team had been bundled out for a mere 74 granted them a crucial point which helped them qualify for the semi finals. Of course hosts Australia winning over west indies in the last round robin game was helpful as Pakistan’s run rate was terrible and in case of a tie on points with the Windies, they would not have qualified. It was God’s gift to Pakistan when they qualified for the semis and they never looked back from there onwards. The rise of a star Inzamam ul Haq in the semi finals when he gripped victory from the clutches of the New Zealand team followed by remarkable performances by wasim Akram, jawed Miandad and Imran Khan in the final meant Pakistan had achieved what had been long expected from them over the last decade or so.

What is even more intriguing is that this 1992 team was not the best of teams Pakistan has ever produced. In the 1975 and 1979 world cups, Pakistan had the likes of asif iqbal, Imran Khan, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas but couldnt win the world cup. In 1987, Pakistan were favorites to win the world cup but lost in a semi final by 18 runs when steve waugh bashed salim jaffer to all corners of the park. In 1996, Pakistan was perhaps at its strongest but a comical transfer of captaincy to aamir sohail in the quarter finals instead of to javed miandad or waqar younis saw pakistan losing out when they should have won easily. The 1999 team was the best so far with the likes of wasim, waqar, abdur razaq, shoaib, saqlain at their prime. However, what happened in the final is not even worth writing except for maybe the brilliance of shane warne in his bowling and a splendid catch by mark waugh of pakistan’s wall, mr. wajahatullah wasti. 2003 and 2007 are perhaps best forgotten and not even worth mentioning except for a mention for Bob Woolmer who proved himself to be a true patriot and died of shame after Pakistan lost the match against ireland. Anyways compare the team of 1992 to the Pakistani teams of other tournaments and what you have is a stark disparity in strength of the team in other years as compared to 1992. Just a very simple difference is that in 1992 Pakistan’s 4th bowler was Iqbal sikandar, an unheard of spinner and to top it all 5th bowler was ejaz ahmed, who was included primarily as a batsman. Anyways, they say that luck favors the brave and in 1992 Pakistan proved themselves as worthy competitors and true champions by peaking at the right instance.

unfortunately, pakistan’s luck has run out in world cups since the 1992 world cup. Some blame it on pcb, some on the captains, others on match fixing and a few on luck going bad. Regardless of what the situation is or the real reason is and regardless of the current state of affairs of the pakistan cricket team, we have in our history a golden day which must be celebrated and cherished for generations to come!!!… and the lesson to learn from that victory is that every cloud has a silver lining so despair not because the pakistani team shall rise again and we shall win again and the trophy shall be ours again!!… someday!!

Filed Under: Cricket, Sports // Tagged: ,

| THEN & NOW |

Posted on March 24, 2009 //

aj

A lot has changed for some and yet nothing for others. ‘THEN & NOW’ is an attempt to visually dissect or connect the similarities that have occurred over the decades in Pakistan.

The idea for this project is to stimulate people to dig out old images from their family albums and connect them to present ones. This will create a visual dialogue of times between the images; one created and the other inherited.

Submission deadline: April 1st, 2009

Open to all submissions for a photography exhibition at the 2009 Shanaakht Festival organized by the Citizens Archive of Pakistan at the Arts Council & curated by Amean J.

Festival Dates: April 8th – 12th, 2009

What to Enter

Old photographs not only tell us stories but also educate us to identify who we are. We would like to you delve into your old family photo albums and identify images that may be of great importance to you or your family; it could be of a place, a person, an event or even an object that you have memories of or has influenced your life. Please note: We are especially interested in photographs from the 1940s until the 1970s.

We would like to you re-visit the space, photograph the person [if alive] or the object in present times to bridge or identify the time that has lapsed over the years.

Please make sure old and newer images both have enough information to identify the changes that may or may not have occurred.

The submission of entries acknowledges the right of the Citizens Archive of Pakistan to use them for publication and exhibition.

Due to limited space at the gallery all photographs submitted may not be exhibited. The Citizens Archive of Pakistan and Amean J will shortlist the most powerful pairs.

How to Enter

Before you begin the process of entering the exhibition, please have the following information and materials ready.

- Your complete contact information for registration and notification.

- Title and brief description of each set of images.

Old images should be scanned, resized and printed no larger or smaller than 8 x 10 inches; square images should be 8 x 8 inches. Along with a brief description, please also mention approximate dates, location and name of the photographer if possible.

New images should also be printed no larger or smaller than 8 x 10 inches; square images should be 8 x 8 inches.

Please also burn both high-res images on a CD.

Please do not send any pieces of art you want returned. NO ENTRIES WILL BE RETURNED. No exceptions. The Citizens Archive of Pakistan is not responsible for the damage or loss of any entry. All entrants grant Citizens Archive of Pakistan the right to reproduce work selected in the photography exhibition |THEN & NOW | on the CAP Web site (www.citizensarchive.org) and in materials used to promote and create awareness for the society.

Send photographs, CD, brief description of each set of your images with your complete contact details in flat packages only.

Mail all entries to

| THEN & NOW |

CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN,

F/13,

Block 9,

Clifton

Karachi 75600

Phone: Sitwat @ 0312-509-6093

Email: shanaakht@gmail.com or amean@ameanj.com

Web: www.citizensarchive.org or www.ameanj.com

Facebook: The Citizens Archive of Pakistan or Amean J.

All entries must be received no later than March 25th, 2009.

Filed Under: Announcement, Karachi // Tagged: , , ,

Political insight, MQM

Posted on March 23, 2009 //

Ever since I have been able to comprehend things, I have heard the name of this organization mentioned. It is the singular most powerful political party in my city of birth “Karachi” and beyond doubt the most well organized. Now MQM or Muttahida Qaumi Movement was not always the powerhouse, be all say all of this city and to understand the beginning of this organization one has to first understand why the people who migrated here from India started calling themselves Muhajir, or rather as I see it were forced to adopt that term.

Many people often tell me “oh you guys always use this victim mentality to defend your own shortcomings” Consider this however, most of us and I speak of my community the memons here, migrated from India leaving behind far greater wealth than we could ever hope to achieve in this new land. We were among the pioneers of Industry here in Karachi and Sind and lent not just our expertise in various sectors to this land but demonstrated a dedication to this country far beyond what is available today. In response to that we were isolated, barred from prestigious places in the government and the diplomatic core and were told to basically stick to industry to make more money for Pakistan. Is it not a shame that the finest business minds in this countries entire population are present in this community but we have only had one commerce minister from among us? Same goes for the other sectors of government, there are no memon diplomats or memon generals and you can substitute the word “memon” with any community that migrated here to get the same result. I used my own community’s example as I have witnessed them firsthand. These communities under the yoke of oppression that was imposed on them by the so called “sons of the soil” (yes I speak of all of you fuedals from Tando allah yar to Lahore) had no choice but to take the name of muhajir literally meaning refugee for that is what we have all been treated as so far. Bear in mind dear reader that this is the same yoke of oppression which refused to adopt a “Bengali” as a leader of a united Pakistan and thus gave us the fragmented nation we have today. The hatred of this section of Pakistan for migrants is visible in the terms “Bhooka Bengali” to describe a really hungry person or “Kalwa” a more brunt form of the word Muhajir as fair or gora is always good and right while Kala or black is always wrong here.This is the phycology of exclusion.

Fittingly the leader of all these migrants was a man from humble beginnings, a student of Karachi University, who upon witnessing the atrocities being committed their in the name of admissions and quotas decided to form a student action committee which later grew into APMSO, a student organization which took Jamatis head on in the politics of student colleges in this city and started representing the many unrepresented small migrant communities across this city. This man was Altaf Hussain and whether one likes him or not, agrees with his methods or not one has to give credit to the man who stood up in the face of decades of tyranny without any support or political backing to lean upon. Yes Altaf Hussains parents were not politicians or landowners or even ex generals, they were just ordinary people. This is what the man represented and thus he became the voice of “ordinary” citizens of this city, those that were always silenced for the benefit of a few.

After its establishment on June 11 1978, APMSO spread like wildfire across this city, and when it was forced out of Karachi university by the militant wing of Jamat E Islami “Islami Jammiat Tulba (jammiat)” it shifted its office to a small 120 yards house in Azizabad which would later become the famous symbolic headquarters and actual residence of their leader namely 90. Incidentally “Jamiat” goons are the same ones which beat up Imran Khan not so long ago, yet we see him leading Long marches with their leadership while blaming MQM for anything and everything under the sun. By the way the mythical name 90 is not because of some kind of mafia like tradition but the simple end of the phone number of this residence, which was 631690, and is now 6313690, feel free to call and confirm :)

Gradually over the years APMSO started contesting in elections through local leadership and in spite of the many many attempts of the establishment grew in power to morph into MQM which later on took the name of Mutahhida Qaumi Movement with its white red and green flag and 5 stars on its logo to represent that there were not only 4 ethnic communities in this country but a fifth one which would no longer stay silent.

Today, one cannot form a government in this province of Sindh without MQM, such is its power and contrary to what people think this is not the power of anything else but work, and tremendous work that this party has done for its voters. MQM boasts a voting crown which is the most literate and the most active. It is no small feat that every time there is an election MQM sweeps across most of its constituencies and wins landslide victories from this province, my own family voted for this party in the last election and the one before that as well and its not because we were forced to.

Often in discussions I come across today the name of this party is held synonymous with what happened on 12th May. However there is an alternative side to that story as well, a camera angle which shows footage very different from what was shown to us on our media channels., so see and judge for your own self who is responsible for what.

Mqm’s journey has been one encompassing 31 years and obviously I cannot hope to gain the insight required to analyze it properly in such a short time. However I have had the opportunity to contact some members of this Party in the last week and all the info in this article is a result of their open mindedness and facilitation. I say open mindedness because normally one hears that the moment you talk about writing on this subject you are threatened into submission. Instead of threats all I have come across are people with open hearts and minds, patriotic and educated, willing to do anything for this country and city to help it grow and I am not surprised as I have often found living in this country that truth is stranger than fiction

We often tend to believe things as they are shown to us in the media or told to us by so and so who’s got an important source in “some” office, I think its about time we stop believing in this bullshit and actually talk to the people involved to get the right picture, which I hope I have been able to present somewhat above. As a curious mind however I now have a lot of questions for the detractors of this party and will hope to interview some of them next in my attempt to provide something different to my readers. I shall leave you with the following thoughts.

  • Why is Altaf hussain who has never held a single political office in Pakistan accused of being power hungry?
  • Why is the notion of Jinnahpur associated with this party all the time when having all the resources and people power in their position they could have started a separation struggle for this city long ago but never did?
  • Why is the only party which gives a chance to every member of this city from any background to join it and wins them seats in assemblies described as the hegemony of a few? Case in point who was Mustufa Kamal, ever seen someone like him come into power from another political party in Pakistan?

I thank Ali Raza Abidi, Ali.K Chisti and Aeyaz Hasan for giving me the information and insight needed for this piece.

Filed Under: Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , ,

Letter to Aitezaz from Jahangir Badar

Posted on March 18, 2009 //

Please read as spelled for desired effect, this is a fictitious letter so dont get all riled up

Chory Tza Zessun,

Brister at La, LLM

Daktrate in La (Onris Kaza, Can Tub)

Member Central Xective Kmaitee

Dear Chory Saab,

In cardence with rules and sub rules, las, bye las and inlas of the Paty, in my capasty as the Secty Journal of the Paty and in consultation with the Shriek Chairman, I am sending you this notus. Tis imaptant that you take this seriously and rpoat back to the undersigned within one week.

Tis true that you are my teacher in la. That does not mean that you are my father in la. I have lunt my lessons well, and as a result, I have become xpert liar. My repootation is suppredding slowly slowly and I am naoo famous from Choona Mandi to Pani Walla Talab. I have also quired qualfications in hairdressing, inciyun of boils, bone setting and circumciyun. But my biggest luv as you know is Englush language. I can give you free lessons in Englush, so that you can become my bedient pewpal.

Dear Chory Saab,

Shriek Chairman is very angry. You are going to different different places and making lang lang sapeeches. You are going to different different cities and making lang marach. Why are you making lang marach sir ji? Are you Chairman Maoo? Are you Shriek Chairman? Are you Secty Journal? Then why are you curyating kill kill? So that Miansaab can go for the kill? Do you want to kill the Paty? Do you want to kill the Gormint? Nuf is nuf. It is time either or shut up or to eat phutta.
If you don’t want to eat phutta, if you are so fand of lang marach, why don’t you go to Mreeka? Why don’t give a dharna on the Pencil Vania Avenue? You can say to Obama, ‘Obamay, don’t send drones to tack us. Don’t send Hall Brook to tack us. Send us dallars. Don’t turn us into a cloony. Send Jaraj Clooney. Don’t send Anne Patterson. Send Angelina Jolie. You give uranium to India, so that they can make their bums bigger and you drap big bums on us, such as Praise Musharraf. Why don’t you treat us same to same? Hain Ji?’

Butt no, you want to eat the head of Shriek Chairman every day. This is the only thing you are goood at.

Can you not see that his hands are full? Swat is burning. There is a crisis. He has to sign the Sharia La. There is the pressure of time. He has to learn to sign his name fust. He is trying under my superviyyun. Thanks Gad, he has ejucated advisors like me, who don’t go on lang marach. By the grace of Gad, he will be ready before the governor of Pakhtunkhwa is beheaded.

I think Chory Saab, we should do a tie up and have a chat. We should do it privutly, so that nobady is watching when we are tied up. We can have a chat in Choona Mandi, or in Zaman Parak. But the best chat is in Bano Bzar in Nar Kali.

Let’s have a chat there,

Undersigned,

Mhamd Jungeer Badar

Secty Journal

Contributed via email by Taff Hussain of  Wimpy wali haveli

Filed Under: Humor, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , ,

Shanaakht

Posted on March 17, 2009 //

Dear Youth of Today,

Going through an IDENTITY CRISIS?

Well now is the time to find out who you really are!!! The Citizens Archive of Pakistan brings to you The Shanaakht festival – a chance to rediscover your identity. This five day event will run from the 8th to 12th of April 2009 at the Arts Council Karachi. The theme this year is early Pakistan.

Shanaakht caters to all youngsters from every part of society. To find out the past, present and future of Pakistan, there are an exciting range of exhibits- films, documentaries, talk shows, art and photography exhibitions, theatre, concerts and lots more!

Join us to celebrate being Pakistani in every way! Be a part of the magic by volunteering for this amazing festival! You get a chance to add to your CV a volunteer experience that is unique and exciting and allows you to work with great artistes such as Amean J, Sheema Kirmani, Rahat Kazmi, Durriya Kazi. Be part of a spectacular musical event featuring some of Pakistan’s hottest musical talents. Find potential to learn more about not only your history, but your future.

Be a part of history in the making! The slots are filling up fast!!

Write to us at volunteershanaakht@gmail.com

Or call at 0312 509 6093.

Get your very own CAP T-Shirts and Volunteer badges at our exclusive two-day briefing session a week before the festival. We need to starting creating ID cards  for all our volunteers as soon as possible. For this purpose we would need you to send us a copy of your ID card and passport size photographs by March 25th at the latest.
The best way to send it is to scan your ID card and passport size photographs and email them to us on volunteershanaakht@gmail.com
or please call us ahead on 0312- 509 6093 if you want to drop them off phyically- you will have to call in advance to get directions and access to our office. Please note this is very important.

Please ensure you send this to us by March 25th since we need time to print the ID cards. You can volunteer as little as only two days, and spend the other three enjoying the festival. You get the opportunity to escort celebrities to our various events, help our distinguished artists set up their exhibits and get exclusive previews of all the things that no one else has seen before! To make a splash in all the newspapers as a part of the Shanaakht Team, Choose your time slots for volunteering now!

We are now looking for volunteers specifically for the following times:

8th, 9th and 10th April – 2 pm to 7 pm, 7 pm to 12 am (midnight)

11th and 12th April – 9 am to 2 pm, 2 pm to 7 pm, 7 pm to 12 am (midnight)

We look forward to hearing from you :)

Filed Under: Announcement, Karachi // Tagged: , ,

The people have spoken

Posted on March 15, 2009 //

Today is a great day for this country, a defining moment. It is great not just because the Chief Justice has been restored to his rightful place, not because the leaders have finally seen sense. It is a great moment because the people of Pakistan all got together yesterday and showed their leaders that they will be held accountable fo their mistakes. It is glorious because the democracy that our leaders keep talking about was in full flow yesterday as the public demanded and their wishes were fulfilled, they had but one voice and one cause and all the containers blocking them, the police baton charging and tear gassing them and the barbed wires in their way were destroyed in front of the power of the people of this great land.

This is a moment to celebrate, definitely and it is quite obvious with the jubilation on peoples faces that we will remember this for a long time to come, now that we as a nation have realized our true power we should also understand that restoring the judiciary was the first battlefront. There are many more battles still to be fought and won before we can truly get our country back on track. I hope that from here on we will forge light from the darkness that surrounds us with the determination of our unity. I wish to congratulate all of Pakistan for this movement and its suitable end, the lawyers, civil society, political workers, politicians like Sherry Rehman, Raza Rabbani & Safdar Abbasi who resigned for this cause and the leaders of the long march like Ali Ahmed Kurd, Munir A Malik etc.

Long live the people of Pakistan and long live Pakistan.

Filed Under: F.K's Life, Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , , ,

The Irony of it all… what next!!!!

Posted on March 15, 2009 //

By Tayyab Ballagamwala


Day in and Day out, we have numerous political leaders, lawyers, activists and other self proclaimed analysts harping on about the restoration of judiciary which shall be a panacea for all ills of this country…. supposedly restoration of an independent judiciary will result in transition to a proper democratic system and will ensure the well being of all our future generations.


What is ironic is that the struggle for restoration of judiciary is symbolized by Iftikhar Chaudhry, a man who ratified dictatorship of Musharraf and who himself took oath under the evil PCO. The party at the forefront of the struggle for restoration of judiciary is the PML N, a party which under its reign was responsible for the worst form of disrespect to the Supreme Court of Pakistan whereby hooligans from the party stormed the Supreme Court in a show of strength. What is ironic is that these factors have been conveniently forgotten and the hypocrisy of it all is unbelievable!!

In addition, what surprises me is the belief that the restoration of the judiciary will help solve all our problems. Mr Chaudhry is proclaimed to have a magic wand whereby he will wipe off all the problems of the common man. Will Mr. Chaudhry immediately solve the 20 to 25 year old cases of common people that are pending judgment in the various courts of Pakistan. Will he get any relief for the common man in terms of poverty eradication and provision of justice???.. did he do anything of this sort when he was CJ???… the answer is a big fat NO!!!


lets assume for a moment that Chaudhry is restored… what next???… he will get rid of the NRO and maybe take steps against the government which will ideally for the PML N cause disruption in the democratic process and new elections will take place… then what???… in a country where 50% of the elections are decided even before voting starts as biradari, jagirdari and other systems come into place. the rest 50% has 25% voting turnout…… who will we have back in the assembly.. the same old faces who have openly been corrupt and messed up this country during the 1990s to an extent that we almost went bankrupt!!!… isnt it ironic that this struggle will end up only strengthening the flawed system of democracy that we have in place and will mean that Democracy is the best form of revenge against Pakistan!!!


It is rather sad that even educated people believe that democracy in the current state is the solution of all problems of Pakistan….. it is unbelievable how stymied people are in the belief that democracy is the remedy for all our ills… Democracy in the current form is worse than a dictatorship as it breeds corruption and gives vent to the corrupt forces that have crumpled the political edifice of pakistan.


what we need instead is a customized democracy… a system that helps give representation to people from the grassroots and brings to the forefront people who are genuinely concerned about this country rather than all these puppets of colonial imperialism that call themselves leaders today. This system can only come into place if all our respected individuals of the media and civil society wake up and realize that restoration of Chaudhry is not the solution to our ills… Replacing the battery of a car is not the same thing as a complete overhaul of an engine… our society, our political and legal system all need a complete overhaul and what that requires is a genuine effort from the civil society to bring about a revolutionary change rather than succumbing to a myopic mode of change such as the restoration of Chaudhry.


Even if Chaudhry is restored, one hopes that it will be only a single step of the ladder towards a new system. As Lao Tsu says ‘Even a journey of a thousand miles must begin with but a single step.’ Do we have the wherewithal to go through a journey of a thousand miles for pakistan is a 3.4 trillion dollar question???

Filed Under: Politics in pakistan // Tagged: , , ,
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