Happy Birthday Pakistan!!!

Congrats, Pakistan you now 62...Happy Birthday!!!

Two years ago today-The beginning of the end.

Exactly two years ago, today was the day paramilitary forces stormed the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad after a week-long standoff with the militant clerics holed up inside with dozens of hostages. It also marked the start of the end of the reign of then-President General Pervez Musharraf. After the Lal Masjid operation ended, peace deals that forces in the restive tribal areas were supposed to sign with the government were scrapped and a wave of attacks started. The lawyers movement also started in earnest after President Musharraf woefully misguaged public sentiment and sacked the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry. Mind you, it also started the process that brought that idiot Zardari into the Presiential Palace. Anyway, President Musharraf was eventually forced to resign by a powerful coalition of political parties, the lawyers' movement and the citizenry. Later on, the same mix (minus the PPP) forced "President" Zardari to reinstate the Chief Justice.

So anyway, two years ago was the beginning of the end. In the process that began that day, Benazir Bhutto was killed, the PPP was brought into power, Musharraf was forced to resign, Zardari was made President, and a new wave of insurgency took hold in the northern and north-western areas of Pakistan. And so we ended up sending in the army and fighting a war against our own populace (albeit those who have chosen to wage war against Pakistan). What will happen next as a part of this process? No one knows. Lets just hope that its for the best.

The World Challenge-an international ray of hope.

For the last five years, an international competition called The World Challenge has, in association with Shell, Newsweek and the BBC, found projects and small businesses from around the world which show enterprise and innovation at a grassroots level. The winner each year gets a substantial grant.

The World Challenge winner in 2008 was the Plan Bee Project, ruin by the Hashoo foundation, which is run by the Hashwani family, the hotel tycoons of Pakistan. The Hashoo foundation encourages female beekeepers of the remote Gilgit region, which is traditionally male dominated, to keep bees and harvest their premium honey. The Hashoo Foundation processes and packages their honey and sells it in luxury hotels at premium prices. The profits go directly back to the female beekeepers of the remote region. The Hashoo Foundation's Sarah Hashwani explains, "We're not interested in just helping them earn more money - we want to see that their children are better educated, that they have access to healthcare, that the have better sanitation in the houses and that they have better nutrition."

Visit the Hashoo Foundation here.

Visit the World Challenge website here.

The Plan Bee Project:

Taliban marriage bureau

Looks like even the Taliban in the Swat Valley have had to become modernized. According to the BBC Urdu Service, the Taliban have opened up a sort of marriage bureau called "Shuba-i-Aroosat", headed by Taliban commander Abu Ammad. It arranges love marriages for couples denied marriages of their choice by their families. Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan has said "The love marriage aspirants contact the bureau on a fixed telephone number. The Taliban collect their particulars and then contact their familites to arrange these choice marriages,” he said, adding that Islam allows every adult to get marry according to his/her own choice.

He said, “Most of the girls, or their families, who contacted us wish to marry ‘militant’ Taliban.”

It is claimed that they have already gotten 11 couples married, while more than 300 boys and girls wait for their turn.
Amazing!

World Cup 2011 matches cancelled....CRAP!!

Just heard that the Cricket World Cup matches due to be held in Pakistan in 2011 will not be played in Pakistan. The ICC has announced at a press conference in Dubai that due to the present security concerns about Pakistan, no World Cup matches will be played.

This has come following a decision last year deciding not to play the Champions Cup 2008 in Pakistan. Also, I have been hearing that the 2nd South Asian Swimming Championship, in which I was supposed to participate, has been cancelled. It was supposed to be held in August 2009.

Following the ICC's decision, public feeling has that been of resentment. Also, people like Nasim akhtar (former Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board) and Ramiz Raja (former skipper of the national cricket team) have said that the ICC rushed its decision. The populace feels the same.

I believe that, what the people fail to realize is that Pakistan is seen internationally as a volatile tionderbox ready to catch fire at any point. It is obvious that despite assuring "foolproof plans" to ensure the security of the Sri Lankan cricket and them having them ambushed in the heart of lahore, NO sane cricket-playing nation will send its team to play within our borders. Until we actually improve the situation in this godforsakens hitpile e call a nation, we can be rest assured of being deprived of international teams and delegates visiting us. Instead of making false promises (like Zardari did today in Japan at the Friends of Pakistan conference) we need to be truly committed to actually doing something. Only then will we actualy do something.

Baitullah Mehsud claim responsibility...

It has been claimed by various news agencies that Baitullah Mehsud has accepted responsibility for the attack on the Manawan police training academy, which killed around 20 people and injured many others.

One of the terrorists being arrested.

Yeh Watan Tumhara Hai (This country is your)-NOT!!

I discovered this slideshow/video on YouTube. Played over the stirring song by Mehdi hasan this video does a great job of showing what pakistan was and what it will become.
Thanks to the people at chaikhana.blogspot.com....

Attack on poilce training academy, Manawa.

In yet another one of the rocky earthquake-like happenings that our sorry country is so famous for, the police training academy at Manawa was stormed yesterday by terrorists (claimed to have links to Baitullah Mehsud), who threw grenades and fired blindly, killing twenty police officers and five civilians. Yet again, it seems that our intelligence service was forewarned but, as usual, they failed to take action. I seriously dunno whats gonna happen next-maybe Sherry Rehman dancing nude in the Parliament??

Of course, the police make themselves a huge target by doing shit like this. I mean, you can't help but want to blow them up when they do this. Have a look:

I mean, wouldn't YOU be a pissed-off Desi if some cop stops in the middle of traffic to talk to his gay police buddy at the 'station. Well, DUH!!!

The policeman on the roof is really asking for it.

Mission accomplished!!!

In a dramatic wee-hour development, the government agreed to reinstate the deposed chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry who, along with nearly 50 judges, had been unceremoniously sacked by the then president and army chief General Pervez Musharraf almost two years ago.

In a long-awaited development, the PPP government finally bowed to immense pressure by the opposition and the lawyers movement. The announcement by the Prime Minister ordering the reinstatement of judges followed a not-so-veiled warning by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq P Kiyani told the government that they needed to reverse some of their more controversial decisions before the situation spiralled out of control.

The reinstated Chief Justice is likely to continue the work he was doing in office before being deposed in 2007-the finding of the 'missing people' many believe to have been held by the security agencies.

After the announcement restoring the judiciary, scenes of mass celebration and jubiliation were seen in the streets, especially in the cities of the Punjab, and sweets were handed out. Many people also resorted to aerial firing.

The full story can be seen here.

I personally believe that the reinstatement of the CJ, Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry ought to have positive repercussions. The Constitution in force, that is, the 1973 Constitution provides for an independent judiciary in its' preamble, the Objectives Resolution, by clearly stating ["Wherein the independence of the judiciary shall be fully secured"].

Anyway, lets just be thankful that this crisis is over. Now, Ali Ahmed Kurd and all the other lawyers can finally get back to their real job with this little sojourn over. Hey, maybe Kurd will be able to finally change that ridiculous hairstyle of his.

Supreme Court Bar Association President Ali Ahmed Kurd-with that ridculous hairstyle of his.

And maybe, maybe, this will be enough to wipe that huge smirk off "President" Zardari's face.

"President" Zardari-with that huge smirk of his.

If they don't care, why should we?

I was just going to some place the other day and I saw this car pull up right in front of me at the signal. And I thought, "If this guy is a member of the National Assembly, then shouldn't he be actually aware of laws banning tinted windows and customized plates?". So I took this picture to prove that even the rulers don't actually giva a shit here in Pakistan. And by the way, this picture will be shown on Dawn News as part of their Citizen Journalist programme every hour on Sunday, January the 25th.

An original pictue by Faiz Khalil.

Ridiculous and ridiculous-er

Should the thousands who work in the media be expecting drones to hover around their buildings soon? Perhaps - Asif Ali Zardari declared yesterday that “journalists are the biggest terrorists.”
Geo just ran a bit on the National Assembly’s proceedings today: Ayaz Amir reportedly said it was ‘regretful’ that Zardari had termed the sahafi baradari as terrorists. Sherry Rahman denied he’d said anything of the sort. And surprisingly, Naveed Qamar seemed to be awake while Gilani was talking! Miracles all abound.

Representative isn't it??

I was going to Dreamworld last sunday and right off the highway, I saw this sign. It made me think off hte state of our police force and how representative the donkey really is.

News Spews

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, you’re watching your computer screen, and these are the headlines.
*Play instantly addictive theme music*
The leaders of two major Pakistani political parties cannot come to a decision regarding the restoration of the judiciary, hence further negotiations have been suspended. The decision will now be made by the political leader who wins three games of Bluff in succession.
Another suicide blast has taken place in the country, making Pakistan a more valuable ally in the United States led War on Terror. The blast is expected to help increase U.S. aid in the country.
In the world of sports, Shahrukh Khan was jumping around like a monkey in the stadium today. Shoaib Akhtar and Shahrukh Khan are expected to attend the seminar ‘Learn How To Behave Like An Outta Control Celeb!’
And in the business sector, petrol prices have been increased once again as Pakistan remains adamant to not explore alternative sources of energy.
Stay tuned for further updates. Now a message from our corporate-blood sucking sponsors.
*Fade out to instantly addictive theme music*

Iraqi shoe bomber- Preliminary Investigation

Just got this in my mailbox:

Result of Preliminary investigations:
The shoe tossed by Iraqi journalist at George Bush has been linked to Pakistan.
It is said to have been made in a factory near Lahore. Officials have said that a clear link between ISI and shoe thrower could NOT be established however some lower level ISI officials may be involved. According to an anonymous source in Iraqi government, the shoe “bomber” has “stated” that he was imparted training on pelting stones, shoes and similar objects in some camp in North Western part of Pakistan run by retired army officers from the elite Pakistani group SSG and the ISI.
President Zardari and Chief of the Army General Kayani have assured full support in investigating the matter. In a recent action, Government of Paksitan has sealed the local operations of English Boot House and Service Shoe industries (owned by current defense minister) and would be holding trials against the Factory owner located in Muridke near Lahore.

India getting ambitious?

I just read in today's Dawn that last night Indian fighter planes crossed over the Indo-Pak border and violated our airspace. This happened in two separate locations, the azad kashmir (AK) and Lahore sectors. The planes were then chased away by PAF fighters. Indian authorities claimed navigational errors and said that the planes had inadverately crossed the border. Given the current level of tensions between India and Pakistan, analysts have described as ‘meaningful’ the ‘inadvertent’ intrusion of Pakistan’s airspace in two different sectors on the same day for the first time in recent memory. All I have to say to this is "WTF??!!". I mean, Pakistan has agreed to India's demands for cooperation and even raided the Lashkar camps, now what else is it supposed to do? Jeesh...