Islam & Pakistan! Technology & Me!
My thoughts
Why the Silence?
01 year ago
Let me apologize for not coming up with my news, reviews, opinions and insights into matters of public importance recently. This quick post is just to let you know I’m here and that I will be soon be back in action.
The truth is, there has been so much going on that it is, frankly, an effort to select a topic to write about. I wish to write about almost everything. That coupled with a severe shortage of time due to professional commitments has deprived my precious readers of my views analyses.
With prayers of the safety and well being of all of you.
Pakistan Zindabad.
Ammar Faheem
Karachi Bleeds
61 year ago
[Update 4:00 PM, 20th October, 2010]: Dawn News is reporting that a decision has been taken to impose curfew in certain areas and launch operation in Karachi.
Today, armed terrorists sprayed bullets on a used spare parts’ market killing 12 innocent people and injuring many. Three were reported killed near Radio Pakistan, two in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and one in North Nazimabad. All within a span of three hours. 17 others were reported killed earlier in the day.
The port city of Karachi continues to grow with every passing day. It is heaven on earth for those looking for opportunities to earn. True to this notion, hundreds of thousands of people from all over Pakistan have come in and settled down in Karachi for opportunities to live a better life. Karachi today plays host to, on a very safe estimate, over 20 million people. Karachi is practically Pakistan’s spine that feeds the economy throughout the year. Over 75% of Pakistan’s revenue comes from this huge metropolis. Historically, ever since the creation of Pakistan, Karachi has had an Urdu Speaking majority, most people who migrated from the Indian side to celebrate an independent homeland.
Today, this city is bleeding. I don’t call this ‘target killing’, the rhetoric being followed by government officials and the media. This is outright terrorism. Where on earth is the killing of innocent people defined ‘target killing’?
The MQM and ANP have both pointed towards terrorists coming from Liyari, a PPP stronghold. The MQM has gone head-on and blamed the Sindh Interior Minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, as the ring-leader of these Liyari based gangs and are claiming to have provided Rahman Malik with credible evidence.
Mr. Mirza has also announced a little while ago that they have started conducting ‘surgical raids’ to curb the situation that is spiraling out of control. He has also threatened to use the CURFEW option in certain areas along with the possibility of calling in the army to take control of the city. Absolute failure of yours Mr. Mirza if you have to call in the army, isn’t it?
The situation is very serious. I am expecting the MQM to quit the government. They will soon find it difficult to convince their own people why the MQM is still part of a government that is itself a source of unrest in the metropolis. The ANP, well, they have a plan of action and will go ahead with it as dictated by their boss(es) from the frontier and Washington.
Karachi is a battle ground of the ruling coalition. The PPP, the MQM and the ANP, all three coalition partners are battling each other on the streets. The PPP, as the larger coalition partner, seems to be playing a dirty double game. The other two seem to have had enough of Rahman Malik’s assurances that he comes up with every time the situation gets tough in Karachi.
This battle has to stop. The people of Karachi need peace. The Pakistan People’s Party should not fight for the survival of its rule in a city it does not belong to. Period.
A Quiet Independence Day for Pakistan
41 year ago
Given all the pain and gloom that surrounds the life of an ordinary Pakistani today, it is no surprise that this year’s independence day (14th of August) was a quiet affair; somber expressions of joy and government events were limited to things like a formal flag hoisting in the morning.
Floods in Pakistan have displaced around 2 million people by now and there seems to be no let up in nature’s display of brute force. Currently there is another spell of rains and another round of floods adding to the misery of Pakistani’s across the country.
Pakistan Flag. Image by Flickr user takebackpakistan. CC BY-NC-ND
Bloggers have used various ways to express their feelings for their homeland. Farrukh Zafar, a blogger from Karachi, highlights the achievements of Pakistani’s at the international level:
In every 40 Pakistanis, 39 whine today about Pakistan’s worst law and order situation, the flood disaster, the plane crash, the fake degrees of its politicians, the shameless acts of thePresident, the declining performance of Pakistan cricket team and so on. BUT I WILL NOT.
… Then came August and a team from the Lahore Grammar School (LGS) 55-Main Gulberg, popularly known as LGS Kabana from Pakistan, won the NASA-affiliated Space Settlement Design Competition held in the United States of America! …
More at: ‘I Told You to Respect Pakistan’
Xainab, on a slightly depressed note, writes in her blog about why her Independence day celebrations have changed:
How can we celebrate independence, I wonder, when we’ve done nothing to deserve it? How can we rejoice in the motherland when she lies before us ravaged and broken? How can we pat ourselves on the back when we’re anything but proud Pakistanis? How can we go watch the lights when all around us there seems to be nothing but darkness? How can we sing songs and be merry, when we live every moment in fear of the next disaster?
Talking of hope and solidarity on this independence day, Sakina Younis writes at Pro-Pakistan.com:
Let’s do as much as we can in our capacity and prove to the world that we are truly the progeny of that generation of people who understood virtues of sacrifice, hope, brotherhood & solidarity. We are Pakistanis, we live in a land that was born on the premise of faith and determination. Struggle is not a new concept for us.
More at: Yaum-e-Azadi 2010
The idea behind this post is not to add to the despair and problems of an average Pakistani. The idea is to highlight that given all the problems that surround a Pakistani, this nation is still strong enough to bounce back. People still have hope. People still have faith in themselves. They have always and they have again stood up to this national disaster.
Pakistan is indeed the land of the pure, only if it was governed and managed properly, our independence day would have been merrier, happier!
Nature’s Brute Force
31 year ago
Article originally published on the Aaj.Tv website. Click here to visit.
“This would normally be a rather pleasant time of the day, 45 minutes past 6PM in the evening, but it is dark, very dark outside. I can hear the deafening roar of the skies as the powerful wind howls past by my window. It is a vicious storm brewing up as it begins to rain mercilessly. I will have to choose whether I have to leave for home or wait till the storm subsides”, Ali was thinking and talking to himself in absolute silence.
It had been a regular day at work for him and for all that he knew about Karachi, he was sure his ride home was going to be nothing short of war. He was sure the streets would be flooded and transportation would already have come to a grinding halt. Ali was sure he will find no electricity when he gets home; their power production units either ‘trip’ or they shut them down when it rains.
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